# Pronouncing "Content", a woman's name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 5, 2025, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670 "2025-04-05T19:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/21 "2025-04-06T00:23:59Z")
[Nameberry.com](http://Nameberry.com) has no entry for “Content,” but there is one for [“Contenta”](https://nameberry.com/b/girl-baby-name-contenta). ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/22 "2025-04-06T00:41:38Z")
It’d be surprising if the name “Content” wasn’t pronounced with an accent on the second syllable. A distant New England ancestor in Mrs. J.'s family was named “Patience”. Not exactly in her honor, we named our black Lab puppy Patience. As it turned out, that was not one of her virtues (nor is it for Labs in general). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/23 "2025-04-06T01:12:22Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > I’m confused, did we somehow go from ‘Content’ to ‘Constant’? No, _I’m_ confused. But I suppose a name of “Content” could have somehow evolved from (a garbled version of) “Constant.” ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/24 "2025-04-06T01:23:39Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The convention at that time and place was to take some full phrase or sentence of spiritual value, and abbreviate it down to a single word (in Mr. Mather’s case, “the never-to-be-forgotten increase, of every sort, wherewith God favoured the country”). Entertainingly parodied by Ben Jonson, who gives his Puritan characters names like Tribulation Wholesome and Zeal-of-the-Land Busy. In one of his plays, a young woman called Win, which everyone assumes to be short for Winifred, turns out to have been saddled with the name “Win-the-Fight” instead 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/25 "2025-04-06T02:13:14Z")
Stephen King book/movie — **Misery** Is that really a woman’s name? Why? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/26 "2025-04-06T02:21:58Z")
It’s the name of a fictional character _[in the book,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misery_(novel)#Background)_ not of a real woman. > Famed novelist Paul Sheldon writes [Victorian](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era) [romance novels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_novel) featuring a female character named Misery Chastain. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/27 "2025-04-06T02:36:23Z")
I like the name “Verity” It was a character in something on Masterpiece Theatre. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/28 "2025-04-06T02:43:29Z")
There is a British comic strip spy character of the 60s named Modesty Blaise, I always did like that name. They made a movie of it at some point, but I never saw it. > **[Modesty Blaise](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modesty_Blaise)** > > Modesty Blaise is a British comic strip featuring a fictional character of the same name, created by author Peter O'Donnell and illustrator Jim Holdaway in 1963. The strip follows Modesty Blaise, an exceptional young woman with many talents and a criminal past, and her trusty sidekick Willie Garvin. It was adapted into films in 1966, 1982, and 2003, and from 1965 onwards, 11 novels and two short-story collections were written. > In 1945, a nameless girl escapes from a displaced person (DP) camp... ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/29 "2025-04-06T02:45:51Z")
Dickens does this. Names characters what personality they could be. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/30 "2025-04-06T03:04:40Z")
Also parodied by Terry Pratchett, with names like “Mightily Grow the Oats of the Lord” and “Visits the Infidels with Pamphlets”. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/31 "2025-04-06T05:24:46Z")
And that quote I used above of his about the Carters. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/32 "2025-04-06T11:40:58Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Modesty Blaise Modesty Blaise was a female James Bond character, and one of her tricks was to confuse her opponents by baring her breasts (well - it was the 1960s). She also had a collapsible steel bow with which she was deadly accurate. I was a big fan…🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/33 "2025-04-06T12:38:59Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Modesty Blaise was a female James Bond character, Caitlin Flanagan (and apparently the author) begs to differ! > Modesty is a secret agent who works on special assignments for British intelligence, so (to O’Donnell’s great frustration) she is most often compared to James Bond. They’re really nothing alike. Bond’s life begins and ends with each mission. Modesty, by contrast, exists in a fully realized world, with homes—in particular, her sumptuous penthouse overlooking Hyde Park—friends, lovers, and a range of interests. She enjoys attending country fairs, going to the theater, dressing up, riding horses, cutting gems, rescuing animals. [Modesty Blaise Is a Heroine for Our Time - The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/modesty-blaise-caitlin-flanagan/550916/) ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/34 "2025-04-06T13:37:39Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Bond’s life begins and ends with each mission. Maybe it does in the films where they have to account for different actors, but in the books, JB was a much more rounded character. He, too, lived at a smart address, and he had a problematic gambling habit to fund. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/35 "2025-04-06T14:04:57Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I knew a lady named _Mercedes_. It was pronounced _Ma-SHED-us_. Mercedes is a common name in Spanish-speaking countries. Put a Southern accent on top of a Spanish accent, and you get your friend’s pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/36 "2025-04-06T15:20:07Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > Mercedes is an old female name. An abbreviation from “Maria de las Mercedes” (as also with Dolores) ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/37 "2025-04-06T15:58:59Z")
And Soledad (as in O’Brien). ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/38 "2025-04-06T16:42:50Z")
I would pronounce the woman’s name as "Kun-tent, while the materials contained in something would be pronounced as “Con-tent” You should to be happy (content) with whichever you choose, so long as the name bearer is OK with your pronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/39 "2025-04-06T17:11:50Z")
I’ve always loved women’s names that are also nouns, like Autumn, Amber, Winter, April, Charity, etc. Had the universe blessed us with a daughter, we’d have named her “Grace.” I’m also impressed by the wide variety of women’s names that are nouns juxtaposed with the dearth of men’s names that are also nouns. We have Victor, Frank, Chad, Craig, and a small handful of others. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2025, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670/40 "2025-04-06T17:17:00Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > ’ve always loved women’s names that are also nouns, like Autumn, Amber, Winter, April, Charity, April, May and June. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronouncing-content-a-womans-name/1016670.md?page=3)