Looking for a distinctive nature name?  Parents are bypassing boho chic choices like River and Sky for a fresh category: foreign word names with nature meanings.

Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting a Name of the Day from this intriguing category: Brisa.

Continue reading ‘Name of the Day: Brisa’


He’s handsome, continental and far fresher than Gregory.  But can he overcome his Kafkaesque cockroach vibe?

Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting Gregor as Name of the Day.

Continue reading ‘Name of the Day: Gregor’


They say that once you choose your child’s name, be it Kaydon or Atticus, Balthasar or Brady, your child becomes that name.  They say that there’s no such thing as Namer’s Remorse.

I’m not so sure.

Continue reading ‘What’s Your Name Again, Kid?’


There’s Violet and Iris, Lily and Rose.  So why not this botanical pick?

Thanks to Sophie for suggesting Dahlia as Name of the Day.

Continue reading ‘Name of the Day: Dahlia’


Freakonomics co-authors Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner deemed this choice a likely Top Name of 2015 – but so far, the name remains decidedly underused.

Thanks to Wrenn for suggesting Flannery as Name of the Day.

Continue reading ‘Name of the Day: Flannery’


For those of you in the US, I hope you had a firecracker of a holiday!

The big starbaby news of the week was the reveal of Tobey Maguire’s son’s name: Otis Tobias, little brother to Ruby Sweetheart.

Other celeb news:

Elsewhere in the blogosphere:

Next, a few things on my mind:

  • The following question keeps popping up in searches leading to this site:  Can I name my daughter Kylie and my son Kyle?   Yes, yes, you can.  But you just flat out should not do so.  It’s too close, too cutesie and if you ever had a third child, you’d be forced to choose from a very small list of names indeed.  (I think she’d have to be Kyla or Skyla, and he’d be Kyson or Kyler.  Or feel horribly left out.); 
  • My vocabulary keeps expanding, thanks to name sites.  I’ve recently discovered the Aussie slang word bogan, the equivalent of the British chavvy or American trashy.  I think.  Apparently, phonetic spellings like Taylah for Taylor are a thing, or so blogs a Doc Down Under during her pediatric rotation;
  • A UK blogger mentioned that a BBC3 documentary on a 14 y.o. mum called Kizzy mentioned that she named her son Kaylib.  Not Caleb, not Kaleb, but Kaylib.  As if having your childhood immortalized on reality TV wasn’t bad enough;
  • Could the name Merlin make a comeback?  That’s right, a comeback – he appeared in the US Top 1000 regularly from the 1890s through the 1960s.  It first crossed my mind while watching Bravo’s The Fashion Show, with the Honduran Merlin.  Even if he doesn’t strike it big in the design world, there’s the BBC’s Merlin, now showing on NBC this summer.  If Arthur can make  a comeback …
  • Another Bravo-influenced thought, couldn’t they have found better-named kids for their real-life-Gossip Girl, NYC Prep?  The cast includes PC, Sebastian, Kelli, Taylor, Jessie and Camille.  I realize you can’t rename full-grown human beings, but I’ll take GG’s Rufus, Lily, Serena and Blair anyday;
  • Lastly, a look back – on July 5, 2008, the Name of the Day was Jasper.

That’s all for this week!  Tune in next week for Flannery, Dahlia, Gregor, Brisa and Clifford.

 


Ava is an unstoppable Top Ten choice.  Parents are rediscovering Ida, too.  But if you find Ava too popular and Ida too retro, today’s choice might just be the perfect compromise.

Thanks to Sophie for suggesting Ada as Name of the Day.

Continue reading ‘Name of the Day: Ada’


Aidan has gone supernova.  Connor is heard everywhere.  What’s a parent in search of an authentic Irish appellation to do?

Thanks to Bek for suggesting one fresh option.  Today’s Name of the Day is the dashing Doyle.

Continue reading ‘Name of the Day: Doyle’


Love the name Violet but want to make sure your daughter never shares her name with another girl?  Try this exotic twist.

Thanks to Sarah for suggesting Iolanthe as Name of the Day.

Continue reading ‘Name of the Day: Iolanthe’


He’s an Old Testament choice who was current in the nineteenth century.  So why isn’t he leaping up the charts in 2009?

Thanks to Wrenn for suggesting another one from the family tree for today’s Name of the Day: Enoch.

Continue reading ‘Name of the Day: Enoch’