I’ve just heard a rumor that Beyonce is expecting baby #2.
Could there actually be two royal births in 2015?
I’m going to shelve my excitement because really – rumors that Beyonce is expecting are pretty ordinary. Then again, I was dismissive of the rumors about Kate, too, and another Windsor is on the way.
Should this rumor prove true, it would be absolute baby name mania overload.
Not like that’s a bad thing.
- Because, just like Aela said, I’m really too concerned about what everyone else is naming their children. I like to think it is friendly and non-creepy. But I might be wrong. I found out that another mom at school is expecting TWIN BOYS during drop-off one morning, and seriously, I had to remind myself that the morning could NOT grind to a halt just because my friend has TWO babies to name.
- Aren’t the Kilcher family names just downright fabulous? Farenorth is still my favorite.
- This game! Is hilarious. Billy Eichner quizzes David Letterman to see if he can correctly identify whether a name belongs to a Kentucky Derby winner or a celebrity kid. I like hearing David Letterman confidently answer “horse” for Pilot Inspektor.
- Alright, the biggest problem with international terrorist organizations is not when their acronyms are the same as baby names. But I do feel for women and girls with the (gorgeous, lovely, historic) name Isis right now.
- On a (much) lighter note, I had so much
fun adding your words to the Out-There Alphabet posts that I’ve included a Reader Quote of the Week in today’s Sunday Summary. Rebecca S.B., you made me laugh out loud! - Meagan featured Eden and Silas this week. I met my first real-life Silas around 2006, and the name continues to climb, climb, climb. Ends-with-s boys, whether they’re oldies like Atticus or nouveau surname plurals like Brooks, are definitely a thing.
- Innovation is alive and well in Wyoming! Names for Real always features some novelties, but this post really stood out – girls called Callah, Coralee, Envie, Omi, Tallis, Dru, Joules, Atana, Jalyn Bess, Tesslin, Gwynever, and boys called Andric, Emerick, Beylen, Thayden, Zyeth, Ever, Briggs, Drexel, Grizz Lee, Jory, Kye, Larz, Newt, Trig, and another Vander. And that’s leaving off most of the middles, which are equally intriguing.
- Speaking of innovation, I’ve been turning the Mischievous Boys trend around in my brain for a while. Nameberry asked a similar question back in 2009, and their list, Bada$$ Baby Names, is a perpetual favorite. I’d say this:
- Some of the names – Wilder, Wolf, Gunnar – have roots that make them very wearable, and only a little on the dangerous side.
- Others have gone mainstream, like Maverick and Ryker. (Though there was a little Ryker on the playground the other day, and I’ll admit I thought it sounded awkwardly intense on a playful little boy.)
- Ultimately, I think Nameberry’s theory probably explains the appeal of the more extreme names, the Rowdy-Rekker-Riot gang: parents want to arm their kids with an aggressive, take-charge image to do battle with an ever-more-challenging world.
- Would love to hear what you think about this trend – it feels fresh and different, but also brings to mind my biggest hesitation around names with a fairly narrow image. What if Arabella is a tomboy? What if Rekker is a bookworm?
- On a different note, what you name a sister for Rio? I think Duana is right – this list could go nearly any direction. My list: Djuna, Iris, Vega (too much?), Coco (or are repeating ‘o’ endings too close?), Leda, Romy (a lot of Ro, though), Luna, Lara. Oh, and Esme, Britta, and Milla from Duana’s list.
- Speaking of naming siblings, I’m fascinated by the complexities presented in this post at Swistle. As usual, she breaks them down nicely.
- Wondering about Name Trends in Lebanon? Here you go. Interesting that pressure to use family names seems to be decreasing there, as it certainly has in the US and elsewhere.
Schwoo – that was a lot of territory!
Before I close, don’t forget to enter for a chance to win a copy of Kelli Brady’s new book, Name-alytics. While the comments are not visible to readers right now (still looking for a fix!), the entries are visible to me, and everyone of them counts.
That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week.
I wish people weren’t calling the bad boy names “mischievous” names because they don’t equate to the same thing in my head at all. I think of mischievous names as Huckleberry names–boys that play hard and have freckles and black eyes, vs. the names that sound so in-your-face bad boy. I have a son named Oskar–a name that falls firmly into the Huckleberry camp, but nowhere near the bad boy camp. A Riot or a Stryker don’t have freckles. They sound like bullies on the one hand or Special Forces on the other. I actively wanted names that sounded very boyish/charming/mischievous for my own sons, but I would never choose a bad boy name.
That’s a nice point, Andrea – there’s a wide, deep gulf between mischievous and take-your-lunch-money. I’m now picturing Riot and Stryker as GI Joe action figures from the 80s – companions for Breaker and Leatherneck!
Such a shame about Isis! I’ve noticed that the president has consistently used the ISIL acronym – I assume to avoid recognizing terrorists as having any legitimacy as a “state.” Wish the media would take the same approach. Didn’t a reality TV star use Isis recently?
I find it so funny to see so much discussion about the name Ryker. My best friend has a Ryker who just turned 13, named for Ryker’s Ridge in her hometown in Indiana, and she is so proud of coming up with her son’s name and so dismayed every time I tease her about how “mainstream” it apparently is! LOL Her Ryker is a gentle boy but I’ve never thought it sounded out of place on him, although it does get shortened to “Ry” quite a bit. I also happened to find a Riker-with-an-I born in 1991! (Riker Lynch, part of a musical group called R5 currently being featured on the Disney channel.)
I actually know a Rio, and his sister’s name is Marika. I think the combo works well.
[BTW, I don’t know if this is intentional or not, but the way your posts are designed, comments aren’t actually visible, even if there is a “read comments below!” indication.]
Hi Sara – Nope. Not intentional. Total, unexpected, and weird by-product of upgrading something that runs in the background. Am currently trying to fix it without destroying anything else in the process! My apologies. – Abby