What is in a name?

Rei · Postby **Rei** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 6:59 pm

So I was batting about names the other day and noticed what so many others see: that some names just really do not sound right when paired together. So, pweb, I ask you to help me with a theory I am trying to form of first and second name pairs. I'm going to list several pairs of two names, and would appreciate it if you would say which pair of each set sounds or feels more natural (please set aside any prejudices about specific names).

Heather Lynn
Lynn Heather

Rebekah Lynn
Lynn Rebekah

Stephanie Lynn
Lynn Stephanie

Heather Rebekah
Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn
Lynn Alexandra

David Andreas
Andreas David

Oliver James
James Oliver

David James
James David

Joshua James
James Joshua

James Alexander
Alexander James

Jebus · Postby **Jebus** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 7:23 pm

Heather Lynn
Lynn Heather

Rebekah Lynn
Lynn Rebekah

Stephanie Lynn
Lynn Stephanie

Heather Rebekah
Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn
Lynn Alexandra

David Andreas
Andreas David

Oliver James
James Oliver

David James
James David

Joshua James
James Joshua

James Alexander
Alexander James

Bolded is my choice for most natural. I think in most situations I just went for the order that allowed for the name that sounded most like a surname to be second.

Postby **Luet** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 7:50 pm

Heather Lynn
Lynn Heather

Rebekah Lynn
Lynn Rebekah

Stephanie Lynn
Lynn Stephanie

Heather Rebekah
Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn
Lynn Alexandra

David Andreas
Andreas David

Oliver James
James Oliver

David James
James David

Joshua James
James Joshua

James Alexander
Alexander James

Postby **Eaquae Legit** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 7:59 pm

Okay, let's see what I come up with. Trying to avoid other people's posts...

Heather Lynn

Rebekah Lynn

Stephanie Lynn

Heather Rebekah (not sure about this one, both feel awkward)

Alexandra Lynn

David Andreas
Andreas David (unsure about this one, too)

Oliver James
James Oliver (unsure)

James David

Joshua James

James Alexander
Alexander James (unsure)

So I hope this helps, because I didn't really understand the notations.

Postby **Jayelle** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:02 pm

Lynn is always a middle name to me, because it's my middle name.

The first option in all of your lists sound "right" to me, except Alexander James.

Jebus · Postby **Jebus** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:07 pm

And out of curiosity Rei, why were you "batting about names"?

::squints at EL::

Young Val · Postby **Young Val** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:18 pm

Heather Lynn
Lynn Heather

Rebekah Lynn
Lynn Rebekah

Stephanie Lynn
Lynn Stephanie

Heather Rebekah
Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn
Lynn Alexandra

David Andreas
Andreas David

Oliver James
James Oliver

David James
James David

Joshua James
James Joshua

James Alexander
Alexander James

Please tell me your theory has to do with syllables/rhythm/meter.

Rei · Postby **Rei** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:20 pm

Mostly because every now and then we debate it. That and because when I'm choosing names for stories I find some just work and others sound really awkward for no immediately apparent reason.

Rei · Postby **Rei** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:21 pm

Please tell me your theory has to do with syllables/rhythm/meter.

I'll fill in the details of my theory when I've got a few more replies and I can see if it is substantiated or not. Probably I'll let you lot know tomorrow or the day following.

Gravity Defier · Postby **Gravity Defier** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:29 pm

Without looking at other responses:

Heather Lynn

Rebekah Lynn

Heather Rebekah (this sounds less than fantastic together, too, I think but it's the more natural)

Alexandra Lynn

David Andreas

Oliver James, unless I think about it with a last name; then James Oliver sounds fine if you change the cadence to something more punctuated.

David James

Joshua James

James Alexander

Basically, the first of all your pairs.

Nehali Sophia · Postby **Nehali Sophia** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:37 pm

Heather Lynn
Lynn Heather

Rebekah Lynn
Lynn Rebekah

Stephanie Lynn
Lynn Stephanie

Heather Rebekah
Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn
Lynn Alexandra

David Andreas
Andreas David

Oliver James
James Oliver (My brain automatically converts this to Jamie Oliver

David James
James David

Joshua James
James Joshua

James Alexander
Alexander James (I really had a tough time with this one)

LilBee91 · Postby **LilBee91** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:38 pm

Heather Lynn
Lynn Heather

Rebekah Lynn
Lynn Rebekah

Stephanie Lynn
Lynn Stephanie

Heather Rebekah
Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn
Lynn Alexandra

David Andreas
Andreas David

Oliver James
James Oliver

David James
James David

Joshua James
James Joshua

James Alexander
Alexander James

I bolded the more natural sounding ones. I think I prefer one-syllable middle names, in general.

Petra456 · Postby **Petra456** » Thu Feb 24, 2011 8:48 pm

Heather Lynn

Rebekah Lynn

Stephanie Lynn

Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn

David Andreas

James Oliver

James David

Joshua James

James Alexander

Rei · Postby **Rei** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 3:54 pm

Thank-you all for your replies!

If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate you humouring me once more on a new set of "names" (I am well aware that these are not, and should never be, considered names for any person). Again, if people would just go based on which of each pair feels more natural to say for naming purposes.

Galaxy May
May Galaxy

Hockey Pyjamas
Pyjamas Hockey

Hockey May
May Hockey

May Pyjamas
Pyjamas May

Bean_wannabe · Postby **Bean_wannabe** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:04 pm

May Galaxy

Hockey Pyjamas

Hockey May

May Pyjamas

Postby **Luet** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:21 pm

Galaxy May
May Galaxy

Hockey Pyjamas
Pyjamas Hockey

Hockey May
May Hockey

May Pyjamas
Pyjamas May

LilBee91 · Postby **LilBee91** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:26 pm

Galaxy May
May Galaxy

Hockey Pyjamas
Pyjamas Hockey

Hockey May
May Hockey

May Pyjamas
Pyjamas May

mr_thebrain · Postby **mr_thebrain** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 5:32 pm

galaxy may sounds like a name a rock star would name their daughter. in fact, i think it's part of some of frank zappa's kid's names...

hockey pajamas would be funny frickin' name.

Jebus · Postby **Jebus** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:28 pm

Galaxy May
May Galaxy

Hockey Pyjamas
Pyjamas Hockey

Hockey May
May Hockey

May Pyjamas
Pyjamas May

Gravity Defier · Postby **Gravity Defier** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:31 pm

Galaxy May

Hockey Pyjamas

Hockey May

Pyjamas May

Petra456 · Postby **Petra456** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 10:13 pm

Galaxy May

Hockey Pyjamas

Hockey May

Pyjamas May

Syphon the Sun · Postby **Syphon the Sun** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:09 am

Galaxy May

Hockey Pyjamas

Hockey May

Pyjamas May

ratesjul · Postby **ratesjul** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:34 am

Heather Lynn

Rebekah Lynn
Btw, I like your spelling of Rebekah!

Stephanie Lynn

Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn
Lynn Alexandra
I think either of these works just as well.

David Andreas

Oliver James
James Oliver
I think either of these works just as well too

James David

Joshua James
James Joshua
Either of those.

James Alexander
Alexander James
And either of those, too!

Galaxy May

Pyjamas Hockey

Hockey May

May Pyjamas

powerfulcheese04 · Postby **powerfulcheese04** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:27 am

Heather Lynn

Rebekah Lynn

Stephanie Lynn

Rebekah Heather

Alexandra Lynn

David Andreas

Oliver James
James Oliver
either of these

David James
James David
either of these

Joshua James
James Joshua
either of these

James Alexander
Alexander James
and either of these

Apparently, I am less picky about how boy names go together.

Young Val · Postby **Young Val** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 11:35 am

Galaxy May
May Galaxy

Hockey Pyjamas
Pyjamas Hockey

Hockey May
May Hockey

May Pyjamas*
Pyjamas May

*If "Pyjamas" was singular, I would choose the latter option, "Pyjama May."

steph · Postby **steph** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 3:28 pm

Heather Lynn

Rebekah Lynn

Stephanie Lynn

Heather Rebekah

Alexandra Lynn

David Andreas

James Oliver

David James

Joshua James

Alexander James

Galaxy May

Hockey Pyjamas

Hockey May

May Pyjamas

Overall, I like the same number of syllables as the first name or less for the middle name. There are a few exceptions. With the Rebekah/Heather combo, I couldn't do uh sound and the heh sound next to each other. I sounded like Rebekah Eather (like a bad cockney accent). The r sound at the end of Heather carries over easier into the r of Rebekah. I agree with Kelly that the plural of pyjamas didn't work as a first name.

Young Val · Postby **Young Val** » Tue Mar 01, 2011 4:16 pm

This thread makes me want to scan the names SO MUCH. I LOVE SCANSION. I seriously never thought I'd say this, but I miss my advanced poetry classes in college. *sigh*

Rei · Postby **Rei** » Thu Mar 03, 2011 2:46 pm

Okay, first I want to say thank-you for your replies! I'm not convinced that my theory works, but it has been an interesting experiment.

Kelly, you guessed right that I was looking at stress patterns. (Also, scansion is a lot of fun!) What I was suspecting is that English may prefer multiple unstressed syllables between the last stressed syllable of the first name and the first stressed syllable of the second name. In cases with just three syllables, the unstressed is preferred in the middle. In the end, while the data does generally support this, it is not the only explanation for why the data looks the way it does. It may just be that we prefer more syllables in the first name than the second name, or it may come down to morae. Regardless of uncertain results, *I* had fun with it.

For those of you who may have any interest, here is my final data. The - means stressed syllable and the o means unstressed. The / indicates the word break and the number indicates how many were chosen for a given option.

Code: Select all

-o/-	   29
-/-o	   4

-oo/-	  32
-/-oo	  1

oo-o/-    12
-/oo-o    9

o-o/-	  12
-/o-o	  7

Thanks again, everybody!

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