Sunday Summary: 5/20/12

I’m fortunate to live in a close-knit neighborhood, the kind where everybody celebrates milestones together.  Last Saturday I dutifully made my way to a baby shower for a neighbor expecting her first … and was unexpectedly outed as a name fanatic.

Has this ever happened to you?

After all, it isn’t an easy thing to discuss.  But when it turned out that one of the games was to match the name with the name’s meaning, well … I kind of won.  Big time.

But it really is just like any obsessive hobby.  I pay attention to baseball about three times a year – the World Series, and whenever we happen to take the kids to a baseball game.  But there are those among us who follow the sport year-round, from the draft and spring training to every game in the regular season right up through the play-offs.

This week was pretty much the World Series, what with the big breathless announcement of the name data on Monday.  In other news:

• Tired of data yet?  Me neither.  Laura Wattenberg has assembled the top three names from all 50 states.
• Lou did something kind of fun – she read the rankings as if the corresponding boy and girl names were possible sibling sets.  Oscar and Elise is one of my favorites, and I also love Miller and Tess.
• Nancy has named 1,001 through 2,000 posted here.  If you play Lou’s game on this list, my favorite pairing is #1583 – Constance and Gray.
• While we’re visiting Nancy, did you see her note on Dev and Lovely?  They’re both from new MTV reality show Dev, about a young aspiring singer – that would be Dev – and her unplanned, high risk pregnancy with daughter Emilia Lovely.  It really is a great name – and I think that’s the biggest shocker of all.
• Do you follow No Big Dill?  Despite my lack of the crafting gene, I’m addicted to her site.  Scroll through this post to see her kids’ name tags at the end – lovely colors, and those wild, delicious names: Divine, Pearl, Olive, Azure, Clover, Drummer.
• I agree with Eponymia’s comment on her Rarities post – there should be more Rexes!
• Seeing Margot in the middle spot at Swistle makes me think we should hear more of her there – far more interesting than Marie.
• Tired of the Top 1,000 or even the Top 2,000?  Check out Isadora’s round-up of names from Offbeat Mama.  Max Beowulf and Cleo Clementine are one of the more mainstream pairs, but I really like them!
• Lastly, here’s a slightly offbeat name I’ve always enjoyed: Sidonie.

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