I just can’t wait ’til Sunday! A few starbaby names popped up in the past few days:

  • Molly Ringwald has welcomed twins Adele Georgiana and Roman Stylianos. They join big sis Mathilda Ereni at home. I’ve loved Molly since Pretty in Pink, and I like her naming style. And yet, may I just say – bring on the Addies! Between Addison, Adeline and Adele, I can hear a wave of little girls answering to this nickname. Guess I’d better cross Adelaide off my list …
  • Mira Sorvino has welcomed her third, son Holden Paul Terry, a little brother for Johnny Christopher King and Mattea Angel. I think Mira rocks, but her style seems unpredictable – if I didn’t know Johnny, Mattea and Holden were sibs, I’d assume they were three unrelated kids;
  • I missed this one – Twilight star Cam Gigandet welcomed a daughter named Everleigh Ray back in April. What a difference a spelling makes – I think Everly is an appealing surname pick for a daughter, a sort of mix of the last-names-first-name trend, the nouveau virtue/noun name choices (think Journey, Destiny, Ever) and the love of the letter “v” in names like Ava, Ivy and Eve. But the “leigh” spelling? I think that reduces the name’s style. And in the middle spot? Ray is the new Rose.

Did I miss anyone?

About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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What do you think?

17 Comments

  1. I’m opposite. I usually like & stick to the spelling I saw on a name originally, which was Everleigh.To me, Everleigh looks like a name & Everly looks like a words with an added suffix.Everleigh is obvious- Everly could be ever-LYE. I really like Everleigh.To be honest, Everly looks rather pretentious to me

    I do not like Adele at all & everytime I see Addie I think of algebra- which I hate.
    I do like Roman & his middle – so exotic!

    I like the fact that Mina’s kids aren’t all an obvious theme or style – it means that she chooses what she likes.She truly loves the names & to me, it makes her seem more open minded than a person whose names all have to be of the same style

  2. Well, Kat – it isn’t YET as common as Rose. It just seems to be popping up more and more in celeb circles. I wouldn’t consider Ray unusable at all – just not rare. But I feel your pain!

    1. Where have you been? Rae/Ray has been big in the South for many, many years. I know three people in my generation with the mn Rae. My step-cousin (Northerner) just had a baby Finley Ray (girl) and I know two toddlers from below the Mason-Dixon line with Rae and Raye as their middle names!

      1. I have been in Texas where I was born and raised., though I am in Wisconsin currently. It is my stepmother’s middle name. I was not aware that it was popular for anyone under the age of 50 these days.

  3. Ray/Raye/Rae is the new Rose????

    *despairs*

    I give up. I thought I had really found something there (we had chosen that for our middle, after 7 months of waffling), especially because it’s a family name. I was all excited that we finally found a middle name we liked as much as Rose, but not as crazy popular. 🙁

  4. Marilyn, Daisy is one of my favorite nns. I’ve thought of using Daisy as a nn for Diana, but now I’m leaning towards Marguerite, nn Daisy. (But that’s only if we had three more daughters. Or at least two more … Rosemary, nn Romy, is definitely next on my list.)

    I think Adelaide will remain reasonably underused, compared to Addison/Addasyn/Adeline/Adalyn/Addelynn, etc.

    And I’m a fan of stretch nicknames – so Adelaide, nn Daisy, works just fine by me. As does Della/Delia – nice thought, PQ! Or there’s the name’s more authentically Germanic form – Adelheid, nn Heidi … but I prefer the AYD sound in Adelaide, as well as the regal/geographic vibe.

    Beverly! That’s interesting. Valerie has always fared better than I imagined. And Barbara could make a comeback. My Polish family has Barbaras nn’d Basia – bah SHAH – which I kind of love. As for Nancy? I know a handful of fabulous Nancys, but I don’t know … it still sounds dated to me.

    1. Marilyn, Adelaide nn Daisy is a stretch perhaps, but I’m also a fan. So too am I a fan of Marguerite nn Daisy. Enough that it was also on my list of considerations this time. Somehow Marguerite is still too clunky or something though, even for me.

      Abby, if I were you I would consider Barbara nn Basia quite seriously. Basia sounds so great with Alexei/Aly & Clio, but then again so do Romy and Daisy. Please have another, just so you can name him or her? Please? ;-D

      -leigh names need to be added to the Deadly series methinks.

        1. My (Venezuelan) sister-in-law has a sister named Ledi – pronounced like Lady. I think it is the kind of nn that could be sweet on a little girl, but not wear very well on an older child or adult.

  5. So do you think Adelaide is going to be on the rise, or just the Addy-nickname names in general? That’s one of my favorites, too, although we wouldn’t call her Addy (I want to use “Daisy” as the nickname, is that weird?). So I’m hoping it’s not going to be super popular . . . but I do hear it more than I used to.

      1. I know, right? Everly sounds much fresher. But I keep wondering how long before wee see a new crop of girls with Mom & Aunt names, like Barbara, Nancy, Jean, and Judy. Maybe even Beverly!

  6. I like Adele, but to tell you the truth, I wouldn’t think Addie for the NN at all. I’d go with Del, or Della, or Dellie, probably. I think NNs should be consistant with the syllable emphasis. (Hence, I hate Topher as a NN for Christopher, for example.) I think Molly has done a nice job with her kids’ names.

    Everly does sound pretty cool; it’s one of those names that people use simply for the cool-factor, I think. I couldnt use it. Ethan is so normal, Ethan and Everly just don’t match at all! But I like it…and at the same time thikn a new crp of teenyboppers must love it, because I keep seeing it suggested on Y!A. As for Everleigh – can we say trite?

    When it comes to Mira and her brood, I think she has the best name of them all. I just like it. Maybe you can make it NotD?