Theodore, Matthew and Benedict all mean “gift of God.” As the result of a pregnancy that catastrophically altered my parents’ plans for their and my older brothers’ future, I was so named to remind them that ultimately, this was all part of God’s plans. still, which tastes better: the cookie straight off the cooling rack, or the one that was dropped on the kitchen floor?
That reminds me of Terry Pratchett’s *Lords and Ladies:
*
Mulva.
There was a girl called Virginia, they called her Virgin for short, but not for long.
In the 1990’s a big story in Detroit was the murder of a gent named Malice Green by two police officers who were convicted and served prison time.
At the time, I was curious about the fact that nothing was ever said about the victim’s name. I mean, who names their infant child Malice?
I understand this sentiment but I find it funny that I feel the exact opposite! I love love love the name Dolores because of its meaning. I guess to me it feels more like a romantic, bittersweet sorrow?
My name means hidden/secret because Odin sacrificed himself to himself on the tree for nine days to learn their secret, and for which reason we used to sacrifice a bunch of animals and pretty virgins once a year to celebrate it. I’ve many times tried to convince my fellow countrymen to revive this excellent festival. So far with little success. So that’s a bit of a bummer.
My name means “the girl with the beautiful eyes”. It’s not something Americans know but Indians know immediately.
I don’t care. I do have beautiful eyes. 
My parents named me that for a reason.
Turkish for ‘flower soul’, of Persian origin (گلجان Goljān in Persian; Turkish c is pronounced like a j).
Except that Benedict means ‘blessed’.
I’ve always wondered that too. As a w.a. guess, perhaps he was named after a beloved aunt or grandmother named Alice, with M- prefixed to signify ‘male’? Kind of like the neologism “murse”? OK, I got nothing.
There’s a whole bunch of names with unpleasant meanings. I mean, Mary and all its variations means “sea of bitterness” but that’s not what I think every time I meet a Maria or a Molly. Claudia means lame; Cecilia means blind. No big deal.
Catherine/Kaitlyn/Kathleen/Katrina so on and so forth also mean innocent or pure. No different than calling a girl Chasity.
Well, the full name is María de los Dolores, after, as you correctly translated, Our Lady of Sorrows. It has its own feastday post-Vatican II, but previously it used to be celebrated on the so-called Friday of Sorrows, the Friday before Palms Sunday.
The meaning of the advocation is of Our Lady as protector of mothers who suffer because of their children - which as of last count is any mother worthy of the name. Naming your daughter Dolores is asking Our Lady, who went through the worst sorrows a mother can go through because of her Son, to protect you and your daughter from the same.
That’s based on an assumption that it’s Semitic, because it looks like a compound of the Hebrew words *mar *‘bitter’ and *yam *‘sea’. IMHO it’s more likely that it derives from the Egyptian root mry, which means ‘love’ or ‘beloved’. The original Miriam came from Egypt.
Every Jesus I’ve met was a complete dick. I wonder if it was “boy named Sue” syndrome.
It seems ever so slightly odd to find lots of non-French people named Francis, Francisco, or whatever the equivalent is in the local language. There’s an argument, however, that it can also mean “Freeman” in addition to “Frenchman”
I once knew a guy, born in 1900, with the name Ernest. I’m guessing that his parents were unaware of the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Ernest, which opened in 1895 in London. At any rate the fellow once told me, “You know, I never liked that name.” He wanted a name, not an adjective.
I understand that many common names have meanings in their original language. John means, “God is gracious”, Richard means “Brave ruler”, etc. Ok, I got those meanings from a dubious website, but I retain my claim anyway, pending contradiction.
In some circles it’s a very common name, and almost nobody names a kid based on whether somebody wrote a play with that character’s name. (The adjective is “earnest.”) Wilde made a play on an existing, fairly popular name–he didn’t invent one and give it a meaning.
It is different. Nobody says “Today I helped a cecilia man cross the road” or “don’t you act all catherine with me”. You don’t tell a coworker complaining about her marriage “wow, mary much”.
Yeah lots of names have meanings when you look back, but they’re not just regular everyday words. Chastity and Dolores are normal words that have meanings, and the meanings are pretty nasty.
But would you call your kid Shit, and then say it actually means “I Hope You Never Stand In Dog Shit”?
Like I said, I know it’s not what parents intend but someone still ends up being called Dolores.
I met a young man a few years ago called ‘James Bond’ who was desperately shy and gawky - I felt quite sorry for him having to introduce himself. It might have just about been okay if he’d been a super-confident polymath sportsman or something, but he was quite slight and ordinary (I’m in the UK, so there’s no escaping the name recognition).
So does Nathaniel, which is my youngest son’s name. My oldest is named Owen, which in a roundabout way means “well-born”. I hope neither of them take their name literally!