How many people know the meaning of their names and is it important anymore?

Just wondering

How many people know the meaning of their names and is it important anymore?
Most names in Western culture don't have clear meanings. There are books full of guesses about the meanings that range from reasonable deductions to wild, improbable speculations. Often these books don't agree with one another and don't bother to provide any evidence or references, so when someone "knows" what their name means, more often than not they only know what it means in reference to some particular book. As an example, my name "Benjamin" is Biblical, and it's often said to mean "son of the right hand" in Hebrew, which is more or less how it's interpreted in the Bible, but that ignores the fact that that part of the Bible is full of puns and wordplay. Any objective critic would have to wonder whether the "son of the right hand" interpretation is what "Benjamin", originally the name of a tribe, really meant or whether that's a later reinterpretation of it. But in the "name dictionary" all it's going to say is "son of the right hand" or something like that. They aren't going to tell you about the possibility that the "right hand" interpretation is a pun or a later reanalysis. This problem is commonplace in interpreting Biblical names, but most compilers of name dictionaries just want to churn out copy so they can get paid - they don't care if it's right or not.





Another example is the name "Terence". I once heard someone claim that it means "speaker for the earth" in Latin, mistakenly connecting it to the Latin word "terra", "earth." The problem is that the original Latin is "Terentius". If you understand how Republic-era Latin names worked and how the language works generally, it's pretty obvious that "Terentius" is most likely related to the participle "terens" ("grinding" or "milling"), such that "Terentius" could be an occupational surname, the Latin equivalent of "Miller." Unfortunately, the Romans didn't leave us a dictionary of names coined in the early Republic, so at best we can just make educated guesses about it. Unscrupulous authors though will just say "X means Y" without so much as a "maybe" and usually without having the slightest idea what they're talking about.





In some cases, a name comes directly without alteration from some well known word, like "Phoebe" (Greek, "bright one", sometimes an epithet of the moon or various related goddesses), but instances like that where the meaning is clear and certain are only a tiny fraction of the names in use.
Reply:I don't think to many know the meanings of their names anymore. i don't know mine because i don't remember it. When i named my children i didn't know the meaning of the name. It is important to some people that is why there are juniors and seniors. I know that in some countries their kids are named after something.
Reply:"Erik" : From the Old Norse name "Eiríkr", derived from the elements 'ei' "honored", from Proto Germanic '*aiza-' "honor", or 'ei(r)' "ever", "eternal" (cognate to English "aye" meaning 'always' and Latin "aevum"), and 'ríkr' "ruler", cognate to '-rix' in Celtic names and the Latin noun 'rex'.





So : "Eternal Ruler" or "Honored Ruler". What do you want, it's a traditional name for kings in Scandinavia ...
Reply:I'm working on my family tree and learning about my name and what my ancestors might of done in the past. My 8th great grandparents were the first settlers to start a town in Canada. They had the first home in that area and started a town one building at a time.
Reply:i know the meaning of my name, but i don't think it's very important anymore. but i like names with a meaning to it better than names without a meaning. my name means mighty fighter.
Reply:Mines quite straight forward Grace


Grace - Grace of God





Graceful etc..


I don't think its important. Who cares what ur name is. if u change ur name do u change who u are inside?


nope. i wouldnt anyway
Reply:Well... in japanese Karen can be translated to





加恋 - 'increase romance'





:P
Reply:Most of my friends know the meanings of their names. I think it's important, but I like names and history of words.
Reply:My name means the garland of roses, and I really don't like it when people call me Rhonda when it's actually Rhoda.
Reply:my name means penis





Guess ! what is my name? lol