Scarlet. Juliet. Bridget. Violet.
While Annette, Jeanette, Paulette and Lynette seem tied to the 1950s, a whole new generation of ends in -et names for girls are climbing the charts.
If -et is the next -el, we’d like to nominate a candidate that is truly different, but has plenty of history at the same time – today’s Name of the Day: Ayelet.
The author Ayelet Waldman tripped our radar a few years back, and while the name seemed vaguely familiar, it also felt surpassingly rare. Indeed, Ayelet has never been in the US Top 1000.
Like Tamar, there’s a strong Jewish heritage vibe to this choice. Ayelet is big in Israel. In fact, we’ll soon be hearing much of the name. Popular Israeli actress Ayelet Zurer is making the move to Hollywood for the May 2009 release of the Da Vinci Code prequel, Angels and Demons. Given Tom Hanks’ involvement, chances are that even if the flick isn’t a blockbuster, his co-star will garner lots of attention.
Of course, we’ll also have to wait and hear how she pronounces her given name. A three-syllable sound – ah yeh let – is favored by most name dictionaries. But in listening to Ayelet Waldman on NPR, and considering the sounds associated with the increasingly popular Violet, it seems more likely that EYE eh let, or EYE leht would be the easiest pronunciation – and the one you’re most likely to hear.
This brings to mind the fabric, as in “a simple white cotton eyelet skirt is perfect for spring.” On the one hand, it makes the name familiar without being common. On the other hand, plenty of parents would prefer a name that doesn’t also hang in their closets.
Rest assured that Ayelet’s derivation is completely separate from the material. The Hebrew phrase ayelet hashachar literally translates to gazelle of dawn. This could make Ayelet, like Tabitha, a pretty appellation that brings to mind graceful grassland dwellers.
Alternately, we can think of the night sky. The gazelle of dawn is a poetic phrase describing the morning star. Got twins? Call them Danica and Ayelet. Triplets? Danica, Ayelet and Esther.
Still, most baby name guides will tell you that Ayelet simply means gazelle, and if calling your dear daughter a deer is off-putting, then this is not the choice for you.
In addition to Waldman and Zurer, Ayelet Tours is a US-based travel company offering Jewish heritage tours worldwide. Ayelet HaShahar is a historic kibbutz in Israel, and a major producer of fruit and honey.
While it’s an oversimplification to link Ayelet to Psalm 22, there is a connection. We’re not certain we’ve got it quite puzzled out, but you’ll find the phrase associated with the passage. This is either the icing on the cake that makes the name appealingly spiritual, or the nail in the coffin, depending on your personal beliefs.
Overall, we find Ayelet intriguing. She’s complicated to spell and say, and would almost inevitably be confused with Violet. But it’s a strong Jewish heritage option that emerges as prettier than the harsh sounds of Tamar or the predictable choices like Hadassah. We think she’d wear well on a girl born in 2008, regardless of your personal faith.
YAY! I love these posts! I have a 3 month old Ayelet, named for my Grandmother “Yetta” (Her old Yiddish name) and “Eta” (her Hebrew name.) We absolutely love the poetic sound of it, yet Americans are having some trouble with it. I tell them, “I whisper it, I say it, I YELL it, which is the pronunciation. Her middle names are Rose and Michal–I *love* Michal. Funny, we considered Tamar!
We have an almost three year old Ayelet. We love the name and get many complements. We chose our nickname from the ending and call her Leti. By the way, our other daughter is Eliana and we call her Ellie.
ha! this is awesome 🙂 a whole artical about my name!
i do hope it becomes more popular – although it is fun to hear “well, thats a very beautiful name! i have never heard it before” whenever i introduce myself to someone 🙂
funny thing is, my little sister is named Tamar – coincidence? haha
ha! this is awesome 🙂 a whole artical about my name!
i do hope it becomes more popular – although it is fun to hear “well, thats a very beautiful name! i have never heard it before” whenever i introduce myself to someone 🙂
funny thing is, my little sister is named Tamar – coincidence? haha
Allison, I like your Ayelet’s explanation of her name, LOL!
As for the -et question? There aren’t enough options in the category for it to ever be huge, but I do think that we’re starting to see an end to the longer, ends-in-a era that started with Jessica and Amanda and continues today with Isabella and Olivia. I’m trying to figure out how to do a statistically valid analysis of name endings – Laura Wattenberg’s done some work on this with boys’ names – I’m sure it’s over at http://www.babynamewizard.com.
But I do see the -et cluster rising. Harriet’s a personal favorite of mine, too! Scarlet and Violet are undeniably big news of late; Juliet and Bridget are getting more attention, too. Plus, we can’t forget Charlotte … so it seems likely that some parents will be looking for less common, ends-in-et choices just like we’ve met a few Annabels named by parents who once loved Isabel …
That’s another post!
I love it! It’s so much fun being introduced to real names I’ve never heard of. (I’ll admit that I did immediately think of eyelet fabric, but that’s one of my favorite things to wear, so it’s not a huge drawback for me.)
The “-et” names are some of my favorites right now. Violet and Juliet are current top-contenders for future daughters’ middle names. I’ve also loved Charlotte and Bridget. Scarlett is pretty, but it feels a little too trendy to me because of its celebrity associations.
Ayelet is lovely. Thanks for the great suggestion!
I met someone named Ayelet about 7 years ago. She was a pretty Jewish girl in her early twenties. When I asked her how to pronounce her name, she explained, “Ayelet… like, ‘I YELL it’ down the hall.” I liked the name, and I never forgot how to say it!
Ayelet is quite adorable! I’m thinking I’d prefer it in the middle name, but I really think it’s a great name for 2008.
My only issue is nicknames, could Aye work? Would you pronounce it AY or AY-a?
I think it’s pretty with a three syllable pronunciation too! Ayelet isn’t exactly my cup of tea but she’s undeniably lovely. I do like Tabitha (and would have considered it for Jsephine had I not had a friend with a Tabitha), so I do like her meaning, whether simplified or not. Funnily enough, the similarity to the fabric hadn’t occurred to me until I read it, I had thought “aglet” though. Weird. I too think she’s a pretty smart choice, despite the possible mix up with Violet.
Ayelet’s actually fairly intuitve to spell for me, I haven’t thought once about how to spell Ayelet when typing it out! She gets a :thumbsup: from me! 😀
I’ve never come across Ayelet before. On first glance I like the way she looks and feels (I’m a big fan of Isla and an even bigger fan of Violet so I guess it figures) but I need to mull her over for a while to figure out how I really feel…
Do you really think that -et endings could be the next big thing? I do hope not because they tend to feature heavily among my favourites (which include Harriet, Juliet and the aforementioned Violet). As a rule, I find -et endings strong and punchy and I’d hate them to get too popular, although I’ve eheard that Violet is making a rapid ascend to the top of the US charts – is that correct? In real terms how popular is she? I would be interested to know as in the UK, shes still little heard of…