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.
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.
What a week! First there was Harper Seven Beckham, and chatter galore about the name. (Mainstream sites dismissed Harper as weird, while we name fans more accurately pegged Harper as far more ordinary than her brothers’ names.) Then Kate Hudson, mom to Ryder Russell Robinson, welcomed a son she’s calling Bing, short for Bingham Hawn Bellamy. So very exciting, and both sets of parents were kind enough to reveal their thinking, too.
Elsewhere online:
For last week’s Nameberry post, I wrote about the workaday identities of superheroines. They’ve worn some great names when they’re not in their capes and tights – Natasha, Kitty, Tandy, Tessa, Selina. Tomorrow’s post is another one for the girls, but with far more exotic appellations on deck.
Let’s end where we started, with just a few more tidbits from the rich and famous:
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
I was recently trailing a just-pregnant-enough-to-need-maternity-wear friend through the mall when I spotted a baby names book. Moth to a flame, I flipped through the pages.
And I was horrified. The definitions weren’t just wrong – there’s room to quibble about the origins of many names – they were absolutely uninformed. Cleo meant “Egyptian queen” as did Cleopatra. (Wrong.) Julie was listed as an American name, Juliet as Italian, and Juliette as French. One out of three is … pretty pathetic.
I stopped short of telling the clerk they really needed to stock Beyond Ava and Aiden. And I must say, I have a renewed sense of how hard it is for the non-name-obsessed to get good information.
Speaking of which, there was quite a lot of great conversation this week:
If you follow AppMtn on Facebook, you heard me shouting “Noooooo!” when David Schwimmer’s daughter’s name was announced last week. Even more strange? A New Zealand news site said this of Cleo Schwimmer: “After several weeks of bizarre celebrity baby names, it’s refreshing to find someone who has given their newborn the best chance of a normal life.”
H’okay. I’m not saying Cleo is especially weird, but it isn’t exactly Anne.
Speaking of celebrity names, Oprah inspired last week’s post at Nameberry. There’s no post here tomorrow thanks to the Memorial Day holiday, but my list at Nameberry is super-season appropriate and very much fun.
As always, thanks for reading and have a great week!
He’s an upbeat Irish surname made famous by a fictional, hard-edged cop.
Thanks to Amanda for suggesting Callahan as our Baby Name of the Day.
It’s official. The trophies go to Louisa and Nathaniel!
In the final round of play, Louisa bested Elodie, 229 to 140 votes, or 62%.
The boys’ round was more interesting. Nathaniel, you’ll recall, was wrongly ousted in the Semi-Finals. He was returned for the Finals, leaving us with a three-way contest.
And wouldn’t you know it? Nathaniel came out on top, with 157 votes, or 43% of the total. Archer was in second with 115, or 32%. Finn finished up in third with 92 votes, or 25%.
Very few of the names profiled here rank in the US Top 100, but the winner of March Madness for the boys came in at #76 in 2009. In fact, he’s been in the Top 100 since 1978, making him something of a staple.
Louisa is less surprising as a favorite. She left the US rankings after 1969 and has yet to return. But with her fashionable first letter and her oo sound, she’s definitely on trend.
Thanks for playing! And what do you think of the outcome?
There’s been controversy. There’s been heartache. I’m not sure if we’ve had a Cinderella story. But it has been great fun to watch the names advance.
In last week’s action, Nathaniel beat Tobias, 54% to 46%, or 198 votes to 170.
Finn was the clear winner over Cian, 70% to 30%, or 257 votes to 108.
We’re down to the final round, but unlike your typical basketball match-up, there are three contenders for the title: the Colonial Nathaniel, the sharp Archer, the friendly Finn. Please see the controversy link above if you’re wondering why Nathaniel is making a re-appearance!
Voting stays open until next Friday, and the winners will be announced a week from today.
It’s the Final Four!
A few of my favorites have been knocked out. (Au revoir, Huxley!) But some of the matches were just impossible – at least for me. I’m sad to see Dashiell fall, but Archer is great, too.
For the boys, there were no upsets in the last round. But then, neither were there any close calls. All four matches had a clear victor.
Something tells me that this will make the next round really agonizing … ready?
It’s the battle of the new, hot ending: the -er of Archer versus the ends-in-s of Tobias
It’s a Celtic match-up: Finn versus Cian
She’s a daring pirate queen, and a mythological princess, too. Why haven’t more parents considered her?
Thanks to Claire for suggesting Gráinne as our Baby Name of the Day.
Thanks to everyone who voted in the first round of March Madness. The results were fascinating! We’ve gone from sixteen to eight.
The closest match-ups? Liam lost to Archer by just three votes. The biggest trouncing was Eamon, with 83% of the vote compared to St. John’s measly 17%. My biggest disappointment was that Gray failed to make it out of the opening round.
But all that is in the past. Vote now and help us whittle it down to just four!
The dashing Dashiell (1) versus the pointed Archer (8)
It’s the Celtic showdown: cheerful Eamon (2) versus friendly Finn (10)
Two rarities-on-the-rise face off: Huxley (3) versus Cian (6)
Possibly the most conservative names on the list: Tobias (13) versus Nathaniel (12)
She’s gone full circle, from buxom pin-up girl to grey-haired granny, and back again to the nursery.
Thanks to Claire for suggesting Betty as our Baby Name of the Day.