Hard to believe it, but as of yesterday I had officially posted for 367 days.
In a row.
Which means that I’ve posted Names of the Day while on vacation, before major family events, even the morning I left for the hospital to deliver my darling daughter. If I’d thought about what it meant to post every single day, I don’t think I’d have ever planned to do so.
Having run a marathon, I’m not quite hanging up my running shoes. Instead, I’ll be posting Names of the Day Monday through Friday, along with (hopefully) a few more articles and my Sunday Summaries of baby-naming news from the week.
Read on for a few more thoughts … and a list of all the Names!
After my most recent trip around the sun, I have a few thoughts:
1. Most names have more to recommend them than I might initially think. There were names that I didn’t like at all when I agreed to add them to the calendar. By the end of writing the post, I’d be thinking of having another child just so I could call him Tavish.
2. Some of my biggest regrets have been offering lukewarm – or downright disparaging remarks – on certain Names of the Day. It’s a challenge to strike a balance between having a point-of-view and the reality that real people give all sorts of names to their kids. And some of them are wonderful, lovely people, even if they name their daughters Jaidynne.
3. The universe of names is nearly infinite. I’m amazed at how many names I’d either never heard, or could barely find any information on. (I’m looking at you, Emmy Jo, Lola and Christina – I believe each of you has stumped me more than once!) I could write for 100 years and never exhaust the possibilities.
And that’s certainly thanks to all of you. I suppose I’d probably have kept writing if just a handful of readers had shown up. But the fact that oh so many of you have written and commented and wrote in suggestions for more Names of the Day, well … that’s just made this so much more worth doing.
So thank you for being part of a successful year. I’ll doubtless have more analysis on these names in the future, but for now, here’s where we’ve been since May 2008:
| Juniper |
| Rhys |
| Felix |
| Hazel |
| Ariadne |
| Wyatt |
| Juno |
| Cruz |
| Tuesday |
| Matthias |
| Cady |
| Caspian |
| Tallulah |
| Orion |
| Clementine |
| Ambrose |
| Poppy |
| Henry |
| Esme |
| Ignatius |
| Yvaine |
| Jude |
| Lucia |
| Raphael |
| Haven |
| Quillan |
| Piper |
| Ezra |
| Odessa |
| Harper |
| Giacomo |
| Dante |
| Maeve |
| Omar |
| Clarinda |
| Hugo |
| Signe |
| Gideon |
| Iris |
| Julius |
| Madrigal |
| Simeon |
| Alethea |
| Marius |
| Ophelia |
| Everett |
| Valencia |
| Cyrus |
| Romilly |
| Sterling |
| Mercy |
| Emmett |
| Holland |
| Sebastian |
| Imogen |
| Cosmo |
| Lucretia |
| Otis |
| Felicity |
| Clarence |
| Liberty |
| Jasper |
| Honor |
| Marco |
| Jemima |
| Levi |
| Ottilie |
| Basil |
| Saskia |
| Callum |
| Luna |
| Etienne |
| Prudence |
| Ira |
| Paulina |
| Gilbert |
| Millicent |
| Harris |
| Assumpta |
| Crispin |
| Loveday |
| Ronan |
| Verity |
| Dixon |
| Gloria |
| Coriander |
| Lorelei |
| Cullen |
| Nina |
| Giles |
| Whitney |
| Arthur |
| Eulalie |
| Orrin |
| Balthasar |
| Octavia |
| Zuleika |
| Aoyun |
| Helena |
| Corbin |
| Annika |
| August |
| Mallory |
| Aloysius |
| Aurelia |
| Urban |
| Isla |
| Bruce |
| Liesel |
| Clara |
| Abel |
| Dexter |
| Elsa |
| Magnus |
| Xanthe |
| Garrett |
| Wilhelmina |
| Zephyr |
| Marisa |
| Finn |
| Frances |
| Simon |
| Susannah |
| Lewis |
| Sylvia |
| Linus |
| Magina |
| Desmond |
| Orla |
| Vaughn |
| Tamar |
| Hector |
| Yarden |
| Theron |
| Gwendolen |
| Remus |
| Sybil |
| Malcolm |
| Noa |
| Xavier |
| Alberta |
| Vladimir |
| Jago |
| Clio |
| Eamon |
| Ayelet |
| Wesley |
| Evadne |
| Romeo |
| Alwilda |
| Clayton |
| Pomeline |
| Cornelius |
| Maxine |
| Martin |
| India |
| Walter |
| Flora |
| Calvin |
| Josephine |
| Story |
| Oona |
| Raymond |
| Faye |
| Vincent |
| Ethan |
| Xiomara |
| Isannah |
| Leo |
| Regina |
| Payton |
| Celeste |
| Theodore |
| Cecily |
| Regan |
| Jason |
| Sidney |
| Bram |
| Claudia |
| Boris |
| Natasha |
| Alasdair |
| Zenaida |
| Geoffrey |
| Carys |
| Guy |
| Matilda |
| Luke |
| Ingrid |
| Hamish |
| Nicola |
| Seth |
| Evangeline |
| Rex |
| Georgia |
| Ewan |
| Meredith |
| Cassius |
| Abigail |
| Jubal |
| Eloise |
| Edward |
| Faith |
| Zedekiah |
| Priscilla |
| Titus |
| Hester |
| Alfred |
| Minerva |
| Oliver |
| Wren |
| Ivan |
| Deirdre |
| Trevor |
| Bridget |
| Lance |
| Nora |
| Frederick |
| Cloelia |
| Trent |
| Corisande |
| George |
| Araminta |
| Stuart |
| Zelda |
| Bruno |
| Alexander |
| Harvey |
| Mabel |
| Philip |
| Dorothea |
| Roland |
| Odette |
| Malachi |
| Ivy |
| Caradoc |
| Isadora |
| Nigel |
| Gemma |
| Gordon |
| January |
| Primo |
| Dinah |
| Blaise |
| Jade |
| Kyle |
| Lena |
| James |
| Alice |
| Kenneth |
| Paige |
| Rufus |
| Eithne |
| Jarvis |
| Genevieve |
| Niles |
| Freya |
| Hadrian |
| Eleanor |
| Craig |
| Elodie |
| Tavish |
| Delphina |
| Remy |
| Isabeau |
| Donald |
| Coralie |
| Caelin |
| Christabel |
| Philo |
| Lunette |
| Arlo |
| Rowena |
| Roarke |
| Marian |
| Cillian |
| Svetlana |
| Eben |
| Doris |
| Javan |
| Bronwen |
| Emil |
| Agnes |
| Ansel |
| Demetria |
| Agnes |
| Edith |
| Jair |
| Jane |
| Alvar |
| Winifred |
| Egan |
| Pearl |
| Johann |
| Rosanna |
| Brendan |
| Agatha |
| Adlai |
| Willia |
| Reason |
| Maud |
| Gavin |
| Seraphina |
| Jonah |
| Pandora |
| Adrian |
| Talia |
| Leif |
| Idonia |
| Declan |
| Dilys |
| Hosea |
| Afton |
| Peregrine |
| Ursula |
| Zenas |
| Riley |
| Bartholomew |
| Elvia |
| Barnaby |
| Hero |
| Eloy |
| Petra |
| Eric |
| Calista |
| Lorne |
| Lana |
| Wolfgang |
| Mariana |
| St. John |
| Avril |
| Damian |
| Daphne |
| Sylvester |
| Anastasia |
| Wynn |
| Rosamel |
| Jesse |
| Calliope |
| Sinclair |
| Medea |
| Elliot |
| Peter |
| Bishop |
| Athena |
| Thatcher |
| Astrid |
| Virgil |
| Lyra |
| Elmer |
| Leandra |
| Ptolemy |
| Calla |
| Warren |
| Gail |
| Glenn |
| Saffron |
| Cynthia |
| Meeka |
| Cecil |
| Eliza |
| Somerled |
| Miriam |
| Simone |
| Joan |
| Heath |
| Micaela |
| Dirk |
| Amelia |
Yes, congrats on a job very well done! I’ve only recently found your blog so I’m glad now to have the complete list of the names so I can make sure I haven’t missed anything. Thanks for all the fun!
Congratulations and thanks! I don’t want to repeat all of these wonderful comments, so I’ll just say that I really, really love this site for all of the above-mentioned reasons! It is one of the things I look forward to every day at work: taking a few minutes to read the NotD posts (and Sunday summaries). 🙂 Definitely a great way to feed my interest in names!
Congratulations! And Happy Mother’s Day!
I love your blog and have been reading it daily for quite some time… I absolutely love the rich stories and history behind each name.
I also really appreciated your help when I was struggling with finding a name for my daughter. Thank you!
Happy Mother’s Day to all! And thanks for the kind comments.
And yes, Elisabeth – you’re exactly right. January 2008 was the birth of AppMtn, but I didn’t start writing Names of the Day until May. I actually forgot all about my one-year anniversary. *Blushes.* Like I said, researching and writing those names every single day sometimes leaves me missing things!
But seriously, I’m honored to be read by so many smart, interesting people. And I’m delighted when you trust your favorite names to me. Or (Photoqulity, I’m looking at you) dig up the craziest, wildest names that you ABSOLUTELY cannot stand and ask me to find something positive to say.
Wow, I can’t believe I discovered you so early on… I love reading ‘the name of the day’ and look forward to reading some more of the Sunday summary style posts. Here’s to the next year!…
Happy Mother’s Day! To Everyone! 😀
Oh, congrats!!! 🙂
That is amazing work, blogging every day – I don’t know how on earth you do it, but I know it is much appreciated. I love coming here when I have a spare 15 minutes and browsing all of the interesting facts you seem to dig up 🙂
Congrats again!
And happy mothers day to you! 🙂
Congratulations! Blogging every day *period* let alone posts that require so much research is an impressive feat!
Wow, I had no idea Juniper was *the* very first NotD – how fun 🙂 I just named a daughter that 10 weeks ago. And (I don’t know what the usual protocol is for suggesting Names of the Day but…) since you’ve covered two of my four daughters names, what about featuring Philippa (Pippa) and Beatrix sometime? 😉
Thank you so much for all the time and energy you have taken in creating this great site. I consider it a naming destination. 🙂
Congratulations! Talk about commitment!
Congratulations! I haven’t been reading your blog but I love your knowledge of names and often when I want to find out more about a slightly obscure name, I always find everything I want to know here.
Keep up the good work (and havea break now and then, too 🙂 )
Happy Mother’s Day too!
~E++
Congratulations on the site’s first anniversary! Your posts are a pleasure to read. You always provide such in-depth background for each NOTD. Your Sunday summaries are a wonderful treat too. Keep up the good work. Now go and have some cake!
Congratulations, Abby! I’ve loved reading for the past year plus — I remember way back before you even started these Name of the Day posts. And thanks for being willing to cover some of my obscure oddballs (like Caelin and Tavish).
This site is a great resource — you give such a complete picture of each name you cover. I love your writing style, and I think you’ve always been very fair and balanced in your opinions about names.
I am constantly amazed by your encyclopedic knowledge on names. I think at one time I offered to write you a Shakespearean name post, but now I cower even thinking of trying to top your expertise. What was I thinking?? 🙂
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to the web site. I’m really thankful I came across it while pregnant with my first baby.
Cheers, and I hope to read more of your writing for many years.
It’s been a pleasure not just to read your posts, but to refer parents to you. So many times on baby naming boards an expectant parent would ask, “is this name too weird?” or “is this too old-fashioned?” and Iwould remember seeing that name here.
I love your writing style and the way you offer up so many fun facts on names from a variety of sources. Whether it’s a mythological or biblical name, a nature name or something from pop culture, literary or common, I love being able to search for the name and sharing the link with somebody who’s looking for the gift of a name that will last a lifetime.
Cheers!
Congratulations to you, Abby! And thanks for it, too. I have loved reading and will continue to do so as long as you’re willing to write! No one’s going to hold you to writing every day, especially not with two lovely kids (even I take a day off now & then, and I only have 1 under the roof right now)!
I am amazed at that list for the year, absolutely awesome. Now I’m going to go re-read a few of those posts, just to refresh myself. Have an awesome weekend! Go play with Alexi & Clio!
Happy Birthday AppMtn and Abby! Your site (and insight) has brought so much to me. For some reason I though you started writing in January last year? I can’t believe I discovered you so early on, I’ve been reading for almost exactly a year, and started my own site in a fit of inspiration.
Kudos to you for writing every day! Amazing feat.
Lurves to you,
Elisabeth
Congratulations!
I have loved reading your blog every day. Thank you!
Can I suggest Louisa as a Name of the Day sometime?
Thanks!