Sunday Summary: 7/3/11

Three

For those of you in the US, I hope you’re having a lovely, fireworks-filled Independence Day weekend.

First up: a quick users’ guide note: when I write a post, I try to bold any given name the first time I use it.  If the name is a (blue) hyperlink, then I’ve written about the name before – and one quick click will take you to that post.  I also try to link movies and television shows to the Internet Movie Database.

On to the news:

  • Speaking of movies, Nancy mentioned the big Pixar reveal: a female heroine called Merida, star of their 2012 feature Brave.  It’s already getting some attention with expectant parents;
  • Nameberry covered Irish Baby Names following the announcement of their official statistics for 2010.  I love Orla for a girl and Lorcan for a boy – oh, and Cathal, though I find it feminine;
  • Elea explored popular Welsh Boys’ Names, including choices like Cai and Rhys that would work perfectly in the US, too;
  • Bewitching Baby Names profiled Oregon.  It’s an unconventional choice, but fresher than Dakota;
  • Waltzing More Than Matilda posted about Australia’s answer to the Duggars: Jeni and Ray Bonnell and their fifteen kids, including newborn son Damian.  No, the older fourteen kids don’t have D names;
  • From the wayback machine: the feature name in 2008 was clunky Clarence; in 2009, the antique Ada; and just a year ago, it was the lovely, but perhaps burdensome Jocasta;
  • Is it me, or does it get easier to play Elisabeth’s Sibset Game as the posts at You Can’t Call It “It” go farther and farther up the rankings?  Some of my favorites from the 700s are Kim W’s Luka Ellis, Ingrid Frances, Elin Rosemary, Soren Lewis, and Sonia Julianne and Kailee’s Rory Conrad, Lewis Eugene, Julianne Frances, Susan “Susie” Campbell, and Corinne Rosemary.  From the 600s, I’m intrigued by Ashley’s Tomas “Tam” Sullivan Cale, Callen “Cal” Memphis Clark, Dahlia “Dolly” Phoenix Anne, Noemi “Emme” Paloma Adrienne, Isis “Izzy” Raven Amelie, and Lawson “Lars” Nash Channing.

I wrote about the first generation of eclectic Hollywood baby names for Nameberry last week.  In more recent celebrity news:

Tomorrow’s post for Nameberry is the first in another two-parter, and it features one of my favorite names for a boy: Clark.

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

A to Z: Nature Names

I’ve written about quite a few nature names here – that means that you’ve requested quite a few!  Here’s a quick round-up of some of them.

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Sunday Summary: July 5, 2009

For those of you in the US, I hope you had a firecracker of a holiday!

The big starbaby news of the week was the reveal of Tobey Maguire’s son’s name: Otis Tobias, little brother to Ruby Sweetheart.

Other celeb news:

Elsewhere in the blogosphere:

Next, a few things on my mind:

  • The following question keeps popping up in searches leading to this site:  Can I name my daughter Kylie and my son Kyle?   Yes, yes, you can.  But you just flat out should not do so.  It’s too close, too cutesie and if you ever had a third child, you’d be forced to choose from a very small list of names indeed.  (I think she’d have to be Kyla or Skyla, and he’d be Kyson or Kyler.  Or feel horribly left out.); 
  • My vocabulary keeps expanding, thanks to name sites.  I’ve recently discovered the Aussie slang word bogan, the equivalent of the British chavvy or American trashy.  I think.  Apparently, phonetic spellings like Taylah for Taylor are a thing, or so blogs a Doc Down Under during her pediatric rotation;
  • A UK blogger mentioned that a BBC3 documentary on a 14 y.o. mum called Kizzy mentioned that she named her son Kaylib.  Not Caleb, not Kaleb, but Kaylib.  As if having your childhood immortalized on reality TV wasn’t bad enough;
  • Could the name Merlin make a comeback?  That’s right, a comeback – he appeared in the US Top 1000 regularly from the 1890s through the 1960s.  It first crossed my mind while watching Bravo’s The Fashion Show, with the Honduran Merlin.  Even if he doesn’t strike it big in the design world, there’s the BBC’s Merlin, now showing on NBC this summer.  If Arthur can make  a comeback …
  • Another Bravo-influenced thought, couldn’t they have found better-named kids for their real-life-Gossip Girl, NYC Prep?  The cast includes PC, Sebastian, Kelli, Taylor, Jessie and Camille.  I realize you can’t rename full-grown human beings, but I’ll take GG’s Rufus, Lily, Serena and Blair anyday;
  • Lastly, a look back – on July 5, 2008, the Name of the Day was Jasper.

That’s all for this week!  Tune in next week for Flannery, Dahlia, Gregor, Brisa and Clifford.

 

Sunday Summary: 6/7/2009

The big news this week was, of course, the new addition to Kimora Lee Simmons’ family, her son with actor Djimon Hounsou, Kenzo Lee.  The self-proclaimed model-mogul-mom also has two daughters/reality starlets, Ming Lee and Aoki Lee.  

In other starbaby news:

  • Comedian Gilbert Gottfried and welcomed son Max Aaron, a brother to Lily Aster.  Max is clearly the new Jake – but what with the Max/Maxwell/Maxfield/Maxim and such choices, it may be a few years until his popularity is obvious in the Social Security rankings;
  • Max is clearly a celeb fave - Lance Armstrong welcomed a son named Maxwell Edward, little brother to Luke, Isabelle and Grace;
  • CNN correspondent Brooke Anderson announced the birth of daughter Kate Victoria – I’m a sucker for that one-syllable first name, longer middle name pattern – it’s quite unexpected;
  • Charmed alum Holly Marie Combs named her third son Kelley James.  Big brothers are Finley Arthur and Riley Edward.  Finley, Riley and Kelley – they sound quite a bit like Angie Harmon’s Finley, Avery and Emery, don’t they?  Only we all know that Angie’s trio are girls;
  • R&B singer/reality TV star Bobby Brown welcomed a son, Cassius.  He’s the fifth kiddo for Brown – older sibs are Landon, LaPrincia, Bobby Jr. and Bobbi.

Elsewhere online, you don’t want to miss:

  • The Toronto Star profiled a couple with daughters named Kalliyan – rhymes with stallion – and Taevy – rhymes with Davey.  Thing is, mom is Cambodian and says that they’re both Cambodian names.  But are they the Cambodian equivalent of Katherine and Mary, or the Cambodian equivalent of Tiffany and Mackenzie?  Cross-cultural names are tricky;
  • Speaking of cross-cultural naming, Nameberry’s post on quirky British names was pure fun – I loved Oliver Reckless Hyatt, Alexi William Martin Rabbit, Ursula Isabel Langdale and Elspeth Alice Eugénie.  If you’re so inclined, you can check out the Telegraph Birth Announcements yourself.  Just now, I stumbled on a newborn Rufus, brother to Stanley and Jasper;
  • A few readers have mentioned that they find Swistle’s posts a little on the dull side, and while she does field questions from parents choosing between Ava and Emma, check out these combos: Abigail Genevieve Dahlia, Sophia Madeleine Eilidh, Gemma Evangeline Claire and Ivy Susannah Vivienne - all sisters;
  • Speaking of Ava and Emma, Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” did a fun Alternate Top 100 – ideas to substitute for those familiar most common choices.  Check out her boys’ list and girls list. And yup, she suggests Max as a substitute for Jacob;
  • Nancy of Nancy’s Baby Names has been on location in France, seeking out unusual appellations in museums and graveyards, store windows and monuments!  I’m seriously thinking of saving up to send her somewhere else fabulous because her series was just amazing.  Two of her finds – Nadège, the name of my old roommate (she was Haitian), and Raphaëline – which I’d love even sans umlaut;
  • Lastly, Swistle also posed a question about whether siblings’ names should match?  And what does that mean anyhow?

I think it goes without saying that sibs’ names should have something in common.  The question that plagues me is what to do when your partner has a child from an earlier relationship.  If his first two kids are Kaylie and Jayden, do you try to match the style?  Or do you stick with Oliver and Eleanor?  Or try to split the difference with something like Matthew and Avery?  It’s not a challenge I’ve faced personally, but every time I hear a much-married celeb’s list o’ kids – like Bobby Brown’s quintet – I wonder.

Alphabet: D is for Girls

It’s been some time since we tripped through our Naming Dictionaries searching for material for an alphabet post – too long!  And that’s too bad, because D is a promising letter for daughters.  Names range from the dear and dainty to the downright daring.

Without further delay, here are a few names to consider.

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Babes in the Woods

A few decades back, naming your newborn Ocean, Daisy or Indigo branded you granola-eatin’, VW-bus drivin’ Flower Children who might not be quite ready for life off the commune.

The world has changed dramatically since the 60s, and naming has gotten a whole lot more liberal. Little wonder, then, that nature names have gone mainstream. Choose any subdivision, peer inside a random minivan headed for soccer practice, and there’s a decent chance that one of the pint-sized occupants will answer to Sage, Willow or River.

If you’re a shade more eco-aware or outdoorsy than most, or if you’re just hoping for a simple name that won’t be shared by three other kids in your child’s class, nature names can be attractive options. Continue reading