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!
Hmm, I like Arthur but not Artie, James but not Jimmy, and Edmund, but not Eddy.
(I’m just here taking notes!!!) 😉
Very, very fascinating list from 1840! I was interested to note that what I sometimes call my daughter, Rosianna, was actually used as a name at the time.
As for Narcissus Theophilus? Well, to me his name sounds like something of an oxymoron.
Arthurina is amazing!!! We know a family with an 8 year old Leon, big sister is Iris. What is Maya Rudolph’s oldest daughter’s middle name? Inquiring minds want to know….
One of the “suitors” on The Bachelorette-named Bentley-has a child with an ex-wife named Cosette, called Cozy. (I know that from reading the trashy gossip magazines my grandma brings home. Apparently, he’s not a good guy.) I bet the interest in that name (and the unusual nickname) have come from fans of that show.
I love the clunky but cool list! Especially the boys. I hope that by the time I have kids they haven’t progressed to ‘too cool’!
The brother of Pearl and Lucille could do with being from that list too!
Stay cool in DC! And happy birthday for this week 🙂
Whoa at the list of rodeo names. Now Kase Murray doesn’t seem so bad. 🙂
Are we sure Maya Rudolph baby’s full name is Jackson Wright? Where did you see his full name? People announced his name as Jack, as did other news sites. The reason I’m curious is that Wipeout’s John Henson welcomed baby Jackson Wright back in March. I just find it odd there is two Jackson Wright on my celebrity baby list, but I guess stranger things have happened. 🙂
Have a good week and happy birthday.
Sarah
Hehehe, “name muggles,” that’s good.
Sappho, you say? That’s cool, I like it.
And British Baby Names always finds wonderful oddities.
I’m so disappointed in Jackson Wright. How does one go from Pearl to Lucille to Jackson? I. Don’t. Understand. 🙁
Me too! Someone mentioned on the Facebook page that Jack alone fits in well with Pearl and Lucille, but Jackson is way too modern sounding to “match” his sisters. I would have liked Edward for them.
On a side note, I actually like Jackson. It’s one of my few trendy name guilty pleasures 😉
Jackson is a postitively an epidemic in my corner of TX. I think Phoebe had like 6 or 7 Jacksons on her last bday party list.
My nephew is named Jackson and the only other boy in his preschool class — also named Jackson. They live in Houston.
I so hope Collins is a family name and not a copycat of the daughter named Collins from The Blind Side (which DID come from a family name). I crusaded long and hard on several Nameberry threads against the arbitrary use of Collins after the movie came out. Collins is so cleary surname-derived that “is that a family name” has GOT to be a constant question, right?
I sure hope Tanzee and Ramzi aren’t siblings.