Why do people dislike a name before they know what it means?

Question

To everyone who answered my question about my children's names.
Pantera, is actually a wiccan name meaning, big black cat. Ivory means beauty or pure, and Athene is short for Athetha the greek goddess for wisdom.
My son's Xavior Devlin Scott, actually mean bright, brilliant scottsman. And it's pronounced how it is spelt.
So to everyone she is not named after no band.
I like to give my kids their own idenity. And there names give them choices. My son loves his name. He knows its meaning.
My daughter hasn't gotten to that point yet, she goes by Tera. she is also only 5.

Answer 1

Personally, I like all of those names. I love to hear names that don't repeat themselves over and over again in all the baby name books ending up only to find 3 Jennifers and 5 Matts in one classroom later in life.
Good for you! Alot of people have mixed opinions about our sons name - Nash. I really don't give a rip what others say. You named you children what you thought best suits them, and I bet you were right!
Good for you!

Answer 2

Most of the time, to a person, a names sound means alot more then the meaning. Alot of people do not even pay attention to what it means when they name there child. Whats wrong with that.

The fact that you clearly think the meaning is more important then the sound of the actual name, like seriously, big black cat? I would cry if my mother wanted my name to mean that. It just does not sound right.

Not to mention your going to get alot of smack from close minded people for giving your children Wiccan names.

Just becuase your kids have these funky names does not mean that they have any more of an idenity then any other child, or that you love them any more.

Exactly what more "choices" do your children have becuase of there name that any other child does not have?

Answer 3

I don't know where to start...

Greek Goddess- Athena, not Athetha.

Bright, brilliant Scottsman? I hope that you meant bright and brilliant to mean intellectual, but something tells me that the meaning refers to very shiny.

Spelled, after any, their.

Tera- unique? Not Tera Patrick? It's "cute" that you have a five year old whose name reminds people of a porn star.

Answer 4

Those are beautiful names, however the people that don't like those names are just going by the way it sounds, or the fact that they are not common. Don't worry about what people say! Your children will love that you picked unique and meaningful names instead of just 'going with the flow". Also, I think unique names are much more common so your kids won't feel like they stand out too much. I have a nephews and neices named Vonnegut, Tabatha, Keaton and others unique names.

Answer 5

"Pantera, is actually a wiccan name meaning, big black cat" -- yeah, kids just love introducing themselves like that.

"So to everyone she is not named after no band" -- sure sounds like it, though.

Good heavens, I feel sorry for your children. Between the bad names and the dubious literacy skills, you're really going to do a number on them.

"Xavior" means nothing.

"Xavier," on the other hand --

"Derived from the Basque place name Etxabier meaning "the new house". Saint Francis Xavier was the Jesuit priest who popularized the name. He was a missionary to India, Japan, China, and other areas in eastern Asia. He is the patron saint of the Orient and missionaries."

"The boy's name Devlin is pronounced DEV-lin. It is of Irish and Gaelic origin, and its meaning is "misfortune; fierce courage".

And Scott: "From a surname which meant "Scotsman" in Old English. The original meaning of the word Scot is debated, but it may mean "tattoo", so given because Scotsmen often had tattoos."

I'd bank on your not actually being Scottish...

Newhouse Misfortune Madeupancestry is not a great name. Sorry.

Re. "Tera" --
http://www.iafd.com/results.asp?searchtype=comprehensive&searchstring=tera
(why am I not surprised that there's a 'Pantera' porn star, too?)

How you can need to be so defensive about the names while maintaining that they're good, carefully thought-out ones your children will always enjoy mystifies me. "Gosh, everybody here is laughing at me. But I'm sure nobody will laugh at them..." WTF?

Edited to add: Good grief. This person actually got pretty polite and encouraging replies to her 'Pantera, Etc' question.

And once asked:

"Who likes 80's hair bands? Name your 5 ultimate songs, from a hair band.?"

"Not named after no(sic) band" -- yeeeeaah.

Answer 6

You should have heard this crowd when I asked about the name Onnen - on-nen. Right away without preamble they jumped off the gun and associated it with Onan of the bible variety. Whew that poor girl was spilling her semen all over the garden. Girls don't spill semen. What it means is ash trees.
Your kids Pantera, Athene and Xavior are just fine. As time moves on they'll decide how they will handle the world. I am sure they will make the right decision. I would rather you use those names than something as horrible for instance as Ethel Tulip.

Answer 7

No offense, but if you don't want people's actual opinions then don't ask. On this forum, when you put a question out there, you've got to be prepared to take the negative with the positive. There are some people on here who are just idiots with their answers, but there are others who will give you their sincere honest opinions. You just aren't always going to like them because they are not always going to give you the confirmation you seem to be seeking. Wrong forum for that. Sorry!

Answer 8

people don't like names for various reasons....knowing the meaning of a name can possibly change a person's opinion of it...but just hearing a name a person gets an immediate feeling about it.....like maybe they've heard the name before and have negative associations with it ...( like pantera...regardless of the meaning, many of us know the name from the band pantera and the name will have either pos. or neg. connotations for us)....sometimes it's just the sound of the name.....some words are more fluid and beautiful to each of us than others are-it's a matter of taste

Answer 9

People dislike a name because they have their own opinions. Most people don't know the meanings of everyone elses name. A kid could be named Clodius Parnassius. Not a very pretty name, but It is a butterfly species. Pretty meaning does not equal pretty name.

Answer 10

I'd venture to guess that the majority of people, when picking a name for their child/children, don't pick a name based on the meaning (for what it's worth, I did pick names for my children based on their meanings)....and so, most people, upon hearing a name, don't think about what it means. The meaning behind a name isn't a "question" that enters many folks' minds.

And even if everyone wondered what meaning might lie behind a name, there's simply more to it in terms of how people react. It's essentially a "first impression." Getting to know the meaning takes longer, and people -- and their names -- DO make first impressions. Now, when we get to know someone, we might completely revamp our opinion of them -- in other words, we might discard that initial impression we had and replace it with something different (sometimes better, sometimes worse). But that doesn't mean the first impression doesn't happen. It's a fact of life.

With names, I think that "first impression" is heavily influenced by culture, by associations (i.e. if that name is widely associated with a band, or a fruit, or whatever), by a perception of what a name *is*. By that last I'm referring (sorry, Gwyneth) to things like "Apple," that are going to be considered outlandish as names, even if the meaning or the way that name came to be chosen is lovely, endearing, whatever. (And names that are really out there just scream "look at my child! I wanted to give her/him something unusual! I dare to be different!" -- that comes off as (and often is) a sign of self-importance and narcisissm. Who wants it?)

Also, quite frankly, every one of us comes into contact with literally countless people all the time -- not that we come to learn every one of their names, but we *do* hear a huge number of people's names all the time. For some people, hearing an unusual name is nice, for others, it's jarring. When we have to process so many names of people we don't even know day in and day out, we're going to have responses when those names don't blend into the background noise of our daily lives. And, more to the point in terms of the number of names we come into contact with: most people are not going to care what most of those names mean, we're not going to withhold "judgment" until we learn the meaning behind a name....we don't have the time.

All that being said, it's also the case that many people are sensitive to the fact -- and it *is* a fact -- that kids can be mean to other kids, and that almost all kids (I said "almost" -- yours may be among the teeny tiny minority that I'm willing to concede exists) want nothing so much as to fit in. Names are the labels we wear, for better or for worse, they're how we first present ourselves to others....and if you're stuck with a name that's very unusual, or spelled in some outlandish way, then you may have some lousy schooldays, and you're going to find it harder to fit in. So once again, there's the sense that the parents who named that child were not, in fact, putting the child's best interests first.

I had no intention of writing this much. But both "sides" of the whole names issue really irk me. I've had enough of those who insist anything other than John or Elizabeth is wacky, outlandish, unfair to kids and just plain offensive. But to be honest, I've had even more than enough of those who say "I want to give my child an unusual name. How about Alyionsybillaximus?" 'Cause I don't care what Alyionsybillaximus means, it's just plain ridiculous.

Answer 11

People usually like and dislike names because of how they sound, not because of their meaning. I named my daughter Sienna, not because it means reddish-brown, but because I think it sounds pretty. The key words are "I think". Since most of my family, or in-laws, don't really care for it.. I've learned it only matters what the parents think of the name. First of all, all of your kids names go together..they are all unique and flow nicely. In choosing these names, you had to know that many people may not like them because they are not mainstream. Don't worry about what people say about their names because...they aren't names anymore, they are people.