Monthly Archives: August 2011

Baby Name of the Day: Sophia

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Another interior view of the Hagia Sophia, sho...

Hagia Sophia interior view; Image via Wikipedia

She’s a lovely, literary classic riding high atop popularity charts throughout the English-speaking world.  But she’s also the product of one big ol’ misunderstanding.

Thanks to Sophie for suggesting Sophia as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 8/21/11

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21.

21; Image via Wikipedia

It is the last full week of August, and that means we’re off to the beach for a week.  I’ve already heard boys called Harper and Avery – one of my favorite things about heading South!

In other name news:

  • There are some interesting inventions in this post from For Real’s survey of Arkansas birth announcements: Granyon, Cabry, Carder, Atlannis, Hailyn, Tabyn.  None of them are my style, but they’re slightly more original than the usual Kaelyn and Jaydihn;
  • Did you see Nancy’s post on Minimalist Baby Names?  Fascinating – as is the comment by Alexandra about designer Phillipe Starck’s kids’ names: Ara, Oa, K, Lago, and Justice.  If they don’t quite match, that might be because Starck has been married four times over more than two decades;
  • At something of the opposite end, there are hyphen names, as profiled at British Baby Names.  Alfie-James, Ellie-May … I get the concept, but Elea confirmed my suspicions.  Regardless of what the parents do, the kids often drop the second name in school;
  • While we’re visiting Elea’s space, did you see her list from 1843?  Some of her finds could be from one of ForReal’s posts today: Syndeniah, Telo, Jane Tulip;
  • Nook gets to the letter E on her surnames list.  Ellery is a name from my family tree, so I’m doubly thrilled to see it in her post;
  • What do you think of Belisaria?
  • Did you see this list at Swistle, about a mom trying to name twin girls?  I love her list, but I’m truly thrilled by her point system and ranking process.  I’m not even a little bit rational, so I envy that kind of cool analytical approach.  Oh, and I really hope they use Linden or Persephone.

Not one, not two, but three baby girls made their appearances this week:

  • Elisabeth has a great write-up on the big news: the birth of Haven Garner Warren, a little sister for Honor Marie;
  • Kevin Federline, the former Mr. Britney Spears, has welcomed a daughter, Jordan Kay, with girlfriend Victoria Prince.  That makes five bambinos for K-Fed – Kori, Kaleb, Preston, and Jayden.  I wasn’t sure weather or not to include this announcement – after all, if Kevin was pushing the cart behind me in the Target check-out line, I wouldn’t recognize him.  Actually, even if I did, I don’t think I’d have much of a reaction.  But hey, I’m always curious to know the names of the kids in the carts ahead of me in the Target check-out line, so why not?
  • This is one is kind of a delight, though – Clover Elizabeth, the fourth child for Neal McDonough and wife Ruvé.  Clover joins London Jane, Catherine Maggie, and Morgan Patrick at home.  Clover is also the name that my friend C. – the mother of exceptionally well-adjusted high-school aged twins – insists that she’d name a late-in-life oops baby.  I’ll have more on Clover in my Nameberry post on Monday.

That’s all for this week.  As always, thank you for reading, and have a great week!

Reader Baby Name Story: Straight from the Family Tree

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[Tree in a rural area] (LOC)

Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

Note:  I’m thrilled to share Cathryn’s story.  I think it is a great example of just knowing the right name – and sticking with it even when initial reaction is, er, mixed!

My husband and I decided on our son’s name before we were even married! We were talking about genealogy one night and he liked Thomas Grover from my side of the family while I liked Benton from his side. We thought Thomas Benton Grover would make a perfect name for our future son.

Over a year later we found out we were expecting. When we found out that we would be having a boy, we knew his name was Benton Grover. We dropped Thomas because neither of us had actually met anyone with three names other than their surname and we just weren’t sure how it would work. I’m glad we did though. Benton Grover fits my son perfectly and a lot of the time we call him by both names.

When we told our family what our baby’s name was my in-laws liked Benton, but weren’t thrilled with Grover. My parents didn’t like Benton because there’s a town named Benton close to where we live that’s not so great and they weren’t convinced with Grover either. My dad said he would just call him Ben.

Now that Benton Grover is here, I have not heard one person ever call him Ben and he’s 18 months old. The whole family loves his name because now they associate it with him and he has stolen all our hearts.

My husband and I chose the name because of the family connection. Benton is named for his great-great grandfather, Benton Bible and his great-great-great grandfather Grover Crisco. We also loved that neither name is close to being popular, but still very usable. Benton Grover fits my son to a T. We really couldn’t have chosen a better name if I do say so myself!

Cathryn, thanks so much for sharing!  I love that you put family significance ahead of trends.  But as a bonus, Benton Grover seems like a stylish choice, too.

Baby Name of the Day: Bragnae

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The woodcut from the legend Tristan and Isolde.

Woodcut from the legend of Tristan & Isolde; Image via Wikipedia

She’s a literary rarity, seldom heard in real life, but with a certain allure.

Thanks to Katie B for suggesting Bragnae as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Ina

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Ina Claire In the musical play, The Girl From Utah

Ina Claire in The Girl From Utah Image via WikipediBarefoot Contessa

A celebrity chef pretty much owns this miniature appellation, but once upon a time she was quite common.

Thanks to Kerri for suggesting Ina as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Nerine

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nerine (ネリネ) #9020

Nerine #9020; Image by Nemo's great uncle via Flickr

I’m fascinated by names that have multiple origins, like today’s part-floral, part-mermaid, part-invented choice.

Thanks to Renee for suggesting her niece’s name as our Baby Name of the Day: Nerine.

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Baby Name of the Day: Mirette

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Mirette on the High Wire

Image via Wikipedia

She fits with current trends, and comes with a built-in bedtime story, too.

Thanks to Michelle for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Mirette.

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Baby Name of the Day: Eily

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Ireland

Ireland; Image by Trent Strohm via Flickr

Is she a nouveau twist on Ellie, Riley-without-the-R, a nickname for Eileen, or something completely different?

Thanks to Amy for suggesting Eily as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 8/14/11

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Image via Wikipedia

Happy Sunday!  First, I’d like to offer a warm and gracious thank you to Waltzing More Than Matilda for her kind review of Appellation Mountain.  It kicks off a new series on her site.  I’m excited to learn more about all of the creative, thoughtful minds behind so many wonderful blogs!

Elsewhere in the blogosphere:

  • I loved Jane Fryer’s lament at the Daily Mail.  This is not the familiar “I’m 21 weeks and need to settle on a name soon” complaint.  Nope, Jane and Miles welcomed their little guy back on July 21 and just can’t decide, though she thinks they’ve narrowed it down to Alexander or Frederick.  I think that’s a good call, actually – if you’re really stumped, a classic with lots of nickname options, like Elizabeth or William can make sense;
  • I have long loved the name Linden.  For me, it is a way to honor my aunt Linda.  The story-within-a-story at Nancy’s Baby Names are even more compelling;
  • British Baby Names mentioned a category of names she calls funky-clunky.  Good description, though my line is probably a little different than hers.  Queenie and Zelda feel jazzy; Emmett homespun.  But funky-clunky is a great way to describe choices like Fergus and Prudence and Horace – the kind of names you don’t like at first, but after a minute, you can’t see why they wouldn’t work;
  • What do you think of Miel as a middle name?
  • Mer de Noms introduced me to Emilie Autumn and the Bloody Crumpets.  Her music is not really my thing, but I share Mer’s fascination with two of the Crumpets’ names: Aprella and Contessa.  I run across Contessa here and there, and while it is extravagant, it is also a distinctive way to get to Tess;
  • ForReal spotted a really interesting name: Cape Elizabeth.  It sounds like a place name, but I find Cape strangely wearable.  Maybe because it sounds so much like Kate – hmmm … which makes me think maybe it isn’t wearable at all;
  • ForReal also spotted a boy named Hobey.  Years ago I met a guy who was Howard III (or IV?) who used Hobey as a nickname for Howard.  I do love that idea;
  • While we’re on the non-expected nickname thread – from Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It”‘s latest Ohdeedoh list – Beatrix, nicknamed Bix;
  • Along the same lines, from a Swistle post: Juliet, nicknamed Jett;
  • Coolest middle name ever: Caleb Costello, spotted by Babynamelover;
  • I might have to buy one of these annual reports through DaddyTypes.  Bonus points that the baby profiled by the annual report has a great name:  Paloma.

In celebrity news:

  • True Blood’s Sam Trammell and Missy Yager welcomed twin boys.  But they’ve yet to release their names … not sure if that means they haven’t decided, or if they don’t plan to share;
  • KISS frontman Paul Stanley and wife Erin welcomed a daughter named Emily Grace.  Yup, Emily Grace.  The rocker has conservatively named kids: Evan, Colin, Sarah, and now Emily.  They’re not exciting choices, but as Chantal and Erin pointed out on Facebook, it is a nice sibset;
  • But the big news?  The arrival of Tina Fey’s second daughter, Penelope Athena, a little sister for Alice Zenobia.  I’ll

Incidentally, one of the things Waltzing More Than Matilda pointed out in the blog review was that I don’t have a Facebook button – now I do!

That’s all for this week – thanks for reading, and have a great week!