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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18 Comments

  1. Thanks for the shout-out, and glad to see how much others have enjoyed For Real Baby Names.

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  3. Gust is cool and one I haven’t seen before. August is one of my favorites and now I would totally nickname him Gust.
    I like Hickory too. I found one once and thought it was fabulous, but I would worry about his nickname. Hick just doesn’t work.
    I love Disney World. The names of the kids, plus all of Disney’s foreign employees with nametags makes it a name nerd paradise.

    Have a good week!

    Sarah

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    1. OMG! Absolutely not safe for work. And not really very nice, because different names CAN be tough. Only now that every little girl is called Abby have I stopped getting “Debbie” over the phone. But yes, insanely funny – and true!

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      1. Haha, I usually get Hannah or Emma on the phone … I think names starting with vowels can be hard to hear distinctly unless the rest of the name doesn’t sound like anything else.

        I also know someone called Lydia who gets Debbie or Deborah all the time!

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  5. Thanks for the rec! 🙂

    Alma was indeed born in 1855 – concurrent with the seige of Sebastopol. Alma is also a battle name – The Battle of Alma (Sep 1854) is considered to be the first major battle of the Crimean War. There were lots of Almas born at the time (both boys and girls) and, in fact, two other children were also called “Alma Sebastopol” at the same time as Leonidas’ sister. Their father is listed as a “Paper Maker”, and as one of the boys, Cornelius, had the middle name Montalembert — the name of a prominent French politician — I wonder if he was influenced by contemporary events.

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    1. Fascinating, Elea – it is amazing how names hint at other possibilities, whole dimensions of their family life that we can only imagine. I noticed the brother’s name and wondered about the link … And I didn’t know that about Alma!

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  6. I know a Torin, but he’s a boy. Payden is new for me, definitely a new version of Jayden/Kayden whatever.

    Not a huge fan of Hugo, shame that the name that won’t be getting a boost is the actor’s name, love Asa.

    Ryder Ezra is great, really enjoyed that one from 4Real. I swear Crosby will get top debut for boys next year, I’m seeing it everywhere.

    Those british sibling names are a mixed bag for me I’m afraid. Alma, Ira, Clarice, Flora are pretty nice names. Violante, Archibald, Sebastopol and Adonis? Not so much.

    Yeah I’m also tired of people saying Isabella and Jacob are only popular because of Twilight, obviously people haven’t checked the lists from years before when those names were already very popular. It might have made them gain more, but they were already popular.

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  7. Torren makes me think of Tauren, a cowlike race in World of Warcraft. It’s not something I’d want associated with my daughter.

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  8. I really do think Z names are going somewhere!

    As for Torren, I wonder if it was spellt Torin…yep, that looks more complete to me (and I strangely love it), but saying it too quickly gives you Torn, either way…

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    1. Actually, I spotted that one embroidered on a shirt, so I’m confident of the spelling. Torin has some history of use as a boys’ name – and you know, I really like it, too!

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    2. Torren makes me think of the actor Rip Torn — yes, that is apparently his real name, a family name, no less!

      Z names may be on the rise. I have a beautiful little niece Zipporah, and I half suspect that my Roseanna may go by Zanna as she gets older.

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