Tag Archives: Joseph

Reader Baby Name Story: The Name Felt Right

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Cashel Joseph

Cashel Joseph

You’ve waited all summer for the return of the stories.  They’re back!  Today’s Reader Baby Name Story comes to us courtesy of Kristin.

Our son’s name is Cashel Joseph – he’ll be one this month!  I’ve made random lists of baby names for years, so when we finally found out I was pregnant after several years of struggling with infertility, I was so excited to be able to think about it in concrete terms rather than abstract.   I immediately pulled out my lists and baby name books and spent a LOT of time looking up names online.  My husband wasn’t as interested, but always happy to give me a thumbs up or down, which was pretty much the extent of his involvement the whole time.  He endured a lot of random “What about this one?” questions driving in the car, getting ready for bed, or other not-always-convenient times.  My mom was also a great sounding-board for me, and pretty much the only one besides my husband that I talked names with in detail.

We definitely had specific criteria: I prefer names that are more unusual (I’m a Kristin born at the height of the name’s popularity) but didn’t want it to be too tough to spell or pronounce, and meaning was important to us.  It also needed to go with our last name which starts with a D and has a British heritage.  “K” names were out since my husband is a Karl and we didn’t want to do the all-K thing, and “D” names were out because of the last name.  We didn’t want a made up name, one with a crazy spelling, or one that was too wacky.  We knew we wanted to use Joseph as a middle name in honor of my husband’s father who passed away several years ago.  The most surprising factor, I think, was how right or wrong a name felt with this specific little baby I was carrying – I wasn’t expecting it to be so clear to me that he wasn’t a Rainer or Jasper even before he was born!

I think the first time I saw the name Cashel was just before I became pregnant, in reference to a writer’s nephew who was described as a creative, spunky, brave little guy.  I loved it right away.  It felt strong and fresh; honored my Irish heritage, could give us the cool nickname Cash, and went well with our last name.  It’s usually said to mean “fortress,” and we thought that was perfect for a boy, especially combined with Joseph, which means “God will enlarge.”  By the time we found out that he was a boy (something I was sure of all along) I knew his name was Cashel.  My husband wanted to wait to meet him before it was really official, but I don’t think there was ever a doubt – we didn’t even have a back-up name picked.  It just felt like it fit this active, kicking little kiddo I was already so in love with.  And although I didn’t realize it until after he was born and I was saying both names together, I also love that Cashel and Karl have similar sounds, without him being a “Jr.”  The fact that my mother really loved the name was extra confirmation, since she passed away from cancer three weeks before he was born.  It means a lot to me to know that she knew her grandson’s name, even if she didn’t get to meet him.

I don’t have any regrets – I love his name, and I hope he does, too.  If he ever wants to be more traditional, he can go by C. Joseph D***worth, or just Joseph, and I can totally see Cash when he’s in high school… as an athletic soccer or lacrosse player?  A musician?  On the debate team?  To me, it works for any type of kid.  We have gotten a few problems with pronunciation, since a surprising number of people seem to want to pronounce it cash-ELL rather than CASH-el, but I’ve spent my whole life getting Kristen, Kiersten, Christine, Kris, etc. and spelling my name all the time and it hasn’t scarred me yet, so hopefully he won’t mind either.  And if he does, “Cash” is pretty hard to misspell/pronounce!  I think one of the things I love most is that since it’s such an unusual name, he’ll have the chance to define the name – for good or bad – for everyone he meets.  So, world, here’s Cashel Joseph!

Thanks so much for sharing, Kristin, and congratulations on celebrating Cashel’s first birthday – it’s a milestone for the whole family!

I think you hit on something really important about unusual names – they often do give our kids the chance to define the name themselves, as opposed to “Oh, I knew an Emily.”  And Joseph is a great family name to put in the middle spot.

Who’s next?  If you’d like to submit a story, email me at appmtn@gmail.com.  You can see the “Name Stories” page for inspiration.

Sunday Summary: 7/25/10

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First, Happy Birthday to me.  Well, actually, my birthday is tomorrow.  And so I’ll be doing something I haven’t done since shortly after I started writing Name of the Day posts in May 2008 – I’m choosing the names.  All week.  And I’m starting with my discarded given name tomorrow.

But enough about that.  The big news in baby naming this week was Baby Name Wizard’s report on the fastest rising names of 2010.  As usual, the coverage missed the critical fine print: these are the fastest gaining searched names, not names being inked on birth certificates by parents.  Not everyone searching is expecting a child; not everyone searching and expecting would ever choose a daring name.  And yet, it’s interesting to see the list, and there are definitely trends to be spotting among the fastest rising.

They are as follows, girls first:

1. Tenley
2. Harper
3. Everleigh
4. Martina
5. Sookie
6. Navi - There’s been plenty of speculation about Avatar’s impact on baby naming.  Combined with actress Navi Rawat, could this be the film’s big contribution?
7. Charlotte
8. Eloise
9. Lorelai
10. Ursula
11. Briella
12. Kinley
13. Tinsley - The next Kimora?
14. Mhairi – It’s a twist on the Scottish form of Mary, but would probably be pronounced Mary in the US, so is she anything more than an impressively creative spelling?
15. Leighton
16. Maelle
17. Ever
18. Kinsley
19. Lux
20. Everly

There are some interesting picks for boys, too:

1. Castiel
2. Bentley
3. Eoin
4. Easton
5. Lucian
6. Aarav
7. Zion
8. St. John
9. Kaiden
10. Sterling
11. Callan
12. Leland
13. Harper
14. Mikah
15. Dashiell
16. Eliah
17. Dawson
18. Kayden
19. Lennon
20. Dorian

Other than the rise of the Ever- names, my real take-away is this: I suspect Charlotte is headed for the US Top Ten.  She’s gently French, literary, and feminine without being fussy.  Her nickname options are great.  She’s also climbing rapidly, without any sign of hitting a plateau.

Putting my crystal ball away, here’s the rest of the news:

It was a quiet week for starbabies.  Juan Pablo Montoya – who is racing on our TV as I type this – welcomed a daughter, Manuela. The NASCAR notable is also dad to Sebastian and Paulina.

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

Baby Name of the Day: Bridger

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If kids can be Brooklyn and River, why not this one?

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

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Baby Name of the Day: Gray

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Girls can be Scarlet and Violet, but boys are a less colorful bunch.  Here’s one that might reverse that trend.

Thanks to Leah for suggesting Gray as Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 6/13/10

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So the Glee baby was named Beth. And Nikki Blonsky has a new series on ABC Family called Huge, apparently set at a summer weight-loss camp.  Her character’s name caught my eye: Willamina, though I believe she’ll be answering to Will.

In other, completely random news:

And then there’s the biggest discovery of the week: Nancy posted the Social Security Administration’s lists of Names outside the US Top 1000 that were given to 100 or more newborns in 2009.  You can check out the girls’ list here and the boys’ list here.  You’ll finds lots of variant spellings – Alexandrea, Jurnee, Olyvia and Kooper, Mykel, Trever - as well as some lovely surprises – Constance, Juniper, Honor and Thatcher, Perry, Gibson.  And were more than 100 little girls really called Halo?  And were the 177 baby boys called Major inspired by the Novogratz family?

Since the birth rate in Hollywood was a disappointing zero this week, I’ll leave you with Nameberry’s Will Maisie be the next Daisy? It’s a fascinating list, and it suggests why it is so very hard to find a name that is just a little bit different.

Have a great week, and, as always, thanks for reading!

Sunday Summary: 5/23/10

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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 names: Tayla, 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!

Starbaby News: Welcome Sundance

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Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh has welcomed a son. I was dimly aware that she’d named her firstborn Joseph Michael, and had noticed her on the list of upcoming celeb births.

But her first son was named Joseph.  Wouldn’t his little brother be Charles or Daniel or James?

Nope.

Please welcome Sundance.

Congrats to the family – and if anyone sees any mentions of the name’s origins or inspiration, please share!

In Reserve: Possible Names for a Second Son

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Even before the pregnancy test came back positive, I had a strong sense that our second child was a girl.

Intuition didn’t stop me from discussing boys’ names with Arthur.  So much that he finally insisted that we wait until the ultrasound, at which point it was moot.  Claire Caroline Wren – Clio – was on her way.

Our firstborn is Alexander Arthur, after my father-in-law Alexander, my grandfather Arthur and, of course, Arthur.  There just wasn’t a clear choice for a second boys’ name.  Plus, I always feel like we flubbed his nickname – though he wears Aly fine.  Our list for a second daughter is well thought out, but a boy?

We would have figured something out.  I think.

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Sunday Summary: 4/11/10

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I’m not a loyal viewer of America’s Next Top Model, but I do check in from time to time to see the contestants’ names.  Naduah and Ren are already out, but Alasia and Anslee are still in.  Speaking of Anslee, there’s a historic home in Baltimore County, Maryland called Villa Anneslie.  I find it a slightly more appealing version of Ainsley, Ansleigh and company, though she would probably be confused with rising favorite Anneliese.

I’ve done a good job staying away from Yahoo! Answers baby name boards, but I got sucked into a vortex when I stumbled across MTV’s Remote Control blog question “Do you have your baby names already picked out?” The responses were predictable: Daylin, Tatyana Vanity, Egypt Kinsley Rain, Xa’Kaevyan Kohelre, Brance, Kendrix Olivia, Jurnee Ella Greer.  Here’s hoping that each of the posts was written by someone many years away from parenthood.

And one more from reality TV.  Tori Spelling turns her literary attentions from tell-alls to kidlit with children’s book called Presenting Tallulah. Is Tallulah the next Stella?

Elsewhere online:

In starbaby news:

But let’s face it, most of my energies this week have gone to the Top 100 lists at Nameberry for boys and girls.  Which reminds me – Imogen is on their girls’ list, and a friend recently spotted this rarity on his family tree: Imojune.

That’s all for this week.  As always, thanks for reading and tune in tomorrow!