Comments on: Spotlight: Valentine

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:20:41 +0000

Gosh, it has been YEARS since I read Ender’s Game, though I sometimes see a kid named Ender and think really?

I don’t remember his sister’s name being Valentine … neat!

By: Trisha

Trisha — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:39:13 +0000

I think Valentine is actually really sweet… it reminds me of the good natured sister in the book Ender’s Game.

By: Lola

Lola — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 00:20:01 +0000

I keep toying with the idea of using Valentine in the middle for another girl, possibly. My Dad was born on Valentine’s Day in 1936 and my Grandmother always said he was the best Valentine’s Day present she ever got! They’re both long gone (Dad & Grandma) and while I’ve got a name that honors her, and my daughter has one that honors her mother, my dad was given the trendy Wayne (compared to his brothers more classic James, Theodore & Richard) and he hated his name in an era when most guys didn’t particulalrly care one way or the other. He was always better with us girls, hence, Valentine, for him, on a girl. Somehow, I think he’d rather enjoy the thought.

By: coolteamblt

coolteamblt — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 02:40:43 +0000

I know! It’s funny, because there were more Kate-type names in my school than Jessica’s, Ashley’s, or Tiffany’s? I was really lucky. If my mother had had her way, I would have been either Allyn Elizabeth, or Gretchen Allyn. (My dad’s middle name is Alan). Allyn aside, at least my mother has pretty classic taste in names. My dad would have named me Anna Katherine.

Luckily, my sister was always going to be Amelia Margaret. It’s so pretty! Amelia is my great-grandmother’s middle name (Lois Amelia), and my grandmother’s name was Margaret.

If there had been a third kid, she would have been Wilhelmina Gretchen. They’re nice enough names, but really clunky together.

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 00:17:35 +0000

1986 – shouldn’t your name be Tiffany, Ashley or Jessica? You’re right – Katherine is amazingly restrained, considering.

Ah, but Amelia – that’s a lovely name!

By: coolteamblt

coolteamblt — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 23:16:27 +0000

I used to hate my name as a kid because I went to school with a kazillion Katherine’s, Kathryn’s, Caitlin’s, Kathleen’s, Kate’s, Katie’s, etc. (I was born in 1986, so while none of those names were top ten, the Kate-type names added up!) I was one of six Kate’s in my freshman English class. It sucked.

Now that I see all the crap names my mother could have picked, I’m really pretty thrilled. I’m still jealous of my sister’s name: Amelia Margaret. She was born in 1991, when the name wasn’t even top 100. She hated it, of course, because she wanted a popular name.

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:25:13 +0000

I grew up with a girl called Abigail Valentine, actually, so maybe that’s why it sounds so familiar to me. I love the sound of Genevieve Valentine.

And I’m very jealous of your classic given name!

By: coolteamblt

coolteamblt — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:54:18 +0000

As a Katherine Elizabeth, I hope nobody’s tired of my name! *wink*

I have to say, I don’t like Valerie or Valeria. Valerie sounds dated and somehow off to me. Valeria reminds me of the word galleria, and it makes the name an odd choice to me.

I do like Valentine in theory, though. I think it’s a tough line to walk, though. It’s a bit too masculine sounding for a girl, and too associated with love and teddy bears for a boy. Valentina sounds too frilly for my tastes, although I think it wouldn’t be a bad choice for the people that keep using names like Ariana and Precious. I like the idea of Valentine for a girl’s middle name a lot. I think it would be a cool, daring sort of middle name. I particularly like the sound of Genevieve Valentine and Anna Valentine. They’re a bit too out there for me to actually use, and I think they toe that way too edgy line, but I like the sound of them.