Monthly Archives: September 2009

Name of the Day: Reginald

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9

Nowadays, romantic hero names like Tristan and Orlando are all but mainstream for boys.  Even Romeo is on the rise.  So how ’bout this parfait gentil knight?

Thanks to Nicole for suggesting the noble Reginald as Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 9/20/09

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12

There’s a theme to this Sunday Summary, methinks:

  • First up, Hope Edelman guested over at Nameberry about seeing a name scrawled on a mailbox late in her pregnancy, and knowing that someone (other than the graffiti artist) was sending her a sign.  Check out the whole story – Maya’s name was truly meant to be;
  • On the small screen, Mad Men’s Betty Draper had a strange hallucinatory dream while in labor and decided to name her baby boy after her dearly departed dad, Eugene.  Don doesn’t seem to be on board – tune in tonight to see what happens.  And thank your lucky stars that you didn’t give birth in the 1950s;
  • In the Names of the Future column, Laura Wattenberg considers Ily - pronounce it like Riley, without the first R.  Don’t get it?  Text ILY to your better half – I Love You.  Get it?  Kind of sweet, if terribly lightweight.  And just one-L short of an espresso maker;
  • Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley put Nancy Leigh on the birth certificate! Schwoo!  And the baby is adorable, so if they want to call her Naleigh?  Oh well.  I understand the urge to honor loved ones while still giving your a child a name of her own.  Plus, Nancy Kelley is deliciously retro – it sounds like she should be solving mysteries in a kilt;
  • In this week’s Toronto Star column, the parents named their daughter London Elizabeth, for a few reasons – including the fun fact that the parents met in London, Ontario.

The theme?  It’s all about how we make our choices.  Often a name that seems atrocious, or just plain blah, seems different when you know the whole story.

In celeb news:

Elsewhere online, Nymbler announced their Top Ten for August. Never any surprises there: Charlotte, Ava, Benjamin, Amelia, Finn, Grace, Jack, Henry, Oliver and Claire occupy the top spots.

New debuts, on the other hand, are endlessly fascinating:

  • Khloe: How, oh how, did Khloe Kardashian konvince parents to spell Chloe with a K?  Sure, it’s defensible.  But it doesn’t seem very sophisticated.
  • Gypsy: A little bit stripper, a little bit Fleetwood Mac, a whole lotta huh? as a given name.
  • Gracen: Is this a girls’ twist on Grace – a sister for Madalyn and Addisyn?  Or an alt spelling for Grayson?
  • Bodhi:  He’s a starbaby choice, and a Sanskrit term for enlightment – could he also be the new Kai?
  • Fable: The fabulous Rebecca Woolf of Girl’s Gone Child named her second child Fable Luella.  It’s the new Story, but more obviously feminine, boosted by her similarity to Hazel and Mabel.

Lastly, please note that Sebastiane – she of the truly unusual, usually international baby names, has moved!  Legit Baby Names can now be found here.  (That’s http://legitbabenames.wordpress.com/ if you prefer to type it into your browser, old school.)  Stop by and bring your box cutter!  I’m sure  it will take some time to transfer all of her fabulous content.

That’s all for this week.  As always, thanks for reading!

Name of the Day: Constance

Posted on
19

We talk about categories of names being hot.  Grace is all the rage, as is Ava.  And yet here’s a classic, virtuous name with a Hollywood pedigree – and she’s barely used.

Thanks to Corinne for suggesting the neglected Constance as Name of the Day.

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Name of the Day: Keziah

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18

Looking for a Biblical pick that’s less common than Hannah, but more accessible than Zipporah?

Thanks to Julie for suggesting Keziah as Name of the Day.

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Yea or Nay: Koah

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8

This one first caught my eye in one of those magazine articles.  The topic was something completely unrelated to names.  But the only thing I remember?  The name of the youngest son of the all-K named clan:  Koah.

Noah with a K, I thought.  Not as bad as, say, Kyndal or Klare.  Maybe a little too close to koala.  Reminiscent of Kampgrounds of America, kreatively spelled since 1962, and abbreviated KOA on countless roadside signs.

But then I spotted Koah in an alumni magazine, the kind of place you’re far more likely to see Max or Ava, Mary or Peter.

Could there be something to Koah?

A tree grows in Hawaii called the koa.  And while I couldn’t find him in any reputable name-your-baby books, he is sometimes translated as “strength” in Hebrew out in the wilds of the internet.

And so I submit Koah for a Yea or Nay vote, but I can’t help think – with Noah at #15 and the K-kraze showing no signs of letting up?  I suspect Koah will be heard more and more.

Name of the Day: Cassia

Posted on
15

Looking for something more feminine than cowgirl Cassidy, but less elaborate than the tragic Cassandra?  Here’s a nature name that just might suit.

Thanks to Laney for suggesting Cassia as Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 9/13/09

Posted on
10

Ah, September.  The leaves change color, apples of every possible variety can be found in stacks at the Farmers’ Market and me?

I’m glued to the television:

  • Okay, not really.  I missed the debut of the rebooted Melrose Place the other night.  (Though I was sorry to miss Bronx‘s mom in action.)  This edition includes an Ella and a Violet, as well as a female Riley.  On the masculine side, there’s Auggie and Jonah;
  • Also on TV, I hear that Glee’s characters include Finn (a boy) and Quinn (a girl). Of course they’re dating;
  • Before there was Twilight, there was The Vampire Diaries.  Now a series on the CW, Elena is torn between blood-sucking centuries-young, suntan-challenged brothers Stefan and Damon;
  • Technically this is big screen news – So You Think You Can Dance alum Kherington Payne has a lead role as Alice in the big screen remake of Fame.  But will Kherington catch on for girls?  Or the Dynasty-esque original, Carrington? 

Also on the big screen, there’s Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.  Stand by for boys called Aldo, after Brad Pitt’s hyper-masculine hero.  (The character was named after a real-life tough guy actor from the 50s and 60s, Aldo Ray.)   There’s also the heart-breaking Jewish-French Shosanna, a name memorably yelled by the creepy Nazi Sicherheitsdienst officer Hans Landa, and her alias Emmanuelle.

Onto starbaby news:

Should you find yourself in a pediatrician’s office this month, pick up the current issue of Parents Magazine – there’s an extensive article on baby naming.  For true name aficionados, it is not exactly news.  (Though the report of one couple’s use of a name consultant was interesting and it was among the better coverage I’ve seen in a mainstream publication.)  But the big takeaway?  Laura Wattenberg contributed her Top Ten picks for the most popular names of 2019:

GIRLS:  Lila, Peyton, Lucy, Violet, Aubrey, Amelia, Piper, Ruby, Juliet and Harper.

BOYS: Miles, Rowan, Lincoln, Eli, Jude, Cooper, Wyatt, Ryder, Lucas and Henry.

I’ll have to do some thinking about her lists – some strike me as spot on, others … maybe not so much.  But seriously, if Laura Wattenberg is touting them as the likely hot names of 2019?  That alone might be enough to make it so.

Thanks for reading!