| When I first say it, I pronounced it as "DAH-she-ell"... |
Sorry, should be when I first SAW** it |
No, it's the word Dash plus the sound of the letter L. |
Dafuq? |
| I have taught in low SES African American environments for many years, and the only Dashiell's I have known (2) have been affluent white boys. The D trend for African American names is waning, but the trend was always for names that either had accented second syllables (e.g. de ME tree us, de LON tay) or 2 syllables equally accented (DAY SHON), usually ending in -on. A name with a strong first syllable DASH followed by an unaccented schwa syllable wouldn't fit in with the trend. |
+1 I like it, OP!! People might call him Dash, which is cute. Go for it!! |
| Hipster name - I like it! Brother to Atticus, Beckett and Ruby. |
"Dash" is what Lillian Hellman called Dashiell Hammett. (Now people are going to ask whether Lillian Hellman was related to the mayonnaise.) For what it's worth, Wikipedia says that Dashiell was Dashiell Hammett's mother's last name. Also he's a local boy, born in St. Mary's County, Maryland. |
| I think it's a fine name. Dash is cute. I also say "Go for it!" |
| hate it. and definitely screams black, which may or may not matter to you. |
Why would you assume that somebody named Dashiell was African-American? |
Yes |
| Horrible name. Clunky spelling that will trip people up, and you are stuck with a very stupid sounding hipster nick name. |
i honestly can't tell you, but i would. i just asked dh and he said the same. maybe because of the ending sound? would you assume someone named, say, marquel was black? i would. (not african-american necessarily, btw, but black). this is purely anecdotal of course, and that assumption may not matter to OP, but it does exist. |
| Dashiell Hammett is one of my favorite authors, and if I saw a kid with that name, I'd assume his parents were big fans of The Maltese Falcon and the Thin Man. I am surprised that so many people on this board don't know how to pronounce it or don't make the connection, but naming your kid for a classic American author isn't the worst thing you can do. |