# Baby names - another thread. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 15, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040 "2008-06-15T19:41:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2008, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/21 "2008-06-16T22:20:12Z")
golda is the usual birth certificate name. as in golda meir. goldie is the nickname. as in goldie hawn. one was a 70 year old prime minister (and grandmother). one is an ageless comic. just one example of what a serious name vs nickname will do to you. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/22 "2008-06-17T02:02:40Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Say what you will about some of the names **blinkingblinking** has suggested - and I’ve liked some of them, but not everybody has - he’s being very thorough. [/QUOTE] My earlier comment did not come out the way I intended it, and I apologize to whomever was offended. I didn’t know there were other threads. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/23 "2008-06-17T02:46:43Z")
This might help. [http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager](http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/24 "2008-06-17T03:23:07Z")
[QUOTE=cher3] I don’t know if was originally made up, but Janessa, with an “a” is a fairly popular name among Portuguese families here in San Diego. [/QUOTE] It’s a not unheard of name for Portuguese girls in Massachussetts too (there are **a lot** of Portuguese people in southern MA) and I’m sure they’re happy not to have been named after uncle Manny or uncle Joe 🙂 2 out of 3 kids in my mom’s family were named after my grandfather and great-grandfather Joe: mom’s Joanne, my uncle is Joseph III. I think it sounds somewhat odd with the son’s name, but Jenessa isn’t bad on its own merits. **Harriet the Spry** , what about all the non-redheads named Scarlet and Ruby? They seem to do okay. ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/25 "2008-06-17T03:38:07Z")
Like others have said, “Goldie” sounds like something you name your fish or retriever. I like Jenessa alright. Not as much as I like Jane, Jenny, or Melissa - but then I’m stodgy and dull like that. ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/26 "2008-06-17T08:43:19Z")
[QUOTE=Orual] Like others have said, “Goldie” sounds like something you name your fish or retriever. I like Jenessa alright. Not as much as I like Jane, Jenny, or Melissa - but then I’m stodgy and dull like that. [/QUOTE] Melissa would be good. My wife says that she likes the sound of “issa” “essa”. But I hate the nickname of ‘Mel’. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/27 "2008-06-17T09:09:12Z")
Maybe it’s different in Australia, but I don’t know any Melissas who are nicknamed Mel. When I was growing up, the standard nickname was Missy (which I don’t really care for, but is better than Mel). All the Melissas I know now go by their whole name. Jenessa is OK; Goldie, not so much, because of the connotations already mentioned. I like Melissa. GT ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/28 "2008-06-17T09:43:31Z")
My IRL name is Nerissa - howzabaout that? ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/29 "2008-06-17T09:57:39Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] Melissa would be good. My wife says that she likes the sound of “issa” “essa”. But I hate the nickname of ‘Mel’. [/QUOTE] Clarissa! There was a writer named Jessamyn…that’s kind of cool. ---
**Author:** ![rockle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/73ab20/32.png) [@rockle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rockle)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/30 "2008-06-17T12:49:34Z")
[QUOTE=gardentraveler] Maybe it’s different in Australia, but I don’t know any Melissas who are nicknamed Mel. When I was growing up, the standard nickname was Missy (which I don’t really care for, but is better than Mel). All the Melissas I know now go by their whole name. [/QUOTE] This is my experience as well. I have 5 or 6 friends named Melissa, and they all go by “Melissa.” None of them are called “Mel,” and as far as I know, they never have been. (One did go by her middle name for a while in college, but that was her choice, and just a phase.) Why discount a name you like because of possible nicknames? I have many cousins who go by their full given names of “Michael” or “Gregory” or “Zachary” or “Abbigail” or “Elizabeth” or whatever because that is what their parents call them. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/31 "2008-06-17T13:03:32Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] My baby will be a girl. Or should I say is a girl ? What is the right thing to say? Just found out at the ultrasound. My wife wants to name her Jenessa. I want to name her Goldie. My wife rejected all the other name suggestions that I had. [/QUOTE] How did you all arrive at the names? Did you just like the sounds or are the family names? I’m a fan of family names, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/32 "2008-06-17T13:08:09Z")
[QUOTE=rockle] My earlier comment did not come out the way I intended it, and I apologize to whomever was offended. I didn’t know there were other threads. [/QUOTE] I don’t think you have anything to apologize for. I sure wasn’t offended. > [@Girl From Mars](#): > > My IRL name is Nerissa - howzabaout that? And it’s from Shakespeare! You can’t go wrong with Shakespeare names. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/33 "2008-06-17T13:44:39Z")
[This “Goldie”](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070350/) isn’t so sweet. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/34 "2008-06-17T13:54:48Z")
Jenessa sounds like a porn star. I resigned myself to the fact that the poor kid’s joing to have a Jerry Springer audience member name about three of these threads ago. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/35 "2008-06-17T15:46:01Z")
They both sound like stripper names. ---
**Author:** ![Merhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Merhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/36 "2008-06-17T15:52:33Z")
[QUOTE=Girl From Mars] My IRL name is Nerissa - howzabaout that? [/QUOTE] Well, isn’t that a reasonably common name on Mars? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/37 "2008-06-17T18:08:07Z")
[QUOTE=blinkingblinking] Melissa would be good. My wife says that she likes the sound of “issa” “essa”. But I hate the nickname of ‘Mel’. [/QUOTE] There are lots of good “issa” and “essa” names, and aren’t made up. I like the suggestions of Nerissa and Clarissa. Vanessa and Marissa are nice, too. ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/38 "2008-06-17T20:46:29Z")
So is Jenessa in fact made up? Because, without knowing either way, the previously-mentioned “Janessa” actually looks and sounds nicer and less randomly amalgamated to me, that little vowel makes a difference. Wouldn’t be a name I’d choose for myself, but I would suggest considering that instead. Don’t like Goldie at all, JMO of course. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/39 "2008-06-17T21:39:19Z")
I looked up Jenessa on [behindthename.com](http://behindthename.com), which gives origins and meanings of names. It said it’s “a combination of Jen and the popular name suffix ‘essa.’” So, yes, it’s made up. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040/40 "2008-06-17T23:00:59Z")
[QUOTE=elfkin477] **Harriet the Spry** , what about all the non-redheads named Scarlet and Ruby? They seem to do okay. [/QUOTE] I don’t think I’ve personally known a Scarlet. And who knows what color Scarlett Johanson’s hair really is? Was Scarlett O’Hara brunette in the book, or just the movie? The character seems to have that redhead=fiesty stereotype going on. I have a vague sense of perhaps having met an older Ruby from time to time. I could see Ruby coinciding with the birthstone, perhaps. Still, I picture Ruby as someone whose dark hair has red highlights. I think Goldie is worse than either of those, though, because it sounds so much like a nickname. Why would someone have a nickname that doesn’t describe them? Just … odd. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baby-names-another-thread/453040.md?page=3)