Baby Name of the Day: Bellamy

Front Exterior of the Bellamy Mansion Museum

Bellamy Mansion; Image via Wikipedia

With Isabella, Emily, and Madison solidly established in the girls’ Top Ten, little wonder this name is attracting attention.

Thanks to Danielle for suggesting Bellamy as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Bethany

Bethany

Bethany; Image by See The Holy Land via Flickr

She’s a Biblical village, and a reality superstar.

Thanks to Clio for suggesting Bethany as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 7/17/11

Go 17

Image via Wikipedia

What a week!  First there was Harper Seven Beckham, and chatter galore about the name.  (Mainstream sites dismissed Harper as weird, while we name fans more accurately pegged Harper as far more ordinary than her brothers’ names.)  Then Kate Hudson, mom to Ryder Russell Robinson, welcomed a son she’s calling Bing, short for Bingham Hawn Bellamy.  So very exciting, and both sets of parents were kind enough to reveal their thinking, too.

Elsewhere online:

  • Nancy explores baby names inspired by the Spanish-American War.  I know a little Maceo – great name!
  • I’ve come across this sibet before, but if you haven’t, check out Mer de Noms post about the Taylor family – Columbus, Cassius, Eloise, and Estella;
  • ForReal spotted a Syndle.  Is it another spin on the ever-so-rare Cindal?
  • Are you following Nook’s series on Harry Potter names?  She mentioned two minor characters with great names hereOrion and Hesper;
  • Bewitching has been profiling Harry Potter names, too.  Loved this post on Firenze;
  • Mer de Noms also translated some popular nature names into French, with appealing results: Lis, Laurier, Vrai;
  • In her Friday digest, Elea at British Baby Names mentioned the cluster of boys named Doctor in the nineteenth century – and at least one girl named Doctoressa.  Interesting;
  • Nancy’s list of top baby name debuts in fascinating;
  • Niki was kind enough to share this map: Most Popular Names by European Country.  I’m not certain about the data set, but it is worth a look;
  • Big debuts at Nymbler in June were Aleph (no surprise), Tyla, and Suomi.  My head whipped around at that last one.  Suomi is Finnish for Finland – and seems like an implausible baby name, no matter how popular Finn might become.

For last week’s Nameberry post, I wrote about the workaday identities of superheroines.  They’ve worn some great names when they’re not in their capes and tights – Natasha, Kitty, Tandy, Tessa, Selina.  Tomorrow’s post is another one for the girls, but with far more exotic appellations on deck.

Let’s end where we started, with just a few more tidbits from the rich and famous:

  • Maternity concierge and reality TV star Rosie Pope’s boys are called J.R. and Wells, short for James and Wellington.  I’m intrigued by Wells and Wellington – I wonder if Rosie has a story about choosing those names?
  • Have you read this commentary regarding Natalie Portman‘s choice of Aleph for her firstborn?  It’s from Deborah Kolben, editor of Kveller.com, a parenting website and resource for Jewish parents;
  • There was lots of talk about the name Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr chose for their son, Flynn, but Kerr recently revealed that Flynn’s middle is equally meaningful – Christopher, after her high school boyfriend who was killed in a car accident;
  • Jewel and husband Ty Murray welcomed son Kase Townes Murray.  I don’t love Kase, but if your dad is a professional bull rider, it seems appropriate.  And he’s definitely one of those little cowboy names that is quite popular these days.

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

Starbaby News: Welcome Bingham!

Cropped screenshot of Bing Crosby from the tra...

Image via Wikipedia

Kate Hudson has settled on a name for baby boy Bellamy!  She and boyfriend Matthew have named their little guy Bingham Hawn Bellamy, and US Magazine reports that they plan to call him Bing.

Bing’s big brother is Ryder Russell Robinson.  Ryder and Bing – they’re a matched pair, both quirky and novel but not completely out there.  Bing makes me think of the search engine, but on a better note, legendary crooner Bing Crosby.  Bingham is also a place name in England, and has inspired plenty of other place names in the US and even a crater on the moon.

My take on Bingham?  I love it for Kate Hudson, but a jazzy name like Bing Bellamy might an awful lot to wear for a non-celeb kid.

Congratulations to Kate and her family!

 

Sunday Summary: 11/21/10

Congratulations to Kate of My Kids Eat Off the Floor on the birth of Juno Kate!  The amazing Kate has already sent in Juno’s name story, so look for it soon.

So I’ve been doing more lurking, this time at Babyzone:

  • Aven suggested for a boy, like Gavin without the G;
  • McKelyn for a girl, but is that Makayla with an “n” or more like McHelen?
  • Arayu for a girl, pronounced ah ray you to honor a grandpa Ray – only she’s not sure she’ll use it because “people tell me it sounds foreign.”  You don’t say;
  • Niveah, blurring the boundary between Heaven-spelled-backwards and the skin care aisle at Rite Aid.

And Babynamelover spotted a girl called Tuezdey.  Shiver!  I often wonder if the names I like are truly in the minority, or if there’s some dynamic at work on discussion boards.  Do you only visit if your tastes run to the extreme, be it Cloelia or Haedyn?  Or do you mostly lurk if you fall somewhere in between?

Names that caught my eye that I quite like this week:

In celeb news:

With the end of the year just weeks away – really! – Baby Name Wizard is taking nominations for the Name of the Year. Snooki is getting some early attention, so go vote for her – or shout her down!

And having just made a Jersey Shore reference, I think I’d really better go do something productive.  Maybe I’ll read some improving literature and try to pay attention to something other than the characters’ names.

Thanks, as always, for reading, and have a great week – and, if you’re in the U.S., a Happy Thanksgiving!  There’s no post planned for Thursday, but I’ll be back on Friday.

Baby Name of the Day: Ilo

letter i

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

There’s been much buzz about the newly coined Ily, but how ’bout this one?

Thanks to Emma for suggesting Ilo as Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 6/13/10

So the Glee baby was named Beth. And Nikki Blonsky has a new series on ABC Family called Huge, apparently set at a summer weight-loss camp.  Her character’s name caught my eye: Willamina, though I believe she’ll be answering to Will.

In other, completely random news:

And then there’s the biggest discovery of the week: Nancy posted the Social Security Administration’s lists of Names outside the US Top 1000 that were given to 100 or more newborns in 2009.  You can check out the girls’ list here and the boys’ list here.  You’ll finds lots of variant spellings – Alexandrea, Jurnee, Olyvia and Kooper, Mykel, Trever - as well as some lovely surprises – Constance, Juniper, Honor and Thatcher, Perry, Gibson.  And were more than 100 little girls really called Halo?  And were the 177 baby boys called Major inspired by the Novogratz family?

Since the birth rate in Hollywood was a disappointing zero this week, I’ll leave you with Nameberry’s Will Maisie be the next Daisy? It’s a fascinating list, and it suggests why it is so very hard to find a name that is just a little bit different.

Have a great week, and, as always, thanks for reading!

Sunday Summary: 5/2/10

Congratulations go out to Rocking Fetal.  She’s welcomed her new daughter, Willa Florence Mae, a little sister for Lucas and Ezra.  What a fabulous sibset!

Also, congrats to one of my oldest friends on the birth of his daughter, Helen Claire.  I once described Helen as dusty, and I completely take it back.

In other news:

The big news was, of course, Oscar-winning actress Sandra Bullock’s solo – and surprisingly secret – adoption of Louis Bardo.  Elsewhere among the famous:

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

Sunday Summary: 4/18/10

After two plus years in our urban(esque) rowhome, we’re out of excuses for not having paint on our walls.  My challenge is to choose based on the actual color rather than my enthusiasm for having walls called Tate Olive.  Which really could be a baby name, or possibly a sibset.

But it’s actually a shade of green that might be in our living/dining/kitchen room.

Speaking of design, anyone else think Bravo’s new show 9 by Design likely to up the number of baby girls called Bellamy in 2010 and beyond?  Even without the Novgoratz clan’s delightfully named brood, she’s a successor name to popular pick Avery and a tailored way to get to Bella, too.  Bellamy has yet to appear in the US Top 1000.

Another reality show name that could pop? Tinsley, as in socialite Tinsley Mortimer, now appearing on The CW’s High Society.  I’m not watching HS, but I can imagine Tinsley taking off.

Elsewhere online:

  • Via Daddytypes, an unusual sibset spotted: Apollo, Diana, Athena and Hermes – and they were kids in the 1960s, proof that Extreme Baby Naming is not a 21st century phenomenon;
  • Babynamelover spotted a Troyden Cooper, a little brother for Bentley and Rexton.  It’s interesting to watch a trend morph, isn’t it?  While Brayden and Caiden aren’t feeling original anymore – even to those who don’t obsessively follow baby name news – there’s still room to take a DIY approach to baby names, adding a -den, -ley or -ton to nearly any plausible first syllable;
  • For Real Baby Names brings us Awesome Lee Sunshine -  it’s a girl.  As 4Real wrote: “It takes a lot to surprise me these days when it comes to baby names, but this one did.”  While Lee is a pretty neutral choice, the combo is wildly over-the-top;
  • Sebastiane at LegitBabeNames covered Polish rarity Cieszygor and Japanese staple Haruko – charming, because they showed up in my Google reader back-to-back and I found myself thinking up scenarios where a couple answering to the names met and fell in love – and named their kids Jane and Michael;
  • Via Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It,” I found the blog Design Mom.  Which would be great all on its own, because, as I mentioned earlier, I could use some inspiration.  Written by Gabby Blair, she and husband Ben also have five nicely named kids - Ralph, Maude, Olive, Oscar, and Betty – plus #6 is on the way! Elisabeth suggests ideas for baby Blair and the comments are fascinating;
  • Another megafamily, with a very different naming style, can be found at BakersDozen.  The kids are Jubilee, Ezra, Mordecai, Boaz, Adalia, Hezekiah, Kalina, Keziah, Avi, Tilly, Enoch and Judah.  And mom, Renee, is also pregnant!  They’re not quite like the Duggars, though – about half the kids were adopted.  Renee is also a truly gifted children’s photographer – too bad she’s in Bellingham, Washington, or I’d be calling for an appointment;
  • Just for the fun of it, The Stir takes a stab at writing a recipe for naming celeb chef Jamie Oliver’s fourth little one, due soon-ish.  My personal pick is Carnation Shmoopy Roxanne, but I doubt they’ll go with it;
  • Nancy combed through the Quebec name stats to report on the most popular picks, plus the true rarities.  There’s a girl called Shadey (please stand up) and another named Harvest, plus boys named Nervastone and Rafter.  And so many more on her lists that you’ll just have to go check ‘em out;
  • Namipedia has published their fastest risers so far, giving rise to many a post elsewhere online, like this one at ParentDish.  For girls, it was Sookie, Tenley, Eloise, Genevieve and Piper; for boys, Castiel, Declan, Atreyu, Dashiell and Phineas.  It’s an intriguing list, but remember that not all of these searches are done by those about to name a child – odds are that it will be more than five years before every kindergarten in the country has a Sookie and an Atreyu sitting side-by-side;
  • Also from the NameLady: Are Matching Twin Names Too Cheesy? My initial reaction was yes, but the name set in question – Alice and Celia – seem perfectly reasonable, and it took me a minute to realize that they’re anagram names;
  • A Mother in Israeli asked readers to chime in about what’s popular for babies right now.  It’s a fascinating conversation, and a great resource if you want a name that wears well in Jerusalem.

From the Hollywood desk:

April 15 was the deadline to vote in the Baby Name Wizard’s 2009 Baby Name Poll. I completely forgot to vote!  The only thing I’d determined was that Esme would be on my “rising” list.  Apparently, I wasn’t alone.  I can’t wait to see the results.  Anticipated due date?  Right around Mother’s Day.

Thanks for reading, and have a fabulous week!

Sunday Summary: 2/14/10

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Which reminds me, a new ABC series called Happy Town will premier in late April.  The character list includes a Henley.  I’m not sure about the plot or the character, but I find myself wondering: could -enley be the new -iley?  

In 2008, Project Runway contestant Kenley Collins made it to the finals.  It’s too soon to say if she’ll become a household name in fashion, but her given name debuted at #998 in the US Top 1000 in ’08.  And we just talked about Tenley, she of Olympic figure skating/The Bachelor fame.  The sound is close to gender-spanning Finley, but unlike Riley/Kylee/Mylie/Bryleigh/Skylea, I’m not sure there are as many -enley options.  (Though my husband proposed in Schenley Park …)

If you just can’t get enough reality TV, here’s one more:  Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” tipped me off to my sure-to-be new addiction, 9 By Design, set to debut on Bravo in April.  The family of impossibly stylish NYC house flippers extraordinaire has seven kids, including two sets of twins.  The New Yok Post described the show as Jon & Kate Plus 8 meets Sex and the City.  Sign me up!  Oh, and the names?  Bob and Cortney Novogrtaz are parents to:

  • Wolfgang, 12;
  • Twins Bellamy and Tallulah, 11; 
  • Breaker, 9;
  • Twins Five and Holleder, 4;
  • Major, 1.

I remember them from an early issue of Cookie Magazine, back pre-baby Major when they were living in a house with a basketball court on the roof.  How many days ’til April 5?

In other news, some of you might recall that I was in the midst of a blizzard last weekend.  A family a few blocks away welcomed a baby at home on the worst day of the record-setting storm. She’s Regina, a little sister for Gregory and Gloria.  The new baby’s name full is Regina Caeli, and that’s not just some nouveau riff on Kaylee.  Regina Caeli – pronounced CHAY lee – translates to Queen of Heaven, and it is a prayer to Mary.  

Since I’ve been talking about reality stars and local celebs, let’s start with the famous folk first:

Elsewhere online:

Of all the weird social media phenomena to emerge in recent years, I’ll admit I’m most fascinated by fictional characters with blogs.  Who writes them?  Isn’t it hard to avoid revealing upcoming plot twists, or over-developing the character who blogs?  Anyhow, The Office’s Pam and Jim have a baby blog, with a recent post on baby names.  Someone thinks Michael and Scott would be great names.

I’m off to stop the kids from eating all of the candy out of their chocolate hearts before lunchtime.  Wishing you a sweet day, and thanks for reading!