Sunday Summary: 21/2016

I might be the last person on Earth, but I finally watched an episode of The Gilmore Girls.

And then promptly commenced binge-watching the entire series.

This led to two take-aways:

1. I intend to move to Stars Hollow immediately. Especially because Amazon Prime has come into existence since the series debuted, which means I could live in a super-walkable small town with all sorts of quirky-but-lovable neighbors, but still have any random thing show up on my charming wrap-around porch in 48 hours.
2. Suddenly, I like the name Lorelai.

Pop culture can work its magic, and an appealing character can completely transform the way we see a name. I really never understood the appeal of the name until about three episodes in, when I decided that Lorelai was a fabulous name, and the -ai spelling was perfectly reasonable.

Clearly the writers were name nerds. Other characters were called Sookie, Paris, Babette, Doyle, Lulu, Hanlin, Drella. And character names were often a tiny part of the plot line – a popular girl at Rory’s prep school named Lemon, a bad blind date called Rune, a bunch of first season explanations about the mother-daughter duo’s unusual name, and the fact that they share it.

I’m sucked into the show for lots of reasons, but the attention to naming? Absolutely a part.

Elsewhere online:

• Another great baby name from Design Mom’s Living with Kids series: Ingrid! I did a whole round-up of names from her posts a while back – it’s probably due for an update.
• Lately I have a weakness for unexpected -line names, like this find at The Beauty of Names.
• Or maybe I always have, because Thadeline reminds me of one of the early names I covered here: Pomeline.
• I’m always interested in which names are faring better in some states than others. Harper is tops in South Dakota; Benjamin claimed the number one spot in Massachusetts.
• Speaking of rising name, here are the Baby Name Wizard’s picks for names to watch. Sort of astonishing to see the popularity of names like Kyng and Kaisley. I never would’ve guessed that more than 100 children were given those names in 2015!
• This series has me hooked. Proof that no name is completely novel. I’m guessing that the DMNES would have something to say about even the newest of names, the Kyngs and the Kaisleys.
• Yes, yes, yes to the first quote in this round-up from Nancy!
• A new member of the Dutch royal family has arrived: Her Royal Highness Princess Gloria Irene, a little sister for Princess Zita Clara.
• While we’re talking about royalty, this birth announcement carries with it a fascinating story.
• I voted for Claudia in this name help post from Waltzing More than Matilda – and right now, it’s tied for first place!

Now if you’ll excuse me, Stars Hollow is calling. It’s the one where Rory plays Juliet in a school play opposite Tristan as Romeo – and her boyfriend Dean is horribly jealous. And yes, I wrote that just so I could use all of those names in a single sentence!

That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!