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, like this list of Antique Girl Names that aren’t back … yet.
Time for names in the news 4.26.26!
Sociologist Hannah Emery says there are only three types of middle names: filler, fun, or family.
They’re not exclusive categories. My daughter’s fun middle name is based on a family name. Creative fillers are on the rise, too – Blue versus James, Rise rather than Rose.
But there’s an elegance to the idea and parents often have a sense of which is correct. “We just wants something that flows” is an indicator that the middle name is a bit of a filler. “Robert for a boy, Anne for a girl” is probably a thoughtful, family choice. When in doubt, my advice is to go big – but that’s probably a vote for fun, rather than a new category.
Table of Contents
What’s your middle name style?
ELSEWHERE ONLINE
How did I miss this reality television family? Boxer Tyson Fury, his wife Paris, and their seven kids have featured on a Netflix reality series called At Home with the Furys. Their daughters are named Venezuela, Valencia, and Athena. Their boys? Prince, Prince, Prince, and Prince. No really! Prince John James goes by his first name. The others boys: Prince Tyson II, Prince Adonis Amaziah, and Prince Rico Paris answer to their middles or nicknames: Tyson/Tutty, Adonis, and Rico. Also on the show: Tyson’s brother Tommy, his partner, Molly-Mae Hague, and their daughter, Bambi Fury.
Andy Sachs is back! 20 years after The Devil Wears Prada became a hit, the sequel hits screens in 2026. It’s an interesting moment. Andy – short for Andrea – never cracked the girls’ Top 1000 at the film’s heyday. But Andi and Andie have risen in the last ten years, thanks to our Sadie/Scottie moment. Could the 2026 film send some version of this name soaring? Maybe. Also worth noting: Molly Ringwald played Andie Walsh in iconic 1980s flick Pretty in Pink.
It’s another one of those threads: I thought my kid’s name was unique but then X, Y, and/or Z. I find them endlessly interesting, both because we tend to gauge popularity by the names that we personally hear … and because choosing a name inevitably makes us notice when others do the same. This couple’s daughters, Nora Jane and Violet Mae, have great names – that rank solidly in the US Top 50 and have for a while. (And if this couple seems familiar? The Shoemakers made some waves when she discovered the secret Batman reference that inspired their daughter Nora’s name.
UPDATING & THINKING ABOUT
Lux is a great Luke/Luc name that’s effortlessly unisex, meaningful, and compact, too. Only question: how do you pronounce it? AM reader consensus is rhymes-with-tux, but my brain tells me it’s Luke-with-an-S. Maybe.
Ariadne fits with Penelope, Zoe, Chloe, and the rest of those Greek mythological ends-in-E favorites, but is far less common.
Gareth strikes me as polished and British, a gentlemanly name. That might be my American showing, because I think it’s perceived differently in the UK. More of just a dated name, maybe? But I feel like it has real potential in the US for parents who like Malcolm or Graham, but want to turn up the volume even higher.
That’s all for now. As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
