Ireland High Cross; Image via Wikipedia

He’s a Gaelic twist on an impeccable classic – and he’s more popular in the US than you might guess.

Thanks to Bri for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Seamus.

Seamus first appears in the US Top 1000 in 1995.  He climbed for a while, making it all the way up to #733 in 2003.  Today he’s slipped to #875.

That’s not exactly popular, but it still more common than you might expect.  While Diego is huge, and Jacob has dominated the rankings for over a decade, other names related to the evergreen James haven’t attracted much use: when’s the last time you met an American Hamish or Jago?

Explaining the evolution from the Hebrew Ya’akov to the Irish Seamus isn’t easy.  Remember the term lenition, a type of consonant mutation?  As words travel from one language to another, they sometimes soften – in this case, the “jay” of James becoming a “sh” – as in Seamus.  The Scottish version was typically closer to Seumas, a variant that might still be heard today.

I’ve always associated Seamus with the UK, but that may be an error:

• He’s been in the Irish Top 100 as recently as 2002 – but seems to have faded in recent years;
• Only two boys were given the name in all of Scotland in 2010 – there were also two newborn boys called Sheldon, and another called Sorley, so call him unusual;
• He’s just not much heard in England and Wales, either.

On the other hand, I know two kids called Seamus just in my own neighborhood.

Maybe it is parents looking for an Irish heritage choice more original than Sean.  He’s certainly paved the way for Americans to grasp that sea makes a sh sound.  Or maybe it is one of these notable uses:

• Pink Floyd recorded “Seamus” in 1971.  A dog provides the howling sound in the song, and that dog’s name was Seamus – hence the title.  When Pink Floyd performed the song live a year later, a different dog stood in … and the song was renamed accordingly;
• Seamus Blackley created the Xbox game console;
• Seamus Finnigan is a minor character in the Harry Potter series, one who proves himself heroic over the course of the novels;
• Irish poet Seamus Heaney won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1995 – the same year his given name debuted in the US Top 1000.

Add in a handful of athletes, politicians, and journalists, many of them Irish, and it starts to feel like an impeccable heritage choice.  Actor Seamus Dever is a regular on crime drama Castle; the young Seamus Davy-Fitzpatrick played Damien in the rebooted version of The Omen.

Seamus is a name on the fringes.  He’s not completely unknown, but he’s not quite captured the attention of American parents, either.  Somehow Brady and Riley, Connor and Declan, Sean and Ryan have all become acceptable crossover names.  You don’t have to be Irish to wear them.  Seamus, with his links to James, is no more outrageous on a child without Irish roots than any of the others – and yet he’s not quite shed his kelly green guise.

If you or your partner have Irish roots, Seamus make for an easy import.  If not, you might get more questions than parents of all those little Aidans.  It’s up to you to decide if that’s a concern – or an opportunity to embrace an interesting, under-used appellation.

Arabella Churchill; Image via Wikipedia

Nicole requested this frilly, feminine confection ages ago – and she’s very much in the news this week.

With congratulations to Ivanka and Jared, today’s Baby Name of the Day is Arabella.

Looking at the US Top 100, you could easily declare a -belle, -bella, -ella, -elle craze among parents today.

But there must have been a similar phenomenon in medieval Scotland.  Amabel – lovable – was the first.  She also appears as Amabilia, Mabella, and Mabel.  Some parents smooshed Amabel and Anna to arrive at Annabel.  Others took Amabel, factored in the Latin orabilis – invokable, able to be called upon, as a saint – and arrived at Orabella or Arabella.

Mirabel – from the Latin for wondrous – appears in the same era, as do variants of that name.

Her lofty meaning combines with a frothy, lacy sound, and an intriguing list of figures, like:

• The well-born Lady Arbella Stuart was considered a possible heir to the English throne, a successor to Queen Elizabeth I.  Plenty of suitors vied for her hand, but Arbella married William Seymour – just two places behind her in the line of succession.  Because they married without the sovereign’s permission, the duo was arrested.  They escaped – and nearly got away.  Instead, Arbella died in prison on a hunger strike.  Some say the details of her attempted flight inspired Shakespeare’s character Imogen – like the fictional character, Arbella dressed as a man;
• The well-born Arabella Churchill – yup, the same family as future prime minister Winston – was mistress to King James II in the seventeenth century.  Their youngest child shared a name with mom – but that’s likely where the similarity ended, as young Arabella became a nun;
• In 1712, poet Alexander Pope penned “The Rape of the Lock.” It was an overnight sensation.  The second edition included a dedication to Arabella Fermor, the celebrated beauty who had, indeed, had an infatuated suitor, Robert Petre, cut off a lock of her hair – the inspiration for Pope’s work.  The Petre and Fermor families are lampooned in the poem, but apparently Arabella liked being depicted as the beautiful Belinda.

Others surface in the same era: a ship called the Arabella brought the Puritans to New England in 1630; there’s social reformer Lady Arabella Denny and famed singer Arabella Hunt; the heroine of Charlotte Lennox’s 1752 novel The Adventures of Arabella, a female version of Don Quixote.  The name never completely disappears, but by the nineteenth century, she was fading fast.  Her last appearance in the US Top 1000 was 1893.

And then came the renaissance of -bella names, fueled by celebrity babies called Isabella.

By 2005, Isabella ranked #6 in the US, and Arabella re-entered the charts.  By 2010, there’s:

• Isabella at #1;
• Bella at #48;
• Annabelle at #117;
• And Arabella at #386.

That’s leaving out quite a few variants, too.

Arabella sounds regal – quite the right kind of name for a Trump grandchild.  But she can be dressed down, with nicknames ranging from the obvious Belle and Bella to Arie or even Abby.  All My Children’s Arabella Carey Chandler is always known as Babe.

The name has been leaping up the charts in recent years, and this high profile use should give Arabella another boost.  She’s a tremendously pretty name, but perhaps a bit tough to wear if your daughter prefers Tonka trucks to tiaras.

Image via Wikipedia

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 here – Orion 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!

Image via Wikipedia

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.

Make no mistake, this is a touchy subject.  And yet, I’m finding it easy to defend the practice of borrowing from the boys.

10.  We have a long history of borrowing our daughters’ names from boys.

Before there was Madison, there was Shirley.  Charlotte Bronte used it for the heroine of her 1849 novel, explaining that Shirley’s dad had wanted a son.  Shirley was gaining steadily for girls in the US when child star Shirley Temple became a household name.  The name peaked at #2 in the 1930s, and while she’s no longer popular, it is hard to imagine parents using Shirley for a son today.

There are countless stories like this, names that transitioned from male to female several generations back.  The average, non-name-obsessed person is only dimly aware of the switch.

9.  She’ll hate her name.

Yes, she probably will.  But only because lots of kids hate their names at some point.  Should you go the opposite route, it is possible that she’ll find her overly feminine name stifling.  (Nymphadora Tonks, anyone?)

You Can’t Call It “It” featured a story of a girl named Tyson who would have much rather been called Marie.  But for every Tyson, there’s a girl called Kyle who finds her boyish name pleasing.

8.  Many names have an ambi-gendered past.

Purists would like every name to correspond to pink or blue, end of discussion.  It is easy to believe that all names were created with a clear gender identity – Mary for girls, John for boys – and we’re the ones who have mucked it up.

Not so.

Take Evelyn, an off-cited early theft.  The male writer Evelyn Waugh was married to a woman named Evelyn.  Evelyn was a surname that caught on as a given name for boys.  The surname traces its roots back to the feminine appellation Aveline.  Aveline died out, but variant Evelina was revived in the nineteenth century.  All of a sudden, Evelyn sounded just right for a girl.  I’ve spotted at least one aristocratic family tree with men and woman named Evelyn over the generations.

There are more stories like that than you might imagine, from obscurities like Ismay to chart-topping choices like Madison.

7.  Stealing from boys isn’t fair.

Maybe.  But very often a name was scarcely used for either gender when it is first discovered by the parents of girls.  Lauren has some history as a short form of the masculine Laurence, but was decidedly obscure when Betty Joan Perske chose it as her professional name, becoming a major Hollywood star as Lauren Bacall.  Before Madison made a splash, she hadn’t charted for either gender since the 1950s.

The most common pattern is that a gender-ambiguous name will rise for both genders, at least for a few years – like Shannon or Avery.  In fact, Avery currently stands at #23 for girls, the highest ranking for girls ever – and at #210 for boys, also the highest ranking for boys ever.

6.  Plenty of families have long traditions of passing down surnames without regard to gender.

I’ve met families from the American South and New England, too, who pass on family surnames without regard to gender.  When a neighbor announced that their firstborn would receive her maiden name regardless of gender, the practice seemed nicely egalitarian.  If your maiden name happens to be Parker or Bailey, it would be a shame to never pass the name on just because you have daughters instead of sons.

5.  Why should certain family names be reserved for boys?

In response to #6, some insist that families should reserve the masculine choices for future sons, and look elsewhere for a daughter’s name.  Grandma Eleanor, maybe.

But there are compelling reasons to give these names to our daughters.  Kate Garry Hudson received her masculine middle because her Uncle Garry had passed away shortly before her birth.

Why not save it for a son?  Sometimes that makes sense.  But in an age of smaller families, it is not always realistic.  Imagine that you’re 42, and this is your first child – and almost certainly your last chance to use Cameron.  It would be a shame to forgo your favorite name in favor of something less meaningful.

4.  It isn’t parents using a name for girls that makes it feel feminine.

Some parents probably do look through the boys’ side of the baby name guide to find options for a daughter.  But most of the choices feel appropriate because of other names that are current.  Ava and Emily combined to make Avery a powerhouse.  Emerson follows Top Ten picks like Emma and Madison.

3.  Not every boys’ name used for girls “goes pink.”

In some cases, girls are borrowing a popular boys’ name, but it hasn’t diminished its appeal for boys.  Ryan has appeared in the US Top 1000 for girls since the 1970s, but that didn’t push Ryan out of the boys’ Top Twenty.  The same is true of Evan, Devon, and Jordan, to name just a few.

There are all cases where a name that temporarily seemed unwearable for a boy makes a quick recovery.  Jamie rose for girls and boys in the 1970s.  Today it isn’t especially stylish for either gender, but a growing number of boys named James or Jameson favor Jamie as a short form.

2.  In our enlightened age, it seems possible that some names will remain gender neutral.

Plenty of nouveau coinages seem almost deliberately gender neutral.  Peyton and Jayden are popular for girls as well as boys.  In other cases, spelling can signal the name’s gender.  I’d expect Rylee to be a girl, and chances are that’s correct -  Rylee ranked #102 in the US for girls in 2010.  But Rylee also ranked #723 for boys – and is climbing, just his feminine counterpart.

Depending on your perspective, Tate is either just one letter removed from Kate, or maybe a sound-alike to Jake.  If you’re open to names that are new, chances are that a certain amount of ambiguity will follow.  But there’s reason to believe that Tate Elizabeth and Tate Alexander can share the same playground.

1.  But there aren’t any good names left for boys!

The right name can be the right name, regardless of gender.  If your beloved grandfather was Courtney, you might name son after him regardless of concerns about being mistaken for a girl – even if you call him C.J.  And parents do seem to be daring to consider gender-shifting choices like Robin and Kelly for their sons.

It is true that parents have always exercised a greater degree of restraint when it comes to our sons’ names.  But that doesn’t mean that there’s not a great option out there for every boy.  The same freedom that lets us consider boyish choices for our daughters lets us pick from a wider range of options for our sons, too.  That’s a good thing  – even if does make you hesitate over some of your favorite boys’ names.

Attributed coat of arms of Edmund Ironside; Image via Wikipedia

Edwin’s second syllable feels lucky, and Edward has Twilight going for him.  How about this Ed- option?

Thanks to Sadie for suggesting Edmund as our Baby Name of the Day.

Edmund has always trailed third, a few dozen slots behind Edward and Edwin.  (The literary Edgar tends to fare even worse.)

At first glance, he’s just as worthy a name, worn by kings, saints, and plenty of accomplished men over the years:

• A trio of English kings, including Edmund Ironside, who almost managed to hold off the invading Danes;
• King Edmund of East Anglia was crowned in the ninth century and died a martyr, again at the hands of the Danes;
• Edmund Campion was a leading figure in the Anglican church during the turbulent sixteenth century – until he decided that his sympathies were with the Catholic cause.  He refused to acknowledge Queen Elizabeth as head of the church, and he was hanged.  He’s now considered a martyr and a saint;
• Edmund Gunter was a Welsh-born mathematician whose innovations assisted with navigation at sea;
• Then there’s legendary poet Edmund Spenser, author of The Faerie Queene;
• The scheming Edmund is the villain of Shakespeare’s King Lear, conspiring with both greedy sisters against their father and the loyal Cordelia.  He ends badly, but then, so does nearly everyone in this particular tragedy;
• During the eighteenth century, Edmund Burke was a political philosopher and statesman, and a member of the House of Commons.  He was among the members of Parliament in support of the American Revolution.

Like all of the Ed- names, his first element means rich or fortunate.  Mund means protector.  It survives in relatively few names, though Raymond and Osmond come to mind.

A trio of memorable Edmumds dominated the 20th century:

• Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first known climbers to peak Mount Everest.  Hillary later established the Himalayan Trust to improve the living conditions in the region;
• BBC’s historical comedy Blackadder featured Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder, present throughout British history in various incarnations;
• In 1975, the SS Edmund Fitzgerald sank in Lake Superior during a storm, taking all 29 of her crew to their deaths.  Gordon Lightfoot memorialized the tragedy in his song “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” a year later.  Even if you have never been to the Great Lakes, chances are the ill-fated ship sounds familiar.  The ship was named after the president of Northwestern Mutual, the ship’s owner.

Edmond is the French form, and you might think of one immediately – The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès.  Alexandre Dumas based his character on the true story of a wrongfully imprisoned man who ultimately manages to extract revenge on his enemies.  The tale lends Edmond a very different flavor, but alas, it is not enough to raise the name’s profile.  The most recent adaptation was 2002′s film version starring James Caviezel, and despite good reviews, it didn’t make much of an impact.

Other forms of the name include the Irish Eamon and surname form Monet.

The question is, of course, how would Edmund wear today?  He hasn’t appeared in the Top 1000 since 1997, and Edmond has been gone since 1989.  But with all that history behind him, it is impossible to say he’s unwearable.  Edmund leads just as naturally to the short form Ned, which is attracting interest of late, and Eddie is always an option, too.

If your tastes run to the all-but forgotten classics, Edmund is one that you might embrace.

Robert Pattinson; Image via Wikipedia

He was a Top Ten pick in the US for over a century, and the #1 name for fifteen years.  Today he’s fading, but a young Hollywood star might just bring him back.

Thanks to Heather for suggesting Robert as our Baby Name of the Day.

Even if you’ve never read the Twilight books, you’ve probably heard of Robert Pattinson.  His big break was the Harry Potter series, as ill-fated nice guy Cedric Diggory in The Goblet of Fire.  Then came the role of a certain glittery creature of the night, and well … More recently, he’s graduated to non-vampiric roles, co-starring with Reese Witherspoon in Water for Elephants and, later this year, with Uma Thurman in Bel Ami.

The young actor could help revive his character’s name – Edward – and might also do something for his own moniker.

While Robert remains classic, he’s undeniably fading these days.  Robert ranked #10 in 1880, and climbed steadily, reaching #1 in 1924.  He held the top spot into 1930s, and remained in the Top Ten through 1989.

Robert is one of many venerable classics to slip as parents expanded their definitions of acceptable names for boys.  He reached a low of #55 in 2009, and crept up just a tick to #54 in 2010.

But there’s more to it than just changing attitudes towards naming a son.  Other choices with similar histories, like William and Henry, have climbed during the last few decades.  Indeed, Henry is hot in Hollywood, and with Prince William’s recent wedding, he’s as high profile as it gets.

Like those evergreen options, Robert has Germanic roots, was scrubbed up by the Normans, and has been used it its current form for generations.  Robert comes from hrod – fame, along with the common -beraht – bright, shared with Albert and other ends-in-bert options.

There’s a prominent Robert in every field of endeavor:

• Kings of France and Scotland;
• A trio of medieval saints;
• More athletes than I can count;
• Creative forces, from the acting world’s legendary Robert DeNiro to music’s equally admired Bob Dylan and Robert Plant;
• From 18th century early Virginia governor Robert Carter to Bobby Kennedy, a host of politicians have worn the name.

But let’s pause and consider Bobby for a minute.  By the 1990s, Bob had become an everyman name, used for Bill Murray’s irritating psychotic in the 1991 comedy What About Bob?   Bob’s your uncle means “and there you have it.”  There’s a Brady called Bobby, and in the quirky Sandra Boynton song “15 Animals,” which gives the name Bob to fourteen of the fifteen pets in the lyrics.

Could it be a feeling that Bob is overexposed that sends parents looking elsewhere?

Maybe.  But in 2011, plenty of boys answer to William or James or Frederick, not Billy and Jimmy and Fred.  If you do want a nickname, Bob is not the only option.  Rob feels quite current, and I’ve met a Robert who answered to Bo.  Or go nickname-free and use Robert – it is no longer than Aiden or Ethan or plenty of powerfully popular choices.

With R.Patz lending the name a Hollywood heartthrob vibe, Robert feels far more current than he did a few years back.  As the current generation of Twihards graduates into their childbearing years, something tells me that their attitude towards Robert will be far more affectionate than parents today, who probably all know so many Bobs they’re dismissing the name.  Of course, if you’re looking for a classic appellation for a son today, Robert could also be just what you need – perfectly familiar, but undeniably less common than Alex or Will.

Tristan and Isolde by Herbert Draper; Image via Wikipedia

She’s been a tragic heroine for centuries, and yet her name sounds surprisingly modern.

Thanks to Sadie for suggesting Isolde as our Baby Name of the Day.

A bad ending doesn’t doom a name.  Look at fair Juliet, currently leaping up the US rankings to #285 in 2010, her vaguely French vibe meeting a generation of moms who remember Claire Danes wearing angel wings and kissing a very young, pre-Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio.

Isolde is also trapped in an affair fated to bring unhappiness to all, but in many accounts it is of her own making.  The story generally goes something like this: Isolde is a princess, betrothed to King Mark of Cornwall.  The king dispatches his nephew Tristan to retrieve his bride.  All’s well so far.  But Isolde ends up with a love potion in her possession, and somehow, she and Tristan drink it down together.  Even though Tristan dutifully delivers the princess and she obediently promises to love, honor, and obey her intended groom, the die is cast.  The pair conduct a scandalous affair, which Mark ultimately discovers.

In some accounts, Isolde is said to have tricked Tristan into drinking the potion with her; in others, their actions are accidental.  Either way, their story ends unhappily.  It was probably first written down during the twelfth century by a Norman poet named Béroul and a French poet called Thomas; but like many a legend, it is almost certainly much older.

There are other Isoldes in myth and literature, but she’s the one that we remember, especially because her story has been told and re-told, time and time again:

• Tennyson was just one of the nineteenth century poets to revisit the tragedy;
• Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde remains one of the composer’s most important works;
• Film adaptations began a silent movie in 1909 and have continued, at least one most decades, right into our era;
• The most recent movie was 2006, with James Franco as Tristan and Sophia Myles as the leading lady.  In this version, there is deception on the part of both lovers, but there is also plenty of room to forgive them both.

Maybe if the movie had been a hit, Isolde might have attracted more attention.  Instead, she’s never appeared in the US Top 1000, even as the similar-sounding Isabella stands at the very top of the popularity charts.

As for the origins of her name, just like Tristan, there’s no consensus.  Some say Celtic, others say Germanic.  Variants abound: Eseld in Cornwall, Esyllt in Wales.  You’ll find Isot, Iseult and Yseult, too.  Isolde is no modern innovation, however; she appears as early as the 13th century.  Isotta is Italian – and also the name of Isabella Rosellini’s twin sister.  Isolda also surfaces in romance languages.

That last one – Isolda – is probably the closest to a phonetic pronunciation of the name.  While Iseult would probably reduce her sound to just two syllables and the French say ee ZOLD, the consensus appears to be that Isolde’s final -e is not silent.  Some favor more of a z-sound: ih ZOL dah, while others prefer a softer s-sound: ih SOL dah.

A little Isolde would probably endure some teasing – Isolde what?  Did you get a good price for it? – but considering how very in-step she is with current trends, I suspect this rarity that would fit in with other wildly romantic, yet restrained choices, from Juliet to Giselle.

James Dean; Image via Wikipedia

He’s a rebel, he’s a crooner, he’s an academic.

Thanks to Sarah for suggesting the surprisingly evergreen Dean as our Baby Name of the Day.

Sarah actually suggested Dean because it sounds the same as deen, an Arabic word that translates roughly to religious, and has – I think – something of an intellectual, spiritual vibe.  The similarity makes Dean a culture-spanning choice.

But really he’s a fairly common English language name.  I can’t find his first use, but he’s always appeared in the US Top 1000, and he ranked in the Top 100 from 1956 through 1969.

Three notable figures help propel the name to popularity:

• Born Dino Crocetti, Dean Martin was a member of the Rat Pack who found success in movies, music, and television from the 1940s into the 1970s.  His legend endures, as do hits like “Volare” and many of his classic film appearances;
• James Dean made Rebel Without a Cause and East of Eden in 1955, and Giant one year later.  In 1956, he died in a car crash at the age of 24.  Dean became the first actor to win a posthumous Oscar, and endowed his name with a perpetual cool;
• Second only to the Beach Boys, surfer duo Jan and Dean consisted of Jan Berry and Dean Torrence.  They peaked in the early 1960s with hits like “Dead Man’s Curve.”  The curve is a real stretch of road outside of LA, and the pair’s career was cut short when Berry nearly died in a car accident on Dead Man’s Curve.  Torrence went on to a career as a Grammy-award winning designer of album cover art.

It was James Dean’s untimely demise that catapulted his surname into the Top 100, but there’s more than one origin for Dean:

• As a last name, it likely comes from the Middle English dene and Old English denu – valley.  Plenty of places on the map share the name;
• Alternately, the Late Latin decanus referred to the commander of ten soldiers, from the Greek deka – ten.  The church borrowed the term, and it became deien in Old French.  By the sixteenth century, it referred to a college administrator.  This makes Dean another occupational surname possibility;
• Dino is best known as Fred Flinstone’s pet dinosaur, but it is also a diminutive in Italian for names like Agostino and Valentino, as well as an independent given name.

Other notable Deans from the past century or so include:

• Dean Acheson served as Secretary of State under President Truman.  Acheson developed the Marshall Plan, as well as much of Cold War foreign policy in the 1940s and 50s;
• There’s a character by the name in Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.  Dean Moriarty was based on Neal Cassady, a major figure of the era;
• Dean Cain took up Christopher Reeve’s cape as Superman on the small screen;
• Tori Spelling’s husband Dean shares the spotlight in their reality TV series;
• Dean Koontz churns out bestselling supernatural horror stories;
• Fellow Gryffindor Dean Thomas attends Hogwarts with Harry Potter;
• Supernatural’s Dean Winchester, along with his brother Sam, hunts demons, spirits, and other things that go bump in the night.

The name also shows up in the middle spot:

• Richard Dean Anderson was television’s mullet-sporting can-do guy MacGyver;
• Harry Dean Stanton was Molly Ringwald’s ne’er-do-well dad in Pretty in Pink and creepy polygamist cult leader Roman Grant in Big Love;
• Jeffrey Dean Morgan has appeared in Grey’s Anatomy and Supernatural.

The biggest strike against Dean is the number of dads who currently answer to the name.  But that also helps explain his current rank – #305 – in the US.  He might not qualify as a stylish choice, but he remains a solid option.

Alphabet 1 by Brenda-Starr via Flickr

She’s an operatic elaboration, instantly transforming Ann from straightforward classic to exotic appellation.

Thanks to Emily for suggesting her childhood friend’s name for our Baby Name of the Day: Annina.

Ann, Anne, and Anna are evergreen, with Anna the most popular at this moment – she’s been in the US Top 100 since the 1970s.  In the meantime, Ann has migrated to the middle spot.  Not only do you know plenty of women named Jennifer and Melissa, an awful lot of them have the middle name Ann.

The original Anne was a saint, mother to Mary.  That makes her Jesus’ grandmother.  She’s not actually mentioned by name in the New Testament, but the name does appear in the Gospel of Luke.  Ann, Anne, and Anna have been in steady use since the Middle Ages.

With all of those Anns, little wonder that nicknames and diminutives abound.  Like Annette or Annie, Anita or Annushka, Annina is simply a way of saying “Little Ann.”

There are multiple spellings in use:

• Anniina is the Finnish option, heard on athletes in the Winter Olympics and a number of reality stars who are probably stopped for autographs of the streets of Helsinki.  You can listen to the pronunciation here. The quirky double-i is perfectly legit in Finnish, but I’m hard-pressed to imagine the spelling working well in the US;
• Annina is Violetta’s maid in Verdi’s enduring opera La traviata.  This gives her an Italian feel, but -nina and -ina are common diminutives forms in other languages, too;
• James Fenimore Cooper used the name for a minor character in his 1831 novel The Bravo.  It is set in Venice, and she’s a minor character – and here’s where I confess that I haven’t got a clue if Cooper’s Annina is a worthy namesake or not because I’ve only read this summary;
• There’s no Saint Annina, but there is a character in the twentieth century opera The Saint of Bleecker Street called Annina.  It’s set in New York’s Little Italy, reinforcing her Italian vibe;
• Anina, the sparest of the spellings, is sometimes listed as a German elaboration of Ann, but also appears as a place name in Romania, and is occasionally listed as a separate Aramaic name.  There is a masculine Old Testament name – Ananias in Latin, Hananias in Greek, and Hananiah in Aramaic.  A few figures answered to one form or another, and it also appears in the historical record.  Was Anina a given name amongst Aramaic speakers in ancient times?  That I can’t say.

But back to that town in Romania.  Back in 2002, the lower jaw of Ion din Anina – John of Anina – was discovered was discovered in a nearby cave.  Ion’s remains are the oldest human remains discovered in Europe – estimated at about 40,000 years old.  If you’re an archeologist, Anina might mean something very different.

Overall, Annina has the quality of a literary throwback – a rarity that is both perfectly wearable and the tiniest bit confusing.  Natalie Portman just won an Oscar as Nina, so it is possible that many will mishear Annina as “A Nina.”  That’s likely to be the pronunciation you hear, too – ah NEE nah.  She makes a refreshing alternative to Ann and company, and could be a sister for Francesca or Juliet.

Welsh dragon; Image via Wikipedia

Emmett is big for boys.  Rhys, Reese, and Reece are on the rise for both genders.

Here’s an obscure option that combines the best of both.  Thanks to Shelby for suggesting Emrys as our Baby Name of the Day.

Emrys is a Welsh name, and there’s some debate about his pronunciation.  Most guides list him as EM riss, and most YouTube videos confirm.  But I find it hard to shake impulse to say EM rees.  Maybe that’s just an American inclination to gussy up the pronunciation of a foreign name, or maybe that’s the similarity to Rhys.

But Welsh is phonetic, and the rules are clear.  The “hy” in Rhys makes a long e sound, but Emrys sounds like Carys or Dilys.

If you can get over the possible pronunciation snarl, this is a versatile option, with ties to saints and wizards alike.

Let’s start with the saint.  Saint Ambrose lived in the 300s.  He didn’t seek out a career in the church, but eventually became bishop during a theological crisis.  He went on to become a theological heavy hitter, and a major influence of Saint Augustine.

His name caught on, and in Welsh, Ambrose became Emrys.

Ambrose and Emrys are universally listed as equivalents, sharing an origin – the Greek ambrosios, meaning immortal.  Emrys could be the Welsh version of Ambrose – like Betrys for Beatrice – or Emrys might be an older Welsh name that was linked with the saint’s appellation.  Emyr means king in Welsh, and -rys is a common enough ending.

In either case, Emrys is a serious Welsh heritage choice.  In the fifth century, Emrys Wledig was a military leader, fighting off invaders.  In the same era, Myrddin Wyllt was a semi-legendary prophet.  Geoffrey of Monmouth combined the two figures to create Myrddin Emrys to his retellings of traditional Welsh stories about King Arthur.  Monmouth Latinized Myrddin Emrys as Merlinus Ambrosius, creating the enduring figure Merlin.

There have been Welsh men named Emrys over the years.  Perhaps the best known is famed Shakespearean actor Emrys James, born in 1928.

Emrys is equally compelling as a place name.  The ruins of the castle Dinas Emrys – the fortress of Ambrosius – stand in north-west Wales.  The story goes something like this: King Vortigern chose the site for his fortress, but attempts at construction were unsuccessful – every night, the day’s work was undone.  He’s told to summon a local youth – Emrys, known to us as Merlin.  Emrys explains that a pair of dragons live in a pool under the fortress site, and it is their nightly battle that undoes Vortigern’s efforts.

Advice in hand, Vortigern frees the pair of dragons.  The red one wins – hence, the flag of Wales, pictured above.

Despite dueling dragons and legendary kings, Emrys has a gentle sound.  If you’re looking to honor Welsh roots, he’s a compelling option.  With his -s ending, he’s quite stylish, fitting in with choices like Rufus and Silas.

The only challenge is one shared by surname picks like Emerson – nearly any starts-with-Em name is vulnerable to sounding like an alternative to Emma and Emily.

But Emrys is so rare that chances are your son would never share his name with anyone, except his legendary namesakes.