Ask a child of the 1970s or 80s about the challenges of growing up with an unusual name, and she might tell you that she never had personalized pencils, the kind that Jennifer and Ashley always brought to class.

Not so in 2011.  Or ever again, really.  Clio might be a never-in-the-Top-1000 choice but thanks to clever, insanely cheap technology, the purple LeapFrog My Pal Violet knows how to say and spell her unusual name.

And then came Etsy.  Aprons, notecards, lunchboxes, super-hero capes.  You name it, and there’s a shop that can customize pretty much anything you can imagine.

Which brings me to those gorgeous images above.  Those, dear reader, are custom bookplates, created by Kate of My Kids Eat Off the Floor, also the name of her blog and, speaking of names, she’s guest-posted here on Name Stories.

One lucky reader will win their very own set of 20 bookplates – four each of five designs in the collection of your choice: Woodland Friends, Modern Boy, or Whimsy.  And, of course, the bookplates will be personalized with any name you choose.

Impatient?  Don’t like your odds?  You can also order any item for 10% off with discount code APPELLATION.

To enter, just leave a comment below with the name of your favorite children’s book!

Want a bonus entry?  Just wait ’til Monday’s Nameberry post.

The winner will be chosen at random.  Winners must have a US shipping address.  The winner will be chosen at random, and be announced next Saturday, October 29, 2011.

Note: Comments are closed, and a winner will be announced later today.

11 by smlp.co.uk via Flickr

I hadn’t initially planned to say anything about the tenth anniversary of September 11, but it is almost jarring to see the date up there.  Elisabeth posted a list of the victims.  The sheer length of the post speaks volumes.

In other news:

• Newcomer Name Must Stay had a great list of O Names.  My favorite factoid comes at the very end: one of the daughters of Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal was named Olivia Twenty, because she was born on April 20, 1955.  More proof that daring baby naming is nothing new;
• This question at Swistle is interesting – she named her son Edison to honor grandpa Edward, but now her sis wants to call him E.  Mom is on board with the nickname Ed, but really can’t stand E.  Swistle has a good – and realistic – answer;
• Vega, Aravis Jade, Nicander, Lula Bell, Eidel, Echo, Mercer, Paloma, Lidia, Pepper Valentine … the comments on this post at Girls Gone Child are addictive;
• Kaos?  That’s going too far;
• It’s Fashion Week again.  Name Candy looked at a few designer names, and here’s a link to my post at Nameberry from a previous Fashion Week;
• I do like this one at Bewitching Baby Names: Bellicent;
• Let’s end on a high note: Lyz Lenz is right on track with her story of a girl named Blue, and a general defense of unusual baby names.

There wasn’t much news from the celebrisphere this week.  Mel B. revealed her daughter’s name – Madison, chosen by her firstborn daughter, Phoenix.  It was a surprisingly mainstream choice for a mama with Mel’s daring style – she’s also mom to Angel.  We did learn that Shannyn Sossamon, mom to Audio Science, is expecting #2.  That’s a name that I’m eagerly anticipating!

That’s all for this week.  As always, thank you for reading, and I’ll see you soon.

Image via Wikipedia

Happy Sunday!  First, I’d like to offer a warm and gracious thank you to Waltzing More Than Matilda for her kind review of Appellation Mountain.  It kicks off a new series on her site.  I’m excited to learn more about all of the creative, thoughtful minds behind so many wonderful blogs!

Elsewhere in the blogosphere:

• I loved Jane Fryer’s lament at the Daily Mail.  This is not the familiar “I’m 21 weeks and need to settle on a name soon” complaint.  Nope, Jane and Miles welcomed their little guy back on July 21 and just can’t decide, though she thinks they’ve narrowed it down to Alexander or Frederick.  I think that’s a good call, actually – if you’re really stumped, a classic with lots of nickname options, like Elizabeth or William can make sense;
• I have long loved the name Linden.  For me, it is a way to honor my aunt Linda.  The story-within-a-story at Nancy’s Baby Names are even more compelling;
• British Baby Names mentioned a category of names she calls funky-clunky.  Good description, though my line is probably a little different than hers.  Queenie and Zelda feel jazzy; Emmett homespun.  But funky-clunky is a great way to describe choices like Fergus and Prudence and Horace – the kind of names you don’t like at first, but after a minute, you can’t see why they wouldn’t work;
• What do you think of Miel as a middle name?
• Mer de Noms introduced me to Emilie Autumn and the Bloody Crumpets.  Her music is not really my thing, but I share Mer’s fascination with two of the Crumpets’ names: Aprella and Contessa.  I run across Contessa here and there, and while it is extravagant, it is also a distinctive way to get to Tess;
• ForReal spotted a really interesting name: Cape Elizabeth.  It sounds like a place name, but I find Cape strangely wearable.  Maybe because it sounds so much like Kate – hmmm … which makes me think maybe it isn’t wearable at all;
• ForReal also spotted a boy named Hobey.  Years ago I met a guy who was Howard III (or IV?) who used Hobey as a nickname for Howard.  I do love that idea;
• While we’re on the non-expected nickname thread – from Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It”‘s latest Ohdeedoh list – Beatrix, nicknamed Bix;
• Along the same lines, from a Swistle post: Juliet, nicknamed Jett;
• Coolest middle name ever: Caleb Costello, spotted by Babynamelover;
• I might have to buy one of these annual reports through DaddyTypes.  Bonus points that the baby profiled by the annual report has a great name:  Paloma.

In celebrity news:

• True Blood’s Sam Trammell and Missy Yager welcomed twin boys.  But they’ve yet to release their names … not sure if that means they haven’t decided, or if they don’t plan to share;
• KISS frontman Paul Stanley and wife Erin welcomed a daughter named Emily Grace.  Yup, Emily Grace.  The rocker has conservatively named kids: Evan, Colin, Sarah, and now Emily.  They’re not exciting choices, but as Chantal and Erin pointed out on Facebook, it is a nice sibset;
• But the big news?  The arrival of Tina Fey’s second daughter, Penelope Athena, a little sister for Alice Zenobia.  I’ll

Incidentally, one of the things Waltzing More Than Matilda pointed out in the blog review was that I don’t have a Facebook button – now I do!

That’s all for this week – thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Image by work the angles via Flickr

What a week!  Mariah’s twins receive a double dose of daffy, starbaby-certified names, and the Social Security Administration releases their 2010 data as their annual Mother’s Day gift to the world.

Speaking of Mother’s Day, I hope it is a happy one!

Elsewhere online:

• Girls Gone Child is expecting twins, and it looks like they are both girls.  She has yet to share her name list, but I cannot wait!  Her firstborn is son Archer Sage, followed by daughter Fable Luella.  With Fable, she did something absolutely impossible: put a completely new option on the table that sounds like it has always been a name.
• Waltzing More Than Matilda considers the idea of honoring someone with a name that is only vaguely related to the namesake’s moniker.  Apparently starbaby Flynn was inspired by Orlando Bloom’s grandmother, Evelyn – you can watch a video clip of his explanation in her post.  I’m on board with a stretch to honor a loved one; Waltzing isn’t so sure.
• Did you take For Real’s gender-bending quiz?  She’s posted the answers.  I scored a mere 4 out of 10, but then, so did pretty much everyone else.  I wonder if the parents considered that issue before naming a daughter Lyric Ryan or a son Winter Lee?
• I had no idea that some parents still avoid giving daughters middle names, on the assumption that someday she’ll marry and won’t need it anymore.
• Here’s another question: Nancy asks if more babies are being named Jersey, as in the reality show?  I remember someone from the Yahoo! message boards years ago saying that she had a daughter named Jerzee.  Or was it Jurnee?
• Haddie was one of the  Top Five brand new names at Nymbler in April.  She’s a logical successor to Maddie and Addie, boosted by a character on Parenthood.  The other four debuts were Raylan and Posey for girls, and Finch and Eisley for boys.

Here’s a quick round-up of some of the early SSA list analysis, with more to follow this week I’m certain!

• My initial impressions of the 2010 data for girls are here.
• Nancy has a list of new names on the Top 1000 list, plus some gems from beyond the rankings.  The boys’ list is here, and the girls’ list is here.
• Nancy also does some analysis of the fastest falling names.
• Laura Wattenberg analyzed the fastest rising names.  Teen Mom Maci and baby Bentley
• Wattenberg also updated her annual “Rhymes with Aiden“ index.
• And then there’s the non-analysis appearing in dozens of headlines like “So long, Susan, hello trendy baby names.”  Okay, that’s actually from Vancouver, but I anticipate reading dozens of these over the next few weeks.  Others have been touting the return of classics like Isabella.  Sigh.

In starbaby news, the arrival of Moroccan Scott and Monroe Cannon grabbed all the headlines, but we also welcomed:

• Antonio Sabato’s son, Antonio III, a little brother for Jack and Mina;
• Bryan Adams’ daughter arrived on Good Friday, and wears an Easter-themed middle to prove it: Mirabella Bunny;
• Jay Mohr welcomed a son and attempted to reclaim a name for Team Blue with Meredith Daniel.

Last week’s Nameberry post was Bridesmaid Names; tomorrow’s Nameberry post heads to the baby boutique for inspiration.

That’s all for this week.  As always, thank you for reading!

Alaya
Ashleigh
Ashly
Caleigh
Calleigh
Cambria
Cassie
Cayla
Charlize
Cristal
Dayanara
Deja
Destiney
Frida
Gretchen
Jacey
Janice
Jaslyn
Jordin
Kamari
Kamya
Karley
Kayley
Keely
Magdalena
Marely
Maribel
Mariela
Marleigh
Marlie
Maryjane
Mireya
Miya
Monserrat
Rebeca
Reece
Rory
Samiyah
Sanai
Tamara
Taniya
Taniyah
Tanya
Taya
Tia
Tiara
Unique
Valery
Yadira
Yasmine
Yuliana

Cannon had said “They won’t be crazy names like Carburetor or something,” he promised. “But they’re definitely unique.”

Daughter Monroe’s name is apparently inspired by Marilyn.  In an era of girls called Harlow and Bardot, Monroe isn’t so outlandish.

Morocco would fit with Brooklyn and Egypt, but Moroccan?  That’s a surprise.  But Mike Tyson took Morocco for his son back in January.  Maybe they didn’t want to repeat?

• I’d give Monroe a B.  On trend and not outlandish, but where is the poor girl’s middle name?
• Moroccan Scott is a C.  I can get behind Morocco, but Moroccan seems strange, especially considering the kids’ surnames.  Moroccan Carey, maybe.  Moroccan Cannon?  Not so much.

Hat tip to Photoquilty and Lyndsay for the news!

What do you think?

G-ca by Too Far North via Flickr

If Cannon and Gunner are hot for boys, why not this surname that feels slightly more academic?

Thanks to Katie for suggesting Gannon as our Baby Name of the Day.

Gannon isn’t exactly Harvard, so if you’ve never lived near Erie, Pennsylvania, it might not immediately conjure up images of higher education.

But Gannon is, indeed, a four-year university founded back in 1925 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie.  John Mark Gannon was Erie’s Bishop when the school was established.  He was also an Erie native, and a driving force for education in the region.

Gannon seems to have emerged as a surname derived from Mag Fhionnáin – yet another Gaelic appellation related to Finn, and thus meaning fair.

There’s a second – possibly more familiar – meaning to Gannon.  Also spelled Ganon, he’s the bad guy in Nintendo’s long-running The Legend of Zelda video game series.  Some sources give his full name as Ganondorf.  Let’s just say that names ending in -dorf won’t be catching on any time soon.

Between 2002 and 2006, Gannon appeared in the US Top 1000, peaking at #683 in 2003.  He’s still in use, just a little bit outside of the rankings today with, Nancy tells us, 154 boys receiving the name in 2009.

Gannon might bring to mind one of these figures, all of whom answered to Mr. Gannon:

• Bill Gannon fought with the Irish Republican Army, taking part in the conflict that sparked the Irish Civil War;
• One Life to Live‘s football-star-turned-district-attorney Hank Gannon appeared on the show for more than a decade.  There’s a whole family with the same surname – wife, daughter, long-estranged bad-guy younger brother.  Hey, it is a soap opera;
• Before Harry Morgan was Colonel Potter on M*A*S*H, he was Joe Friday’s partner on Dragnet.  Morgan played Officer Bill Gannon from 1967 through 1970, and makes other appearances in later incarnations of the series;
• If you happen to be in Davenport, Iowa, you can visit the M.V. Gannon House, the former home of nineteenth century Irish immigrant turned newspaperman, Michael V. Gannon;
• 1968 Western flick A Man Called Gannon lends the name some cowboy cred.

The list goes on, but none of these associations is strong enough to create a lasting impression.  Instead, Gannon falls somewhere between preppy surname picks like Brooks and aggressively masculine choices in the key of Slade.  Nameberry included Gannon on their list of “good” unusual baby names, in the company of choices like Eben, Lander, and Reeve.

I’m inclined to agree.  Gannon doesn’t have enough history to please everyone, but two-syllable, ends-in-n Irish appellations remain popular, and plenty of parents are bored with Ryan and Aidan.  The formula continues to dominate the US Top 100.  Gannon feels more distinguished than nouveau picks like Baylen, but he still boasts a modern vibe.

v11mex by Too Far North via Flickr

Here’s the second from Kristen of Marginamia – the story of finding a name for Nona Plum’s little sister!

What is your child’s name?
Valo June Reverie (Sounds like the Val in Valentine, with an ‘o’ on the end.  We pronounce Reverie with only two syllables, rev REE.) We call her lots of things, mostly Valo June, but also Lo, and Vally Rev.

When did you choose?
We chose one week after the birth of the baby, and this time felt rushed.  It wasn’t as clear as (big sister) Nona’s name.  We went back and forth several times.  When we took her to the doctor for a check-up, I instinctively called “Valo, wake up!”  I think I knew then that this was her name.  My husband voted for it later the same day.

Once we’d finally decided on the first name, we had a tough time picking the middle: June or Reverie? We chose both, and I’m so glad we did.  We use all three of her names at different times.  So I say don’t be afraid to include those extra middle names!

What were your criteria?
We didn’t want anything that starts with N or ends in -uh or -ah, since her big sister is Nona.  We pretty much knew we wanted the name to end with -o.

I wanted her name to have some association with a number, like Nona’s, but I gave that up pretty early on.  I found out after naming her that Valo translates to the number 8 in Malagasy.  This is only made cooler by the fact that her sister’s name number is 9.  Oh, the nerdiness!

As with Nona’s name, we didn’t want anything totally made up, anything ending with en, in, or yn, and wanted a nature name, without it being too obvious. I do love botanical names (Azalea and Verbena are my current favorites) but we ended up with a less obvious nature name – unless you’re in Finland, then it’s pretty obvious for sure!

Who was involved in the decision?
Again, just my husband and me, though I did end up consulting some friends and my mother for their votes on our final three names. Valo June Reverie was the least popular amongst everyone, but it ended up winning our vote!

What were the other options?
Umi Luelle – Umi has various meanings but our most personal association is the one it shares with the ocean.  I just love the sound of Luelle.

Juniper Delphine – We love the sound of Juniper. Like June, it has that summery, syrupy feel.  Delphine’s rather mystical associations still fill me with glee, and we may revisit that name for a future child.

Verbena June/Verbena Louelle – My husband’s least favorite, and it ends with same sound as Nona, but I continue to love this name.

Meno Reverie – After Plato’s Meno. We didn’t want to name her after the character, Meno, but the book itself.  My husband and I met studying philosophy and share a love of Plato, and particularly the idea of knowledge being a sort of remembering, as is examined in the book.  And the name ends in -o … but  she just wasn’t a Meno.

Did the meaning matter?
Oh heck yes! Even more this time, I think. So, first things first, she was born with a giant stork mark directly in the center of her forehead, dark and giant. It was in the perfect shape of a V!  I have to say that this really influenced me, silly as it may seem.

Valo is Finnish for sunlight. Neither of us have any Finnish lineage, but I do have a strange love of many things Finnish, and find that little Finnish associations keep appearing in our lives all over the place.  The sunlight association is huge for me.  I awoke on a Friday morning in June to contractions five minutes apart, and they seemed to intensify with the rising sun.  Three hours later I gave birth to Valo in my bedroom. I just focused on the sunlight pouring into the room, right onto my face at times, and on a tree outside my window, shedding it’s white blooms in the wind – it was a crepe myrtle, which holds no name possibilities for me.

The sunlight seemed to bring her, and she was born right around the summer solstice, alongside the longest, most sunlit days of the year.

Aside from the name’s meaning, and aside from it’s starting with the same letter she had naturally tattooed on her forehead (which is almost completely faded now), it ends in ‘o’ and has those rolling ‘l’ sounds we love so much–check and check!  I found the name only about a week before she was born, so we didn’t have a lot of time to let it sit with us; I think this is why it took us a while to know.

We both love the name June. I actually didn’t want to use it at first because she *was* born in the month of June. Thankfully I decided not to let that keep us from using it.  We almost went with Jane, instead, a name I continue to completely adore, but we both liked the “oo” sound with Valo over the “ay” sound.

Reverie is a favorite word of ours. We both love the sound and meaning of it. It means ‘daydream.’  It also seemed to fit her. I spent a great portion of the pregnancy in a very dreamy state, as do a lot of pregnant women, I think. We had a lot of upheaval going on, and I coped by just zoning out and dreaming, likely even when I shouldn’t have, but it seemed to be something over which I had very little control. I associated the strength of that impulse with the particular little child in my womb!

I also dreamed about how she would enter the world. I wanted her to be born on a Friday morning because it’s my favorite day of the week, and (more importantly) we get a longer paternity leave for my husband with it starting on a weekend! I wanted to awake after a *full* night’s rest to an active labor and to have a very short labor. I wanted her to be born in our home. All of this dreaming and meditating was completely matched in reality when the time came, so again, I just felt like her little spirit shared this element of the pregnancy, like she was linked to all the dreaming.  My wish for her as I pondered her coming in the last few days of the pregnancy, and then as I stared down at her in those first few days after her birth was that she hold on to the dreaminess!  And boy, does this fit her!  The word also has musical associations. I also really love the simple French word for dream, Reve, as a first name, but my husband wasn’t into it. We use it, though; I call her Vally Reve quite a lot!

Did you second guess yourself?
Yes, I did. I even went through a week where I tried just calling her June, but then my husband said her name very casually and it struck me as being very musically beautiful.  I think I’d been sort of freaked out by not really having encountered it anywhere before, not even in a person online or anything; it felt sort of *too* alone, even though I knew it wasn’t a name we’d just made up.  Now each time I hear it, it brings me the joy of hearing something beautiful and perfectly meaningful for this little girl, so I know it’s a perfect fit for her!  I think a lot of my indecisiveness comes from being truly in love with so many names.

Hmmm,  I guess there might be a need for more sweet little babies to gift with some of those names!

Wishing you and yours all the best!

Bridge between Waverley Abbey house and the Abbey; Image by stephen_dedalus via Flickr

Today’s literary choice is perfectly in step with current trends, but has yet to catch on.

Thanks to Amanda for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Waverly.

Waverly sounds like a surname, but first appears in the historical record as the name of an abbey, constructed in 1128.  It lasted into the 1500s, when the combined forces of flooding from the nearby River Wey and Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries forced it into ruin.  Waverley Abbey’s name is tricky to trace, too.  I’d thought it might relate to the nearby River Wey, but that’s not clear.

A few references link Waverly to aspens, and that tracks with the -ley ending, which usually signified a clearing, meadow, or field.  Nearly every reference talks about “quaking aspens,” and our word waver traces back to the Old English wæfre – restless.  So Waverly picks up yet another appealing aspect – a nature name vibe.

In 1814, Sir Walter Scott scored a smash hit with his novel Waverley.  His hero is called Edward Waverley, a well-born soldier sent to Scotland during the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745.  (This makes Waverly one of the first historical novels.)  Edward falls in love with Flora, the sister of a Scottish chieftain.  This brings us back to the trees: he describes her harp playing as “the soft sigh of the evening breeze in the rustling leaves of an aspen.”

There’s much intrigue, but no happy ending.  Despite Flora’s chieftain brother Fergus springing Edward from jail, Edward marries the sensible Rose.

Some link the novel’s name to Waverly Abbey, but that might just be coincidence.  Likewise, the 64 baby girls given the name in 2009 according to Nancy are probably not linked to the novel.

What could inspire parents to choose Waverly?

• She’s a popular place name throughout the English-speaking world.  She appeared on the New York City street names blog post at Nameberry, but you can find this name on the map from Alabama to Wisconsin;
• Amy Tan’s 1989 Joy Luck Club included a character named Waverly, named for the street where her family lived in San Francisco;
• The Princess Bride was a 1973 novel, a 1987 film, and an undeniable cult classic.  Later editions of the novel contain a brief epilogue and hint at a sequel, all about the daughter of Westley and Princess Buttercup.  Her name?  Waverly;
• If you’ve seen The Disney Channel in recent years, you might’ve caught The Wizards of Waverly Place, a successful comedy about a trio of wizards-in-training who have to keep their powers secret.  The show is set in New York City’s Greenwich Village, where there really is a Waverly Place, which was named after the novel – which takes us back to the beginning.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Waverly occasionally surfaced as a boy’s name.  But today, she sounds like a likely successor to Delaney – and undeniably feminine.  And while her name links to trees, her first syllable might remind parents of the beach.  If girls can be called Ocean and Sea, why not Waverly?