Numéro 022
Numéro 022 by jfgornet via Flickr

Happy Sunday!  That’s a word name that is really growing on me.  Did you spot the combination Sunday Amelia at Name Soiree?  Oh, and the five brothers called Jeremiah, Felix, Ezra, Hugo, and Jasper?  There’s always something to make me smile in her posts.

Other lovely things online:

  • Did you notice that Stephen Moyer has a daughter called Lilac?
  • Nymbler brings back their monthly Most Popular Baby Names list, with Exton and Abella on the new debuts list.
  • Sebastiane makes a compelling case for Kayla as a storied name – not a modern soap opera appellation.
  • Scout for a boy?  That’s the discussion at Swistle – and I have to say, I like the idea.
  • I know I’ve mentioned Huxley dozens of times, but Design Mom has Ashley English’s handmade homestead featured this week, and her kiddo is called Huxley Wild.  How daring!
  • William Kermit completely made my day.  Thanks For Real Baby Names!
  • Yindi Tuppence also caught my eye – be sure to see Anna’s explanation in the comments at Waltzing More than Matilda.  More proof that we’re not all naming our daughters Emma.
  • Nothing so lovely as a tree … name.  Elea complied an exhaustive list at British Baby Names.  Hickory is growing on me.
  • The Motherlode tackles the issue of namesakes, and points out that while it might seem like a great idea, naming a child after a loved one can be painful, too.
  • This quote comes from Aidan’s post seeking help naming a friend’s daughter: “Naming babies online – you like living dangerously.”  Snicker.
  • We still don’t know what Uma named her daughter.  I’m trying to stay calm about that.

This upcoming week should be a blast.  I’m profiling so-called Hated Baby Names – the ones that make name nerds cringe.  Whenever I write about a name – no matter how outlandish – I almost always find lots to love about it by the time the post is complete.  Here’s hoping that this week’s overindulgence in the trendy will be, at the very least, interesting.

That’s all for now – thanks for reading, and have a great week!

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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15 Comments

  1. It makes me SO HAPPY to finally see someone talk about the history of “Kayla.” As a child of the 80s, I have always detested my name for its popularity, its childish sound, and the tacky soap opera connection. I am named after my Jewish great-great-grandmother who lived in Eastern Europe…but I got seriously unlucky in that “Kayla,” a name my parents had been saving up for ages, became insanely popular when I was a kid. Ugh. I have considered changing my name many times because I can’t seem to get past the fact that it sounds unprofessional and low-class, but then I think of what the name means to my family and I can’t bear to do it.

  2. I found the article from Motherlode to be quite moving. This is probably why we are more comfortable with naming after deceased a grandparent than someone who died young. If my brother had been a girl my parents would have named him Paula after my grandmother’s sister who died of polio at 21. I never asked my grandmother if that would have been pleasing or painful for her.

  3. I asked Ashley English about her son’s name, Huxley Wild, and this is what she told me:

    “I chose the name Huxley while we were on our honeymoon (we went to Paris, then by train to Monaco, then another overnight train to Rome). I was reading Tom Robbin’s novel “Jitterbug Perfume” and there is a precocious young female character in it named Huxley Anne that is very in tune with nature. I decided then and there that would be our child’s name, if we ever had a girl, and Glenn agreed. When we found out we were having a boy, we reconsidered, but, as it turns out, Huxley is actually a man’s name. It means both “outdoorsman”, which is want we want for him, and “a clearing in the forest”, which is precisely where we live. So, it seemed perfect, and fated.

    As for the “Wild” part, I used to refer to Huxley in utero as “Nugget.” He was so very squirmy and wiggly and active and, well, wild for such a small thing that the name sort of naturally fit. Also, wild, unadulterated spaces and thinking and individual ways of doing things are very important to Huxley’s dad and myself. Given his temperament and our leanings, “Wild” was the order of the day.”

    1. Huxley Wild is adorable – it’s like geek chic.

      (I like Scout for a boy too, btw).

  4. My mom is very into family genealogy. I always giggle when I remember her reaction to Kayla. We’ve talked about baby names forever, even when I was little, and what I liked and so on.

    She was APPALLED. And amused. But mostly appalled. It was sooo Olde Country. She must have repeated six times over the course of the next couple weeks, “Keila?” She says it the same way, but didn’t recognize the “y” spelling, but found it plausible, just like Reina/Rayna which is another Yiddish name that gets transliterated both ways.

    Mom: “Like your great grandmother’s sister, Keila? She changed it to Kay when she got to America…”

    She thinks of it as a very shtetl, Fiddler On The Roof type name.

    I find its massive popularity (which still hasn’t convinced her it’s normal enough to use, lol) incredibly amusing, in that context.

    1. Now that’s interesting – and more proof that Kayla has history aplenty, even if it isn’t why parents are choosing her these days …

  5. I hinted about it the other day so I guess an announcement is overdue, anyways we welcomed Peter Seeley two weeks ago. Peter is technically a family name, but it really started out as a joke from his in-utero nickname Hasi (bunny.) Seeley is from a now-extinct family surname.

  6. Thanks as always for a great summary!

    I’m glad to find out that Kayla has a lengthier history than I previously supposed. I’m not a fan of the name — it still sounds trendy to me and the word means “banana” in hindi — but it’s always pleasant to find out that a popular name has heritage.

    1. It’s not for me, either, but I have dear friends who used this for their daughter ages ago. I always think of Kayla as another generation’s Linda – given a few decades, it will be hard to believe that the name hasn’t always been in use.

    2. I hear ya Charlotte! I’ve always lumped Kayla with Kaylee/Kylee/Makayla, etc. It’s really nice to hear that the name has some history behind it. It’s my husband’s 2 yo niece’s name, so I should like it, but she was named Kayla after her father Kyle…and he’s not exactly baby-naming-for worthy in my husband’s and my opinions. Also, Kayla’s little brother is N@thaniel and I can’t help but feel she got the short end of the stick in the names department. Anyway, Sebastiane’s post helps me see Kayla in a new light 🙂

  7. Oh, weird. I just suggested Amelia Sunday to someone yesterday. It must be fate that the names should be combined!