Image via Wikipedia
Today’s name falls somewhere between trendy nouveau coinages and undiscovered gems.
Thanks to Racheli for suggesting Rayna as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Rayna
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Tag Archives: Kylie
Baby Name of the Day: Kelsey
She’s a surname choice boosted by a TV show – but she’d probably have caught on anyway.
Thanks to Urban Angel for suggesting Kelsey as Baby Name of the Day.
Elsewhere Online: Momentum and Baby Names
How many times have you heard the parent of a small child say something like this: “We didn’t realize Isaiah was getting so popular!”
“I really hope Ruby doesn’t take off! I hated being one of three Jennifers in my class.”
Or even: “I chose Ava for a girl and then my neighbor/co-worker/sister-in-law stole it!”
My theory is this: the more we hear a name, the more likely we are to consider it for our own children. It’s why names like Damien and Regan can pop even after they’re used for children that we hope ours won’t emulate. Ditto name elements – Miley owes some of her success to Billy Ray’s Disney daughter, but more to her similarity to Riley and Kylie.
You and I hear parents’ laments about Ava and Ruby and Isaiah and think: names embraced by celebs/last popular 100 years back/borrowed from the Bible are likely to rise. We’re not surprised. But hey, if you’re here, you’re probably more into names than the average person naming a baby right now.
Which is why I think you’ll be pleased as punch to know that NYU psych professor Todd Gureckis and Indiana U’s psych/brain sciences professor Robert Goldstone have researched this very topic. Their results can be read in the scholarly journalTopics in Cognitive Science.
Read the summary here: Recent ‘momentum’ influences choices of baby names, NYU, Indiana psychology professors find.
I haven’t read the original article – and I’m not sure I have the academic chops to completely digest it – but their finding is this: at least since the 1980s, parents have shown a preference for names that are rising. Therefore, those names rise. And so parents continue to show a preference for the rising names. And so they continue to rise …
It isn’t the whole picture, of course, but it’s an interesting piece.
Name of the Day: Bindi
The late Steve Irwin chose this name for his darling daughter. Now that she’s following in her father’s footsteps will we meet more girls answering to this one?
Thanks to Sassy for suggesting today’s Name of the Day: Bindi.
Sunday Summary: July 5, 2009
For those of you in the US, I hope you had a firecracker of a holiday!
The big starbaby news of the week was the reveal of Tobey Maguire’s son’s name: Otis Tobias, little brother to Ruby Sweetheart.
Other celeb news:
- Cobie Smulders of How I Met Your Mother welcomed a daughter, Shaelyn Cado;
- Baywatch/Playboy alum Gena Lee Nolin posed in a bikini for PEOPLE magazine with baby Stella Monroe. Stella is the new Ava – everyone in Hollywood has one;
- Kelli O’Hara, of Broadway fame, welcomed a son named Owen James;
- Country music’s Josh Turner welcomed a son named Colby Lynch.
Elsewhere in the blogosphere:
- Looking for an Independence Day appellation? Check out Xanthe Linnea’s Patriotic Names post; Legit Baby Name’s post on Eleftheria and her post on Liberty; and my post on Liberty from 2008;
- Onomastitrix mentioned that Bruce seems to be rising down under. Could it be a Batman-influenced revival? Or, as she suggests, a simple fact of the many grandfathers named Bruce inspiring a next generation? Hmmm … ;
- Inspired by the rise of Keaton – a “unique” name that was actually percolating in our collective cultural well for years and now stands at #371 - Swistle has been discussing possible names from the same mold: two candidates she’s mentioned recently are Brando and Schroder;
- For pure, LOL joy, check out Teresa Strasser’s rundown of her Top Five baby names. That’s Nameberry’s Pamela Redmond Satran in the name expert role, giving Shane the big thumbs down;
- Nymbler posted the Top Ten June search names. No surprises there, but I always enjoy the Top Five Brand New Names. Last month, it was Aveline, Milly, Cedar, Jordanne and Odette. Fascinating!
Next, a few things on my mind:
- The following question keeps popping up in searches leading to this site: Can I name my daughter Kylie and my son Kyle? Yes, yes, you can. But you just flat out should not do so. It’s too close, too cutesie and if you ever had a third child, you’d be forced to choose from a very small list of names indeed. (I think she’d have to be Kyla or Skyla, and he’d be Kyson or Kyler. Or feel horribly left out.);
- My vocabulary keeps expanding, thanks to name sites. I’ve recently discovered the Aussie slang word bogan, the equivalent of the British chavvy or American trashy. I think. Apparently, phonetic spellings like Taylah for Taylor are a thing, or so blogs a Doc Down Under during her pediatric rotation;
- A UK blogger mentioned that a BBC3 documentary on a 14 y.o. mum called Kizzy mentioned that she named her son Kaylib. Not Caleb, not Kaleb, but Kaylib. As if having your childhood immortalized on reality TV wasn’t bad enough;
- Could the name Merlin make a comeback? That’s right, a comeback – he appeared in the US Top 1000 regularly from the 1890s through the 1960s. It first crossed my mind while watching Bravo’s The Fashion Show, with the Honduran Merlin. Even if he doesn’t strike it big in the design world, there’s the BBC’s Merlin, now showing on NBC this summer. If Arthur can make a comeback …
- Another Bravo-influenced thought, couldn’t they have found better-named kids for their real-life-Gossip Girl, NYC Prep? The cast includes PC, Sebastian, Kelli, Taylor, Jessie and Camille. I realize you can’t rename full-grown human beings, but I’ll take GG’s Rufus, Lily, Serena and Blair anyday;
- Lastly, a look back – on July 5, 2008, the Name of the Day was Jasper.
That’s all for this week! Tune in next week for Flannery, Dahlia, Gregor, Brisa and Clifford.
Name of the Day: Kylie
Is there such a thing as an authentic Australian heritage choice?
Thanks to Jen for suggesting Kylie as Name of the Day.
Sunday Summary: 6/14/2009
After last week’s bumper crop o’ starbabies, it has been a relatively quiet week.
The only big question is this: Did Hank Azaria really name his son Hal? Or have they simply not released his full name? Wikipedia tells me that dad’s full name is, indeed, Hank Albert - so maybe they decided junior should have a nickname name, too.
Here’s the rest of the news:
- In RL, I live in one of two towns that can claim to be Jim Henson’s boyhood home. (We cover the teenage years, including high school.) And I’m a huge David Bowie fan. But I’d forgotten that Bowie’s Goblin King character in 1986′s Labyrinth was called Jareth until I saw a teenager sporting it on his plastic nametag. He’s one of the few, though – Jareth has never caught on as a name, not even cracking the US Top 1000;
- I wasn’t expecting former Girl Next Door Kendra Wilkinson to name her daughter Esther or Mary, but ever since she announced her pregnancy, there’s been endless chatter about her frontrunner name for a girl – Kaleigh. Apparently, Kendra’s middle name is Leigh. (And her first initial is, obviously, K.) A boy would be named after dad, Philadelphia Eagle Hank Baskett. (Hank again! That’s an AppMtn record.) But that would be Henry Randall Baskett IV – not bad, actually;
- In other reality star baby news, Real Housewife of New Jersey Jacqueline Laurita welcomed son Nicholas Francis, little brother to CJ and Ashley. I assume CJ stands for Christopher Jr. but I’m not sure ’bout that. Another cast member is also expecting a visit from the stork;
- Guiding Light’s Jessica Leccia welcomed a daughter named Ivy Lola;
- From this week’s Toronto Star comes the report of a couple with five kids. Lucky number five is named Angus Raymond Mercury. Wait for it – Angus is after Angus Young of AC/DC and Mercury is after Freddie Mercury of Queen. (Raymond is after a mere blood relative.) Angus’ four big sibs are called Madelyn May (May after Brian May of Queen); Heath, after a golf course in Scotland; Shea, after Shea Stadium and Cheyenne. Apparently mom veto’d Kashmir, as in the Led Zeppelin song – all of a sudden Shea and Cheyenne sound like perfectly reasonable choices.
- If you follow sports news, you might’ve picked up this report (Click here for ESPN’s coverage) Apparently, a high school senior all set to play football for FSU was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers. I can barely catch a ball, so the idea of being recruited in two sports? Wow. Anyhow, the uber-athlete’s name is Jacobbi McDaniel – one Jacob variant I had not heard previously;
- As if my linking to ESPN is not proof enough that it was a quiet week, names-wise, the Daily Express announces that wacky names are nuthin’ new. As they await the opportunity to comment on the next wacky celeb baby name, of course.
From the wayback machine – a year ago, the Name of the Day was Madrigal. Really. This week’s names will be Naomi, Lyle, Eugenie, Boaz and Kylie.
I’ll leave you with a quick update on search names – Esme continues to top the list. Lorelei, Isla, Pomeline, Java, Eithne, Aurelia, Ayelet, Noa and Oona are close behind. The list is much shorter for boys: Finn, Elmer and Remus. If you can’t tell from the list, boys generate far fewer searches than girls. And yet, nearly everyone agrees that boys’ names are harder to decide than girls’ names.
I’m off to fill up the wading pool for me the kids. As always, thanks for reading!
Kayla/Kyla/Myla/Twyla
The year was 1982. Joan Jett, Survior and the Human League were on the radio. E.T. phoned home on the silver screen, and Rocky fought Mr. T. And in a fictional town called Salem, the character Kayla Brady first appeared on the soap opera Days of Our Lives.
Unlike some soap-sudsy names, Kayla wasn’t created for the show. On the contrary, this obscure variant of Katherine first appeared in the Top 1000 back in 1959.
But the character did lead to an explosion of baby girls named Kayla. In 1981, it was the 581st most popular name for baby girls born in the US. By 1982? It was 133. And in 1983, it broke the Top 100, coming in at 81.
By 1988, it was firmly established in the Top 20, and remained there until 2004, peaking at #11 in 1995.
Today, the Kayla variants are many, ranging from Kaylie/Kaylee/Kaileigh to Kaylynn, Kylinn and Kayci.
But there is a more appealing direction to take your Kayla variant – drop the first “a” and, if you want to really improve on this popular choice, swap out the first letter, too.
