Table of Contents
Name-inspired news and notes for your Sunday reading.
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Need a distraction right about now?
March Madness Baby Names is coming. Read all about the annual contest and get caught up on past winners here. Or preview the contenders for 2025 as outlined in these posts:
- Most popular girl names on the site
- Most popular boy names on the site
Check back next Saturday for the opening round!
Finds From Last Week
Here’s this week’s Name Connections. (By the way, it looks like you can filter for all the puzzles I’ve created at this link, and even filter for the ones you haven’t yet played.)
The latest installment in Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games series is expected out later this month. Titled Sunrise on the Reaping, it’s a prequel that gives us the backstory of Haymitch Abernathy, mentor to the world-changing Katniss. That makes this the perfect time to revisit the fascinating names of this terrifying, captivating, can’t-look-away world. Fun fact: Finnick, a name Collins invented for her series, reached a new high in terms of popularity in 2023.
At first glance, popular names in the Netherlands look like the chart-topping favorites in the US and elsewhere in the English-speaking and European world. But look closer, and there are some choices American parents should absolutely steal. Top Ten Yara for girls, followed by Top 100 picks Maud, Milou, and Isa. For the boys? Top 25 choices Bram and Boaz always make me look twice.
Updating and Thinking About
Maybe Betony just sounds like a harsher pronunciation of Bethany? But I like this botanical name so very much.
A generation has grown up on Percy Jackson. Could all those fans of The Lightning Thief see Percy as a possible successor to Henry and Wesley?
My daughter’s bonus middle is Wren. Loved it when it was really rare back in the day. Adore it even more all these years later.
That’s all for now. As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
