Here at AppMtn, it isn’t so very unusual to receive an outraged email or comment after I’ve said something less than flattering about a name.  The longer I write, the more keenly I think about the fact that these names are worn by real human beings.

So it is doubly thrilling when I write something and the parents are happy to discover the post.  Better still, they write about it on their blog.  Which brings us to adorable baby Estelle over at The Emperor’s New Crib.  Thanks to her parents, I now know that frikadelle means meatball in Danish.

A bunch of other random thoughts:

• I like Anneliese.  I can understand respelling her Annalise or Annalisa.  But Analyse?  Yup, I’ve just spotted a baby Analyse.  I don’t think her parents are psychiatrists;
• Anyone think True will catch on as a first name?  It’s sort of like a virtue name on steroids – far bolder than the established Grace and Faith, stark compared to the gently old-fashioned Felicity or Amity.  Actor Forest Whitaker has a daughter called True Isabella Summer.  True Jackson, VP is a Nickelodeon show ’bout a super-stylish teen who ends up heading up a line at an honest-to-goodness fashion label.  (And no, her mom’s name isn’t Kimora.)  The show is in season #2 and now airs on Nick UK an Nick Latin America;
• Nicole Kidman is about to return to the big screen as Claudia in the musical Nine. If it is half the hit of Moulin Rouge, the sadly neglected Claudia could finally get a boost.  After all, the devilish Satine still surfaces on message boards;
• I keep meaning to mention the compound name of my favorite project runway finalist – Carol Hannah.  I’m not wild about either name, but I find the combination strangely appealing.  Or is it too close to Poltergeist’s tragic Carol Anne?  I also heard a prospective model’s name mentioned during casting for the contestants’ shows – Drielle, which sounds a too much like a French power tool to be pretty;
• Nancy mentions strangely appropriate names – as in, a retail analyst named Tiffany Co.  I recently met a cantor named Aria and while chasing the kids around the Bass Outdoor Extravaganza Warehouse Winter Wonderland, I heard a camouflage-clad dad call his son Hunter;
• Bewildertrix spotted a Juno Alexandra Zénaïde, little sister to Hugh.  I agree with her – what a fabulous combo;
• Digital Spy talked with Emmerdale (it’s a UK soap) star Charlotte Bellamy about the names she and partner Mungo Denison chose for their three kids: sons Sunnie and Herbie and daughter Teddie Boo Florence;
• She’s not here yet, but Joey Lawrence tells Celebrity Baby Blog that Charleston’s little sister will be called Liberty Grace.

A few noteworthy posts you might’ve missed:

• Did you catch the Nameberry post on Old Lady Names?  It’s interesting to see how trends evolve – they report on the granny chic picks they’ve mentioned in each edition of Beyond Jennifer & Jason, now rebooted as Beyond Ava & Aiden.  They’ve definitely caught on in the DC ‘burbs – I can think of Ida, Mabel, Hazel and Elsie all in my ‘hood.  Funny to think that someday Cynthia, Barbara and Deborah will all sound fresh again, too;
• It’s no longer fashion limbo.  They’re now outlier names. Celebrity Baby Blog interviewed Nameberry’s Pamela Redmond Satran about names like Paulina, Bronwyn and Helena;
• Lastly, Xanthe Linnea has a great list of one-syllable names for boys.  I love Bram, Clark, Heath and Rhys.

Speaking of one-syllable boys, a year ago I was writing about Rex.

Thanks for reading, and see you next week!