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

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?

19 Comments

  1. 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!

  2. 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!

  3. 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!

  4. 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.

  5. 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!…

  6. 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! 🙂

  7. 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? 😉

  8. Thank you so much for all the time and energy you have taken in creating this great site. I consider it a naming destination. 🙂