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.

Read More About Me

You May Also Like:

What do you think?

No Comments

  1. I’ve ran across an Amelie with a brother Jayden (not sure of spelling). I win. Actually, I’m positive I’ve seen Jackson a few times before with Amelie in the Aussie BAs.

    I’m not wishing to initiate any Beatledrama but, Lennon?
    Ringo Starr narrated the first Thomas The Tank Engine series therefore he has all the cool points. In all seriousness, Harrison was the real musical talent but I concede that the surname Lennon is more, erm, palatable.

    Speaking of Ezra on girls, Levi is found on more than a few British girls. I’ve seen several BAs plus mentions on British reality TV shows. I’m told it’s rather a chaverrific choice. I’ve only encountered one male Levi here in NZ and his little sister was Harriet. I’m sure I’d recoil in horror at meeting a female example.

    Reply

    2. In a month of Sundays, it would NEVER occur to me to name a daughter Levi. Ezra, Luca, Asa – sure. But Levi? That stuns me.

      The only thing I know about music is how to work my iPod, so I’ll defer to others regarding Beatledrama … Harrison seems to be fading in the US, but Lennon? Seems poised to take off. I know they’re spelled differently, but I always think “Vladimir Ilyich,” not “Strawberry Fields.”

      Reply

      1. Oh my god. When I was a kid, my father used to read me a story book about Lenin. As I got older, I realized Lenin wasn’t the singer from the Beatles.

        I see Lennon becoming popular on gilrs more than boys for some reason.

        Reply

  2. I went to college with a Jovie. Her mom liked the sound of it, so she made up the longer version “Jovina” to put on the birth certificate. A couple years after meeting my friend, I visited the Roman ruins at Bath and seeing an inscription mentioning the personal name Jovina (or was it spelled Iovina?).

    Jovie had a younger sister called Romy (which I don’t believe was short for anything).

    Reply

  3. Jackson & Cash don’t seem that mismatched to me for brothers. Both remind me of Johnny Cash. Obviously Cash because of his last name, and Jackson for the song he sings with June Carter by the same name. I’ve considered Jackson purely for this reason. Jack & Cash sound very country to me. As a matter of fact, Johnny had a brother named Jack.

    Ellaria is very interesting, but I prefer the more authentic looking ilaria. It’s one I’ve gone back and forth with a lot, but I’ve decided I like it.

    Jovie is one I’ve thought about a lot. I’m not really sure if I like it, but I would use it as a nickname for Jovana / Giovanna. It sort of reminds me of anchovies. I love Elf, though.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for pointing that out, Eva – that’s exactly right. I can see Jackson and Cash appealing to the same parents, but Amelie seems like a different mom and dad. Except I’ve heard of parents who call their sons William and James and their daughters Kylei and Maycee, so I think Emily’s point is an important one – our styles aren’t always consistent across genders!

      I love Jackson, but I find Cash too brash. Cassius, Cashel, Cassian? Sure.

      Reply

    2. And I met a tween-aged Giovanna today – her mom told me “I love baby names” and I had to stop myself from launching into a full scale “tell me more!” (We were in the checkout at Target!) I do like Jovie as a nickname.

      Reply

      2. My next door neighbor to the left is a 7 year old Giovanna. To the right is a 14 year old Giovanni. And about 4 houses down we had a Jalani, but he moved.

        Reply

  4. I love Talitha, it’s such a beautiful and overlooked name.
    As for Gale, since most Abigails are called Abby now days, I can easily the Hunger Games influencing future parents to call their son Gale. Gael Garc

    Reply

    1. Nice point, Julie – apparently, Gael comes from St. Gwenhael – I found a bunch of others, too, but Gael seems to be the only Mexican Gael. If boys can be Cade and Gabe and Kale, why not Gale?

      Reply

  5. I rarely see any reasoning behind the renaming that sometimes goes on when books are translated onto the big screen — why change the name of a beloved character? OK, yes, the movie Simon Birch strayed so far from its source material (_A Prayer for Owen Meaney_), that the name change was actually a good thing, but usually I just find these switches irksome. Leighton in place of Lizzie? Spare me!

    Also, since when is Kahn the more common spelling of that relatively common last name? Khan would be much more typical; and no, I don’t think the name is really suited to the first place. Far too Wrath of Khan/Shira Khan-ey for my taste. Perhaps parents are drawn to the name via its meaning, which, I believe, is “king”.

    The other day, while visiting a cafe that has a play area for its younger visitors, my sister and I encountered a little boy named Ezra. Emily instantly turned to me and asked me if Ezra was a popular name. I stated that it, along with many Old Testament names, were rising in popularity for boys, and that “e” in particular was a popular letter. A few days later we were in the mall renting a double stroller for our girls when a lady came by with her little girl to drop off the stroller they’d rented. The daughter’s name. . .Ezra! Perhaps I should have said that Old Testament names were rising in popularity for both boys AND girls.

    Reply

    1. Wow – a female Ezra! I spotted a female Asa in ForReal’s birth announcements. I’ve been wondering about Asa on a girl for years, ever since a friend suggested it for her (hypothetical) daughter. A friend of mine is trying to convince his wife that Luca would be fine for a boy, but I think she’s stuck on the worry that any ends-in-a name reads feminine. Maybe she’s right to worry!

      Reply

      1. I’ve always thought of Ezra as being male, so it took me a while to wrap my mind around a female Ezra (at first I thought the mother was saying Esther). However, the ends-in-a does usually read female, so I can understand how the mother/parents made the leap from Old Testament leader name to modern-day little girl name. What was funny was that we encountered both Ezras, boy and girl, within the space of a couple of days. I’m waiting to see the name leap up the charts here in Canada.

        Reply

  6. hollywood loves changing character names, even if they don’t need to. i went to see let me in today and was suprised that they’d changed the two kids names from the swedish version. the swedish kids and oskar and eli, the american ones owen and abby. i don’t honestly see what was wrong with the originals! and isn’t stella becoming a little overdone? there seems to be a new one reported every week, and teal seems to fall too much to the masculine side to be used for matilda imo. anyway thanks for another great week

    Reply