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My favourite name for a long, long time was Saffron. I loved that it was a colour and a spice. Who knows why we love a certain name, but that name had a hold upon me. Two years later I hear Saffron and I think "Well... it's OK, I guess you could still, maybe, use it, and I'll love it".Well, I stumbled across another colour name of which I am undecided upon, Cadmium.
While looking for a book I stumbled across "Saffy's Angel" by Hilary McKay. All four of the children have colour based names names (both parents being artists).
Cadmium or Caddy, Indigo, a boy, Saffron and Rose.
Saffron as I've already said, I've moved on from. Rose is a little to popular for me. Indigo, well the mistake would constantly be made for is it a boy or girl, and I feel I need something stronger for a boy.
And then I started brainstorming and thinking about Cadmium. I can see that it would not appeal to most people. Some maybe would say that it is masculine, but I think I like it. I love the three syllables and the sounds in Cadmium, its hard, but the more I say it, the more exotic it sounds to me. I'm a sucker for nicknames and find quite cute and non-quintessential.
Cadmium is a colour, yellow, adding to the exotic and vivacious feel. Its a mettalic chemical used in some batteries with the symbol is Cd and the atomic number of 48.
Its doesn't have a large history for name usage, especially here in Australia. Perhaps though I will introduce this name to someone who finds it as interesting and quirky as myself. Right now its on my maybes list but I will keep thinking about it, and get back to you on whether its going on my favourites lists. Right now I'm swaying to the favourites. And if that doesn't happen maybe I'll save it to use for a middle name, who knows, the possibilities are endless with Cadmium.
15 comments:
ur...Im pretty sure Cadmium is not a pigment per se. Cadmium Sulfide/Selenide is the actual pigment.
Cadmium is otherwise known to most high school chemistry students as a toxic metal, like Lead or Mercury. This would seem to be a strange name, like calling your son Arsenic because it has a nice masculine ring.
Also, I'm pretty sure "Caddie" is a person who hauls golf bags for tips. A "Cad" is an amateur comedian.
I have to say, not to quell your love, but the very first thing I thought of, even before reading the post was "Cadmium, like the batteries?"
sorry chemistry was a long long time a go (can't say i ever like it :D)
I'm guessing these are both negative comments, which is a shame becuase I still like the name. I feel you can't get to caught up in it chemical background. Theres heaps of names I feel which have worse 'history' or 'background'. But then again you can't please everyone with a name
I did see Cadmium and think poison, but that's mostly because it has been in the news lately. If not for recent stories, I'd never have made the association. It makes a better baby name than Zinc.
I also associate it with a pale blue-silver color, probably from looking at paint chips ...
There's also the mythological Cadmus.
cadmus, its an interesting name. It has an interesting history behind it. I think it at least would be a fantastic middle name!! It has a great sound also to it
I, too, thought batteries. And Cad can also be used for a man who is not to be trusted with the ladies.
I prefer Saffron and Indigo (boy) I read those books :). I like Clove for a girl in the middle at the moment :)
OO Clove is cute! Its different which I like! Matilda Clove or Louella Clove, maybe Imogen Clove.
I actually quite like Cadmium, despite it being extremely toxic.
Cad: Noun. An ill-bred man, esp. one who behaves in a dishonorable or irresponsible way toward women.
This definition will always stick in my mind because my chemistry teacher always used to call me a "cad" whenever he called on me and I got the wrong answer. Only later would I learn what it really meant. I'll never forget that jerk's name: Asbestos B. Formaldehyde. According to his yearbook CV, the "B" stood for Barium, or "Barry" as he was known among the other faculty.
A few years later, I met my 3rd wife in rehab who happened to be a nurse's assistant; She told me what barium was used for, and that made me feel much better. I have been totally clean now for 22 months.
I think you must be misled about the popularity of Rose.
Last year she didn't even rank in the top 100 in Australia and in the US she came in 344th.
In America that is less popular than Hazel, Brenda, Iris, Alice, Jillian, Miriam, Guadalupe, Aurora, Esther, Fatima and plently of other names you never see on the school role.
And in Australia you are more likely to come across a baby girl Milla, Lucy, Poppy, Talia, Imogen or Isla than a baby girl Rose.
I still count Rose as a popular name even if its ranked 344th (which lets be frank is still a high ranking thinking of all the names there are!). That ranking takes in the first names, over in Australia if you look at the birth notices the majority of parents choose rose or a form of rose for the middle name.
Sorry, I still don't think that Rose is a popular name and it is certainly far less popular than your other children's names. Think of how many Hazel, Brenda, Iris, Alice, Jillian, Miriam, Guadalupe, Aurora, Esther or Fatima's you have come across to get some perspective.
I concede that it is a popular middle name but almost all children go by their first names, making the impact of its middle name popularity negligible.
Also, doesn't your fellow blogger have a pint-sized Rose?
Oh i love Sarah's choice in name for Rosemary! There's nothing wrong with popular names and Rosemary going as Remy suits the name down to the ground. I guess everyone has different definitions for popular names :)
Not actually sure it's a color -- I think I remember in the books it was the first part of the names of several colors, since all of them were named after different kinds of paints ("Cadmium Gold", "Cadmium White", etc.) So it could just be a chemical. But I certainly like the sound of it!
Oh, and you've forgotten Buttercup (a.k.a. Carlos), Caddy's and Michael's baby son!!
(And Rose, in a later book, has a friend named Kiran... not a color, but an interesting name anyway.)
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