Happy Sunday!
A friend of mine – who lives in a super-stylish kind of neighborhood – told me a neighbor’s story*. When they were expecting their firstborn son, they caved to family pressure and gave him a grandfather’s first name: Thomas. But they agreed to never use it, instead calling him by his middle: Bodhi, a name that struck them as distinctive and meaningful.
Somehow, when their son started school, his new teacher missed the whole call-me-Bodhi memo. She referred to him as Thomas. It was the name on his desk and his coat hook. When his parents realized the mix-up a few days later, their son insisted that he was happier being Thomas.
Why?
Because he liked having a different name.
Seriously.
We’ve reached a moment where Paisley, Skylar, and Kinsley rank in the US Top 100. If you want a name that’s different? Skip right past Aria, Addison, and Piper, and name your daughter Mary. There’s a good chance she’ll be the only one.
*I changed a detail or two to protect the family’s identity.
Elsewhere online:
- I’m impatiently waiting for The Romanoffs to debut on Amazon. Because if you believed you were descended from the equal parts tragic and notorious royal family, and were eager to hold on to your heritage, what would you name your children? (Okay, and the whole Mad Men-director part makes it likely that it will be well done.) I seen Ivan, Elena, and Anushka in the character list so far, so fingers crossed it’s chock full of intriguing name choices.
- Surprised at how much I like these Elven Baby Names.
- The Baby Name Wizard’s analysis of the hottest new names in England shines a spotlight on Dotty and Albi. Those British really do love their nickname names!
- While we’re across the pond, just Boo feels like too little of a given name. But radio presenter Chris Evans and wife Natasha Shishmanian named their boy-girl twins Walt and Boo.
- Thoughts on why names are diversifying, and an even more intriguing footnote at the end …
- Okay, this story kind of makes me love the name Gary. It’s also a good reminder that the right story can change the way we view any name. (Found via Clare’s Scoop.it page.)
- Interesting that Glen/Glenn/Glenna is winning in this poll.
- According to this BuzzFeed quiz, I’ll name my baby Blue.
- Obscure royal family names make my day. Bathildis!
- Nancy has the lowdown on the classic girls’ names on the decline.
- From the wayback machine: in 2015, I wrote about Traditional Boy Names making a comeback. A few years later, some are back in a big way. Others? Not quite … And Harvey, I think, might be back in hibernation for another generation or more. Two years ago, it was a name game: flower firsts and month middles. And a year ago, it was British names American parents should steal. Time for an update to this list!
That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
I can see the Thomas thing happening. When my son was in kinder he came home crying because a boy was making fun of his name. His name is James. He’s in high school now but he still is the only James in the school (except he calls himself Jimmy now).
That doesnt make much sense since Thomas is still FAR more popular than Bodhi.
Depends on where you are. I keep seeing Michael way up there in the data, and I know zero Mikes or Michaels under the age of 30. I know one Bobby, but thre Hudson’s.
Yeah that was my thought! I know of several kids named Thomas but I’ve never heard or seen Bodhi anywhere. Then again Abby did change the names, so maybe it was something more like Tobias and Bryson instead of Thomas and Bodhi. Just a mistake in translation!
Well … I didn’t change Bodhi! 😉