If you watched Thursday’s Project Runway, you spotted the mini models for the “Little Bit of Fashion” challenge.  (Designers created a little girl look, and then a companion piece for their model.)  Amongst the pint-sized fashionistas were Ava and Chloe, but there was also a Sylvie.

And you know you’re name-obsessed when you’re watching a haunting, twisting tale like Shutter Island and as it builds to the climactic scene you’re listening intently – for the ghostly children’s names.  Ahem.  (And I’m not giving anything away by telling you they are Rachel, Henry and Simon.)

In other name-spotting news:

• Over at For Real Baby Names, there’s a Cloverlyn Lemon. I like Clover, but I find Cloverlyn a bit too close to Brooklyn, Madalyn, Kailyn to be stylish;
• For Real also posted on the rise of Violet as a middle name.  We know a little Elizabeth Violet, a name that I find classic without being at all dull.  And she pairs well with many names, except for possibly one on For Real’s list – Truly Violet.  I’m sure I’ve seen that combo on a color swatch somewhere;
• At first glance, the name looks Japanese, but he’s Finnish – check out Keijo over at Legit Baby Names;
• I missed this last fall – how?  Daddy Types just referenced the designer Tina Roth Eisenberg’s attempt to crowd source a four-letter name for her son over at her blog, Swiss Miss.  Tilo Red Eisenberg made his arrival on Valentine’s Day.  Apparently Tilo wasn’t actually on the list, but the similar Till was, along with lots of ends-in-o choices like Arlo, Aldo and Theo;
• Speaking of unusual ways to choose a baby’s name, Renee Moilanen explained the process for arriving at her newborn son’s name, devised courtesy of her engineer husband. It involves an algorithm – really! – and resulted in the name Grant.  She admits it isn’t a name they love, but it satisfies their criteria – not trendy, not strange, not likely to land in the Top Ten but also not likely to cause confusion.  Bravo for knowing you what you want and getting it instead of being yet another parent to go for different and end up with Leo or Max;
• Alberta, Canada released their most popular baby names, and also the more unusual choices.  Nancy has a nice summary.  Some of the stand-outs for girls include Beauty (and I thought Joy was pressure!), the re-spelled Kwynn, Dessarhey and Qhloe, word names like Eloquence, Society and Fury.  For boys, meet Alias, Wrath, Bison, Yak, Xayden, Seige and Voltaire; 
• Bewildertrix takes an e-trip to the US and discovers a birth announcement for a baby called Castle.  Could Castle possibly have been inspired by the ABC TV show ’bout the mystery-writer-turned-crimefighter?  And if so, were Richard and Nathan really not better options: 
• Kristin Rushowy’s column at Parent Central Canada recently profiled an Isla Catherine Mairi – lovely combo! – but the most amusing part is at the end, where the parents consider names that could continue the island theme with future children.  How would Taransay wear on a daughter;
• BabyNameLover spotted an Olive Winsome and a boy called Cardigan.  Yes, Cardigan is a place name.  But it’s a sweater – or is that only in the US?  I can’t see it catching on here;
• I started to write this post, but Jill Barnett’s guest post at Namberry beat me to it!  She has an amazing list of names culled from Olympic athletes.  Violeta, Jesper - it’s hard to go wrong with any of these choices!

No Hollywood babies this week, but sports and country music give us a few new arrivals:

• St. Louis Cardinal Albert Pujols will have a few weeks to spend with new son Ezra before reporting for spring training camp.  Ezra is baby #4, joining sibs Isabella, Albert Jr. and Sophia at home;
• NASCAR driver Elliot Sadler welcomed a son, Wyatt Herman Fritz;
• Country singer Justin Moore is a first-time dad, to daughter Ella Kole.  Ella Cole would be cool.  Not sure why they opted for the K spelling, though mom is Kate.

While we’re on a musical note, how much free time do you have?  Nancy at Nancy’s Baby Names has a YouTube channel.  Incredibly addictive, even on my sluggish internet connection and aging MacBook.

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