Interesting local article on baby names

How would you shorten Alexandra?

Jean


That would be a nickname and I don't *do* nicknames. Alexandra would be
Alexandra

"Tom Enright" wrote in message
om...
Sophie wrote:

I dont like unisex names much either, for example Riley to me sounds
boyish but I only know girls with that name.

I only know one Riley, a girl.

As much as you think of Alex as a boy's name (I agree) I believe that
Riley is a boy's name as well. My nephew is Riley, short for O'Reilly,
a family name. My Grandfather was called Riley by his freinds and
family but this was a nickname.

-TOE

Honestly to me Riley is a last name - lol. If it *must* be a first name I'd
say it's a girl's.

In article ,
"Sophie" wrote:

Just out of curiosity, do you think Alex for a boy is particularly bad? Im
just wondering because we have Alexander picked for one of our boy names
and
we may call him Alex (or Xander) for a nickname. Has Alex become really
unisex? I love the name Alexander but it sounds so...boarding school-ish I
guess that I dont think I'd be calling him that all the time.

Alexander/Alex is perfectly fine for a boy. Alix for a girl is dumb. My
BIL is Alex - actually Michael Alex - he had to have an M name even though
they knew they'd never use it (also dumb to me).
To me Alex is not unisex, it's a boy's name.

either Alix or Alex are perfectly sensible nicknames for Alexis which is
commonly a girl's name in the US


I dont like unisex names much either, for example Riley to me sounds
boyish
but I only know girls with that name.

I only know one Riley, a girl.

And Jaden (Jayden) sounds girly but
I've only heard it for boys.

I only know it for celebrities' babies.

I like to hear a name and know if its a boy or
a girl without having to wonder.

Absolutely!


And I agree that most of those names on the list were pathetic.

Kari
mom to Kaylie (7) Noah (4) and #3 due Sunday

In article ,
"Mary W." wrote:

Hillary Israeli wrote:

In ,
Jenn wrote:

*In article ,
* (Hillary Israeli) wrote:
*
* In ,
* Jenn wrote:
*
* *but the correct foreign pronunciation of a place name is not 'correct'
* *if the people who use the name locally differ e.g. Lafayette as a place
* *name is often correctly pronounced Lah FAY ut not LA fay ette in the US
* *when it is a town or street name. Cairo Il is correctly pronounced Kay
*
* Seriously? Here in Lafayette Hill, PA, we say LAH-fay-ette HILL.
*
*
*in Nashville it is LAH fayut

so, where is it that you were saying they correctly pronounce it Lah FAY
ut, then?? Just curious!

Not Lafayette, but in Atlanta, a major road is Ponce de Leon. Pronounced
locally as Ponce da LEE-on. Took a little while to get used to that. Mostly
called "Ponce".

Mary



my daughter had a college professor who insisted on pronouncing WEB Du
Bois as 'dooo bwah' when everyone knows it is Du Boyz. You gotta go
with the way the wearer of the name pronounces it when talking about him
-- but once it gets to be a geographic landmark all bets are off. Touch
about old Ponce though.

Sophie wrote:
Just out of curiosity, do you think Alex for a boy is particularly bad? Im
just wondering because we have Alexander picked for one of our boy names

and

we may call him Alex (or Xander) for a nickname. Has Alex become really
unisex? I love the name Alexander but it sounds so...boarding school-ish I
guess that I dont think I'd be calling him that all the time.


Alexander/Alex is perfectly fine for a boy. Alix for a girl is dumb. My
BIL is Alex - actually Michael Alex - he had to have an M name even though
they knew they'd never use it (also dumb to me).
To me Alex is not unisex, it's a boy's name.



I don't think of Alex as a "name" at all - I think of it as a nickname,
for either Alexander, or Alexandra. To me, it is unisex.

Clisby

Penny Gaines wrote:

Fer wrote in WUEcb.20918$TM4.3770@pd7tw2no:

|| There is a difference between properly pronouncing "Buena Vista",for
|| example, and translating. There is nothing PC about correctly
|| pronouncing a foregin name, that isnt the same as taking an English
|| name for something and then substituing the foreign version.So to
|| pronounce San Joaquin correctly is not the equivalent of using
|| Deustchland in place of Germany.

Ok, I am a little confused on this logic.....Pronouncing Buena Vista
properly appose to Good Sight/View (someone help me on the translation) is
different from Deustchland/Germany how?

This is my view:

When one is speaking in (British) English, the countries in Europe include
France, Denmark, Norway, Germany and England.

When one is speaking in Danish, the countries in Europe include
Frankrig, Danmark, Norge, Tyskland and England.

When one is speaking in German, the countries in Europe include
Frankreich, Danemark, Norwegen, Deutschland and England.

When one is speaking in Italian, the countries in Europe include
Francia, Danimarca, Norvegia, Germania and England.

When one is talking about the different newpapers in each country,
the newspapers include La Monde, Die Zeit and the Times. No matter
which language you are speaking, one in the newspapers in France is
called La Monde, and should be pronounced in the French way: it is
not called The World.

Does that help?

Not really.

How do you prounounce the capitol of France? Pair-ess or Par-ee or Par-is?

-TOE

--
Penny Gaines
UK mum to three

"Tom Enright" wrote in message
om...
Penny Gaines wrote:

Fer wrote in WUEcb.20918$TM4.3770@pd7tw2no:

|| There is a difference between properly pronouncing "Buena
Vista",for
|| example, and translating. There is nothing PC about correctly
|| pronouncing a foregin name, that isnt the same as taking an English
|| name for something and then substituing the foreign version.So to
|| pronounce San Joaquin correctly is not the equivalent of using
|| Deustchland in place of Germany.

Ok, I am a little confused on this logic.....Pronouncing Buena Vista
properly appose to Good Sight/View (someone help me on the
translation) is
different from Deustchland/Germany how?

This is my view:

When one is speaking in (British) English, the countries in Europe
include
France, Denmark, Norway, Germany and England.

When one is speaking in Danish, the countries in Europe include
Frankrig, Danmark, Norge, Tyskland and England.

When one is speaking in German, the countries in Europe include
Frankreich, Danemark, Norwegen, Deutschland and England.

When one is speaking in Italian, the countries in Europe include
Francia, Danimarca, Norvegia, Germania and England.

When one is talking about the different newpapers in each country,
the newspapers include La Monde, Die Zeit and the Times. No matter
which language you are speaking, one in the newspapers in France is
called La Monde, and should be pronounced in the French way: it is
not called The World.

Does that help?

Not really.

How do you prounounce the capitol of France? Pair-ess or Par-ee or
Par-is?

By Penny's rules (with which I generally concur), it would depend upon what
language you were speaking at the time. If you're speaking English, it's
PAIR-is (or perhaps -ess). If you're speaking French, it's Par-EE. I have no
idea what it is if you're speaking German, but you should use whatever
pronunciation a native German speaker would use.

You there yet?
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [18mo] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"No parking passed this sign" -- hotel parking lot sign

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

You never know. My 10 yo son is named Cameron. I always liked the name
since hearing of the football coach Cam Cameron (Indiana?) and hockey
player Cam Neely. Two or three months later "The Mask" is released and
suddenly people know of Cameron Diaz, now the name is as popular with
girls
as boys. Personally, I think many of those people who name their girl
Cameron are confusing it it with Carmen.

For the record, my son hasn't had any other kids in his class named
"Cameron."

-TOE


My daughter has 2 Camerons in her class. They're both boys.

"Jenn" wrote in message
...
You gotta go
with the way the wearer of the name pronounces it when talking about him
-- but once it gets to be a geographic landmark all bets are off. Touch
about old Ponce though.

Ah, well, he was just a ponce anyway g!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [6], Aurora [4], and Vernon's [18mo] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"No parking passed this sign" -- hotel parking lot sign

All opinions expressed in this post are well-reasoned and insightful.
Needless to say, they are not those of my Internet Service Provider, its
other subscribers or lackeys. Anyone who says otherwise is itchin' for a
fight. -- with apologies to Michael Feldman

Wendy Marsden wrote in message ...

My SIL has a common last name - think "Smith". She specifically wanted
names for her children that were unique spellings so the children's names
would be both memorable and unique. I didn't care for the concept of
saddling kids with names that cannot be spelled by anyone ever, but I
acknowledge her reasoning and it was just a reminder that we each value
different things. This SIL is turning out to be an excellent mother and
she gets that way by following her heart and instincts, so I feel like I
was wrong to dislike the names originally. (And I certainly love the kids
and know them well enough to think their names are normal - for them -
now.)

Interesting thoughts. People are certainly capable of living good and
full lives no matter what they are named if they grow up in a
positive,
supportive atmosphere. I think that where some people make a mistake
is in assuming that a unique spelling *will* be memorable (not talking
about your SIL, just general comments). For me, I have an easier time
remembering a truly unique name than I do a relatively ordinary name
that is spelled "yeuniquely." My mind keeps wanting to rearrange
something
like Kaelib into Caleb, or Madecyn into Madison.

I support the right of parents to name their children anything they
please,
but if they go into this knowing that the name will be very difficult
to
spell or that people may be confused when they name their daughter
Michael James, they need to remember not to get huffy when people
can't remember
that *their* daughter's name is Kayli, or when letters come addressed
to
"Mr. Michael _____. After all, these same folks are already wrestling
with other people's uniqueness and have gotten her confused with the
Kaelee, Kaili, Kayeli, or Kayleighs they already know. (It's difficult
for everyone to be unique, which I know sounds funny.) I happen to
be an excellent speller, and I'll be darned if I can remember how to
spell the four Caitlyns I know (I'm sure at least one of them is
spelled that way, lol!)

Lynne