Places as names, names on places

[wolf-shadow.livejournal.com]

How do some names get totally associated with a place and some not? And why is it sometimes OK to use a name of a place as a firstname, and sometimes not?

examples:

Places as names:

• London
• Paris
• Florence
• Parthenope
• Milan
• Venetia

Names for places:

• Adelaide
• Victoria
• Virginia

Cause of this? I love the name Adélaïde/Adélaïda, but himself rules it out because of the Australian place. It bugs me because it was named after an Princess Adelaide in itself... I like the sound of the name, and as a mediaevalist, it's one I have come across quite a bit.

Comments

[xanya.livejournal.com]

Who even knows about Adelaide anyway? (No offence to anyone who lives there - it's a very pretty city, it's just not that well known around the world.) I really don't think there's a problem naming a child after a place that was named after a person in the first place (eg. Victoria and Adelaide, etc.).

However, naming a child London or Milan - yeah, I don't think that's such a good idea.

[http://users.livejournal.com/hajari_/]

Haha well as an Australian, I would find it strange to meet someone living here called Adelaide. It would be fine as long as you weren't in Australia though, I suppose. Unlike something like London, I don't think you can use that anywhere without the city association.

[xanya.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I'm Australian too and I would find it a bit weird over to hear that name over here. I even sometimes think it's weird when people are called Victoria even though I know it was a name long before my wonderful state was created.

[nearlyalegume.livejournal.com]

Rachel Griffiths' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachael_Griffiths) daughter is named Adelaide, and she's Australian.

Mind you, the son is Banjo... gotta love naming the kidlet after a daggy string instrument...

[xanya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I figure she named her daughter that because it reminds her of Australia (since she no longer lives here). But I don't know.

Heh, and I'm pretty sure she named her son Banjo after Banjo Patterson, one of our greatest (apparently - I'm not really a fan) ever poets.

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

I think everyone in Europe knows were Adelaide is. Or at least most people. When I hear 'Adelaide' I immediately think 'Australia'.
I think it's an alright name, though.
My personal favourite place name is Florence, I love that name so much.
I also like Alaska, which I mentioned once in this community, and which some people thought absolutely ridiculous. I think it's because names like 'Florence' are used as names pretty often, whereas Alaska is rarely used in that way.

[xanya.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. I was in the US recently and just about no one I met knew had heard of Adelaide (I'm Australian and I was talking to them about the country in general).

I have a friend who wants to use Alaska as a name as well! But I don't think she's going to because people mocked her for it.

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

Oh, Americans...*sigh*...no I'm just kidding ;)

Yay, Alaska! I don't think I'll use it either. I like uncommon names, but that might even be too uncommon for my taste...and besides, I like some other names better =)

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

I had never even heard of the city. Well, I guess I have, but I never made the connection until just now.

[miss-tee.livejournal.com]

I love Adelaide too and my hubby nixed it, not because of the city in Australia but because it is the name of a prominent street in downtown Toronto.

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

I think it's because those are big cities :P
so that makes them more famous and related to modern society, whereas the other names sound more traditional.

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

Oh, btw, I don't see anything wrong in choosing a place name.
Some names are already place names without us knowing about it :P
for example, people use the name Deva, but they hardly do it because of the small town in Yugoslavia :P

[its-cutie-meli.livejournal.com]

Don't forget people that name their children Brooklyn!

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

Or worse yet: Brooke Lynn.

(ohhh soooooo creative!)

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

Victoria, Virginia, Alexandria, etc. were all named after people, and have been commonly used names for centuries, even before the cities were named. The others, like London, Paris, etc. have been cities long before they became popular as names, since most, like Paris, are rather new to being used on babies. I know you're all going to quote Shakespeare at me, but seriously, other than that character how many Parises can you find before the 1990s? And now how many Virginias before the 1700s? That's what I thought.

My theory is, if it's a commonly used name, like Georgia, Alexandria, Sydney, etc., it's okay to use it as a name. If it's not, like Boston, York, or Tokyo, I'd say NO.

[crzydimond.livejournal.com]

Adelaide is definitely a place to me because I'm from Australia!

But my great grandma was named Annie Adelaide, which I love.

Funnily enough I hardly ever think 'hey that's a state' when I hear the name Victoria. But I go to school with a girl named Victoria [Tory] so I guess I am used to it.


To me, London, Paris, Dallas etc seem tacky.