Sunday Summary: 7/17/11

Go 17

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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:

  • Nancy explores baby names inspired by the Spanish-American War.  I know a little Maceo – great name!
  • I’ve come across this sibet before, but if you haven’t, check out Mer de Noms post about the Taylor family – Columbus, Cassius, Eloise, and Estella;
  • ForReal spotted a Syndle.  Is it another spin on the ever-so-rare Cindal?
  • Are you following Nook’s series on Harry Potter names?  She mentioned two minor characters with great names hereOrion and Hesper;
  • Bewitching has been profiling Harry Potter names, too.  Loved this post on Firenze;
  • Mer de Noms also translated some popular nature names into French, with appealing results: Lis, Laurier, Vrai;
  • In her Friday digest, Elea at British Baby Names mentioned the cluster of boys named Doctor in the nineteenth century – and at least one girl named Doctoressa.  Interesting;
  • Nancy’s list of top baby name debuts in fascinating;
  • Niki was kind enough to share this map: Most Popular Names by European Country.  I’m not certain about the data set, but it is worth a look;
  • Big debuts at Nymbler in June were Aleph (no surprise), Tyla, and Suomi.  My head whipped around at that last one.  Suomi is Finnish for Finland – and seems like an implausible baby name, no matter how popular Finn might become.

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:

  • Maternity concierge and reality TV star Rosie Pope’s boys are called J.R. and Wells, short for James and Wellington.  I’m intrigued by Wells and Wellington – I wonder if Rosie has a story about choosing those names?
  • Have you read this commentary regarding Natalie Portman‘s choice of Aleph for her firstborn?  It’s from Deborah Kolben, editor of Kveller.com, a parenting website and resource for Jewish parents;
  • There was lots of talk about the name Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr chose for their son, Flynn, but Kerr recently revealed that Flynn’s middle is equally meaningful – Christopher, after her high school boyfriend who was killed in a car accident;
  • Jewel and husband Ty Murray welcomed son Kase Townes Murray.  I don’t love Kase, but if your dad is a professional bull rider, it seems appropriate.  And he’s definitely one of those little cowboy names that is quite popular these days.

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

In Defense of Riley Anne and Evan Marie: Ten Reasons Boys’ Names on Girls Are Not a Sign of End Times

Boy and girl posed, three-quarter length, stan...

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Feeling feisty?  Head to a message board and announce that you’re naming your daughter Addison.  Or Quinn.  Or Mason.

Then run for cover.

Sure, some people will respond positively.  But depending on the forum, you could also find yourself accused of thievery, trendiness, and general bad taste.

I’m sympathetic to parents who feel they can’t use a name they’d long loved, for fear that their son Delaney will be scarred by sharing his name with girls.  But I’m not sure a girl named Ryan is a sign of the coming apocalypse.

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Sunday Summary: 1/9/11

number 9

Number 9 by Jon Tin Tin Jordan via Flickr

I had lunch with a mom-to-be friend of mine last week.  Dad has already veto’d her #1 pick for a son – Nehemiah – and she’s not on board with any of his ideas.  She’s not due for a few more weeks, but her doc is already murmuring things like “measuring big” and the pressure is mounting.  I’m going to share this great advice from Swistle with her: it isn’t about finding the perfect name, it is finding the name that most satisfies both parents – almost like averaging the parent’s scores.  (You give Nehemiah a 10; he gives it a 4.  That makes Nehemiah a 7.  The question is whether you can agree on a name that ranks an 8 or higher.)

Elsewhere online:

Plenty of famous folk announced their good news this week, including the arrivals of:

  • Kristoffer Polaha’s sonJude, a little brother for Kristoffer Jr. and Micah.  Mom is Julianne Morris;
  • Jason Schwartzman and wife Brady Cunningham went for the offbeat, choosing Marlowe Rivers.  Note to Natalie Portman and other pregnant celebs – Carlo/Carlow/Carlowe is still available;
  • What do a pair of news anchors name their son?  Carter Evans and Courtney Friel went with Cash Hudson.  To the best of my knowledge, neither covers Wall Street or Metro New York;
  • Top Chef alum Nikki Cascone will be pureeing lots of veggies in about six months.  She’s a new mom to Jackson Robert.  Cascone said that the tot’s name came from Sons of Anarchy.  Great show, but I’m partial to the name worn by Jax Teller’s son – Abel;
  • And, of course, there’s a new member of the royal family.  No official announcement has been made, but prayers were offered for Peter and Autumn Philips and their new daughter Savannah.

Speaking of congratulations, let’s end on a high note: you can now buy the first eBook from Nancy Man, Strong Boy Names.  Based on the preview, it isn’t so much a list of Gunnar/Cannon/Slade as much as it analyzes more conventional masculine choices that are rarely borrowed by Team Pink.  Actually, this might be the baby shower gift I give to my friend who won’t be naming her son Nehemiah …

That’s all for today.  As always, thank you for reading, and have a fabulous week!

Baby Name of the Day: Sullivan

Sully

Image by J.E.S. via Flickr

There’s something tremendously upbeat about this Irish surname.

Thanks to Kelly for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Sullivan.

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Sunday Summary: 5/23/10

Thanks to everyone who has submitted their Baby Name Stories.  Keep ‘em coming!  They’ll be found here on Saturdays starting in June.  And I also appreciate all of you who de-lurked to suggest a Baby Name of the Day.  I’ll be scheduling the lurker posts tomorrow, so check back and you’ll know when your name is going to be profiled.

Summer movie season is just beginning.  Aly and I have plans to see Toy Story 3, but what I’m really wondering when I walk past the multiplex these days?

Will Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood revive interest in the name?  He did wonders for Maximus.  And, of course, there’s Jake Gyllenhaal’s upcoming turn as Dastan in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.  If parents can embrace Daxton and Zayden, will Dastan be far behind?  Oh, and Ellen Page plays Ariadne in the new Leonardo DiCaprio thriller Inception.  Adrianna is fine, but Ariadne is stunning.

But the theme for this week seems to be more about those Really? name moments.  Gracing the front page of my local paper Thursday morning was a pair of cute little girls at a community festival.  Their names?  Cashay and Lashay.  Not twins, but sisters just a year apart.

Along the same lines, there’s:

  • Nameberry’s Most Hated Baby Names was another of their ask-the-readers columns.  Nevaeh and the -aidens featured prominently, but also perfectly conventional picks like Emily and Hannah;
  • Creative spellings featured large on the Nameberry list, which reminds me of this news story about an Australian family.  All four kids have a -y in their namesTayla, Mitchyl, Harrisyn and Samuyl. The only one that strikes me as really beyond is Samuyl.  I’m just not sure that -uyl can substitute for -uel;
  • For Real spotted a Happi Star Evelyn Rose. All of a sudden Cashay seems like Margaret;
  • The Stir gives us a little girl called Syren. After an evil mermaid/human on supernatural soap Passions.  And her dad is a firefighter;
  • But hey, unusual names are nothing new, as Nancy proves in her story about the first baby born in flight, back in October 1929.  And get this: the parents chartered the flight just so mom could give birth!  Nancy does some digging and determines the baby’s name very appropriate name was Airlene;
  • Baby Name Pool winners were posted at Baby Name Wizard.  Jill was the high scorer.  She picked Bentley, Bristol and Bradyn to rise; Joseph, Jessica and Diego to fall.  Laura Wattenberg’s comment on the winning ballot was priceless:  ”Of all of the cultural memes shaping name trends, ‘pregnant teenagers’ hardly springs to mind. Yet the sudden rise of Bentley was spurred by a baby featured on the MTV reality shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom. Bristol Palin, meanwhile, emerged as a naming force not in the year that her mother ran for vice president, but in the year that she became a single teenage mom.”
  • Proof that you can put anything in the middle spot, especially if the first name is a classic: For Real’s post on the Best of Grace: From the classic-with-a-classic Grace Catherine to a more current pick, like Grace Harlow or Grace Presley.

Let’s turn to Tinsel Town, where the biggest starbaby news was the arrival of Aviana Olea, there’s also:

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

Baby Name of the Day: Ezekiel

Take Noah and Isaiah, cross them with Zachary and what do you get?

Thanks to Kelly for suggesting Ezekiel as Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Dawson

The evergreen David has never left the US Top 50.  How would this surname spin on the classic wear today?

Thanks to Urban Angel for suggesting Dawson as Baby Name of the Day.

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Name of the Day: Richard

He’s a regal choice and a former member of that elite fraternity, the US Top Ten.  But has he been sunk by his awkward nickname?

Thanks to Corinne for suggesting Richard as Name of the Day.

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