Do your name have any meaning?

This forum is to learn about foreign cultures and habits, because language skills are not everything you need as a world citizen...

Moderator:Forum Administrators

Shinn
Posts:49
Joined:2005-12-23, 14:10
Gender:female

Postby Shinn » 2007-02-25, 10:26

My name is Shoma which is Vedic in origin and has about 50 million meanings as most Sanskrit words do. But mostly it's related to the Indo-Aryan god of the moon Soma and most of the meanings have something or the other to do with the moon.

I recently found out that Shoma is a masculine name in Japan and apparently means "champion". I also came across a Russian man with the same name as me. Which rather puts me in a fix eh.
My name is not very common and despite having only 2 damn syllables is always mispelled, mutilated and transmuted into something else. =_='

My surname is Patnaik but I won't go into details there since Indian surnames always have a truckload of history and meanings behind them. In any case, its pretty uncommon too and rarely spelled correctly. I once went crazy trying to find my name on a school list until I realized that they had misspelled it as "Zoma Tapania" :shock:

User avatar
kalemiye
Posts:4227
Joined:2007-01-12, 19:24
Gender:female
Country:ESSpain (España)

Postby kalemiye » 2007-02-25, 14:30

mi real name is Renata, which is latin and it means "Born once again" ('Renacida' in spanish). I was given that name because of the meaning, but i don't like the way it sounds though.
Not available

User avatar
Æren
Posts:1826
Joined:2006-07-17, 18:22
Real Name:Ivan
Gender:male
Location:Sofia
Country:BGBulgaria (България)
Contact:

Postby Æren » 2007-03-01, 20:44

Both my real and my nick names have their meanings ^_^
Ivan comes from Ancient Greek Ιωάννης which came from ancient Hebrew Jochanan which I've heard it means "God is love" :D
About Æren: It came to my mind suddenly :P Later I found in Tolkien's Sindarin the root "ar(a)-" meaning "high, tall, magnificent", and a word made from it "aran"- "king"; so, I assume that I've just subconsciously uplifted the vowels :)

hiro
Posts:86
Joined:2003-07-21, 7:00
Real Name:hiro green
Gender:female
Country:JPJapan (日本)

meaning of my name

Postby hiro » 2007-03-04, 8:29

My real first name is Midori, and it means "green" (color).
I was born in late at the end of April. My parents saw beautiful green leaves outside. Then they named me Midori. I have a sister and she and I are twins. My sister's name is "Yoko", and "yo (葉)" means leaf.
I like this story and my name. :)

User avatar
kalemiye
Posts:4227
Joined:2007-01-12, 19:24
Gender:female
Country:ESSpain (España)

Re: meaning of my name

Postby kalemiye » 2007-03-04, 9:09

hiro wrote:My real first name is Midori, and it means "green" (color).
I was born in late at the end of April. My parents saw beautiful green leaves outside. Then they named me Midori. I have a sister and she and I are twins. My sister's name is "Yoko", and "yo (葉)" means leaf.
I like this story and my name. :)


wow, very beautiful story!
Not available

User avatar
skoll
Posts:48
Joined:2007-02-18, 21:28
Real Name:fran
Gender:male
Location:IT
Country:ITItaly (Italia)

Postby skoll » 2007-03-04, 9:54

Lauura wrote: I don't think there are names that mean things like "he who is good for nothing" or "the one we're all fed up with", don't you think? :silly:
I know that in italy, that's in the region Emilia, a person has a name meaning "I didn't want you [to be born]" = "Antavleva" in regional dialect


Nero wrote:My name is Thomas, and my parents only picked it because it didn't have a female form (Alex -> Alexandra, Carl -> Carla, Thomas -> ?)
having a female form can be annoying for male children here . Most of our names have both forms when taken from male names, but obviously it doesn't often happen the opposite [I never heard Margherito o Roso for instance, but honestly, they look like very ugly to me.]

When you begin to attend school, children use short forms, especially in case of very common names.Now since most of those names share female and male meaning, the short form can create confusion.

There's a tendency to use the form Franci from Francesco, which is the original male name for both [female Francesca], so when you share your name with someone else, you often jump up in the air thinking they're calling you when it's someone else, but you see they're calling often a little girl :? They also can play jokes with your name changing the final -o into -a. With names like Raul or Alan this can't happen. Pretty much no one is gonna bother with that.
Also you can be someone sharing the name Francesco o Francesca with someone else until you you complete the high school,and so on in the place where you work since is the most common name of Italy [Not to mention Saint Francis is the patron of Italy], so , again, you can happen to think they're calling you when it's mostly always someone else.

There's a certain tendency to use Franci o similar spellings by females, while guys have seemed to begin to use Fran [like I do] to avoid gender misunderstanding, following the Spanish trend [Fran seems to be exclusively used by guys in Spain, that 's great, IMO] in the place of Franco [that can also be an original ethnical name, not a short form like in this case] Franco is not anyway a short form that the majority of the guys seems to like much here .





Francy wrote:My full name, Francesca, means "free of spirit and state" It was the name the Latin gave to the people living in France at that time (the celts) when they weren't still under the Latin dominion... I like it very much!!!!
Franks were a germanic tribe which settled in France but they were not Celts. France bears a name which could be fit for the Dutch, I think, since the dutch are descendents from the Franks who installed in the zones nowadays inhabitated by Flemish and Dutch .The name France was given for all the territory subjected to the Franks Empire including the modern France,and then Netherlands, Belgium, Germany,Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Northern Italy and part of Spain but the core of the Franks was in the Netherlands-Belgium, as linguistic scholars have studied that dutch came from Lower-Franconian

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Frankish_language

"The meaning of "free" (English frank, frankly, franklin) arose because, after the conquest of Gaul, only Franks had the status of freemen"


Then, after it was clear that this Empire has 2 big ethnical groups based on the language family they spoke -Latin and Germanic languages- , the part including germanic populations was called Germania and the name France remained mostly to what turned to be French [excluding Italy]Ironically Germania was used by Latins and Francia came from Germanic.



http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankerne:


Det latinske navn francus (fletal: franci) betyder "fri" på de germanske sprog. Man finder oprindelsen til ordet frank i et andet ord, frekkr (= "hårdfør", "tapper"), som også er germansk.

User avatar
Steisi
Posts:5047
Joined:2003-08-15, 20:41
Gender:female
Location:Helsinki
Country:FIFinland (Suomi)

Postby Steisi » 2007-03-04, 10:49

skoll wrote:
Lauura wrote: I don't think there are names that mean things like "he who is good for nothing" or "the one we're all fed up with", don't you think? :silly:
I know that in italy, that's in the region Emilia, a person has a name meaning "I didn't want you [to be born]" = "Antavleva" in regional dialect


Actually, in Malaysia, I think, the government had to pass a law to stop malaysians calling their children things like "Hitler" and "smelly dog". They think that calling their children such unattractive names wards off evil spirits :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5229060.stm
Native: English
Fluent: Finnish
Want to resuscitate: German
Actively learning: Hebrew
Wishes she had time for: Northern Sámi
En usko humalaan.

User avatar
Gormur
Posts:8190
Joined:2005-05-17, 1:11
Real Name:Gormur
Gender:male
Country:CUCuba (Cuba)
Contact:

Re:

Postby Gormur » 2020-03-24, 13:57

Gormur wrote:
The boy's name Lance is of French origin. From Lanzo (Old German) "land". Nickname of Lancelot. Not related to the medieval jousting weapon. Lantz is a Yiddish name meaning "lancet." Cyclist Lance Armstrong; singer Lance Bass.

Lance has 3 variant forms: Lantz, Lanzo and Launce.



I hate my name, no one calls me by it if they know me. I wish I knew the meaning of my last name.


My middle name: Jesse /ˈdʒɛsi/,[1] or Yishai (Hebrew: יִשַׁי – Yišay,[a] in pausa יִשָׁי – Yišāy, meaning "King" or "God exists" or "God's gift"; Syriac: ܐܝܫܝ‎ – Eshai; Greek: Ἰεσσαί – Iessaí; Latin: Isai, Jesse) is a figure described in the Bible as the father of David, who became the king of the Israelites. His son David is sometimes called simply "Son of Jesse" (Ben Yishai). The role as both father of King David and ancestor of Christ has been used in various depictions in art, e.g. as the Tree of Jesse or in hymns like "Lo, how a rose e'er blooming."

I'm still trying to figure out my last name, so maybe next time. I'll include it :para: :hmm:
Eigi gegnir þat at segja at bók nøkkur er hreinferðug eðr ønnur spelluð því at vandliga ok dáliga eru bœkr ritnar ok annat kunnum vér eigi um þœr at dœma

User avatar
Gormur
Posts:8190
Joined:2005-05-17, 1:11
Real Name:Gormur
Gender:male
Country:CUCuba (Cuba)
Contact:

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby Gormur » 2020-09-08, 21:57

It's always bothered me that people have middle names, one or more. Why do they exist? Is there a reason for them to be there? For me, it feels like I have somebody else's name attached to mine :para: :lol: :hmm:

Being serious here. I really don't like it. Maybe I can remove one name and just have two names, first and last :hmm:
Eigi gegnir þat at segja at bók nøkkur er hreinferðug eðr ønnur spelluð því at vandliga ok dáliga eru bœkr ritnar ok annat kunnum vér eigi um þœr at dœma

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby vijayjohn » 2020-10-01, 4:53

My name means Victor. I find it somewhat amusing that there's such a close semantic parallel between my name and the name Victor. I have trouble identifying similar parallels with Indian and European names. It was weird to me to learn that lila means 'purple' in German because Lila/Leela is a very common Indian girls' name.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby linguoboy » 2020-10-01, 10:11

Gormur wrote:It's always bothered me that people have middle names, one or more. Why do they exist? Is there a reason for them to be there?

Speaking as someone who works with names for a living, they’re very useful for distinguishing individuals—especially when they have very common surnames. Think, for example, of Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

Some other purposes they serve are:
  • Preserving ancestral family names. This is especially common in upper crust families and in the US South
  • Honouring relatives or friends in general. My siblings and I all have our grandparents’ names as our second given names
  • Disambiguating sex. It’s not unusual to see individuals with an epicene first given name (like “Dana”) and an unambiguously gendered second given name. I’ve seen the same convention in other languages, such as Vietnamese.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby vijayjohn » 2020-10-01, 13:26

My middle name is (or was, when I bothered officially recording one) what traditionally would have been my first name: George.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby linguoboy » 2020-10-01, 13:47

vijayjohn wrote:My middle name is (or was, when I bothered officially recording one) what traditionally would have been my first name: George.

That’s another convention I forgot to mention: some people have “two first names”, one proper to their ethnic background and one selected for ease of use among the larger community. But because of how names are officially recorded, one of these has to come first and it’s generally the “external” name, since that’s what people who don’t know an individual default to.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

vijayjohn
Language Forum Moderator
Posts:27056
Joined:2013-01-10, 8:49
Real Name:Vijay John
Gender:male
Location:Austin, Texas, USA
Country:USUnited States (United States)
Contact:

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby vijayjohn » 2020-10-01, 14:29

In my case, George is what my name would have traditionally been, and Vijay was what my parents actually chose to name me after my dad's cousin.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby linguoboy » 2020-10-01, 15:13

That happens, too. I knew my ex as "David" but all his family called him "Mike". It turns out "Mike" is what they intended to name him, but they let his godmother choose and she preferred "David", so they gave him "Michael" as a second given name. (At some point in his schooling, he decided he liked "David" better than "Mike", too, and started introducing himself that way.)
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

User avatar
Aurinĭa
Forum Administrator
Posts:3909
Joined:2008-05-14, 21:18
Country:BEBelgium (België / Belgique)

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby Aurinĭa » 2020-10-01, 18:19

I got my second name because my mother really liked it, but my father didn't want it as a first name. IIRC for one of my siblings it's a name both my parents liked, but it was rather common for newborns at the time, so they chose not to use it as first name.

Giving godparents' (or grandparents' names) used to be tradition here, but giving more than one first name isn't very common anymore.

User avatar
Hoogstwaarschijnlijk
Posts:7089
Joined:2005-11-30, 10:21
Location:Utrecht
Country:NLThe Netherlands (Nederland)

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby Hoogstwaarschijnlijk » 2020-10-01, 20:21

Aurinĭa wrote:I got my second name because my mother really liked it, but my father didn't want it as a first name. IIRC for one of my siblings it's a name both my parents liked, but it was rather common for newborns at the time, so they chose not to use it as first name.

Giving godparents' (or grandparents' names) used to be tradition here, but giving more than one first name isn't very common anymore.


I only have one name and I've always felt that was such a shame. Both my first and last name are quite common. My wife has exactly the same.

So our daughters have three names each. The eldest her second and third name are after her grandmothers and the youngest second and third names are after their mothers (our mother's mothers).
Native: Dutch
Learns: Latin and French
Knows also (a bit): English, German, Turkish, Danish

Corrections appreciated.

User avatar
linguoboy
Posts:25540
Joined:2009-08-25, 15:11
Real Name:Da
Location:Chicago
Country:USUnited States (United States)

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby linguoboy » 2020-10-02, 2:50

Aurinĭa wrote:Giving godparents' (or grandparents' names) used to be tradition here, but giving more than one first name isn't very common anymore.

Interesting, because I still think of the Low Countries as the Land of Many Forenames. I know Dutch-speakers my age with as many as four, which to me seems excessive for anyone who isn't titled nobility.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

User avatar
Aurinĭa
Forum Administrator
Posts:3909
Joined:2008-05-14, 21:18
Country:BEBelgium (België / Belgique)

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby Aurinĭa » 2020-10-02, 8:25

My dad has four, my mum has three (both are in their sixties). I don't know about my dad's, but my mum's are her godparents' names. Many people my age (thirties) still have two or three first names, often godparents', but there are some who do have an extra name, but it's not linked to godparents, and some who only have one first name. I think the majority of Flemish children born nowadays only get the one. It's a gradual but clear change taking place over a few generations.

User avatar
Hoogstwaarschijnlijk
Posts:7089
Joined:2005-11-30, 10:21
Location:Utrecht
Country:NLThe Netherlands (Nederland)

Re: Do your name have any meaning?

Postby Hoogstwaarschijnlijk » 2020-10-02, 8:43

linguoboy wrote:
Aurinĭa wrote:Giving godparents' (or grandparents' names) used to be tradition here, but giving more than one first name isn't very common anymore.

Interesting, because I still think of the Low Countries as the Land of Many Forenames. I know Dutch-speakers my age with as many as four, which to me seems excessive for anyone who isn't titled nobility.


That's funny because here it was mostly catholic people (bit stereotype but okay: the poor people) who have lots and lots of names.

I'm not sure, but I think the situation in the Netherlands is different than in Belgium. I think most children get two or three names nowadays, people think it's fun to add a little extra identity (like one name isn't special enough), or to keep naming traditions alive.
Native: Dutch
Learns: Latin and French
Knows also (a bit): English, German, Turkish, Danish

Corrections appreciated.


Return to “Culture”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests