20 by quinn.anya via Flickr
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!
I just played the matching game and my stumbled across Raleigh and Hollie at 1687! How funny that they would rhyme! Raleigh is one of my favorite boys names 🙂
I’m baking a Rex right now! Just plain Rex, though. No Rexfords or Rextons for me.
Love, love, love it! Any thoughts on a middle name yet?
I like # 1027, Leroy and Roxanne.
I love to pair the girls’ and boys’ names on the lists. There are charming sets and hilarious sets and … on it goes. I laughed to find my daughter’s name, Astrid (#1056), paired with Eliot. She would have been Elliot had she been a boy.
I agree, fun and funny. My son Oakley is paired with Scarlette that is on my girl list!
My daughter Maria is paired with Jesus! 🙂
I’ve considered Rex as an alternative to Reginald, but the husband isn’t as impressed as I’d wish he was. Also I’m somewhat in love with Clementine, mainly because I think Tiny would be an adorable nickname.
😀
I have been ousted as a name enthusiast so many times. I have always been a bit surprised and even honoured when my pregnant friends have come to me for naming advice. Believe it or not, I always feel uncomfortable given out naming advice as I find names objective and a very personal choice for the parents. I don’t feel it is my place, but it is still an honour that a friend would trust my word so much on the subject of names.
I’m surprised that the boy’s top 3 from every state has so much more variety than the girl’s list does. The girl’s list only has 11 different names, while the boy’s list has 25.
So I was reading the 1,001 to 2,000 list, and I didnt see Susannah anywhere. Susana and Susanna, yes, but not Susannah. How can this be? Did I just miss it? I can’t fathom that Susannah is not in the top 2,000 names.
So according to Nancy’s link, 75 boys were named Unknown in 2011.
Margot more interesting than Marie? Hardly! Especially that spelling. I always read Maggot. Margeaux is better, and nicer than Margaret, but still doesn’t stack up as more interesting than Marie, an old name with great provenance.
Sidonie looks great, and sounds nice In theory, bit I think she’d just become Sydney.
I’m off to bed now, so I haven’t taken the time to read the linked articles yet (a treat saved for the morrow!), but I agree: We really should hear more of Margot. I’m an uncloseted fan of almost any name that includes that delightful combination of an m an r and a g. Margaret, Dagmar, Morag — lovely! I also favour names that miss out on the m (Gretchen, Gertrude, Gretl) but still retain that lovely, gutteral sound.
Thanks for the summary! I hope being outed doesn’t haunt you in any way :o)
Oops! Sorry about the spam. My internet was being funky.
It’s funny … I typically keep it close to my chest because I hate to reveal that I have opinions about their kids’ names. I’d love the kids if they were called Khayleii and Dagobert, so it isn’t really important. And yet, the longer I live here and the longer I write, the more I realize that it is inevitable!
I’m off to bed now, so I haven’t taken the time to read the linked articles yet (a treat saved for the morrow!), but I agree: We really should hear more of Margot. I’m an uncloseted fan of almost any name that includes that delightful combination of an m an r and a g. Margaret, Dagmar, Morag — lovely! I also favour names that miss out on the m (Gretchen, Gertrude, Gretl) but still retain that lovely, gutteral sound.
I am glad to know that I am not the only Dagmar lover 🙂