Comments on: Name of the Day: August http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/ Where Every Name Has a Story Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:32:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: Baby Name of the Day: January | Appellation Mountain http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-28204 Sun, 01 Jan 2012 14:23:20 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-28204 [...] August, the sole calendar name typically reserved for boys, has perhaps the longest history of use and doubles as a masculine virtue name of sorts.  He peaked at #74 in 1882 and today ranks #607. [...]

]]> By: Rerun: Predictions for 2009 | Appellation Mountain http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-27757 Tue, 20 Dec 2011 07:03:41 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-27757 [...] Nora and Clara could have a good year for girls; for boys, Gus seems unstoppable.  (Though with August, Angus, and plenty of other names leading to Gus as a nickname, it will be tough to see in the [...]

]]> By: Sunday Summary: 4/10/11 | Appellation Mountain http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-19951 Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:54:44 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-19951 [...] Mariska Hargitay welcomed a daughter, Amaya Josephine, a little sister for August; [...]

]]> By: Baby Name of the Day: Indie | Appellation Mountain http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-18977 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 07:05:19 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-18977 [...] Indiana – Despite the -ana ending, intrepid explorer Henry Walton Jones makes this one slightly more masculine.  Actors Casey Affleck and Summer Phoenix have a son named Indiana August; [...]

]]> By: appellationmountain http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-3647 Sun, 15 Feb 2009 00:25:35 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-3647 August is a great name, and I love August Hugh.

August September, though!? Well, you could’ve wanted to call him August Danger. ;)

]]> By: Nick http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-3608 Fri, 13 Feb 2009 22:26:57 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-3608 My wife wouldn’t let me name my son August September, so we settled on August Hugh. Also, I never would’ve named him August had been born in that month. Call me contrary….

]]> By: Lola http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-1300 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 23:09:19 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-1300 Thanks Nicole! I found it and it’s ordered, I should be able to wach it sometime next week!

And definitely hang tough, girl. Josie had a heck of a time with teething herself and I sympathise fully. It does pass, keep your chin up! (hugs) :)

]]> By: appellationmountain http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-1289 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 02:23:22 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-1289 Nicole, I’m mostly amused by the fact that we both think Coolio has a traditional spelling. :)

Poor Everett. Hang in there! I’m sending positive baby sleep vibes your way.

]]> By: !!!DirtyHippy!!! http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-1287 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 01:18:01 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-1287 Sorry Lola . . . Everett is teething so I’m running on very little sleep and about 10% brain power.

August Rush. That’s the movie. I have no idea who or what August March is or where I came up with that one.

LOL about baby E. Koolio! I think I would be most upset that it’s Koolio spelled with a K. I detest non-traditional spellings.

]]> By: appellationmountain http://appellationmountain.net/2008/08/14/name-of-the-day-august/#comment-1282 Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:01:40 +0000 http://appellationmountain.wordpress.com/?p=410#comment-1282 Another, it’s quite true – we know *at least* two boys called Charles, Theodore, Max, Gus and Henry. And James and William! Oh, we know many, many boys called James and William! I don’t know a single Jake, though, so it goes to show that even the most popular names are less common than they once were.

I’m almost finished crunching the Top 1000 boys’ names, but here’s a sneak preview: Ethan drops to #9. He’d have dropped farther, but a handful of Ethens bolstered his ranking. (We know an Ethen. I never dared asked why the alternate spelling.)

What’s interesting about boy names is that crunching the list has been PAINFULLY hard. The rules I used for the girls’ list don’t quite work. Aiden and company are #3, Jayden #4, Caden #16, Brayden #34, Hayden #80. All together, that’s quite the blob. But I think they’re probably too different to count as one name. I counted Isabel and Izabella together without much doubt – but Jack and Jackson? Or Jack, John, Jackson and Jonathan?

My instinct is that there’s a narrower range of sounds used in boys’ names, and so while they appear to be distinct, they sound more similar. Which makes The Classics and the New Classics – James, Christopher, Ethan, George, Zachary, Henry, David – sound a bit more crisp and distinctive, even though they’re not.

I almost fell off my chair when I realized what the #1 name was for boys … add in all the respellings and short forms, and any way you count it, I think it is *probably* Alexander. Hopefully Alexei will not be scarred for life.

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