Comments on: Name of the Day: Dorothea

By: Baby Name of the Day: January | Appellation Mountain

Baby Name of the Day: January | Appellation Mountain — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:00:35 +0000

[...] three-syllable, ends-in-y pattern is common in girls’ names throughout the years: Marjorie, Dorothy, Rosemary, Kimberly, Destiny, Mackenzie, [...]

By: Baby Name of the Day: Yvonne | Appellation Mountain

Baby Name of the Day: Yvonne | Appellation Mountain — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 11:52:30 +0000

[...] have already started to catch the attention of parents looking for something fresh. Don’t Dorothy, Ruth, Helen, Joan, and June all sound like names you’d find short-listed on a Nameberry [...]

By: Sunday Summary: 3/27/11 | Appellation Mountain

Sunday Summary: 3/27/11 | Appellation Mountain — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:01:59 +0000

[...] Joseph, Brawk David, and Dash Ayden. Oh, and a Dollie Michelle. I adore Dolly as a nickname for Dorothy, but I think it would be tough to answer to Dolly at [...]

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 11:15:09 +0000

There’s a little Dorothy in our neighborhood. It wears really well. I don’t know if they’ve gone for the Wizard of Oz costume at Halloween, but I totally would! And Dot is a darling nickname, though the local Dorothy doesn’t seem to use a short form. I like Dolly, too.

In some ways, it is so much easier to name the first child, isn’t it? I didn’t notice the Wiggles link, but the Golden Girls came to mind.

By: British American

British American — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 17:19:35 +0000

I really like Dorothy – the meaning, the fact that it’s recognizable as an established name, yet it’s not even in the top 1000 anymore. Plus I really like the nickname Dot, especially as my husband & I met online – “dot com”. I think the Wizard of Oz link would be cute too – to get a Dorothy costume to dress up in.

Plus then we’d have two Golden Girls (Rose & Dorothy) and two Wiggles characters (Henry & Dorothy). Not that I watch either show, but it would be a fun random link.

Hubby isn’t on board though and he gets ‘more naming rights’ this time around. In which case, maybe I’ll push for Dorothy as a middle name. Then technically I could still call the baby (if it’s even a girl) Firstname-Dot.

By: Lola

Lola — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:48:59 +0000

Yep, Shannon, Over here in New England she’s dor-oh-thee. Heck, I grew up in NJ and say it the same way. Maybe it’s an East coast thing? Or just Northern? I am definitely Northern. I’ve never seen Dasia in Cyrillic (bet I wouldn’t even recognise it if I did!) but I grew up hearing Dah-zhah It falls in line ith what little I know about Russian considering my maternal line originates there. But I’ve recently seen it spelled Dosia, and pronounced the same way. Anyone know if that pronunciation’s right?

By: Shannon

Shannon — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:44:45 +0000

Dorothy sounds like an old fashioned name that could come back, as others have, but hasn’t. The sound of it is quite pleasing, but somehow I just don’t like it very much. Dorothea is better. I like the nn Thea and Dasia (it is Dahs-ya?) is nice. Don’t like Dot or Dottie. Dory’s OK. Dorothy always reminds me of Wizard of Oz. It was my aunt’s favorite movie. I pronounce Dorothy dahr-uh-thee but I believe some places in the US they say “dor-uh-thee”

By: JNE

JNE — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:01:27 +0000

Indeed a dacha is a summer house in Russian! Wow – impressive! I picture birch forests and little wood cabins and gathering wild berries and mushrooms… mostly because of the language exercises in the majority of Russian 101 textbooks from way back when – but it’s all good stuff. I’d guess that the closest Russian version of Dasia is Dasha (DAH shah) – the diminutive for Darya (usually transliterated and made to sound like Daria – DAR ee uh – in the states which is unfortunately a little too close to diarrhea to me, when Darya is so nice – it’s all due to those palatized consonants that don’t exist in English but run rampant in Russian…).

Is Dasia said DAH zhah, DAY, zeeya, DAH seeya or like Asia with a “D” in front? I wasn’t sure – I had never heard the name before… or maybe it’s just that I’ve never seen in written in non-cyrillic writing like that. BTW – I really like Anya – lovely name – sorry it was vetoed! It’s actually the nickname for Anna in Russian, but so much more sophisticated sounding.

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:47:22 +0000

I agree with Cat, Kylie – Dasia might work just fine as a stand alone name. I loved the idea of Anya, but my other half veto’d it. (I can’t remember why …)

As I say Dasia, I wonder about one thing – JNE, your Russian is better than mine – isn’t a dacha a summer house? I suppose it’s a fairly obscure (and neutral) reference, but it did pop into my head.

Dorothea would be exactly right as a sister for Josephine, Lola! BTW, there’s a very appealing character called Dorota on Gossip Girl. She’s the maid to one of the main characters, so I’m guessing she was intended to be a minor figure. But I really get a kick out of her!

And guess who’s never read Middlemarch! Oops … I’m fairly sure I’ve *bought* Middlemarch and intended to read Middlemarch. I’m adding it to my 2009 to-do list!

By: Cat

Cat — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:24:59 +0000

I love Dorothea! I might use it when I have kids, provided that I stick with my current boyfriend. (I sure hope so) His grandmother is a Dorothy, and an extremely sweet woman. I just love the regal sound and nickname options.

Kylie, I think that Dasia could work as a standalone in the US. It sounds like a full name here and recalls Daisy, so I definitely think it would work.