W surname names are some of the best. And while a few of them rank in the US Top 1000, many more remain undiscovered. They make great first names, and work beautifully in the middle spot, too. The W. of George W. Bush is for Walker, which feels a little more interesting than handsome, but […]
READ MORE >>Sunday Summary: Celebrity Baby Boom + A Minor Inconvenience
People ask me all the time: is it a big deal to go by your middle name? My answer is no, not really. It’s what I do, and 99% of people I interact with never ask to see my ID. Even though it throws me when someone calls me by my first, it’s not like […]
READ MORE >>Halloween Baby Names 2018 Opening Round: Harry Potter Edition
Last year, we kicked off our first-ever Great Halloween Baby Names contest. This year, it’s back! Welcome to the Great Halloween Baby Names 2018 Opening Round: Harry Potter edition. That’s right, this year, all of our names are drawn from the witches and wizards that we know and love from the original seven-books series. (Sorry, […]
READ MORE >>Name Help: A Boy After Twin Girls
Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed. We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight! Bree writes: Why is it so hard to name a boy? We have […]
READ MORE >>Harry Potter Baby Names: Not Just for Witches and Warlocks
Don’t you just love Harry Potter baby names? Not only did JK Rowling give us an entire fantasy world complete with unforgettable villains and heroes, she also bestowed the most amazing names on her characters. The first novel debuted in the UK in 1997, and a year later in the US. It became a sensation, […]
READ MORE >>Caspian: Baby Name of the Day
Literary, romantic Caspian entered the US Top 1000 in 2017. Our Baby Name of the Day could be the next big thing. Caspian: Sea Located between Russia and Iran, the Caspian is an inland sea, or maybe the world’s largest lake. You’ve probably never heard of the major cities surrounding it: Sumqayit, Azerbaijan, anyone? Babolsar, […]
READ MORE >>27 Classic Girl Names: Alice, Sophia, Ruth
Classic girl names are surprisingly difficult to pin down – at least compared to the boys’ list. In general, the girls’ list tends to be more volatile. We revive vintage names and embrace novelty all. the. time. Choose any year, and a handful of the Top 25 boy names remain in today’s Top 25. For […]
READ MORE >>Sunday Summary: Unusual Names That Aren’t Really …
Happy Sunday! A friend of mine – who lives in a super-stylish kind of neighborhood – told me a neighbor’s story*. When they were expecting their firstborn son, they caved to family pressure and gave him a grandfather’s first name: Thomas. But they agreed to never use it, instead calling him by his middle: Bodhi, […]
READ MORE >>Name Help: A Middle Name for Neve
Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, one reader’s name questions will be discussed. We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight! Cristina writes: I hope you can help me with my name dilemma! We […]
READ MORE >>Helena: Baby Name of the Day
Helena sounds romantic and classic, and best of all? It’s relatively underused. Thanks to Another for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day. Helena: Helen’s Cousin A century ago, it was just Helen – hold the ‘a’ – that dominated American baby naming. It came second only to Mary from the turn of the twentieth […]
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