Baby Name of the Day: Sophia

Another interior view of the Hagia Sophia, sho...

Hagia Sophia interior view; Image via Wikipedia

She’s a lovely, literary classic riding high atop popularity charts throughout the English-speaking world.  But she’s also the product of one big ol’ misunderstanding.

Thanks to Sophie for suggesting Sophia as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Irénée

The fountain at Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C.

Dupont Circle Fountain in Washington DC; Image via Wikipedia

He’s a French spin on a peaceful, saintly appellation.

Thanks to Arthur for suggesting Irénée as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Circe

Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus. Oldham Art...

Circe Offering the Cup to Odysseus; Image via Wikipedia

She’s a beguiling sorceress who captivated Odysseus.

Thanks to Heather for suggesting the enchanting Circe as our Baby Name of the Day.

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Sunday Summary: 3/6/11

Nature's Number 6

Nature's Number 6 by CarbonNYC via Flickr

First, a question for a friend: let’s say you were expecting a daughter.  Not only is she going to be your last child, you’re the youngest sibling, so this baby is probably the last in her generation.  You’d love to pass on your maiden name.  Trouble is, your maiden name sounds exactly like a popular name, but with a totally different spelling.

For argument’s sake, let’s say the name is Reily.  It looks like a creative respelling of a popular name, but it isn’t – it’s the most meaningful name you can imagine.  You could respell it to Riley.  But you’d rather not.

What would you do?  Use Reily, knowing there’s no name more meaningful?  Accept the less meaningful Riley in an attempt to save your daughter spelling hassles?  Or are there so many girls called Rylee that you have to spell everything anyhow?

Opinions appreciated!

Elsewhere online:

  • I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Harry’s Law, the new Kathy Bates show on NBC.  The character’s name is Harriet, one of my favorites.  Harriet left the US Top 1000 after 1970, and since then the only high-profile bearer of the name was the shrewish Mrs. Oleson on Little House on the Prairie.  I keep expecting to see her make a comeback.  Nickname option Hattie seems like a logical successor to Maddie and Abby;
  • This post at Swistle discusses the name Hazen, for a boy.  For the parents, it’s the name of a favorite place, a state park in Vermont.  But it also sounds like the kind of invented boy name we continue to hear.  A friend of mine mentioned she knows a newborn boy named Vallen;
  • You Can’t Call It “It” skims the London Telegraph birth announcements. It’s always a great read, but my favorite was Hero Genevieve Tallulah, a sister for Gus, Daisy, Archie, and Conrad.  I’d love to know the older kids’ full names;
  • Look at this middle name, spotted by For Real: Roman Starling.  It’s a great combination of the very masculine and the completely unexpected;
  • I try to read Voornamelijk, despite the fact that it is in Dutch.  Her recent report on reality TV from Europe turned up an intriguing list of contestants: Dilara, Lois, Meron, and Zira;
  • Word is out that the most popular names in Germany for last year were Sophie and Maximilian.  Despite being known for their restrictive laws regarding given names, quite a few unusual choices made it through, including Kix and Belana;
  • I love this story about a baby named after chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit at Nancy’s site.

I am absolutely bursting with excitement over my post at Nameberry for Monday.  The names range from Amoret to Sedley, Lucien to Arthemise.

Hollywood gave us just two announcements this week, but oh, what names!

Which reminds me – do you know the most popular season name?  This article at Babble reads “We all know at least one Summer, right? And Autumn isn’t unheard of. But Winter? That’s a first.”  Actually, Autumn is in the US Top 100, while Summer has never ranked that high.  And can Winter really be called a first when Nicole Richie’s Harlow Winter Kate is so visible?  Nancy tells us that 259 girls received the name in 2009, meaning that Winter ranked just a few spots beyond the Top 1000.

As for Spring, there’s always Oscar-nominated actress Spring Byington.

Speaking of spring, remember that voting for March Madness preliminaries for both Boys and Girls is open until Friday morning.

Thanks all for this week.  As always, thanks for reading!

Sunday Summary: 12/5/10

Christmas came early to Appellation Mountain, with a guest post on Nameberry leading to a shout-out from Lisa Belkin’s venerable The Motherlode blog at the New York Times.  Christmas also officially arrived in our town – a tree was lit in the City’s park, we had breakfast with Santa, and we spent a few hours at our parish bazaar.

But back to naming news, because those kids?  They’re not gonna name themselves!

And on to the rich and the famous:

While I’ll still post celeb births here if the name is stunningly different or eagerly anticipated, I’m putting some of the more routine announcements up at the AppMtn Facebook page, along with interesting links and intriguing name sightings.

As always, thanks for reading and have a GREAT week!

Sunday Summary: Happy Fourth of July!

For those of you in the US, Happy Independence Day!  There will be no Baby Name of the Day on Monday, but national-holiday/great-excuse-for-a-cookout or no, I couldn’t let a Sunday go past without the news.

I’m going to flip the starbaby info to the top.  If you recognize Diego Luna, he of Milk and Y tu mamá también, you might know that his firstborn with actress Camila Sodi is a son called Jerónimo.  I don’t know how that reads in Luna’s native Mexico, but if he were better known in the US, I can’t help imagine the name appearing on lists of wacky celeb baby names, sandwiched between Dweezil and Apple.

Anyhow, their new daughter is Fiona, named after his late mother, costume designer Fiona Alexander.  And nope, Fiona isn’t a traditional Mexican choice; mom was English.  But I’m intrigued – will we see lots of little Latina Fionas? Shrek’s ogre princess helped propel Fiona to #312 in 2009.  It wouldn’t take much to push her into the Top 100.

Moving on:

  • Celebrities aren’t the only ones to bestow outlandish appellations on their young.  Russell Ash has compiled a book listing names like Hysteria, Wanton, Frisby and Fizzy;
  • You may have come across this story elsewhere:  The population of Northumberland is plus one with the recent arrival of Meggie Maisie Lady Gaga.  Is the weirdest thing: a) the baby’s name, full stop: b) the fact that Meggie’s four year old sis Maddy chose the name; or, d) that a four year old is fan of Lady Gaga.  My vote is d.  Daffy names abound, but since when do kids barely out of pull-ups listen to electropop?;
  • Apparently Meggie’s middle doesn’t make her unique.  This article claims that an Irish family put Lady Gaga in the first spot, while other families chose Usher, Brad Pitt and Beyonce.  Most Irish newborns, happily, are still being called Jack and Sophie;
  • Would Lady Gaga make the cut in Sweden?  Check out Mental Floss’ listing of countries with name restriction laws. Names that have been rejected across the globe include Monkey and Veranda.  Names that have passed muster include Legolas, Nemo and Benson and Hedges, for a set of twins.  Smokin’;
  • Here’s one from For Real Baby Names that would wear nicely: Mariposa.  She spotted a Portia Laverne, a Zoeeve Catherine and Rece Nathaniel in Florida.  Zoeeve is one of the more intriguing smooshes I’ve seen recently.  It’s hard on the eyes, but the sound is pretty.  I don’t get Rece.  Rhys, yes.  Reese and Reece, fine.  But Rece looks like something is missing;
  • I loved Laura Wattenberg’s Stealth Names post.  Check out the boys’ list here and girls’ list here.  She also makes a nice point about certain choices, like Blaze/Blaise. While Peyton and Payton probably appeal to the same parents and the debate is about the spelling.  In other cases, they’re really separate names;
  • Speaking of creative spellings, it would be forgivable if someone thought you’d twisted a word to arrive at the appellation Erlea for your new daughter.  But if you read Sebastiane’s blog, you’ll know it’s a Basque name pronounced er LEH ah, and means bee.  Far more interesting than Deborah.  Just don’t name her brother Layte;
  • Could Maylee be the next Kaylie/Hayley?  For Real spotted one in Washington.

Here are two questions to mull over while you watch the fireworks:

Lastly, this has GOT to the be the Most Fun Mash-up.  You’ve been following Elisabeth’s Ohdeedoh baby name lists, right?  Because where else can you find kids called Beckett, Enzo and Ruthie Sue?  Ohdeedoh noticed!

That’s all for now.  Have a great week, and as always, thank you for being here!

Sunday Summary: 5/9/10

Happy Mother’s Day!  I spent the morning indulging in an M-Day brunch at Max Brenner and then listening for kids’ names at the Union Square playground near my sister’s new Manhattan apartment.  I heard Ezra and Sophie at Ladybird Bakery in Park Slope – near sister #2′s place – the morning before, but mostly the Big Apple was a big letdown in terms of name spotting.  I was too busy to really listen.  (But, no, dear sisters, that’s not why I come visit you in the Big City.)

As usual, the real Mother’s Day gift comes from Uncle Sam.  The Social Security Administration has released the Top 1000 baby names for babes born the year prior.  It’s pretty much impossible to collect all of the interesting commentary on the topic, but here are a few highlights:

In non-statistical news:

Our only celeb birth of the week is author Sophie Kinsella, mom to four boys: Freddy, Hugo, Oscar and Rex William.

I’m off to unpack luggage and wrangle overtired into their pajamas.  Hope you had a fabulous Mother’s Day and thank you for reading!  See you next week.

Baby Name of the Day: Hannelore

I’ve heard she’s considered old-fashioned overseas, but she has an interesting indie edge in the US.

Thanks to Bek for suggesting Hannelore as Baby Name of the Day.

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Baby Name of the Day: Winola

She’s a true rarity with a disputed meaning but a strangely appealing vibe.

Thanks to Emma for suggesting Winola as Name of the Day.

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In Reserve: Possible Names for a Second Daughter

I doubt we’ll ever have a third child.  There are dozens of practical reasons.

And one reason that’s trivial for him, dead serious for me: we could never agree on a name.

We do have a few candidates, scraps from the cutting room floor.  I’ve mentioned them in comments from time to time, but I thought a round-up was in order.  

Our girls’ list is first; I’ll post the boys’ list later.

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