Image by anyjazz65 via Flickr

Happy Thanksgiving!

For those of you in the US, I hope you’re having a lovely day filled with the ones you love.  If you’re outside of the US, here’s hoping you have yet to grow weary of posts about Pilgrim names.

Today’s list is a tribute to the season, but also the answer to a question: aren’t there any good virtue names for boys?  If your short list for girls includes Hope and Charity, here are possible options for their brothers.

North - Nameberry listed direction names as a hot trend for 2012, especially West.  North seems less likely to catch on, like Spring compared to Winter.  But think of the direction as part of the phrase True North, and it takes on a deeper meaning.  A compass appears to show direction accurately, but it shows magnetic north – a designation that varies over time and location.  True north is a calculation based on all factors, or a way of determining a direction with precision.  Thus, true north is a poetic way to describe the right course.

True – Along with Vrai and Verity, this one tends to be listed as a girls’ name, just like Sister Wives‘ Truely Brown.  But there’s no reason True couldn’t work for a boy, just like Drew and even Crew.

Prosper – This one was listed in the ends-in-er for boys post, and despite my misgivings about his Vulcan vibe, I really like this idea.  Like Joy or Felicity, it is part-virtue name, part-wish for a child’s life.

Merit - A Latin word meaning deserving, Merit has a lot going for him. Spelled Merritt he’s a separate surname that actually had a steady presence in US Top 1000 until around 1950.  Sound-wise he’s close to mainstream picks like Garrett.

Sterling - Sterling is a grade of silver, and the pound sterling is the official currency of the United Kingdom.  But sterling also conveys the idea of quality, even strength and resilience, as pure silver is too soft to be used for functional purposes.  The best theory about sterling’s origins links sterling to sterre, a Middle English word for star, the mark used to denote the silver’s quality.  Sterling has more history of use as a given name than most on this list.

Oak - A number of nature names skew masculine on sound alone, and few also boast meanings that seem appropriate for a son.  Oak is both.  Sometimes paired with mighty, he conveys strength and endurance.  He’s also the national tree of the United States, as well as many other nations.

Everest – The world’s highest mountain, Everest conveys an idea of achievement – very few people have ever reached the peak.

Shelter - Softer than some of the names on this list, Shelter implies not just a building, but a place of refuge.  Of course there are animal and homeless shelters, and even the vaguely dismissive phrase “shelter magazine.”  Some of the associations are not quite right for a given name, but then there are ideas like “shelter from the storm” and those seem perfectly fitting.  Others along these lines might be Shepherd or Harbor, and of course there’s Haven, too.

None of these are as easy to wear as popular girls’ choices like Faith or Grace.  Do you think they’re just over-the-top unwearable, like Chastity for a girl?  Are there others I’ve forgotten?

Image via Wikipedia

She’s a medieval rarity that would be right at home in today’s Top 100.

Thanks to Christina for suggesting Annora as our Baby Name of the Day.

Between the seventh and thirteenth centuries, a quartet of popes used the name Honorius.  There were also two saints, a Roman emperor, and possibly a medieval magician, too.

Honorius shares his roots with the Latin honorem, the source of our word honor.  Variant Annora surfaces in the Middle Ages:

• Annora of Saint-Valéry married Robert III of Dreux in the 1100s.  Her name is also given as Aenor, which links the name to Eleanor and suggests that more that one name might’ve contributed to Annora;
• Maud de Braose, Lady of La Haie and an heiress in her own right, married a powerful baron and defended their lands.  She also incurred the wrath of King John and paid with her life.  Among her sixteen children were daughters called Flandrina, Loretta, and Annora, who entered religious life;
• In the thirteenth century the Scottish Earl of Buchan gave the name to his fifth daughter and youngest child, though the girls’ names are listed inconsistently.  Elizabeth is also Elizabetha, Emma is sometimes Agnes, and Annora appears as Margaret, too.  I’m not sure if that’s due to inconsistent recordings, or a difference between their baptismal names and those used in daily life;
• But the real story of Annora’s endurance has to do with the Pierrepont family.  Sir Henry Pierrepont’s ancestors were part of the Norman invasion.  Henry married Annora de Manvers, heiress to Holme, a town near Nottingham, England, in 1281.  Holme Pierrepont has been the village’s name ever since, and you can still visit the family’s ancestral home, pictured above.

In fact, the Pierreponts should get credit for preserving Annora:

• In the early nineteenth century the 2nd Earl Manvers named his daughter Annora Charlotte.  She married Charles William-Wynn;
• In 1853, the 3rd Earl – Annora’s brother – named his daughter Emily Annora Charlotte;
• Maud Annora Williams-Wynn married Lord Harvey of Tasburgh in 1920.  I’m not positive of the connection, but there’s that name again, still standing, just like Holme Pierrepont.

Honora and Honoria are also in use.  Honoria has a particularly distinguished history, from Ancient Rome to the novels of Charles Dickens and PG Wodehouse.  Annora could succeed because she fits with so many trends:

• She’s a virtue name, as gentle as the Top 20 Grace, but distinctive without venturing into the new-agey vibe of choices like Serenity;
• There’s always a place for Ann names.  Hannah and Brianna had their day. Annabelle, Anneliese, and frilly Lilianna are current now.  Annora can even feel like an elaboration of Anna;
• Nora has made a comeback, but some parents are debating if Eleanor is the right formal name, or if Nora can stand alone.  Annora is a nice compromise; it is also a smoosh of Ann and Nora, if you’re trying to honor two grandmothers;
• Lastly, let’s not forget impact of starbaby Honor – she and daddy Cash with their trend-setting noun names could prompt more parents to flip to Annora in their baby name book.

But mostly, Annora remains undiscovered.  That’s good news if you’re looking for something a little bit different that your daughter won’t have to share, something traditional that isn’t common.  She could also serve as culture-spanning choice – remember the Arabic Noor?  Anura is a variant form.

With nicknames from the cute Annie to the elegant Nora, her medieval pedigree, and a great, undisputed meaning, Annora makes for that most elusive of finds: a truly wearable rarity.

Image via Wikipedia

Temperance appears steadily in the US Census records, but never in the US Top 1000.  But the virtue figures even larger in American history.  Back in 1874, a handful of reform-minded women formed the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in Cleveland, Ohio.  The group wasn’t exactly after a complete ban on booze, at least not early days.  But the group’s membership varied widely.  Some chapters did, indeed, march into saloons singing hymns.  Others were more interested in social work, aiding new immigrants and working on a wide range of causes.  They’re still around, too.

Painting from Koehler's Medicinal Plants (1887); Image via Wikipedia

It’s a gender neutral nature name, gentle and smart all at once.

Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting Sage as our Baby Name of the Day.

Sage occupies a middle ground between the twentieth century girl’s staple Paige and nouveau names for boys like Gage.  On sound alone, it is difficult to guess if Sage goes to Team Pink or Team Blue.

While botanical choices almost always lean feminine, that’s less true for spices – think of Basil.

The herb gets its name from the Latin salvus – healthy – via the Old French sauge and Old English sawge.  It has been said to remedy of host of ailments, and was once common in kitchen gardens for both cooking and for use in home remedies.  Apparently, an old saying went like this: Cur moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto? In English: Why should a man die while sage grows in his garden?

Despite this noble description, sage’s other meaning – wise – comes from a completely separate source: the Latin sapere.  The idea that a sage is a wise man traces to the fourteenth century, and was originally applied to a group of seven Ancient Greek philosophers and rulers.

But dig a little deeper, and there’s an appealing nuance to sage.  It isn’t just about book smarts, but about taste and judgment, too.  The Latin sapere originally meant “to taste.” Sap – liquid from a plant – shares the same root.  This almost puts sage in the same category as modern virtue names like True.

The Seven Sages names would be wildly different today: Cleobulus, Thales, Periander, anyone? – but Sage has been gaining use for decades.

New York Giants’ quarterback Sage Rosenfels and Sylvester Stallone’s son Sage Stallone – now an actor, just like dad – were both born in the 1970s.  But so was female ESPN correspondent Sage Steele.

Sage entered the US Top 1000 for boys in 1991. It would be two years before Sage charted on the girls’ side.

But as of 2009, Sage ranked #761 for boys, and appears to be falling.  On the girls’ side, Sage stood at #396, and shows signs of climbing.  You may come across Saige and Sayge for either gender.

Despite evidence that Sage has gone to the girls, I suspect we’re one or two high profile Sages away from that being definitive.  Should Pink or the Jolie-Pitts choose Sage for a son, that would change things.  For now, the most high profile use of the name I can think of is Rebecca Woolf’s son, Archer Sage.  It’s a great combination of the masculine and the less agressive.

Overall, Sage is a shape-shifter, equally at home on a son or a daughter.  A humble nature name with intellectual overtones, a single-syllable, twentieth-century discovery with complex, ancient roots.  There’s much to love about Sage.

Church in Amance, France; Image via Wikipedia

Today’s choice is a rarity, a name all but gone – but Jennifer overheard her in a park a few weeks ago.

Our Baby Name of the Day is Amance.

Many of you can probably piece your way through Meilleurs Prenoms’ description of Amance:

ce prénom très rare est porté par près de 130 personnes en France. il ne devrait pas être attribué à plus de 50 bébés en 2010.

In other words, Amance is, indeed, a valid French appellation.  But she is about as rare as it gets.  Should you meet an Amance in Amiens, there’s also a chance that he’ll be a monsieur.

Amance is just one of a handful of almost-lost names, once in use in Medieval France and Europe, derived from the Latin amicus – friend.   Name nerds might know that our words amiable and amicable have the same meaning, but are slightly different because they were imported at different times.

Depending on the moment, you can discover a trove of friendly names, like Amable, Amatus, Amice, Amandus and Ames.  (Though Amos is Hebrew).

A few related names have endured, like Amy and Esme, or evolved from earlier forms, like Amanda.

There are plenty of places called Amance.  I counted three in France, as well as the Arboretum d’Amance in Lorraine, and an Amancey.  What I can’t tell for certain is whether Amance caught on independently, or if Amance is related to the seventh century Saint Amand.  There are a handful of places where the two names are listed as variants, and Saint Amand appears all over the map, too.

If that’s true, and you’re willing to s-t-r-e-t-c-h things, then Amance almost stands as a feminine form of Amand.

Saint Amand earned his halo for giving up the privileges of nobility for the life monastic.  After some years of solitude, he set out as a missionary, converting Flanders to Christianity and building monasteries for the new faithful.  He was less successful in other posts, but his travels took him far and wide.  He was well into seventies when he preached in Basque country.  He’s the patron saint of scouts, and also of brewers, bartenders, and vintners.

There’s also a thirteenth-century Saint Amata, and plenty of other saints with related names.

Amance features in the history of the dukes of Lorraine, too.  The counts of Bar held Amance.  In the twelfth century, Agnes of Bar married Frederick II, the duke of Lorraine, and the lands passed to that oh-so powerful family.

All of this makes Amance a rarity, but thanks to all of the related names there’s something familiar in her, too.  She could serve as a reboot for dated favorites like Amanda and Amy.  Her -ce ending fits with stylish antiques like Alice and Frances.  And the French revival remains on a low simmer, with names like Vivienne and Simone finding favor.

There’s a real chance that pronunciation will take some effort.  ah MANCE isn’t difficult, but depending on regional accents in your neck of the woods, it might take some repeating.

But if a rarity with a good meaning and intersting history is your aim, Amance is one to consider.

Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting Truman as Baby Name of the Day.

There aren’t a ton of virtue name options for boys, but Truman could be the brother of Grace or Faith.

The Old English triewe became the Middle English trewe, evolving into our word true by the sixteenth century.  There’s speculation that the word relates to the Old Celtic root for an oak tree – dru.  Apparently, Anglo-Saxon used one word to refer to both trees and truth, implying that a Truman is one as steadfast as an oak.

That might be a bit of a poetic stretch, but it is a nice idea.  Truman may have been in sparing use in Medieval England, either as a nickname or a given name.  We can certainly find similar names containing the -trum element, as well as -trud and -trun.  But he mostly appears as a surname in more recent history.

But Truman also ranked in the US Top 1000 every year from 1880 into the 1950s.  History gives us figures like former Secretary of the Navy and Senator from Michigan, Truman Newberry.  He was named after his grandfather, a Cleveland banker called Truman Handy.

When FDR died in office, Harry S. Truman became President of the United States.  The year was 1945, and Truman rocketed to the #248 spot in the US, his most popular ranking ever.

Then came Truman Capote.  Born in 1924, when the name was not uncommon, he became famous as the author of novels like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, as well as the sensational true crime account In Cold Blood.

Despite the author’s fame, Truman fell out of favor as a given name.  He hung on to the fringes in the 1960s and 70s, but by the 1980s was almost entirely out of use.

The one place Truman lingered was the funny pages.  In Motley’s Crue, parents Mabel and Mike had a son called Truman.

Then came 1998′s The Truman Show.  Two years before Survivor, but six years after The Real World,  the movie’s premise was simple: a corporation adopted a baby and filmed his entire life.  His world was a soundstage, his loved ones were actors.  Jim Carrey played the all-grown-up Truman Burbank who would finally discover that his life … wasn’t.  Truman was the obvious name for the character, but it seemed an unlikely inspiration for parents.

In 2004, 2006, and 2007, Truman reappeared at the outer edges of the US Top 1000.  Besides the lingering effect of the movie, there was also:

• Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson’s youngest child is Truman Theodore, born in 1995;
• From 1998 to 2006, hit sitcom Will & Grace featured the likable character Will Truman.

Truman fits with the tenor of the times.  He’s virtuous and vintage, and yet his surname status makes him feel like a new discovery.  Truman sounds at home on the playground with Jackson and Tyler.  And that two-syllable ends-in-n construction has been so dominant for boys that Truman might appeal to parents seeking something original, but fearing that many possible choices will migrate to the girls.

With his appealing meaning and style credentials, it is easy to imagine Truman catching on.

Thanks to Rocking Fetal for suggesting Blythe as Baby Name of the Day.

Blythe has never ranked in the US Top 1000, but she may be more familiar than some names that have ranked, thanks to:

• Gilbert Blythe, who we meet as a boy in Anne of Green Gables.  Anne and Gilbert, of course, eventually live happily ever after;
• Blythe Danner is an accomplished actress, and also mom to Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow;
• All of that explains something about Gwyneth’s daughter’s name.  While everyone talks about Apple, her full name – Apple Blythe Allison – honors both grandmothers;
• While we’re in Hollywood, Drew Barrymore’s middle name is Blyth.  Just like her first name, this one was plucked off the family tree.  Maurice Barrymore, patriarch of the clan of actors, was born Herbert Blyth – he’s Drew’s great-grandfather;
• Da Vinci Code author Dan Brown is married to a Blythe;
• Long-running medical drama House follows the work of Gregory House, MD, a brilliant, but difficult, doctor.  Gregory’s parents appear in a few episodes, and mom’s name is Blythe;
• In 1972, Kenner sold Blythe dolls for just one year, but enthusiasts continue to collect and customize the big-headed dollies with eyes that change color.

It’s the Barrymore and Green Gables references that hint at Blythe’s origins.  Before she was a given name, she was a surname, derived from the word for joyful, pleasant, kind, or carefree.  Either your ancestor was the happiest man in his village, or he came from a place named Blythe.  (The River Blyth flows through Northumberland into the North Sea, and there are at least three other rivers England bearing some version of the name.)

The root in Old High German was blidi – friendly.  Blythe (and Blyth and Blithe) persisted in use until the 1500s, but ultimately fell into that catalog of words used mostly by writers.  There’s Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Blithdale Romance, and Noël Coward’s Blithe Spirit.  Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “To a Skylark” inspired the Coward play title; William Shakespeare used the word, too.  Remember the song from Much Ado About Nothing? The lyrics urge women to be blithe and bonny.

Nancy tells us that 86 girls were named Blythe in 2009; the variant spellings didn’t rank.  Blair, Brooke, Blake, Bree, and Brynn were all more popular.  Bliss comes from the same root word, and has popped up in birth announcements recently, but she seems far more daring than the subtle Blythe, and so far, she’s less popular.

Boys have worn the name in recent years, too.  Given’s Blythe’s surname status, that’s inevitable.  In the nineteenth century, it appears to have been slightly more common for men, though it was worn by both.

Blythe fits so many trends: she’s a frills-free virtue name with surname roots.  Her -th ending puts Blythe in the company of favorites from yesteryear, like Ruth, Thelma, and Ethel.  In the last decade, there’s just Elizabeth, Samantha and Katherine with the -th sound and in the US Top 100.  In the 1920s, there would’ve been more than that in the Top 25, and as many as a dozen in the Top 100.

But that’s not really a strike against Blythe.  She’s straightforward, unusual, literary, and her meaning can’t be beat!

Thanks to Melissa for suggesting Grace as Baby Name of the Day.

What’s not to love about Grace?

She was a nineteenth century staple, ranking in the US Top 20 from 1880 until 1908.  This puts her in the company of other vintage picks like Emma and Ella, Clara and Alice.  But she shares her -ay sound with nouveau choices like Jayden and Kaylee.

That’s enough to make Grace a winning compromise choice, but then there’s her meaning.

Let’s start with Greek mythology.  A trio of goddesses responsible for beauty, joy and creativity were referred to the Charites.  They answered to Aglaea, Euphrosyne and Thalia.  Homer cast them as Aphrodite’s BFFs.  Other traditions gave them significant roles in the underworld.  The Romans called them the Gratiae, from the Latin gratia – grace.  Botticelli and Raphael were among the many to paint the three.

Grace has encompassed many a virtue since ancient days, and multiple meanings have evolved since:

• The conventional Christian view ranges from the straightforward grace as a synonym for a simple prayer, usually offered at the dinner table, to a weighty theological matter;
• Perhaps the best known hymn of all time, “Amazing Grace” was written in the eighteenth century;
• We’ve been describing ballerinas – and types of geckos and rats – as graceful in movement since the 1400s;
• You can grace someone with your presence;
• The musical term grace note means an embellishment;
• And, of course, any number of phrases with appealing meanings are attached – from scapegrace to grace under fire,

She can appeal to a devout audience or a secular one.  Her sister is just as likely to be Eleanor or Nevaeh.

Parents who prefer single-syllable names might also like Grace’s flexibility.  She’s as spare as Jane, Brooke, Bryn or June.  But adding an -ie results in the girlie Gracie, a pleasing short form.

And we can’t forget Grace Kelly, a silver screen queen who became real-life royalty in 1956 when she married Monaco’s Prince Rainier III.  Kelly was no mere starlet when she retired from acting to reign in the tiny European nation.  She’d won a Best Actress Oscar in 1954′s The Country Girl.  Other notables include:

• Singer Grace Slick, of 1960s legendary rock group Jefferson Airplane;
• Model/actress/singer/Bond villain Grace Jones;
• Comedienne Gracie Allen, wife and performing partner of George Burns.

Comb through the history books and you’ll find many more.  I’m particularly fond of Grace Darling, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter who helped her dad rescued thirteen people from a shipwreck in 1838 at considerable risk to her own life.

The 17th century Puritans get credit for first using Grace as a given name.  She’d fallen out of favor by the 1970s, but re-entered the US Top 100 in 1995 and stood at #17 in 2009 – a few places down from earlier in the decade.

Today parents might also put Gracie (#115 in 2009) on the birth certificate or even the compound Gracelyn (#572 in 2009).  The latter hews slightly close to Elvis’ Memphis estate, but also looks like a cousin for popular respellings à la Madalyn.

With all this going for Grace, why does she make the list of Most Regretted Baby Names?  It’s just a hunch, but I’d bet plenty of parents are disappointed to discover that many other parents have chosen the lovely, classic Grace, too.

If you don’t mind sharing, it’s hard to go wrong with Grace.

Thanks to Joy for suggesting daring noun choice Temple as Baby Name of the Day.

The current US Top 100 includes the classic Grace, the much-maligned Nevaeh and the modern spiritual name Trinity.  Not everyone agrees on which styles of meaningful moniker are appropriate – or not – as a given name, but what’s certain is this: you’ll be meeting more girls called Genesis and Verity, Journey and True.

There’s a hint of virtue name about Temple, but she also has much in common with nouveau noun names like Autumn and Serenity.

Of course, Temple also shares sounds with Temperance, a Plymouth Rock-ready appellation popularized by hit TV show Bones, featuring the  brilliant anthropologist turned super-sleuth Dr. Temperance Brennan.  And both names can use Arizona place name Tempe as an appealing short form.

But back to the meaning of Temple.  The word comes from the Latin templum, and has referred to a place consecrated for worship for centuries. Yet there’s something more there – templum is also the origin of our word template.  Somehow temple implies an idea that goes beyond the structure of a building and touches on the structure of belief itself.  It’s a subtle undercurrent, but I think it is one reason Temple seems like a possible given name, while Basilica seems outlandish.

Of course, this could be my cultural bias at work.  Christians gather in churches (and basilicas, cathedrals, chapels and meeting houses).  Men and women of other faith traditions gather in temples, including Jews, Hindus and Buddhists.  A Christian parent might consider it for a child, but I’m guessing that’s not true if your weekly worship takes place in one.

Is it appropriate? Cohen can set some of us on edge.  Others blanch at Trinity.

If you’re not religious, Temple might seem like an architectural reference, relating to the structures built by the Romans and the Greeks.  If we travel to see ancient ruins and visit sites like the Pantheon, then perhaps there’s room for a secular reading of Temple.

Let’s step away from the wonders of the ancient world to, once again, consider the impact of the small screen.  The driving force behind Temple’s possible adoption as a given name might be a recent HBO biopic.  Dr. Temple Grandin is on the faculty at Colorado State University as  a renowned expert in animal sciences.  She’s also autistic, and has become a leading advocate for neurodiversity – the idea that some forms of autism are not disorders to be cured, but differences to be embraced.  Claire Danes played Gradin in the film.

Count Temple as an extreme baby name, one that won’t go unnoticed.  Whether you’re thinking of her spiritual side, referencing architecture or taking a queue from Dr. Grandin, there’s much to raise an eyebrow over.  But she’s surprisingly pleasing, both in sound and meaning.

Thanks to Jackson for suggesting Vera as Baby Name of the Day.

Before she was Up in the Air with George Clooney, Vera Farmiga was a well-regarded actress, but not a household name.  Following her Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, that’s poised to change.

Farmiga, the daughter of Ukrainian immigrants, wasn’t the first to lend her given name a little glamor.  Vera Wang, the near-legendary designer of wedding gowns, first sent a gown down the aisle in 1990.  Since then, celebrity brides as well as fictional ones – including both Carrie and Charlotte on Sex in the City rocked a Vera, though Carrie’s was just for a fashion shoot.

Vera was a Top 100 staple in the US from 1891 through 1929, and she’s relatively modern – there are no saints or ancients answering to the name, and she first appears in the nineteenth century.  She’s a virtue name, but maybe not the one you’d think.  It’s tempting to connect her to the Latin verus - truth – as in Verity.  Instead, most agree that she’s from the Russian vjera – faith.

Multiple possible origins tend to make for a name that travels well, and that’s true of Vera, a name virtually unchanged in spelling or pronunciation across Europe.  She’s currently a Top 50 pick in Sweden, and a Top 20 choice in the Czech Republic.  She’s a place name from Argentina to Oklahoma.

Still, Vera tends to sound vaguely Eastern European, even maybe a bit severe.  Russian silent film star Vera Kholodnaya was among the first famous bearers of the name.  While little of her work survives, I’m guessing that her fame catapulted the name into greater use.

Also contributing to her Slavic edge is Oscar Wilde’s little known 1880 play Vera; or, The Nihilists, about a Russian barmaid turned crack assassin who ultimately meets a noble end.

Several famous Veras had their heydays mid-twentieth century, including:

• Actress Vera Miles played Lila Crane, sister to Janet Leigh’s ill-fated Marion Crane in legendary 1960 Hitchcock horror film Psycho.  She’s also remembered as Hallie, opposite John Wayne in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence;
• Vera Lynn, the English singer known for sentimental smash hits “We’ll Meet Again” and “The White Cliffs of Dover” during World War II.  Lynn also played the lead in a movie based on the first single.

Even if you don’t recognize Lynn’s name, odds are you know the songs.  “We’ll Meet Again” is playing in 1964′s Dr. Strangelove as the doomsday machine destroys life as we know it.  In Pink Floyd’s 1979 The Wall, song “Vera” is a reference to Lynn.  Additional references are included in the movie version.

Then came 1974′s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.  The movie was a drama, and Ellen Burstyn won the Best Actress Oscar as Alice.  But just two years later, the television adaptation was a comedy.  Once again, Alice was waiting tables at Mel’s Diner while dreaming of better things to come.  Once again, Alice’s fellow waitresses included sassy Flo and mousy Vera.  Dismissed as “the dingy” by diner owner Mel, Vera had plenty of good qualities.  But surely her timid character helped usher Vera out of use, and before the show ended in 1985, Vera was completely out of the US Top 1000.

Could she make a comeback in 2010?  Beyond her appealing meaning, V names are so very popular at the moment, from Ava to Vida .

Vera could work nicely for parents seeking a quirky choice, as well as name that’s familiar but little used.