Rex, Nola, Giacomo: Mardi Gras Baby Names

February 8, 2013

I’ve been to New Orleans exactly twice.  I came thisclose to packing up and moving there at the age of 20. Blame it on Anne Rice or The Travel Channel, an affection for zydeco or a determination to live some place where there’s no need for long johns.  Or maybe it is “House of the [...]

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Fox, Pax & Felix: Boys Names Ending with X

February 1, 2013

Boys’ names ending with x range from the mainstream to the edgy, the solidly masculine to the unisex. My unscientific guess is that more names ending with x are in use in 2013 than ever before. We do love those high-value Scrabble letters: z, j, k, v, x. Besides its cool, edgy sound, X has [...]

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Reinventing Grandma Names: 1960s edition

January 25, 2013

It’s a common conundrum: you’d love to honor your mom, but her name is as dated as avocado appliances. There are a few options, of course: You can always tuck her name in the middle spot.  It worked for the Spelling-McDermotts, right? Use her middle name, especially if it is fabulous.  Even if it isn’t, [...]

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Finn: Getting to Finn from Griffin, Fintan & More

January 18, 2013

He’s a lively, carefree name just right for a modern boy – part Huck, part Hudson.  While we don’t know too many men by the name, it is easy to imagine it on a grown-up.  With roots in Irish legend and a smooth, modern sound, it is easy to see why parents have embraced Finn. But [...]

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Coco, Willow & Marlo: Girls Names Ending With O

January 11, 2013

Looking for a girls’ name with an unconventional sound?  Want something feminine, but frills-free?  Here’s a possibility: choose one of the many girls names ending with O. At first glance, girls names ending with O are too modern for many parents, too risky.  Juno was the poster child for teenage pregnancy and Coco is only [...]

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Rocco, Rocky & Flint: Rock Names for Boys

January 4, 2013

Looking for a strong name for a boy?  A nature-inspired choice that feels unexpected and solid all at once?  Maybe you should turn towards geology – and guitars – and go with one of these rock names for a son. Hollywood has embraced rock names over the past few years.  Madonna kicked things off, welcoming [...]

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Olive, Elaine & Estelle: Girls’ Names Without A Endings

December 28, 2012

The most popular girls’ names today are flowing, mellifluous appellations.  Six of the current Top Ten end with the letter a, and three of the top four are three syllables or better: Isabella, Olivia, Sophia. But could a more tailored era be ahead of us?  Lop off that final a, and there are some interesting [...]

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Unexpected Christmas Baby Names for Boys

December 21, 2012

Expecting a son this holiday season?  You could always name him Nicholas, and hope that he’d appreciate sharing his classic appellation with S. Claus himself. Or maybe Rudolph, but even if he arrives on December 25, it still feels like a name more clunky than cool. So what are the stylish names to consider for [...]

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Unexpected Christmas Names for Girls

December 14, 2012

Naming a daughter due at Christmastime? There are obvious choices to consider.  Natalie and Noelle, Holly.  In the James Bond flick The World is Not Enough, Denise Richards played a physicist called Dr. Christmas Jones.  (And yes, there was at least one incredibly bawdy joke as the result of her character’s name, but hey, Bond [...]

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Fable, Novella & Poet: Literally Literary Baby Names

December 7, 2012

Want to celebrate your love of books with a baby name? You can name your baby after a famous literary character – think Emma or Valancy.  Or use an author’s surname – Hawthorne or Thoreau or Austen or Ellison.  Some work as given names, while others seem better left to the middle spot. But there’s [...]

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