Do you prefer names on their actual meaning or how they sound?

Just curious. Would you rather chose a name which sounded very pleasing to the ear but had an bland or odd meaning or a name with a strong meaning that doesn't sound as lovely? I can understand both sides of the coin myself.Do you prefer names on their actual meaning or how they sound?
Both. The sound because I don't want them to get picked on or anything, I don't want to make their life hard just because of they're name.



And the meaning because I want to be proud of the whole name, the history behind it, it's origin, and everything, that way I can always be proud of it, more than it "just sounding nice".



Plus I know the meaning to almost every name I know, so it's hard for me not to think aobut it.
Sound, definitely. I think you can choose a name which means 'beautiful' and sounds atrocious! :)



If a name that I loved meant something like 'evil and twisted' lol I would still use it because, to me, sound is everything! :)



Interesting question! I actually have friends who tell me their names were chosen simply from their meanings, so I too can understand both sides :)Do you prefer names on their actual meaning or how they sound?
It has to have both

but if a name sounded lovely but had a horrible meaning i probably wouldn't use it

like Kennedy means ugly head so i wouldn't use it i wouldn't anyway but just as an example

the same way i wouldn't use a name because it had a lovely meaning if it sounded horrible

A name needs to sound good and have a nice meaningDo you prefer names on their actual meaning or how they sound?
Definitely the sound and flow of the name! Though my daughter's name has a lot of meaning, it was important that it sound right. And my sister's name is beautiful, but it means palm tree... I don't think she cares, since her name is so lovely.
The sound of the name unless the name happens to be a word. For instance, I'm not a fan of Isla or Luna because those are the words for island and moon in Spanish. If it's tacky in English it's tacky in Spanish but that's just me.
Sound and meaning.

I wouldn't pick a name I didn't like the sound of even though I loved the meaning, but I look for names with meanings I love, and I tend to like them because of it :)
Definitely the sound. The meaning of names don't really factor in all that much for me, unless it's truly something terrible. Then I might think twice about using it.
I can understand both sides too, but I would name children because I liked the names and not because they meant something wonderful. They would mean something wonderful to me without having an actual meaning.
my name is kendra, it means magical water baby. thats just plain WEIRD but i like how it sounds. i also like payton, allsyon, kaleigh, %26amp; rayne but i've never bothered to find out what they mean
I would say go with the sound. Most people are not going to look up or even know the meaning. More will go by the sound. And as long as the meaning is not bad or sad then I say go with whatever sounds best.
I go by how a name sounds and looks first then look up the meaning. Unless its a really horrible meaning it won't affect my choice much except to help me decide between names I liked.
Sound, meanings are just a bonus. The only time meaning might trump sound is if it is a family name or just a middle name.
Sound
Sound. No one asks the meaning of the name (at least none of my family or friends)
definately by how it sounds. Most people dont even pay attention to the meaning..
sound. but if the meanings happened to be very cool then thats just a bonus.