Tag Archives: Clio

Starbaby News: Welcome Cleo!

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So this is what it feels like!

David Schwimmer and wife Zoe Buckman have welcomed a daughter named Cleo Buckman Schwimmer.  Long-time readers know that I have a daughter called Clio, though she has a longer formal name.

Yes, she’s been called Chloe more times than I can count, but I’ve always been really pleased with her names.  When someone suggests Cleo/Clio on message boards, I’m secretly thrilled.

No, it isn’t like Tori Spelling used the name for her third, or the Jolie-Pitts just announced that they’re adopting a surprise seventh kiddo and this is her name.  I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen David Schwimmer in the media lately, and it has all been about his impending fatherhood.

On the one hand, I don’t think Clio will be asked if she was named after “the daughter of that guy who used to be on Friends.”  And yet, I’d rather no starbabies shared my daughter’s name.

I now understand how every parent of a Seraphina, Shiloh, Endellion, Pilot, Bristol, Flynn, Honor or Hayes feels: slightly ahead of the curve, but secretly wishing the rich and famous had looked elsewhere!

Sunday Summary: 1/30/11

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The Number 30

The Number 30 by Herman Turnip via Flickr

It strikes me that I’m now into my fourth year of writing at AppMtn.  My first post was Ava and Harlow, back on January 23, 2008.  I’d learned the mechanics of blogging for work a few years earlier; I now manage yet another blog in Real Life, and it looks like it is about to be joined by another.  Nothing I’ve written professionally has given me anywhere near the joy I’ve gotten out of writing here, and I credit that to you.  (Yup, even you lurkers.  I can’t hear you, but I can see you – and it’s nice to know that you’re here, too.)

On to the news:

Stop by Nameberry tomorrow where I’ll be talking about names I found while culling through the list of Oscar nominees.  (C in DC, thanks for the inspiration!)

Speaking of The Glamorous Life, please welcome the following sure-to-be-paparazzi-stalked tots to the universe:

  • Mike Tyson welcomed a son called Morocco Elijah.  He and wife Lakiha also have a daughter, Milan.  Tyson’s six older children are D’Amato, Mikey, Miguel, Rayna, Amir, and his daughter Exodus, who passed away in 2009;
  • No Doubt’s Tony Kanal is a new dad. He and girlfriend Erin Lokitz welcomed daughter Coco Reese Lakshmi.  The rest of the musical crew’s moppets are Kingston, Zuma, Ace, Rio, and Mason.

Which reminds me, Clio is obsessed with Gwen Stefani and Akon’s single “The Sweet Escape.”  How do you say no to a toddler who asks for “more Woo-hoo song, peeeeez?”

Speaking of requests, I’ll be doing another rerun week in April.  Should you stumble across a post that you think needs some freshening up, feel free to suggest it via email to appmtn (at) gmail (dot) com.

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

Sunday Summary: 12/26/10

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A 1920s 2-inch snow baby piece

Image via Wikipedia

I hope you had a wonderful, magical holiday!  A few random observations from the wider world:

  • Clio opened a gift from the B. You toys line to find this quote in the packaging:  “I’m going to have five children and name them Cabbage, French Toast, Table, Shower, and Chair!”  I laughed, and then noted that the quote was attributed to Skye, age 6;
  • I’ve yet to see it, but the third installment in the Meet the Parents series hit the big screen earlier this week.  The Little Fockers are the sensibly named Henry and Samantha, which is, I think, what probably happens if you go through life saying, “It’s Gaylord, but please call me Greg.”
  • I finally watched Easy A over the weekend, and there’s a great line about the name Olive: “My name is an anagram for I love.”

Elsewhere online:

Among the famous and the fabulous:

I’ve taken to putting more celeb birth announcements over at Facebook.

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

Sunday Summary: 12/5/10

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Christmas came early to Appellation Mountain, with a guest post on Nameberry leading to a shout-out from Lisa Belkin’s venerable The Motherlode blog at the New York Times.  Christmas also officially arrived in our town – a tree was lit in the City’s park, we had breakfast with Santa, and we spent a few hours at our parish bazaar.

But back to naming news, because those kids?  They’re not gonna name themselves!

And on to the rich and the famous:

While I’ll still post celeb births here if the name is stunningly different or eagerly anticipated, I’m putting some of the more routine announcements up at the AppMtn Facebook page, along with interesting links and intriguing name sightings.

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

Sunday Summary: 10/31/10

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Happy Halloween!  More proof that I truly have a one-track mind: let’s start with two name-related thoughts, prompted by my kids’ costumes:

  1. There will be more little boys named Anakin in the future.  Nancy tells us there were 117 in 2009 alone. Despite my insistence that Aly is Luke Skywalker, he keeps correcting me – no, Mommy – ANAKIN Skywalker.  “But he’s the bad guy, Aly.”  “No he’s not!”  A younger generation might very well find Anakin as wearable as Julian.
  2. What name do you use to get to Minnie as a nickname?  It’s a great nickname, but much too cutesy to stand on her own – moreso, I think, than Millie or Sadie.  The Shopaholic series has recently given Becky a daughter by the name.  Minnie Driver was born Amelia.  There’s Minerva, too, but that’s a lot of name for a little girl – almost too sharp of a contrast to sweet Minnie.  So what’s left?  Araminta?  Minnesota?  Ideas welcome!

Here’s a question for readers with daughters.  Did American Girl start sending you catalogs, as if they knew you were having a girl before the ultrasound results were in?  My first catalog arrived before Clio could roll over, must less request outrageously expensive doll babies.  Still, I do enjoy the names in the catalogs: Kaya, Felicity, Josefina, Addy, Rebecca, Kit, Molly, and Julie are the main Girls of the moment.  2010 Girl of the Year was called Lanie.  A number of the Girls have friends – Julie’s BFF is Ivy, and there’s also Emily, Ruthie, and Elizabeth.  So much better than Bratz.

And while we’re on pop culture, anyone else notice that the upcoming Nutcracker flick the little girl’s name has reverted to Mary?  The original ETA Hoffman story called her Marie, but she’s been Clara in nearly every adaptation since.

Elsewhere online:

  • What a lovely sibset over at Swistle, and you can help them name another daughter! Their current family consists of Ottilie Fflur, called Tilly; Adalia Seren, called Addie; Cecily Roma; Nolia Betsy; and Violet Lucina;
  • New at Nymbler in September:Brynley, Kiptyn, Snow, Galileo, Irelyn, and Posy. One of the contributors to Celebrity Baby Blog, before it was absorbed by People Magazine, had a son named Galileo, but I think they called him Leo.  About ten years ago, I knew a couple who used Ireland for their daughter’s middle name.  I like it full strength, but find the Irelyn spelling diluted;
  • For Real goes to Texas and you know it is going to be good! She spotted Abel Marcel, Hayes Gentry, Nicholai Luther, Landree Natali, Priscila Bethsabe, and Vierra Nichole. That’s the second time I’ve heard Gentry for a boy this week.  I don’t get it.
  • For Real also hit Tennessee where she found Isavela in the middle spot, plus River Gracily, Consuella Eliesa, Annalinne Rachel, and Atom Leegan. Is Gracily a Grace-Lily smoosh or a just an inventive elaboration?  It is pretty, even dainty;
  • At Nameberry, Pam raves about ends-in-s names for boys.  There are some really great ones.  I’ve known little boys called Magnus and Silas, and they wear well.  Plus, they can be more subtle than some of the ends-in-o options.

There were a number of celebrity births this week, but first, Jeremy Sisto’s 16 month old daughter is named Charlie Ballerina. How did I miss that?

Back to the newborns:

Over on the Facebook page, I think Stanley has officially been declared wearable.

Keep an ear out for interesting names worn by your Trick or Treaters, and have a great week!

The Perils of Unusual Names: Ten Things to Consider When Choosing Hester or Habakkuk

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Go 10

Image via Wikipedia

 

It’s no secret that I love unusual names.  I’ve written before In Defense of Atlas and Apple: Ten Reasons Unusual Names Aren’t a Problem, and I haven’t changed my mind.

But I do have my hesitations, and a recent exchange with the mom of a very unusually named child got me thinking: what are the downsides to having a genuinely uncommon name?

Continue reading →

In Reserve: Possible Names for a Second Son

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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.

Continue reading →

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

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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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Sunday Summary: 3/14/10

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First, please join me in wishing a fond au revoir to Bewildertrix!  With baby #3 on the way, she has decided to put Onomastitrix on hiatus.  (See?  That’s me feeling hopeful that she’ll be back someday.  Because no one does a round-up of BAs like Bewildertrix.)  She promises she’ll be around and will definitely come back and share her good news when baby makes five.

In local news, remember back when I mentioned my friend was in labor?  And hadn’t told me the gender or the name?  I spoke blogged too soon.  A few hours later, she was back at home, still pregnant.  More than a week (!) later, her darling daughter Caroline arrived.  The baby is beautiful, mom, dad and big brother Zachary are all doing well and Clio has someone to boss around right on her block – someday.  And the name!  What a great name.  (The middle is a distinctive family choice shared with her brother, so I won’t share.)

Elsewhere online:

In starbaby news, via E! Online and Celebrity Baby Blog:

  • Her name is Billie Beatrice – yup, the daughter of Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart has a name and it combines the boyish-nickname trend with the antique revival trend for an unexpected, but sweet choice;
  • Joseph Fiennes and wife have welcomed a daughter. Everyone is doing well, but as for a name?  They’re not telling;
  • This popped up at Perez Hilton, but I understand the original poll was on BabyCenter – apparently BC readers voted Sarah Michelle Gellar’s choice for her daughter’s name – Charlotte Grace – the very best of the best, followed by Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s Seraphina.

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

How Close is Too Close? Ten Factors to Consider

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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.

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