Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr
We live in a magical age. Earlier this week I spotted an unusual name scrolling across Nameberry’s “currently being viewed” ticker, and mentioned it on my Facebook page, with a link to the entry. Within minutes Elixyvett appeared in their Most Popular Names cloud, and stayed there for a few days, prompting a thread on their message board. At the same time, Nameberry’s Pam sourced an entire post on Old People Names from a Twitter craze.
Saints and royalty and popular legends and music and novels and television and movies have all put new names on the map. Surely social media will function in a similar fashion. But will there be, say, a baby name Elixyvett because a mom-to-be spotted the name when it loomed large in the tag cloud? Will someone’s Twitter handle inspire a future baby name?
Elsewhere online:
- Stork Bites Man must be the best dad blogger site name ever, so it is no surprise that his daughters are nicely named, too – Astrid and Elsa;
- I’m not sure Google translate is coming through for me with Voornamelijk’s post on Madelief and Flores. Is there really such a thing as a celebrity gardener? Regardless, I love the idea of Madelief, derived from the Dutch for daisy;
- There’s a brilliant post at the Baby Name Wizard on The Antique Name Illusion. I’ll never forget the time a mom told me her daughters’ names – Stella and Matilda – were “old family names.” Maybe they were, but they’re also about as stylish as you can get right now, and betcha she overlooked a Gertrude or a Beulah in the mix, too;
- I can understand why you might name a child Lennox. I cannot fathom why you might feel compelled to respell it Lenixx;
- Has anyone read the Penderwick sisters stories? From the cover art, and even the plots, you might think the books are gentle antiques from the era of Louisa May Alcott. Instead they’re a contemporary series, with the latest installment just published. The four sisters answer to Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty. I’m dying to know if Jeanne Birdsall reveals their full names, or explains them at any point;
- This list at British Baby Names had me captivated – Curiosities of the Seventeenth Century, proving that you might meet a Jeronimo, Dessorell, or Nazareth in ages past;
- For Real met a girl named Candle. How cool! Or should I say smokin’ …
- How well can you define your name style? Nameberry’s Pam pegs hers as “Eccentric Aristocrat” while Bewitching Names’ Isadora calls hers “Worldly Strega.” I have a theory about my style – and I’ll share eventually – but after years of thinking about names that we could actually use, I think I’ve lost touch with those I just love because I love them;
- This irritates me: an expectant mama writes in that she and her husband have decided to name one of their twin boys Decklan. What should his brother’s name be? I’ll admit that I prefer the Declan spelling, but let’s face it – the original is Deaglán. The longer I write, the more I feel like I should wear a tee shirt that says “Variant spellings are not going to bring down Western Civilization.” The reverse of the shirt would say “Of course, you can go too far. Lenixx is too much. And Reillee hurts my eyes.”
Spotted amongst the glitterati:
- Pink’s daughter arrived, and she’s named the rather reasonable Willow Sage, a flower child for the tough chick. My favorite headline has to be this one, from Holy Moly: Pink has baby girl, names her after shrubbery;
- Actress Dorian Brown welcomed a son, Cayman Tyson Pham. No word on the parents’ inspiration for the choice. Brown is set to appear in the American remake of quirky Australian TV series Wilfred. I’d give Cayman and Wilfred equal odds of catching on;
- I’m enjoying learning more about Australian celebs thanks to Waltzing – this week alone brought us a baby girl called Allegra Eve and a boy named Lux Edward. Lux joins a big sister called Autumn Claire. I came across a boy named Lux years ago and had a hard time thinking of it as masculine, probably thanks to Lux Lisbon in Jeffrey Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides. But he really could fit right in with Luke, Max, and Gus, couldn’t he?
I’ve gone out on a limb and waded into deep water for this week’s Nameberry post. I think it is one of my wackier, less wearable lists – but also a trend that seems to be catching on. Last week’s post was Surfer Names, a list I ended up really loving.
That’s all for this week. As always, thanks for reading and have a great week!
