Number 24
Image by Thristian via Flickr

We’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave, here in Washington DC. It is my birthday week, which means I’ll exert slightly more influence over the name choices than usual. Happily, many of you were good enough to request names that I was longing to write about anyhow … definitely, the greatest gift!

On to the name news:

  • I loved this list at Nameberry of clunky cool names: Agatha, Ruth, Otto, Leon. I’m hearing these in metro Washington DC, and many of you are considering using them. Something tells me a few of these are ready for their comeback moment;
  • But maybe the best part of the post was a comment from Jenny, borrowing a term from J.K. Rowling to suit our purposes – if we are “name nerds” then surely the rest of the world is made up of “name Muggles” … right?
  • For Real spotted a boy named Kelci. And a girl called Collins. Interesting;
  • Waltzing More Than Matilda caught an Australian morning show spot on a family with three daughters: Lily, Scotia, and Sappho. I’m especially intrigued by Scotia, the Latin name for Scotland;
  • Back to 1840 with British Baby Names! Elea unearthed a boy called Story, and a girl called Arthurina, plus another girl named Crisany. Actually, the entire list is just plain fascinating;
  • Swistle asks about the name Cozette, with the possible nickname Cozy. My take? I agree with many of the comments. Cosette is surprising and stylish, no matter what nickname you use. Cozette is a little much;
  • This list at Daddy Types of kids’ names spotted at the Enterprise, Utah Rodeo has me fascinated. Want to raise a kiddo who knows his way around a horse, or who takes top honors at the chicken chasing contest? Kanton, Kelby, Larami, Brek, Tanzee, Ramzi, Macardi, and Carli Jo all seem like safe bets.

Over on my Facebook page, I raised the question of whether there are certain traditional male names that you only like in their full, not-nicknamed forms. A long list of replies followed. I was thinking of Douglas, but also Stephen/Steven, a name that appears in my Monday post for Nameberry.

On to news from the famous:

  • Maternity concierge and reality star Rosie Pope dished on her own kids’ names to Name Candy. I love that both boys’ middles reflect streets where they’ve lived – Roderick and Reade. Should they have a future child that means that their current address – Madison – is in the running for a middle;
  • Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner welcomed the regally named Arabella Rose;
  • Maya Rudolph welcomed son Jackson Wright, a little brother for Pearl Bailey and Lucille.

One last note for this week: I have a long, long list of unanswered requests for Baby Name of the Day posts. I’m been looking at my Fall/Winter calendar carefully – the truth is that the number of requests now far exceed the number of days in the year, and at the same time, I have a few different kinds of posts I’d like to add into the rotation.

So … not quite sure how it will all shake out, but I appreciate your patience.

As always, thank you 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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What do you think?

17 Comments

  1. Kelsey was never that popular for girls anyway, especially these days. I think he’ll be fine.

  2. Like Caroline said, I am wondering if Collins for a girl came from the Blind Side too. But Kelci for a boy is pretty surprising. I could understand Kelsey although that has shifted much more to the girls now, but Kelci looks so feminine too. Kelsey might have been somewhat hard to live with but could still be livable, but I imagine Kelci would be much harder.

  3. We saw Despicable Me over the weekend, with the sibs Margo, Agnes, and Edith. Definitely in the clunky-cool category. (The girls were totally fascinated by the movie, if Clio and Aly haven’t seen it yet.)

  4. I’ve actually met a Kelby before, he was nothing similar to a western kinda boy hehe.

    Isnt “Kelci” just another spelling of Kelsey? That used to be a male name, so I’m glad to see it on a boy.