Picking a name for my future daughter has been difficult, because I don't have that many favourite female names, and many of the ones that I like don't work in either Estonian or English. I'm partial to those lyrical Welsh names like Gwendolyn.
Of Estonian names, I like Elo, which has been nixed by my wife because of an negative association.
I have a pretty neutral relationship with names starting in K, which are the most common ones in Estonia (Kairi, Karin, Kristina...).
And the whole Grete-Maigret-Marga spectrum has some OK options (though perhaps the very peasanty Krõõt is a no-go and can you imagine that in English).
For a while, we were thinking about a traditional, imperial name like Catherine or Elizabeth but in the end I thought it might be too pompous (especially when combined or hyphenated) and my wife noted that both those women (the historical monarchs) had issues with men.
We're leaning toward Lorna. Though some may dimly remember Lorna as a domestic 1950s name like "Betty Crocker" -- Lorna Doone is the name of a shortbread cookie -- I think it is quite pretty. It is a name that is easily pronounceable in Estonia and can also be worn proudly in the Virginia mountains because of its Scottish roots.
Since we used alliteration with Morgan Matthias, perhaps we'll do Lorna Louise or Lorna Linda. (Tell me in a nice way if you think this is cheesy.)
The etymology is this. Unlike Lorne (which is connected to a Scottish place name) Lorna is fictional, from a Victorian romantic adventure novel called Lorna Doone (expect usual themes of love triangle, villains, escapes from castles).
Since it was at one point the favourite novel of Yale students, I figure it can't be complete fluff.
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top ten things about eesti
- [reader-editable version ]
- 1. Vote from your cell phone soon. Free WiFi.
- 2. Applied art, design and architecture
- 3. One of the best-preserved medieval old towns anywhere
- 4. (Effectively) no corporate income tax on retained earnings
- 5. Biodiversity and semi-natural/symbiotic landscapes
- 6. Thousands of mIles of wild coastline
- 7. Just about everyone speaks at least three languages (yes, even Russian)
- 8. Smart women who know how to walk in heels
- 9. Libertarian tradition, partly individualism, partly as a reaction to Soviet occupation
- 10. Cheap beets, great bread and dairy products
top ten things about america
- [reader-editable version]
- 1. Melting pot culture
- 2. Visual culture and flair
- 3. Curious electric syncopated fusion of European and African musics
- 4. Tradition of making a clean start without reinventing the wheel
- 5. Roadless wilderness areas
- 6. Freedom of information
- 7. Microbrewed beer selection
- 8. The roads and highway network
- 9. Farmers' markets and other manifestations of bourgeois bohemianism
- 10. Mexico and Canada
reminder
PAID
Chaos lies ahead. What is the best way to hedge against it?
@WIKI
10 comments:
I like it. Over time, I have become agnostic about most names. I would recommend something that is easy to say and has the necessary syllables. I also recommend using a name that's not in heavy rotation.
Lorna Louise is quite nice. Isn't there a CA city named Loma Linda? The 2nd choice makes me think of that ; )
You're right, there is a Lorna Linda. Oops.
I guess that also means "Sandy Aigo" is out.
We still play around with names for a hypothetical third. A girl would be a Maria or Mia. A boy? That's hard. We tinkered with bringing a Fred Eerik, but I am thinking of just sticking with the Eerik. Oh, the things couples talk about. This naming stuff is important.
Fred Eerik -- I see in Raamat Nimedest that they are in fact two different roots. I did not know that.
I would be on the fence about starting a name with a nickname (like Ken-Marti among public figures) but it would probably grow on me.
Anything goes. But I guess if someone decides to have a kid because they really like a name, then they better get their head checked.
Lorna itself is pretty nice, but I don't care for either Louise or Linda as a second....How much time do you guys have to think about this?
I was wondering if there would be an anonymous comment to this post.
2-3 weeks max.
Anything goes. But I guess if someone decides to have a kid because they really like a name, then they better get their head checked.
We just have a 'feeling' there will be one more.
My grandmother's name is Lonni, and I've always loved that name. I always thought I'd call my daughter that if I ever got around to procreating.
For some reason, hearing the name Lorna makes me want to pair it with Leigh (or Lee or Lea or any of the other variations). The lilt of it all, I guess - I can imagine ballades written about getting back to Lorna Leigh.
Or maybe it's the fact that you paired it with Linda, and "Linda Lee" was the name of Supergirl's alter ego in the old comics (and the movie).
Having been preoccupied with grave matters of late - an unfortunate pun, though apt in its accuracy and economy - I'm late to the party. Permit me to add my belated two cents. Lorna and Linda get top marks, both in terms of musicality and good etymology. Also both 'travel' well.
I would, however, inveigh against Louisa on the basis of (a) its being a feminized form of Louis/Lugwig, and (b) its martial etymology, deriving as it does, ultimately, from the old Germanic Hluodowig, a compounding of the elements hluod (famous) and wig (war, strife).
Must confess to a totally subjective and personal aversion to the name derived from a barely remembered bawdy song I once heard decades ago through a boozy mist: something like...
Purjus Peeter pööras põhku /luise Luisega...
Sumpin' scary about that image of an anorexic paramour that I haven't been able to quite expunge from the old mälupulk...
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