Regular readers will know that we recently wrapped up March Madness Baby Names here!
The most read posts of 2022 + your votes over four rounds = some truly excellent names.
This year, the victory went to James (for the boys) and Gemma (for the girls).
Interesting note: James (for a girl) also started out in the girls’ sweet sixteen. But that name was knocked out in the first round. Meanwhile, James (for a boy) handily fought off all comers until it won the tournament.
The contest is always great fun. And we won’t have to wait until next March for another chance. The New Name Showdown is coming up in July!
In the meantime, check out the all new, slimmed-down Baby Name Hopscotch, the weekly newsletter sent every Tuesday:
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Oh wow, this is so thorny. They passed down a significant family name to their son, but they’ve recently learned that he has a fairly serious intellectual disability – the kind that means he’ll almost certainly never have children of his own. Rather than let the family name end with this child, dad is suggesting changing their son’s legal name and using the significant family name for a future son. I have lots of thoughts about this. First: it’s possible – maybe even normal? – to love your child as they are, but feel some sense of loss for who they will not be. And I’ve never experienced a challenge like this, so I shouldn’t guess at the complicated emotions. But … from a naming perspective? It’s … wow. I cannot imagine changing his name. For so many reasons.
Speaking of wow, I really hope they do not name their boy-girl twins Sun and Moon. Or worse, Demon and Angel. This mom-to-be claims that matching twin names appeal strongly to her and her husband. Seriously, I believe the first situation is real, but surely no one actually thinks it might be a good idea to name their twins Heaven and Earth? On the other hand, I could argue in favor of names like … Kai and Maren? Hunter and Ivy? But it needs to be at least a little bit subtle. Right?
This is important to read. In brief, creative names are very much an American-born phenomenon – not a result of immigration, as some have claimed.
Okay, on a (much) lighter note. What are the full names of Donald Duck’s nephews? Turns out they have two different sets of names. Well, except Huey is always Hubert Duck. But Dewey is either Deuteronomy D. Duck or, later, Dewford Dingus Duck. As for Louie? He’s got the best formal names of all: Louis in the original; Llewelyn in later versions. Oh, and Daisy has nieces named April, May, and June.
And more names just to delight … Catalan names, in all their distinctive glory. I was just reading about Queralt, and oh – Elisenda is gorgeous.
That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
