I have a question about a name.

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I recently fell in love with a name that my husband suggested. He actually came up with it in his sleep and shook me awake to tell me. Only thing is, after a bit of research I've found out that the name actually means prostitute. But I ADORE the name, it's just special. If you know what I mean?

The name is Jezebel. (Jez-e-bell) I had never even heard of it before. And until my research on the internet I was going to use it for my child. But now, if it means something awful like that, I'm a little nervous that my child might be teased. 

What's everyones opinions when it comes to name meanings? Do they matter? Should I care what it means? 

Let me know what you peeps think :)

Comments

[gf-girlie.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it matters a bit. I think it wouldn't be very nice to name a daughter that.

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

Jezebel was a biblical whore. There are some names I can overlook the meanings on (such as Mallory), but that is basically outright naming your child "Whore".

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

:( It sounds so pretty. Sucks that it has such a terrible story behind it!

[lisasimpsonfan.livejournal.com]

Please don't saddle your child with that name. Some names you just can't look past their meaning/history.

[smallandneedy.livejournal.com]

I personally love finding out the meanings behind names, but I don't normally choose my favorite names because of their meanings. If I had that name and found out the meaning, I would probably ask why I was named that. But not everyone cares about meaning so if you really like it, use it. :)
Or, another suggestion - find two names (i.e. Jessica Isabelle) and use Jezebel as a nickname :)

[robothor1111.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't want to be named that, personally. But in the end it's up to you.

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

I've pretty much decided I won't be using that name. If my child did ever look it up on the internet or in the bible, then they might hate me! Hah. So no Jezebel.

[beekeeperswife.livejournal.com]

As others have said, Jezabel is thought to have been a biblical whore, but only because make up & jewelry were associated with prostitutes. She is lesser known (today) as being a false prophetess & worshiper of Baal, but that's what made her "famous" in the book of Kings.

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that!

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

You could shorten it to Bel(le) as a nickname?

[thethicket.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, yeah. Naming your daughter Jezebel is definitely not the way to go. Sorry you fell in love with something with such negative connotations!

[cry884.livejournal.com]

I think the name meanings don't matter when they're obscure. Problem is, everyone knows what a Jezebel is. It's not obscure yet. Check back in 100 years. For now, Jezebel = whore.

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

Everyone but me knew what Jezebel was! Haha, I'm just not in the loop with these things.

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

Yeah, horrible associations with that name.

[unboundvoice.livejournal.com]

I honestly had no idea that name had that meaning. It's not my style, but I don't see anything wrong with it. When I look up the meaning it says "not exalted". If you were planning on raising your child in the Christian church, then maybe you should steer clear, but I'm not particularly religious, and wouldn't let it stop me from using the name if I loved it. Maybe change the spelling? Jessebelle? Jesabelle? Or a similar name? Isabelle, Jesalyn?

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

My husbands family is very religious. So religious I'm not even game to ask them what they think of the name in case they think I'm insane haha.

[vanish.livejournal.com]

Most of the time, I would overlook the meaning of a name, but in a case like Jezebel, where so many people do know the story behind the name, I don't think I'd be able to.

Would another name ending in "bel" be equally as appealing to you? Isabel, Rosabel, Gianabel..?

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

That's the only "bel" name I liked. But I've found some other names that I like just as much. I'm not fussed, in the end it's just a name and if it means my child will be teased very harshly then it's not worth using, even if I like it.

[jadedsurprises.livejournal.com]

Which part of it do you like so much? Maybe you could come up with some other options that don't have such harsh meanings.

Maybe Annabelle, Mirabelle, Arabella, or Isabel? I can't really think of any other "Jez" names unless we used some creative spelling, haha.

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

I just liked all of it. I guess because my husband came up with it in his sleep. Then again I'm starting to wonder what he was dreaming about! hah

[miri873.livejournal.com]

I think you should use it if you really, really, really love it. People aren't going to judge your child because it means prostitute. And I don't think a lot of people are going to look up what her name means. If it really means that much to you though, how about something similar, but different :)

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

Actually I don't mind Mirabelle. That's actually really pretty too. But maybe spell it Mirabel? I dunno haha. The other names I have chosen are Layla and Lenore. Lenore means pity, but not as bad as meaning whore lol!

[kapowski.livejournal.com]

i totally understand your issue. i had the same question about "trixie" sounding like a stripper. :( in the end, i vetoed it.

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

Aww! I guess the things we name our children stick for life. So we've gotta think about these things.

[aihoshi.livejournal.com]

I'm with ya! I love the name Judas. But for obvious reasons I can never use it. *sad face*

What if you changed it up a bit? Jazzebel or Jessbelle?

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

I'm stubborn and I'd rather change the name completely than to just improvise! LOL! I also love Judas. But you can always go with Judah which is similar and not so...you know, traitory? Haha

[smittenlotus.livejournal.com]

I suggest changing it a bit. It's still probably too early to attempt "taking back" the name to rid it of its common meaning. Jessica Belle is kind of cute? Good luck!

[pixietangerine.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Jezebel is too biblical whore-y, sadly.

Other names with a similar feel:
Jessamine
Jasmine
Delilah
Jessica
Josephine
Mirabelle
Annabel
Arabella
Araminta
Jillian
Althea
Annika
Isadora
Isabel
Elodie
Gemma
Jemima
Guinevere
Juliet
Juniper
Cordelia
Calliope (Cuh-lie-oh-pee)
Beatrix
Ella
Cassandra
Callisto/Callista
Coralie
Miranda
Celia/Cecilia/Cecily
Isla (eye-luh)
Seraphina
Violet
Scarlett
Charlotte
Katrina
Lydia
Abigail
Alyssa
Deirdre
Helena (hel-len-uh)
Lilac
Vivienne
Victoria
Tessa
Fiona
Clara
Laurel
Melissande
Gabrielle
Raina
Lyra

[languagejourney.livejournal.com]

"Helper of men" That can be taken a couple ways and I first thought of it in a helping hand sort of way.

Sorry, my legal name is Cassandra and the only reason I go by a nickname is because it sounds very formal. I can do formal...just not all the time.

It also means prophet but when we got to Greek history, I finally understood where the "Helper of men" part came from.

Basically, many names are "whore-ish". I think so long as you raise the child thoughtfully and concentrate more on any other (nicer) meanings to the name, they will grow up fine. It's when kids hear their parents or reach an education level to heard the name that they finally realize the negative meaning. By then, they should have friends who love them for who they are and most of the bully behavior has been weeded out.

[mommyaubrey.livejournal.com]

yea I wasn't raised real religious but Jezebel is all bad connotation, I think most people know that meaning, since it's in the Christian bible, and maybe others, I don't know how that works. And I've also heard prostitutes called "Jezebels" So I think that you'd find way more people looking at you like you shouldn't be a parent at all than people saying "oh how cute" and I'm with you I think the name sounds absolutely lovely, too bad it was ruined thousands of years ago! :)

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

Yeah too bad it was ruined! I feel so dumb that I had no clue it meant something so awful! Hah.

[followingwords.livejournal.com]

Maybe you could subtly change it so it doesn't sound like Jezebel. Like, Yezebel or Jesebel or Jezedel or something. Jezedel sounds weird, I'll admit (I was trying to come out with an examples where at least one of each consonant was changed), but I do kinda like Yezebel and I really like Jesebel (Jeh-seh-bell is how it sounds in my head). It sounds almost exactly like it except that the middle consonant is much softer and so it sounds like a different name (at least in my opinion). If you do manage to find a change that you like, try it out on some people that you haven't mentioned Jezebel to and see if any of them see the similarity to test whether or not it would work.

Either way, it sucks that you can't use a name you like because of connotations from a book that a was written so long ago (even if it is the Bible) and that was misunderstood.

[w00t-baby.livejournal.com]

I actually don't mind Yesebel and I like Jesebel. But would it still have the same meaning even if it's spelled differently?

[ghostpassenger.livejournal.com]

Well, I know a few religious people named Jezebel in derivative forms. Like Jessabelle.

You can get past this perhaps by combining the names Jesca or Jessica/Jezica with the middle name of Belle or Bella.

[birdsonthewire.livejournal.com]

9 out of 10 people know that Jezebel means 'whore'. Some people actually use it as an insult.

[joereaves.livejournal.com]

There's a difference between the meaning and the associations. Meanings, generally, don't matter IMO (unless you're using a noun as a name in which case the association is inevitable I guess). But negative associations really do make some names unusable, no matter how pretty they are, and I think that one's one of them. Not only was she a 'woman of bad reputation' in the Bible, if I remember rightly she was torn apart by dogs in the end.

Since I'm not sure I explained my meaning very well have an example - 'noble wolf' is a great meaning for a name, right? But most people wouldn't name their child Adolf...

[austrianna.livejournal.com]

i think Jezebel is a cool name :) i really dont care about the biblical meaning. i have a former coworker who wanted to name her daughter Jezebel, but instead went for 1st name Jessa, middle name Belle.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't care much, if at all, about name meanings, but there's a big difference between a name meaning, and a name connotation. Jezebel doesn't actually mean prostitute. But everybody knows that being called a Jezebel is not a good thing, at all.

It's like, Lolita means "sorrows" (it's the diminutive of a diminutive), but everybody thinks of sexually precocious children.