Happy Sunday!
I’m re-watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, after it won big at the Emmys. And, oh, I’m loving the names. There’s Miriam, called Midge, of course. And Susie, not Susan. I mean, the show is from Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of Gilmore Girls, with all of those amazing character names. So it’s no surprise to hear even minor characters referred to as Petra, Zelda, Cosma, Darius, Palmer Witherspoon. A while back, someone said to me that she could never really get into a book if they got the names wrong. I agree. But I also find that I can get absolutely sucked into a book or a show if they nail the names. It’s part of world-building, whether it’s fantasy or just the writer’s spin on reality.
There are dozens of reasons to root for Midge Maisel and the Amazon Prime series. But if you’re here, reading? There’s a good chance that you’ll love the names.
Are you watching any great series? Or reading anything with amazing names? Tell me, please! I’m always looking to fill up my Netflix queue …
Elsewhere online:
- Okay, how much do I love this story about a little girl named Florence who started a project to help North Carolina hurricane recovery efforts? Major storms can negatively impact a name, but I’m wondering if Florence will be the exception.
- Have you poured through the data from England yet? British Baby Names is my go-to source for all things Anglophile and onamastic. Her coverage begins here.
- We’re all about Victoria and Violet and Vivian, but ‘v’ in the middle? That might be an even more powerful trend. Flavia, Ravenna, Ever? Yes, please!
- These classic boy names are fading, reaching their lowest popularity ranking since we started tracking them in 1880. Plenty of them, like Paul, Jesse, and Glenn seem perfectly wearable to me in 2018 – so maybe this should be your go-to list for traditional boy names that your son won’t share with others in his class.
- It’s not as analytical, but Linda’s list of out-of-favor girls’ names might serve the same function. Are we ready for another generation of girls called Peggy, Fern, and Geraldine?
- #namespotting from British Baby Names birth announcements: Kester!
- I don’t actually watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians. But I do read re-caps of episodes, at least when they discuss baby names. Apparently, before Chicago was Chicago, the family discussed Miracle, Precious, Rome, Milan, Italy, Queen, Vuitton, even This. It confirms that their reasons for choosing the name really were meaningful. And even if you think the name is crazy-cuckoo-bananas, I think that’s a lovely thing.
- From the wayback machine: I need to get back to writing this series about vintage names. I love this post: Rare 1905 Girl Names. So many gems! And from 2014, I love this look at Roald Dahl names.
That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
