Woosh! Where did the month of May go? There were oodles of birth announcements this past week – check out my Nameberry post tomorrow to read all about the nine newest celeb(ish) arrivals. And with a Kardashian, a Braxton, Jessica Simpson, and Duchess Kate all due this summer, it’s promising to be a name-packed few months!
Now, for baby name news and chatter from the blogosphere:
- Dulcie, a sister for Sadie and Hattie? Elea points out that the name has quite a bit of history. Looking for a formal version? Dulcibella did well in the nineteenth century, and there’s also the literary Dulcinea.
- Kelli’s Mix and Match post is pure fun! Before there was Nameberry, one of Pam and Linda’s books had a similar chart. But Kelli’s is updated with new bits and pieces, like Ever and Oak.
- A baby named Kansas – in Kansas! Usually I expect to see things like babies named Brooklyn in Utah, so that was a change.
- Loved reading everybody’s Cabbage Patch Kid name stories. Could all of those doll birth certificates have been a gateway to name nerdery? And Annabella Cleopatra has to be the best CPK name I’ve heard, hands down.
- Happy to hear this couple is sticking with Lijsbeth.
- Kind of digging Mather. And Alta and Case, too.
- Have you met a baby Atreyu? Nancy is right – this is one of those names that has become established beyond his roots in fantasy literature and film.
- On a similar note, Khaleesi has an interesting story. As Laura writes, I would have guessed it was Arabic. I would have been wrong. It’s Dothraki. Seriously, I need to watch Game of Thrones.
- Are you playing the name game at You Can’t Call It “It”?
- From the wayback machine: in 2008, I ran a list of Summer Names. The featured name was Jude. A year later, the spotlight turned to Viola. In 2010, Kateri was Baby Name of the Day, followed by Linda in 2011. Last year, May 26 was a Saturday, but the Friday before I ran The New Classics: Boys’ Edition.
- So Alex O’Loughlin has sons named Saxon, Spike, and Lion? That’s quite a trio!
- I share Eponymia’s affection for Fleurie, even though it is too close to flurry to work in English.
- Ivelisse is gorgeous!
That’s all for now. As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
I saw a baby named Khaleesi in a BA this year – the Arabic thing may not be too far off; can’t help thinking Martin did base the word on Arabic or a related language.
The TV show is very adult-oriented, so it seems like that “Where did you get my name from, Mummy and Daddy?” chat might be quite hard to negotiate …. I’m never sure how people manage that situation.
I didn’t even think of the Arabic word/name when I was responding to Nancy’s question, since Game of Thrones/Dothraki was foremost in my mind! But someone else’s comment there reminded me…
bete noir: From what I understand, Khalis (m) and Khalisah (f) are names in Arabic with the root letters Kha (خ) + Lam (ل) and Saad (ص). Words with those root letters are generally related to purity and clarity. Also, to say “my __” to a word in arabic, you would just add an “ee” to the end. So “my Khalis” would be “Khalisee.”
This is correct — “Khalisee/Khalisi” would be the way to talk about/to your child/pet/etc. named Khalis/ah.