Katniss Everdeen; Image via Wikipedia

Did you read the Fetching Names posts on The Hermiones?  (No?  Catch up with Part I and Part II.)  To be a Hermione, a name has to be many things, but the basic definition is this: vintage, but not delicate.  Clunky, but still cool.

On the original post punkprincessphd wrote this comment: ” … let us *raise* our daughters to be Hermiones, and don’t just stop at naming them such. But to go one step further, I wouldn’t mind if my daughter was a little bit Katniss, too.”

Katniss Everdeen, heroine of The Hunger Games trilogy, has much in common with Hermione Granger.  But her name is different.  It’s modern, but not invented.  Feminine, but not obviously so.  And like The Hermiones, the name has to exude strength.  But while Miss Granger is all about intellect, Miss Everdeen relies on an almost preternatural instinct.

And so here it is: The Katnisses, bold – even heroic – names for a daughter.

Aderyn – Katniss is an underdog from a neglected part of her world.  Something about District 12 brings to mind twentieth century Wales, and it pushes Aderyn to the top of this list.  A modern Welsh name meaning bird, Aderyn is less obvious than Lark or Wren, but still a definite nature name.  Call her Addie and she’ll blend in, but Aderyn is a stand-out.

Alix – Naming your daughter Charlie or Evan doesn’t make the list, but Alix does.  A medieval French variant of Alice worn by European royals into the twentieth century and still in use in France today, Alix splits the difference between borrowing from the boys and finding a feminine name with a unisex sound.

Briar – Like Katniss and Aderyn, Briar makes for a frills-free nature name.  This one only counts, however, if you resist the urge to pair it with Rose, the original appellation of fairy tale princess Sleeping Beauty.  Disney re-christened her Aurora, so the current generation won’t see her as a member of the tiara club, but parents and grandparents might get the reference.  Still, the image of a thorn-filled briar patch fits right in with Katniss.

Clio – Full disclosure: this is my daughter’s name.  Since Clio is originally a Greek muse, she almost qualifies for the Hermione list.  Except that -o ending screams modern, especially for girls.  Spell it Cleo and she’s a legendary Egyptian queen with a thing for eyeliner.  Similar in sound to the mega-popular Chloe, Clio is different, but still recognizable.

Echo – Like Clio, she’s not really new.  But the Greek nymph’s name sounds ever so modern.  Layer in the tough-as-nails character Eliza Dushku played on short-lived Fox-series Dollhouse and Echo resonates.

Elke – A short form of Adelaide whispered down the alley, this noble name is a cousin to fellow list member Alix, an there’s also an unrelated Hebrew name.  Elke makes the list for two reasons – she’s short and high energy, but there’s also her resemblance to the mighty elk.  Names like Fawn are sweetly feminine, but Elke has an edge.

Ever/Everild – Depending on your perspective, Ever is either a modern word name or a traditional appellation that coincidentally resembles the adverb.  Everild is one form of an old saint’s name referring to battle.  Both feel distinctively modern and sharp, as does Katniss’ last name – Everdeen.

Greer – She’s rather harsh in sound, a traditional surname related to Gregory by way of Scotland.  Oscar-winning actress Greer Garson was born Eileen; Greer was her mother’s maiden name.  Ms. Garson put the name firmly in girls’ territory.  Brooke Shields named her younger daughter Grier.

Landry – Now considered a surname, but originally a given name worn by a trio of medieval saints, Landry was one of several similar names on the very first draft of this list.  Hadley and Langley were both cut, but something about Landry endures.  While the original Landrys were male, and typically appear in the historical record as the Latinized Landericus, the name hasn’t seen much use in our era, making it fair game for both genders.

Leta – Similar names and alternate spellings include Leto, Leda, and Lida, but this version made the list thanks to über-blogger Heather Armstrong’s elder daughter, Leta Elise.  Yes, it conjures up swans and Spartan queens, but also rock icon and Runaways alum Lita Ford.  Lila and Lily are lovely, but Leta is courageous.

Luca/Lux – Luca is a traditional boy’s name, and lux is the Latin word for light.  Both have made occasional appearances on the girls’ lists.  Luca is the middle daughter of Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli, and also a Hungarian form of Lucia - currently hovering just outside their Top Ten.  Lux is among the troubled sisters in Jeffrey Eugenides’ grim and grisly novel-turned-movie The Virgin Suicides.  We love Lucy and all of her many elaborations, but she’s not quite a Katniss.  Luca and Lux are – the feminine equivalents of another young hero, Luke Skywalker.

What names have I missed?  What should be included on the second half of the list?  And would you use any of these names, or are you more of a Hermione type?

e61 by Too Far North via Flickr

Take the -ia from Olivia and Sophia, borrow the El- from Ella and Elizabeth, and you’ll arrive at a terribly pretty possibility for a daughter, one that just might have ancient roots.

Thanks to Cindy for suggesting her daughter’s name, Ellia as our Baby Name of the Day.

Ellia has multiple possible origins, from the simple assemblage of popular sounds to ties to a traditional Old Testament name.

• Ellia may simply have emerged as a variant, and perhaps even a feminine form, of Elijah and Elias.  Elijah was slimmed down to Elia in Italian and several other European tongues – think of legendary director Elia Kazan.  Census records suggest that plenty of men answered to Ellia, too, at least in the US, and almost certainly as a twist on the Biblical name.
• In more modern moments, I’ve heard Ellia connected to the French elle - she.  But since Elle is also a given name with ties to the popular Ella family, this one is probably on the fanciful side.

But here’s the most intriguing of them all.  The Roman gens Aelia was prominent for centuries in the ancient world.  The Emperor Hadrian was among their members, as were many distinguished figures well into the fourth century.  Aelia Paetina was the second wife of Emperor Claudius, so we know that Aelia was the preferred feminine form for family members.

The origins of Aelia and company are debated, but one suggestion is that it connects to the Greek helios - sun.

Plenty of names have come down to us from ancient days, and while Aelia is poorly represented on the map today, it was once common, bestowed by Hadrian and others to places where they constructed bridges or settlements.  Aelia Capitolina once stood on the site of modern-day Jerusalem.  Aelia survived in the Byzantine Empire even longer, worn by a few more empresses.

Could the personal name have trickled down over the years?  Cindy found it on her husband’s Italian family tree, traced back over several centuries.  This tracks with the census records – while some nineteenth century American Ellias were men, an equal number were women – suggesting that two separate origins for the name might be perfectly plausible.

With the exception of Cindy’s report, I can’t confirm another medieval Ellia.  Still, Italian was such a fragmented language, and written records were so slim that it means little.  It also strikes me that Ellia might have been recorded differently in Latin – could she be hiding as Elisabetta?

Two pop culture references might put Ellia on a 21st century parents’ radar:

• Actress Ellia English has had a long career, from the television adaptation of Fame in the 1980s to the present-day Disney Channel series Good Luck, Charlie.
• There was also a minor – but important – character on sci-fi series Stargate Atlantis.  Jewel Staite of Firefly fame, played Ellia.

But is Ellia the kind of name that a modern parent would consider?  Look no further than Project Nursery.

Ellia has all the markings of a stylish moniker.  Her sound fits right in with Amelia, Stella and Eleanor - strong, smart, creative names for a daughter that wear well throughout life.  And while she might strike some as invented, her roots run deep.  If you’re looking for something just a little bit different, Ellia is one to consider.

Image via Wikipedia

You wouldn’t name your son Fuzzy Wuzzy or Yogi, but there are an awful lot of great boy names that bring to mind bears.  Some literally mean bear, while others have been worn by a famous ursine.

Let’s start with names that literally mean bear – or at least could mean bear.

Arthur - After years of being relegated to the grandpa set, Arthur has reclaimed his regal roots.  First Courtney Cox’s character on Cougar Town mentioned it as the name she had in mind for a possible son.  Then Selma Blair chose it for her newborn son in 2011.  While the name’s meaning is debated, one of the more popular theories is that Arthur comes from the Celtic artos - bear.  Harry Potter – er, I meant Daniel Radcliffe – plays a young lawyer named Arthur in the upcoming thriller The Woman in Black.

Orson – Orson Scott Card is a sci-fi legend, the author of Ender’s Game, among others, and Orson Welles was a Hollywood legend.  Originally a surname derived from the Latin ursus via the French ors, Orson was more common in the nineteenth century than today.  With boys answering to Carson and Oliver, he’s not a huge stretch. Whether his easily overlooked ursine roots is a problem or a plus, well … that’s up to you.

Dov – He brings to mind an animal, but it isn’t a growly bear.  Dove - the symbol of peace – could be an intriguing pick for the middle spot.  But Dov is a Hebrew name that literally translates to bear, much like Zev means lion.  American Apparel founder Dov Charney could’ve given his name some serious Hebrew hipster cred, but Charney’s turned out to be too controversial to boost his name.

Benno - He sounds like a spin on the Biblical Benjamin, but he’s actually a cousin to Bernard - from the Germanic bern - bear.  Names like Leo and Milo are at the height of fashion, and nickname Ben lets your boy lose the -o if he’s so inclined.

Berlin – The city’s name may – or may not – come from the German word for the animal, but it doesn’t much matter.  There’s a bear in the coat of arms, and the Berlin International Film Festival bestows the Goldener Bär – the Golden Bear – to its best film.  If you’re looking for a cosmopolitan borrowing from the map with an ursine tie, Berlin is it.

But how ’bout names that just make us think of bears?

Teddy – Original a diminutive of Theodore or sometimes Edward - neither of which have anything to do with bears – Teddy took on a different connotation thanks to a political cartoon featuring then-President Theodore Roosevelt.  The story goes like this: Roosevelt was on a hunting trip and declined to shoot a defenseless bear.  (Nevermind that the bear was defenseless because the hunting party had been chasing it …)  In any case, an aspiring toy maker spotted the cartoon and made a stuffed bear called Teddy.  The rest is history.

Then there are the names of famous bears.  The most famous bears don’t have particularly wearable appellations.  Is anyone really thinking about Paddington or Winnie the Pooh?  But there are a handful.

Rupert – A British comic strip staple, Rupert has been adapted for books and television.  On a less innocent note, he also inspired the name of Stewie’s teddy bear on Family Guy.  In the US, the association isn’t well known, and other Ruperts – like the young actor who played Ron in the Harry Potter franchise – might be better known.

Barney – An animated bear from a series of shorts in the 1930 and 40s, the ever-ready to hibernate Barney Bear had a second life in comic books, and was still appearing in new material in the 1980s.  But like Rupert, Barney isn’t likely to scream bear to modern parents or kids.  Purple dinosaurs and sitcom Lotharios are more of an issue.

Aloysius – The beloved bear from Brideshead Revisited, Aloysius is a throwback appellation with a literary twist.  If you’re going for a barely-there bear name, he’s a good option … assuming you’re daring enough to put Aloysius on your list.

Lastly, what about the just sticking with the name Bear, as in Coach Bear Bryant - born Paul William - or Alicia Silverstone’s little guy, Bear Blu?  While animal names can be dismissed as silly, outlandish choices, their history of use is impressive.  There’s a reason so many names conjure up the wild kingdom – the best qualities of animals have inspired parents for millenia.  Bear is a legitimate option, symbolizing strength, and standing in for places from Germany to Russia to the state of California.

There you go – lots of possibilities for your little cub!

Image via Wikipedia

We have daughters named Ruby and Pearl, Gemma and Jewel, so why not this sparkling appellation?

Thanks to Marianne and Larkin for suggesting Garnet as our Baby Name of the Day.

Before you dismiss Garnet as another modern wacky noun name akin to Apple or Blue, check out the statistics.  Garnet ranked in the US Top 1000 most years from 1884 through 1944, and I’ve stumbled across elaborations like Garnetta.  Her best decades were from the 1900s and 1910s, so she’s on track for a 100-year revival.

Garnets have been prized since as early as 3000 BC.  They don’t have to be red, but we associate them with the color.  In fact, garnet comes from the French word grenat, referring to dark red, originally from the Latin granatum.  There’s a decent case that the color words relate to the pomegranate, the dark red fruit that figures in the myth of Persephone.

This lends some ancient and elemental heft to Garnet.  She’s less showy than Diamond or Emerald, more mineral than dazzling jewel.  Garnet is the birthstone for the month of January, making her a subtle seasonal choice, too.

While Garnet’s gemstone status pushes this one into the feminine category today, that wasn’t always the case.  Garnet – and Garnett and Garnette - also have a history as surnames, either for jewelers, or possibly for makers of hinges.  The cross-garnet hinge looks like the letter T, and was around well into the American colonial period and beyond.

Lastly, I’ve found a few attempts to connect Garnet to Guarin, an Old French name meaning protector, derived from the Germanic warin – guard.  It feels like a stretch, but it isn’t completely implausible.

With the surname connection, it should come as no surprise that Garnet has a history of use for men.  Like many unisex names, it was used in the same era it was popular for girls.  Garnet ranked in the US Top 1000 for boys a handful of times between 1882 and 1924.

A few notable Garnets include:

• British Army Field Marshal Garnet Wolseley, known for his service in Africa in the 1870s and 1880s.  Such was his reputation for efficiency and order that “everything’s all Sir Garnet” became a phrase meaning that all was in order.  Wolsley was parodied by Gilbert and Sullivan with their catchy tune about the “very model of a modern Major-General.”
• World War I flying ace Garnet Malley, later an advisor to Chiang Kai-shek.

Today Garnet’s feel is almost at home with boys’ names like Garrett, Everett, Emmett and Bennett.  But with ends-in-et is big for girls, too, with choices like Juliet, Scarlett and Violet in vogue.  Factor in Garnet’s gemstone and color connections, and this one starts to feel slightly better suited for Team Pink.

But mostly Garnet is a 21st century rarity.  In 2010 just five girls received the name, along with seven boys called Garnett. That’s impressively unusual, and suggests that you could use it for either gender.  I love Isadora’s description: It’s also unisex in the best possible way. I wouldn’t think, “Oh, they must have wanted a boy,” if parents gave this name to their daughter. And I wouldn’t worry about a son getting picked on.

Overall, Garnet is colorful, unusual, and has more history than you might expect from a nature name.

Fraser Coat of Arms; Image via Wikipedia

He’s a surname that nods to Scotland, and to the great outdoors.

Thanks to Fran for suggesting Fraser as our Baby Name of the Day.

The best guess is that Fraser – and Frasier, Frazer, and Frazier – are Scottish surnames of Gaelic origin, with enough Anglo-Norman influence that as they were whispered down the alley, the original name was lost to memory.

Regardless of where he started, Fraser is solidly established as a common Scottish surname.  There’s a Clan Fraser, and Lord Lovat is a title in the peerage of Scotland reserved for the head of the clan.  They’re present throughout much of Scottish history.

If you glance at the Fraser coat of arms, you’ll notice that there are strawberries included in the design.  Some sites list Fraser’s meaning as strawberry; it is more likely that strawberries were added to their coat of arms later, as a play on fraises - the French word for strawberry, which just happens to sound an awful lot like the family name.

Fraser sounds like an occupational surname keeping company with Archer and Miller, but it isn’t so.  But there is a profession attached to this appellation – radio talk psychiatrist, as in Dr. Frasier Crane.

Frasier first appeared on sitcom staple Cheers during season three, as a suitor for Diane, a rival to her on-again, off-again love interest, bartender and bar owner Sam Malone.  He stayed long after Diane’s departure, eventually marrying a fellow psychiatrist, the frosty Lilith Sternin.  Cheers was set in Boston.  As the series wound down, Lilith and Frasier divorced, and the stage was set for Frasier to move home to Seattle and try a career change – he’s still a psychiatrist, but now more of a pop culture self help figure on Seattle radio station KACL.

Incidentally, the only possible explanation either series ever offers for his unusual first name is this: Frasier’s mom, also a psychiatrist, named him for one of her lab rats.

The television character certainly put Frasier on the books as a possible name for a child.  Other associations include Smokin’ Joe Frazier, a former Heavyweight World Champ.  The boxer’s heyday was the 1960s and 1970s.

Choose your field of endeavor and you can almost certainly find a Fraser.  One of my favorites is Honolulu-born artist Juliette May Fraser, whose work eventually graced the Hawaii State Library.

None of these associations – not even the sitcom – was enough to boost Fraser into greater use.  Frazier appeared in the US Top 1000 a few times from the nineteenth century into the very early 20th – the only spelling to do so.  Just like any surname, there’s some limited use over the years.

Today the Fraser fir, an evergreen native to the eastern US and popular as a Christmas tree, lends Fraser a nature vibe, and a seasonal one, too.  It is easy to imagine naming a December-born son Fraser.

In fact, it is just plain easy to imagine naming a son Fraser.  With his ends-in-r construction, his vibrant ay sound, and that surname style, he’s exactly on trend.  And yet he’s virtually unused, too – a promising combination!

We tend to file her with botanical names, but her origins are a little bit different.

Thanks to Fran for suggesting Rosamund as our Baby Name of the Day.

Rosamund didn’t initially have much to do with roses.  She comes from the Germanic elements hros – horse and mund - protection.  Think Edmund or Rosalind.

The earliest record of a Rosamund dates back to the sixth century, a princess born to a kingdom at war.  She was eventually kidnapped and married to her family’s rival, the King of the Lombards.  Accounts tell us that his cruelty was extraordinary, and Rosamund plotted his death.  While she was successful, the plot would be her downfall, too.  The tale of the ill-fated Rosamund became a popular one in songs and storytelling.

It might also help explain why Rosamund remained in steady use.  Six centuries later, she’s still in use. 

The lovely Rosamund Clifford would keep the name in the public eye, and would also change our ideas about the meaning.  The mistress of English monarch Henry II, she was referred to as “rose of the world” – a play on her given name and the Latin phrase rosa mundi.

We do this today, too, of course – you’ll find all sorts of indefensible meanings scattered across baby name message boards.  And it is hard to separate Rosamund from the many other Rose names in use.  Rosalind, another Germanic appellation, underwent a similar transformation, only this time in Spanish.  Thanks to Linda – pretty – we assumed that Rosalind means “pretty as a rose.”  It wasn’t true, but now maybe it is.

In any event, the ill-fated princess and the royal mistress meant that the name has been big in music and literature and other forms of storytelling over the centuries.  She’s spelled Rosamunde and Rosamond and even Rosamonde, but she’s a fairly steady presence over the centuries.

Several early tellings of Sleeping Beauty, including the ones originally recorded by the Brothers Grimm, gave the somnolent princess’ name as Rosamond – though today Disney has cemented her name as Aurora.

More modern Rosamunds include:

• Poet Rosamund Watson wrote poetry under the nom de plume Graham R. Tomson in the late nineteenth century.
• In 1877, a town in California’s Mojave Desert was named Rosamond after the daughter of a railroad official.
• Writer Rosamunde Pilcher penned romance novel for decades, including the 1987 bestseller The Shell Seekers.
• Actress Rosamund Pike, who has played everything from a Bond Girl to a character in a Jane Austen flick.
• The young adult detective series Nate the Great features a dark-haired, cat-collecting character called Rosamond, said by many to be the inspiration for Emily the Strange.

Spelled with a u, the name has never cracked the US Top 1000.  Rosamond charted from the 1880s into the 1930s, but never higher than the 500s.

All of this makes her a recognizable rarity with history and style.  Sweet nicknames range from Rosie to Romy to Roz.  If you’re disappointed that Beatrice is back, Rosamund might be one to consider.

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks to Jennifer for suggesting Reynard as our Baby Name of the Day.

If you’re sure and certain that renard is French for fox, well, that’s true.  But lest you dismiss Reynard as a cousin for Ciel and other foreign word nature names, have I got a story for you.

Back in the day, the French word for fox was goupil.  Except foxes were a big hassle for farmers.  Just saying goupil was considered bad luck – an invitation for the pesky creatures to shop your livestock.

Reynard started out as an unrelated given name.  He comes from Germanic elements, but there’s some debate about his precise origins.  You’ll find meanings ranging from advice/counsel and strength to clever and resourceful.

Regardless of his meaning, at some point before the twelfth century, Reynard became the name of a popular figure in folklore – a crafty fox.

In one early story, the fox is summoned to the court of King Leo, the lion, to answer charges pressed by Ysengrin, the wolf.  Another has Reynard faking his own death and taking revenge on the enemies who attend his funeral.  The stories are thinly veiled commentaries on contemporary society.  Reynard’s role is that of the hero, and the common man.

He’s recorded in Latin, German, and French in the twelfth century, in Alsace, Paris, and Ghent, among other places.  But none of them seems to be new; instead, they’re all written versions of an oral tradition that is almost certainly older.

By the thirteenth century, the re-telling of Reynard’s adventures became so well-known that the French word for fox changed entirely, from goupil to renard.

We’ve been adapting and re-telling Reynard’s story along the way, in a nineteenth century novel and 1980s pop music.  He appeared in beverage advertisements in the 1920s and in a modern art installation in a park in Amsterdam just recently.

But the most astounding re-use of Reynard is downright ugly.  In 1937, an anti-Semitic children’s story was published in Dutch, adding a Jewish rhinoceros to the cast of characters.  Reynard kills all of the rhinos.  It was published as a book and made into a movie – a sinister re-use of a folk hero.

Reynardine sounds like a feminine form, but instead it is the title of an English or Irish ballad, one printed in the early part of the nineteenth century, and known throughout the US, too.  The name changes dramatically – he’s Randal in some places.  And while he isn’t an actual fox, he’s a seducer of innocent young women with teeth that “brightly shine.”

Despite the folk tale’s enduring qualities, Reynard has seen little use as a given name.  The Normans brought him to England, but he never really caught on.  He’s more often seen as a surname – almost certainly related to the animal name, a nod to an ancestor considered cunning.

While Bernard and the regal Richard are out of favor these days, Ray is ahead of the curve.  This makes Reynard a mixed set – his first syllable sounds trend-setting; his second, not ready for revival.  Still, he’d easily shorten to Rey, an appealing appellation.

Colors of Blue by Zbigphotography via Flickr

We all knew that any baby name chosen by Beyonce and Jay-Z would make waves.  But Blue Ivy is even wilder than many of us expected.

Plenty of colors are fair game in the land of baby naming, from pretty botanicals like Rose and Violet to more masculine hues like Gray and Jet.  Blue has been in the shadows for years, worn by a handful of celebrity kids, usually in the middle spot:

• Cher’s son Elijah Blue
• The Edge’s daughter Blue Angel
• Ella Bleu Travolta
• Rocker Bret Michaels’ Jorja Bleu
• Former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell has Bluebell
• Rascal Flatt’s Joe Don Rooney has Raquel Blue
• Most recently, Alicia Silvertone’s much-maligned Bear Blu

Add in Azure, one of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’s Ed Sanders’ triplets, and Indigo, daughter of actor Lou Diamond Phillips, and this is a shade with some serious style in Tinsel Town.

What gives?  The word blue has been in use to describe a primary color for centuries, stretching back to at least the thirteenth century.  A host of associations, favorable and less so, attach to the name:

• Blue is the color of constancy – true blue.
• Blue is the color of sorrow – you can have the blues or sing the blues.
• Little Boy Blue wears the color we associate with our sons, at least in the last century.
• Blue ruin is an old slang term for gin, though today Bombay Sapphire feels removed from the hue.
• Blue ribbons are usually given for first place, and blue chip means high in value.
• Blue blood implies royal birth.
• Once in a blue moon means something that happens rarely.
• A blue dahlia has never been produced – so it implies something unattainable.  The Blue Dahlia is a 1946 film noir, and before that, a nineteenth century Russian ballet.
• Blue skies and the bluebird of happiness lend the name an optimistic note.
• The big blue is the ocean, and almost makes blue something of a nature name.
• So does sky blue, and the wild blue yonder.
• Or maybe the colors of the American flag make this a patriotic choice – red, white, and blue.

From navy blue to carolina blue, there are tons of shades.  Because they’re more typically associated with boys, there’s something gender-bending about choosing Blue for a girl.  Except that many other colors names lean feminine, like Scarlett or Lilac.

2006′s much-lauded novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics introduced a girl called Blue Van Meer.  The book is part-coming of age novel, part-murder mystery.  The film rights have been optioned, but little has happened with the movie’s production.  Should that change, well – that would lend a literary edge to this starbaby name.

Suddenly, Blue feels more like a viable option for a given name.  In the 1930s census, there are more than a handful – though they appear to be mostly men.  While the name has never cracked the US Top 1000, it has been in use.

Dare I add that the dog on Blue Clue’s was, well, a blue dog?  And a girl, for what it is worth.

Blue also shares a vowel sound with Ruby, Lucy, and Julian - all names quite in favor right now.  Short B names for girls – think Brooke and Blair and even Bess - have always had a certain charm.

It may be that the happy couple had other reasons for choosing Blue, but it strikes me that the question isn’t why they settled on the appellation.  The question is why more of us didn’t think of it first!

She’s a single-syllable name borrowed from mythology, with a definite edge.

Thanks to Amanda for suggesting Nyx as our Baby Name of the Day.

In Greek mythology, Nyx – night – is the child of Chaos, though Chaos is more of a state than a person.  Chaos literally means abyss, emptiness.  (We’d layer on the meaning of confusion centuries later.)

Chaos also gives rise to Erebus - shadows.  Sometimes with Erebus, and more often without, Nyx is the mother of day, sleep, death, dreams, prudence, doom, strife, friendship, deception, the Fates, and occasionally the Hesperides, among others.

Most of these figures are, like Nyx herself, minor deities and rarely seen.  When she is pictured, Nyx is usually a dark-haired stunner, a lovely woman.

(Incidentally, the image above is borrowed from a tenth century illuminated manuscript, created during a high point in Byzantine arts and culture.  It fascinates me because the gods of antiquity are pictured with Christian saints.  In this case, Nyx stands with the prophet Isaiah.)

Nyx is also a poetic word for night itself.  The modern world has borrowed her for any number of uses, most with a dark and shadowy vibe.  She appears as a cornerstone of vampire religion in the House of Night series – young adult novels about a boarding school for bloodsuckers.

There’s also a comic book character, a sidekick of Spawn, known as Nyx – though her birth name was Carrie Ann.

While they’re not related, there are also water sprites in Germanic folklore called nixies, nix, or nixe.  With Lorelei attracting so much attention, can other mermaid names make waves?  Figures from myth and folklore have been a great well of inspiration for modern parents, especially those seeking to find names that are little worn but aren’t invented.

But Nyx has another strength – her sound.

• She’s close to Nicole – a mom name these days.  Add in Nicholas and all of their various variant forms, and Nyx could be an offbeat way to honor a loved one.
• It is tempting to think of Nicks – as in American singer Stevie and English shopping staple Harvey.  Both associations have some appeal.
• Other short ends-in-x names, like the Jolie-Pitt’s Pax and Knox, are quite stylish.  While they tend to be masculine, that’s not exclusively true.  Lux - of The Virgin Suicides and Life Unexpected – has been worn by girls.

As for her meaning, while she leans a bit Goth in pop culture, the same could be said of many names that mean night – think of Layla – and that hasn’t necessarily hurt them.  Add in names that refer to the night sky, whether they are stars, moons or constellations, and suddenly the list is chock full of fashionable choices.

Nyx is also a mountain on Venus, an asteroid, and a moon of Pluto, though the last one is spelled Nix.  All three honor the original Greek goddess.

This would be a daring choice for a daughter.  Still she’s not so different from the familiar Nicole, and she’s short and easy to spell – both qualities that temper her extreme qualities.  And, of course, Nicky is an incognito nickname possibility.  In the middle spot, she’d be a real find.

He’s a saintly Irish appellation and a sci fi warrior.

Thanks to Violet for suggesting Conan as our Baby Name of the Day.

It is tempting to add “the Barbarian” to this name auotmatically, but Conan has oodles of history before he was re-invented by a 1930s writer.

In Old Irish, cú referred to a dog or maybe a wolf.  The -an is that ever familiar diminutive form, so Conan is a pup or a little wolf.  Animal names have a long history of use, making Conan pretty ordinary.

Except the first Conan was extraordinary – a semi-legendary figure who gets credit for founding Brittany.  Geoffrey of Monmouth references him, but he’s not the only source.  Several Breton families trace their roots to Conan, including the powerful Rohan family.  He also features in medieval politics, as a claim to such an ancient ruler would’ve helped with machinations as leaders tried to claim rights to various thrones.

There’s also a warrior in Irish myth called Conan mac Morna, a friend and ally of Finn McCool.

Then along came:

• Saint Conan, an Irish missionary and early Bishop of the Isle of Man from the sixth century or so.  At least two other minor saints share the name.
• In the tenth century, Conan became Count of Rennes and later Duke of Brittany.  At least three of his descendants wore name into the 12th century.

This takes us into the modern era.  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is remembered as the author of the Sherlock Holmes stories, another enduring character.  Conan is sometimes mistaken as part of his surname – Conan Doyle – but it appears to be one of his three given names, Arthur Ignatius Conan, and a nod to his godfather’s surname.

Then in the 1930s everything changed.  Robert E. Howard invented the character Conan the Cimmerian, a hero from a fictional world not unlike ours, but rich with magic.  Conan had strength aplenty, brains, and a serious way with the sword.  He started out in pulp fiction.  After Howard’s death others wrote Conan tales, and over the years the character appeared in books, comics, video games, television series, and, of course, movies.

The big moment for Conan was 1982, when the future governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, starred in the title role.  Conan the Barbarian was a hit, combining elements from different Conan tales.  A 1984 sequel followed, and a trilogy planned, but the third movie was never made.  In 2011, Jason Momoa hefted the sword as a new Conan, but the reboot was not successful.

The very Irish Conan O’Brien emerged in the same time, helping return the name to its roots.  The Harvard alum worked as a writer for Saturday Night Light and The Simpsons before getting his first late night talk show in 1993.  He’s been on television ever since, with the exception of a contract dispute with NBC for a few months.  Unlike many a high-profile controversy, the comedian came away with his integrity intact, and proof of a devoted fan base.  O’Brien can now be seen on TBS.

Overall, this makes Conan a weirdly perfect name.  He’s never been in the US Top 1000, even as Irish names from Ryan to Aidan have caught fire.  Conan is familiar to all and easy to spell.  He’ll fit with aggressive boy names like Slade and Cannon, but he also blends in with literary, legendary picks like Arthur.  If you can live with the occasional question about whether you’re big fans of the Governator, this might be one to short list for a son.