Peter O'Toole as Lawrence of Arabia; Image via Wikipedia
Boys answer to Jamie and Robbie. Why not this diminutive form of an enduring classic?
Thanks to Emily for suggesting Lawrie as our Baby Name of the Day.
Baby Name of the Day: Lawrie
23
Tag Archives: Lawrence
Baby Name of the Day: Linda
Linda McCartney; Image by Antoon's Foobar via Flickr
She skyrocketed from obscurity to the #1 spot in the US.
Thanks to Kelly for this suggestion. With a happy birthday to Nameberry co-founder Linda Rosenkrantz, our baby name of the day is Linda.
Baby Name of the Day: Lourdes
She’s a deeply spiritual place of pilgrimage, and a serious starbaby name.
View from distance by -bLy-
Thanks to Kelleita for suggesting Lourdes as Baby Name of the Day.
Sunday Summary: 8/22/10
Please tell me that I’m not the only person who watched My Fake Fiance, the first pairing of Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence? It was raining, the baby was fussy … wait, never mind. Someone else must’ve tuned in – enough of us for ABC Family to greenlight a new original series called Melissa & Joey. The series premiered this week, and this time I didn’t watch. But I did Google enough to learn that Joey is a manny to Mel’s orphaned niece and nephew. The boy is called Ryder and the girl? Her name is Lennox! The actress playing Lennox is named Taylor, so maybe Lennox isn’t so outrageous. Plus, there’s the china. And a very minor Agatha Christie character was a girl called Lenox Tamplin. But if this one starts appearing embroidered in pink, it’ll be a surprise.
Speaking of character names:
- Jason Bateman plays Wally in The Switch. The cute kid answers to Sebastian, but that’s a solid Top 100 pick these days. Will Bateman breathe new life into Walter and Wallace?
- The Nanny McPhee sequel gives us kids called Norman, Megsie, Vincent, and their London cousins Cyril and Celia. The young actors’ names are interesting, too – Asa Butterfield played Norman, and Eros Vlahos played Cyril. Aggie – the baby from the first Nanny McPhee flick – also features in the plot, though she’s all grown up. In the 2005 movie, Aggie was played by twins named Hebe and Zinnia. That’s quite a pair!
While we’re on the subject on sibsets:
- This month’s issue of Real Simple featured an office makeover for a mom of five girls: Tabatha, Mabel, Annabelle, Evalyn, and Rachael, plus baby boy Leo;
- Babynamelover brings us a great set of TWELVE from the Telegraph: The birth announcement for Florentina Emilie revealed that she’s a sister for Georgina, Christopher, Charlie, Clementina, Gabriella, Montgomery, Cordelia, Angelina, Seraphina, Decima, and Delphine. I love that they used Decima for baby #10;
- Nameberry explored celeb sibsets that tend towards the quirky and creative. Tamerlane, Kansas, and Judah for a girl make the lists.
Elsewhere online:
- Names for Real spotted a Prairie Taylor. Muppet aside, I stand by my comments from the post about Meadow – this is one nature name I thoroughly enjoy;
- Here’s an intriguing smoosh: Sebastiane spotted a Hannabeth in Alabama;
- There’s a fascinating analysis by Nancy on Strong Names/Weak Names for boys, backed up with mucho data from 2009. It’s a much more productive approach than insisting that Kelly is a boy’s name. (Except that I still think it is. In fact my new hair stylist is a guy called Kelly from Texas. But I did hair stylist, not auto mechanic or lion tamer.)
- Leelee Sobieski calls daughter Louisanna by the nickame Louie – that’s no surprise. Except that she spells it Lewi, which I don’t get.
And lastly, the name was released for Paz Vega’s third child, son Lenon, a little brother for Orson and Ava.
But here’s the important news: next week is re-run week here at Appellation Mountain. I periodically try to update posts from 2008 because, you know, time marches on. But I’ve never done so in a systematic way. So instead of a new post, look for a week’s worth of revamped, revised, and re-invigorated names.
Things get back to the normal – meaning new posts – on Monday, August 30.
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
Parker Lewis vs. Parker Posey
Parker has a long history of occasional use as a given name. Originally an occupational surname for a gamekeeper or geographic name for someone who lived near parkland, he’s charted as a boys’ given name in the US most years since 1880. In 2009, he entered the US Top 100 at #96.
Just like Larkin was a medieval diminutive for Lawrence, Parkin was a pet form of Peter. And between Spider-man’s alter ego, Peter Parker, and 90s Fox sitcom Parker Lewis Can’t Loose, lots of parents probably view Parker in a positive light.
He’s a little bit preppy/Southern family surname: “Oh yes, my mother was one of the Providence Parkers” or “Great-great-grandfather Jebediah Parker first came to Atlanta after the War.” But he’s also in step with occupational surnames like Archer that seem so current right now.
But what about Parker for a girl?
Indie darling Parker (Yes, it’s her birth name) Posey was named after supermodel Suzy Parker. As Posey’s star has risen, so has Parker for girls. She first charted at #875 in 1999, and has made a steady ascent to #502 a decade later.
Two small screen uses of Parker keep me thinking of this:
- In a recent ABC Family movie, Revenge of the Bridesmaids, Raven-Symoné played Abby and Joanna Garcia played Parker;
- On TNT’s Leverage, Beth Riesgraf plays talented cat-burglar Parker – though her background is mysterious, and it isn’t clear if that’s her first name or last. (And if Riesgraf sounds familiar, it is because she’s mom to the oh-so-famous Pilot Inspektor, with ex-husband Jason Lee.)
I know many readers feel strongly that boys’ names should never, ever be used for girls, but in an era when the musical Harper and Piper are popular picks for daughters, it is easy to imagine some parents digging Parker’s nature vibe and thinking she’d be pretty in pink.
Readers, thoughts?
Sunday Summary: 12/6/2009
Deck the halls!
With a mere 19 days ’til Christmas, I finally settled down to watch last season’s romantic-comedy-just-in-time-for-the-holidays, Four Christmases. Vince Vaughn’s character, Brad, finally takes his girlfriend home and, in the midst of yuletide merriment, she discovers that Brad legally changed his name – from Orlando. Brothers Denver and Dallas were introduced, and Brad explained that they were all named in a very Brooklyn Beckham-esque way. You’re forgiven, Brad. Posh, are you listening?
Speaking of the holidays, on my recent travels I heard tots answering to Lyle, Hugo, Mara and Cecily – or I suppose Sicily, but let’s hope it was the former.
As for movies, I’m dying to see Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in the upcoming Sherlock Holmes movie. While other girls were reading Anne of Green Gables, I was off in Victorian England, solving crimes with Holmes and Watson. There are already hints of franchise potential, not unlike Pirates of the Caribbean, which got me thinking – if Sparrow could pop as a boy’s name in the wake of Captain Jack, will this film have a similar impact? Sherlock and Holmes are out, and John is evergreen. But how ’bout Watson? I’ll be watching the boards!
Elsewhere in the blogosphere:
- Sebastiane has been featuring classics with all of their international variations included. Think Andrew is a bit obvious? Try Dreves. Cathy and Cate don’t appeal? Call your daughter Catherine by the unusual short form Trine – or opt for the variant Cathereau;
- My new favorite name of the week has to be Lillemor - also from Sebastiane’s site. I’ve been puzzled by the so-fashionable Moa in Sweden. Turns out Moa is a nickname for Lillemor, one that has eclipsed the original. Apparently Lillemor is considered stodgy by modern Swedes, but in the US? I think she’d offer an unexpected way to get to Lily – and fit just right with names like Eleanor, too;
- Over at Names from Adam to Eve, Laura wrote of her love for Hester, nn Hettie. I’m a fan, too, so it is nice to see Hester get some love;
- Bewildertrix spotted a newborn girl named Montanna Skye. It was an Aussie birth announcement, so maybe the parents don’t get the joke? Or did they vacation in Big Sky Country and … cancel that thought;
- For Real Baby Names spotted a tot christened Basil Leif. I suspect he’ll be one of those guys who refuses to hand over his driver’s license for fear his friends will discover the L isn’t for Leon or Lawrence;
- You’ve heard about New York’s just-released baby names of 2008 list, right?And Sophia and Jayden coming out on top? Check out the Nameberry post for details and discussion;
- It’s that time again - Nymbler has released November’s Top 10 favorite names. They’re the usual suspects: Charlotte, Ava, Ella, Finn, Jack, Amelia, Claire, Henry, Grace and Benjamin.
- But then there’s the far more interesting Top 5 Brand New Names:
- A twist on Brianna and Riley, Briley;
- The lovely Cosima;
- Word name Fable, a choice almost single-handedly launched by blogger Girls Gone Child;
- The literary Bronte;
- Starbaby-inspired Nahla.
Speaking of starbabies, it was a busy week. Thanks to Celebrity Baby Blog for the heads up on the following:
- Maya Rudolph welcomed Lucille, a little sister for Pearl - what a great sibset. Please leave a comment if you hear about the girls’ middle names;
- Scrubs’ Judy Reyes welcomed Leila Rey. Leila is the new Hailey – it is impossible to say how many there really are thanks to Layla, Lailah, Leyla, Laila … But Rey is a clever nod towards mom’s surname;
- Singer Lisa Loeb welcomed daughter Lyla Rose;
- Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils welcomed his fifth child – son Maxime Phillipe. For those of you who don’t follow hockey, it’s mahr TAN. He’s from Montreal. Older siblings are Anthony, William, Jeremy and Anabelle Antoinette;
- Also in the Wide World of Sports, Chunky soup pitchman/Philadelphia Eagle Donovan McNabb welcomed his fourth child. Son Devin James joins sisters Alexis and Sariah and brother Donovan;
- Heavenly Joy! It’s a girl for music producer Rodney Jenkins and his wife, Joy Enriquez. It’s not only an exclamation, it’s her name.
That’s all for this week. Thanks for reading!
