Monthly Archives: June 2009

Sunday Summary: 6/21/09

Posted on
6

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!

Sunday Summary: 6/14/2009

Posted on
9

After last week’s bumper crop o’ starbabies, it has been a relatively quiet week.  

The only big question is this:  Did Hank Azaria really name his son Hal?  Or have they simply not released his full name?  Wikipedia tells me that dad’s full name is, indeed, Hank Albert - so maybe they decided junior should have a nickname name, too.

Here’s the rest of the news:

  • In RL, I live in one of two towns that can claim to be Jim Henson’s boyhood home.  (We cover the teenage years, including high school.)  And I’m a huge David Bowie fan.  But I’d forgotten that Bowie’s Goblin King character in 1986′s Labyrinth was called Jareth until I saw a teenager sporting it on his plastic nametag. He’s one of the few, though – Jareth has never caught on as a name, not even cracking the US Top 1000;
  • I wasn’t expecting former Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson to name her daughter Esther or Mary, but ever since she announced her pregnancy, there’s been endless chatter about her frontrunner name for a girl – Kaleigh.  Apparently, Kendra’s middle name is Leigh.  (And her first initial is, obviously, K.)  A boy would be named after dad, Philadelphia Eagle Hank Baskett.  (Hank again!  That’s an AppMtn record.)  But that would be Henry Randall Baskett IV – not bad, actually;
  • In other reality star baby news, Real Housewife of New Jersey Jacqueline Laurita welcomed son Nicholas Francis, little brother to CJ and Ashley.  I assume CJ stands for Christopher Jr. but I’m not sure ’bout that.  Another cast member is also expecting a visit from the stork;
  • Guiding Light’s Jessica Leccia welcomed a daughter named Ivy Lola;
  • From this week’s Toronto Star comes the report of a couple with five kids.  Lucky number five is named Angus Raymond Mercury.  Wait for it – Angus is after Angus Young of AC/DC and Mercury is after Freddie Mercury of Queen.  (Raymond is after a mere blood relative.)  Angus’ four big sibs are called Madelyn May (May after Brian May of Queen); Heath, after a golf course in Scotland; Shea, after Shea Stadium and Cheyenne.  Apparently mom veto’d Kashmir, as in the Led Zeppelin song – all of a sudden Shea and Cheyenne sound like perfectly reasonable choices.
  • If you follow sports news, you might’ve picked up this report (Click here for ESPN’s coverage)  Apparently, a high school senior all set to play football for FSU was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers.  I can barely catch a ball, so the idea of being recruited in two sports?  Wow.  Anyhow, the uber-athlete’s name is Jacobbi McDaniel – one Jacob variant I had not heard previously;
  • As if my linking to ESPN is not proof enough that it was a quiet week, names-wise, the Daily Express announces that wacky names are nuthin’ new.  As they await the opportunity to comment on the next wacky celeb baby name, of course.

From the wayback machine – a year ago, the Name of the Day was Madrigal.  Really.  This week’s names will be Naomi, Lyle, Eugenie, Boaz and Kylie.

I’ll leave you with a quick update on search names – Esme continues to top the list.  Lorelei, Isla, Pomeline, Java, Eithne, Aurelia, Ayelet, Noa and Oona are close behind.  The list is much shorter for boys: Finn, Elmer and Remus.  If you can’t tell from the list, boys generate far fewer searches than girls.  And yet, nearly everyone agrees that boys’ names are harder to decide than girls’ names. 

I’m off to fill up the wading pool for me the kids.  As always, thanks for reading!

Names from Twilight: Not Just for Vampires Anymore

Posted on
21

Into every generation a vampire romance is born.  That’s usually not big news in baby naming circles.

But the current hot series about the undead – Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight – could influence baby names for the next generation.

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