Confession: I play name games. When stuck cooling my heels waiting for something, or in a meeting so deadly dull I think my soul might leave my body, I find my pen scrawling names.
Here’s a recent one – an A-to-Z list of Single Syllable Names for Girls. I stalled out on a few letters. Any ideas?
Thanks to everyone who has submitted their Baby Name Stories. Keep ‘em coming! They’ll be found here on Saturdays starting in June. And I also appreciate all of you who de-lurked to suggest a Baby Name of the Day. I’ll be scheduling the lurker posts tomorrow, so check back and you’ll know when your name is going to be profiled.
Summer movie season is just beginning. Aly and I have plans to see Toy Story 3, but what I’m really wondering when I walk past the multiplex these days?
Will Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood revive interest in the name? He did wonders for Maximus. And, of course, there’s Jake Gyllenhaal’s upcoming turn as Dastan in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. If parents can embrace Daxton and Zayden, will Dastan be far behind? Oh, and Ellen Page plays Ariadne in the new Leonardo DiCaprio thriller Inception. Adrianna is fine, but Ariadne is stunning.
But the theme for this week seems to be more about those Really? name moments. Gracing the front page of my local paper Thursday morning was a pair of cute little girls at a community festival. Their names? Cashay and Lashay. Not twins, but sisters just a year apart.
Along the same lines, there’s:
Let’s turn to Tinsel Town, where the biggest starbaby news was the arrival of Aviana Olea, there’s also:
That’s all for this week. As always, thanks for reading!
Happy Mother’s Day! I spent the morning indulging in an M-Day brunch at Max Brenner and then listening for kids’ names at the Union Square playground near my sister’s new Manhattan apartment. I heard Ezra and Sophie at Ladybird Bakery in Park Slope – near sister #2′s place – the morning before, but mostly the Big Apple was a big letdown in terms of name spotting. I was too busy to really listen. (But, no, dear sisters, that’s not why I come visit you in the Big City.)
As usual, the real Mother’s Day gift comes from Uncle Sam. The Social Security Administration has released the Top 1000 baby names for babes born the year prior. It’s pretty much impossible to collect all of the interesting commentary on the topic, but here are a few highlights:
In non-statistical news:
Our only celeb birth of the week is author Sophie Kinsella, mom to four boys: Freddy, Hugo, Oscar and Rex William.
I’m off to unpack luggage and wrangle overtired into their pajamas. Hope you had a fabulous Mother’s Day and thank you for reading! See you next week.
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!
Even before the pregnancy test came back positive, I had a strong sense that our second child was a girl.
Intuition didn’t stop me from discussing boys’ names with Arthur. So much that he finally insisted that we wait until the ultrasound, at which point it was moot. Claire Caroline Wren – Clio – was on her way.
Our firstborn is Alexander Arthur, after my father-in-law Alexander, my grandfather Arthur and, of course, Arthur. There just wasn’t a clear choice for a second boys’ name. Plus, I always feel like we flubbed his nickname – though he wears Aly fine. Our list for a second daughter is well thought out, but a boy?
We would have figured something out. I think.
And you thought Nevaeh was over the top!
Thanks to Joy for suggesting daring noun choice Temple as Baby Name of the Day.
She’s short, simple, vaguely French – and a very popular pick for girls born in recent years.
With a happy birthday to my mother, our Baby Name of the Day is Claire.
I doubt we’ll ever have a third child. There are dozens of practical reasons.
And one reason that’s trivial for him, dead serious for me: we could never agree on a name.
We do have a few candidates, scraps from the cutting room floor. I’ve mentioned them in comments from time to time, but I thought a round-up was in order.
Our girls’ list is first; I’ll post the boys’ list later.
When we decided to call our daughter Clio, we forever closed the door on another favorite name – Theodore, nickname Theo.
Or did we?
For every family that decides Maya and Milo are too similar, another embraces the sound-alike names. Or insists that Alicia and Alina are totally different names. Perhaps it never even occurs to them that Joanna and Jackson are both related to John. Or maybe the first time you think of the famous actress is when you introduce your daughter Grace, little sister to Kelly and others ask if you’re a fan.
Siblings’ names will be said together countless times. The names we like often have much in common. So how can you tell if your choices make for a compatible sibset, or if they’re much too close? Here are ten factors to consider.
Deck the halls!
With a mere 19 days ’til Christmas, I finally settled down to watch last season’s romantic-comedy-just-in-time-for-the-holidays, Four Christmases. Vince Vaughn’s character, Brad, finally takes his girlfriend home and, in the midst of yuletide merriment, she discovers that Brad legally changed his name – from Orlando. Brothers Denver and Dallas were introduced, and Brad explained that they were all named in a very Brooklyn Beckham-esque way. You’re forgiven, Brad. Posh, are you listening?
Speaking of the holidays, on my recent travels I heard tots answering to Lyle, Hugo, Mara and Cecily – or I suppose Sicily, but let’s hope it was the former.
As for movies, I’m dying to see Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie. While other girls were reading Anne of Green Gables, I was off in Victorian England, solving crimes with Holmes and Watson. There are already hints of franchise potential, not unlike Pirates of the Caribbean, which got me thinking – if Sparrow could pop as a boy’s name in the wake of Captain Jack, will this film have a similar impact? Sherlock and Holmes are out, and John is evergreen. But how ’bout Watson? I’ll be watching the boards!
Elsewhere in the blogosphere:
Speaking of starbabies, it was a busy week. Thanks to Celebrity Baby Blog for the heads up on the following:
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
