Making it up

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

I was wondering how people feel about tailored and made-up names. I know there is a lot of dislike for "kreatyv" spellings, and at least a moderate amount of disdain for apparently made-up names.

I mostly agree with this, but I've started feeling kind of bad because a lot of names that are now perceived as traditional began as made-up (well, I suppose all names were made-up once upon a time when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but most names currently in circulation have a long linguistic history).

I don't mind creative names and spellings on principle. My issue is when people bastardize language in order to differentiate a name. Language has rules and systems, and if you want to come up with something new I think you should operate within those constraints. Language also has history, and it would also be nice to think about the etymology of your creation (but I would definitely settle just for people realizing that you can't swap/add/subtract/rearrange letters indiscriminately).

For people who dislike "kreatyv" and made-up names, is it an across-the-board feeling? Are there ways to categorize how you feel about different tailorings?

I also sometimes have issues with names that have been borrowed from other languages, and kind of jury-rigged to fit with English, but I can't even go into that without this trailing on forever.

Comments

[tallc00lone.livejournal.com]

I think theres a certain extent of madeup-ness that gets very annoying.

I understand that perhaps taking the name Brielle, and hitching on an A to make is Briella is a fine choice. No, it may not be in baby name books, but it's a nice name, and it's not too butchered.

Now that we've covered the issue of making up names, lets face the one of making up spellings.

For instance, my father's name is Jerzy, and it's the correct spelling in Poland. Now, in the US (where I do live, btw) little girls are being named Jersey. That bugs me. Why would somebody take a men's name, change the spelling and hitch it onto a girl?! Why? Because they want her to be unique, and they think a butchered name will make her unique.

I wont even go into names like
Sisiellia
Mikensey
Haeleigh
etc.

So, there you have my views.

[sageharper.livejournal.com]

With Jersey they're probably just naming their kid after the state* without any real deep thought [doubt most of them could find Poland on a map]. Jumping on the bandwagon with place names but trying to be original.

*Though frankly why would you want to name a kid after there anyway?
Guess that's a whole other conversation.

[maude.livejournal.com]

I had to say "Sisiellia" aloud about eight times before I got that it was supposed to be Cecilia.

[tallc00lone.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean. This last semester there was a girl named Sisiellia in my calculus class, and the teacher could never remember how to say it. "Is is Sissy-ella..?"

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

OH your list, those are exactley the names that are very problematic for me. They are making funny with language, but most of the time what they come up with doesn't work (the first name is the very best example, Mikensey is good too).

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if the Jersey names are not actually related to Jerzy, and the parents are not (all) familiar with that name. It's such a common term, and by comparison a very uncommon name, that people are probably pulling it from the word jersey (or you know, New Jersey). Which doesn't really make it a better idea.

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

Hah that is exactly the problem with that name. I am sure the parents thought, "Well -ie is "ee", so that totally works!". Only, you know, it doesn't.

[thunderofsins.livejournal.com]

I had to read sisiellia out loud before i realized it wasn't "Sissy-Ell-eeah"

[sodivided.livejournal.com]

Or the island of Jersey :)

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

Yes! I should not have forgotten that.

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

So I know Pilot Inspektor, but....Audio Science? Sounds like a University major, to me!

I dunno, sometimes I appreciate the wackier names, even though I would never use them myself. Sometimes, I think there are words that make nice names (those four aren't the best examples), and are perhaps preferable to jacking up the spelling of "actual" names.

One of my favorite French names, for example, is not actually a name, but a word meaning something like "a lot of things": Kyrielle.

[sarahrose.livejournal.com]

Creative spellings and made-up names are my favorites. I love them. However, I would never spell 'creative' 'kreatyv,' lol. I'm a stickler for spelling and grammar, ironically enough, lol.

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

Well, I used it in a French-speaking environment, and just got a lot of compliments on how pretty it is. I do think that it is actually a fairly rare word used more in literary contexts, so that helps.

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

I have seen people using "kreatyv" to reflect how some people have butchered names with creative spellings, and quite liked the idea.

[sarahrose.livejournal.com]

Oh, I didn't mean to insult you or anything, it wasn't meant like that, I'm sorry. I totally understand why you used it. :) I was just making a comment/observation. I'm sorry!

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

I'm not insulted, I just didn't want anyone to think I would really spell it that way! Wouldn't it be awesome (not), if everyone decided to creatively spell all words, not just names!

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

*bans self from using exclamation marks*

[sarahrose.livejournal.com]

LOL, there was a time when words were spelled 2 or 3 ways consistently!

[k-t-bug.livejournal.com]

Random comment: My dog's name is Jersey... I think it works for a dog. Not a baby.

[secret-x-stars.livejournal.com]

i don't start to dislike a name of principle of whether it's made up or not. things that will make me dislike a name is lack of aesthetics in spelling/pronunciation, perhaps if it's too long/complicated, if it doesn't seem like a name that would age well... actually, i'm more likely to dislike a name for being wayyy too popular/trendy than if it's a made up name, depending on circumstance.

but yeah, i pretty much don't discriminate... i like a name or i don't.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

misspelled names make my eyes fall out.

and made-up names make me cry. I absolutely hate the name Jaden (jayden, jaydyn, etc.) it's my #1 most-hated name right now. there are others but none come quite so readily to mind.

[secret-x-stars.livejournal.com]

okay let me try some examples lmao.

KRE8TIV SPELLINGS

Madeleine is, last i checked, the original spelling of the name. now we have a million variations, like Madelyn... which does not originate from a culture, i don't think. but i don't mind that spelling! it is easy to spell, remember, and it is pretty much phonetic.

if someone tried to spell Madeleine 'Madhelinne,' i wouldn't like it. it is too long, too complicated, and also it looks like someone tried to be Gaelic and failed.

PLAIN MADE UP NAMES
Some made up names are nice, to me. for example, the lady that was here like a month ago with the name Chasval (which, even though it's an obscure character in an anime, is a made up name for all intents and purposes). since i don't know that anime, it just sounded like a pretentious european sort of name. i wouldn't name a kid that, but i liked it well enough. i just found one on behindthename, 'Diantha,' which is just taking Diane and adding 'tha.' Doesn't look awful, sounds okay... not my kind of name, again, but it's pleasant enough.

That said, I don't like the name Jett, for example. I think it's too short, it doesn't sound good when you're 65, and why the hell do we have an extra 't'? I don't like a name like Darlinda, either. It just looks immature, again, won't age well.

RANDOM WORDS INTO NAMES
This totally depends. If someone named their child 'Myriad,' I think it'd be pretty cool. It'd be even cooler if the word happened to be obsolete now, which it isn't. Myriad looks like some strange variation of 'Miriam' or 'Mary,' which is why it works for me.

But don't name your fucking kid 'Glitter' or some shit. No.

ANYWAY THAT'S MY PIECE. :D

[desert-vixen.livejournal.com]

The different spellings don't bother me much unless they're so misspelled you can't figure out what the name is supposed to be - I wouldn't use them, but I can get through them without too much teeth-grinding. The thing that really annoys me is when people spell something one way, but insist that you pronounce it a way that doesn't fit the spelling.

As far as the jerry-rigging names to work in English - kind of torn. I've studied Russian and have Czech/Polish background, so we'd kind of like to have a Slavic name for the middle name - because to spell most of them correctly, we'd be condemning the child (and us) to spelling out the name everytime.

DV

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

Heehee especially as "Madhelinne", if actually Gaelic, would be pronounced something like "math-lynn". That's awesome, I wonder if she'd be a mathlete?

Yeah a lot of the name variations/made-up names are really a matter of subjective taste.

[imaflake.livejournal.com]

Dude! I'm glad I wound up here! I remembered you from boob_nazs, when you had Irish twins, and checked your info for communities related to having two babies/toddlers. Thanks for twoundertwo!

[lostrocket.livejournal.com]

I love your icon.

I don't mind the name Jaden. I don't really like it, but I have a feeling of "I've seen worse".