Yesterday I unveiled my predictions for the coming year, and that was going to be all I had to say about the year’s close.  Except that I found myself hypnotized by a video of old-school clocks from Etsy’s Vimeo channel.  Time really does slip by so quickly.  (Next month, I’ll enter my fifth year of blogging here at Appellation Mountain.  What?)  And so here’s a quick look back at 2011.

January 2011

• I started writing a regular Monday post for Nameberry.  I still pinch myself every time I see my name on the site.  Thanks to Pam and Linda for their encouragement!
• Amoret was featured as Baby Name of the Day.  In September blogger Rubyellen of Cakies welcomed daughter Glow Amorette.  I truly do love this name.

February 2011

• I loved writing about Elsinore, which isn’t exactly a given name, but certainly could be.
• Then there’s a draft of an article I never finished, which I’ve dredged up to dust off and post in 2012, one about my personal experience naming human beings.

March 2011

• March Madness was a great run, with Louisa and Nathaniel claiming the top spots.
• I also wrote about the poetic, starbaby pick Tennyson, a choice that has really grown on me this year.

April 2011

• I adore the cowboy-cool and carefree Irish style of Callahan, and my obsession with The Hunger Games fuels by continued interest in the lovely Primrose.

May 2011

• We welcomed Nick and Mariah’s tots, Moroccan and Monroe, and it was official: sometimes celeb baby names are just too cool for their own good.
• And, of course, the 2009 Social Security statistics came out.  I had a few things to say about that.

June 2011

• I loved the chance to write about Adair, Elettra, and Antonella – three of my favorites for girls.

July 2011

• I always choose some of the names profiled during my birthday week, and 2011 was no exception.  I considered Clark, Katniss, and Coco. 
• Then came the birth of Kate Hudson’s baby Bingham – the kind of name I end up loving because it is so rich with significance about the family.
• My favorite post of the year probably goes to this one.

August 2011

• Tina Fey’s daughter Penelope Athena joined the world, as did lots of other little Penelopes.

September 2011 

• I was mocked on Gawker.  Turns out that this is great for traffic.
• Girls Gone Child blogger Rebecca Wolfe gave her daughters the memorable appellations Reverie Lux and Boheme Shalom.
• I launched the Fetching Names names series – and it quickly became the most-commented-on series here.

October 2011

• The talented Kate at My Kids Eat Off the Floor hosted a give-away from her Etsy shop.
• Tori Spelling welcomed a daughter named Hattie Margaret.

November 2011

• Reruns started, and while some comments lamented that I wouldn’t be moving forward, I’ve really enjoyed reworking those early posts.  Four years is a long time, and some of them have changed.
• I also started relying on polls to narrow down the names to feature here.  It has been a big help for me, and they’ll be returning early in the new year.

December 2011

• One of my favorite lists in ages has to be Fetching Names: The Hermiones, Part I. I still owe you a sequel!

And that brings us to today, the very last day of the year.  It seems impossible that this could be the case, but I can hear the kids getting the noisemakers ready downstairs.

Thanks for being part of the ride!  Wishing you a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2012.