To all those who celebrate, Happy Shark Week!
Okay, actually Discovery just wrapped Shark Week 2024. I didn’t watch it … but we did watch the original Jaws, circa 1975, last weekend.
Things that have not aged well: smoking. Gender stereotypes. Shark knowledge, in general. We know lots more now that we did back then.
And – technology! Imagine that whole shark-attacks-crowded-beach scene today. Queue dozens of viral videos, the town made infamous in milliseconds.
What has absolutely stood the test of time?
The broad outlines of the story, complete with a menacing, seldom-seen shark. (Speaking of technology: apparently the mechanical sharks were glitchy, forcing Stephen Spielberg to focus more on dark, darting shadows.)
The suspense makes the movie far more terrifying, and it remains a cinematic masterpiece.
It made me think of something that’s equally true – in movies and naming – classics endure for a reason.
And they’re rare for a reason, too! It’s hard to get all of the elements to come together just right. But in honor of one 1975 movie still going strong, here’s my list of Reasons to Consider a Classic Name.
Now, on to the names in the news for the week of July 14, 2024 …
SOFIA and JAKUB, ELISKA and SIMON
The #1 names in Slovakia are Sofia and Jakub. Not exactly surprising – Sofia, in several spellings, remains a global sensation. But also popular? Eliska, a form of Elizabeth, as well as Simon. Intriguing choices, both.
KAPTAIN with a K
I’m over my TLC big-fundamentalist-family reality show addiction. But I hear that Welcome to Plathville, currently careening towards season six, is super watchable. Also, former cast member Max Kallschmidt – he used to date Moriah Plath – has moved on, married wife McKayle and welcomed a son named Kaptain Clay Kallschmidt which feels like a “tell me your dad guested on a TLC reality series without telling me your dad guested on a reality series” kind of name.
To be clear, I think it’s a perfectly wearable name for a 2024 arrival. While we like to forget such things, title names have been in use for ages. Captain debuted in the US Top 1000 way back in 1883, and was given to 20 boys in 2023. Kaptain is rarer, but not unknown. So I mention it because it’s interesting and oh-so-current – and that makes it noteworthy.
WAIT, IS MASON A WORD NAME? HOW ‘BOUT CHRISTIAN?
Obviously, they are. In some way, right? I finally came across this Nameberry analysis of trending sounds by Leah S. It’s rock solid, and yet … while it’s pretty obvious if a boy’s name ends with N, it’s not always obvious if we’re thinking about a name as a word or not. And that’s why trends are tricky and name predictions are hard, hard, hard!
SERAPHINA, SOLANA, WINIFRED, ELEANORA
Have you voted in the New Names Showdown 2024 Girls’ Semifinals yet? I think these might be four of the best names to make it to the semis yet!
HOLLIS, TRUE, KENAI, FOSTER
On the boys’ side, though? Please vote in the New Names Showdown 2024 Boys’ Semifinals. It’s been a much more eclectic, tough-to-pin down kind of year. I’m not sure what to think – have boys’ names really changed that much? Or was it just one of those years without a clear fan favorite? Did I just choose the wrong names to compete. Theories welcome!
The Boysโ semifinals batch is definitely more eclectic than in years past but I think thatโs a good thing. It shows there are certainly outlier names or ones that โseem to beโ that are generating more interest than what weโre used to seeing compete. For the record, I actually voted for โTrueโ.
Thanks, LadyRay! I appreciate that perspective. And I am happy to see the boys’ names list is becoming more daring. It’s a good thing overall, right?