Happy Mother’s Day!
My big excitement? Binge-watching The 100.
Well, wait. My big excitement was the new baby names popularity data release. I spent hours looking at the numbers, and there’s much more to come.
Also, there were flowers.
Back to the screen: I found myself binging The 100 because I hadn’t realized Octavia owed its rise to the series. (Octavia soared into the Top 1000 this year.) It’s packed – packed, I tell you! – with great names. Besides Octavia, there’s Clarke (for a girl), Bellamy (for a boy), Lincoln, Anya, Wells, Finn, Raven, Jasper, Thelonious, and more.
A fun fact? Despite the fact that it’s set around the year 2162, the name John remains incredibly common.
Discovering a gripping series with amazing names? That’s a gift!
I’ll be sharing more thoughts on all things data-related over the next few days and weeks, so for now, let’s focus on non-data-y news for now:
- Kirsten Dunst named her baby boy Ennis Howard! Seriously, I think we’re living in a post-style world, one where the stories behind the names we choose matter so much more than other considerations. And yet, I’m not sure Ennis – rhymes with tennis – is completely off-trend, either. Brooks, Miles, Elias … all those ‘s’ enders have quite a bit of appeal.
- Or maybe style is just forever in flux? It seems like Wilfred is quite stylish in the UK. It’s in the newest edition of the UK birth announcements.
- Such good advice on naming twins from Swistle, who’s been there: There were some names I liked for singleton babies that I just couldn’t make work for twins—not because I was looking for anything matchy, but because sometimes any two favorite names might not go together, and when it’s twins the names do get more attention as a pair.
- #namespotting: Cricket, a sister for Piper and Nora. I so enjoy Design Mom’s Living with Kids series for so many reasons, but the names? Always a treat. I compiled a list of them a few years back – really need to go back and update this one!
- An intriguing discussion from Duana: is this name tacky? I agree with Duana (how many times do I say that!?) that it really depends on how the parents answer the question.
- Yes, I’m going to link to a Portuguese site covering the most popular names in Quebec. Because the list is too good not to share! Maverick is in their Top 100, too, along with mainstays like Sarah. But I’m loving the uniquely French names on the list: Maelie and Loic and more. (Pretty sure I talked about this last week, too, but I cannot resist.)
That’s all for right now – but I’ll be back with bunches of posts this week on all things related to the new Top 1000 names – and beyond.
The name Octavia has been on my list for a bit now, because of Octavia Butler and Octavia Spencer, as well as because of the main character in a series of books I read a few years ago (Codex Alera by Jim Butcher) who goes by Tavi (“Taa-vee”). We later find out that it’s short for Octavius or Octavian–I can’t remember which–and while I can’t imagine those on a little boy of mine, I think Octavia nn Tavi is adorable!
I do think it’s getting a lot of its boost from folks looking for an alternative to Olivia, with the pop culture references making it feel familiar enough to get around people’s association with “octopus”.
Abby I really like the addition of the ‘big this week’ names list.
I love Octavia! I wonder if this will be the sound alike name that takes over from Olivia? Isolde is wonderful could it be the new Isabel? Naomi is a favourite, it is distinctive but traditional and familiar.
Ennis however… is problematic? I don’t normally think you should tie yourself in knots trying to avoid school yard teasing but some names don’t need much imagination to move to a not great place. I don’t think this one will take off.
Happy Mother’s Day!