# Making up baby names

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-up-baby-names/144521>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 23, 2002, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-up-baby-names/144521 "2002-12-23T11:55:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@The\_Wrong\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Wrong_Girl)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2002, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-up-baby-names/144521/41 "2002-12-26T23:33:50Z")

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I got:  
\*\*  
LARIA  
LEIKA  
LINAH  
LUCRE  
LYDIN \*\*

Honestly, I didn’t think it’d be that bad. I just picked 5 letters, L, and “Brit Lit.” Come on, though—“lucre”?

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**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-up-baby-names/144521/42 "2002-12-28T05:16:40Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ninevah \*  
> **Certainly, it’s not a recent trend. My great uncle was given the name Macfarlane (he’s known as Mac) which was a surname from our family history. Often, important names in family history mostly enter the middle-name category, but sometimes make it into the given-name category. There are several cases of this happening within my maternal and paternal family histories, however, it does only seem to happen to the males on other side.**

A surname for a first name to honour family ties = good  
A surname for a first name despite no historical link = bad

Are there really that many people out there with connections to the McKenzie and Connor family names?

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**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-up-baby-names/144521/43 "2002-12-28T18:15:17Z")

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My grandparents made up “Angalee” for my mom.

I have some friends who have been planning to name a daughter “Ciela” if they ever have one.

Cielo is “sky” in Spanish. (Doesn’t it also mean “heaven”?)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\
**Post date:** [December 28, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-up-baby-names/144521/44 "2002-12-28T18:17:10Z")

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Huh, I thought they made it up. I still think they did, but Google finds I think 5 other Angalees mentioned on the web. Still, that’s an awful small number for a name. Maybe some people just had similar thoughts.

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