Dear Jennifer,
I recently watched the Disney movie Brave, and I love the name of the independent princess, Merida. I looked up the meaning of her name, but couldn’t find anything. Could you tell me what it means?
Also, would it be a bad idea to give your child the same name as a Disney princess? Interested to hear your take on this.
Thanks for your help!
Emily
Dear Emily,
Excellent question! I think it would be okay to name your daughter after this particular Disney Princess because she is a strong character and has a positive association to her.
The movie Brave was released in 2012, so it’s fairly recent when it comes to Disney princess lore. Where a more “classic” princess might have a life goal of marrying a prince, Brave’s heroine, Merida, challenges that tradition. She opposes her mother’s wishes to just marry, so she can make her own path in life. As you said, Merida is independent and strong-willed. A very worthy namesake!
Disney’s Merida is Scottish, and although there is no known Scottish name “Merida,” the closest traditional Celtic name would be Mairead, a form of Margaret, which means “a pearl.”
There is also a an ancient city named Mérida in Spain, founded by the Romans in the 1st century BCE.
So my recommendation would be…go for it!
Sincerely,
Jennifer
Jennifer Moss is the founder & CEO of BabyNames.com. For almost 30 years she’s been a valuable resource on names and naming and has answered questions on social media and in her popular column, Ask Jennifer, which we bring back to our blogs! Have a question for Jennifer? Email names@babynames.com.
Jennifer Moss (she/her) is the founder of BabyNames.com, author of The Baby Names Workbook, and Producer of The Baby Names Podcast. Jennifer is widely regarded as the leading expert on popular baby name trends and the naming process, serving as the authoritative source on the subject for national and international media.
Jennifer entered the tech arena in the 80s as a software developer and database architect, and became a pioneer in the Internet industry. In addition to operating BabyNames.com, Jennifer owns a web development agency in central California.
