Tiny nation Monaco is set to expand their royal family by one. What do you think of Queen Charlene?  Actually, her title will be Princess, just like Prince Albert’s mom, a name you might recognize – the late Grace Kelly.  We’ll have to see if the appellation of the South African swimmer turned serene highness will inspire parents.  And, of course, the royal couple may very well have kids of their own, to join Albert’s two from previous relationships: Alexandre and Jazmin.

Speaking of marriage, Laura Wattenberg raised the question of changing your first name when you marry. It’s actually something that I did, so I’m curious to read the comments.

In other news:

• Names4Real spotted a name I hadn’t expected to see!  Granted, it is in the middle spot, but her Indiana names round-up included an Elizabeth Lavern. She also visited Maryland, my stomping grounds – though I don’t know Cassidy Countiss or August Haze;
• I’m always surprised by message board comments like this one about Kimberly over at ParentsConnect: “this name does  not mean forest clearing ….. it means ruler or established by god …. i swear … this is some inaccurate information….”  Yes, there is inaccurate information out there.  There may be a more precise interpretation of Kimberly, which is sometimes traced to the Anglo-Saxon saint from the seventh century, Cyneburga, sometimes to a rock and sometimes to an aristocrat.  But ruler?  Nope.  Not on the list.  Nothin’ ’bout established by God, either.  We want our names to have special, fabulous meanings, but it’s often just not the case;
• World Cup fever continues, making it is easy to imagine parents considering athletes’ names for their children. Nancy reports on some unusual World Cup-inspired choices, including a girl called Fifa;
• There’s also Wimbledon – Elisabeth offers us a round-up of intriguing names from the world of tennis;
• Here’s a very nice little baby name tale from Council Bluffs, Iowa: the story of Thomas Lloyd;
• Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” spotted another Una and an Oona – this one seems to be on the rise, possibly obscured by the two spellings.  Nancy tells us that there were 31 Oonas born in 2009, and another 30 Unas.  That’s still short of the 263 needed to break into the US Top 1000, but it is one to watch;
• Need a summer baby name?   Legit Babe Names and Nameberry both posted some intriguing options.

Besides Sofia Coppola’s Cosima – who will apparently be known as Cosima M. in Hollywood, to keep her separate from Claudia Schiffer’s Cosima V. – we welcomed Luc Laurent, a son for Sean Patrick Thomas and wife Aonkia Laurent Thomas.  Luc joins big sis Lola Jolie at home.  Is it me, or does Luc & Lola remind anyone else of soap opera super couple Luke & Laura?

Maybe it’s just me.

Thanks for reading, and as always, have a great week!