Do You Ask the Meaning of The Name of People You Just Met?

13 comments

1. No. Names generally don’t have much meaning (anymore). I suspect most people don’t even know what their names could have once meant, in old German or something.

2. Not really, it is more of a thing that you look into for novelty. Ofc. it is sometimes funny, if you encounter a case of nominative determinism, but for the meaning of names, given names, I doubt most people know what their name means, in that sense. I doubt all named Peter—the most common male name—know their name is derived from the Greek _Petra_, in turn derived from aramaic _kefa_, meaning “rock.” The most common female name is Anne, derived from the Hebrew _Channah_, meaning “grace.” Most people don’t care about that stuff. I googled the above two.

   And surnames are a similar story, most surnames are patronyms, meaning stuff like Jensen, Petersen, Pedersen, Hansen, and so on, basically a given male name with the suffix -sen meaning “son of.” There are also occupational and toponymic surnames, but they often explain themselves. If a person is called Bager as a surname, someone in their family 200 years ago was probably a baker. And if someone is named Kolding, their family was probably from Kolding.

3. No, not at all. If it’s an unusual name people might ask where it comes from, but the meaning of a name isn’t really something that’s discussed.

4. Normally not. Most people have more or less common names without a deeper meaning. And even if it is a rare name, it’s probably too personal to ask for a first meeting.

   Actually, in recent years we even had the discussion if it is racist to ask where a person comes from if he or she has an obviously foreign name.

5. Usually not, though if I have any slight knowledge of the language the name is in, I might. Like if someone is named “Poesy” that seems to be an anglicized version of the French word for poetry. Then I would ask to confirm that. But it also depends on what sort of mood the person is in. If I get a hint that the person is not interested in elaborating on their name, I say nothing.

6. No, I have never really done that nor has anyone asked me. To be honest I don’t even know what my name (Robert) means. I suppose German names do have a meaning (or had one back in Germanic times) but I don’t think many people know the meaning or even the origin of their names.

   Personally, I am more interested in last names especially if they are foreign. I am one of those people who will ask *where* does your name come from. I know some people consider that offensive because it may come across as “you are not originally from here” but I honestly mean no harm. I just find family history and stuff very interesting.

7. I’d say no, the majority of names has usually an ancient or obscure meaning, and most people don’t know what their name means.

   Few names have an apparent meaning in Italian, such as Chiara (bright), Beatrice (blessing woman), Stella (star), Aurora (dawn), Rosa (rose), Francesco (French), Salvatore (savior).

8. I should add that a lot of Turkish names have a clear meaning, many are from the nature (names of flowers, birds of prey, trees etc), an adjective (mature, civil, free etc) or a noun that people know (hope, happiness, love etc) so name meanings are usually obvious. This is why it is especially interesting when someone has a name whose meaning you don’t know, while in Europe most people don’t have names whose meanings are obvious, so probably it is less relevant?

9. I have an Indian name that isn’t very stereotypically Indian-sounding and most non-Indian people don’t know it’s an Indian name (by design, my parents wanted something relatively ethnically ambiguous because they were afraid of racism). I don’t get people asking me what it means very often at all- when it does happen it’s either older people or people from outside Europe/other Western countries. Most people just tell me about a celebrity (usually a cricketer) or another Indian guy they know personally with the same name.

   I admit I do find it slightly patronising sometimes if white people do it – I don’t think they’d ask someone with a slightly unusual English/Biblical name the same question and it feels a bit exoticising. But I know they mean it with the best of intentions so I don’t take it as a micro-aggression or anything like that.

10. Names rarely have obvious meaning in Germany. They’re just names. Mostly christian names but maybe from a different language (like, Germans being called John instead of Johannes). Some Germanic names have roots that fell out of used or became only used in Names. Like Robert. Traces back to the Proto-Germanic for “fame” and “bright” but in German booth words are only used for personal names (in English, the part that meant “bright” is actually cognate with bright).

    So to us a name is just a name and if people ask for names it’s mostly for very obvious foreign names.

11. People don’t usually know, in my experience. I have an extremely uncommon medieval name so I get a LOT of raised eyebrows but no-one’s ever asked about it. They just say “oh that’s an interesting/cool name” and that’s it.

12. Definitely no. That would be seen as really weird and idk many people who know the meaning off the top of their head. At a push someone might ask if you have a really unusual name but people are more likely to ask where it’s from rather than the meaning

13. No, not in North America. As someone who likes history and etymology I ask these things out of genuine curiosity. It is considered rude in some circles because it may be percieved as calling out an individual’s ethnic background for dubious reasons. Basically people might think you are prejudiced if you go about it the wrong way.