Baby Name of the Day: Elettra

Elettra in Pleiades Star Cluster

Elettra in Pleiades star cluster; Image via Wikipedia

Seeking an authentic Italian heritage choice that leads to the nickname Ellie?  Here’s a celestial, operatic rarity that just might suit.

Thanks to Sarah for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Elettra.

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Sunday Summary: 5/22/11

number 22

Image by jontintinjordan via Flickr

After the one-two punch of Mariah Carey’s twins and the release of the US Top 1000, May is finally settling down.

  • What do Peighton, Promise, and Katia have in common?  They all appear on Nancy’s list of girls’ names slightly outside the US Top 1000.  The boys’ list is equally intriguing: Princeton, Kalel, or Nixon, anyone?
  • How to spell Eliana’s nickname: Eli, Elli or Ellie?  To me, Ellie is the only one that makes sense, but apparently the parents disagree;
  • More Ohdeedoh Baby Names up at You Can’t Call It “It,” including Dex, Rex, and brothers named Arlo and Wylder;
  • Evidence as a baby name – my initial reaction to Isadora’s post was no, but it is growing on me;
  • My reaction to this list of names at For Real Baby Names?  I love Esther Perpetua, I’m confused by Maybree, and I find Zocie intriguing;
  • Speaking of intriguing, how ’bout Clotilde?  I’m always inclined to spell it Clothilde, but I’ll admit that omitting the “h” simples things up;
  • Find Bessiebell, Janebell, and more unexpected -bel smooshes up at British Baby Names this weekend;
  • And lastly, Kathryn shared all four of her kids’ names stories at her site.  It is a lovely, thoughtful post.

There was just the one starbaby birth announcement this week: Marion Cotillard welcomed a son, Marcel.  How impeccably French.

Last week’s Nameberry post was a Hollywood-inspired review of Norse mythology names.  My new favorite?  Definitely Embla.  This week’s post is inspired by none other than Oprah Winfrey.  You can read it here tomorrow.

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

Baby Name of the Day: Eliza

A My Fair Lady movie poster, in which Bell's w...

Image via Wikipedia

She’s the stylish short form of Elizabeth worn by the unforgettable Audrey Hepburn.

Thanks to Lemon for suggesting Eliza as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Elsinore

View of Elsinore, Denmark, from Kronborg Castle.

View of Elsinore from Kronborg Castle; Image via Wikipedia

Prompted by a post on Elsie, Emily of Word Cake suggested this literary place name.

Our Baby Name of the Day is Elsinore.

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Baby Name of the Day: Eli

Vintage LEGO Letter E

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

He’s one of the Biblical boys, an Old Testament figure found on every fashionable playground.

Thanks to Melissa for suggesting Eli as Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Eluned

The flag of Wales

The flag of Wales; Image via Wikipedia

She’s another obscure saint’s name, and an impeccable Welsh heritage choice.  If you’re looking for something less obvious than Gwendolen, here’s one to consider.

Thanks to Charlotte for suggesting Eluned as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 8/29/10

My week at the beach was spent listening for names (well, there was ice cream and sand and a giant waterslide called the Hippo) but I didn’t hear much.  There was a Veronica nicknamed Vera, but mostly it was the pleasant Top 100 assortment of Ethan, Dylan, Emma, Riley, Noah, Chloe, Caleb, Jackson, Zachary, Ellie, and the like.  I also heard a girl called Cooper and another girl named Gracen or Graycen or maybe Gracyn.  Thanks for checking out Rerun Week while I was slathering on sunscreen!

In the meantime, a new neighbor has arrived and her kids names?  Be still my heart: Nella and Arlo.  I haven’t actually met them (she joined a listserv for local moms) but I might hug her.

Also in the real world, the incredibly talented Brooke at Dinkypopsnomore is now mom to two!  The incredibly photogenic, more-stylish-at-3-than-I-am-at-37 Temperance is big sister to Verity BlytheSee the post about her name here.

Elsewhere online:

In starbaby news:

  • Let’s hear it for the double palindrome power of Ava Katherine Otto, a new daughter for country singer James Otto and wife Amy;
  • Actor Matt Walton – he plays Eli on One Life To Live – has an Ava, too, plus a brand new son called Greyson James.  Greyson is the new Jayden. Add up all the boys called Greyson and Grayson, plus the girls wearing a variant of sound-alike Gracen, and you have the formula for a gender-neutral, hard-to-gauge usage name that every parent thinks is uncommon.  Too bad, because I do love Gray;
  • Army Wives’ Catherine Bell has a new son called Ronan, a little sister for Gemma.  That’s a nice sibset, a pair of names that are underused, but not outlandish;
  • And the big news is the birth of Florence Rose Endellion, a daughter for UK Prime Minister David Cameron, his wife Samantha, and three older siblings: the late Ivan, plus Nancy, and Arthur Elwen.  For a humorous and insightful look on place names popping up on birth certificates, there’s this News & Star column. Capri and Dublin, yes.  St. Bees Flimby Pie?  Probably not;
  • Lastly, the best use of Twitter for baby naming since Erykah Badu live-tweeted the birth of her third child and claimed she was calling her Twittymilk surely goes to Neil Patrick Harris’ twins teaser. That’s an instant sibset I can’t wait to learn.

As always, thanks for reading!

Reader Baby Name Story: The Toughest Baby to Name – So Far!

Today’s Reader Baby Name Story comes to us courtesy of Fran, the mother to four beautifully named children.

But this is the story of her youngest – the most difficult to name!

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Yea or Nay: Beth

There’s no Baby Name of the Day today, but there is a name that’s been on my mind: Beth.

She’s a nickname for the evergreen Elizabeth, but if you’re under thirty, you’re more likely to answer to a different diminutive.  I’ve met Elizabeths called Libby, Ellie, Elle and even the retro Betsy, but all of the Beths I know are Boomers.

Beth peaked in the 60s, was immortalized in a 1976 Kiss ballad and then left the rankings after 1997.  But the recent Glee rendition of Beth, coupled with last year’s teen flick I Love You Beth Cooper, has me wondering if Beth will make a comeback.

And so I ask readers: Beth, yea or nay?

Sunday Summary: 5/16/10

Conventional media is still abuzz with news that Jacob and Isabella are the most popular baby names in the US for 2009.  Yawn. Luckily, the baby name blogosphere has moved on to more interesting topics.  Here are my two Big Questions of the week:

And, of course, Time Magazine pondered Why Do Babies Have the Same Names? They called it “The Twilight Effect.”  Is it me, or did they completely miss an important point?  Sure, lots of us are naming our kids Jacob and Isabella and Emma and Ethan.  But, generation after generation, we’ve become more tolerant of diversity in baby names.  Maybe my perspective is skewed by living in a big urban area with a huge international population, but I’m most impressed by how few kids continue to receive the most common names.

In good ol’ fashioned name-spotting this week:

And Claudia Schiffer has a new daughter, but if Caspar and Clementine’s little sis has a name, they’ve yet to share.  The supermodel mentioned she was struggling with name choices, so it is possible they’re still debating.  My money is on Cordelia, but I bet she’ll surprise us all.

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