Hi Swistle,
I have no baby to name at the moment but always have names and words on the brain. I’d love to know what you and your readers think of Winsome as a name for a girl. I’ve decided it is about my favorite word in the English language and have started to wonder if it could work as a name. I wondered if maybe the Puritans used it, with their penchant for out-there virtue names, but I can’t find any evidence to suggest so in my limited searching. It seems like nicknames like Winny or Wynn could make it more wearable, but is it maybe still a bit too much?
Thanks,
Jodi
My first association surprises me, because I’m familiar with the word winsome and I like it very much (a winsome smile, a winsome curl, a winsome glance)—and yet my first association when I said it aloud as a name was with wince and wincing. I wonder if it’s because I’m familiar with the word in books but I don’t use it in speaking? I continue to like the way it looks written down, but I liked it less when I said/heard it.
My second association, after I’d said it aloud a few more times, was “win some, lose some.”
My third association was with the name Winston, which is a name I like. But perhaps because it’s a name I’m familiar with, while Winsome is not familiar to me, my tongue tangled over it—as if the name were supposed to be Winston and I were saying it wrong.
The name is very uncommon (I looked in a sampling of Social Security data bases and didn’t find it in a single one, which means in the U.S. it was used 0-4 times in those years), but it HAS been used from time to time: I found references to Winsome Evans, Winsome McCaughey, Winsome Pinnick (Nameberry); and Winsome Sears (The Baby Name Wizard). I suspect that being familiar with one of those Winsomes would dramatically improve the name-like feel of the name.
“Win” is a moderately familiar name segment, though not currently in style: Winifred, Winnie, Winston, Winter, Winslow, Winona, Darwin, Edwin, Irwin. The “some” segment is less familiar for names in the U.S.: Summer and Blossom were the only two I could come up with—but Summer was more common in 2013 than all the Win-/-win names combined. Oh, wait, I forget about -wen/-wan: some of those might count as Win-/-win names, depending on local pronunciation: Owen, Rowen/Rowan, Ewan—even Wendy and Gwyneth and Gwendolyn might increase the name-like quality of the sound.
One thing that makes me nervous about many virtue names is that they seem to set such a clear expectation—and to make the wearer look a little foolish if that expectation isn’t met. A girl named Patience would have reason to assume that her parents expected her to exhibit that trait—and any time she ISN’T patient, she sets herself up for an easy joke. Winsome is less of an issue because the word is less familiar/used than a word like patience, but I still feel it could be a bit of a burden for a serious sort of girl. The definition isn’t particularly appealing to me if I imagine it applied to myself: “Charming in a childlike or naive way” (American Heritage Dictionary). Sweet on a small girl, but less so on an adult.
I feel quite differently about it as a middle name. It’s in the category of names I sometimes wish I’d used for my own kids’ middles: something adventurous and fun and interesting.
As a first name, I think I’d be more inclined to choose Winifred: you could use Winsome as a pet name without committing her to it.
Let’s see what everyone else thinks:
My immediate association is with the song, “I’m Not That Girl” from Wicked. Elphaba singing about Glinda: “She who’s winsome, she wins him”.
I think it works as a name, but it’s not a name I’d want. But then, I wouldn’t want Patience or Prudence as a name either.
Yes I thought of the song first too.
What about Blythe? I think it’s sweet and soft but has more of a name feel.
If someone described someone as winsome to me, I wouldn’t know if they liked the person or were trying to be diplomatic about someone who was flakey…so I think it might be hard to carry as a first name. I like it in the middle spot though, where it mostly matters what the significance of the word is to you.
I agree it works as a name. I also agree it is not a name I would want based on its meaning. I would rather have a strong name rather than one that means child-like and naive.
I prefer Winifred, Winona, and Eve Winter over Winsome.
I adore the name Winsome! I actually know two people with this name, which I suppose is unusual given the uncommonness of the name. One of them is now a grandma and she was the first Winsome I knew. She is a charming person, although not necessarily in a naive way. The other Winsome was a baby when I knew her and I haven’t kept up with her through the years so I don’t know how she has grown into her name. Virtue names are my favorite and in this case, I don’t worry about how well the word’s meaning may fit its bearer. That is because there are so many ways to be ‘winsome’ that it is sure to fit in some way. Also, if someone is named something so very unusual, they are able to define the name. In other words, the name becomes “them” in their acquaintances minds.
I think it could make an interesting middle name.
I have a strong negative reaction to “cutesy” names for girls and this strikes me as very cutesy. I admittedly get my dander up too much about the words we associate with male and female – boys don’t get names like “Patience” – is it because we expect patience to be a womanly virtue or just because the name “reads” more female (i.e., sounds like Patricia, lady-name territory)? I don’t mean to get all feminist theory here, just trying to share my thoughts.
It’s funny how some words seem to work and some don’t (Swistle did a great post about this with the name-chooser considering “Aviatrix” – it screams “lady things!” whereas it’s less frequent to consider OSHA violations or the occult when choosing to name a son “Mason”. Seriously, go read that post).
I voted maybe- leaning yes. I think the available nicknames make the difference. If I were introduced to a Winsome I think I would be initially surprised, but that would be it.
I would not use this. I think of “winsome” as meaning primarily “attractive, appealing”, and for a couple of reasons that would strike it out as a name for me. For one thing, just like I am pretty not into people giving their babies super-cool names, because what if the kid turns out to be awkward and not cool, I feel like giving a female baby a name that stamps “physically attractive” right into her name is not a gamble I’d feel good making.
For another thing, I have feminist grumpy feelings about the way our culture acts like girls owe it to the world to be pretty .
I like virtue names, but I think there are a lot of great ones that don’t box a female child into “must be pretty, passive, and patient” right off the bat. Those are the ones I would look at.
I think Winsome as a middle name is a great idea. All the fun and none of the pressure!
I like it! I think it’s soft and pretty and I like the way it looks. My first connection was to the name Winston, which I absolutely love, and so actually my concern with Winsome is that it may come across as too masculine. However, typing it just now, I think it looks pretty feminine.
I like it in theory! But as I ponder it, I think I like it more as a name for a character in a book than a real girl (or boy). It doesn’t quite squeak through the “Would I want to be named this?” test either for me. Almost– but not quite. I’d have long since shortened it to Winnie, I think. Full time. Or even just Win. More than anything it’s “Win some, lose some” that bothers me, plus the awkwardness I think would come with introducing myself by the name and catching people’s surprise over and over. So, sadly, I’d save it for the middle or pass it up entirely.
In doing a little genealogy the other day, I ran across an ancestress named “Mercy”. I wonder why the name Grace has made a roaring comeback, but not the name Mercy – I think it’s a lovely name! (I don’t wonder so much about Mercy’s husband, Resolute’s name – it’s a nice concept, but a weird name.)
I covered the name Winsome on my blog, including its history and famous people with the name.
It received a 61% approval rating with 21% thinking it was an interesting modern virtue name, and 19% loving the idea of Winnie as the short form. 18% were reminded too strongly of “win some, lose some”. Only one person thought it was too cutesy.
Abby Sandel mentioned the name Winsome in her Namberry Nine column, and quite a few of the Nameberries liked or loved the name Winsome.
I have seen the name Winsome a few time in recent birth notices, but only as a middle name.
http://waltzingmorethanmatilda.com/2013/10/30/famous-name-winsome/
I like Winsome as a first name for a boy, maybe because it reminds me of Winston and Winfield. Would you like Winry? It’s the name of a great female character from Full Metal Alchemist. Of course, there is always Wynn, Winslow, and Gwendolyn (nn Winnie).
I like it as a middle name but not as a first.
My sil’s name is Windsor.
There is a woman named Winsome in my knitting group.
As far as I know she likes it, but it was obvious when she joined and one of us commented on it that everyone asks her why her parents chose that. I got the sense that she had had that conversation quite enough over 50+ years.
Keep in mind that if all goes according to plan, you will only be explaining the name for the first few years, and she’ll be the one telling her new friends in the nursing home about it circa 2100. At least give her a good story :)
Hello, there!
Guess what I think of the name…….? That’s right – I love it!! The only time I disliked it was when I was a child and did not know what my name meant. Once I learned its’ meaning, I loved being “charming and attractive!”
My Auntie was called Winsome. She was born in the 20s. I love it.
I love it.
My son Simon’s partner is named Winsome, and it fits her really well, she’s a lovely girl. Simon isn’t used very often these days either, but at least he does’t have to explain it.
My name is Winsome and I grew up with it, and I consider it as a “unique” name.