U.S. Highway 19
U.S. Highway 19 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are you naturally organized?  I’m not, but I grew up with a mother who makes the average 5-star general look like a slacker.  Enter Real Simple.  My mom doesn’t need it, but I’ve subscribed since the magazine first launched.  This week, a spin-off called Real Simple Families landed in my mailbox.  And the names of the kids!  It’s like standing on the playground in Prospect Park, only I don’t have to guess at spellings.  Noteworthy sightings included:

  • Kira (g) and Talis (b)
  • Maxime (g) and Nico (g)
  • Monty (b) and Lane (b)
  • Shai (b) and Sander (g)
  • Georgia (g) and Caleb (b)
  • Atlas
  • Milo and Alistair
  • Peter, Owen, Graham, and Ford (4 bs!)
  • Gerrit
  • Bryn (g) and Dashiell (b)

I’m hooked.

Just about as hooked as I’ve long been on For Real Baby Names, but this post with not one, but two girls called Gypsy?  Love it.  There’s a Gypsy Mabel and a Zelda Gypsy Jane.  In truth, I have mixed feelings about Gypsy.  Is it risque?  Disrespectful?  Both?  While my rational mind could never use it, I still love the sound.

Elsewhere online:

That’s all for this week.  As always, thanks for reading – and have a wonderful week!

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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. I can’t say I’d ever use Gypsy in a blue fit (as my grandmother would say) but Zelda and Mabel are both cool. Or uncool. Or coolly uncool. I would use them, anyway!

    Shan’t ever use Midori but I love it. Green is a favourite of mine, you see. Midori is much more fraught than Hazel, though, or even poor Emerald.

    Atlas is cool. I should file that away. My mom has extracted the unlikely deal that if I ever have twin boys, one has an A name for her uncle of whom she was fond. (I agreed because what are the chances?) Aidan, Ambrose, Alastair, Atlas? Ambrose is the name of a favourite author of mine but he was – like so many greats – also a terrible bastard, and its a bit funny to think of naming an innocent baby after the author of Devil’s Dictionary.

    Greek myths are a bit dicey and weird often, too, but at least “super-strong god holds up the world” is the Cliff Notes most people know and its clean and explicable to the kid when he’s in primary school.

  2. Perhaps you were too tactful to point out both Gypsys were from Australia? It’s not too crazily uncommon here (been a celeb baby name and one from TV) – I presume because we don’t have a native Romani culture it’s not seen as offensive. I couldn’t use it myself though. (Spelling variants like Jipzee aren’t unknown either).

    Fergus was included on this Sunday round-up, explaining why he’s getting more use:

    https://waltzingmorethanmatilda.com/2012/08/19/names-of-australian-male-olympic-medalists/

  3. I have a soft spot for Muriel because she reminds me of the lovely Miss Stacey from Anne of Green Gables. However, I can’t imagine myself every actually using the name. There’s something about the “ure” that I’m not too fond of.

    I agree that, while Gypsy has a pleasing sound, the thought of its use as name makes me feel all squirmy and uncomfortable inside.

  4. This weekend we “married off” the eldest step-kid, so I haven’t had the time lately to keep up with news of the Appellation Universe. But the big news of the day was my cousin’s twin granddaughters coming 6 weeks early:
    Siri Leil@
    Elli@ Iris
    I’m guessing their parents like anagrams.

    My Minister’s new baby also arrived a few days early, M0riah Ruth.

    Another cousin announced that they have chosen Brycelyn for their baby due in September. :/ It seems like they’re trying to hit multiple name trends at once.

    Name-spotting in a real-life:
    Apple, her sister was probably Hadley (or Natalie?)
    Sisters named Russell and Lorraine. Curiously, I found Russell on a girl rather cute!

    1. Moriah as a girl’s name is very interesting. I wonder whether, as Old Testament names become increasingly popular, this mountain appellation (hehe) will grow in popularity too?