A rose by any other name

[linda_joyce]

Taken from all over.

1. Are you named after anyone? If so, explain. I was going to be Penelope right up until Mam went off to register me. But as she went out the door my darling Gampie(who I do love dearly really) said in his 'no fooling' voice:-
'Call that baby Penelope and I'll call her Nelly'
So on her way to the Registrar Office Mam decided on Linda. Since there are a slew of Lindas of around my age I think we are all named after Linda Darnell a movie star of the 40s but Mam never said. My middle name is Jane and that is a traditional family name. It started as the name of one of my maternal great grandfathers two wives. His second wife I would imagine. Gran was Sarah Jane after both his wives, and I can't see her perpetuating the dead wifes name but I can see her naming Mam after her mother. Mam was Esme Jane.
2. Do you have your children's names picked out already? If so, is there any significance? I decided in my late teens (after I started baby sitting) that I never wanted children of my own and I have never regretted that decision. But if I had a girl would have had Jane as part of her name and a boy would have had Timothy. edit Though thinking about it I do have an elder cousin whose second name is Timothy so I would likely to have been William, since that is what we do when there are two or more boys in a generation. The first one takes that generations name the second gets the other.
3. If you were born a member of the opposite sex what would your name have been?Going by family tradition probably Timothy as there is either a William or a Timothy in alternate generations. My generation is a Timothy one. This tradition goes back to at least 1796
4. If you could re-name yourself what name would you pick and why? I wouldn't, I have never felt any desire for a different name even as a child playing make believe I was always Linda.
5. Are there any mispronunciations/typos that people do w/ your name constantly?Well there's always the y/i choice and 9 times out of 10 people chose the Y spelling of Linda.

Comments

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Do they? Linda is the usual one, so I thought they'd choose that. Besides, it's Spanish for 'pretty' and Lynda isn't. :-) Or is Lynda the preferred Welsh spelling?

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

It's always people younger than I who chose the Y spelling. That became popular here in the late 50s early 60s and seems to have stuck. My generation knows its i, they are the 10th person who get it right.

Linda also comes down from the Germanic languages from what I've read. There it means snake, and since the snake was the symbol of the goddess of wisdom for them it has become to mean wise, or at least in one old book of the meaning of names we have in the reference library. So i say my name means 'pretty wise', far more suitable for a librarian.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

'Linde' also means 'soft' or 'tender' in German, and of course there's Sieglinde. :-)

I think most Lindas here are Linda. Maybe there was a Lynda over there they all got named after.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

That's a meaning that could well apply to me, I'm very tender hearted, I cry every time Bambi's mother is shot.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm like that too. It's why I avoid the news. :-(

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're confusing it with Lynn, which I believe has a totally separate derivation, the OE for lake or pool?

I'm pretty sure that you're right and Linda reached us via the Germanic root. I remember reading once that there was a fashion for Rosalind because people thought it was Spanish for "pretty rose", but its real Germanic derivation is "horse snake", conveying the strengths of two admired animals.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

but its real Germanic derivation is "horse snake"Oh dear I do hope the Rosalinds of the world never found that out without the explanation of why it means the strengths of two admired animals.. Though most Rosalinds would still be offended.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

My sister is Penelope, by the way. I don't think anyone ever called her Nelly, but she did get Penny as a child, which she disliked. So we called her Pen, or occasionally Lily (derived from my early attempts to pronounce her name as Lilylope), but eventually we found out she didn't really like anything short of the full four syllables.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

Ummm... I like Nellie :)

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

I sometimes feel like a Nellie in more ways than one but Mam hated it.