Bridge between Waverley Abbey house and the Abbey; Image by stephen_dedalus via Flickr

Today’s literary choice is perfectly in step with current trends, but has yet to catch on.

Thanks to Amanda for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Waverly.

Waverly sounds like a surname, but first appears in the historical record as the name of an abbey, constructed in 1128.  It lasted into the 1500s, when the combined forces of flooding from the nearby River Wey and Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries forced it into ruin.  Waverley Abbey’s name is tricky to trace, too.  I’d thought it might relate to the nearby River Wey, but that’s not clear.

A few references link Waverly to aspens, and that tracks with the -ley ending, which usually signified a clearing, meadow, or field.  Nearly every reference talks about “quaking aspens,” and our word waver traces back to the Old English wæfre – restless.  So Waverly picks up yet another appealing aspect – a nature name vibe.

In 1814, Sir Walter Scott scored a smash hit with his novel Waverley.  His hero is called Edward Waverley, a well-born soldier sent to Scotland during the Jacobite Rebellion in 1745.  (This makes Waverly one of the first historical novels.)  Edward falls in love with Flora, the sister of a Scottish chieftain.  This brings us back to the trees: he describes her harp playing as “the soft sigh of the evening breeze in the rustling leaves of an aspen.”

There’s much intrigue, but no happy ending.  Despite Flora’s chieftain brother Fergus springing Edward from jail, Edward marries the sensible Rose.

Some link the novel’s name to Waverly Abbey, but that might just be coincidence.  Likewise, the 64 baby girls given the name in 2009 according to Nancy are probably not linked to the novel.

What could inspire parents to choose Waverly?

• She’s a popular place name throughout the English-speaking world.  She appeared on the New York City street names blog post at Nameberry, but you can find this name on the map from Alabama to Wisconsin;
• Amy Tan’s 1989 Joy Luck Club included a character named Waverly, named for the street where her family lived in San Francisco;
• The Princess Bride was a 1973 novel, a 1987 film, and an undeniable cult classic.  Later editions of the novel contain a brief epilogue and hint at a sequel, all about the daughter of Westley and Princess Buttercup.  Her name?  Waverly;
• If you’ve seen The Disney Channel in recent years, you might’ve caught The Wizards of Waverly Place, a successful comedy about a trio of wizards-in-training who have to keep their powers secret.  The show is set in New York City’s Greenwich Village, where there really is a Waverly Place, which was named after the novel – which takes us back to the beginning.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Waverly occasionally surfaced as a boy’s name.  But today, she sounds like a likely successor to Delaney – and undeniably feminine.  And while her name links to trees, her first syllable might remind parents of the beach.  If girls can be called Ocean and Sea, why not Waverly?

Thanks to Corinne for suggesting one that would fit the bill.  Our Name of the Day is Fergus.

You probably won’t meet a little boy answering to Fergus any time soon.  Not in the US, at least – Fergus has never cracked the US Top 1000.

But with Gus gaining, parents are considering many formal name options that contain the element, from Angus and August to Magnus and, yes, Fergus.

There’s much to like about Fergus besides his kid-friendly status as one of Thomas’ fellow engines on the Island of Sodor.

The Gaelic -gus means vigor; the first element means man.  So Fergus – or Fearghas or Fearghus – implies strength and derring do.  Plenty of figures from legend and history lived up to the name, including:

• Fergus mac Leda, a King of Ulster;
• Fergus mac Róich held the same office;
• Fergus Dubdétach was High King of Ireland for about a year.  (A few versions give him a much longer reign.)  His two brothers were also named Fergus;
• Fergus Fortamail is said to have ruled as a High King of Ireland for more than a decade sometime between the third and fourth centuries;
• Fergus the Great, also known as Gwrgan the Great or Gurgantius, was a seventh-century king of the Welsh kingdom of Ergyng;
• Saint Fergus was an eighth century Irish bishop who founded churches throughout Scotland.  He may have also attended a a council called by Pope Gregory II in 721 – or Fergus the Pict could be another bishop from the era;
• In the eighth century, Fergus mac Echdach ruled a kingdom in western Scotland called Dál Riata.

Some of the Fergi – the saint, for one – can be found in the historical record.  Others not so much.  The most famous Fergus is also difficult to confirm: Fergus Mór, considered the founder of Scotland, and the common ancestor of all Scottish rulers.  When King James held the English and Scottish thrones in the sixteenth century, he referred to himself as a descendant of Fergus.

Fergus also feels rather aristocratic, at least from an American perspective.  The late Queen Mother – born Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon – had a brother named Fergus.  Several Scottish clan chieftains answer to Fergus today, including both the Macdowell and Matheson chieftains.  (Though the Fergusson clan is currently headed by a Charles.)

Fergus remains just outside the Top 100 in Scotland today.

You’ll also find Fergus on the map throughout the English-speaking world, including River Fergus in Ireland.

William Butler Yeats gave the name a literary edge with his poem “Who Goes With Fergus?”  James Joyce borrowed Yeats’ work for use in his masterpiece Ulysses.

Overall, Fergus is a little unusual, but could strike just the right note for American parents seeking an offbeat Celtic heritage choice.

For most of the 20th century, Gus slowly crept towards obscurity, and by 1978, dropped out of the Top 1000 entirely. And while it still feels a bit brief to bestow as a formal name, as a nickname it feels surprisingly fresh and modern.If you like the idea of calling your little tyke Gus, what should you write on the birth certificate? Here are a few obvious ideas:

• August - just like the month, and like playwright August Wilson. Far more user-friendly than the Latin emperor moniker, Augustus.
• Augustin – more French-fried than the first option, with a certain amount of literary flair, thanks to Augusten Burroughs.
• Augustine - saintly, and with the “stine” ending, perhaps a touch feminine.

But if you’re feeling adventurous, here are some Gus-getters that are a bit less expected:

• Angus – It’s tough to come up with a boy’s name that is simple, straightforward and not Top 1000.  Angus fits the bill – and leaves you with the cute nickname Gus.
• Fergus – It’s a bit farther out than Angus, but might work for an adventurous parenting pair.
• Ferguson – Somehow, tacking on an extra syllable tones down Fergus.  Ferguson is an unusual surname choice that could work, especially with a shorter last name.  And the middle syllable – Gus – is just begging to be used as the short form.
• Gustav - This is one of those funny names that everyone recognizes, but few people consider for their sons.  There’s something theatrical about this choice, and it probably wouldn’t wear as well as August or Angus.
• Mingus - If you’re a jazz fanatic, naming your child after jazz musician and activist Charles Mingus could be an interesting choice.

There you have it … eight ways to arrive at the every-guy nickname Gus.

First, there’s Thomas himself. A saint’s name, a surname, one of those rare choices that can translate into any language (Tamihana in Maori; Tuomas in Finnish!) and a perpetual Top 100 choice.

In fact, until 2006, it had spent better than a century in the Top 50. (It charted at #51 that year.)

If you’re a trainspotter, naming your Thomas fan’s new little brother, or just looking for a boy’s name with a built-in birthday party theme, here are others, plucked from the series, to consider:

• Edward
• Henry
• James
• Oliver
• Fergus
• Arthur
• Duncan
• Peter (though the engine’s full name is Peter Sam)

And while the Thomasverse is remarkably male, there are even a few choices for girls:

• Annie
• Clarabel
• Henrietta
• Daisy

Though it must be said that the female characters are rarely the main focus of the action.

So there you have it. All aboard!