Image by philipbouchard via Flickr
I’m fascinated by names, but equally intrigued by the process we use to arrive at a name. You can find countless real life conversations on message boards, but here are a few I spotted on parents’ personal blogs:
- Aidan at Ivy League Insecurities has a great list going for a third daughter, but my favorite is this quote from the comments: “Naming the baby is the highlight of pregnancy!”
- At Life of a Catholic Librarian, Tiffany has been debating saintly classics like Elizabeth and Peter;
- The Bullards, Collin and Candice, are considering everything from the mainstream Jack and Emma to Asher and Francie;
- And then there’s The Lil Bee, trying to name a second daughter. Her first is Devon Whitney. Here’s what caught my eye about Melissa’s list – she mentioned Cleo. And it got quite a good response.
In other news:
- Speaking of real life baby name choices, Nancy brings us the tale of a 1913 birth of a baby girl in a Pullman Car. The car’s name? Livonia. The baby’s name … Livonia!
- Six days ’til Christmas, and my to-do list seems to be growing. And yet I decided that Priority #1 was figuring out how to create a Master List of every name profiled on the site. I’m only half-way there – I finished the (shorter) boys’ list first;
- I loved Pam and Linda’s slideshow of The Best & Worst Celebrity Baby Names of 2010 at The Daily Beast. Abel and Cosima make the hit list, while Sundance and Kloey get the raspberry;
- PopSugar Australia voted Buddy Bear Maurice – also on Nameberry’s Not Hot list – the Most Memorable Celebrity Baby Name of 2010;
- ForReal Baby Names rounded up some twin names, including a pair called Lula and Stanley – love it!
- I keep hearing reports that the top baby names in Japan for 2010 are Ren and Yua. The source appears to be more like BabyCenter’s data than actual statistical records. Still, I find Ren fascinating – highly cross-cultural;
- Here’s a fabulous family tree: Kate Coil writes in West Virginia’s Bluefield Daily Telegraph about her ancestors, including sisters named Icie, Ocie, and Dicey!
In celeb news:
- While I was at PopSugar Australia, I realized that Jackie O had her baby – she’s a popular radio host in Sydney – Her daughter’s name is Catalina Mae, nickname Kitty. When I stopped by about 62% had given the name a positive review in the poll.
- Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts is a new dad. Daughter Madeline Leigh shares a middle name with her mom, Allison. It’s reported that they’re calling her Maddy;
- Country music artist Josh Turner and wife Jennifer welcomed their third son, Crawford Marion. They’re calling him Marion. He joins brothers Hampton Otis and Colby Lynch at home;
- The musical Hanson clan is one bigger this week. Zac Hanson and wife Kate welcomed daughter Junia Rosa Ruth, a little sister for Shepherd.
I’m announcing more and more celeb births on the AppMtn Facebook page, along with Sunday Summary-esque links and comments.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading and have a great week!
My husband likes Josh Turner and he LOVES Marion for a boy, so he’ll be thrilled when I tell him about this!
Thank you for the link to Pam & Linda’s slideshow of the Best & Worst Celebrity Baby Names of 2010; I enjoyed reading it! I think I agree with their top two-Abel and Cosima-I find Abel to be quite handsome & Cosima to be lovely and fascinating.
Great post! I enjoyed it. Thanks for your hard work!
Thanks, nameseeker3! And I agree – Abel and Cosima are great. 🙂
The Hanson boys all began families young but have decent taste.
Isaac – Clarke Everett (Clark is Isaac’s real first name), James Monroe.
Taylor – Jordan Ezra (Jordan is Taylor’s real first name), Penelope Anne, River Samuel, Viggo Moriah.
Zac – John Ira Shepherd, Junia Rosa Ruth.
Viggo and Junia? To die for.
Yea, those Hansen boys know how to name ’em! Clarke Everett and James Monroe go by Everett and Monroe, and Jordan Ezra goes by Ezra. John Ira Shepherd goes by Shepherd, too!
PS I actually like Elizarine! Neat.
Two things…
(1) I’m generally not a fan of Leigh anything, even as a middle name, so Madeline Leigh doesn’t excite me. The one exception? Busy Philipps’ Birdie Leigh. Love that!
(2) The other night, I had the strangest dream about a new “smoosh” name. What was it? Imogenevieve. I’m not even sure I should share that!
Imogenevieve?! That’s amazing. Definitely one to file away for ridiculous story name suggestions.
Off topic, I was explaining the concept of smoosh names to my boyfriend recently and yesterday he sent me a text to ask what I thought of Irabeth or Elizarine – smooshes between his grandmothers’ names, Irene and Elizabeth. Obviously I was delighted he has such an interest now! Both names have been used, google tells me.
I tend to agree – it isn’t the sound. Rosalie, Coralie, Cecily – all great names. But -leigh seems awfully frilly to me.
Imogenevieve – LOL! That’s fabulous and horrible all at once!