Number one
Number one by charlesnikon via Flickr

 

Happy New Year!

First, a quick note about the 2012 schedule ’round here.

  • I’m moving re-runs to Mondays.
  • Tuesday and Wednesday names are usually those chosen by polls, at least starting later this month.
  • Thursday names are typically chosen by me, direct from your suggestions.
  • Fetching Names moves to Fridays, to allow for more conversation. (Though they’re easily the most talked-about posts here on AppMtn already!)

Sunday Summaries are, of course, sacred. Monday posts will also continue at Nameberry.

Speaking of Nameberry, tomorrow’s post is all about the names vying for the top spot at various hospitals and birth centers around the English-speaking world. I continue to obsessively collect the lists – they’re really astonishing in their tiny differences, even if the most of the names themselves are familiar.

But back to the rest of the news out there this week:

  • Oh, I loved Swistle’s comments on Preferences vs. Requirements – and can that family really go wrong with naming baby #4?
  • March Isabella, Bay Elizabeth Mae, Abbot Anthony – another great installemnt in the Friday Favorite series at Name Soiree!
  • Georgia Geraldine and Billie Beatrice … it seems like Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart are stylish baby namers with an affection for alliteration.
  • Population Registry clerks in Israeli could get much more powerful if the Israeli government creates a panel to screen baby names.
  • Midwinter Names wrote about Tiamat – much edgier than Winter.
  • Nook rounded up her favorite names from the Blogosphere in 2011. If you haven’t read it, you should go there – now!
  • Speaking of great names, did you see this post at Waltzing More than Matilda about Aussie celebs who named their daughter Kinga? That’s a new favorite of mine.
  • Agh! Spotted my first message board thread where the parents dismissed Edward because of the sparkly vampire.
  • Not one, but two girls named Tymber at a Kansas hospital? I’d expect Timber to be a boy’s name, a spin on Timothy. But the word mostly conjures up one thing for me: the party scene in Breakfast at Tiffany’s where Holly calls out “Timber!” as the very tall Mag Wildwood falls.
  • Lou had a fun idea – she celebrated her birthday by coming up with a list of others who share her birthday. What a great way to honor a relative in a subtle fashion. Felicitations, Lou!
  • Marginamia mentioned Gala in her post about Sparkly New Years Names. I wish I could think of a formal name for Gala – maybe Gabriella?
  • I wish my next field trip could be to Alaska, so I could sit on a playground and listen for names like Foxwell, Nikomi, and Velvet Vee.
  • You know how we dismiss some names as being from another era? Sebastiane reminds us that Chad is one of them – but from the seventh century, not the 1970s.
  • Tasker – there’s a World War I baby name from Nancy’s list that I can imagine parents reviving in 2012.
  • Eponymia’s Christmas game families were such fun – I’m re-reading them for third, or maybe fourth time! Adela, Hoyt, and Beryl must be my favorite.

That’s all for today, though I’m keeping a close eye on the celebrity news – rumors are afoot that Beyonce’s baby girl is here … though so far, I think they’re just idle chatter.

Wishing you all the best in the coming year!

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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12 Comments

  1. My friends’ Gala is really Galileia, as in Galileo the astronomer. They pronounce it with a short A rather than GAY-la.

  2. Belated Happy New Year! I’m working my way back through the posts now that I have my internet hooked up here in NZ :o)

    Somehow I feel like we’ve discussed Gala before, but it must have been somewhere else. I love Galadriel, but she’s a bit too tied to Tolkien and The Great Gilly Hopkins. Galatea is lovely, although some might consider her a lot of name (the kind of names I love!). I suppose even a Gladys who doesn’t like her name could go by Gala.

    Out of curiousity I googled Gala and came up with this: https://galadarling.com/article/changing-your-name. I found it interesting, even if I don’t like leopard print (I have, after all, made a promise with myself to never, ever wear animal print. I’ve also promised myself that I’ll never, ever give my children names that end with the same sound).

  3. (sorry I think my keyboard got stuck or something there!) :sigh:

    Happy New Year everyone, and thanks to Abby for her Sunday Summaries: can’t wait for another year of them! 🙂

  4. I feel like all my nerd dreams just came true– I’ve been a lurker here for quite a while and now the hospital I work at was name checked (the Kansas hospital is the hospital I work for). I feel kind of like I have a name nerd’s dream job- working in an OB department and getting to find out what all of these babies are named. Thanks for making my day, Abby!

    1. If it made your day to see it here, it makes MY day to know that an actual OB nurse is reading! 🙂 My mom started out in labor and delivery before switching to gerontology. What an incredibly important profession – I was so fortunate to have great nurses in both of my pregnancies, including an absolute rock star for my second.

      And I’ll add that profession to “Disney World Mouse Ear Embroiderer” as great opportunities for name-spotting.

  5. Anyone else here based in the UK who’s immediate association of Kinga was a surreal incident on Big Brother involving a… bottle? No, just me?

    Fantastic Sunday Summary as usual, Abby. For what it’s worth, I think Gala can stand on its own!

    Oh and can I announce that my baby cousin was born this in the early hours of this morning; Lila Grace, a little sister to J0seph Peter (Peter is after my grandad, who passed away some years ago). After three male cousins, I’m ecstatic to have a little girl in the family!

  6. Especially loved the Alaska names. Ole Tobias is strangely alluring…one of those names I wouldn’t think of liking, but once I see it, I’m all over it. If only I had thought of it first.
    But at the same time, I’m from the South and ‘Ole’ wouldn’t go well on a child. Everyone would think I was talking about an elderly uncle or friend. Or a river.

  7. Swistle’s comments were what I had to work through myself when it came to names. I was really focused in some really bizarro rules, like: no nouns, no places, no adjectives, no virtue names. But I prefer names that end in -a, which makes an awkward combo with the boy’s last name. So I had to reconsider or throw out almost all of my rules to accommodate his name. I still don’t like virtue names (other than Felicity), but the requirement really precedes preferences.

  8. Gala could be short for Galadriel (from Lord of the Rings), although if one wanted to stray away from that reference, Galadria could be used. I really love them all, though they’re more guilty pleasures for me.

  9. Galina works for Gala, or Galatea (but I prefer it on its own) — thanks for the mention, happy New Year! I’m already thinking up a Valentine’s Day game 🙂

  10. Kinga is considered a kind of dated name in Poland, circ.1960s. Its refreshing to see on an Anglophone child though and I am glad to see someone finally proudly display their Polish heritage via naming their child. Kinga is actually the Hungarian form of Cunigonde even though the name is now used in Poland.

    I have seen Timber used quite a few times before in mostly west coast birth announcements, Washington State is usually the culprit. I must admit, I like it as a GP for both a boy and a girl.

    Alaska always has the most interesting birth announcements.