From the 1900 book Glimpses of Sunshine and Shade in the Far North (which described Klondike Gold Rush stampeders camping at Lake Lindeman in British Columbia) by Lulu Alice Craig:
“[W]e wandered through this little city of tents of twelve to fifteen thousand people, finding interest in reading the names on the tents which represented many if not all parts of the world.”
(This quote was on display at the NPS museum in Skagway, Alaska.)
From an article about Lisa Brennan, Steve Jobs’s first daughter:
Lisa repeatedly tried to get [Steve] Jobs to tell her that the Lisa Macintosh computer was named after her but he refused to confirm it.
It was only when she was 27 and on holiday at a villa in the South of France owned by U2 singer Bono that Jobs finally came clean.
Over lunch Bono asked Jobs about the early years of Apple and whether or not he named the Lisa after his daughter. Jobs said: ‘Yeah, it was.’
Lisa was shocked and told Bono: ‘That’s the first time he’s said yes. Thank you for asking’.
From an article about athletes with strange middle names:
With a first name as iconic as Kobe Bryant’s, who needs a middle name with an interesting story? Well, Kobe Bryant does. His middle name — Bean — is a touching tribute to his father, Joe Bryant. Because of his high energy and ability to jump (guess Kobe must have inherited that particular skill), his father was nicknamed “Jellybean.” Luckily, Kobe’s parents didn’t go for the full candy-coated name and instead just dubbed him Kobe Bean Bryant.
From an article about Beatrix Potter finding character names via headstones:
The names for Beatrix Potter’s much-loved cast of animal characters may have come from ageing headstones.
Peter Rabbett, Jeremiah Fisher, Mr Nutkins, Mr Brock and Mr McGregor have all been found on stones at Brompton cemetery, west London, near where Miss Potter lived from 1863 to 1913. This seems to confirm local rumours that have circulated for years about the source of the names of her characters.
From an article about the name of Olympic swimmer Leisel Jones:
“Leisel was a very rare name when I was born in 1985… When I was born actually, my doctor said to my mum ‘you cannot call her Leisel because that’s not a name… You’re going to regret that one day,'” the Olympic swimmer said.
“And they absolutely did.”
The 32-year-old also went on to say having a unique name isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when no one can spell it right.
“The only problem with my name is it’s spelt L-E-I-S-E-L — and everyone spells it wrong. Everyone spells it as L-I-E-S-E-L,” she said.
“So that is a bit painful, it’s a bit annoying. But I do love my name and I love that it’s different.”
From the 2003 book Exploring Twins: Towards a Social Analysis of Twinship by Elizabeth A. Stewart:
“[I]n such cultures as those of the UK and the US the implication of twinship in the broader realities of social structure is clearly indicated by the link between the ‘naming’ process for twins and class differences: higher socio-economic groups tend to choose more separate, less ‘twinsy’ names for their children, emphasizing values of and possibilities for individuation and autonomy, whereas the greater tendency for lower-class groups to actively emphasize and encourage unitary ‘twinness’, whether through naming, dress or referencing (as in the ‘twins’ as a social and linguistic unit) may well reflect values of familial solidarity and fewer opportunities for individual social advancement.”
From an article about the parenting approaches of Millennials vs. Gen Xers:
Millennial parents are picking baby names based on available domain names, a new study claims.
[…]
According to the research, as many as one in five millennial parents said they changed or seriously considered changing their baby’s name based on what domain names were free at the time.
From an article about the drama that ensued after a baby was named after murdered Australian girl Tiahleigh Palmer:
The grandmother of a new baby named after murdered schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer insists the name was meant as a tribute to the dead girl.
Tiahleigh’s furious mother Cyndi Uluave unleashed on a young couple whose baby was born last Friday, and named Tiahleigh, claiming it was disrespectful to use the name of her daughter who was killed in 2015.
[…]
‘Who names their baby after a dead girl? This wasn’t their name to use,’ she said.
(In response to “who names their baby after a dead girl”: JonBenet, Rainell, Roni Sue, Sherianne…)
According to Cyndi, she created the unique name “Tiahleigh” by combining the names Tiarna and Lee and then playing around with the spelling.
To see more quotes about names, check out the name quotes category.
