The Number 30 by Herman Turnip via Flickr

It strikes me that I’m now into my fourth year of writing at AppMtn.  My first post was Ava and Harlow, back on January 23, 2008.  I’d learned the mechanics of blogging for work a few years earlier; I now manage yet another blog in Real Life, and it looks like it is about to be joined by another.  Nothing I’ve written professionally has given me anywhere near the joy I’ve gotten out of writing here, and I credit that to you.  (Yup, even you lurkers.  I can’t hear you, but I can see you – and it’s nice to know that you’re here, too.)

On to the news:

• Carlton F.W. Larson of UC Davis School of Law dips a toe into our world with “Naming Baby: The Constitutional Dimensions of Parental Naming Rights.” Nancy read up on the section about numbers in given names and has a summary here. Larson himself wrote on prawfsblog about a subject that fascinates me: diacritical marks.  His take?  Many laws passed by the states to restrict naming rights are okey-dokey, but prohibiting diacritical marks might not be;
• Here’s another hot-button issue I enjoy:  I thought I invented that name, posted at BabyNameWizard. In this case, the name in question is Baylen, recently in the press as the name of Drew Brees’ firstborn, big brother to Bowen.  Wattenberg suggests that names aren’t invented – they’re discovered.  I like that concept.  Wattenberg also wrote about the phenomenon of parents choosing a name, then searching for a meaning:  “I made up this name, can you tell me what it means?”  That one always stumps me;
• Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” came up with a list of twenty possible options for Nicole at Making It Lovely to consider.  So far Frederick is in front, but Hugo got my vote;
• Here’s something spotted by ForReal: Avalon is one of my favorites, but to me it is all girl.  Interesting to see it in the middle for a boy, paired with the powerful Gage;
• I’d love to know what this reader does.  Loyal Granddaughter asked the Name Lady what she thought of using all four grandmothers’ names for her daughter: Sue Mae Rose Marie.  The advice was sound – why not combine so your daughter receives all of the names in some form?  I love the idea of Susan Rosemary Mae or Rosamae Susan Marie;
• Do you read The Meanest Mom?  I must be the last person on Earth to discover Jana’s blog.  She’s not really mean, but she is wickedly funny.  And I’m crazy about her eldest child’s name, a daughter called Camber;
• I don’t read Portuguese, but I’ve just started following Nomes e mais nomes anyhow;
• From the wayback machine: in 2009, I wrote about Lunette and Arlo.  Last year, it was Clover and Jacoby;
• And here’s a look forward: in the queue for next week are Piers, Frank, Lucinda, Ulysses, and Amory.

Stop by Nameberry tomorrow where I’ll be talking about names I found while culling through the list of Oscar nominees.  (C in DC, thanks for the inspiration!)

Speaking of The Glamorous Life, please welcome the following sure-to-be-paparazzi-stalked tots to the universe:

• Mike Tyson welcomed a son called Morocco Elijah.  He and wife Lakiha also have a daughter, Milan.  Tyson’s six older children are D’Amato, Mikey, Miguel, Rayna, Amir, and his daughter Exodus, who passed away in 2009;
• No Doubt’s Tony Kanal is a new dad. He and girlfriend Erin Lokitz welcomed daughter Coco Reese Lakshmi.  The rest of the musical crew’s moppets are Kingston, Zuma, Ace, Rio, and Mason.

Which reminds me, Clio is obsessed with Gwen Stefani and Akon’s single “The Sweet Escape.”  How do you say no to a toddler who asks for “more Woo-hoo song, peeeeez?”

Speaking of requests, I’ll be doing another rerun week in April.  Should you stumble across a post that you think needs some freshening up, feel free to suggest it via email to appmtn (at) gmail (dot) com.

That’s all for this week.  As always, thank you for reading!