Appellation Mountain - Where every name has a story

Name Help: A Sister for Julia, Simone, and Calla

September 18, 2020 By appellationmountain 4 Comments

Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed.

We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight!

Sarah writes –

I keep waiting for the “yes, that’s it!” moment, but it hasn’t happened yet.

We have three daughters: Julia, Simone, and Calla.

Here are the names we’ve considered:

FRANCINE – I’m worried about Francine because I don’t like the nicknames Franny or Frankie. It feels inevitable that she’d use one of these nicknames, and I don’t like the idea.

[Read more…]

Name Help: Long and Lyrical Girl Names

September 18, 2020 By appellationmountain 23 Comments

Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed. We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight! Rachel writes: We have a son named Sebastian and twin daughters named Victoria […]

Long Names for Girls: Elizabella and Anastasia

September 16, 2020 By appellationmountain 27 Comments

Long names for girls have never been more popular. America’s favorite, Olivia, comes in at four syllables. So does long-time Top Ten Isabella, fast-rising Penelope, modern staple Ariana, classic Elizabeth, and – if you don’t rush the pronunciation – regal Victoria. Not so long ago, every Elizabeth was a Betty or a Lizzie or a […]

Baby Name Ronan: Upbeat Irish Charmer

September 16, 2020 By appellationmountain 25 Comments

The baby name Ronan belongs to a saint and a centaur. And it’s a fast-rising Irish import with plenty of charm. It’s our Baby Name of the Day. LITTLE SEAL We name our children Fox and Wren and Bear. And names like Leo, Caleb, and Paloma refer to animals. The baby name Ronan falls in […]

Girl Names Starting with M: Mia, Magnolia, Monet

September 15, 2020 By appellationmountain 3 Comments

Girl names starting with M range from the mini Mia to elaborate Magnolia and Marguerite. In some ways, the list is still dominated by Mary and Margaret. Multiple popular M names for girls connect to those classic, enduring names. But other sounds dominate in recent generations. There are so many Maddies – along with some […]

Coolest Top 100 Boy Names: Ezra, Jack, and Owen

September 14, 2020 By appellationmountain 14 Comments

What are the coolest Top 100 boy names? Yes, I said that right. Too often we dismiss the Top 100 names, assume they’re all overused and washed up. But that’s crazy talk. Because names only make it to the top of the popularity charts if they’re truly great names, with broad appeal and plenty of […]

Sunday Summary: Ascension

September 13, 2020 By appellationmountain Leave a Comment

I’m captivated by David Blaine’s latest performance, Ascension. Maybe it’s because floating weightless above the earth sounds ideal right now. He talked about capturing the childlike wonder of floating away, clutching a fistful of balloons. Maybe I didn’t pay enough attention in science class, but I always thought it might be possible, given the right […]

Nature Names for Boys: Leo, River, Bear

September 12, 2020 By appellationmountain 13 Comments

When it comes to nature names for boys, daring possibilities abound. This list focuses on the most popular picks in the US as of September 2020, reflecting births in calendar year 2019. Of course, nature names for boys have always been with us. Glenn and Craig and Ray all had their moments during the twentieth […]

Rarest Girl Names: Arbor, Silvana, Teal

September 11, 2020 By appellationmountain 8 Comments

If you’re looking for a name your daughter will never share, this list of the very rarest girl names is for you. Every one of these names was given to 50 or fewer girls born in the US in 2019. That’s not zero – but it’s pretty darn rare. After all, it takes 257 births […]

Fastest Rising Boy Names: Luca, Waylon, Brooks

September 8, 2020 By appellationmountain 2 Comments

There’s more than one way to define the fastest rising boy names in the US. Most often, we look at rank. Archie jumped over 300 spots; Kenzo and Saint, by more than 100 each. But it’s sometimes more interesting to look at gains in the actual number of babies given a particular name. Archie’s big […]