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The other morning I woke up to a dusting of snow. Y’know the kind, where you can actually see the snowflakes on the grass? It reminded me of that whole no-two-snowflakes-are-alike promise.
It turns out that science says that’s true. One expert explained it this way: “Anything that has any complexity is different than everything else.”
It strikes me that, when it comes to names, we ought to strive for a certain amount of snowflake-like individuality.
Most of the time? I’m guessing we achieve it.
Even two women, both named Jessica Anne Smith, probably think about their names a little differently. Maybe one is always Jessie, and the other never shortens her name. Or the constituent pieces carry different meanings. Anne honors the Jessie’s grandmother, maybe, or Jessica was chosen because her English-major mother wanted a name from Shakespeare.
Better still, I think, to add our own snowflake-level complexity to our children’s names. If our surname name is common and the first name we like best is popular, too? Turn up the volume with an unusual middle name. Opt for a less common first, add a bonus middle, or somehow shift your child’s name just a bit so it will be all theirs.
And if you’ve already named your child and worry that Ava Grace Miller will blend in? Know that even if her name appears to be shared, chances are there are ways that it she will make it her own over time.
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The Duck Dynasty family gets much of the credit for establishing Sadie as a Top 100 staple during the show’s 2012 to 2017 run. Now family member Jessica Robertson has announced that daughter Merritt is a mom. Merritt and husband Tyler welcomed daughter Nellie Jane. The family is (mostly) out of the public eye, but I think this is a good example of how a naming style – vintage nicknames – can remain in favor, even as the names themselves evolve.
Speaking of trends … conservative political figure Meghan McCain welcomed her third child with husband Ben Domenech. Ransom McCain joins sisters Liberty Sage and Clover Jade. As word names go, I wonder if Ransom is on the upswing? It has some of the swagger of Maverick, with the spiritual tenor of Chosen.
How’s this for a fascinating name story? Back in 1912 Welsh painter Augustus John and his wife Dorothy welcomed a daughter. They couldn’t settle on a name and instead her childhood nickname, Poppet, stuck. It was a different era, of course – but I think we all know people IRL who go by a name that wasn’t ever meant to be their “real” name.
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Prudence is one of those so-far-out-it’s-in kind of choices. It’s a heavy, Pilgrims-at-Plymouth-Rock kind of virtue name. The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” is sort of trippy and romantic. In the 90s, Charmed made us hear Prue as a sister for names like Piper and Paige. It’s an intriguing mix of influences that fits in surprisingly well with Alice, Frances, and Florence.
Rex is a mini name with bite. It’s a tiny bit T-Rex, rather regal, and surprisingly uncommon. Strictly speaking, this name was most popular around 1950, so it might need a little more hibernation … but Rex could feel like the perfect retro revival in another few years.
Ambrose is my pick for an unexpected alternative to Theodore. It works even better with the nickname Ozzy.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
Happy New Year Abby, our brilliant unique snowflake!
Am I the only John Wayne fan? The man who shot Liberty Valance? Ransom Stoddard.
Other cool names from the movie?
Hallie
Pompey
Link
Cassius
Dutton
Nora
Maxwell
What is old is new again-a 1962 movie.
Hmm. I think the snowflake idea is true IF YOU STRIVE FOR THAT, and especially if you’re the kind of person who ends up reading blogs about names in the first place. If you care at all about adding some uniqueness to your child’s name, having another little Mila or Sebastian in your orbit doesn’t mean that your quiet tribute to your Russian heritage or your favorite band in high school gets eclipsed by someone else’s choice. And that’s very comforting!
The US is also full of people whose parents named them Jennifer Marie and Michael James because of popularity and flow and because Dad’s name was Jim, who go by Jen and Mike, and who like their names well enough and don’t think about them much. Some of them named their kids Isabella Grace and Jacob Michael for the same reasons. There’s also a big world that includes some cultures where uniqueness is considered even less important and where religious and cultural norms result in many people having identical names. And all that’s fine and doesn’t need to rock the boat for anyone whose feelings are more like the usual name blog reader!