Sunday Summary: 2/13/11

Clio + Aly, February 2011

I took the kids to get their hair cut at our local Cartoon Cuts, which isn’t local at all – it requires a drive on the Beltway to Rockville Pike.  While the kids were being coiffed, I flipped through a rack of personalized hair barrettes.  The selection included the predictable Emma and Elizabeth, but also some out-there picks like Ayriel, Divany, and DarleneAriel has been in the Top 100 as recently as 1992, so okay.  But Ayriel?  Are there faithful salon customers with those names who buy a set every six weeks?

It was a good week for unusual name spotting.  Over on the Facebook page, I mentioned seeing a boy called Sovereignty in the local media, and Sarah spotted a bride-to-be on Say Yes to the Dress called Duvae.  Get this: the parents chose it so she “would be a comfort in their lives.”  Hokay.

Beyond Sovereignty and Duvae, there’s been another round of chatter about unusual names – are they over in Hollywood, are they anything new, and so on.  I’ll round up a few of the articles at Nameberry tomorrow.

In the meantime:

Amongst the fashionable and famous:

One more thing: from time to time, I have a question about the site’s direction, and it would be really helpful to get readers’ opinions before I make a decision and put anything live here.  So I’m forming a tiny little AppMtn Advisory Board.  (Dare I call you the Mounties?)  If you’re willing to get a VERY occasional email from me, please let me know by sending me a message at appmtn (at) gmail (dot) com.  I truly value your feedback, and it would be fun to get it before I try new things every once in a while.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a diehard lurker, occasional visitor, or regular commenter – just drop me a line, and you’re in the club!

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

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: Neville

Coat of arms of Hogwarts, the fictional school...

Coat of arms of Hogwarts; Image via Wikipedia

Harry Potter’s classmate Neville Longbottom starts out a bumbler, becomes an object of pity, and eventually grows up to be a hero in his own right.

It’s enough to  make parents consider the underused Neville, and thanks to Liz, he’s our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Mirabelle

Blossom of Mirabelle plum in detail

Blossom of Mirabelle plum; Image via Wikipedia

Miracle has been in the US Top 1000 for over a decade.  So why not this subtle alternative?

Thanks to Elena for suggesting her daughter’s name as our Baby Name of the Day: Mirabelle.

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How Close is Too Close? Ten Factors to Consider

When we decided to call our daughter Clio, we forever closed the door on another favorite name – Theodore, nickname Theo.

Or did we?

For every family that decides Maya and Milo are too similar, another embraces the sound-alike names.  Or insists that Alicia and Alina are totally different names.  Perhaps it never even occurs to them that Joanna and Jackson are both related to John.  Or maybe the first time you think of the famous actress is when you introduce your daughter Grace, little sister to Kelly and others ask if you’re a fan.

Siblings’ names will be said together countless times.  The names we like often have much in common.  So how can you tell if your choices make for a compatible sibset, or if they’re much too close?  Here are ten factors to consider.

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Name of the Day: Isobel

Isabella is the chart-topping, romanza name with a healthy dose of regal appeal.  No wonder she’s heard from Peoria to Park Slope to the Pacific Palisades and back again.  But she’s just one of many members of her name family.

Thanks to Kelleita for suggesting the less common and more tailored Isobel as Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 6/7/2009

The big news this week was, of course, the new addition to Kimora Lee Simmons’ family, her son with actor Djimon Hounsou, Kenzo Lee.  The self-proclaimed model-mogul-mom also has two daughters/reality starlets, Ming Lee and Aoki Lee.  

In other starbaby news:

  • Comedian Gilbert Gottfried and welcomed son Max Aaron, a brother to Lily Aster.  Max is clearly the new Jake – but what with the Max/Maxwell/Maxfield/Maxim and such choices, it may be a few years until his popularity is obvious in the Social Security rankings;
  • Max is clearly a celeb fave - Lance Armstrong welcomed a son named Maxwell Edward, little brother to Luke, Isabelle and Grace;
  • CNN correspondent Brooke Anderson announced the birth of daughter Kate Victoria – I’m a sucker for that one-syllable first name, longer middle name pattern – it’s quite unexpected;
  • Charmed alum Holly Marie Combs named her third son Kelley James.  Big brothers are Finley Arthur and Riley Edward.  Finley, Riley and Kelley – they sound quite a bit like Angie Harmon’s Finley, Avery and Emery, don’t they?  Only we all know that Angie’s trio are girls;
  • R&B singer/reality TV star Bobby Brown welcomed a son, Cassius.  He’s the fifth kiddo for Brown – older sibs are Landon, LaPrincia, Bobby Jr. and Bobbi.

Elsewhere online, you don’t want to miss:

  • The Toronto Star profiled a couple with daughters named Kalliyan – rhymes with stallion – and Taevy – rhymes with Davey.  Thing is, mom is Cambodian and says that they’re both Cambodian names.  But are they the Cambodian equivalent of Katherine and Mary, or the Cambodian equivalent of Tiffany and Mackenzie?  Cross-cultural names are tricky;
  • Speaking of cross-cultural naming, Nameberry’s post on quirky British names was pure fun – I loved Oliver Reckless Hyatt, Alexi William Martin Rabbit, Ursula Isabel Langdale and Elspeth Alice Eugénie.  If you’re so inclined, you can check out the Telegraph Birth Announcements yourself.  Just now, I stumbled on a newborn Rufus, brother to Stanley and Jasper;
  • A few readers have mentioned that they find Swistle’s posts a little on the dull side, and while she does field questions from parents choosing between Ava and Emma, check out these combos: Abigail Genevieve Dahlia, Sophia Madeleine Eilidh, Gemma Evangeline Claire and Ivy Susannah Vivienne - all sisters;
  • Speaking of Ava and Emma, Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” did a fun Alternate Top 100 – ideas to substitute for those familiar most common choices.  Check out her boys’ list and girls list. And yup, she suggests Max as a substitute for Jacob;
  • Nancy of Nancy’s Baby Names has been on location in France, seeking out unusual appellations in museums and graveyards, store windows and monuments!  I’m seriously thinking of saving up to send her somewhere else fabulous because her series was just amazing.  Two of her finds – Nadège, the name of my old roommate (she was Haitian), and Raphaëline – which I’d love even sans umlaut;
  • Lastly, Swistle also posed a question about whether siblings’ names should match?  And what does that mean anyhow?

I think it goes without saying that sibs’ names should have something in common.  The question that plagues me is what to do when your partner has a child from an earlier relationship.  If his first two kids are Kaylie and Jayden, do you try to match the style?  Or do you stick with Oliver and Eleanor?  Or try to split the difference with something like Matthew and Avery?  It’s not a challenge I’ve faced personally, but every time I hear a much-married celeb’s list o’ kids – like Bobby Brown’s quintet – I wonder.

Sunday Summary: 5/10/09

The stats are here!  Nameniks rejoiced as the US Social Security Administration unveiled the 2008 name data.  Here’s a quick round-up of discussion posts:

A few celeb births to report, too:

A few more newsy bits:

  • The most recent Toronto Star What’s Your Name article was among the most thought-provoking yet.  The parents chose Matheson for their daughter, noting that the name “just didn’t sound like a boy.”  To them, anyhow.  We’ll have to agree to disagree, and I must say that their daughter’s full name – Matheson Mary Isabel - is lovely, and the nickname Mattie is being worn by little girls called Matilda everywhere.  And that’s what really surprised me – the parents landed on Matheson as “something that when she went to kindergarten, the teacher would say her name and five hands wouldn’t pop up.”  Hmmm … Matheson, Madison, Madeline, Matilda … if the parents wanted something distinctive, they’d have been better off calling her Mary.
  • Over at Nancy’s Baby Names, poll results suggest that the vast majority of parents would stick with a name that is “very significant to you, but could be a burden to your child” versus something more mainstream, but without meaning.  She doesn’t break it out by gender, but I wonder if that would a make a difference?
  • It’s not exactly name news, but McDonald’s McCafé ad campaign threatens to unleash extraneous diacritical marks on the American public with their claims that one iced mocha from the Golden Arches can transform your daily drive into a commuté and your workspace into a cubiclé.  I will be hiding under my dešk, rockiñg baçk and forth untíl someone mâkes it stöp.

Wow – quite a week in baby naming, and that’s without the Jolie-Pitts adding to their brood!

Predictions for 2009

With just hours left in 2008, here are the official ApMtn baby name predictions for 2009.

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