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I’m not sure exactly what’s going on upstairs as I write – I can hear both children laughing, and the Dora Halloween special is definitely on television.  My husband must be in the room with them, but I kind of think the toddler is in charge.

Beyond describing my background noise, I say that because I’ve often wondered if the name Dora will catch on years from now.  I doubt that many parents named their daughters in honor of Olivia Newton-John, but having spent their formative years singing along to Grease, is it really a surprise that they later embraced the name?  Sometimes a public figure just raises awareness of a name, subtly adding it to the menu of possible options.

Then again, I’ve yet to meet a little Ernie, and we all grew up with Sesame Street.  So I’m not certain we’ll all have granddaughters named Dora.

On to the name news:

• For Real spotted some thought-provoking birth announcements. Is Addy Malyn a deconstructed version of Madalyn?  Will Mac Lee someday wonder why his parents didn’t invest in another syllable or two?  But there are some really neat choices on this list, too: Gideon, Ember, Finnegan, Grier, and Coraline;
• Is this really an epidemic? Or is the Daily Mail just so starved for content that tales of two friends squabbling over the name Ava is now considered news?
• Okay, this one is a difficult case of name-napping – an email to Swistle about a brother planning to use the name his sister chose for a son;
• I thoroughly enjoy Lovely Design for lots of reasons, but scroll down and you’ll see that she’s making a gift for a baby named Maceo.  That’s the second time I’ve heard Maceo recently – inspired by the jazz musician, I assume.  It’s an intriguing choice;
• I’ve written about Boris, Regan, Jason, and more Halloween-tinted appellations.  Parenting goes even farther, throwing in all of the Twilight and Harry Potter choices, too;
• Sebastiane featured Faustina, a name I absolutely loved when I first found it in a baby name book when I was about twelve.  I’m not so sure about it now, but I enjoyed seeing her;
• I loved this list from Utah’s 1905 birth certificate index. Apparently they can make a pretty good estimate of the state’s most popular names from that year, including Mary, Ruth, and Thelma for girls, and John, Clarence, and Arthur for boys;
• Speaking of lists, here’s Nancy’s tally of How Many Babies Were Named MacGyver. The most famous television character to wear a mullet answered to the first name Angus – though I don’t believe it was ever mentioned in the series.

In celeb news:

• Drew Brees’ firstborn son is Baylen Robert.  His second son?  That could be up to you. The New Orleans Saints’ quarterback has specified that the name should start with B and is “uncommon, not in most baby name books.”  Follow the link to make a suggestion;
• Is Ali Larter naming her baby-on-the-way Mac? And does Sheryl Crow know that her breakout hit from 1994 is inspiring parents today: “He says his name is William, but I know it’s Bill or Billy or Mac or Buddy.”
• Speaking of nicknames, former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher welcomed his third child, Sonny Patrick, a little brother for Donovan and Anais.

That’s all for this week, but if you’re starved for Sunday Summary-esque commentary the other six days of the week, you can find me on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AppMtn.  It’s a great place to post names that you’ve spotted elsewhere – I’m starting to keep an informal list in the discussions area.

As always, thanks for reading!