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I’m obsessed with this Air B&B ad around the World Cup. The collision of cultures gave us jujitsu, the churro, and punk rock? More please.
As their ad declares, the world is meant to meet.
Yes, cultural appropriation is an issue. But in our ever-shrinking world, re-mixes and borrowings are the norm, not the exception.
Names will continue to evolve faster. We’ll meet more boys named Luca who aren’t Italian, more girls called Fia without Irish heritage, and so on and so on. There’s always space for the traditional and the old-school, of course. But there’s more oxygen available for something completely different, for the bold and the global.
Because none of us are just one thing, and our names can reflect all the threads that weave our story.
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Did you see this story about a woman named Oona who chose her own name as a newborn? Her mom brought index cards with 100 names to the hospital, and then read them to her days-old infant until there was a clear choice. Based on her newborn’s reactions to the names. Not sure this approach would be right for most of us, but I’m glad it worked out for her.
Speaking of naming inspiration, Thomas Rhett did NOT name his son after a bottle of wine. But it was where the couple first got the idea of using Brave as a given name for their fifth child, and first son. Brave Elijah joins sisters Willa Gray, Ada James, Lennon Love, and Lillie Carolina. Kind of love their eclectic-but-collected style.
The new top names in Ireland are out. Lots of them are perfectly mainstream elsewhere across the English-speaking world, like Lily and Jack. But then there’s Fiadh and Croía, Rían and Tadhg.
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Iris is an elegant flower-color name connected to rainbows.
Simon counts as a wildly-underused classic.
Jupiter is a night-sky name that’s bright and cheerful and, well, big.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
Iris is deffo my favourite short girl name beginning with I! Meaning four letters or fewer.