Thursday, November 14, 2013

She’s Such an Andrea

When I was a kid I was into finding out more about myself.

Okay, I am an adult and I am into finding out more about myself.

This is just the type of person I am.  Some may call me introspective.  Others may say that I’m deep.  Maybe even a navel-gazer.  Self-absorbed.  Egocentric?

Yes.  I will claim all of these.

Anyway, in the past I consumed information about zodiac signs, and I was amazed at how accurate the descriptions fit me.  When I had a dream I’d pore over dream analysis books and try to guess what my brain was telling me while I slept.

So of course I know what my name means.

Traditionally, Andrea means womanly, the feminine counterpart of Andrew, which means manly.  It’s probably the most boring meaning of a name ever in the history of name meanings.  And when you’re a kid and you are looking up the meaning of your name and it says “Womanly,” you wish your name meant charming (Bonnie) or beautiful (Jackie) or beloved (Holly).  Womanly is boobs and hips and having your period and wearing mom jeans and being old (Andrea).

Andrea can also mean brave, which is cool I guess, but not how I would describe myself.  I can support being thought of as brave, but as I eschew the outdoors mostly because there are WILD ANIMALS AND PEOPLE out there, no one’s naming a movie after me.

In my quest for meaning, I turned to my favorite research spot and yours, the internet.  And on the internet I found some interesting meanings for my name that I can really get behind.

From Urban Dictionary, which not only provides definitions, but also examples for usage:

Andrea comes from the Latin meaning "Womanly" or "Beautiful Lady". She is steadfast and confident,honest and reliable.A tower of strenth (sic) for thoughs (sic) she cares for and a rock to the family.
That girl is quite the andrea. 

Oh, my grammar and spelling.

Short and sweet:

the sexiest person on the planet. funny, smart, and just amazing. everyone needs a piece of andrea.
hey did you see andrea? 
omg yeah she is so hot!!!

Yeah, I get that a lot.

And here:

1. a sound out girl 
2. has a worrying appreciation of queen 
3. the best person ever 
4. someone who is attractive and nice 
5. very feminine and has a vagina and is straight and not manly at all!
oh wow she is such an andrea.

I like Queen for sure.  But I’m not sure that anyone should worry about it.  And I think #5 is just another way of saying “womanly.”

Meaning "princess"-often leo's (sic) or cancers. Very athletic and amazingly hot.And almost everyone has bown (sic) hair.
guy#1:wow that girl was hot and a good kisser 
guy#2:do you know her name? 
guy#1: no but most likely it was andrea 
guy#2: true dat

I like the way that this author added the qualifier “amazingly” before hot.  Where is this person?  I’d like to send him a thank you card.

So evidently Andrea means hot, smart, good kisser, confident, nice… and womanly.  I guess I shouldn’t complain that my name means something boring.  After all, I’ve always liked it, and now that I know I share it with so many other amazing women, I like it even better.

It definitely is more palatable than Kuwanyamtiwa, which means badger going over the hill. 

Then again, true dat.

*******

This post inspired by:

Mama Kat's Writing Workshop
Prompt #5: The meaning of your name... does it suit you?
Posted by Andrea Mowery at 9:16 AM
Labels: , , ,

26 comments:

  1. I love knowing about the meanings of names, and it was a definite factor in choosing names for my children. I think they all amazingly demonstrate characteristics of their names. My name meanings include 'rich', 'wealth', and my personal favorite "gracious gift from God"...which I remind Todd of often!! ;)

    After reading your post I was Googling some names and little on a little bit of an odd kabalarian philosophy site where you can enter a name and it describes the personality...and I was a little freaked out by the accuracy of every name I entered... o.O

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    1. I saw a site like that, too, and wanted to post it here, but then I realized that it was probably only interesting to me. I had the same reaction: o.O

      We employed no meanings in naming our children: one was the only name we agreed upon, and the other was a name from a favorite TV show.

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  2. Damn girl you are awesome. I am so doing this one. Just googled Brittany and I think my favorite thing is reading the Urban Dictionary meanings. Yes, someone said Britney is the incorrect spelling. Holla! I am having so much fun with the name stuff. just like I do the personality tests!

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    1. I love personality tests too and can get lost in the internet reading about who they say I am. :)

      Urban Dictionary is one of my favorite websites.

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  3. I will never be that girl able to simply walk up to those name key chain makers at Busch Gardens and have one already sitting there because what? How do you even spell that? Wanna know what my name means? Means my mother had too much damn time on her hands and imagination ain't always a good thing.

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    1. Oh, Arnebya! I love your name. You'll never find anyone else who shares it, which means that you can make up any meaning you want to. :)

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  4. I've been reading all these "meanings of names" posts today and the Urban Dictionary has - by far - the best definitions. My name apparently means "big boobed." Uh, true dat.

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    1. HA! I love that. Urban Dictionary is the best for a good laugh.

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  5. My name means "date tree." I was named after an inanimate object! I was not pleased when I found that out.

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    1. Hmmm... that's not very exciting, but it is unique. I've never seen a date tree, but I love dates. I knew some Tammys in school and I always liked that name.

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  6. I wrote about the Urban Dictionary meaning for my name too :) It was spot on, right down to my temper!

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    1. The best thing about Urban Dictionary is that you can pick whichever one you like best and profess it to be perfect for you!! That's why I picked all the ones that said I was awesome and sexy. :)

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  7. You have me scared to look up my name in the Urban Dictionary on so many levels. Thanks for keeping it real and not fixing the grammar and spelling.

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    1. Ha! I didn't dare fix any of the spelling errors. I think that's what makes the Urban Dictionary so great. I'd be interested in knowing what you come up with!

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  8. Ooh, I love Urban Dictionary!

    My name means noble by German definition. Or honest by Celtic definitions. Though my favorite definition is from Urban Dictionary - "Don't f*ck with her, she can kick your a**." :)

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    1. Noble, honest, and kick-ass. Yep, that sounds about right. :)

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  9. I really think we should just do away with baby name books and use the Urban Dictionary...it has far better definitions!

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    1. "We named our daughter Sienna because we heard it meant that she will be the hottiest hottie in all of hottiedom."

      I have to agree with you! :)

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  10. I definitely should have looked for mine in Urban Dictionary. Every site I looked at for mine said "consecrated to God" or "devoted to God." Um, OK. I love God, yes, I do. But consecrated? Devoted? I think I fall short. Off to Urban Dictionary...

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    1. Ahem. From Urban Dictionary:

      One of the most popular names for a newborn girl in 1970.
      Most Lisas are hot.
      "There were 3 hot girls named Lisa in my grade 7 gym class. I didn't know where to look."

      YEAH!!!

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  11. I looked up my name too and it inspired my own blog post on Tinalicious. :) Loved yours by the way. Visiting you from Mama Kat's linky.

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    1. Thanks for visiting! I'm coming over to see what you come up with!!

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  12. I didn't know that Urban Dictionary had a name look-up. I do love how you quote them directly. :)

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    1. Uh oh. Looks like someone is going to be spending some time at Urban Dictionary.

      Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's useful to look up slang terms that children use. Or to make them up yourself.

      Delete

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