Table of Contents
Name-inspired news and notes for your Sunday reading.
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Can we talk about Aimee Lou Wood?
I’ll keep this spoiler-free, in case you haven’t see The White Lotus. Wood played Chelsea, one of the rare characters on the series who seems to be exactly as she appears – a loving, decent person. (If you’ve already watched the finale, I really liked this interview with series creator Mike White if you’re curious.)
What I want to talk about is her double name: Aimee Lou.
It’s her birth name, but it’s not clear to me if she’s always been called Aimee Lou or if that’s a professional decision.
What I do know is this: in the official England and Wales statistics, double names are recorded. So in 2023’s Top 500, you’ll find:
- Lily-Rose, Delilah-Rose, Ava-Rose, and Ruby-Rose
- Lottie-Mae, Daisy-Mae, Ivy-Mae, and Gracie-Mae
They tend to rise and fall with the popularity of the first name. So Ava and Ava-Rose both slip a bit, while Lottie and Lottie-Mae both climb. In that sense, double names are a lot like alternative spellings. Wrenley and Wrenlee are both trending in the US, while Everly, Everlee, and Everleigh are all falling.
In the US, double names are not officially recorded in Social Security Administration data unless they’re smooshed together into a single name. So Ellarose counts, but Ella-Rose and Ella Rose are just Ella.
I’ve never been a big fan of double names, but Aimee Lou has me rethinking this a little. The positives I see?
- Double names can make a popular first a little more distinctive. If there’s another Willow on your kid’s soccer team, then your Willow-Grace will stand out.
- They can still be short, compact names. Isabella-Delilah exceeds some sort of commonsense judgement. But names like Annabeth, Mary Blair, and Emma-Rose wear nicely.
- That vintage spark appeals. There’s something about a combination like Sarah Jane that sounds deliberately throwback, a mix of sweet and bold that is more stylish than either name used independently.
- Some of them offer a lot of meaning. A name like Emmylou, made famous by singer-songwriter Emmylou Harris, feels like it’s in a different category. So if your grandmother was born Mary Elizabeth but answered to Mary Ella her whole life, a name like Mariella or Mary-Elle or Ellamary might be the right choice for you.
Are you in favor of double names? Are there any you might consider?
Elsewhere Online
I’m loving this question from Nancy: how did “The Matrix” influence baby names? Main character names typically don’t catch on. The name Neo isn’t the breakout star of the series. Trinity is. Because it was already trending. The franchise turbo-charged the name. Likewise, Elsa has fallen post-Frozen, and Americans never warmed to Harry. But Anna is having a resurgence, and Luna is the Wizarding World’s most successful export.
Irish names have always been a blind spot for me, so I thrilled to this super old school list compiled in 1886, during the Gaelic Revival. The movement boosted the use of Irish language and culture in every day life including what parents named their children.
Étoile is on my to-watch list, the new series on Prime about ballet. It’s another Amy Sherman-Palladino production, as in Gilmore Girls and The Marveolus Mrs. Maisel. Three of the actresses – also ballerinas – caught my eye: Tiler Peck (pronounced Tyler), Unity Phelan, and, Taïs Vinolo (pronounced ty-ees). But with Sherman-Palladino, the character names are always spectacular. This time around, I’ve spotted Clea, Bruna, Leonor, Susu, Gael, Crispin, Lucien, and Inés, for starters. Another question: could Etoile trend? 263 girls were named Soleil – the French word for sun – in 2023. So why not the French word for star? Etoile appeared on the fringes of US data from the early 1900s into the 1940s. Why not again? The name is also used in tiny numbers in France. While digging through the data I spotted one more star-adjacent gem: Estelline.
Updating & Thinking About
Speaking of nature names from foreign languages, Amapola is the Spanish equivalent of Poppy and I think it’s spectacular.
The last time I updated the post on Francis, the late pope had just been elected. Refreshed this one and reflected on the name’s rich history.
We started with The White Lotus, so let’s end there, too. Could Saxon have a moment?
That’s all for today. Thank you for reading and thinking of you!
On double names:
when I lived on the west coast (of the US), no one would say both syllables of my first name. I mean NO one (from Seattle to San Diego). I was always ‘Jen’… despite always introducing myself as Jenna AND despite that Jens abound and are exceptionally common.
Once I moved to the American south, I began to introduce myself with my first AND middle name, and everyone uses both of them!
Tell you what, I am so here for it! It’s like being seen for the first time. The anonymity is ripped away, and I am finally a person.
But my point is this: your culture makes a profound impact on whether you are called what you want or not.
So while I am on Team Double Name, it may not be practical based on where a child lives.
It appears you’re incorrect about how the SSA counts double names, as shown at the link below:
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/background.html
You’re right in that the SSA doesn’t recognize hyphens or other punctuation, but as long as the double name was entered entirely in the “First Name” field of the application, it will be recorded in the name data as a “smoosh” whether actually smooshed, hyphenated, spaced, etc. Only if the second part of the double name is recorded in the “Middle Name” field would that entry be counted solely as the first part of the name in the data.
Ohhhh, I have always loved Clea and I wonder if Etoile will help people like Clea more.