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Welcome to names in the news 10.18.26 edition!
I’m a big fan of short, surprising middles. This list continues to grow, from 125 to double that, with additions like Muse and Dream and Soul over the years.
Blue, Blu, and Bleu have been included since day one. It’s one of the earliest cool, edgy single-syllable middles. Cher named her son Elijah Sky Blue way back in 1976; John Travolta’s Ella Bleu arrived in 2000. Both spellings are established choices.
But I always pause at the spelling Bleu. French speakers pronounce it more like bluuh, which doesn’t quite rhyme with duh, but like the true/new sound, too.
Singer Sophia Grace Brownlee just welcomed a daughter named Ariella Bleu. Lovely name, and I’m quite certain they’re pronouncing the middle name like the color. After all, actor Corbin Bleu is Corbin sounds-like-Blue.
Ariella joins siblings Athena and River, so the parents are great namers. It just makes me wonder: are there other names that could see us flip the u-e to e-u? Or are there other choices where we might pair a French spelling with an English pronunciation?
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Can we talk about Mamie? The Today Show covered Colleen’s comments about Mamie. She makes the case that it’s wildly rare, but shares lots of great qualities with more popular choices. I take her point, especially because it echoes Sadie/Sarah and Maisie/Margaret, a casual, vintage nickname name that feels like it does stand apart from its traditional formal name. Actress Mamie Gummer, daughter of Meryl Streep, has helped raised Mamie’s profile, too.
Congrats to Kaley Cuoco and Tom Pelphrey on the arrival on their second daughter! Philomena Carmine Bobby joins older sister Matilda Carmine Richie. Carmine honors Kaley’s dad; Bobby and Richie come from dad’s side.
Combined Ariella and Philomena back up the idea that names are getting longer. It’s an oversimplification, of course. 1926 gave us Gloria, but also Ruth. In 1956. Susan and Cynthia both topped the charts. And by 1996 families debated Taylor or Victoria. But broadly, names do shift from shorter to longer and back again – and that means Persephone and Seraphina and more long girls’ names might be ones to watch.
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Verity, the movie, is getting mixed reviews. But will it boost Verity the name?
Jude must be the most popular boys’ name from a song title, right?
Evolet was invented for a movie set in prehistory, but it sounds like it could be a 19th century vintage gem.
That’s all for now. As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
