Cancelled Baby Names

[exchemist]

Here are some Hebrew girls' names which have attained cancelled status:

Arnona (ארנונה), formerly a lovely nature name meaning "roaring stream." Today the word is used in Israel to mean "property tax."

Chanana (חננה), formerly meaning "grace of God." Nowadays it's a Hebrew slang word meaning "nerd, dork."

Orna (אורנה), another nature name, created as a feminine form of the Hebrew word for "pine tree" (אורנ). Unfortunately, it too closely resembles the Yiddish word orne (אורנע), meaning "ballot box" or "urn."

Ziva (זיוה), meaning "brightness, brilliance, splendor." However, a modern-day Hebrew word that sounds exactly the same but is spelled with one different letter (זיבה) changes the meaning of this name to "gonorrhea."

The lesson to be learned here is: Don't be charmed by names you find in modern-day baby names books. You could be making a terrible mistake in naming your child one of these names before doing a bit of research on your own.

(And, no, I've never made one of those mistakes. I don't have any kids, but I do love names and their meanings. )

People do sometimes seem to make up names, or muck about with their spelling, without doing their homework. I knew a Norine in Houston, which must be a corrupted spelling of the Irish Noreen, but strays uncomfortably close to the French for "nostril" (narine). I'm sure there will actually be a Narine one day - it can only be a matter of time.

 

[Kathryn]

Interesting. I wonder if that's an American thing, due to their (slightly ridiculous) animus against George III. A bit like the reason there are no Benedicts in the US, because of Benedict Arnold. When my brother Benedict travelled in the US, he learnt to introduce himself as "Ben",which people took for Benjamin, a nice Jewish name.

George just sounds old timey to me, like someone's dad. It has nothing to do with George III. Oh and my cat is named Benedict, for the record. Not because of Benedict Arnold. Because my other cat is named Beatrix so I have Benedict and Beatrix. Shakespeare fan here. I thought I would call them Ben and Bea but I call them Benedict and Beatrix.

For the record, I am an American and I LOVE history.

 

[exchemist]

George just sounds old timey to me, like someone's dad. It has nothing to do with George III. Oh and my cat is named Benedict, for the record. Not because of Benedict Arnold. Because my other cat is named Beatrix so I have Benedict and Beatrix. Shakespeare fan here. I thought I would call them Ben and Bea but I call them Benedict and Beatrix.

For the record, I am an American and I LOVE history.

Could be that then. These things definitely go in generations. In the UK, there seem to be plenty of Georges about, so we must be on a different cycle.

I like the names of your cats. More intellectual than Plug and Socket, which were the names initially given to a pair of kittens that some friends of mine had in Dubai. (I think it was the guy winding his wife up, actually. They eventually settled on different names, though less memorable ones.)

 

[Kathryn]

Could be that then. These things definitely go in generations. In the UK, there seem to be plenty of Georges about, so we must be on a different cycle.

I like the names of your cats. More intellectual than Plug and Socket, which were the names initially given to a pair of kittens that some friends of mine had in Dubai. (I think it was the guy winding his wife up, actually. They eventually settled on different names, though less memorable ones.)

Isn't one of the heirs to the throne named George? I can't remember, to be honest. That also has nothing to do with George III! LOL

 

[exchemist]

Isn't one of the heirs to the throne named George? I can't remember, to be honest. That also has nothing to do with George III! LOL

Yes you are right, though I had to look it up, not being a close follower of the Royal Family. Seems the eldest child of the Prince of Wales is George. He himself is William, so both very Hanoverian/Protestant Ascendency names - unlike Charles, both previous Charleses having been Stuarts and either Catholic or fellow travellers.