The Number 30 by Herman Turnip via Flickr
It strikes me that I’m now into my fourth year of writing at AppMtn. My first post was Ava and Harlow, back on January 23, 2008. I’d learned the mechanics of blogging for work a few years earlier; I now manage yet another blog in Real Life, and it looks like it is about to be joined by another. Nothing I’ve written professionally has given me anywhere near the joy I’ve gotten out of writing here, and I credit that to you. (Yup, even you lurkers. I can’t hear you, but I can see you – and it’s nice to know that you’re here, too.)
On to the news:
- Carlton F.W. Larson of UC Davis School of Law dips a toe into our world with “Naming Baby: The Constitutional Dimensions of Parental Naming Rights.” Nancy read up on the section about numbers in given names and has a summary here. Larson himself wrote on prawfsblog about a subject that fascinates me: diacritical marks. His take? Many laws passed by the states to restrict naming rights are okey-dokey, but prohibiting diacritical marks might not be;
- Here’s another hot-button issue I enjoy: I thought I invented that name, posted at BabyNameWizard. In this case, the name in question is Baylen, recently in the press as the name of Drew Brees’ firstborn, big brother to Bowen. Wattenberg suggests that names aren’t invented – they’re discovered. I like that concept. Wattenberg also wrote about the phenomenon of parents choosing a name, then searching for a meaning: “I made up this name, can you tell me what it means?” That one always stumps me;
- Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” came up with a list of twenty possible options for Nicole at Making It Lovely to consider. So far Frederick is in front, but Hugo got my vote;
- Here’s something spotted by ForReal: Avalon is one of my favorites, but to me it is all girl. Interesting to see it in the middle for a boy, paired with the powerful Gage;
- I’d love to know what this reader does. Loyal Granddaughter asked the Name Lady what she thought of using all four grandmothers’ names for her daughter: Sue Mae Rose Marie. The advice was sound – why not combine so your daughter receives all of the names in some form? I love the idea of Susan Rosemary Mae or Rosamae Susan Marie;
- Do you read The Meanest Mom? I must be the last person on Earth to discover Jana’s blog. She’s not really mean, but she is wickedly funny. And I’m crazy about her eldest child’s name, a daughter called Camber;
- I don’t read Portuguese, but I’ve just started following Nomes e mais nomes anyhow;
- From the wayback machine: in 2009, I wrote about Lunette and Arlo. Last year, it was Clover and Jacoby;
- And here’s a look forward: in the queue for next week are Piers, Frank, Lucinda, Ulysses, and Amory.
Stop by Nameberry tomorrow where I’ll be talking about names I found while culling through the list of Oscar nominees. (C in DC, thanks for the inspiration!)
Speaking of The Glamorous Life, please welcome the following sure-to-be-paparazzi-stalked tots to the universe:
- Mike Tyson welcomed a son called Morocco Elijah. He and wife Lakiha also have a daughter, Milan. Tyson’s six older children are D’Amato, Mikey, Miguel, Rayna, Amir, and his daughter Exodus, who passed away in 2009;
- No Doubt’s Tony Kanal is a new dad. He and girlfriend Erin Lokitz welcomed daughter Coco Reese Lakshmi. The rest of the musical crew’s moppets are Kingston, Zuma, Ace, Rio, and Mason.
Which reminds me, Clio is obsessed with Gwen Stefani and Akon’s single “The Sweet Escape.” How do you say no to a toddler who asks for “more Woo-hoo song, peeeeez?”
Speaking of requests, I’ll be doing another rerun week in April. Should you stumble across a post that you think needs some freshening up, feel free to suggest it via email to appmtn (at) gmail (dot) com.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading!
I would definitely use Rosemary Susan for the combined name. Mae seems unnecessary and even redundant to me considering it is a form of Mary. My daughter’s middles honor three out of four of her great-grandmothers. Magina got left out.
Though I guess if we were stretching, Mae could be for her too, but I don’t think she would see it that way.
I was thinking the same when I saw the post. Mae is a diminutive of Mary, and Susannah Rosemary got my vote.
I was actually going to say Susannah Rosemary, but then I’d worry (if it were me) that people would think one of the grandmas was Anne/Anna, so I stuck with Susan.
True – I’m not sure if all of the grandmothers are living, but I wonder if the question wasn’t in part about using four names, to ensure that no one is missed. Which would make my daughter Irene Mariarosa Jadwiga Amalia.
Hmmmm … I can see why more people don’t try that trick.
She could also use 2 names now, and save two for the next baby, if there’s to be a next baby?
I have twins and nearly named them Elena Josephine and Neda Maria, after Helen, Josephine, Edna, and Maria Maura. We went with non-family names instead.
Thanks for the link to the Portuguese name blog. Fun!
I’m one of those lurkers. Love reading the topics, just rarely feel like I have something of interest to add to the discussion. Thanks for all your writing!
Why thanks, T.R. I don’t mean to sound judgey about the lurking thing – I lurk on a LOT of cooking blogs, where I truly have nothing, nothing, nothing to say except “Oh geez, there’s more for dinner than pasta?”
I’m probably alone, but I love Coco. I would prefer it as a nickname for something like Cordelia, though. No Doubt is my favorite, and I think their kids names seem totally fitting for them. Ace is a personal favorite (though again, as a nickname), and I love Rio. I hated Zuma at first but somehow it seems to fit him. I’m starting to actually like it. Plus, I showed Dash a picture of Zuma on a swing and told him his name, so he started saying it in adorable toddler talk, it’s really quite endearing that way!
I voted for Frederick, I really want there to be more of them in the world, and since my husband will never agree to it…
<3 Lunette, I'm glad for the reminder that you covered her!
I don’t speak Portuguese but I would always read the Portuguese translations of my former church bulletins. Between that and being a Spanish speaker I was able to enjoy the Portuguese site you linked to above.
Rough translation of the subtitle “Where we adore personal names. Because we all have one”.
I’ll be checking in on that one from time to time. Love seeing international angles on names.
Thanks for the translation, Christina! I didn’t even try to translate anything, but I still found scanning the name lists interesting.
When I was in Spain a few years ago, I decided against taking a side trip to Lisbon. We really didn’t have enough time, but I always wish I’d went. Except we ended up at the Alhambra instead, and I did love the Alhambra, so … I guess I just need to go back!
Christina, that’s a great translation! ;D
Thank you very much for the shout out! I hope you all can get pass through that portuguese obstacle and keep visiting ;D
Hm. Not sure what I’ll vote for on Nicole’s baby boy name poll – George is fun, but Peter is nice, and I can see her with a little Oscar. But, I’m going with Tobias, both because I can picture a male version of Eleanor being called Tobias and because I definitely see Nicole with a Toby…
(Note to Nicole – I could also see you with a Curtis, Holden, Isaac, or Julian.)
Lyndsay, I love Coco, too, but as I mentioned on a post a few days ago, Coco Reese Lakshmi is a lot of celebrity names in one for the baby of a celebrity – so, I’m not keen on the combination. Corina would be my pick!
Julian is a great suggestion for them. Can’t believe I left that one out.
There’s a little Julian in my ‘hood. It wears well, but he’s the second under-5 Julian I know. Not sure if that’s a fluke, or a sign that Julian is the new Henry.
I don’t think it’s a fluke. I know one small Julian, and I’ve heard it around quite a few times. It IS a great name, though.
Don’t know anyone named Coco. But I do have a cousin named Koko. She’s not Japanese, she just has bohemian parents.
Does she like her name? I normally don’t love the k-for-c swap, but Koko isn’t any more out-there than Coco, so I find myself liking it quite a bit.
You know, I never asked. We don’t know each other that well. She’s actually the child of one of my grandma’s foster children, so we’re not biologically related. When she was born, Koko was 100% gorilla to me. Now I don’t give it a second thought. She’s now 13 and seems to wear it well.
Funny that you spotted Avalon as a middle name for boy, just a couple of days after Phyllon’s middle name was revealed: Joy. I actually like it for a boy, and goes well with his dad’s name Sunnery.
It is interesting, isn’t it? I’ve been thinking lately that the complaint “Parents are stealing all the boys’ names for girls” isn’t quite right. It ought to be “Parents have too narrow a definition of boys’ names.” Except, of course, Aly is currently irritated that he has a girls’ name. I can’t quite imagine how he’d feel about being Ashley.
Thanks for another fantastic week’s end, Abby!
Yes Abby, thanks for another fantastic week and week’s end! Look forward to seeing you tomorrow on Nameberry.
I used to don my judgy pants over Coco. I no longer care. It seems to pop up a bit in Aussie BAs as well as the Times/Telegraph papers alongside sibs called Willow and Poppy.
Rosamae Susan Marie FTW! Anything but Rosemary. It’s my overdose cooking herb of choice and I can no longer see it as anything but deliciously edible. That and the horrendous Mrs West.