Baby Name of the Day: Isolde

Tristan and Isolde

Tristan and Isolde by Herbert Draper; Image via Wikipedia

She’s been a tragic heroine for centuries, and yet her name sounds surprisingly modern.

Thanks to Sadie for suggesting Isolde as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 6/5/11

Clock number 5

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

We live in a magical age.  Earlier this week I spotted an unusual name scrolling across Nameberry’s “currently being viewed” ticker, and mentioned it on my Facebook page, with a link to the entry.  Within minutes Elixyvett appeared in their Most Popular Names cloud, and stayed there for a few days, prompting a thread on their message board.  At the same time, Nameberry’s Pam sourced an entire post on Old People Names from a Twitter craze.

Saints and royalty and popular legends and music and novels and television and movies have all put new names on the map.  Surely social media will function in a similar fashion.  But will there be, say, a baby name Elixyvett because a mom-to-be spotted the name when it loomed large in the tag cloud?  Will someone’s Twitter handle inspire a future baby name?

Elsewhere online:

Spotted amongst the glitterati:

  • Pink’s daughter arrived, and she’s named the rather reasonable Willow Sage, a flower child for the tough chick.  My favorite headline has to be this one, from Holy Moly: Pink has baby girl, names her after shrubbery;
  • Actress Dorian Brown welcomed a son, Cayman Tyson Pham.  No word on the parents’ inspiration for the choice.  Brown is set to appear in the American remake of quirky Australian TV series Wilfred.  I’d give Cayman and Wilfred equal odds of catching on;
  • I’m enjoying learning more about Australian celebs thanks to Waltzing – this week alone brought us a baby girl called Allegra Eve and a boy named Lux Edward.  Lux joins a big sister called Autumn Claire.  I came across a boy named Lux years ago and had a hard time thinking of it as masculine, probably thanks to Lux Lisbon in Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides.  But he really could fit right in with Luke, Max, and Gus, couldn’t he?

I’ve gone out on a limb and waded into deep water for this week’s Nameberry post.  I think it is one of my wackier, less wearable lists – but also a trend that seems to be catching on.  Last week’s post was Surfer Names, a list I ended up really loving.

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

Baby Name of the Day: Noor

Diamond copy of the famous Koh-i-Noor in its c...

Diamond copy of the Koh-i-Noor; Image via Wikipedia

Want something more subtle than naming your daughter Diamond, less expected than calling her Claire?  Here’s a culture-spanning appellation that might fit the bill.

Thanks to Sarah for suggesting Noor as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Is C the new K?

latin letter "c"

Image via Wikipedia

Even if you’re not even a teensy, eensy bit interested in the royal wedding, it would be pretty tough to avoid the topic today.  William and Kate’s wedding is an all-out media frenzy.

Chatter about royal baby names has been non-stop since the engagement was announced, and I’ve very much enjoyed dreaming up possible names for a future heir to the throne.

But here’s the big baby naming question that I’m wondering about: when commoner Kate becomes regal Catherine, will C become the new K?

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March Madness: Girls’ Quarter Finals

Collins Fieldhouse girls basketball team, 1917

Collins Fieldhouse girls basketball team, 1917 Seattle Municipal Archives via Flickr

March Madness continues, and the competition is fierce!

Elodie barely squeaked past Claire.  A mere two votes decided that race.

The biggest victory went to Adele.  She thoroughly trounced Eithne, garnering 86% of the vote to her rival’s mere 14%.  Lydia and Lila both won by impressive margins, suggesting that L truly is the letter to watch.

One surprise was watching Louisa win handily over Stella.  Has this star already had her moment?  Are too many Hollywood littles wearing out Stella before she really catches on?

My biggest heartache was watching Romilly lose out to Lorelei, especially because that was a close one – Lorelei earned 55% of the vote.

And now, on to the quarter-finals!

It’s a rhyme time match-up: Isla versus Lila

Little Women’s Louisa versus Hamlet’s Ophelia

The elaborate Lydia versus the trim Adele

Three-syllable showdown: Lorelei versus Elodie

Baby Name of the Day: Gillian

latin letter "g"

Image via Wikipedia

She’s a medieval spin on the evergreen Julia, a name that first found favor in the 20th century.

Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting Gillian as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Cora

Cora

Image by seriykotik1970 via Flickr

There’s Cordelia and Cornelia, Coralie and Coraline.  What about just Cora?

Thanks to Photoquilty for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Clarissa

 

Title page from the first edition

Title page from Clarissa; Image via Wikipedia

 

There’s spare Claire and vintage Clara.  But what about the frilliest of them all?

Thanks to Fran for suggesting Clarissa as Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 10/17/10

I’m on a reality television kick.  (Right, well, it’s worse than usual.)  How can I not, with names like Truely on Sister Wives and Bret Michaels’ daughters Raine and Jorja on his new series.  Will the trio of real life monikers become the new Destiny, Skye, and Alivia?  Or will the trends take us elsewhere?

Speaking of celebs, this week we welcomed Egypt, a son for Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz, plus twins GideonHarper, a son and daughter for Neil Patrick Harris.

Elsewhere online:

Lastly, to all of those parents thinking that Flynn was the perfect, simple, unusual, swashbuckling, Irish surname for a son’s first name, the name never to be shared by another, I regretfully inform you that the hero in Tangled, Disney’s upcoming Rapunzel reboot, is called Flynn.  Yes, he was originally named Bastion.  And yes, Flynn was awfully close to the white hot Finn anyhow.  Regardless of the movie’s success, this is Disney, and suspect Flynn will rise.   Of course, he’s never been in the US Top 1000.  But Disney plus the single syllable trend that seems to be accelerating?  Make that he has been in the US Top 1000 yet.

That’s all for this Sunday.  Check out the Facebook page for more Summary-esque chatter during the week.

As always, thanks for reading and have a fabulous week!

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:

As for the starbaby round up – it’s a girl.  And a girl, and a girl …:

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