Conventional media is still abuzz with news that Jacob and Isabella are the most popular baby names in the US for 2009.

About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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  1. i think that there is a trend for the more romantic, even italian-spanish sounding names hence all the a endings. as i tend towards liking more french sounding names there isnt many names ending in a that i really love. oh and jne i love that you called your daughter imogen, its not so unusual in england where i am but i can imagine she will be the only one in her class with that name!

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  2. My 2 yr old daughter has a Kaydance in her class.
    I thought it was interesting in the Times article when it pointed out that about 1/2 of girls’ names in the top 100 end in ‘a’. My husband and I were just noting that almost all the baby girls we know have ‘a’ ending names. Makes me want to avoid that trend entirely (which deletes a lot of my names!)

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    1. Interesting. Almost none of the little girls I know have names ending in ‘a’.

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      1. When we were naming our daughter, I noticed that most of the names I liked ended in ‘a’ (Sylvia, Stella, Isla, Willa, Arabella) but we ended up with a name that didn’t end in ‘a’.

        I just made a quick list of all the girls I know locally. There’s Cora, Emma and Ava – but most of the names don’t end in ‘a’. Oh and there was a Laela at Kindergarten when we visited last week.

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    2. In fairness, many languages, including most indo-european languages, denote the feminine with an -a ending, so it naturally follows that many girl names in English and borrowed for other European languages end in a. Names that end in a automatically sound a little bit more feminine or frilly at times, to me. I know plenty of a-enders (2 Mias, Eva, Sophia, and Rebecca). But I also noticed that 20% of the top 100 end in an -ee sound (a variety of spellings) and 10% end in and -n (mainly -lyn and -son). I know plenty of those enders too (for starters, my kid is Imogen, but I know 2 Madisons and a Madelyn, plus a Catelyn and on the -ee side I know a Riley, a Manouki -not sure how it’s spelled, but mom is from Sri Lanka – a Cassie, a Lily, a McKenzie – that is how she spells it- and a Callie). Breaking the pattern, a neighbor recently welcomed a Camille, which they pronounce cah-MILL.

      I don’t so much mind the a enders, but I note that there are few on my list of names we truly considered for a girl. Since there is such a variety of sounds that precede the a endings, it feels less like a pattern that the -sons and the -lyns, for example.

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  4. Ugh. Cadence is bad enough (might as well name your child Rhythm) but Caydence and Kaydence really piss me off.

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  5. I’m pretty sure I’m never going to stop laughing about Betzabet! Oh lordy! Hahaha, I wonder if it really was a bet…

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    1. That’s funny. I just googled “Betzabet” and this post was the first thing to come up. For REAL is the fourth. In between are two Betzabets on Facebook, plus some more– all with Latino surnames.

      I’m betting it’s a version of Bathsheba.

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  6. Kelly’s Korner is completely fascinating. Not only just for the names, but there are prayer lists for people waiting both to get pregnant, as well as for “a godly husband.”

    For Claudia Schiffer, I don’t think she will go with a C name. If she were to, I would love to see Cordelia or Cecily.

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  7. Kelly’s Korner is completely fascinating. Not only just for the names, but there are prayer lists for people waiting both to get pregnant, as well as for “a godly husband.”

    For Claudia Schiffer, I don’t think she will go with a C name. If she were to, I would love to see Cordelia or Cecily.

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  8. ”All this means that circa 2040, we should be seeing marriage announcements for mismatched couples like Annabelle and Colt.”

    I LOVE the fact that this might happen 🙂 It makes life so much more interesting & gives people more naming freedom. It’s a big positive for me

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  9. Oooh, I love the last link with the list of “future names”. Makes for some interesting reading. Especially when I can’t decide on names ahead of time and if I could, I don’t like telling everyone anyway. 😛

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