First, he was a Hollywood leading man. Then he was Superman’s mild-mannered alter ego. Then along came the candy bar and the Griswolds …
In honor of my dear dad, our Baby Name of the Day is Clark.
Baby Name of the Day: Clark
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Tag Archives: Cole
Sunday Summary: 7/10/11
Image by holeymoon via Flickr
Between writing about Scarlett the other day and finally reading The Help, I’ve had Southern names on the brain. Kathryn Stockett’s characters answer to names like Raleigh, Constantine, Eugenia and Mae Mobley – the “Southern double name” idea referenced by Nicole Kidman when explaining that her youngest daughter is called Faith Margaret, not just Faith. There’s also a minor – but critical – character called Lulabelle, an intriguing smoosh of a name that brings to mind Breakfast at Tiffany’s Holly Golightly’s birth name, Lulamae.
This past week also saw a lively conversation about gender-bending names in the blogosphere this week:
- Laura Wattenberg investigated Alison, and all of the ends-in-son names that have followed her rise;
- I wrote In Defense of Riley Anne and Evan Marie: Ten Reasons Boys’ Names on Girls Are Not a Sign of End Times;
- Waltzing More Than Matilda weighed in on the topic, too;
- So did Nook of Names;
- Regardless of where you come down on the issue, parents are not likely to stop borrowing boyish names for some of their daughters, some of the time. For Real spotted the following sibset: Bella, Cosette, and Reave, three big sisters – yup, even Reave – for Taite Victoria Paige.
Beyond the debate, it was a really interesting week. I thoroughly enjoyed:
- Swistle’s list of plural-sounding names like Brooks and Wells. Maternity concierge Rosie Pope gave the name Wells to her younger son; big brother is J.R. Megyn Kelly of FOX News has a son called Yates;
- What do you think of Perpetua? She’s featured over at British Baby Names;
- Nancy tallied up baby girls named Monalisa, like the painting – and the Oscar-winning song from Nat King Cole;
- I love the idea of Annecy, and pretty much all twelve of these water names at Nameberry;
- Babynamelover spotted the intriguing Ursula Cherry, a little sister for Hester;
- Unusual names mentioned at the AppMtn Facebook page this week: Betty, Wilbur-called-Willy, Cassity, Fletcher, and Kais, an Arabic name with tons of history, often spelled Qais – thanks to Allison for the name spotting on that last one, and Sarah for filling in the history!
In celebrity baby news, we learned that yes, Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied named their newborn baby boy Aleph. Cue the Have Celebrities Gone Too Far With Crazy Baby Names articles.
We’ve also heard that both Kate Hudson and Victoria Beckham have welcomed their children – a second son for Kate, and Victoria’s first daughter after three boys! No names announcements – yet. Something tells me next week is going to be exciting, too …
Baby Name of the Day: Travis
The famous Alamo; Image by soham_pablo via Flickr
He’s an Americana option with an intriguing meaning.
Thanks to Heather for suggesting Travis as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Crew
Yale Varisty crew; Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr
There’s Chanel and Armani and Brooks. How would this linked-to-a-label name wear?
Thanks to Chantal for suggesting one she’s considering for a child. Our Baby Name of the Day is Crew.
Baby Name of the Day: Colette
C by fotologic via Flickr
She’s saintly, literary, and on trend. Best of all, she’s been out of the US rankings for three decades.
Colette is a special Saturday Name of the Day for expectant mom Laura.
Baby Name of the Day: Camden
Image via Wikipedia
Cross Cameron with London and you’ll end up with this rapidly rising choice.
Thanks to Tracy for suggesting the only name her husband likes. Our Baby Name of the Day is Camden.
Baby Name of the Day: Flint
F by nickton via Flickr
With all this talk of starbabies called Ford and Flynn, could this single-syllable choice get more attention?
Thanks to Lindsay for suggesting Flint as our Baby Name of the Day.
Sunday Summary: 1/2/11
Happy New Year! The holidays are always a great chance to catch up with people you haven’t seen for a while. I discovered an old friend is now dad to a daughter called Ada Maple. And I heard that several friends-of-friends and cousins-twice-removed are expecting. In every case, I made sure to offer my sincere congratulations before asking if they’d thought about names.
At least, I think I did.
Let’s start with something different: a reader question. What do you think of the name Ranger? There are a few possible ways the parents might use it. Check out the poll below, and feel free to leave a comment.
A few other boy-name thoughts:
- I’m curious to see The Green Hornet rebooted with Seth Rogen as slacker-turned-hero Britt Reid. Reed and Reid are both near their all-time highs for use in the US. If the movie is a hit, betcha we’ll hear them more;
- I’m also wondering if Britt could catch on for boys. It was also the name of one of the lead characters on short-lived FX series Terriers. Conventional wisdom says that Britt is a Scandinavian girls’ name, related to Bridget, as in Swedish actress Britt Ekland. But he’d fit right in with Gage and Cole;
- Along those lines, I raised the idea of Hale for a son over on the AppMtn Facebook page. I was mostly think of Kale/Cale when I asked the question, but Emily G. pointed out that Hale also conjures up Nathan Hale;
- ForReal unearthed a ton of new surnames and surname sound-alikes being use in the first spot. How ’bout Danner, Corbett, Deagan, or Whitten?
In other news:
- The continuing round-up of year-end baby names yielded one truly interesting list. Washington State’s TDN.com reported the top baby names at St. John Medical Center: Kaiden and Addison. Also epidemic in Longview, WA’s nursery schools? Karlee and Brycen;
- Speaking of surprising names, the first baby of 2011 for Florida’s Treasure Coast is a tiny girl with a big name: Le-Royalti Jacqueline Le-Grace. They’re calling her Pinky;
- And the Mitzi goes to … check out Elisabeth’s take on Celeb Baby Names 2010 over at You Can’t Call It “It”. Nameberry also weighed in on Celebrity Baby Names this year;
- I stumbled on this list of Hippie Baby Names. Juniper, Ivy, Sage – I’m on board. But Chai? I’m stuck – is it daring and wonderful or just plain bizarre?
- It’s so nice to hear Stanley get some love, even if it is mostly in the UK – for now;
- Jezebel’s article on gender-neutral naming is a bit off - I’m not sure the Canadian prof quoted everywhere really did his research, or maybe he’s only looking at few decades’ worth of info – but the comments are worth a scan.
A few celebrity babies arrived just in time to be up at midnight on December 31:
- Elton John is a new dad to Zachary Jackson Levon;
- Dierks Bentley welcomed a daughter named Jordan Catherine, a sister for Evalyn Day;
- And, of course, Alanis Morisette is a new mom to a son named Ever Imre.
That’s al for this week. As always, thank you for reading, and have a fabulous first week of 2011!
Baby Name of the Day: Claus
Image via Wikipedia
It’s one of the many names attached to big guy in the red suit.
Thanks to Molly for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: the seasonal Claus.
Baby Name of the Day: Grant
Grant Memorial; Image via Wikipedia
He’s a strong, masculine, single-syllable name with an almost virtue-name vibe. Why isn’t he more common?
Thanks to Nicole for suggesting Grant as Baby Name of the Day.
