I don’t see a lot of non-kid movies in the movie theater. Big Hero 6? Penguins of Madagascar? Check and check. But Gone Girl? Sadly, no.
And so I have yet to see the lovely Rosamund Pike play the scheming Amy. But when the Golden Globes nominations came out, I found myself mulling over the potential of her unusual name.
Rose names are on the verge. Rosalie got a boost thanks to Twilight, we all fell for The Hunger Games’ Primrose, and Rose is the go-to middle that’s finally on the upswing as a given name. (Thanks, Scarlett and Romain!)
My personal favorite is Rosemary, but I’m also fond of Rosalind, and, yes, Rosamund.
What’s your favorite Rose name?
Speaking of polls, I was interested to see the results from last week’s post. Well over half of you – 61% plus at last count – didn’t share your children’s names until they were written on the birth certificate!
That’s not us at all – but I’ve definitely seen a lot of families wait until the last minute to make the final decision, and others who just prefer to announce after it’s too late to change. Good reasons abound to go this route!
Elsewhere online – and screen:
- Elsa comes to Once Upon a Time on ABC. If this name doesn’t zoom up the popularity charts, I will be stunned! Then again, Frozen didn’t debut until the end of 2013 – will we have to wait to see an Elsa effect?
- Speaking of ABC and fairytales, there’s a quirky, musical extravaganza coming to ABC. It’s called Galavant, and two character names stood out to me – Madalena and Valencia. Valencia is one of the names I wrote about back when this blog was brand new, and Maddalena is the Italian form of Madeleine. I think both could catch on … assuming Galavant is a success.
- From British Baby Names’ recent birth announcements: a pair of girls named Eleanor, another two called Isabelle … and two named Isadora! Could this name be catching on at last?
- Yes to this quote from Duana: “Don’t be afraid of all the names we don’t use.” So often we cross names off our lists too quickly, because we’re not used to hearing them on children. Except if our goal is to find a name that stands out, well … almost by definition, it’s going to be a surprise. At first. If you can avoid an automatic rejection, you might fall in love.
- Whoa – a baby Gladys in Texas! That’s not a name I expected to hear. I’m picturing her parents as tattooed Austinites who also shortlisted Baxter and Dinah, but worried that those were too mainstream …
- Speaking of names that aren’t coming back, this 1916 list found by Nancy is an interesting split – from the currently stylish (Evangeline and Hazel) to the impossibly obscure (Calpurnia and Bertha).
- Meanwhile, in Australia, parents are naming their babies Tex.
- Here’s a totally different approach to naming a baby: in South Korea, families consult a sort of fortune teller. In Los Angeles, there’s a Korean-American expert in something called saju – the four pillars of destiny – continues the tradition.
- Winter botanicals – I have a soft spot for Ivy, and Garland intrigues me. I cannot imagine Poinsettia as a given name, but many a middle? And Evergreen … I like that idea as a middle, too.
- Buttoned-up girls’ names – how excited am I to hear Ruth and Esther back in fashion?
- I’m a huge Sherlock Holmes fan, so I’m binge-watching my way through this season of Elementary. Sherlock has a new sidekick called Kitty Winter, and I just looked up the name of the actress – Ophelia Lovibond! And yes, it appears to be her real name.
- Swistle gives great advice over family names.
- Royal twins in Monaco, and 13 other sets of twins born to kings and princes.
That’s all for this week – as always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
Spotted any great names lately?
In regard to not getting to see any non-kid movies: I have an agreement with a couple of female friends to meet for lunch and a movie once a month, just so we can see a film that isn’t animated, or has talking animals, every once in a while. One of us started it after her kids watched the DVD of “High School Musical” every night for 6 weeks in a row (I promise it wasn’t me). However don’t do what I did – announce that I had to leave a parents meeting slightly early because I had to go see “an adult film with two girlfriends”.
Oh man, do I love Gladys.
I have a three year-old niece named Ruth. So pretty. I must admit, however, that I resent my mother’s insistence that my daughter’s name, Harriet, is hideously ugly while the name Ruth is gorgeous. Same era, Mom. Grr.
Rosalie is my favorite Rose name, but I don’t like it enough to consider using it.
I love Rosemary for its fresh spicy feel. The blue flower is more of a draw than actual roses, honestly, and also I love the ‘remembrance’ thing because my Rosemary would be in honour of someone.
Rosamund I like nearly as much, but not quite. But rosa mundi roses are gorgeous and old and hardy and fierce. I would call her Monday (mundi is pretty much how my Aussie inlaws say Monday) before Rosie though. I like the ‘rose of the world’ thing. And they’re stripey!
Rosalba is elegant but 3rd because I fear it’s too elegant for me?
Isadora’s finally catching on? I love Isidora and Isidra so much! And Isidora and Rosamund work, don’t they?
Rosmerta and Rosaline are my favorite “rose” names.
I’m really fond of Rosetta.
On the Gladys front– I like to imagine the tattooed Austinites also, but my gut feeling is that Gladys is probably the daughter of Latino immigrants. Gladys is still in common use in a lot of Latin America, and still ranked in the SSA top names as late as 1999, I think almost solely because of Latino use. It might still be old ladyish in Spanish but it doesn’t have the same stigma. Whereas to the anglo ear, Gladys is like Ethel (fell off the SSA list in 1975) and Mildred (gone for good in 1982).
Nevertheless I love the idea of a baby Gladys!
Yup, I know a young Latina named Gladys. It feels like a happy name, but it also makes me think of GLaDOS from Portal.
You’re probably right – the only young Gladys I know is a 20-something Latina. Completely slipped my mind …
Plus, I supposed the Austinites would have Gladys Lark or Gladys Blue, not Gladys Elizabeth!
I think your first instinct is right, Abby. I went back and looked. Gladys’ parents don’t have Latina first or last names. 🙂
Rosebay and Primrose are my favorites.
Oooh, Rosebay. I’ve never seen that one before. I love it.
Thanks for solving at least part of the mystery for us, Sarah! 🙂 I was wondering about Gladys’ parents myself.
Rosalind and Rosamund are quite lovely, but I often hear them mispronounced. My favorite Rose is Rosemarie. I also like Rosalba, Rose, Roselle, and Rosita.
Two of my all time favourite names are Rose names:
Rosa (so gentle and lovely and yet strong!) and the Irish RóisÃn (pronounced Roe-sheen, meaning little rose – such a soft sound). I also love a further diminutive of the latter: Róise (roe-sha; the meaning is like Rosie). I just find Rose names so beautiful, elegant and attractive while still seeming strong, enduring and resilient. I hope I get to use one some day!
so we used Rose as a family/second middle name for DD#2, but were teetering on using Rosalind as well. I actually love that you can get “Lindy” from Rosalind. I always thought Rosalind and Jocelyn would make excellent names for twin girls.
Agreed about Lindy – great nickname!