Comments on: Name of the Day: Kylie

By: Kaia

Kaia — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 05:42:58 +0000

oh my, i didn’t realize that “Kylie” was such a well hated name! My name is Kaia, pronounce kye-uh, i’m presently a 14 year old who loves my name, because it’s unique and many people tell me it’s very pretty, i mostly love it because it has the Scandinavian origin, which is my background.
I know a girl named Kylie, her father was Tye, her mother American, and she is pretty nice, and short. She’s the only the Kylie i’ve ever met, so i was surprised to find that it was in the top 30 of popular names in 2009! I lately have been doing a lot of research on names! I also am not a fan of common names, i find them bland and unappealing.
The only name(s) I really dread is Isabella/Isabel/Bella, because I know that the reason it got into the top 5 is because of the majority of younger mothers are Twilight fans, and they can’t see past the fact that their naming their daughter after an uncoordinated, depressing, unattractive, (she’s always saying how she’s boring she looks) anti-social, boring, non-talented, sex craving, (Breaking Dawn shares it all) vampire-wannabe! I’m sorry, but that’s how I see it. I also don’t like the sudden rise of popularity because I hate Twilight for many reasons, horrible plot! I can’t believe i wasted hours of my life reading the series, I had to stop in the middle of the last book because I was bored to death and appalled by the way it kept going on and on going towards no-where! Not to mention the overused adjectives that I rolled my eyes at for every other sentence! I regret the day I tried to give the story a chance. Well that was my rant!

By: Not A Fan

Not A Fan — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:02:52 +0000

The Noongar/Nyoongar/Nyungar reference to kylie as a boomerang is all over the web! Although, further digging leads me to believe that a Warlpiri (Northern Terr. tribe) word, karli, is where kylie/kiley et al came from. Possible later corruptions. A few linguistic papers (I partially access) seem to back that up.

Regardless, it’s confusing and I too subscribe to the notion that use stems from the anglicised Irish surname Kiley (one of many forms) and it later becoming associated with the object.

It reminds me of another quintessentially Australian name, Narelle. There’s confusion over that one also.

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:33:49 +0000

Thanks for sharing, Kylie! I think you might find that advertising is more forgiving than other fields. (I’m in communications myself – it isn’t really a buttoned-down kind of gig.)

But had life taken you down another path, well … my sister is a corporate exec, and she loathes her ends-in-i name. That’s part of the gamble. Margaret can always be Maggie, the cheerleading coach. Or Meg, the journalist. Or … well you get the point. But call your daughter Rylee and you’d better hope she grows up to be, say, a graphic artist or a singer or a cruise director. Because Rylee the attorney general? Sure, it could happen. But it doesn’t feel quite right.

By: Kylie

Kylie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:03:40 +0000

Well, it’s fun having my name as NOTD! I am 23 years old, and had no trouble finding work at a top-notch advertising agency out of college, so I don’t think the aging thing is much of an issue. When I was given the name, even though it was on the charts it was nowhere near as popular as it became about ten years later. I am a sibling to Abby and Joshua, so it’s strange that my parents picked my name over another classic, but I’ve never minded the name. I never met another Kylie my age in grade school, college, or in my professional life. They are invariably much younger than me. It’s easy to pronounce and spell, it’s pretty, and while not terribly unusual, not terribly over-used, either. I wouldn’t choose this name for my own little girl, but growing up with it was a very positive experience. Much better than Jenny, Jessica, Michele, or Jamie – I grew up with about 14 of each of those.
I’ve never heard the boomerang reference…I was always told it’s just a female version of Kyle. Thanks for the post!

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 17:22:38 +0000

You’re right, Kat – and I’ve known a Carrie, just Carrie, as well as a Julie, just Julie. I always find the names incomplete. I guess Kylie fits into that category, too.

Love the phrase “full bag of mushrooms,” btw!

By: Kat

Kat — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:41:28 +0000

I’m wondering if the reason it doesn’t age well is because it forever sounds like a diminutive – Kylie sounds like a feminized version of Kyle; as well as sounding like it’s short for something else as well; like…Kylissa or Kylene or Kyliana (even though it’s not – pretty sure I just made those names up). Mary, on the other hand is the full bag of mushrooms, so it doesn’t sound like it’s short for anything, or that it’s a spin-off on a male name.

Essentially, Kylie has the feel of being named Annie or Carrie – and nothing else.

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:45:09 +0000

I’ve hit a brick wall on the boomerang reference, Sebastiane. I suspect it is like Katherine. Nearly every reference lists her meaning as “pure,” but odds are that’s an after-the-fact link between two words that sound similar, but have different origins. (Parents have always wanted a lovely meaning to go with a preferred sound, I suppose.)

My money is on Kylie/Kiley emerging as a surname related to the place name – and someone linking her to a word that sounds like boomerang in an aboriginal language later.

Of course, I’m sitting outside of Washington DC. I don’t have great access to info about Australian culture, much less aboriginal dialects. The Noongar reference? I plain old can’t find it. I dug through a bunch of early 19th century dictionaries and grammars. One did list the word for boomerang – curl. Another listed tons of specific implements, from a throwing stick (dowak) to personal adornments made of kangaroo bone and opossum hair – but no kylie in either.

Plus there are few native Noongar speakers left in Australia. And it is likely that there were multiple dialects of Noongar pre-European settlement – and that the language changed substantially after the Europeans arrived. (And why wouldn’t it? All living languages change constantly.)

I couldn’t get my hands on a Kylie Tennant bio that mentioned anything much about her early years – perhaps she (or her parents) are responsible for the reference? But would middle class parents of the era really give their daughter an aboriginal middle name? It seems far more likely that Kylie was a family surname.

And I tend to agree that Kylie doesn’t age well – but I can’t quite think why. After all, Mary ages nicely. But those “ie” names do tend to feel a bit fleeting – roots or no.

So … I’m with you on boomerang.

By: appellationmountain

appellationmountain — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:56:47 +0000

Exactly so, Kat! I have dear friends with a darling daughter called Kayla, and another set of friends with a son called Braeden. The “wonderful people” effect really does change how we see names.

By: Sebastiane

Sebastiane — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 04:50:23 +0000

I never really bought the boomerang thing. I have yet to find any legitimate sources that confirm that meaning. Do you have any idea why some baby name books started to list its meaning as boomerang and its origin as aboriginal Australian?

I think the name is too cutsy on an adult woman.

By: Allison

Allison — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 21:30:40 +0000

Nicely said, Kat. Kylie is slightly insubstantial for my taste; “ie” endings, with the possible exception of Melanie, somehow strilke me as a bit frothy. That said, Kylie does undoubtedly sound happy and upbeat, as Verity surmised, and even though it’s not my style, I can readily see the appeal.