Drumroll, please … this is post #1,000, written over more than two and a half years.
More than 700 of those posts are deep dives into one particular featured Name of the Day. Here’s a quick look at what I’ve learned over the past two-going-on-three years.
Continue reading ’3 Things I’ve Learned About Names in 1,000 Posts’
Filed under: Articles, Site News | 7 Comments
Tags: Isabella, Katherine, Tanner, Taylor, Sky, Chloe, Julian, Elijah, Indigo, Honor, Michelle, Mallory, Philip, Amy, Loretta, Sally, Jeffrey, Austin, Dawn, Ethel, Monica, Sallie, Melvin, Luther, Chad, Phillip, Alyzabeth, Zachareigh, Jordynne
Baby Name of the Day: Isaura
She’s a rarity recently overheard on a Brooklyn playground.
Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting Isaura as Baby Name of the Day.
Continue reading ‘Baby Name of the Day: Isaura’
Filed under: As Seen on TV, Global Village, Literary Babes, Mapquest, Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Rarities | 11 Comments
Tags: Delphine, Leo, Adrian, Zeno, Irene, Lydia, Isaura, Isaurus, Lucélia, Alvaro, Melchior
Baby Name of the Day: Baylor
If James Madison alumni can name their daughters after alma mater, why not proud graduates of this Texas university?
Thanks to Joy for suggesting Baylor as Baby Name of the Day.
Continue reading ‘Baby Name of the Day: Baylor’
Filed under: Last Names First, Names for Boys, Names of the Day | 12 Comments
Tags: William, James, Bay, Madison, Taylor, River, Emmett, Kyler, Rylan, Robert, Tryon, Bailey, Matthew, Baylor, Böhler, Bailor, Bailer, Beiler, Baylan, Bayron, Bayne
Baby Name of the Day: Liliane
The garden of girls contains no bloom more favored than Lily. Add in the growing interest in appellations française, and what do you get?
Thanks to Kristine for suggesting Liliane as Baby Name of the Day.
Continue reading ‘Baby Name of the Day: Liliane’
Filed under: Easter, Flower Power, Global Village, Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Nature Babes, Nicknames, Ooh la la ... French Names, Rarities, Scifi, Silver Screen | 12 Comments
Tags: Lilly, Lillianna, Elizabeth, Lila, Lily, Vivienne, Vivian, Lillian, Lillie, Lilia, Hera, Lilian, Liliana, Lilliana, Lilianna, Lilyanna, Lilyana, Leelee, Catou, Madou, Leelou, Lilias
Baby Name of the Day: Langley
Tired of Riley and Bailey? Here’s another jaunty surname to consider, though it might scream Wild Blue Yonder to some.
Thanks to Elta for suggesting Langley as Baby Name of the Day.
Continue reading ‘Baby Name of the Day: Langley’
Filed under: Last Names First, Names for Boys, Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Rarities, Starbaby | 16 Comments
Tags: Avery, Bailey, Delaney, Dree, Eve, Harper, Langlíf, Lenny, Madison, Mariel, Phoebe, Riley, Samuel, Thomas, William
Baby Name of the Day: Mara
She’s a powerful goddess, a mournful woman, and everything in between.
Filed under: Biblical Babes, Global Village, Myths & Legends, Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Silver Screen | 8 Comments
Tags: Naomi, Maria, Juno, Tamara, Tammy, Matilda, Ruth, Marzena, Mara, Mora, Morana, Morena, Roald
Sunday Summary: 8/29/10
My week at the beach was spent listening for names (well, there was ice cream and sand and a giant waterslide called the Hippo) but I didn’t hear much. There was a Veronica nicknamed Vera, but mostly it was the pleasant Top 100 assortment of Ethan, Dylan, Emma, Riley, Noah, Chloe, Caleb, Jackson, Zachary, Ellie, and the like. I also heard a girl called Cooper and another girl named Gracen or Graycen or maybe Gracyn. Thanks for checking out Rerun Week while I was slathering on sunscreen!
In the meantime, a new neighbor has arrived and her kids names? Be still my heart: Nella and Arlo. I haven’t actually met them (she joined a listserv for local moms) but I might hug her.
Also in the real world, the incredibly talented Brooke at Dinkypopsnomore is now mom to two! The incredibly photogenic, more-stylish-at-3-than-I-am-at-37 Temperance is big sister to Verity Blythe. See the post about her name here.
Elsewhere online:
- Here’s something you don’t know about me: I rarely drive. I have a license, but we’ve arranged our lives so most of the time, our car stays parked. And I plain like mass transit. So Nancy’s recent post about a baby named Queenie after a bus company? That could be me;
- I understand Ever and Everly. A kid called Eternity would not be a surprise. But Never? ForReal spotted one, and it just seems off;
- Did you see the great Nameberry post on TV character names? Ask a parent if she’d be willing to name a child after a TV character and you’ll often get a refusal, maybe a snicker. But they do filter into wider use. So get set for birth announcements reading Landry, Horatio, Brick, Remy, Cricket, and Astrid. One not on the list: Dwight, Jason Lee’s character on his new show, Memphis Blue. Rainn Wilson’s salesman/beet farmer on The Office has put a dent in Dwight – he left the US Top 1000 in 2004 – wonder if Lee can revive him?
- The Globe and Mail has an essay by a parent who really can’t decide what to name son #3. It’s a common struggle, but what’s particularly interesting is the drama caused by their common surname: Jones. Nearly any popular choice has a notable bearer: George Jones, Tom Jones, and so on. After naming firstborn son Jack they learned that Jack Jones sang The Love Boat theme song. I always thought it was the long, unusual surnames that posed problems, but I guess it goes both ways;
- Here’s a fun list of model names from Babble columnist Ceridwen Morris. But Nameberry did it first, and even compiled a list of super-stylish names supermodels gave to their offspring (before, we assume, slipping back into some fabulous get-up for a photo shoot with baby on hip like a designer bag.) Yannick or Mingus, anyone?
- I haven’t checked in with the Toronto Star’s Kristin Rushowy in months. A few recent posts: a boy called Timo Wolf, a girl named Tanys Aurora Alexandra Piia, and a cautionary tale about pronunciation issues when you name your cute Canadian kid after a Hindu goddess.
In starbaby news:
- Let’s hear it for the double palindrome power of Ava Katherine Otto, a new daughter for country singer James Otto and wife Amy;
- Actor Matt Walton – he plays Eli on One Life To Live – has an Ava, too, plus a brand new son called Greyson James. Greyson is the new Jayden. Add up all the boys called Greyson and Grayson, plus the girls wearing a variant of sound-alike Gracen, and you have the formula for a gender-neutral, hard-to-gauge usage name that every parent thinks is uncommon. Too bad, because I do love Gray;
- Army Wives’ Catherine Bell has a new son called Ronan, a little sister for Gemma. That’s a nice sibset, a pair of names that are underused, but not outlandish;
- And the big news is the birth of Florence Rose Endellion, a daughter for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, his wife Samantha, and three older siblings: the late Ivan, plus Nancy, and Arthur Elwen. For a humorous and insightful look on place names popping up on birth certificates, there’s this News & Star column. Capri and Dublin, yes. St. Bees Flimby Pie? Probably not;
- Lastly, the best use of Twitter for baby naming since Erykah Badu live-tweeted the birth of her third child and claimed she was calling her Twittymilk surely goes to Neil Patrick Harris’ twins teaser. That’s an instant sibset I can’t wait to learn.
As always, thanks for reading!
Filed under: Starbaby, Sunday Summary | 12 Comments
Tags: Ava, James, Alexandra, Mingus, Endellion, Arthur, Ronan, Aurora, Riley, Katherine, Veronica, Jackson, Emma, Rose, Blythe, Brooke, Chloe, Ellie, Gemma, Noah, Verity, Ethan, Jason, Ivan, George, Jack, Jayden, Remy, Arlo, Caleb, Amy, Zachary, Eli, Astrid, Grayson, Dylan, Florence, Cooper, Everly, Ever, Grey, Greyson, Brick, Nancy, Gracen, Wolf, Eternity, Vera, Tom, Elwen, Temperance, Gracyn, Graycen, Nella, Queenie, Never, Landry, Horation, Cricket, Rainn, Dwight, Capri, Dublin, Yannick, Erykah, Twittymilk, Timo, Tanys, Piia
Baby Name of the Day: Endellion
We interrupt rerun week to post something a little bit different. I was certain I’d written a full post about this saint’s name, but instead she’s just mentioned in an early list of obscure saints’ names.
Inspired by British PM David Cameron’s new daughter, our Baby Name of the Day is Endellion.
Continue reading ‘Baby Name of the Day: Endellion’
Filed under: Cornish Wear, Global Village, Names for Girls, Names of the Day, Rarities, Saints | 19 Comments
Tags: Allison, Arthur, Brychan, David, Delia, Della, Edellienta, Endelient, Endelienta, Endellion, Endelyn, Endelyon, Endymion, Florence, Isabella, Lio, Madison, Olivia, Rose, Samantha
Rerun Week: Day Four
Once again we return to May 2008, back when Appellation Mountain was just months old, and my Name of the Day posts were in their infancy. Chris Noth had just given this name to his firstborn, and it showed signs of catching on.
Please check out the polished-up version of Orion here.
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Tags: Orion
Rerun Week: Day Three
I can’t think why I’m so curious about Vincent. Maybe because you’ll notice in the comments that I left a few notable bearers of the name out in the original version. (That mistake has been corrected, though doubtless I’ve still overlooked a few!)
Maybe it is because I know a Vincent and we recently discussed his unwillingness to answer to Vincenzo. (Apparently, I wasn’t the first to suggest it.) It’s also a family name in my very Italian family, but somehow, it isn’t one we’ve ever considered using.
In any event, he’s been updated and rebooted and here he is: Vincent, the 2010 edition.
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Tags: Vincent, Vincenzo