I ought to add "bandwagon jumping" to my Interests...

[piasharn]

What does your first name mean?

"Melissa" is Greek for "Honeybee". There's a legend behind the origin of the name... The original Melissa was a girl who was pursued by the god Zeus. She turned herself into an insect to get away from him. (If I recall correctly, that is.)

I've decided that my first name is rather appropriate... Bees are small, industrius insects. They've earned a bit of a bad reputation, and a lot of people are needlessly afraid of them. However, they won't hurt you unless you threaten or bother them. If you just leave them alone, they don't sting you.

What does your middle name mean?

"Jean" is a feminine form of "John" and is Celtic/Gaelic for "God is Gracious". It is my maternal grandmother's middle name as well, although I'm not particularily fond of it.

What does your last name mean?

Hmmm... well it's Americanized Lithuanian that was derived from Russian. It means "Son of Moscow", as my anscestors lived in and owned land in that area. Of course, I'm not a son, so I tend to interpret it as "Child of Moscow".

What does your name mean all together?

God is Gracious for this Honeybee Child of Moscow...? O_o

What would you have been named if you were the opposite gender?

*sigh* Don't you mean if I was the opposite sex? When will people learn that gender and sex are not synonymous?

Anyway, I think I would have been a "Mark" (Latin for "Rebellious") and my sister ("Kristen", Celtic/Gaelic for "Christ-bearer") would have been "Michael" (Hebrew for "Who is like God?") or "John" (Again, Celtic/Gaelic for "God is Gracious"). My parents never did decide, so I guess it's good that she was born female.

Any other name oddities?

My parents were originally going to name me Rebecca (Hebrew for "Bound") Lynn (Derived from Spanish "Linda", means "Pretty One"). They changed their minds only a couple of weeks before I was born.

My Confirmation name (Any Catholics reading this will know what I mean) is "Kateri" after the saint Kateri Tekakwitha. I'm not sure, but I think that this is a variation on "Catherine" which is Greek for "Pure" or "Virginal".

And to go along with the name theme, I shall leave you with this link. To quote The Misanthropic Bitch, "Don’t you know there’s a direct correlation between extraneous "y"’s in a kid’s name and the number of laws they’ll violate?"

Besides, anyone who is really cool gives their kids names like "Moon Unit".