About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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5 Comments

  1. Wow, that NYT article was way off. Thanks for adding informative comments, Abby and Elisabeth 🙂

    Word names definitely aren’t my favorite. I don’t really like Serenity, but my major guilty pleasure is Serena. I can’t hear that name without thinking of the gorgeous Blake Lively.
    I have met a Zarinah – she was working at a coffee shop and I asked her how her name was pronounced; she said it rhymed with Serena and then I commented that it was a pretty name. Her response? “Thanks! Most people hate it”

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  2. A friend of mine name her last son Psalm, with the middle name of Joshua. I had never heard of that one as a name before, and I personally see it more as a girls name for some reason (no idea why!). I was shocked when I heard it, too say the least.

    Add me to the people waiting patiently for Natalie Portman’s son’s name. Please don’t disappoint us, Natalie!

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  3. Anybody following Your Aunt Diane on Twitter? It’s the parody twitter account of a Santa Fe new age jewelry designer. Word name week reminded me of her June 20th tweets.

    @YourAuntDiane Aunt Diane
    My favorite girls’ names if I could have children: Coriander, Forsythia, Breath, Tansy, Vishpala Lakshmibai, Tarragon, Thicket, Carly Simon.
    @YourAuntDiane Aunt Diane
    Most masculine names rub me the wrong way, so favorite boys names are: Whisper, Trinket, Feathers, and Ceremony.

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  4. “Could the New York Times be any more wrong about [insert topic here]?” Just because the NYT is one of the few newspapers left nowadays that has the resources to cover these bogus “trends,” doesn’t mean they should. Leonhardt’s attributing the “recent lack of Jane Austen movies” for the reason names like Emma have supposedly fallen in popularity is a real howler, and insults the intelligence of a lot of parents.

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  5. Thanks for the mention Abby! I was pleasantly surprised at the attention generated by the post on Uncommon Word Names, and readers came up with ingenious examples. It really is the done thing in my neck of the woods– either first, middle, or both.

    Can’t imagine what your post is tomorrow, but I’m looking forward to it! Isotta is besotting.

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