Sunday Summary 12.27.15Does anyone else have a wait, no way is the year over feeling right about now? Maybe it’s the weather – a balmy 66 degrees as I write, and it was even warmer earlier today, and warmer still on Christmas Eve. Maybe it’s because we’ve had more than our share of chaos in the run-up to Christmas: a car accident that means that we’re shopping for a new-to-us car in the next week or so, and a case of stomach flu that the elves must have packed on Santa’s sleigh.

Maybe it’s just that every year, no matter how event-free or seasonally cheerful or what-have-you feels like a big year, a year with more changes than we can really wrap our heads around in a mere 365 days.

Or maybe – and I do think this is it! – it’s because there’s just so much good to contemplate in between the insurance paperwork and the extra loads of laundry. 🙂

There is a tremendous amount of joy here, in my real life, yes, but also in this little community. It’s a tremendous privilege to talk with you about all things name-related over the year, and it’s difficult to pack all of that gratitude into any one post. Thank you all for sharing your naming stories and struggles and the names of your lovely children with us, each and every day of the year.

And now, on to the name news:

  • We’re catching up on all of the movies in The Avengers canon, now that our kids are (mostly) old enough to watch them. How cute is little Loki in the beginning of the Thor movie? Seeing the bad guy as a child makes me understand why parents would name their children after the villain. Maybe it’s the Anakin Skywalker effect?
  • Whoa – a baby Gotham!
  • There are some lovely, unexpected seasonal names in this post from Emily.
  • And a perfect, seasonal Name of the Week feature from Elea.
  • Do you get personalized Christmas ornaments every year? We don’t, but if we did, we’d never be able to just pick them up in a store! After seeing Alyssa’s ornaments post, I’m tempted to plan ahead and order some for next year.
  • Except I’ll be too busy dreaming up names for my 25 children.
  • And voting for my favorite names at Names for Real. Neither of my favorites is in the lead for Short Name of the Year, so I’ll share the link here. But won’t tell you which ones to vote for, because it would be wrong to encourage you to vote for Liv Marion and Bay Foster. Ahem.
  • I agree with Duana – I could never, ever have agreed to let my husband name a child without my input, even if it meant I got to name the second child all on my own. But I know couples who make this work beautifully – and it’s the way my own parents settled their naming disagreements.
  • Siblings named Ralph and Ada!
  • Is my nickname addiction due to my Italian roots? Because I’m completely fascinated by the DMNES analysis of how Italians form nicknames from nicknames.
  • This is a rock solid list from Kara about ways to go about finding a new name. Except that I’ll add this: even if you know the name you were given at birth isn’t meant to be your name, it can be weirdly disconcerting to change it. There are good reasons to keep some connection between your birth name and the name you adopt.
  • Lastly, if you missed any of my year-end posts, here’s a quick summary. First, my Best Celebrity Baby Names 2015 are here. “Best” isn’t exactly best in the conventional sense of the word, so even if you’ve read a dozen lists like this, I hope you’ll glance at mine. Then there’s my review of 2015’s predictions and my set of predictions for 2016, and the names on my Trendwatch for 2015, as well as Trendwatch 2016. And … that’s a lot of soothsaying for one month.

On that note, I’ll sign off for tonight. Happy Sunday, and I hope you have a fabulous last week of 2015!

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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6 Comments

  1. It doesn’t feel very Christmassy here either – more like March, as there are lots of daffodils out already. Nonetheless, happy Christmas! Thank you for all the namey things you’ve done this year, and here’s to another.

  2. That post on Italian nicknames is everything. I’m also Italian, which might explain my obsession with unexpected nicknames.

  3. Hey! Sorry it’s been a rough week! My husband and I agreed that this has been the least Christmasy Christmas ever. Chaos and warm weather made it hard to get into the holiday spirit so it hardly feels like Christmas has already come and gone. I really love our ornaments this year! We’re in the process of adopting so we’ll probably have to order next year’s ornaments if we want names on them (which of course we will!). I still have to order an ornament that says “puppy’s first Christmas” for Pax. I hope your 2016 is filled with peace and blessings!

  4. I’m suffering from “no way the year’s over” syndrome myself! What was with the balmy Christmas this year? Sorry to hear it was a rough week for your family, but always appreciative of the positive spin you lend things, and of course the name news!

    1. Thanks, Hettie! And yes, I usually *love* the year’s end, but this year has felt like … October, maybe?! Though we have guests arriving from England today, so I’m hopeful the weather will be good for sight-seeing, at least.