Zona Gale; Image via Wikipedia

She’s a blast from the past, a once common name worn by a famous writer.  Today, she’s all but unknown – and not likely to return.

Thanks to Beth one from her family tree for our Baby Name of the Day: Zona.

Zona literally translates to girdle in Greek.  Plenty of ancient mythologies considered them garments of great power – Aphrodite’s could ignite love and passion.  Ishtar’s girdle kept the world fruitful and multiplying.  They could be borrowed and stolen, and men wore them, too – Odysseus had a magic one that was part-life vest, and Thor stored his weapons in one.  They’re little more than a belt.

Since then, girdles evolved to a sort of women’s foundation garment, something to cinch in the waist, and then changed once more, to something also as obsolete as a petticoat.

Zona is also the source of our word zone – a geographic belt.  The sense has expanded until zone is synonymous with area.

I’m not clear if the given name is related to the Greek word.  But here’s what I do know: Zona ranked in the US Top 1000 from 1880 through 1941.  A few possible origins include:

• Other -ona names were big in the era – Nona, Ona, Lona, Leona, Dona, Mona, Iona, Arizona, Winona, Ramona, Verona, and Frona all ranked in the Top 1000.  And short, seemingly invented Z-names were in favor, too, including Zella, Zula, Zora, Zelma, Zola, Zetta, Zilpha, Zada, Zettie, Zelda, Zoa, Zelia, and Zana.
• Zona has Serbian roots, too, though I can’t pin down a specific origin.  A 1906 novel was titled Zona Zamfirova, and it was successfully adapted for the big screen in 2002.  In the story, a rich man’s daughter – Zona – falls for an ordinary Joe.  All ends happily.

Speaking of literature, Zona Gale was born in Wisconsin in 1874, became a writer, and eventually the first woman to the win the Pulitzer Prize for drama.  Gale was well-educated – she earned a master’s degree – and worked as a journalist in New York before returning home to devote herself to fiction.  Her stage adaptation of her bestseller Miss Lulu Bett would win her the Pulitzer in 1921.  In the story, Lulu strikes out on her own, leaving an unappreciative family and a failed marriage.  Besides her literary triumphs, Gale was a suffragette and activist.

There’s another nineteenth Zona, and her story is very sad.  Zona Heaster was murdered by her husband in 1897.  The crime might have gone undiscovered, but shortly after Zona’s funeral, her mother claimed that her daughter’s ghost appeared and explained that her death was no mere accidental fall, but murder.  Her mother successfully campaigned to have her daughter’s body exhumed, and an autopsy performed.  Sure enough, Zona had met a bad end, and her husband spent the remainder of his days in prison.

All of this makes Zona feel like an intriguing forgotten name with a modern sound.  And yet there is one almost insurmountable problem.  In Hebrew, Zona translates to prostitute – and that’s a gentle translation.  In our ever-so-connected world, this fact would be readily discovered by a daughter.

If you have Zona on your family tree, she’s a lovely choice for the middle spot, with her subtle connection to mythology and her literary pedigree.  But as a given name, it seems likely to prove challenging.  There are many other Zo- names from the same era without baggage.  Then again, I’m not certain how widely known zona is as an insult in the US.  Have you heard it?  And is it a deal-breaker?

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.

Fireworks by bayasaa via Flickr

Back in 2008, I made a raft of prognostications for the coming year.  Overall, I’d rate my crystal-ball gazing a B-.  It isn’t that they didn’t come true – at least in part – it is that they were so vague that I could declare victory no matter what happened.

Part of the puzzle is this: baby name trends ooze.  The following names were still in the girls’ Top 100 in 2010: Ashley, Sydney, Lauren, Jessica.  For the boys?  Jason, Eric, Kevin.  For every parent searching for something new, there are plenty that prefer the familiar.

And yet I cannot resist.  To make my predictions more trackable, I’m listing plenty of specific baby names this year – so there’s no weaseling out in December 2012!

12.  The boys’ name likely to enter the Top Ten and stay for a spell … Mason.  He’s a surname, he has that long a sound, he ends in n – all hallmarks of current trendy favorites like Jayden.  But M is a faithful stand-by for boys, from Michael and Matthew to Mark and Max.  And that M is all that’s separating him from former Top Ten staple Jason is that letter.  He’s a style favorite with celebrities, from Laura San Giacomo to Melissa Joan Hart to Kourtney Kardashian.  Of course Mason was already #12 in 2010, so predicting he’ll tip into the Top Ten isn’t a stretch.

11.  The elements most likely to repeat … El and Ev.  Sounds catch on, maybe more than names do.  Madigan is a great, distinctive choice – but it is also terribly close to the wildly popular Madison and many spellings of Madeline.  And no one really needs to talk about the -aidens.

Two elements on the upswing?  El for boys, as evidenced by Elijah (#18) and Eli (#65), but also Elias and Elliott (plus Elliot and Eliot).  Also spotted?  The literary Ellis and the jazzy Ellington, though both can read unisex.

On the girls’ side, Ev feels unstoppable, even if she’s sometimes buried in names.  In the Top 100 there’s Evelyn (#39) and Eva (#91), plus Genevieve (#279) and Evangeline (#333).  Is Evie the next Maddie?  Or does that distinction belong to Lily – because if a girl’s name doesn’t contain the letter v, it almost surely boasts a l or two.

10.  Two classics likely to have a good year … Charlotte and Henry. Neither name could ever be dismissed as trendy, but even the most evergreen appellations rise and fall.

My heart belongs to Caroline, but Charlotte’s trajectory has been impressive.  At #45 in 2010, parents seem to think of her like Elizabeth – even if there’s one on your block, she’s still so enduring that your daughter’s name isn’t diminished because it is shared.

Henry has been a favorite with Hollywood parents and, at #67 and climbing in 2010, feels like he could be headed back for the US Top Ten, a place he spent three decades.

9.  Name that should resurface in the Top 1000 … Hattie.  Liam and Stella were already stylish when Tori Spelling gave the names to her first two children.  But baby #3 could be a trendsetter!

Before the Spelling-McDermotts chose the name, one of the four babes profiled in the 2010 documentary Babies was San Fransisco resident Hattie, a name that appeared on movie posters with fellow tots Ponijao, Mari, and Bayar.

Hattie was last ranked in the US Top 1000 in 1968, and Harriet disappeared after 1970.  Hattie is a possible successor name to the popular Sadie, too, just as likely to be given independently, even if she started out as a diminutive.

8.  The next unexpected retro revival to anticipate … Edith.  It sounds like a long shot, but then, Sophia was once a fading old lady name, too.  From Ava to Isabella to Olivia, vowel names are big.  With possible nickname Edie, Edith shakes off her fusty image and feels just right on a little girl.  The literary appeal of Edith Wharton gives this one some extra oomph.  Taste-maker tee shirt label Edith A. Miller takes the name in another direction.

7.  Unconventional middle name on the upswing … Shalom.  If two moms as different as reality TV star Michelle Duggar and rock star blogger Rebecca Woolf can give this middle name to daughters, then Shalom – a Hebrew word of greeting that translates to peace – could be one to watch.

6.  The unstoppable variant spelling … Zoey.  One of the reasons I’ve found myself defending variant spellings is that there are so many cases where the more historically authentic spelling has taken a back seat to the version we know and love today.  Thanks to the mounds of data we can access, it is now possible to see it happening in real time.  Kaitlyn eclipsed Caitlin as we all watched; ditto Aiden and Aidan.  Khloe is gaining on Chloe, and with Disney introducing a pint-sized princess called Sofia, perhaps Sophia is vulnerable, too.  But my pick for new dominant spelling is Zoe-with-a-y.

Zoey got a big boost from Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, but I also suspect she’s an intuitive spelling for many of us.  Who doesn’t know a guy or two who answers to Joey?  In 2000, Zoey ranked just #409 while Zoe entered the Top 100 at #98.  Today Zoey is #47, not far behind #31 Zoe.

5.  The next big ends-in-e name for girls … Penelope.  Ends-in-e feels like a big category for girls right now, from Zoe and Chloe to Daphne and Phoebe.  But Penelope was one celebrity birth announcement away from exploding – and the witty Tina Fey just gave the name to her second daughter a few months ago.

Another candidate in this category could be Esme.  Though some dismiss her as a Twilight-inspired vampire matriarch – and a rather minor character, to boot – the name had been quietly catching on for years, at least since Michael J. Fox and Tracey Pollan used the name for one of their daughters.

4.  Gender neutral name most likely to stay gender neutral … Rowan.  Conventional wisdom has long held that once a name “goes girl” parents will simply dismiss it for sons.  Except that’s not quite what happens in many cases, and in our era, some names do seem to begin truly gender neutral – and stay that way.  File nature name Rowan in this category.  It continues to surface for boys and girls at a steady pace.  Call Rowan the new Payton.

3.  Place name that’s going places … London.  When Disney’s Suite Life With Zack and Cody debuted in 2005, London ranked just #536 for girls, and read as a riff on Paris Hilton – like Ms. Hilton, London’s daddy owned a hotel.  But something happened, and London is the new Brooklyn - a name that appeals regardless of whether the parents have an actual affinity for the place.  At #108 in 2010, London has gone mainstream – and that’s more than a year before the Olympics arrive in the United Kingdom’s capital next summer.

2.  Nature name to watch … Echo.  She’s kind of out there, a name that darted into the Top 1000 just twice in the 1980s, but this could be her moment.  She shares sounds with mega-hit Chloe, and feels like an option for parents disappointed to discover that Willow is worn by so many girls.  She’s a smidge less trendy than Harlow, but edgier than Margot.  She recently surfaced in a Nameberry thread on fierce names.

1.  Boy’s name you’ll be surprised that your son shares … Asher.  What’s not to love about Asher?  He’s Biblical like Joshua and Noah, nickname-proof like Ethan and Logan, and masculine without being too aggressive, a brother for Gabriel or Landon.  The trouble is that lots of parents like those same qualities.  Add in that powerful ends-in-r construction, and Asher is a great name, but he’s the worst kept secret in baby naming.

And so a Happy New Year to all, and stay tuned … whether I’m right or wrong, following baby name trends is a blast!

ppf by ChazWags via Flickr

So here are my December 31, 2008 predictions for 2009.  The original text is unaltered (though I did add links for names I’ve covered since then) and the analysis is in blue text below the original prediction.

PREDICTION: Boys’ names will be longer and shorter, but two-syllable tyranny is coming to an end.  Yes, plenty of parents are still going to call their sons (and daughters) Aiden, Braeden, Caidhen, Haydon and Jayden.  And yes, some parents will attempt to mash together two syllables to create names for their sons – think Jaylon and Cayson.

But  a growing number of parents are favoring softer names for their sons, including Biblical choices and ancient names.  Sebastian, Julian, Jeremiah and Oliver are already mainstream.  Others are keeping it short and strong.  Starbabies Knox Jolie-Pitt and Bronx Wentz are part of the trend.  Choices like Cole, Gage, Cash, Beau and Cade are gaining, as well as nicknames like Jack, Jake and Max remaining popular.  A few other choices are brief, but not quite so tough guy – Finn, Quinn and Kai all continue to do well.

Almost three years later:  Call this one a definite maybe.  In 2009, single-syllable names in the boys’ Top 100 included John, Sean, Juan, Cole, Chase, Blake, Luke, and Jack.  That’s the identical list to 2008.  In 2010, there was one addition: Max.  And yet many of those single-syllable names have made big gains, led by Finn and Colt.  Other names have been thrown into the mix, too, like Case/Kase and Flynn.  Let’s call it a definite trend to watch – even if we’re still happy to name our sons Logan, Landon, and anything that ends in -aidan.

PREDICTION: French names for girls will be on the rise.  Celeb trendsetters Brangelina are responsible for some of the trend.  But this one was already brewing before Vivienne Marcheline’s birth.  A few that could pop?  Noemi/Noemie, Elodie and Esmé.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that the names in favor will be popular in Paris, or even authentically French.  In fact, the biggest influence may be the rise of creative, franglais-style names.  Expect to see Scarlette along with Violette and Juliette.

Almost three years later:  We have an awful lot of mini mademoiselles in the U.S. of A. these days.  Vivienne is leading the pack, but Genevieve and Josephine have made gains, too.  Names like Elodie, Sylvie, and others are heard more often on message boards.  As for Esme?  She entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2010.  Then again, there have always been French names for girls in use, so while I’m calling it accurate, it isn’t completely new.

PREDICTION: Homespun, even humble names will continue to be popular.  There’s nothing flashy about Emma or Hannah.  In 2009, Olive will sound fresher than Olivia, Frances more appealing than Francesca.  Choices like Nora and Clara could have a good year for girls; for boys, Gus seems unstoppable.  (Though with August, Angus, and plenty of other names leading to Gus as a nickname, it will be tough to see in the statistics.)  Biblical boys’ names will continue to gain, following Elijah, Isaac and Isaiah up the charts.  And yes, we think we’ll meet more girls called Honor, as well as plenty of little Graces, Hopes and Charitys.

There could also be an uptick in the number of boys receiving names that once seemed perpetually out of fashion.  Choices like Walter, Raymond, and Calvin have all received positive feedback.  It suggests that either they’re turning the corner from clunky to cool … or maybe that in 2009, clunky will be cool.

Almost three years later:  This was sort of a mish-mash of a prediction, wasn’t it?  Clunky and humble and homespun have long had adherents, but as their favorites made the big-time, trend-setting parents have moved on – to other clunky/humble/homespun names.  I was right about Clara and Nora – they’ve made big moves over the past two.  But Francesca still feels stylish, while none of the boys’ names shows signs of a definite comeback.  Instead, a different category – one that Nameberry has called Names that Work – has caught on.

PREDICTION: Creative spellings will continue.  Some parents will continue to favor extreme spellings like Caidhon and Peightynn.  But variant spellings have taken their place in the mainstream.  Which is correct:  Isobel, Isabel or Isabelle?  In some cases, the most popular version isn’t the most authentic.  Kaitlyn ranks #44; Katelyn comes in at #75 and Caitlin‘s parents find themselves defending their “unusual” spelling.  

Perhaps this is just wishful thinking, but it seems like fewer parents are tossing in random letters to come up with Brieyannah and more are seeking out lesser used appellations, like Bryony.  (Which, of course, can also be spelled Briony …)

Almost three years later: Speaking of messy predictions, this is sort of like predicting that the sun will rise tomorrow.  Moving on …

PREDICTION: Emily really won’t be the most popular name for girls.  Based on my recalculation of the SSA rankings back in May, I reported that Emily was slipping in favor of Isabella and Sophia.  Parents.com recently put Isabella at the top of their 2008 list, with Ava in second place and Emily demoted to third.  They base their rankings on website traffic.

That said, Em names for girls will remain very popular.  Emily might slip, but Em- names are still hot.  There’s Emma, of course.  And with starbabies Emme (JLo’s daughter) and Emery (Angie Harmon’s daughter) we imagine more parents will opt for an Emily variant in 2009.  Among the contenders:  Emerson (likely to be respelled Emersyn), the anique Emilia, the Welsh masculine Emlyn, the medieval Emmeline and Emmaline, Embeth (as in the actress Embeth Davidtz) and, of course, Emme and Emery.

Three years later: Finally!  This one feels pretty solid.  Er … sort of.  Emily was replaced by Emma, until one year later Isabella took the crown.  But all of those Em- names are popping up on the list, from the slightly different spelling (Emilie, Emmalee) to the truly intriguing (Ember).

And the final prediction?

Baby names will continue to obsess some of us.  Pushing a $900 stroller might be out; kitting your kiddo in consignment store finds might be in.  But choosing a thoughtful, meaningful and inventive name for a child is always au courant.

Three years later: Exactly!  One of the biggest thrills is realizing that I’ve been writing for just shy of four years.  There are readers on this list who have become friends, and friends who have become readers.  And in the it-is-a-very-small-world category, there are two of you who I actually did know in real life – but didn’t know it until we’d been bumping into each other in cyberspace for months.

Thanks for being part of the AppMtn family in 2008, and keep reading in 2009!  And 2010, and 2011, and 2012, and … you get the idea!

Photo by binaryape via Flickr

He’s the given name of The Simpson’s Krusty the Clown, but his past is surprisingly distinguished – and could be considered perfectly on trend.

Thanks to C in DC for suggesting Herschel as our Baby Name of the Day.

You probably won’t meet a little Herschel these days.  The name last appeared in the US Top 1000 back in 1963.  He’d ranked every year since 1880, a steady presence, charting in the 300s and 400s for decades.

Factor in Hershel, Hersh, and Hirsch and the number grows.  Hirsch comes from the German word for deer.  There are plenty of animal-inspired appellations in German – Wolfgang, anyone? – but Hirsch is harder to trace back to his beastly roots.

If your last name was Hirsch, it could mean one of the following:

• You and your family kept deer.
• You or a member of your family bore a striking resemblance to a deer.
• Or, and this is where it gets really interesting, your parents were inspired by a blessing Jacob gave to his son Naphtali, comparing him to a deer.

The first is typically German; the third is almost exclusively Jewish; and the second overlaps both categories.  We’ll get back to the Bible in a minute, but I was challenged by what it meant to resemble a deer.  There’s an old folk belief that stags lived a very long time.  It seems possible that Hirsch referred to a fellow who had outlived his peers, but I suppose the more obvious reading is that Hirsch was a quick runner.

Naphtali is one of Jacob’s dozen sons.  They’re listed in the Book of Genesis, in the Blessing of Jacob.  Some mistranslation may have crept in, but we generally read it as if Jacob is comparing Naphtali to a hind – a female red deer in modern parlance.

Hersh is the Yiddish form of hirsch.  Yiddish has roots in German and Hebrew, with bits picked up from other languages over the centuries.  It is written with the Hebrew alphabet, making for even more changes as it is translated.

Like Dov and Zev, there’s a history of Hirsh as a given name in recent decades.  Hirsh Glick was a Jewish-Lithuanian poet and part of an anti-Nazi uprising in Vilnius.

Hershel and Herschel developed as diminutive forms and became surnames, too.  Among the most famous families is a group of musicians-turned-astronomers.  William Herschel was born in Hanover in 1738, the son of an oboist in the military band attached to the Hanoverian Guards.  The guards came to England in the 1750s; eventually the family would stay there.  William thrived, learning English, becoming both a noted composer and an astronomer.  William discovered Uranus, as well as two of its moons.  His sister, Caroline Lucretia, was his assistant, and discovered comets in her own right, and his son and grandsons became noted astronomers, too.

More modern Herschels include:

• Hershel Danielovitch became Harry Demsky when he immigrated to the US; his son became Kirk Douglas.
  
• Herschell Lewis, known for his gory horror flicks in the 1960s and 70s.
• College football hall-of-famer Herschel Walker, who went on to a long career in the NFL, too.

But is Herschel wearable for a boy born today?  His animal nature suggests he should fit right in with Falcon and Bear.  But he still sounds a little fusty – as if “Great Uncle” should precede Herschel.  An option for families considering this name might be reverted to Hirsch or Hersh, names that capture the spirit of Dash and Cash and edge a little closer to the name’s origins, too.

Artis Gilmore; Image by Vedia via Flickr

He was a regular in the US Top 1000 in the first half of the twentieth century, but today he’s all but unknown.

Thanks to Sara for suggesting the antique Artis as our Baby Name of the Day.

Artis sounds an awful lot like artist, hold the t.  Or maybe Arliss, another obscurity boosted by the HBO sports-centric sitcom.  And then there’s Ardith and Ardis.  I could go on, but let’s face it – none of these are well enough known to explain Artis’ steady use from shortly after the year 1900, right through the 1960s.

The most common explanation for Artis is that he’s simply a variant of the regal Arthur.  This tracks – Arthur ranked in the US Top Twenty from the late nineteenth century, into the early twentieth, and his decline mirrors the decline in use of Artis.

The two most common arguments for Arthur’s origins link him to the Brythonic art - bear – or the Irish Gaelic art - stone.  Either is a compelling inspiration for the legendary ruler of Camelot.  But they’re difficult to verify.

Regardless, Artos and Artus appear as medieval variants of Arthur, and his name was commonly Latinized as Arturus, or sometimes Artorius.  The latter potentially links the name to an obscure Roman family – but their family name is no easier to decipher than Arthur.

Let’s say this: Arthur was in the ether throughout the area we now know as Great Britain, and it is no surprise to find variants, be they directly related or simply associated over time.

Artis is also sometimes listed as a feminine form of Arthur.  I’ll give you that she’d be less clumsy to wear than Arthuretta or Arthurine.  Only a handful of women have answered to the name, and given the popularity of Arthur, doubtless many families cast about for a plausible feminine form.

A few other options include:

• A contracted form of Artemis, but that’s not supported;
• A borrowing from the Latin, where the word for art is ars; artis is the genitive case.  A zoo in Amsterdam is known as Artis, derived from Latin phrase “Natura artis magistra” – Nature is the teacher of art.  Poetic, but feels less likely;
• Artis also appears as a surname.  This grabbed me, because my first thought on hearing Artis was Artois.  Indeed, Artis can be a surname for someone from the region, ultimately derived from the name of a local tribe.

Artis also appears to have history in Latvia.  -s endings are very common in Latvian with names like Ralfs and Daniels, and Arturs is among the most common names.

Overall, Artis feels like an intriguing option.  In the first spot, the name is probably slightly more at home on a girl, like classic ends-in-s choices Frances and Alice.  But plural boys – think Wells, Yates, and Ames – are gaining ground, too.

Florida exhibit from the World's Fair 1964; Image by karen horton via Flickr

She’s a place name associated with beaches, oranges, cartoon mice, and Spring Break.

Thanks to Kathleen for suggesting Florida as our Baby Name of the Day.

Despite the images she conjures, Florida properly belongs in the company of pan-botanicals like Flora, Florence, and Fleur.

Juan Ponce de Leon landed on the state’s shores in 1513 and immediately dubbed his discovery Florida – flowery land.  De Leon landed during Easter, and there’s a tie to the holiday, too – pascua florida is a Spanish phrase to refer to the Easter season.

If you’re not from the US, you might point out – and rightly so – that there’s more than one Florida, especially in the Spanish-speaking world.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a gentle literary link, too – grupo Florida was a gathering of South American literary leaders.  They met in Buenos Aires, at a cafe on Florida Street, in the 1920s.  This lends a romantic air to the name, as Argentine politics would soon turn repressive.

Back to the US.  Florida charted just about every year from 1880 into the 1930s, suggesting that the name carried the kind of exotic place name status that we might attach to Avalon or Catalina today.

From 1880 into 1930s, Florida was among the Top 1000 given names for girls in the US.  That tracks with the most famous bearer of the name – a fictional television character.

When Florida first appeared on television, she was a housekeeper on the sitcom Maude.  Actress Esther Rolle was soon promoted to the lead character in Good Times.  While her name was still Florida, many of the other details of her life were changed.  Florida and family – husband James, sons J.J. and Michael, and daughter Thelma, lived in the Chicago projects.  (The footage implied that it was the infamous Cabrini-Green housing project, but it was never explicitly stated.)  The show was famous for many things, including son J.J.’s tagline: Dy-no-mite!  Rolle’s character was admirable, but she was definitely a matriarch – not the kind of character likely to inspire parents.

Still, that’s not why Florida fell.  Could it be that the real estate bust tarnished the name?  Florida boomed in the 1920s.  A real estate speculator even put a huge billboard in Times Square announcing “It’s June in Miami.”  By 1925, the party was over and it would be decades before some parts of the state recovered.

Today Florida does conjure up some amazing places – think of Key West or Miami.  Florida appears in the name of several types of trees – there’s a Florida Yew, a Florida Maple, a Florida Royal Palm, a boxwood, and a buttonwood, and many more.  If you’ve ever been off the beaten path, the state’s natural beauty is undeniable.

Today, Good Times is unfamiliar to the next generation of parents, and place names like Georgia and Carolina are mainstream.  Even Orlando, the town dominated by Disney World, has reclaimed some of his swashbuckling style.

Florida can share the nicknames used by other Flor- options: Florrie, Flossie, even Flo.  She’d be an undeniably unusual choice, but somehow, the more I think about her, she’s not so different than Savannah or Brooklyn.  If you’re looking for a daring but familiar choice for a daughter, Florida might be one to consider.

Maple burl; Image via Wikipedia

He has a cowboy cool sound, a nature name link, and even ties to Hollywood – and Christmas!

Thanks to Kathleen for suggesting Burl as our Baby Name of the Day.

Burl always strikes me as a nickname, the kind of name a guy called George would adopt when he makes his name on a Texas ranch.

But he’s the real deal.  As a given name, he probably comes from the surname Burle, which comes from butler, putting him in the company of occupational surnames, from Miller to Carter.

Even if the nature angle isn’t the source of the name, it is terribly intriguing.  A burl is a rounded growth on a tree – a deformity, caused by injury or infection.  They’re not meant to be, and yet, they produce highly-prized wood with a gorgeous grain.  (That’s an example in the picture above.)  Burl wood is finicky to work, but produces stunning sculptures and furniture, and also makes especially resilient tools.  The idea is compelling – a mistake that creates something valuable.  It almost makes it a modern virtue name, suggesting the idea of rising above humble beginnings.

The wood may be rare, but the name was once relatively common.  From 1880 to 1960, Burl ranked in Top 1000, peaking at #386 in 1891.

Today’s parents probably think immediately of Burl Ives – and Christmas.  I expected to discover that Ives had been born William or Frank, but Burl was his birth name.  In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Ives might’ve been early twentieth century name nerds – their other kids were called Audry, Artie, Clarence, Argola, Lillburn, and Norma.

Burl got his start as a singer, and over the span of his long career he was both a singer and an actor.  His Hollywood career lasted longer than you might think, and included a Best Supporting Actor Oscar, won for his turn as Rufus in 1958′s The Big Country.  It’s the small screen that endures Burl Ives to modern parents.  Ives voiced Sam the Snowman in 1964′s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  The holiday special became a classic, as did Ives’ renditions of “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Silver and Gold.”

Today that association probably gives parents pause.  It’s not a negative tie, but it is a strong one – and while we might love the tale of heroic Rudolph pulling Santa’s sleigh through a foggy night, it isn’t the right image for our child.

There’s also the word burly, which can mean heavy, but can also imply a certain sturdiness.

Still, six boys received the name in 2010, and that makes me think two things are happening: first, the generation of parents that remembers network TV being the only TV is aging, and the younger set is less familiar with Sam the banjo-strumming snowman narrator.  Second, the sound of Burl is so in step with Wyatt and Gage that some parents are embracing him for his own merits.

Or maybe not.  Maybe they’re all named after grandpas and great-grandpas named Burl, of which there surely were more than a handful.

There’s nothing to suggest that Burl will be back in the rankings anytime soon, but he feels almost refreshing in 2011 – on trend, but still distinctive.

Image via Wikipedia

River and Sky are newcomers, but this nature name has been around for ages.

Thanks to Annabel for suggesting Forrest as our Baby Name of the Day.

There are a few theories about the origins of the word forest.  There’s the Latin phrase forestem silvam, which literally means “the outside woods.”  Forestem comes from the Latin word foris – outside, the same source of our word foreign.  There’s also a Germanic word, the origin of fir, as in fir tree.

A medieval forest was more than a bunch of trees.  It was an area reserved for the king, and ordinary folks’ rights were limited.  It was a hot topic over the centuries, with rules and regs detailed in the Magna Carta, as well as other documents.

The surname Forrest simply referred to someone who lived near a forest.  What I can’t unravel is when the “rr” spelling stuck.

The first Forrest to arrive in the New World was Thomas Forrest.  Despite an aristocratic birth – on his mother’s side, he could trace his family tree right back to a knight who came to England with William the Conqueror – Thomas was a younger son who inherited little wealth.  Instead, he made his fortune through investments in the Virginia Company.  His wife Margaret and son Peter accompanied him to the colonies.

Other early American Forrests include:

• Another Thomas Forrest served in the Revolutionary War and later in US Congress;
• Uriah Forrest also made his name as a Revolutionary soldier and future member of Congress.  Uriah was descended from that original Thomas;
• Then there’s Nathan Bedford Forrest, a lieutenant general in the Confederate Army.  Plenty of Southern families gave the names of military commanders for their sons, transforming them into family heirlooms.  But not only was General Forrest a military commander for the losing team, he was also an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan. Despite that negative association, Forrest remains a hero in his native Tennessee.

Politicians and other notables from the 20th century include:

• Forrest Mars, Sr., inventor of M&Ms;
• Actor Forrest Tucker made his name in Hollywood in action films in the 1940s and 50s;
• Forrest Towns won an Olympic gold medal in track and field in 1936;
• Forrest Gregg had a long, successful career as an NFL player and coach, and has a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Winston Groom’s 1986 novel gave the name to a very different kind of figure.  Forrest Gump was of below average intelligence, but off the charts in his capacity for adventure.  Tom Hanks won an Oscar for his portrayal of Forrest in the 1994 movie adaptation.

That same year, Forrest rose to #217 in the US.  He’d been ranked in the Top 1000 every year since 1880, but had been falling.  The film briefly reversed his trajectory, but not for long.  By 2003, Forrest was headed towards obscurity.  Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker is perhaps the best known Forest today, but his achievements haven’t done much to boost the name.

The curious thing about Forrest is this: chances are that today’s parents would consider Forest, a nature name, a noun choice with a certain virtuous vibe.  But Forrest has a certain style to him – you expect him to be Forrest Something Something IV.  This could make him the perfect compromise name between Carter and River – part preppy, part hippie chic.

Image via Wikipedia

Looking for a given name as storied as Isabella, as elaborate as Samantha, and yet not nearly as common?

Thanks to Lauren for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Magdalena.

Magdalena sounds like a foreign variant of Margaret, but it isn’t so.  Instead, Magdalena comes from Mary Magdalene, a reference to Magdala – the village of her birth.  Magdala is derived from a word meaning tower, in both Hebrew and Aramaic.

All of this makes Magdalena a religiously significant choice.  Even if you skipped that day in Sunday School, you probably know that Mary Magdalene kept company around with Jesus.  He saved her, and she was steadfast and loyal through his death, remaining at his tomb to be the first one to witness his resurrection.  She’s a major New Testament figure, and is considered a saint.

She’s also – at least by some – characterized as a prostitute.  The association is a long one, though there’s no historical basis.  Beginning in the eighteenth century, reformers established Magadelene asylums for fallen women.  Depictions in popular culture reinforce the idea.  But if Delilah can overcome her Biblical bad girl baggage, why not Magdalena?  Like Delilah, Magdalena has been re-examined and even re-invented as feminist figure by some.  The Da Vinci Code made her Jesus’ wife.

As it happens, parents are naming their daughters after her in droves.  The saint was wildly popular in Middle Ages, and in England the name Magdalen became Madlin – or Madeline.

But Magdalena has never been common in English, and she’s truly fading in recent decades.  The name ranked #981 in 2009, and left the rankings in 2010.

Still, there are a bunch of intriguing references:

• German nobles used the name for their daughters in the sixteenth century;
• Christian missionaries were active in seventeenth century Japan.  The future Saint Magdalene of Nagasaki met her death during a wave of persecutions in 1634.  I’m not certain that was her birth name, but her parents were also observant Christians, so it is possible;
• Italian soprano Magda Olivero was born Maria Maddalena;
• Hollywood icon Marlene Dietrich was born Mary Magdalena;
• Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor have a big sister called Magda;
• In the 1983 James Bond adventure Octopussy, Magda is a henchman of the provocatively named jewel smuggler;
• Supergroup A Perfect Circle included a song called “Magdalena” on their first album, Mer de Noms in 2000.  “Magdalena” was not released as a single, but the album was a hit, and at least a few parents have referenced the song as a reason for considering the name;
• From Frank Zappa to Brandon Flowers, plenty of other musicians have recorded songs by the name;
• Speaking of music, a short-lived musical titled Magdalena: A Musical Adventure debuted on Broadway in 1948, and is occasionally revived.

There are plenty of place names, too, like the Magdalena River in Colombia.  There’s also Magdalene College and Cambridge and Magdalen College at Oxford, both named after the saint.

With a history of use from Eastern Europe to South America, there’s something globe-trotting about Magdalena.  Her nicknames range from the quirky cool Magda to less dramatic options like Maddie, Maggie, and Lena.

If you’re looking for an elaborate name that will fit in with popular choices while standing out, Magdalena is a great option.