Recently I came across a plant genus that I really really like, and the name sounds very beautiful to me, and not difficult to pronounce :)
And a random thought came to me - can I use this to name my kid if I will have one in the future? Am I too obsurd? Have you ever thought about the same?
Of course it’s legal to use almost any name but I just want to hear what you think.
Asking as
1 my mother language does’t have those common words reserved for names, we simply just choose our favourate word when choosing a name
2 I just don’t like to have a common name!
3 Went to search for the origin of the name incase it’s something too obsurd, luckily it’s from a mythology
You are not at all absurd! Names inspired by nature have always been around, with some (Lily, Reed) at times being more commonly heard than others (Ivy, Iris) but nature names always sound classic, I think.
It’s wonderful that you have a name that speaks to you. Here the names Rosa and Viola are
in use, which I believe are also the names of genera, so there are some other examples.
Not absurd at all!
I’ve encountered Rose, Lily, Violet, Willow and Fern. I’ve also met Robins, Ravens and a Wren.
Besides making sure it is not difficult to pronounce, I would suggest making sure it is not difficult to spell!
Salix is a given name I’ve heard several times now. I rather like it. Not common, but not unheard of.
I say go for it, so long as whatever you’re going for can’t possibly be reconstrued as something…rude (I say this only because I work with kids. if they can find an insult in a name, they will use it without thought).
Another nature name! Though a friend who shares it (Rosamaria) explained it is not for the plant but actually means “sea mist” which I think is beyond lovely.
Helvella. Sounds like the name of an evil witch or something, but its also really pretty. Its a mushroom genus, we have Helvella vespertina, which sounds even more mischievous.
Also Zenaida! It’s a genus of dove, a recent lifer of mine, and it sounds like a beautiful name.
I feel like “paper nautilus” would be a weird name for a baby. All jokes aside, I would probably do this. Some options are better than others; for example, I’d rather name my kid Cypress than Turdus or Anas.
I’ve always been of the opinion that it’s best to give kids “normal” names instead of trying to be quirky, parents may think “unique” names are cute but I think most kids would rather have a name that doesn’t require an explanation of the meaning or spelling when introducing themselves
varies from language to language and place to place and era to era.
The original poster stated:
and I wondered what common words she meant but as I did not know I simply thought about what nature names I knew of in use and any that were genera of which I was aware. (There are likely others but I am really not well versed.)
That said:
I was not aware of my beloved Nannotrigona bees when I had my children but I would not have used it had I been, much as I do admire them.
edit to add: By “them”, I meant the bees, but to be fair I admire both the bees and the children.
