Somehow I’ve found myself in the middle of multiple complicated projects this April, in my personal, professional, and blogging lives. Make no mistake – they’re all joyful in their own ways. There was the Great Glitchy Blog Migration of Spring 2012. In real life, my team brought fireworks back to our city’s major park for the first time in three decades. Oh, and my firstborn managed to maybe-possibly-not-sure-yet break his arm last Thursday. (More x-rays tomorrow.) Maybe joyful isn’t the right word there, but having a happy, healthy child showing off his elaborately bandaged arm makes for a milestone in its own way, too, because I know that in years to come, we’ll date things by the Spring-that-Alex-wore-a-cast.
All of this buzz makes me think that the most amazing thing about welcoming a new child to a family is that they really do take over everything for a little time, insisting that you stop and reshape your dailiness to get to know each other. Choosing their name is probably the last time some of us exercise much in the way of choice for a few weeks, because whether we call our new baby Grace or Rowdy, I’m astonished by how much they change our lives.
Now, on to the names:
- How’s this for a grand appellation? Czarina Victoria, in ForReal’s most recent Alaska post.
- I have a new name crush: Bo for a girl. Or Beau. It happens to be my sister’s nickname, so there’s a family connection. The question is how to get there. Boudica is a warrior queen, but maybe too much for a modern child. Isabeau was my front-runner, but then along came Boheme and now Eponymia suggested Bodille.
- Actually, make that two name crushes: Miro, for a boy – just like Milo, but more attuned to the visual, rather than the musical, arts. Sebastiane covered the name’s Slavic roots, and Eponymia has him on the latest installment of her rare Dutch boys list.Lucy Lawless has a son called Judah Miro.
- Last week I asked how many names you could make from Alec – one family has now named five kids with the same four letters. On Swistle, parents almost pulled off something similar without trying. Their first is a daughter named Emery, and they’re considering Meyer for a second child. But they’re not sure they’re done with children, and there’s not really a great third option, is this? Meery? Yerem? Hmmm … nope.
- Did you catch Marginamia’s interview with Sarah Buttenweiser? Her kids’ names are lovely: Ezekiel, Lucien, Remiel called Remy, and Saskia.
- The Stir didn’t get it quite right, but there were some intriguing oddities on their list of 20 Hardcore Old-Fashioned Names. Elbert seems destined for obscurity, but is Mehitable really gone, too? Isaiah definitely doesn’t belong in their company.
- Laura weighs in on baby name trends of the future with The Baby name Buzz Report of 2012. I’m sure she’s right about Mila.
- Upswing Baby Names dared to mention the still-hibernating Myrtle, as well as a new one to me – the Hebrew Tomer. If I was stumped for a name for an Arbor-Day baby, I think I’d just go with Arbor. Friends of ours have a niece with this name, and I’ve liked it from the first.
Now I’m off to speculate on what Katherine Heigl will name her second daughter and transfer some more posts. If you want to keep up on my progress, I’ll be posting updates to the Appellation Mountain Facebook page.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
Gah, Miro – LOVE it! Has that same “Juno”-esque flair but somehow more feminine and saucier (in a good way). My son is Beau, I know of two teenaged girls named respectively, Bo and Beau (I’m in the South). Neither of them like it . They each complain of needing more substance and one says it’s like “Jo,” and she feels cheated. Ah, teenagers. Though it works perfectly for my son who, in every way, is a Beau.
I discovered another fun mix up set of names. A friend of the girls’ wrote 4 initials on our chalkboard: ABEL, and I was off and running. Leba, Bela, Elba, Bale.
Hi Abby
I’ve been following your blog for about a year, I can’t remember now how I came across it.. I also can’t explain my name obsession, which until recently could still be described as just a passing interest!
My comment is about Bo. My middle name is the Polish Bozena. While I have mostly ignored it my whole life, I recently met a Bozena who calls herself Bo and my neglected middle name is starting to grow on me. I find it amazing how our collective tastes change over time. While I don’t see Bozena taking off, I never thought I would even get close to acknowledging it as my name.
Thank you for a great blog. I love the way you write. It’s refreshing and positive and educational – an addicitve daily fix!
Basia
Remiel is cute and I love Mehitable, but I prefer the Mehitabel spelling.
I think Myrtle is darling.
I love Boudicca or Isabeau for the nickname Beau.
I hope your little one feels better soon 🙁
Myrtle really is growing on me …
And Aly? Thanks, but mostly he’s enjoying the attention!
The author of that post in The Stir could have done a little more research than posting, but she does include some interesting names.
I’ve been thinking about Myrtle lately. Friends keeping giving us bags and boxes of ripe feijoas, a fruit popular here in NZ. The feijoa tree is a member of the myrtle family, and its fruit, while not particularly attractive to look at, is very fragrant.
Oh my goodness, there’s so much editing needed in what I posted! I apologise for my sloppiness.
I love the name Miro! Interestingly, I first encountered it in an Orson Scott Card series, where he claimed it as a Portuguese name meaning something like “one who sees.” I haven’t found any evidence to support this (maybe he was playing with “mirar”–to look at/watch, according to Google). Still, if I were to use the name, that definition would likely be a part of the “meaning” I associated with it.
Now that’s fascinating. And now I’m really in love with Miro …
Emery, Meyer and Remey? (A somewhat forced Remy…. although in kind of looks like you’d read it reemee.) Meery? (Like Mira, but not.) Merey? (a really insane re-spelling of Mary). Eremy? (like Jeremy without the J? yeesh.) I think if I were really looking to go with a name to keep with the 5 letters, the Remey one would win.
Good luck with your big projects!
I should’ve known that someone would come up with perfectly usable re-workings of those five letters. 🙂 I kind of love Remey, but it prompts me to say rehMAY, so no.