Table of Contents
Name-inspired news and notes for your Sunday reading.
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I heard this fact the other day: over 35 billion minutes of Bluey were streamed in the US during calendar year 2024 alone.
That’s a lot of anthropomorphic blue heeler excitement.
Anyway, it sparked two random thoughts:
- It’s not that we give people names to dogs. It’s that we mostly think of dogs as a slightly different sort of person. Proof: I signed our dog’s name on fifty Christmas cards last week. And when my husband realized that I’d only bought our dog a new leash for the holiday, he immediately stopped at the pet store and headed in to find her a toy.
- Does Bluey’s runaway popularity boost names in the hue of blue? I ask because a handful of blue names are rising in popularity in a big way. (Navy, Indigo, and Cielo all come to mind.) Then again, color names continue to trend in general, so maybe the dog doesn’t deserve credit?
Bluey’s fame continues to rise, and she and her family will start making appearances at Disney theme parks next year. So for now, I’ll keep an eye on all the true blue possibilities. And if Bingo rises in the names data? That’s 100% a blue heeler thing.
Finds from last week
Design Mom’s Living With Kids series has been one of my favorites reads since the earliest days of blogs. Her latest installment includes kids named Liam Brave and Rocco Royal. Now those the kind of bold middle names I love!
I’ve yet to see A Complete Unknown, but I’m wondering about two things: first, will Dylan get a bump? And secondly, how ’bout Sylvie? I’m generally skeptical about movies impacting name popularity, but not all movies are created equal.
The new top names in Italy are out. If I had to choose, I’d pick Ludovica for a girl and Nicolo for a boy. Though in the US, it’s Luca and Gianna that top the popularity charts.
Updating & thinking about
Isidore is one of those names I’ve known all my life, thanks to a church in my hometown. But I never gave it the amount of consideration it deserves until Elizabeth G. suggested it for a featured name. (The AM Patreon community is my first stop for featured name suggestions!)
Alexandra was an absolute It Girl name when I was in high school, the kind of name I would’ve loved for myself. It’s fading now, but I think it’s still a classic bolstered by a treasure trove of nickname choices.
Thanks to the holiday and a very full calendar, right now my next available private posts deliver the week for 1/10/25. I’m taking a few days off to travel, but calls are back beginning on January 5th.
That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading and have a great week. And Happy New Year!
