You Just Think You’re God’s Gift
- July 2nd, 2008
So, I was watching some TV show the other day and a woman made some comment about how her baby was going to be named Tyler, which means ‘Gift from God’. Seriously? 
It’s quite often people say their precious cherub is named whatever and such because it means “God’s gift” or ”A gift from God” or some variation thereof. That got me wondering… can all of these names really mean that or are people just so enamored with their own DNA that they want to believe that’s what it means? Or maybe they tell their kid that to make them feel more special or… whatever.
I suppose there’s no harm in that. I just think it seems a little pretentious or self-important somehow. Like, what? Your neighbor’s kid Eunice isn’t a gift from God because her name means “good victory”? (If you believe in the Christian God, which many don’t. I don’t, but let’s not go there — I’ve not had nearly enough coffee.)
Of course, I mean no offense to any Dorothys, Matthews, Theos or Johns out there whose names actually do mean ”gift of God”. Or… well, anyone else who thinks their name means Gift of God… maybe it does.
Why I care is beyond me, but pointless thoughts are what this blog is all about.
For the record, my names according to some website I grabbed in a Google search (so therefore, they are accurate and all-knowing) mean ”Gatherer” and ”The Lord is God”… of course. 
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You’ve got me beat, since Heather is a perennial shrub. And my maiden name means “rock formation” so I always thought I was pretty uncool. So my full, pre-wedding name? Shrub Meadow-Grace Rock. Oh yeah.
@Heather: How “Mother Earth”!
I think it’s interesting what people’s names mean, even if it’s all a bunch of hooey, you know? It’s fun.
Mine means, “Thanks, Dad. Now I’ll never find one of those cool pencils at Disneyland with my name on it. Also, teachers will fuck it up FOREVER.”
@macgeezel: Oh, I’m with you on that one!
^ me three.
Mine means erection!! Whoo-hoo!!
No, wait… I think it said mine means resurrection. Yeah, I think that’s I read. I’m illiterate and sydlexci, so what do I know, right?
My name is the Cornish form of Gwenhwyfar (see GUINEVERE).
GUINEVERE f English, Welsh Mythology
Pronounced: GWIN-e-veer
Old French form of the Welsh name Gwenhwyfar, which is composed of the elements gwen meaning “fair, white” and hwyfar meaning “smooth”. In Arthurian legend she is the beautiful wife of King Arthur.
My name usually gets translated to “white wave” or something similar. Guess it’s fitting, since I’m one of the most pale-skinned people I know!
My husband’s middle name means “penis” in Bengali. I found that out a few months ago quite by accident, and suddenly decades of undeserved rudeness because I am a white girl with a Spanish name seemed irrelevant.
See, that’s why I’m naming a girl Supernova Starchild Vader because it will mean Supernova
Starchild
(Darth) Vader.
or if my husband has his way with a boy: Lawrence Joseph, which means:
“A name the wife hated since day one and seriously will consider going to court to change it because it’s a whiney-ass name.”
My mother’s name means “grace” or “graceful”, yet she is the clumsiest person I know.
My name means “pure”. Hmmm…..yeah, right.
My name means warrior and I’m shootin’ at the walls of heartache, bang bang.
who came up with giving names meanings in the first place? a name is a name and i agree about some that have to tag it with a reference to religion. i really never gave much thought to someone maybe feeling they are less because there name is not in someway representative of a religion.
ps: my name means, “of a high status”…umm, i’m not quite there yet lol lol.
Hmm- I already knew that Julie meant “youthful”-but the translation on this site made me laugh. “Down-bearded youth” Break out the wax! Got some chin hair to get rid of!
My daughter’s name is Josephine-”He will enlarge”—sounds dirty doesn’t it? Another variation is “God will increase” -sounds better but increase what?
@jules: down-bearded youth!? hahah! That’s great. Beard? No beard? Beard….? No beard!
yea I hear that.
Someone once told my mom that they came up with the name Bianca. lol. That name appeared in a Shakespeare play, so there’s no way that it would have been made up by some people living in the present. But I hate it when people say they came up with a name, gimme a break.
But there seems to be some type of superiority among some parents, not all parents, when it comes to their childrens names. Like people who name all their kids with a similar letter, like Kim Kardashian and all her sisters names start with a K. That’s just cheesy.
Besides a name is just a name, to me its all about a person’s actions and that is what defines a persons character to me. Some people think that if they give their children a name with a religious meaning that it makes them special, like the name will define who they will become. Those people are just naive.
My dad’s name was Angel but he was a total asshat. So yea. Thx for letting me ramble, lol.
@moxierain: it’s funny you say that… almost everyone in my family was a “J” name — my immediate family, a few aunts and my maternal grandparents, mostly.
Jamia, Jerry, Jewel, James, Jeryl Anne, Joy, Joelle… I don’t know if it was intentional. I can only assume it was from my grandparents side. And my cousin’s nickname is Angel. haha! Short for Angelique…
My dad’s parents not only named all of their children “K” names, but they all end with an “in”. Kevin, Karin, Kristin, Karolin, Karmin. Now THAT is dedication.
“Tyler” is another name for a stonemason or brickmason. That lady was full of shit.
I’m reminded of a scene from the movie Top Secret:
“My name is Hillary. It means ‘she whose breasts defy gravity. What is your name?”
“Nick.”
“Nick. What does it mean?”
“I don’t know, my dad thought of it while he was shaving.”
My name is from “natal.” As in “neo-natal.” As in, “Translated to mean birth of Christ, but really just means babies shooting out of a hooha.”
Hot, right? My full name: Shooting-out-of-a-hooha Jehovah-has-been-gracious Ruler-of-a-county-in-Ireland.
I think it has a nice ring to it.
@Natalie: It’s very smooth. Regal, even.
I appreciate your thinking and am completely agree with your point and also it is a universal truth that life of any living beings is Rakhi gifts .It is a belief in Hinduism that God is there in every human being.