Happy Easter!  I’m organizing our neighborhood egg hunt today.  Somehow I’d lost count of how many kids have moved in/been born in recent weeks, and so I ended up filling 120 eggs last night.

Which is why this post is later than usual.  It’s also why I didn’t catch the fact that I’d set Hannelore to post on the wrong day.  Sorry ’bout that – she’ll be back as Baby Name of the Day tomorrow, 4/5.

In other, better organized corners of the blogosphere:

• Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” and Pam and Linda at Namberry offer up lists of names for children born on Easter.  Some true rarities appear on the two lists: Ostara, Lissa, Nicodemus.  But me?  If I actually gave birth to a daughter on the holiday itself, I think I might just name my little Cadbury bunny Easter;
• Speaking of Nameberry’s Pam, did you catch her fabulous list of Top 50 Hot Names of the Future on The Daily Beast?  There he is, on the boys’ list – my beloved Huxley.  Plus Dante, Nico, Beau and Asa.  It’s official – I’m not nearly as original as I thought I was;
• More proof!  Over at 7×7.com, an article on The Frisco Kid pegs Huxley as a liberal Mission District name, along with Calder and Coyote, while Cow Hollow – my youngest sister’s former stomping grounds – is home to kids called Boden, Webb and Grace;
• CafeMom’s The Stir has Archie profiled as a Baby Name of the Day;
• Over at Legit Baby Names, there’s the pretty Dainora, plus Nissan isn’t just an import.  He’s a Hebrew given name, too;
• Laney Russell‘s mom wouldn’t be here if not for the two paramedics who saved her life – and inspired her name;
• Names4Real spotted a newborn Coco Imogen in Australia. Is Imogene Coca unknown down under, or is little Coco in for a lifetime of wishing her parents had gone with Isobel or Evangeline;
• Of course, Coco Imogen is nuthin’ compared to Tequila Marie, also via For Real. Pretty sound, yes.  And girls are called Brandy.  I once met an Amtrak bartender called Champagne.  (True story.)  While I don’t think unusual names are necessarily burdensome, I do think Tequila is … well, not the best choice;
• ParentCentral Canada profiles a baby called Cedric Xavier – a name that seems weird to parents, to the post-Harry Potter generation will probably seem effortlessly cool;
• Laura Wattenberg’s post on The New Belle Epoque was interesting – and she’s quite right.  I can imagine Elizabella catching on in a big way.  But Sarabella?  Maybe if she grows up to be a brain surgeon.

In all things related to the glamorous set:

• Okay, I kind of love Bret Michaels.  It’s like eating a row of marshmallow Peeps – you know there’s nothing redeeming there, but you just can’t stop.  I had no idea he had daughters, but a recent interview with Celebrity Baby Blog talked about his life as dad to daughters Raine and Jorja Bleu;
• Andrea Roth of FX’s Rescue Me welcomed a daughter, Ava Reese.

In other news, a few days ago a blogger called Crystal wrote “It looks like the ‘hot’ baby names right now aren’t as Twilight-centric as they were last year (thank GOD, there is nothing creepier than naming your baby Esme, people).”  She’s not yet a mom herself, and that’s what interests me.

I don’t think there’s much connection between the rise of Esme and the Twilight novels.  And the rise of Esme is so far a quiet event – I know two, but both were inspired more by JD Salinger than Stephenie Meyer.  And both predate most of the Twilight hysteria.  So does Michael J. Fox and Tracey Pollan’s youngest daughter, Esme Annabelle, born in 2001.

As of 2008, Esme remains outside of the US Top 1000.  The average person might connect the vamp matriarch and your little girl, even if you were blissfully unaware of the story until after you’d signed the birth certificate.  Edward, on the other hand, could make a big jump thanks to the vampire of the moment.  But he’s such a classic that it probably won’t register for anyone outside of a few baby naming sites.

And that, dear readers, is why I’m so glad you’re here.  Have a fabulous week!