A reader was kind enough to share a list of names from her neighborhood. They’re quite the extraordinary set. And yet, if I suspect that if I gathered up the names of our local kids into one list, it would be just as tremendous.
In lieu of an Easter basket, here’s a brightly colored collection of names from one place:
- Retro stylish girls: Abigail, Amelia, Clara, Eloise, Luella, Ruby, Violet
- Surnames: Catcher, Channing, Collins, Cruz, Manning, Nash, Nolan, Travers
- The modern innovations: Galix, Jax, Kessney, Nyelle, Parxx, Tayver
- The boyish girls: Beau, Blayke, Franklynn, Monroe, Rian, Theo
- From the map: Berlin, Camden, Memphis
- Modern spiritual names: Trinity, Tao
- The all-boy boys: Trip, Trig, Rowdy
- The jet set: Manon, Ottavia, Romeo
Quite the assortment!
Elsewhere online:
- The Real Housewives of New York is getting three new castmembers, so of course I had to Google their kids’ names. Heather Thomson has Jax and Ella Rae. Aviva Drescher has four: stepdaughter Veronica, sons Harrison and Hudson, and daughter Sienna. That’s right – a New York City kid named Hudson …
- It is no wonder that design blog mamas tend to have stylishly-named kiddos, but will travel blog babies have daringly exotic appellations? The three kids on DeliciousBaby are brothers Eilan and Everest and sister Darya, so maybe so.
- This is very good advice about so-called baby name stealing, and I love this quote: “Two boys named Jupiter might be a bigger deal than two boys named James.”
- Swistle tackles the question of how to get to the nickname Scout. I like lots of the solutions, and can’t wait to hear what the parents choose.
- I’m fascinated by the impact of popular culture on baby names through the ages, so this post at the Etsy blog has me wondering: did Fern catch on as a baby name due to the 1800s fern craze? Maybe. The American Fern Society was established in 1893, and the given name peaked in the US in the 1910s – though Fern Fever was more of a British phenomenon.
- From Name Soiree’s Whimsical Wednesday, I do like Prairie, and if Story and Fable work, why not Novella?
- Are you all about Downton Abbey? Check out British Baby Names’ 7 Ways to Create An Edwardian Baby Name. I went searching the family trees of those related to Almina, Countess of Carnarvon, the inspiration for much of the Downton story, and found lots of creations – though many were bestowed decades later: Annabel Lilian Elfrida, Elaine Letitia Algitha … I could go on and on.
- Angela has given the first Unfairly Dated Baby Name award to Beverly. What do you think – due for an early revival, or eclipsed by nouveau coinage Everly for the moment?
- Based on Angela’s criteria, a few readers guessed Vera – and then I spotted Vera Annarose in ForReal’s Sunday post. Nope, Vera isn’t dated at all … I find her completely current and as wearable as Ava.
- Lou is right to ask: Why aren’t we using Thomasina? Far more intriguing than the fading Samantha.
- Voornamelijk asks if Ravi is the new Sem? Dutch names continue to fascinate me.
- Nancy’s list of name quotes is great – it is worth clicking through to the stories, especially the one on Mormon baby names.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading. And if you’re celebrating Easter, have a wonderful, marshmallow-Peep filled holiday!
Love the names! Check out my “If I Could Name 100 Girls” list
https://nevergonameless.blogspot.com/2012/04/if-i-could-name-100-girls.html
Some interesting names I’ve seen around this week:
Boys – Bay, Koa, Oakley, Shia, Azure, Salem, Reef, Berkley, Pine, Wynn and Ainsley.
Girls – Meadow, Acacia, Morgana, Tulip, Odessa, Emerald, Havana, Sapphire, Priya and Soleia.
Love them!
I loved the post on Mormon baby names. Since moving to Utah a couple years ago, I’ve seen a few men/boys named Kimball, Brigham, and even one Moroni. There are also quite a few Orrins. After Orrin Porter Rockwell, I guess (I love his full name, by the way). The surnames around here are quite fascinating too. So many of them seem to be entirely made out of more than one word put together like Allred. Two of the most unusual surnames I’ve seen in Utah are: Bytheway and Godbehere.
Also, while I can see why Jax seems like a modern innovation, it really does have that look and sound to it. But the one Jax I knew was a 60 year old man from New Orleans. He was the cook at a camp I went to growing up…I asked him once if Jax was his real name and he said yes. He has a very French-creole last name that rhymes with levee, so it really worked for him.
I’ve been flirting with Beverly for awhile. It’s got a really nice cadence to my ear, and I like the retro mid century vibe. It’s a much more interesting choice than Everly, which has a little too much ‘try’ for me.
For the last couple of months we’ve been house hunting in nearby school dist. and I’ve learned open houses are great places to namespot. We’ve seen way too many belltone concoctions and -ley surnames, but the memorable names were:
Teager
Quarry
Opal
Penny & Fern (loved this sibset!)
Pirmin & Evariste (siblings)
Jerico and Jennica (siblings). That family also had older child who apparently was past the art project age. I’ve been trying to guess her name for weeks… Jessica? Justice? Jamaica?
Jerico and Jennica … wow! I wonder what it could be … And I adore Everiste and Fern and Opal. Quarry? I don’t know about Quarry. Stone, maybe. Slate, possibly.
The “big” city in the area is called the Granite City and a stone quarry is one of the big employers in the region, so stone names are pretty common (although most parents stick to Mason and Jasper.) Honestly, I was just surprised that this was my first Quarry.
All the Easter basket names were decent… until I got to the modern innovations and boyish girls categories. Theo is alright as a nickname for Theodora, Theodosia, or something similar. But Franklynn on a girl? Even -lynn doesn’t make Frank look feminine. Consider Franklin back on my list for a boy.
I love Franklin for a boy! And Theo could be a nn for something else … no way to know for sure.
I love Beverly! I went to college with one and she was the coolest, most fun person, so the name will always have positive connotations for me. I think it’s really similar to Evelyn, which is experiencing a bit of a revival. Why not Beverly?
Loved the Easter basket names. What great choices and I always love to spot names I have never seen before.
I guessed Lorraine as the Unfairly dated name. I’m going to guess we are going to need a couple of decades for Beverly to make a comeback, but I could be wrong.
Happy Easter!
I had Thomasina on the short list for a middle name for my daughter. She was nearly Audrey Thomasina. Non name nerds all thought it was hideous and I backed down. I still regret it a bit! Happy Easter. 🙂