Did you see Amy Poehler’s interview with Seth Meyers? Way back in 2008, she and ex-husband Will Arnett welcomed son Archie. And now, eleven years later, it’s the latest royal baby name.
Her reaction mirrored the parents of so many Penelope-pre-Kardashian, George-avant-Cambridge, Luna-before-Legend babies. It mixes pride – because you thought of that great name first – and a groan. What if there’s a wave of same-named kids now?
When it comes to choosing an under-the-radar name for our kiddos, we’re all with Amy, hoping that our kids’ names stay just slightly unusual forever and ever.
With all the new data out earlier this month, plenty of families are feeling this for other reasons, too. Did your kids’ names increase in popularity, decrease, or hold steady? And how did you feel about the outcome?
Elsewhere online:
- What do you think of Percy? I think it’s got plenty of potential. Except my brain? Goes immediately to these sugary snacks, which I just flat out love.
- Nancy found some of the unique names in the US state data. So surprised by Aero, Kinnick, Hercules, and … Lucifer!? And I do kind of love Kodiak …
- A good reminder from Swistle that there’s more than one kind of nickname.
- Oh, this quote from Rami Malek!
- Two important takeaways from Duana: first, if we’re cool with unisex names, then that really does mean that boys can have “girl” names and girls can have “boy” names and the world will continue to rotate on its axis. But equally critical: we name fans know lots of trivia that are NOT common knowledge. I’m bothered when someone names twins Jacob and James, or Isabella and Elizabeth … but then I have to remind myself that it’s because I know lots of things about names that are not necessarily common knowledge. There’s no real harm in using those name pairings. Likewise, many obscure names really are fair game for either gender – even if those of us in the know recognize their masculine or feminine origins.
- That said, I’m still dying to know what Blake and Ryan will name their third child. What goes with daughters called James and Inez?
- Which fandom influenced more parents: Harry Potter or Game of Thrones? Namerology has the rundown here.
- And a deep dive into Game of Thrones names from Mom and the Pie. Gwendoline, Fintan, Sunniva and lots of other cast and characters to inspire.
That’s all for this week! As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
Clare says
May 23, 2019 at 6:29 PMI read the post about Percy without even thinking of Percy Pig! I’m a terrible Brit haha. But he’s definitely a good association with the name 🙂
Mandie L. says
May 20, 2019 at 11:40 AMIf I saw twins named Jacob & James or Isabella & Elizabeth, I’d assume the parents did it on purpose as a way to have “matching” twin names.
Maree says
May 19, 2019 at 8:23 PMLike most name nerds I forget that a lot of things aren’t common knowledge. I recently saw a boy on Elea’s site called James Santiago which sounds great but would drive me mad. They may have been going for that or have another story to tell but it still feels like they maybe don’t know what the name means….
A friend wanted to have siblings Jacob and Israel and thought it was too much but I told her to go for it so obviously I’m not a stickler for the rules though.
Catherine says
May 19, 2019 at 7:20 PMI know a family with a Jack and a John. To me that is so much worse than Isabella and Elizabeth! (Not that I would ever say anything to them!)
Allure says
May 19, 2019 at 4:29 PMBlake’s daughter is named Inez. I keep seeing people spell it Ines but she’s already clarified its Inez.
If its a girl, I mean the possibilities are endless since one is really masculine the other very feminine. I do think it’ll end in a consonant
appellationmountain says
May 20, 2019 at 11:34 AMThanks, Allure – I had it in my head that she had clarified it was Ines-with-an-s, but right you are! Fixing now …