Expectant parents commonly devote a great deal of thought to selecting just the right name for their unborn child. They may evaluate the euphony offered by the pairing of first and last names; they may review family names; and they may consider coining their own name for their creation. But in the excitement of choosing the proper (capitalized) noun for their offspring, they may overlook something: some names, when uncapitalized, carry meanings of their own.

Although every Tom, Dick, and Harry might associate the capitalized Grace with the uncapitalized one, who would think to link Harry with the noun meaning "vexation" or the verb meaning "torment or assault"? What about the meanings associated with the uncapitalized versions of Mark, Eddy, and Frank, or Ernest, Bob, and Hector? The distaff side offers up Patsy and Jenny (that's a female donkey), not to mention Ivy and Savannah.

When you make your list of lower-case names, try not to get confused by the many eponyms out there. That list consists of words based on real names, such as timothy (the grass named for a farmer), abigail (that term, meaning "lady's waiting maid," comes from a 17th-century drama) and jonah (a verb meaning "to jinx" that recognizes the unfortunate Old Testament prophet).

Wow! I never gave much thought to this. There have only been a few names that have jumped out at me enough to make me think of their uncapitalized meanings.

So maybe there is an argument for concocting a name for your offspring, at least it won't have any preconceived meaning attached .....I'm not sure I'm happy about being a female donkey....but I guess there's a lot worse!