Quick little question

[flufflenecharka.livejournal.com]

My mother and I have been debating about the masculinity of certain names.

Specifically, whether or not Zaberiel is an appropriate boy's name or if it will get him teased. I cling to it as I do all my favorites, but I also know my standards of weird are skewed, so I thought I'd ask: do you see Zaberiel as a boy's name or a girl's?

I have a thing for Z, D and T names, and Zaberiel kind of tops all my mental lists for some reason. I don't really know why. Thoughts?

Comments

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

I don't think that's even a name, let alone male or female.

[flufflenecharka.livejournal.com]

Two things: 1, I've seen it on two seperate people, and 2, with kr8tiv spelling, everything is a name to someone somewhere.

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

Well, you asked for thoughts, and I was giving you mine. It looks made up.

[coendou.livejournal.com]

How do you pronounce that? If it's the same as Gabriel but with a Z, I'd call it a boys' name, although I kinda agree with schexyschteve - I mean, a google search only gives 13 results (once you add quotes to get rid of all the "zaberie" results). So I don't think it's really boy or girl.

[holidaylights.livejournal.com]

It's going to get him teased, not to mention he'll be forever spelling/pronouncing it. And, while I'm usually one to defend the idea that there's nothing inherently wrong with unique names, this one is quite possibly literally unique, as in, there's no one on all of Facebook with that name, male or female. I think it's possible to find untraditional names that are a little less difficult.

[flufflenecharka.livejournal.com]

...actually, it's a couple of generations back in the family tree where I found the name. Nontraditional indeed.

Can someone explain why a name being unique is getting a squick reaction? Is this some taboo I was unaware of?

[satunian.livejournal.com]

I think you're being a tad prickly about it. It's not that it's a "unique" name, it's that it's one we've never really heard of, period; it's completely alien.

[coendou.livejournal.com]

The fact that someone was named it once upon a time doesn't make it traditional. My great-great-great grandmother's name was Zelphia, which is an actual variant of a Hebrew name, and I would still not consider it traditional and would expect surprised reactions, even people think it's weird, if we use it (it is on our short list). Similarly, my father's name is Bacil (not Basil), and there are Bacils in our family going back to the revolutionary war - and yet it is definitely a nontraditional name and people probably think it's odd or a misspelling.

It's fine to like unique names, but you really should expect people to be surprised and/or confused by them and not get defensive about them in a place like this. If you can't handle these few comments, do you really want to be defending it for 18 years?

[holidaylights.livejournal.com]

Is this some taboo I was unaware of?
Yes.

[satunian.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of it before, it doesn't sound like a real name to me, either (I know you say you've heard it before). I reminds me of Gabriel though so I would assume it to be a man's name, but like I said, I never heard it before. I thought Ruth was a boys' name until I was a teenager.

[jexia]

My feeling is that it's feminine, but I couldn't tell you why.

[rorylareina.livejournal.com]

I'd like it better spelled Zabriel, then it looks/sounds a little more familiar to me, like Gabriel, thus masculine.

[solitudete.livejournal.com]

I agree that Zabriel would be more masculine. I like weird names but Zaberiel looks like name of a prescription medication.

[designingdreams.livejournal.com]

This... Also, Zaberiel looks like it could be pronounced Zab-ariel, which sounds like it could rhyme with venereal.

[queen-islanzadi.livejournal.com]

I kept reading it as Zabriel :/ (which sounds masculine to me)

Overall I'm not a big fan of it, but you really only asked about masculinity vs femininity so that's all I'll say.

[unaccepatable.livejournal.com]

Seems like a boy name to me, but I think he'll get made fun of for having a stupid name, not for having a girly name

[jellybeener.livejournal.com]

I guess it seems like boy name as it ends in el rather than elle
but as others have said, I have a hard time seeing it as a name at all.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Zaberiel? It doesn't look like a name at all to me. It seems more masculine than feminine, though.

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't say it looks made up, I think it looks like you were going for a cre8tive spelling to Gabriel but didn't even know how to spell. And not because of the G/Z swapping.

My name is Savanah, and once I was friends with a Zavannah. Her mom wanted something that you couldn't find in a baby book. But at least when you look at the names an S/Z swap isn't as out there as G/Z, it doesn't make any sense.

In short. It looks really dumb.

[spaceandclouds.livejournal.com]

It looks elfish to me. Fantasy is not my genre at all, but the -iel ending (Galadriel?) is doing it.

Having said that, it does look more masculine to me.

[myiris.livejournal.com]

It looks masculine. But...no, it's not my cup of tea. I love Z names, too, but...this one does look made-up. Sorry.

[snoglobel.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on the pronunciation.

If it's like Gabrielle with a Z (which I kind of think it is because of the -eriel at the end, which makes me what to emphasize the end of the name) then I think it's a girl name.

If it's like Gabriel with a Z (which intuitively would be spelled Zabriel) then it becomes a female name.

It's subtle, but then again so is Gabriel and Gabrielle.

[snoglobel.livejournal.com]

I forgot to add - I like the Gabrielle pronunciation, and think it would be really cute on a girl.

I could see naming a daughter Zabrielle or Zaberiel, although I am 100% sure the hubby wouldn't go for it.

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

I've tried pronouncing this aloud in several different ways:
"ZAY-bree-al", "zuh-BUR-ee-al", etc.


Any way I can conceivably pronounce it sounds feminine. I also think the spelling looks VERY feminine.

And on a side note, there's no need to be offended by anyone's opinions. This community, as a whole, has pretty traditional taste in names. You solicited the opinions of community members and they are merely complying with your request. Just because you don't like what they have to say doesn't mean it should upset you, you are totally free to disregard us all! Though you should keep in mind that our opinions will probably be shared by at least some of your future child's teachers, friends [or their parents], co-workers, etc.

[kitchen-poet.livejournal.com]

I normally have a soft spot for all Z names, but this is an exception.

Here is how my brain processed it:
1. She spelled it wrong in her post, obv. she meant Zabriel, which just looks like someone trying to get "creative" with Gabriel.
2. Read comments. Oh. Guess it isn't spelled wrong, OP is really going for Zaberiel. Zabe-ber-ee-ell? Zeber-elle? Zee-berry-ell? None of these sounds like a name, unless we're going for a random noun, like the name of a heart medication or something.

I think spelling it that way, I would say feminine. (Although I totally admit I have no idea how to pronounce it.) Maybe she could just go by Zee or something if she gets teased. If you wanted it for a boy, I would spell it Zabriel, but if I saw that on a kid I would probably assume his parents named him for an obscure sci-fi novel or a video game character.

[greyhowl.livejournal.com]

Za-what?

[duck-deluxe.livejournal.com]

anything with "briel" in it sounds feminine to me, even good old Biblical Gabriel. so this is definitely no exception.

aside from that, I agree with whoever said it looks like a prescription drug. I don't think it would work out too well on a real person - not because it's unique, but because it just doesn't seem like a valid human name.

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

How do you pronounce it? If it's Zay-bare-iel, feminine; Zay-brie-el (like Gabriel), masculine. I would spell it Zabriel; Zaberiel looks too odd and would be more likely to pronounced in the feminine.

My honest opinion, it looks like Ezekiel and Gabriel got together and did the biblical nasty with unfortunate results.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

I am pronouncing it as zuh-BEER-ee-al and I'd guess it to be a boys' name. Pronounced this way I think it sounds more like a word than a name, not sure what it would mean but for example, "From down in the village the mountains appeared rather zaberiel"

[becomingun.livejournal.com]

I think he'd resent you for it. I would. And I'd have changed it the second I turned 18.

That said, to ME, I'd see it more as feminine.