How can it possibly be August?  Of 2009!?

As I marvel at the date on the calendar, why don’t you hop in the wayback machine to 2008 when August was Name of the Day?  It’s still one of my favorites for a boy.

Here in my RL, I’ve got a few new babies to report:

• Elizabeth Violet, nn Elle – classic, but not dull;
• John Paul – not sure if he’s John-Paul or even Jean Paul, but parents definitely use both names together;
• Did I mention I met a Polly?  IMHO, the world could use a few more Pollys.

Also in RL, but in ones far more glamorous – or at least visible – than mine:

• Jude Law, known for his great taste in baby names, is apparently expecting #4 avec model/actress Samantha Burke.  He was stepdad to Finlay and has three kids with ex-wife Sadie Frost: Rafferty, Iris and Rudy.  Turns out that Sadie was the stylish namer of the duo, apparently – the baby-on-the-way is slated to be known as the classic-but-common Sophia;
• Actress Kathryn Hahn welcomed daughter Mae, a sister for Leonard;
• Dancer Ashly Costa embraces the obscure-but-wearable Biblical baby names category, welcoming son Enoch Daniel.  Enoch was Name of the Day back in June.  Big brother is Ammon Michael.  Wonder if they’re planning on any more kiddos?  Because on their current path, they could be the family forced to resort to Habakkuk;
• Speaking of lots of kiddos, everyone’s favorite mega-family, the Duggars, announced that their first grandchild will be known as Mackynzie Renée.  I think it is lovely that they’ve opted to stick with M in honor of matriarch Michelle.  I also think it is too bad that Meredith didn’t make it to the top of the list, as they’d joked with morning talk’s Meredith Vieira during their reveal-the-gender television appearance.

And in the blogosphere:

• Jill’s post on NameShame?  Rocks.
• Speaking of naming regrets, the mom blogger at Kicky Boots wrote about deciding to rename their toddler.  Karenna Jolie is, I must say, a lovely choice for their daughter.  Who cares it if it took a few months post-utero to settle on it?
• During our discussion of Cinderella, Sebastiane mentioned that she’s heard of it on Cajun women.  There is something fascinating happening in Louisiana, isn’t there?  Nancy did a post on Cajun names from the Civil War, including Justilien and Dazincourt;
• Did you check out the Nameberry Faves post – Beatrix, Penelope and Clementine are their Top Three.  Beatrix is clearly a favorite here, too.  Wonder if we’ll see that reflected in the US rankings in a few years?
• Xanthe Linnea wrote about Cedric.  Anyone else think that the Harry Potter/Twilight connection might make Cedric an unlikely choice in, say, a decade and a half?  Edward Cedric, anyone?
• Bewildertrix spotted Asher on a girl; Elisabeth reports a girl called Archer.  Asher doesn’t surprise me, what with Ashley/Ashlyn/Ashtyn.  But Archer?  Knock me over with a feather;
• I loved Bewildertrix’s post on villain names like Regan, Judas, Iago, Jezebel, Hannibal … whenever I ding Regan, I can expect a few angry comments.  But I’m with her on this one – Regan wasn’t much of a role model to begin with, and the fact that the name caught on post-Exorcist?  Scary.  Even better, her comment on Lucifer – “Sound wise it’s magnificent.  To use it?  Cruel.”
• A pair of Canadian parents insist they are angst-free over their decision to name their daughters Shade Star Pirate and Styles Knight Mansion.  I respect the amount of thought they put into their choices.  But I can’t help think that somewhere in there, they could’ve given their daughters a less aggressively unusual name, just in case the girls grow up to have interests other than their parents’ professions, Star Wars and attractions at Disney World;
• Let’s end on a high note – Sebastiane featured a truly classic girls’ name over at Legit Baby Names – Martha, Marta, Marthe.

In semi-name news, I’ve been coveting my neighbors’ gas-sipping, eco-chic SmartCar for months now.  I was charmed to learn that the forerunner of today’s Smart wore the lovely name Isetta.  Hey, if girls can be named Camry.  And Shade …

Thanks for reading!