With the surname-as-first-name trend catching like wildfire, I’d like to take a moment to focus on surnames of which I’ve always been a bit envious: those that sound bright, happy, and upbeat. Why not co-opt these as firsts? Ladies and gentlemen, scour your family trees, perhaps something intrinsically spunky will turn up. In the middle spot, these would lend a classic quality to a modern name, say something like Kyla Bloom, or even liven up an old musty family name like Arthur Albright for example. Likewise, if you are the forunate possessor of one of these family names, you might want to, on balance, think about choosing a weightier name for your son or daughter. That said, Holly Golightly and Mary Poppins’ parents thought differently.
Intriuguing in the same vein as a virtue name, many of these have potential to be descriptive of what qualities a parent would wish for their child. These kinds of names have a literary quailty, might vivify life, and might inspire a joy of language, or, most importantly, a joy in names themselves! Loveday Ophelia, a baby I came across in a birth announcement not too long ago, is a person I would be curious to meet, any day. Even if they may not be part of your ancestry, I say why not? With the plethora of word names on the horizon, at the very least these have a long history of being names, and I say go for it, just because we like the way they sound. 8)
Albright
Appel
Bell
Bellamy
Berry
Bliss
Bloom, Blume
Blythe
Bourne
Brightman
Cassel
Cheer
Cruise, Cruz
Day
De los Angeles
De la Sol
Dove, Dovey
Fairchild
Freeman
Friend
Gardner
Golden
Golightly
Good, Goodman, Goodwin, Goody
Grace
Hart
Holiday
Joyce
Lilly
Love, Loveday, Lovejoy, Lovelace
Miranda
Pallas
Poppins
Smiley
Sparrow
Rose, Rosen
Winsome
I’m sure to be missing boatloads!
Image Above by Yoshimoto Nara.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
So by omitting my last name from this list, am I to assume it is not happy sounding? Is that what you’re trying to say? Okay you’re right. Its the opposite of happy.
I myself am on the hunt for some manly sounding surnames. Anything to keep it interesting, that’s what I say!
Dove would make a nice first name, wouldn’t it?
The most happy of them all, Blythe!
I absolutely agree with Bellamy.
Yes, Jess. You got me. I totally was thinking about YOUR last name when I wrote this. By all means, if you’d like to add your last name to the list go right ahead!
Sadly, you STILL probably couldn’t use most of these as it would just scew sinister. Smiley S________? Actually, Smiley might be better left in the middle. *Sigh.* I do think Dove would make a good unisex first or fun middle. Notably, Dov is a Hebrew name which means “bear”!
Hello Louise: Blythe is a surname, isn’t it? It’s lovely. I think Bellamy would totally work on a boy or a girl.
Just thought of Deary, as in Keri Russell’s son, River Deary.
And one more for the road. What child wouldn’t like to possess the last name Candy (as in the late actor John)?
My middle name is Hart – my mom’s maiden name. I like the family connection, and in addition, I share it with two second cousins.
Hannah Hart O_______ (me)
Perry Hart L_________ (boy)
Melissa Hart N_______
Hannah, one of the lovliest people I’ve known has the last name Hart. She was part of the inspiration for this post!
Mummie, I do love Deary in the middle name spot, and I’d completely forgotten about Candy! Honestly it’s not my favorite first name, but it could be fun in the middle.
we always keep track of our family tree because it is exciting to know the family tree `.’