Hey all, sorry for the sporadic posting lately, but I’ve been trying to get a lot of stuff done. Between scheduling classes and fighting with my mom about living on campus, it’s been quite a week! Anyway, today’s post will be on two names I’m undecided about, Cordelia and Cornelia.
Cordelia
Cordelia’s up first. Shakespearean is the first thing that comes to mind. Even though I’ve never read King Lear (I don’t particularly care for Shakespeare), I think everybody associates Cordelia with it. However, I have at least two more book associations up my sleeve.First is Stephen King’s Dark Tower series. In the fourth book, Wizard and Glass, Cordelia is the main character (Roland’s) love interest (Susan’s) evil aunt. Basically, she sells off her virgin niece to the mayor, and when she finds out that Susan’s not a virgin anymore, helps to plot her death. Long story short, Susan is burned on some sort of semi sacrificial fire and Cordelia has a stroke. Not very nice, but luckily not an association that most would share. The other association is Anne of Green Gables, where Anne so desperately wants to be called Cordelia, because it’s “perfectly elegant.” Much nicer. Unfortunately, Wizard and Glass is my primary association.
Cordelia’s sound, I think, is lovely. The Cord bit looks unpleasant in writing, but it sounds like Cor-delia, so I can overlook that. Cordy is god-awful as a nickname, but Cora and Delia are cute, especially Delia. I think it’s delicate and feminine and just lovely. Lia is plausible but not intuitive, and I don’t care for the looks of it too much anyway. Dell and Cory are possible too; I like Dell but hate Cory on a boy or a girl.
Cornelia
Some have suggested Cornelia as a way to get around the cord part of Cordelia. Of course, by taking away one problem, you create another. The Corn in this name is just as prevalent as Cord, and leads itself to teasing just as well. The only association I have is with Cornelius; I think he was an elephant in a kid’s bo
ok I used to read. Upon Googling, I have found that Cornelius was an old wise elephant is the children’s television book and television show Babar. A secondary association is Carneliam stone, shown left. Isn’t it pretty? I usually think of it in cameo form, though. Cornelia is cameos, to me, then. It’s old fashioned and delicate, all over beautiful.
Cornelia’s got a pretty sound, no doubt. Nicknames include Cora, Nell, Lia, Nelia, etc. They’re nice, but avoid Corny. That’s just as bad as Cordy, if not worse.
Overall, I think I like both names, but Cordelia gets the edge. Avoiding Corny is tantamount. Cordelia is also more known, while still being uncommon. The nicknames are just as good, and, well, it’s just a great name overall. What do you guys think?
Saturday, April 4th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Cornelia is my love. I like Cornelius too, but I don’t think “Babar” I think “Planet of the Apes” there. Cornelia is “Willie Wonka” for me. She’s Violet’s friend. With Cornelia, I’d get Nellie out of it or Nell. No Corny at all.
Cordelia reminds me of corduroy, the fabric I hated as a kid! Shakespeare aside, it’s not a sound I like that -ordur-sound. Blech. All Cornelia for me! (but I think either way, you’ve got a great name here, even blechy Cordelia is better than Emily!
Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Our accents must be verry different, Lola. For me, Cordelia is cor-deeel-ya, no ur involved.
I forgot about the Willy Wonka connection, too! It’s been a while since I’ve seen the movie.
Saturday, April 4th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Funny, I usually agree with Lola, but I’m the opposite here! I love Cordelia and actively dislike Cornelia.
Though Nell is a sweet nickname and that makes Cornelia a bit more wearable. But still, Cordelia floats near #8 or #9 on my top ten.
Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 9:33 am
I’m loving the differing opinions! Maybe the Cord/nelia pair is polarizing, like many great questions of our time: Cats or Dogs? Ketchup or Mustard? Boxers or Briefs?
Saturday, April 4th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
I’ve always seen people recommend Cordelia for Cornelia, not the other way around. How strange! I don’t have a particular preference here, but Cornelia seems more streamlined than Cordelia. The ‘d’ in Cordelia feels like a road bump in the center of the name, Cornelia breezes right through it. I dunno, I’m weird. The mainstream name nerd nickname (is there a mainstream with name nerds?) seems to be Delia with this one, which is very pretty, but today I’d prefer your quirkier Dell. Nell is inexplicably related to a soft farmers’ cheese for me, so maybe Cora would be my nickname of choice. As for the stone Carneliam, I think it would make a beautiful boys’ name itself! It has a perfect flow (I’m thinking William), and looking at the stone certainly does help, too. ;]
Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 9:35 am
See, the bump is what I like about it. It seems so much more sturdy to me. I love clunk.
There’s definitely a name nerd mainstream. Mostly, it’s just better than the main mainstream. I’m loving Dell today, too, actually. I wonder if the computer company would put the kibosh on that.
Carnelian is an interesting concept, but for me it’s different from William. Car-neel-lee-in vs Will-yum. I think it’s my lazy Philly accent showing!
Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
I’m on the Cordelia side. Cornelia bugs me, and I’m not sure why. I think it could be the “corn” part, though I can’t explain logically why “corn” is worse than “cord.” I also wonder if it’s the fact that Cornelia is an obvious feminization of a slightly more familiar masculine name, Cornelius; whereas Cordelia is a feminine name in its own right. In general, I seem to have a mild preference for names that have always been feminine (Eleanor over Josephine, Clara over Charlotte, etc.).
Monday, April 6th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Hm, that’s interesting, Emmy Jo. I like feminizations, but I can see why someone would like standalone feminine names better.