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Baby Name of the Day: Pixie

April 26, 2012 By appellationmountain 13 Comments

Pixie

Pixie (Photo credit: Laddir)

She’s a mythical creature with that delicious -x sound.  But how would she wear on a daughter?

Thanks to Megan for suggesting Pixie as our Baby Name of the Day.

Bob Geldof, that early baby name innovator, called his third daughter Little Pixie, a sister to Fifi Trixibelle and Peaches Honeyblossom.  She’s known as Pixie Geldof today, and stays in the spotlight as a model.  It’s said that Pixie’s name was inspired by a magazine lampooning celebrity baby names.

English singer-actress Pixie Lott is also raising the profile of the name, but she was born Victoria Louise.  She’s been successful on the UK Singles Chart, and appeared as a judge on the British The X Factor.  In the US, she’s best known as Judy, a character on web series-turned-movie Fred.

Farther back, Welsh-Australian artist Pixie O’Harris illustrated dozens of children’s books with fairies and other fanciful creatures.

But what, precisely, is a pixie?

The word could come from the Swedish pyske – small fairy – but that doesn’t quite track with the origins of the myth.  They’re big around Cornwall, and are more likely to be Celtic than Norse in origin.  Today we think of pixies as sweet little things, with pointy ears.  Tinker Bell has been called a pixie.  The word has become interchangeable with fairy.

Older tales about pixies were more sinister: they stole children, they led travelers astray.  Instead of gentle mischief, they’re quite rotten.  There’s a great story from an English village of Ottery St. Mary about banishing the little beasts to caves outside of town.  The community purchased new church bells to drive them out, but the pixies retaliated by kidnapping the bell ringers.  Ultimately the villagers rescued the abducted, and the pixies were driven out for good.  You can still attend Pixie Day in June each year.

References to pixies abound:

  • In Harry Potter, pixies were an aggressive nuisance.
  • In Mr. Deeds Goes to Town,Longfellow Deeds is called “pixilated” – eccentric, not quite right.  But that meshes with an older sense of the word.  If you were pixie-led, you’d were lost due to the interference of the creatures; bewildered.
  • Pop culture also gives us two mice named Pixie and Dixie, from the Hanna Barbera cartoon Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks, featured on the Huckleberry Hound Show in the 1950s and 60s.  This Pixie is not only a mouse, but also a boy mouse.
  • The Pixies, alt rock giants of the late 1980s and early 1990s, spring to mind, too.  In our era of kids called Lennon and Presley, maybe that’s not a problem.

But is Pixie the girl who never grows up?  It is easy to imagine a toddler answering to Pixie.  But like the endearments Honey or Sweetheart, she might be too cute when you’re 19 and trying to snag an internship.

What could Pixie be short for?  Angela pointed out that P names are stylish – Pippa, Penelope … I like the idea of Pixie from Priscilla, or maybe Philippa Xanthe?  At the very least, she needs a very traditional middle, like Pixie Katharine.

Pixie is great, but she’s better with an anchor.

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Comments

  1. Elaine says

    September 12, 2012 at 7:14 PM

    My daughter is called Pixie, I love it! Could not imagine her suiting anything else so well! 🙂

    Reply
  2. jen says

    August 25, 2012 at 11:36 PM

    My daughters name is Pixie Sorrell (sore-ell). I love the name!

    Reply
  3. Names4Real says

    May 1, 2012 at 9:34 AM

    I’ve seen a few babies named Pixie over the years and most of them were in the U.K. as Elea pointed out.

    I think it would make a cute nickname for Beatrix too (Trixie = Pixie).

    Reply
  4. Elea@BBN says

    April 29, 2012 at 4:12 AM

    Pixie has really kicked off in the UK thanks to Pixie Lott. It first ranked in 2004 on 3 babies. In 2008 9 girls were called Pixie, but this rose to 33 in 2009, and 83 in 2010. It is now in the Top 500.

    Reply
  5. Panya says

    April 28, 2012 at 12:50 AM

    I’m not a fan. It seems too cutesy for an adult, & a bit risqué for a child [no idea why though].

    Reply
  6. Sarah A says

    April 26, 2012 at 11:29 PM

    I can’t see Pixie as anything more than a nickname, it’s just too cutesy. And it makes me think of a pixie cut so then I just think of hairdressers. I do think Pixie, like Poppy, could work for any P name.

    Reply
  7. Julie says

    April 26, 2012 at 6:47 PM

    My mom had twin classmates named Pixie and Patsy. I believe Pixie’s real name is Priscilla. Pixie feels very baby boomer-ish (and well baby-ish.)

    Reply
  8. Sebastiane says

    April 26, 2012 at 5:07 PM

    I think its cute as a stand alone name.

    Reply
  9. Fran says

    April 26, 2012 at 2:18 PM

    There’s a doctor on UK show Embarrassing Bodies called Pixie McKenna, but that appears just to be a nickname
    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pixie_McKenna#_

    Reply
  10. C in DC says

    April 26, 2012 at 2:16 PM

    Patricia or Patrice would work well as a fn for nn Pixie, although I like the nn Trixie better.

    Reply
  11. Lou @ Mer de Noms says

    April 26, 2012 at 1:21 PM

    I like the name Pixie, and I could potential see myself using her as she stands.

    Reply
  12. Kristin says

    April 26, 2012 at 11:32 AM

    My mother had a shih tsu puppy named Pixie. It suited the pup well, and I had never considered it for a human child. I must say, I like the idea of Pixie as a nickname for Priscilla.

    Reply
  13. Ich und die Namen says

    April 26, 2012 at 7:34 AM

    I can´t see Pixie as a real name. It´s a cute nickname, but that´s all

    Reply

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