Sunday SummaryWelcome to 2013!  I keep accidentally dating posts 2012.  Are you having the same trouble?

My New Year’s Resolution is to finish cleaning up the site.  It’s been eight months since The Big Move to self-hosting, and there are still broken links galore, as well as some incomplete posts.  If you stumble on a post that appears to be just a few lines, please leave a comment – the rest of the post is lurking in the archive.  They’re tough for me to find, so your help is very much appreciated!

Now, on to the baby name news:

  • I think Graham is totally wearable.  Plus, you can serve s’mores at his first birthday party.
  • This Babble slideshow is irritatingly light on content, but probably reflects what most people think of the Top Names of 1913.  Me?  I believe Millie will make a comeback, and I wouldn’t count out George.
  • All of the Top Names of Whichever Region/Hospital Center/Other Jurisdiction have gone past in a blur, this year, but Liam seems to be rising in several of them.  Nancy reports that he’s #1 in Manitoba.
  • I don’t envy this mom – and I think Swistle’s advice is exactly right.
  • The Name Station defends Ryker.  He’s NMS at all, but I completely see his appeal.
  • Which formal names lead to Pi?  Lou uncovers the backstory on the movie name, but I’m thinking Piper and Pierce are the logical formal versions.
  • Statham feels like a British aristocrat to me, cousin to Hallam.  Except for the action hero factor, which makes him more like Slade.  I agree with Blue Juniper – he’s wearable.  (BTW, isn’t she doing an amazing job surfacing wearable-but-different names?  Evanora last week, and now Statham.  I love seeing what she unearths.)
  • You can’t be a Princess in New Zealand.
  • But you can be an Annecy in Australia.  I kind of love this one …
  • And Jessamy, too.

Heard any fabulous names recently?

About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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What do you think?

8 Comments

  1. I love Graham, though I prefer the Graeme spelling, and I’ve often suggested it to parents-to-be, but I, too, think the British and Canadian pronunciation is much nicer than the US “Gram” pronunciation.

    Liam is indeed crazy popular right across Canada. I’ve wondered whether the popularity of the British soap Coronation Street here had something to do with it – there was a very popular character named Liam on the show a few years ago and we all know that soaps can definitely influence naming trends.

    I haven’t come across too many interesting names lately, although I do know a baby Sloane (girl), a baby girl Haize (pronounced ah-ee-sey – a Basque word meaning wind) and encountered a little Frida a while ago.

  2. I went to a school with a lovely girl named Annecy. Her parents were Hungarian and had moved to the US but they loved to visit Annecy. I have always thought it was a lovely name for a person.

  3. I love George, especially paired with Ryan in the middle (or as a double name).

    I suggested Graham, along with a slew of other names, to some friends who are due soon with their second child. Their first is an Emily.

    I’ve encountered the names Ether, Catherinella, and Desmeres in my recent readings. Catherinella intrigues me.

  4. So I much prefer the British pronunciation of Graham that I grew up with (also spelled Graeme). It sounds like “Gray-um” rather than “Gram”. It totally bugs me when people say “Gram Crackers”.

    Millie is cute and comeback-worthy. And I kind of hope George doesn’t come back to be as popular as Henry now is. 😛 My George is approaching 2 years old soon. We met another little George at the library, who is a year or so older. And there used to be a George at our church, who is in elementary school.

    There is a baby Ryker at church too. My husband says I should ask the Mom if she likes Star Trek. (Because we do like Star Trek and that’s all I think of with the name.) I feel weird asking people “What’s the story behind your child’s name?” if I don’t really know them. It seems a little rude. Like I know if someone asked me “What’s up with naming your kid ‘George’?” then I’d get the impression that they didn’t like the name and were wondering why on earth someone would name their cute little baby that.

    My MIL showed me a photo Christmas card. The little baby boy was named Dietrich. Inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I couldn’t really get over the word “Die” being in there. Plus it looked so ‘last namey’ being listed at the end of the card – like it was the family’s last name. (An “and” in there would have helped, so it would have been “and Dietrich”.)

  5. My best friend’s son is named Ryker. He’s almost twelve. I never heard the name before I met her (she says she named after Ryker’s Ridge in Indiana, where she grew up) but I immediately loved the name and thought it was very cool. I feel compelled to defend it when people on name boards bring up “the prison.” The prison was named for a MAN. It’s a surname name! (See? I get all huffy! LOL)

  6. Graham is definitely wearable, its sorta popular too: #255, so people are using it. As for George, while its not as popular as once upon a time, its still far more popular than what most people think: #165. It seems to have stabilized in this region.

    Speaking of G- names, I’m totally crazy about Gaia right now. Why isn’t it more popular? Baffles me.