A by Jutta via Flickr
She’s another feminine twist on Alexander, and while she’s quite rare, is there any steam left in this appellation?
Thanks to Renee for suggesting Alexine as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Alexine
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Tag Archives: Alexandra
Baby Name of the Day: Scarlett
Image via Wikipedia
She’s a vibrant name with a legendary literary namesake.
Thanks to Ivy for suggesting Scarlett as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Kerensa
Image by jcoterhals via Flickr
She’s an intriguing rarity – easy to pronounce, with hints of a medieval past, and a very attractive meaning.
Thanks to Clio for suggesting Kerensa as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Antonella
Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua; Image via Wikipedia
Anthony is a saintly staple. Antoinette was a doomed queen. How would this Italian spin wear today?
Thanks to Christina for suggesting Antonella as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Tamsin
T44 by Too Far North via Flickr
Tammy is stuck in the 60s, but this unrelated import could wear well in 2011.
Thanks to Fran for suggesting Tamsin as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Lucinda
L21 by Too Far North via Flickr
She’s a literary elaboration of Lucia. In the Age of Isabella, here’s one that would wear quite well on a daughter.
Thanks to Jennie, aka British American, for suggesting Lucinda as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Azucena
Madonna Lily by Dmitry Baranovskiy
Susie is a Boomer staple; Susannah her stylish colonial cousin.
Today’s Baby Name of the Day takes that familiar appellation in a far more exotic direction: Azucena. Thanks to Lea for the suggestion!
Baby Name of the Day: Sullivan
Image by J.E.S. via Flickr
There’s something tremendously upbeat about this Irish surname.
Thanks to Kelly for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Sullivan.
Sunday Summary: 10/3/10
The longer I write, the less judgmental I become about names. Don’t get me wrong – many still astound me. While researching the upcoming Tate, I stumbled across Tatelyn, a name that seems appropriate only for the firstborn daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.
And yet, Charlotte recently mentioned Lecandro – surely the invention of a creative mama – and I found myself liking it quite a bit.
Maybe it is that I’ve found there’s a backstory for nearly any name. Or possibly I’m far more aware that my own opinions have changed over the years. Two decades ago, Finn would’ve been a shark reference, destined to hear the low strings of Jaws. Today he’s among the most fashionable of names, even before Glee ricocheted him to wider notice.
And the name news:
- I’ve been meaning to post this ever since Kim sent it my way: Wee Decor posts lists of names parents have ordered on nursery wall art. Check out their Summer 2010 list here. Dario, Allica, and Juddefrey are all gracing the name of a nursery somewhere. But hey, if you love it enough to put it on a birth certificate, why not put it on a wall;
- Or chisel it on a stone(age) wall. Nancy tells us that in the 1960s, some parents went prehistoric and named their daughters Pebbles shortly after the animated series adding a daughter;
- Check out For Real’s list of baby names featuring alliteration – though some of these go too far. Alexis Alexandra and Coleton Cole both feel repetitive. Ava Autumn is lovely, and I kind of like Elijah Ezra, too;
- Speaking of how close is too close, I’m intrigued by this post at You Can’t Call It “It” about twins named Claire Emerson and Ellis Catherine … or maybe something else entirely;
- Even if you read zero Dutch, you can pick out the names Emma posted from Benelux’s Next Top Model. I ran the page through Google Translate to confirm – there apparently is a contestant named Epiphany;
- Here’s a quick check at the box office. Besides the animated owl sibset I mentioned on Facebook – Soren and Eglantine – there are a few other intriguing choices. Renee Zellweger’s just-in-time-for-Halloween horror flick Case 39 includes a little girl named Lillith. In Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, we learn that Gordon Gekko named his daughter Winnie. And Ben Affleck’s The Town is generating buzz for other reasons, but also gives us two to consider – a criminal named James who answers to Jem, and Jem’s niece, a little girl called Shyne.
As for the starbaby round up – it’s a girl. And a girl, and a girl …:
- This is an interesting choice: Yul Kwon, the winner of 2006′s Survivor: Cook Islands is a new dad to daughter Genevie;
- Here’s a truly lovely choice: Esai Morales and his girlfriend have welcomed a daughter, Mariana Oliveira;
- What percentage of girls called Madeline (or Madison, Madelyn, Madasyn, etc.) answered to Maddie? And how many are Maddy? Rascal Flatts’ Jay DeMarcus has announced his daughter-on-the-way will be called Madeline Leigh, answering to Maddy-with-a-y;
- James Van Der Beek bucked the Hollywood embrace of unusual names to choose Olivia for his newborn daughter.
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That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading!
Sunday Summary: 8/29/10
My week at the beach was spent listening for names (well, there was ice cream and sand and a giant waterslide called the Hippo) but I didn’t hear much. There was a Veronica nicknamed Vera, but mostly it was the pleasant Top 100 assortment of Ethan, Dylan, Emma, Riley, Noah, Chloe, Caleb, Jackson, Zachary, Ellie, and the like. I also heard a girl called Cooper and another girl named Gracen or Graycen or maybe Gracyn. Thanks for checking out Rerun Week while I was slathering on sunscreen!
In the meantime, a new neighbor has arrived and her kids names? Be still my heart: Nella and Arlo. I haven’t actually met them (she joined a listserv for local moms) but I might hug her.
Also in the real world, the incredibly talented Brooke at Dinkypopsnomore is now mom to two! The incredibly photogenic, more-stylish-at-3-than-I-am-at-37 Temperance is big sister to Verity Blythe. See the post about her name here.
Elsewhere online:
- Here’s something you don’t know about me: I rarely drive. I have a license, but we’ve arranged our lives so most of the time, our car stays parked. And I plain like mass transit. So Nancy’s recent post about a baby named Queenie after a bus company? That could be me;
- I understand Ever and Everly. A kid called Eternity would not be a surprise. But Never? ForReal spotted one, and it just seems off;
- Did you see the great Nameberry post on TV character names? Ask a parent if she’d be willing to name a child after a TV character and you’ll often get a refusal, maybe a snicker. But they do filter into wider use. So get set for birth announcements reading Landry, Horatio, Brick, Remy, Cricket, and Astrid. One not on the list: Dwight, Jason Lee’s character on his new show, Memphis Blue. Rainn Wilson’s salesman/beet farmer on The Office has put a dent in Dwight – he left the US Top 1000 in 2004 – wonder if Lee can revive him?
- The Globe and Mail has an essay by a parent who really can’t decide what to name son #3. It’s a common struggle, but what’s particularly interesting is the drama caused by their common surname: Jones. Nearly any popular choice has a notable bearer: George Jones, Tom Jones, and so on. After naming firstborn son Jack they learned that Jack Jones sang The Love Boat theme song. I always thought it was the long, unusual surnames that posed problems, but I guess it goes both ways;
- Here’s a fun list of model names from Babble columnist Ceridwen Morris. But Nameberry did it first, and even compiled a list of super-stylish names supermodels gave to their offspring (before, we assume, slipping back into some fabulous get-up for a photo shoot with baby on hip like a designer bag.) Yannick or Mingus, anyone?
- I haven’t checked in with the Toronto Star’s Kristin Rushowy in months. A few recent posts: a boy called Timo Wolf, a girl named Tanys Aurora Alexandra Piia, and a cautionary tale about pronunciation issues when you name your cute Canadian kid after a Hindu goddess.
In starbaby news:
- Let’s hear it for the double palindrome power of Ava Katherine Otto, a new daughter for country singer James Otto and wife Amy;
- Actor Matt Walton – he plays Eli on One Life To Live – has an Ava, too, plus a brand new son called Greyson James. Greyson is the new Jayden. Add up all the boys called Greyson and Grayson, plus the girls wearing a variant of sound-alike Gracen, and you have the formula for a gender-neutral, hard-to-gauge usage name that every parent thinks is uncommon. Too bad, because I do love Gray;
- Army Wives’ Catherine Bell has a new son called Ronan, a little sister for Gemma. That’s a nice sibset, a pair of names that are underused, but not outlandish;
- And the big news is the birth of Florence Rose Endellion, a daughter for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, his wife Samantha, and three older siblings: the late Ivan, plus Nancy, and Arthur Elwen. For a humorous and insightful look on place names popping up on birth certificates, there’s this News & Star column. Capri and Dublin, yes. St. Bees Flimby Pie? Probably not;
- Lastly, the best use of Twitter for baby naming since Erykah Badu live-tweeted the birth of her third child and claimed she was calling her Twittymilk surely goes to Neil Patrick Harris’ twins teaser. That’s an instant sibset I can’t wait to learn.
As always, thanks for reading!
