Happy Father’s Day! In a mash-up of dad-centric stories/baby name news, I bring you:
- MSNBC’s story on the pluses and perils of being a Junior. The predictable story? There are good and bad things to sharing your name with Pop. The interesting takeaway? The percentage of juniors has been dropping for at least forty years or so;
- In a guest post at Nameberry, Brian Sargent bravely admits to being difficult when choosing names for his twin daughters, Lila and Victoria;
- Speaking of dads, Emmy Jo’s husband actually sat down and toyed with Nymbler. I declare myself jealous! And her list rocks – it will be fun to see how they narrow things down.
Elsewhere online, you might enjoy:
- Over at Tablet Magazine, an online journal about Jewish life, Marjorie Ingall encourages parents seeking a traditional Jewish name other than Jacob or Hannah, to Go Moe! Among her suggestions: Akiba, Felix, Hosea, Philo and, of course, Moe for boys. For girls, there’s Adiella, Hepzibah, Ida, Mehitabel, Noa, Sarai and Zillah;
- The Toronto Star reports on yet another truly unusual choice. This time, the nicely named Declan is big brother to Kenzi and Saffi. The girls were almost Braeda and Saffron, but dad couldn’t remember Braeda and somewhere along the line they decided that the hippie-chic Saffron was too “stuffy”;
- An interesting poll over at Swistle asks readers to weigh in on a baby name for girl #4, little sister to My other daughter’s are named Clarissa Brynn (nn Clary), Theodora Elise (nn Thea) and Susanna Lisbet (nn Zanna). I’m pulling for one of Christina’s suggestions – the underused Cordelia;
- You’ve probably already seen Linda’s Titanic post at Nameberry, but I found myself scrolling through it again, remarking that yes, Denzil has been around forever. And there were some other fabulous names aboard the ill-fated ship – Sibley, Rossmore, Eugenie (a servant), Sigrid, Clear and Argene, just to name a few.
- Got a few hours? What a Lovely Name seems like a middling name search engine at first, but don’t leave too fast. Create a logo and you can order personalized gear with your kiddo’s name. Quite cute;
- Nancy of Nancy’s Baby Names listed five names she likes less, thanks to songs. Hers were Eileen, Sharona, Rhonda, Roxanne and Adia;
- Celebrity Baby Blog remarked on all the famous celeb kiddos called Max, in one form or another in their post Mad About Max. Me, I’m waiting for some parent of boy/girl twins to dub them Max and Minnie;
- Over at the Nymbler blog, the top favorite names for May are posted: Charlotte, Ava, Jack, Grace, Amelia, Finn, Ella, Benjamin, Audrey and Claire make up the predictable Top Ten. But here’s an interesting little note – five names debuted in the favorites list, including Hero, Amalie, Lake, Soraya and Quin.
In starbaby news, over at Celebrity Baby Blog:
- In an interview with Mary Louise Parker on the adoption of her daughter Caroline Aberash, little sister to William Atticus, the actress explained that Aberash was the name chosen by her daughter’s birth mother, saying: “I can’t give her a locket, a picture, a letter — that’s it. That’s profound to me and I don’t want to rob her of it.” It’s a poignant reminder of the power of names;
- In another celeb birth, Maura West of As The World Turns welcomed a daughter called Birdie. Big sibs are Benjamin, Joseph, Katherine and Basil. Mom’s taste has certainly become more daring over time;
- And Carnie Wilson welcomed Luciana Bella – Lola Sofia’s little sis. But she’d announced her name choice long ago.
But this week’s biggest news is a veritable celeb birth in the blogosphere – Elisabeth of You Can’t Call It “It” has brought home Beatrix’s little sister, Eulalie. Eulalie was Name of the Day at her suggestion all the way back in August 2008. Congrats to the family of four (!) and let me say (yet again) that Lolly is the perfect choice!
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Hahaha! Celeb birth in the blogosphere? Well, thank you. And thank you too Abby for your great work way back when on the name Eulalie. It definitely helped to shore up my love for the name. She really named herself, this little one.
Warmest congratulations to Elisabeth and her beautifully named daughters! I can’t imagine a more charming, inspired-sounding pair of siblings. “Lolly” is so much fun to say, it should be patented as the cutest nickname ever. Well chosen!
Interesting note regarding the downtrend in “jr” names; once in a while, I still have a teensy twinge of regret about not naming Spencer after his dad, as he would have been Richard Edward Mac****** III. I think it’s terribly distinguished, but maybe also a little WASPY/pretentious? Anyway, my mother and my aunt both did something I find wierd, naming their sons’ first name for their dads, but with a different middle name. The upshot of that is they get all of the shared-name confusion without the pedigree, for lack of a better word.
What a Lovely Name is cute, cute! Terrific idea for baby gifts: I can remember I was tickled pink after my kids were born, everytime I saw or heard their names.
I have an uncle who’s a seventh. SEVENTH?! So bizarre. And no, we’re not royalty. Thankfully it’s a good name, Peter Vincent (sounds like Stevens) VII.
They’re really trying for a boy now, to continue the line, but they’ve had five girls and we don’t know how much longer they’re gonna hold out for!
Their girls are at least well named: Thalia, Melania, Rhea, Gia, and Aurelia. Baby on the way is either going to be Anthea or Peter Vincent. We’ll see
OMG – five girls and still trying for a boy!? That’s dedication!
My BiL’s family does something similar – they share the same first name, but hand down the mother’s maiden name in the middle spot. It works out fine, because we can always distinguish them by middle initial. (Though we actually refer to the patriarch as Hugh the Elder.) My sister is undecided if they’ll continue passing down Hugh, but she really would rather not use her last name in the middle spot, so we’ll see.
As for the seventh? We have an old friend who is the 8th! Adam Nathaniel … But he doesn’t plan to have kids of his own, so he’s told his brother that he can have an Adam Nathaniel IX if he is so inclined. After so many passings down, it seems like a shame to discontinue the name – and Peter Vincent *is* a great combo! (Then again, I love their girls’ names, too.)
Back to Richard – Allison, I always loved the idea of using Hardy as a nickname for Richard, but my husband didn’t care for it. But Rick, Ricky and Rich, Richie just don’t sound current to my ear. And Spencer is a nice choice!
Elisabeth, it is time for a Lolly icon!
Congratulations to Elisabeth on now having TWO beautifully-named daughters!
And thanks for the mention, Abby. My husband has been very sweet about indulging the naming obsession, even if he is a little reluctant at times. I imagine the naming discussions will get even more serious in August after we find out what gender we’re having. At this point, I think he’s still in the, “Oh my goodness! I can’t believe I’m going to be a dad,” phase.
Congrats to Elisabeth!
I’m surprised I haven’t read more about another celeb birth in the blogosphere on other blogs, but dooce had her baby last week – named her Marlo Iris. Isn’t that a great name?