Image via Wikipedia
How can a Top 100 boys’ name borrowed from a faithful Biblical figure be so very controversial?
Thanks to Kelly for suggesting the surprisingly complex Caleb as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Caleb
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Tag Archives: Ethan
Baby Name of the Day: Robert
Robert Pattinson; Image via Wikipedia
He was a Top Ten pick in the US for over a century, and the #1 name for fifteen years. Today he’s fading, but a young Hollywood star might just bring him back.
Thanks to Heather for suggesting Robert as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Esau
Esau and Jacob presesnted to Isaac; Image via Wikipedia
His twin brother’s name has been on top since 1999. So why is Esau an also-ran?
Thanks to Christina for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
Sunday Summary: 4/24/11
Image by World of Good via Flickr
Happy Easter! If you’re celebrating, here’s wishing you all the chocolate bunnies you can decapitate without inviting tooth decay.
- Let’s start with the inevitable: Nameberry’s Twelve Best Bunny Names. Hazel and Niccolo are my favorites;
- Last week was also Earth Day, and Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” posted some intriguing options. I’m all about Bay and Delphine;
- From the Wayback Machine: in 2009, the featured name was Gail. Last year, it was Temple;
- For Real is on a roll. I love this post with Trenna, Wren, Bren, and Nelle. And Ethan Arlo is a cool combo;
- Then there’s For Real’s twins post. A bunch of these were super cringe-worthy: Lexa and Alexa, Noah and Noel, Charlee and Chelsee, Jonah and Josie. I’m not a twin, and I’ve never named twins, but I can’t help think that names that matchy spell trouble. Oh – and Luke and Leia. What to say …
- Speaking of head-scratchers, Nancy pointed out that The Greg Kihn Band’s single “Jeopardy” inspired parents – at least six pairs of parents – in 1983. The song has been lodged in my brain ever since;
- Speaking of games, did you vote in the Baby Name Wizard’s annual contest? Entries closed mid-April, but T was good enough to share her guesses;
- This is great advice for choosing a middle name!
Last week’s post for Nameberry was movie marquee names. Thanks to Nicole for suggesting this week’s idea. It’s a little bit cineplex, but in a very different way. It’s one of the lists where I feel like the options for boys and girls are equally appealing. Check it out on Monday.
There were some great lines about baby names on Thursday’s night double-episode of 30 Rock, but at the risk of revealing more spoilers (sorry, Photoquilty!), I’ll stick with mentioning the celeb birth of the week. Jane Krakowski welcomed son Bennett Robert.
That’s all for this week. It’s re-run week here at AppMtn, so while there won’t be new posts, there will still be a daily post telling you which name has been brushed up, 2011-style. May marks my third year of writing name of the day posts, and it is amazing how many of the golden oldies could use some improvement.
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
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 Blythe. See the post about her name here.
Elsewhere online:
- Here’s something you don’t know about me: I rarely drive. I have a license, but we’ve arranged our lives so most of the time, our car stays parked. And I plain like mass transit. So Nancy’s recent post about a baby named Queenie after a bus company? That could be me;
- I understand Ever and Everly. A kid called Eternity would not be a surprise. But Never? ForReal spotted one, and it just seems off;
- Did you see the great Nameberry post on TV character names? Ask a parent if she’d be willing to name a child after a TV character and you’ll often get a refusal, maybe a snicker. But they do filter into wider use. So get set for birth announcements reading Landry, Horatio, Brick, Remy, Cricket, and Astrid. One not on the list: Dwight, Jason Lee’s character on his new show, Memphis Blue. Rainn Wilson’s salesman/beet farmer on The Office has put a dent in Dwight – he left the US Top 1000 in 2004 – wonder if Lee can revive him?
- The Globe and Mail has an essay by a parent who really can’t decide what to name son #3. It’s a common struggle, but what’s particularly interesting is the drama caused by their common surname: Jones. Nearly any popular choice has a notable bearer: George Jones, Tom Jones, and so on. After naming firstborn son Jack they learned that Jack Jones sang The Love Boat theme song. I always thought it was the long, unusual surnames that posed problems, but I guess it goes both ways;
- Here’s a fun list of model names from Babble columnist Ceridwen Morris. But Nameberry did it first, and even compiled a list of super-stylish names supermodels gave to their offspring (before, we assume, slipping back into some fabulous get-up for a photo shoot with baby on hip like a designer bag.) Yannick or Mingus, anyone?
- I haven’t checked in with the Toronto Star’s Kristin Rushowy in months. A few recent posts: a boy called Timo Wolf, a girl named Tanys Aurora Alexandra Piia, and a cautionary tale about pronunciation issues when you name your cute Canadian kid after a Hindu goddess.
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!
Sunday Summary: 8/16/10
Can the end of summer really be so near? It feels like just yesterday, Washington DC was digging out of the February snowstorms.
Speaking of the February snowstorms, we were at the city’s summer concert series on Friday night and we’re anticipating A LOT of November babies. One expectant mom was kind enough to tell me they’re naming their baby-on-the-way Maxwell, but mostly I’m looking forward to a pre-Thanksgiving wave of birth announcements.
Speaking of waves of BAs, there were so many Hollywood births in the past week that I’m putting them first:
- Annie Wersching, of 24 fame, welcomed a son, Freddie;
- Songwriter/producer Ryan Tedder and wife Genevieve are new parents to son Copeland Cruz;
- General Hospital’s Rebecca Herbst is now mom to three. New son Emerson Truett joins Ethan and Ella Bailey at home;
- Singer Luke Bryan also announced the birth of a son, Tatum Christopher, called Tate. Tate joins big brother Bo – Thomas Boyer;
- And the sole girl to make her debut this week was Chaplin Haddow, a daughter for Ever Carradine.
Is it me, or are gender-neutral names truly staying neutral? Conventional wisdom was that once a name had “gone girl” it would never be considered for a boy. But many of these celeb names are solidly ambiguous – and still used for sons.
Which reminds me:
- For Real Baby Names spotted a boy named Addison Alex;
- Nancy uncovers the true story of Johnny Carson’s name-changing sons: Christopher kept his name, but Kim Arthur, distressed that he was meeting so many girls with his given name, became Richard. Son Barry became Cory, apparently just because he liked it better;
- Legitimate Baby Names gives us Laine – a two-syllable feminine appellation in Estonia, but this side of the Baltic, inevitably mistaken for a respelling of single-syllable gender-neutral Lane;
- The Name Lady weighs in on whether you can honor a beloved brother by naming his niece Jacob. Well, not exactly – they want to put Jacob in the middle spot. The Name Lady says yes, and for once, I find her answer absolutely wonderful and agree completely;
- But if you want to be sure your son is all boy? For Real reports that Georgia parents went with Remington Colt for their little gunslinger. In the same list you’ll find Dusty Phideles. Could it be a play on “Adeste Fideles,” better known in English as “O Come All Ye Faithful” – could it!?
- Equally unthinkable, brought to us from the Yahoo! Answers community – is Twitter a good name for my daughter? – via That’s Crazee;
- Babynamelover has a sweet little list of less common girls’ names that end in -a, from the exotic (Svea, Raja) to the throwback (Ida, Flora) to the new (Gala, Vega) and everything in between;
- I spotted a tweenager reading one of these books the other day and kept meaning to Google it, but Laura Wattenberg beat me to the punch – check out her post on Theodosia.
I dragged a very reluctant Aly to shop for school shoes today and was delighted to overhear a father calling out Hasting. It was in the Nordstrom’s at the Annapolis Mall – you sort of had the impression the kid might’ve been Something Hasting Something IV. It’s possible I misheard, and he was Hastings, as in the Battle of, raising the possibility that his parents are experts on the Norman Invasion.
That’s all for this week. As always, it wouldn’t be worth writing if you weren’t here. Thank you!
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:
- Is the speed of change in baby name trends accelerating? Elisabeth mentioned the possibility in her post about the Top 100 baby names of 2009 over at You Can’t Call It “It.“ We’ve certainly seen the pace pick up over the generations, but I was whopperjawed at the rise and fall of Miley.
- Is it right to correct a name’s meaning when a parent’s assertion is just plain inaccurate? Nancy asked the question specifically about reporters, but it comes up in discussion, too – online and off.
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:
- Design Mom blogger Gabrielle Blair and husband Ben welcomed daughter Flora June, a little sister for Ralph, Maude, Olive, Oscar and Betty. They’re calling her June. Congratulations;
- Speaking of June, she’s on the Quirky Classics for Girls list at Nameberry’s Baby Names 2010: What Names are Heading This Way? In the harder to classify category are the testosterone-charged Gunner and Ace. All this means that circa 2040, we should be seeing marriage announcements for mismatched couples like Annabelle and Colt;
- For Real brings us reports of London newborns called Myrtle, Ludovic and Albus, as well as a girl called Betzabet in Maine and another named Manhattan Rose, presumably not in New York;
- Nancy crunched the data to bring us Which Baby Name Ranked #1 in the Most States? The handful of names that the top spot in just one state are an interesting mix: Addison, Aiden, Allison, Daniel, Jose, Ryan and Wyatt;
- More data-crunching: Baby Name Wizard announced that Kaydence was the fastest rising name of the decade. The name Cadence was worn by American Pie’s band camp alum Michelle’s little sis in 2003′s American Wedding, but she was on the rise before. Caydence is just a step behind the K-spelling;
- You give your child a nice, normal name like Richard and what happens? Language Log tells us that Richard Smith of Carlisle, England, legally changed his name to Stormhammer Deathclaw Firebrand. And I thought For Real spotted some truly eye-popping appellations;
- I love Julie’s description of her kids: “My children are wonderful, hilarious, terrifying little creatures. It is still mind-boggling that we have one kid, let alone three.” Their names are nice, too: Henry, Eli and Zuzu;
- Nancy brings us a story about baby Karina, born to the wife of a Soviet scientist aboard a ship in the Kara Sea in 1933. And that’s only part of the story;
- Ellie Kate’s mom mentions Sylvie as a possible name for a future daughter. Well, Sylvie and Phyer. But Ellie’s dad veto’d Phyer, so that’s out. I found her post via Kelly’s Korner, a blog that asked parents to share lists of their kids’ names or future names – there are over 400 links!
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!
Sunday Summary: 4/11/10
I’m not a loyal viewer of America’s Next Top Model, but I do check in from time to time to see the contestants’ names. Naduah and Ren are already out, but Alasia and Anslee are still in. Speaking of Anslee, there’s a historic home in Baltimore County, Maryland called Villa Anneslie. I find it a slightly more appealing version of Ainsley, Ansleigh and company, though she would probably be confused with rising favorite Anneliese.
I’ve done a good job staying away from Yahoo! Answers baby name boards, but I got sucked into a vortex when I stumbled across MTV’s Remote Control blog question “Do you have your baby names already picked out?” The responses were predictable: Daylin, Tatyana Vanity, Egypt Kinsley Rain, Xa’Kaevyan Kohelre, Brance, Kendrix Olivia, Jurnee Ella Greer. Here’s hoping that each of the posts was written by someone many years away from parenthood.
And one more from reality TV. Tori Spelling turns her literary attentions from tell-alls to kidlit with children’s book called Presenting Tallulah. Is Tallulah the next Stella?
Elsewhere online:
- By now, you’ve probably seen Lisa Belkin’s article on Baby Name Regret at the New York Times’ Motherlode. It’s an interesting article, but I’m especially fond of the trivia point she mentions early on – Scarlett O’Hara, the intrepid heroine of Gone With the Wind, was initially called Pansy;
- 4real spots a Tidus Jay and a Penelope Thistle;
- Sebastiane covers the intriguing Eglė;
- Nancy brings us the saintly Casilda;
- Linda at Nameberry turned up some fabulous finds from women in aviation history, including Marvel and Bessica;
- And I say again for the 500th time: No, they’re not stealing your baby name. Delilah, Lilah and Lyla are white hot, along with Lily, Lola and lots of other lovely L-intensive names;
- The March stats are out at Nymbler. The Top Ten are Charlotte, Amelia, Ava, Benjamin, Oliver, Grace, Henry, Ella, Jack and Ethan. And the new, never dull names? Calleigh, Kyson, Lillith, Kensington and Petal;
- Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” brings us a list of NYC baby names, including a double dose of Lola. I’m hearing Lola more and more here in DC, too, and Nola appears to be rising fast. Could Zola follow?
In starbaby news:
- Hoop star Lisa Leslie welcomed a son, Michael Joseph II. They’re planning to call him MJ;
- Byron Allen has welcomed a daughter, Olivia Rose. Olivia joins big sis Chloe Ava at home;
- I agree with Celebrity Baby Names Blog on this one: Robin Thicke and Paula Patton have done a great job naming new son Julian Fuego. The first name is a conventional masculine pick circa 2010 and the middle? Is sheer daring.
But let’s face it, most of my energies this week have gone to the Top 100 lists at Nameberry for boys and girls. Which reminds me – Imogen is on their girls’ list, and a friend recently spotted this rarity on his family tree: Imojune.
That’s all for this week. As always, thanks for reading and tune in tomorrow!
Name of the Day: Ethan
Most of our Names of the Day range from the underused to the obscure. Today’s choice is the polar opposite – a pleasing chart-topper.
Thanks to Another for suggesting her son’s name for consideration: Ethan.
