Image via Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Image via Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A few notable Garnets include:

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

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

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

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

She’s the princess-ogre in Shrek, an Irish(ish) option with an appealing sound.

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

Fiona is one of the first names I ever wrote about, before Names of the Day were a feature here at AppMtn.  She’s an intriguing appellation, with less history than some, but more story than most.

Some connect her to Fionnuala, a name from Irish myth, Anglicized as Fenella or Fionala or Finola.  But Fiona isn’t heard until the eighteenth century, when James Macpherson interpreted the old legends to create a wildly popular series of writings, starting with Fragments of ancient poetry, collected in the Highlands of Scotland, and translated from the Gaelic or Erse language in 1760.  Despite the ring of authenticity, evidence suggests that Macpherson invented more than he translated.

Debates about the stories’ origins raged, even as Macpherson’s work became an international sensation, widely read and translated into most European tongues.

Irish hero Finn McCool appears in Macpherson’s writings, as does Fiona.  Fiona appears to be a feminine form, based on the original spelling of Finn – Fionn.

This gives Fiona an appealing meaning – fionn means fair.

Despite the success of Macpherson’s writings, Fiona takes a while to appear in use.  The name doesn’t appear in the US Top 1000 until 1990, though there are Fionas in Census records far earlier.

Parents might have heard the name:

• Scottish writer William Sharp wrote many of his best-known works under the pen name Fiona Macleod in the late 1800s.
• In the musical Brigadoon, Fiona is a resident of a mysterious, unchanging Scottish village that appears to outsiders for only one day every century.  A pair of visitors from New York stumble upon the village, and set events in motion.  The musical debuted in 1947, with a film adaptation ten years later, and a television movie in the 1960s.
• In 1965 James Bond film Thunderball Fiona Volpe was one of the bad guys, an  assassin sent to take down 007 – though things don’t go exactly that way.
• Lois Lowry’s 1993 novel The Giver is chock full of ahead-of-the-curve character names, including Jonas, Asher, Lily, Gabriel, and yes, Fiona.

By the early 1990s, Fiona started to edge into the US Top 1000.  She’d reached #460 by 2000.  And then along came Shrek.  Cameron Diaz voiced the lovely princess with a secret.  Princess Fiona ultimately decides to embrace her part-ogre heritage and go green, all the time.  Not only was Shrek was a smash hit, it was also the genesis for a successful franchise.

Fiona has gradually inched up the popularity rankings ever since, rising to #257 in 2010.  On sound alone, she’s right at home with Sophia and other stylish choices.  It may be that parents hesitate to let their daughters share a name with an ogre – though it is clear that character is admirable, as worthy a namesake as animation offers.

Beyond Shrek, there were characters in 1994′s Four Weddings and a Funeral; and USA Network’s Burn Notice, plus Grammy-winning singer Fiona Apple.

She’s feminine but not flimsy, current but not at all overused.  There are reasons aplenty to consider Fiona for a daughter.

Fraser Coat of Arms; Image via Wikipedia

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Baby Douglas, by PhylB via Flickr

I’m fascinated by new baby names – names that have virtually no history of use as English-language given names until now.  And I’m equally intrigued by how we perceive them.  Anneliese is a fast-rising import that I’ve heard called vintage.  (Maybe in Berlin, but in the US?  Not so much.)  Caliber is a modern noun name, but does it refer to ammunition or high quality?

Celebrities add to the name pool, but so do bloggers and ordinary folk.  In the past few months, Blue, Glow, and Boheme have all become possibilities for daughters, at least for the most daring among us.  Boys can be named Bear or Fox - which seems wacky and modern, but is actually a centuries-old custom.

While this is often a signal to start lamenting the demise of so-called normal names, the truth is that a trend towards more diversity in given names is not new.  The percentage of children receiving a Top 1000 name in the US is lower than in years past.  But that just doesn’t simply signal more parents at the fringes.  The number of children receiving Top Ten and Top 100 names has steadily declined through the ages, too.

But why is that, exactly?  I’ve gathered up a list of my thoughts, and I’ll be sharing it over the next few weeks.  First up: three things that we have less of circa 2012.

10.  The pressure to Anglicize a name is gone.

In many families, our grandparents or great-grandparents routinely adopted typically American names to help them fit in.  Diego and Giacomo answered to Joe or Jack.  In many cases, they gave their children names designed to fit in, too.  Even if they followed old world naming customs, handing down a parent’s name, they used the accepted English version.  (Though there are interesting cases, like Ladusky, where landing on the accepted English version wasn’t so straightforward.)

Today, many parents don’t hesitate to use Diego or Giacomo.  You’ll find little girls named Aleksandra or Natasha just because their great-great-grandfather was Russian.  Even more tentative connections are possible, with parents who honeymooned in Paris focusing on French names, or those with an interest in anime considering choices like Akira.

The explanations can feel artificial, even whimsical.  And yet, for families trying to reclaim heritage where it has been lost, this can be a very serious exercise.  Some African American parents have embraced names like Ayanna or Imani, though they have little hope of discovering the actual names on their family tree.

If you’re inclined towards tradition, the possibilities are endless.

9.  The pressure to follow naming conventions or family traditions continues to decline.

While you’re welcome to embrace your heritage, there’s no need to do so – and that’s relatively new.

In many places and times, names were determined by custom.  Children were named after parents, grandparents, godparents, or the saint commemorated on the day of her birth.  It could lead to the handing down of rarities, like a mother’s maiden name.

These practices tended to amplify the most common names – especially for boys, where the combined pressure to Anglicize and carrying on a male relative’s name led to lots of boys called Bill instead of Willem and Vilhelm and Guillermo.  The force of naming conventions could be so great that cousins shared the same name, like that great scene in My Big Fat Greek Wedding where everyone is named Nick.

When choice was limited, a certain amount of repetition was inevitable.  As that pressure declines, more names inevitably come into use.

8.  The need to put a formal name on the birth certificate continues to decline.

We know that certain names have been dominant for centuries, like Elizabeth and John.  But we also know that those names have given rise to an astonishing number of possible diminutives and elaborations.  Elizabeth might have answered to Betty or Liz in real life; John could be Jack.

Tradition used to hold that the formal name went on the birth – or baptismal – certificate, and then you were welcome to answer to whatever appealed in real life.

Less formal names have been gaining for generations.  Betty made it into the Top Ten in the 1920s.  Jack has long been bestowed independently, and now he’s catching up to John in the US.  In the UK, he’s long since surpassed his buttoned-down brother.

What’s behind the change?  We’re less formal in general.  I wear the same clothes to work, to church, to the grocery store.  I call my boss’ boss by his first name, and I actively dislike being called Mrs. Sandel.  In an atmosphere of casual and instant equality, why fuss with Alfred if you only intend to call your kid Alfie?

Actually, I think there are pretty good reasons to consider a formal name, but they’re far less necessary than they might have been a few generations earlier.  More names become viable options, as our daughters can be Charlotte or Caroline - or Carlie, Charlie, Callie, or Carrie.

Look for installments two and three in the series coming soon!

Image via Wikipedia

Four years ago I wrote my very first post ever here at AppMtn.  I didn’t have a plan or a goal – just an obsession that I thought a handful of other people might share.

I’m working on something special for tomorrow, but for now, here are a few things that caught my eye this week:

• I love the name Bastian – far more than Sebastian, even, for its similarity to the word bastion, as in fortress.  A soft-sounding boy’s name with the same power as Cannon.
• Along the same lines, there’s this one from Anna’s post on Second Fleet Names: Traverse.
• Ginko as a girl’s name – not one I’d have ever thought of, and I’ll admit that it strikes me as wonderfully weird.  But Ginko Luelle nicknamed Koko does have a certain charm.
• Did you catch the kids’ names in this Design Mom post?  Drake, Ella Rose, Duke, and Emmie Kay.  Deliciously Southern.
• Speaking of unexpected appellations, what do you think of Ledger?
• I’m obsessed with Eponymia’s list of Rare Dutch Girl names.  Leonike, Everdine, Ameline - gorgeous!
• Fascinating post at Baby Name Wizard on the perils of punctuation and the tyranny of databases.
• Liz has a nice write-up of the oft-discussed Anchor Rule.  In brief, Elizabeth Snow is a gorgeous combination with just the right amount of surprise.  Zea Snow is pushing it, but not unwearable.  But Zeandria Sno-Belle is over the edge.  Or is it?  Let’s say that more people could embrace the first than the last.
• A baby named Amen!
• Nook is up to the letter P, and on her surnames list I found Prescott.  It’s the kind of super-preppy choice I secretly love, even though it isn’t me at all.

That’s all for this week.  As always, thanks for reading and have a great week!

Image via Wikipedia

It’s time for another round of narrowing down the many, many name submitted to AppMtn to determine which ones to profile!  The top two finishers will be profiled on February 14 and February 15 of this year.

A quick apology to V – I’d originally written that I would include Gemma in this poll.  You’ll notice that I have not done so.  The good news is that I’ve already written about her here!

Image via Wikipedia

I’m fascinated by names from the Middle Ages. They’re often quite similar to those parents love today, but tend to be almost entirely overlooked.

Nameberry has the Coolator.  I’d call this the Medievalizer, except that sounds like a torture device.

Instead, this is a list of the 2010 US Top 25 for girls, with suggestions for parents looking for something just a little different – or maybe something that would be right at home in the eleventh century.

1. Isabella

Isabella would have worn perfectly well in the Middle Ages – she was more common than Elizabeth in most places throughout much of the era.  And yet, if you’re looking for something different, consider Isabeau, Isolda, Idonia, or Belsante.

2, 26. Sophia, Sofia

Like Isabella, Sophia is a legitimate medieval appellation.  She appears as early as the twelfth century.  But for something more exotic, consider Sapphira, Simona, Sabeline, or Selova.

3. Emma

She’s another one on this list requiring no transformation, but parents could opt for an elaboration like Emmeline, Emmelina, or Emmelise.

4. Olivia

This is one of the names that sounds like it could be authentic, but is actually relatively modern.  Oliva was a second century saint, but her name had faded.  Oliver was a fairly common masculine moniker, but for a medieval girls’ name with similar sounds, consider Oriana or Oriel. 

5, 23. Ava, Avery

Av- names are available in abundance: Avelina, Avelot, Avice, and Avina are just a few that feel like they’re borrowed from a past era, while still being wearable in the twenty-first century.

6. Emily

You might have met an Emily in the fourteenth century, but there are other interesting, ends-in-y choices, like Adelie, Mabley, Cecily, and Sidonie.

7. Abigail

This one had me stumped.  There’s nothing quite like the -gail ending, and it turns out that even Ab- is relatively unused.  Amabel, the forerunner of Annabel and company, comes the closest.

8. Madison

They lack her modern, unisex sound, but this name owes her origins to medieval staples like Matilda and Maude.   Another option is Allison – but she feels very twentieth century.

9. Chloe

They’re not related, but Clotilde feels like an elaboration.  The Italian Colletta could be another possibility.

10. Mia

She’s super-short, as is period-correct Ada or Ida.

11. Addison

Like Madison, it is tough to find an ends-in-n choice for a girl.  But Adela, Adelisa and plenty of other Ad- names are present.

12.  Elizabeth

You could use Elizabeth, but Elisende or Helissent has more of that Great Hall vibe.

13.  Ella

Like Emma, she’s perfectly reasonable for much of the Middle Ages.  But Eleanor, Elinora, or Elysande might be more in the spirit.

14. Natalie

Like Abigail, a tough one to medievalize.  Nanette might come closest, or if you’re interested in the seasonal ties, there’s always Christmas.  Feast days were given as names to both genders.

15. Samantha

Samantha is a modern phenomenon, but Susannah, Sabina, and Sanchia are all options.

16. Alexis

While ends-in-n is a tough category, tailored appellations were common.  Two that seem like medieval substitutes for Alexis are Averil and Ailith.  Alexandra is another option.

17, 21. Lily, Lillian

The lovely Lily could become Lilias or Lilla.  I’m also tempted by Laurencia.  Laura was also present, but doesn’t feel like a throwback.

18. Grace

There’s Gratia or Gracia, or even Gratiosa, a rarity spotted in sixteenth-century Venice.

19. Hailey

A modern choice, Hailey’s medieval equivalent might be Hillaria or Hilde.

20. Alyssa

The obvious choice is Alice, but if that doesn’t appeal, variations like Aelis or Aleydis could work.

22. Hannah

Other H- names, like Honora or Havisa share sounds with Hannah.  Like many Old Testament appellations, Hannah wouldn’t be in regular use until the Reformation.

24. Leah

Leah isn’t found in the Medieval era, but lots of L names are, like Leolina or Leticia.

25. Nevaeh

No, you wouldn’t meet a Neveah.  But you might find a Nicola, Eva,

27. Ashley

Neveah can be medievalized, but Ashley is a tough one.  Ismay might serve.

28. Anna

There’s no need to stray far from Anne, but elaborations and diminutives like Anilla and possibilities like Antea are less expected.

I am indebted to several sources for inspiration for this post: the extensive lists at the Medieval Names Archive, Kate Monk’s Onomastikon, and The Middle Ages.

Are there other Medieval names you’d consider using in 2012? 

If Story is a name, why not this poetic choice?

Thanks to Kaela for suggesting Sonnet as our Baby Name of the Day.

A sonnet is a type of poem, a form with specific rules.  There are three major types, and then a bunch that break the rules but still count.  The average person might not be able to recite much after Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?, but would likely recognize Sonnet as a literary reference akin to Poem, Poet, or Fable.

The word itself comes from the Italian sonetto – little song, ultimately from the Latin sonus - sound.  The term first appears in English in the sixteenth century, but sonnets had been written in Italian since the 1200s.

With girls answering to Cadence and Harmony, perhaps literary terms were the logical next frontier.  Actor Forest Whitaker has a daughter called Sonnet, fitting right in with his other word-named children: Ocean, True, and Autumn.  Flickr co-founders Caterina Fake and Stewart Butterfield have a daughter called Sonnet Beatrice.

Despite these high profile uses, the name has never cracked the US Top 1000 – in fact, Sonnet is in sparing use, given to just eight girls in 2010.

But there have been Sonnets in the past, and many of them have been men.  I suspect that they’re wearing a family surname.  The late sixteenth/early seventeenth century French poet Thomas Sonnet de Courval came from a minor noble family.  There are Sonnets and Sonnetts in the US, too.

It could come from a lost Saxon name, Sinod, the origin of the surname Sinnott.  Sonnet is close enough to be related.  The elements sige – victory and nod – brave – were popular in many given names, and still survive in Siegfried and Leonard, though Sinod is long gone.  Or the -et ending could signal a diminutive form – though that’s really just a guess.  Sonnerie is the French word for ring, as in the ringing of the bells, but I’m still not sure if that’s a coincidence, another musical association.

Alternate origins or not, Sonnet has been almost exclusively female since its reintroduction sometime in the 1960s or 1970s.  Since the numbers have always been so small, it is nearly impossible to gauge – but there are a handful of women by the name who are all grown up now, suggesting that Sonnet was discovered by a few parents back in the day.

After all, word names aren’t really new.  Heather and Crystal seem ordinary, even dated, today.  But they were the height of style in the 1970s.  2010′s Top 100 includes Lily, Grace, Jasmine, Destiny, Brooke, Trinity, Faith, Autumn, Serenity, and Genesis.  From the traditional to the nouveau, word names have always had a place in the dictionary and on our daughters and sons.

Thanks to her similarity to Violet and Scarlett, Sonnet feels like a very wearable choice – poetic, frills-free, and different, but not difficult to spell or pronounce.  If you’re looking for an ahead-of-the-curve rarity, Sonnet is one to consider.

Nico Buwalda; Image via Wikipedia

Today’s pick is a fascinating gender neutral name with a certain sparky, international vibe.

Thanks to Findley for suggesting Nico as our Baby Name of the Day.

Originally, Nico is a Dutch version of Nicholas.  Or maybe he’s related to Nicodemus, a separate name with the same meaning, or Dominic, a saintly appellation.  Regardless, Nico is a logical short form of any name containing the nic sound – as is Nick or Nicky – and he’s also heard in German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and other European languages.

Nicholas was a wildly popular fourth century saint whose name has seen steady use over the years.  Royals and popes have answered to the name.

There are bunches of early 20th century Nicos, guys like Nico Buwalda, the Dutch footballer pictured above, or Italian crooner Nico Fidenco.  Over the course of the twentieth century, we find more and more Nicos.

Some of it may simply be better recording of personal biographies.  That’s how we know, for example, that youngest Llewelyn-Davies brother Nicholas answered to Nico.  (Along with George, John, Peter, and Michael, the brothers and their family were friends of J.M. Barrie, and the inspiration for Peter Pan.)

Llewelyn-Davis is the first English Nico I find.  But then, despite Nicholas’ steady use, he wasn’t wildly popular in English until recent decades.  In 1900, Nicholas ranked #200.  Feminine form Nicole is even more of a new arrival.  She first appears in the US Top 1000 in 1942, and stayed at the fringes until the 1960s.

All of the Nick names were on top of the world in the 1980s.  In the midst of this, in 1988, Nico debuted as a boys’ name.  He reached #591 in 2010.

Nico in La Dolce Vita; Image via Wikipedia

Nico has never charted as a girls’ name, and was given to just 39 girls last year.  But she has had some use for girls, thanks to a German singer.  Born Christa Päffgen, the lingering rumor is that her stage name was borrowed from Greek director Nikos Papatakis, also nicknamed Nico.

In recent years, Nico has been catching on :

• Actress Thandie Newton has daughters called Ripley and Nico, and Nico is said to be named after singer.
• Coldplay’s Guy Berryman has a daughter called Nico, as does the lead singer of Blind Melon, the late Shannon Hoon.
• Short-lived television series Lipstick Jungle included a character named Nico, a high-powered magazine editor.
• Then there’s singer-songwriter Neko Case.  It appears to be her given name.

In Germany and Austria, Nico is big for boys, and it is also the name of a male character in the Percy Jackson series.