Trends for Girls from the 2010 SSA Results

The Social Security Administration released their Top 1000 names today.  Here are a few quick observations from the data:

  • -lynn is catching on quickly, with both Gracelynn and Braelynn debuting in the Top 1000.  (Their -lyn versions already ranked.)   Raelynn, Adalynn, Adelynn and Evelynn all climbed.
  • Speaking of Addie, she’s the big winner for 2010.  Addilyn, Adele, and Adelina were all new to the rankings.
  • No, Isabella is not about Twilight.  But the rise of Rosalie and the debut of Esme owe something to Stephenie Meyer’s paranormal romances.
  • Ashley continues to fall, but Tenley was the highest debut for girls.  Mckinley and Kinley also rose more than 200 places.  Hadley and Kenley weren’t far behind.
  • It’s good to be a Disney princess (Tiana), a Teen Mom (Maci), a reality show star (Giuliana), or a singing cheerleader (Quinn).  All four names were among the fastest rising in 2010.  A wronged wife (Elin) and a departed actress (Farrah) also inspired parents.
  • A surprise French revival: Aimee, possibly thanks to the continuing interest in French names sparked by the birth of Vivienne Jolie-Pitt.
  • Mini names like Kai, Mae, Ali and Gia fared well.
  • Eloise is a hit!  She soared to #530.
  • Keep an eye on Sloane, too.  She rose to #593.

Sunday Summary: 1/9/11

number 9

Number 9 by Jon Tin Tin Jordan via Flickr

I had lunch with a mom-to-be friend of mine last week.  Dad has already veto’d her #1 pick for a son – Nehemiah – and she’s not on board with any of his ideas.  She’s not due for a few more weeks, but her doc is already murmuring things like “measuring big” and the pressure is mounting.  I’m going to share this great advice from Swistle with her: it isn’t about finding the perfect name, it is finding the name that most satisfies both parents – almost like averaging the parent’s scores.  (You give Nehemiah a 10; he gives it a 4.  That makes Nehemiah a 7.  The question is whether you can agree on a name that ranks an 8 or higher.)

Elsewhere online:

Plenty of famous folk announced their good news this week, including the arrivals of:

  • Kristoffer Polaha’s sonJude, a little brother for Kristoffer Jr. and Micah.  Mom is Julianne Morris;
  • Jason Schwartzman and wife Brady Cunningham went for the offbeat, choosing Marlowe Rivers.  Note to Natalie Portman and other pregnant celebs – Carlo/Carlow/Carlowe is still available;
  • What do a pair of news anchors name their son?  Carter Evans and Courtney Friel went with Cash Hudson.  To the best of my knowledge, neither covers Wall Street or Metro New York;
  • Top Chef alum Nikki Cascone will be pureeing lots of veggies in about six months.  She’s a new mom to Jackson Robert.  Cascone said that the tot’s name came from Sons of Anarchy.  Great show, but I’m partial to the name worn by Jax Teller’s son – Abel;
  • And, of course, there’s a new member of the royal family.  No official announcement has been made, but prayers were offered for Peter and Autumn Philips and their new daughter Savannah.

Speaking of congratulations, let’s end on a high note: you can now buy the first eBook from Nancy Man, Strong Boy Names.  Based on the preview, it isn’t so much a list of Gunnar/Cannon/Slade as much as it analyzes more conventional masculine choices that are rarely borrowed by Team Pink.  Actually, this might be the baby shower gift I give to my friend who won’t be naming her son Nehemiah …

That’s all for today.  As always, thank you for reading, and have a fabulous week!

Baby Name of the Day: Eli

Vintage LEGO Letter E

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

He’s one of the Biblical boys, an Old Testament figure found on every fashionable playground.

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

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Baby Name of the Day: Tracy

Is it a boys’ name appropriated by girls?  A diminutive for the saintly Theresa?  Or a gem from Hollywood’s Golden Age?

Thanks to One Saucy Dish for suggesting the terribly misunderstood Tracy as Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Bridger

If kids can be Brooklyn and River, why not this one?

Thanks to Urban Angel for suggesting Bridger as Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 6/20/10

Happy Father’s Day!  If you haven’t already, check out Nameberry’s list of famous – and intriguingly named – dads throughout the ages. Ludovico, anyone?

Elsewhere online:

  • I followed a link from a link that I followed and ended up at the momblog Able Ponder.  I’m not sure about the mom’s name, but her kids are Annaliese and Caspian - gorgeous!
  • Speaking of sibs, check out Elisabeth’s game at You Can’t Call It “It” – Create a Sibset.  Some interesting, off-the-wall suggestions surfaced: Nittany, Kincaid, Gaia, October, Abel and Atlas all appeared;
  • I’m intrigued by ABC’s new crime drama The Gates – it sounds like Desperate Housewives crossed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, plus a dash of CSI.  I’m also strangely captivated by The Gates actress Marisol Nichols’ name for her daughter: Rain India;
  • Baby name news on AccuWeather?  Why not?  Check out this video on Hurricane Baby Names;
  • Nancy categorizes the unusual names given to American babies in 2009.  The most interesting part?  While I’m not surprised to learn that more than one person decided to name their son Samurai, I raised an eyebrow at the five boys called Furious.  Similarly, you knew parents were going to name their daughters Renesmee, but Reality?  Really? See the full boy’s list here and the girl’s list here;
  • How’s this for an all-boy virtue name?  Valor Jacob, spotted at For Real Baby Names;
  • Or if you’re looking for a compromise between Milo and Benjamin, how ’bout the saintly Benno, profiled by Sebastiane this week;
  • What do you think of Minuet for a girl?  It came up in a post at Swistle, and I can’t decide if I love it or find it WAY over the top.  Or maybe both.

In celeb news:

Let’s end with the controversy of the week:  As reported in the Christian Science Monitor, baby names have long-lasting effects, for better or worse. I haven’t read the study.  And while it sounds like there’s some definite academic rigor involved, what I question is this: perceptions of names change, sometimes dramatically. Trace would’ve been a girly name to give a boy in the 1970s.  Now he’s right at home with Cade.  Ashley and Madison used to be sophisticated, unusual, tomboy-ish choices for daughters.  Now they’re terribly common.  Names once found in the Top 50, even the Top Ten, fall out of favor.  So I’m wondering if the researchers addressed the ever-changing nature of names.  It’s like trying to write a thesis on hem lengths – if you haven’t allowed for the cyclical, sometimes unpredictable nature of fashion, you’ve missed part of the story.

I’m curious to read the study … if anyone stumbles across it online, please share the link!

That’s all for this week.   As always, thank you for your thoughtful comments, suggestions and, of course, for reading!

Sunday Summary: 4/25/10

The price of a blog with growing readership?  I spend a ridiculous amount of time cleaning out spam.  Nancy occasionally posts lists of her spam names.  I thought of it when I got a not-comment from a Hildred earlier this week.

In other random name-spotting news, during a bout of insomnia Tuesday night I caught 2001′s Sugar & Spice.  If memory serves, there was more than one cheerleaders-rob-a-bank flick out that year.  This one was actually pretty funny – at least at 2 a.m. – but what really drew me in were the cheerleaders’ names: Diane, Hannah, Lucy, Cleo, KansasFern, and the bitter, also-ran Lisa.

A comment on my Hadassah post prompted me to check out the full family tree for the recently rebooted Parenthood.  This time the television family consists of Zeek and Camille; their kids, Adam, Sarah, Crosby and Julia; and the grandkids:

  • Haddie and Max
  • Amber and Drew
  • Sydney (played by Savannah Paige)
  • Jabbar

Elsewhere online, international edition:

On a different note, there’s Laura Wattenberg’s The Generational Sweet Spot, or Why Your Mother-in-Law Has Such Bad Taste.  It reminds me of a recent Real Simple article: What To Do When Your Parents Won’t Call Your Kids By Their Given Names? The author knows what she’s talking about.  Her daughter Thelma’s name apparently led to much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

And if you need a good laugh?  Check out Kelly Hagen’s ruminations on what to name a baby.

Just a few Tinseltown births to report, all via Celebrity Baby Blog:

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

In Defense of Atlas and Apple: Ten Reasons Unusual Names Aren’t a Problem

Last February, I posted  In Defense of Emma and Ethan: Ten Good Reasons to Use a Common Name. While reviewing what I’d written in 2009, I realized that I’d never laid out the case for uncommon names.

Need I state the obvious?  I rather like names that you don’t hear everyday.  And so here are ten solid reasons unusual names aren’t a problem.

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Baby Name of the Day: Beau

He’s an old school fashionista, a gambler and a Southern gentleman, too.

Today’s Baby Name of the Day is Beau.

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Name of the Day: Olwen

If Olive and Opal are fashionable choices, why not this Welsh appellation?

Thanks to Hanalise and Corinne for suggesting Olwen as Name of the Day.

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