How can I find the true meaning and origin? How do I know what I'm looking at isn't just made up?
How come different baby name websites give different origins and meanings?
I think checking a lot of sites tend to be the best bet. I adore behindthename.com as they seem to have very accurate information. I always check a couple of different names to see what they say as a litmus test:
Vanessa -it doesn't mean 'butterfly'. Jonathan Swift invented the name, and it was later used to name a species of butterfly. If you find a website that shows just 'butterfly' without the backstory, the research is probably very perfunctory.
Oscar -it's an Irish name from os: deer and cara: love. James MacPherson used it for a character. Napoleon was a fan, and got his godson's parents to give the name to their son, who became Oscar of Sweden. Some people list Oscar as coming from the Norse elements os: god and gar: spear to "divine spear."
Olivia -Shakespeare made it up as a feminine of Oliver. Some books list it as meaning 'peaceful woman', some sort of elaboration off of the olive branch of peace. In reality, Oliver comes from the Norse Olafr, and has nothing to do with olives.
Reply:Because most traditional names have meanings that are lost in time, and most modern names don't mean anything.
Most of what you are looking at is made up. Seriously, try the Kabalarian site. You can type any word at all in there and it will tell you what its "meaning" as a baby name is. Yeah, right.
Reply:Poor research or ambiguous/obscure/uncertain origins, I suppose.
http://www.behindthename.com seems pretty accurate, or so people have said on here. That's the site I go to first to look up a meaning and pronunciation.
Reply:because some names have more than one meaning
chestnut
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