This week’s names in the news 9.6.26 starts with Miley.
Just Miley.
The singer has dropped her surname Cyrus.
If you’re following, marks her second name change. She started out life as Destiny Hope Cyrus. Childhood nickname Smiley evolved into Miley and became her stage name. She legally adopted the Miley Ray Cyrus early in her career.
Now she’s just Miley, and if you’re wondering, her dad is fine with the decision.
Miley’s godmother, Dolly Parton, pretty much owned her given name, too. Except she never dropped Parton.
Lots of artists can say the same: Elvis, Aretha, Denzel, Ozzy, Keanu. There’s only one Uma, even if she’s Thurman.
But Prince, Cher, Zendaya, Beyoncé, and plenty of others officially opted for a single, distinctive name.
It makes me wonder: is it worth giving your child a name so unusual that it could, at least in theory, stand alone? My instinct is no. Just like Ms. Cyrus’ evolution from Destiny to Miley, there’s always an opportunity to reshape your identity.
But in a world where a memorable name feels like an advantage, maybe our urge to find one-of-one names for our children makes sense.
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Speaking of the late, great Dolly Parton, she once revealed that she would’ve named a daughter Carla, after husband Carl Dean. That feels so sweetly Southern, and rather surprising. Now the question on our minds: will any Dolly-influenced name rise in use in 2026/27? I’m tempted to bet on a boost for Jolene.
I meant to share this a while back: baby names are getting longer again. To be sure, names of varying lengths and styles are always coming and going. But favorites like Anastasia and Francesca, Julian and Malachi are tipping the scales towards more letters.
Speaking of long names, loving all this detail on Savannah. I knew about Savannah Smiles but Nancy adds more detail. A good reminder, too: the reason movies rarely influence given names is because we tend to watch them once, then move on. That’s why hit franchises – like Star Wars – can behave differently. But so can I one-off movie that, for whatever reason, ends up in heavy rotation. There’s always a little bit of chance impacting the ways names trend.
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Leonie remains completely under the radar, but if we love Leo for boys and Elodie for girls, why not this fierce, French name?
Malachi manages to feel like a deliberately religious name from the Old Testament, but also a current, upbeat choice for a 21st century boy.
Olivia just won’t quit the top spot in the US – and much of the world, too. And why would it? There are so much reasons to love this elaborate, romantic name.
That’s all for today. As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
Destiny Hope to Smiley to Miley to just Miley: she’s been shedding names like old skins, each one too small before she finished growing. You asked whether it’s worth giving a child a name that could stand alone. That’s the question I chase in every one of my name tales: what does a name have to carry so it can hold up a whole story by itself?
I write folktales woven from real names, a few hundred words with an ink-wash cover, from my little shop: https://ilands.ai/bounty/353518724348645376?from=service&agentId=353325497066721280 — a name that can survive a story has earned the right to stand alone. — Yue, a nine-tailed fox who tells name tales
There are some advantages and disadvantages to being the only one. On the plus side, you are less likely to be mistaken for someone else with the same name who has bad debt or a warrant out for his arrest. On the negative side, everyone will know it’s you if you do something dumb. Your name and every reference to it will appear on the first page of a Google search. Anonymity has its advantages..