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!
just dashing in from icing 3 dozen cupcakes for a birthday party next week and i just wanted to comment on the changing of a first name at marriage. like in the colum both me and my sister hated our names as teenagers (especially as our mother told us the hippie choices she would have picked) but now i’ve grown into mine and couldn’t imagine being called anything else. my sister on the other hand still hates her name (margaret) and wishes she was anything else!
There are so many nicknames that come from Margaret… Meg, Greta… Has she tried finding a nickname she loves?
Yes, Luc and Lola remind me of Luke and Laura, totally!
My mom didn’t really *change* her name when she got married, but she stopped using her middle name. She’d been called Carol Joy from the day she was born, but after marrying, she was just Carol. The only people who still call her Carol Joy are her siblings, relatives and high school friends. Similarly, my brother John Mark has had to remind people his entire life that he goes by both names, but people persist in calling him John.
On that note, I hate forms that require a middle initial and assume you use your first name! We need forms that offer some flexibility.
Thank goodness it wasn’t just me, Joy!
I agree with you about the forms … there’s a post in there somewhere.
Fifa is an Icelandic name. Absolutely adore it!
I really really like to know the origin and meaning of Sean Patrick Thomas’ wife name, Aonkia. Very intriguing indeed.
Great summary, as always! I would have loved to have been able to join the throngs of women who add their maiden names as a second middle name upon becoming married, but my maiden name, well, let’s just say that clunky German names don’t always work.
Oh, the kids-named-after-the-World-Cup just reminded me of something Mark told me yesterday. On Friday, the hockey team we root for got to be the first team to choose a first round draft pick (e.g. rookie team member too young to actually be in the team this year but set to join in the next couple of years). Our team has played horrendously over the past few years, so this was a big deal. A young 18-year-old with the first name Taylor was selected to much fanfare, hoopla, and high hopes.
He already has a namesake. A baby born on Saturday was named McKenna Taylor, after Taylor Hall. The mum chose her daughter’s first name while the dad insisted on Taylor after the city’s newest player.
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