Table of Contents
Name-inspired news and notes for your Sunday reading.
Looking for even more deep dives on all the names and name talk you love? Join us on the AM Baby Names Patreon. Join for free to keep up with featured names. Upgrade and unlock even more great content!
Over the last few weeks, we’ve leaned hard into fantasy/adventure around here. Lord of the Rings, followed by the first two seasons of Game of Thrones. And it’s led me to a thought on Sam.
Sam is an absolutely perfect boy’s name, right? It has the casual appeal of Jack, Ben, or Tom. There’s eternally cool Samuel L. Jackson, Founding Father Sam Adams, crooner Sam Smith, handsome Sam Claflin. It’s cute on a baby, but I’d trust Sam as a surgeon.
And yet, Samuel isn’t quite as compelling in full. Lengthening Dave to David or Mike to Michael adds something, but I find Sam most compelling without the longer form.
And so, back to Lord of the Rings. Samwise Gamgee is my favorite Hobbit. (I did not have a favorite Hobbit until this past January. My daughter insisted I choose.) And it’s easy to see the parallels between this Sam and Game of Throne’s Samwell Tarly. George RR Martin is a confirmed JRR Tolkien fan, after all.
And so I find myself wondering: is there a better long form of Sam?
Finds From Last Week
English actress Michelle Keegan welcomed a daughter named Palma with her television presenter husband, Mark Wright. There’s speculation that Palma is a nod to the Baby of Palma in Mallorca – but no confirmation yet.
BabyCenter analyzed sibling names and found some of the most common combinations. They ring true, don’t they? Emma and Lily, Oliver and Theodore, Amelia and Eleanor. It also mentions that we love themes, and I get it … Aurora and Luna do sound good together.
Speaking of themes, can you go too far with flowers? I’m not 100% convinced this is real, but … if you’ve already named your kids Ivy, Oleander, and Belladonna, is it really so odd to consider Wisteria, Asphodelia, and Anelace for their siblings?
Updating & Thinking About
Finnick, because there’s often (always?!) a breakout name from any fantasy/sci fi series that becomes mainstream. It’s clearly Luna from Harry Potter. And I kind of think it’s Finnick from Hunger Games. Why this one? We love Finn names, and it feels like a Finn-Dominic mashup.
Elska is very, very rare but I think it has potential. It’s the best of Ella and Eloise, with just a hint of out-of-favor names like Lorna and Erica.
Dare has had my attention since I discovered photographer/author Dare Wright. It’s like Journey, but with an edge.
That’s all for now. As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
I love Sam, partly because it’s the name of my lovely nephew! Samuel and Samson don’t really do it for me. I like Samir but I’m not sure if it would work for somebody with no Arabic or Indian connections.
Alliteration is one thing, but Noah and Nova as a pair of siblings sounds like a recipe for confusion! And Oliver and Olivia are so similar that if I were the second-born child, I’d wonder if my parents just couldn’t think of another name.
I know TWO families with siblings Oliver and Olivia – it completely boggles my brain.