Time for another post authored by my fellow New Yorkers. I’m noticing a big trend toward noun names for girls: Grace, Ivy, Jasmine, Lily, Violet. It’s nothing new but it does seem to be growing. I’ve also met four Oonas/Unas in as many months.
The quest for unusual letters and sounds continues with a vengeance for boys. I was particularly tickled at hearing Ignacio. Lots of folks turning to their roots, which I love.
Have you heard anything wonderful or unusual lately? Anything you’d choose out of this list? Mirabelle tempts me, as does Isidore (this spelling).
GIRLS
Aila
Alice
Alivia
Asha
Grace
Ivy
Jasmine
Juliet
Laila
Lily
Lucie
Mariele
Miette
Mirabelle
Nova
Oona
Penelope
Talia
Una
Violet
BOYS
Archie
Dexter
Emmett
Ethan
Finn
Ignacio
Isadore
Jaxon
Lincoln
Miko
Milo
Oscar
Otis
Roman
Salvador
Simon
Talan
Tyler
Zacharias
Image Above: Petit Collage’s NYC poster
{ 27 comments… read them below or add one }
I just started reading your blog a few weeks ago and have been enjoying it tremendously! I am due with a girl at the end of September. She will join big brother Finley. We have several of the names you shared on our list: Juliet, Mariele, Mirabelle (though I hesitate because of the Bella craze),Oona and Talia. Incidentally, I grew up with a girl named Asha (I think her parents were from India) and she was lovely- it’s a great name. I also knew a Roman in high school- another great name and person.
My husband is recovering from a stroke (he’s only 36) and has aphasia, so he hasn’t really been able to process names (especially unfamiliar ones). Aside from a few close friends via email, I haven’t had anyone to bombard with name possibilities so I really appreciate the community here! Thanks!
Hi Carey, welcome! Thank you so much for writing.
I’m sure we’d all love to help you on your name journey, so as you get further along in the process (or now, if you’re ready), shoot me an email if you’d like to do a post. youcantcallitit AT gmail DOT com. LOVE all the names you mentioned.
So so sorry to hear about your husband and hope he is getting better. XO
Interesting that Nova has shed her Chevy associations … I do like her sound and science geek chic vibe.
Carey, congrats on your darling daughter on the way! I love your choices. My favorite is Mariel, without the additional -e. It was one of my top picks. Except my husband’s last name ends in -el, so no Mariel. Or Dashiell.
Oooh…my favourite girl’s name, Miette! Loved the film “City of Lost Children” which had a lovely little girl named Miette in it. Couldn’t quite convince my husband, but he let me use Wren as a middle name for our little one, so I wasn’t too upset! My friend gave her little girl the middle name Nova, after “supernova”, cute, but still not a name I recognise as a “real name”
A couple great Boston names I’ve come accross:
Paxton
John Michael
William
Benjamin
Daniel
Reid
Nolan (my nephew’s name, I’ve just recently heard it a few more times)
Joshua
Henry
(Twins) Marlowe and Josephine- swoon!
Graelyn
Isabella
Taylor Louise
Adina
Elena
Audrey
Hmmm, not sure why I said “great Boston names”, I realy don’t love all of them. I particularly like twins Marlowe and Josephine, Nolan, and Henry. I wish Taylor Louise was just Louise though. Taylor screams 90′s to me.
Violet is always lovely and deserving of its increasing popularity.
I love Miette and Mirabel (spelled this way). Oona is great, too – a lot more quirky than Una, which is fab.
For boys I lurve Milo and Otis and I feel a bit robbed since I can’t use them together – my siblings and I watched that film to death when we were little so it might get me some funny looks nowadays! I don’t know which of the two I like best.
I think Dexter might end up top 100.
Sarai.
I’ve also just recently discovered your blog and I am in LOVE with it. Though I don’t have children of my own and frankly am wayyyyyyyyyy too young to really even think about it, I just love names and am glad to have found a blog to feed my obsession a little! I’m loving Miette and Alice, and Archie which is one of my new favorites and is on my list. I’ve heard a couple of kind of cool names lately:
GIRLS
Zella (and Lily)
Lily
Quinn (and Asher)
Sasha (and Lee)
Marie Louise (and Mac and Caroline)
Caroline
Mary Katherine (and Clay)
BOYS
Asher
Lee
Mac
Clay
Marion
Huck
Zomg. I love Oona to death, it is one of my all time favorite names. I’m glad it is gaining a bit of acceptance because most people seem to think of it as a WTF? name. I also love Miette and The City of Lost Children!
I live in a hippy-ish area, so the names are always weird. The most recent set of names I’ve been hearing are both weird and unattractive:
Acadia x4 (1 boy, three girls)
Ariyla
Clearwater
Freyette
Mozart
Newton
Season
Teayia
I really like Ivy, Mirabelle, Violet, and Alice. For the boys, I like Emmett, Finn, and Dexter from this list.
I saw a birth announcemnt for a boy named Cuteness. Can you imagine? I bet before he turns three, he renames himself if Mom hasn’t changed it before then.
Ones I’ve seen that I liked recently are
Wren
Adelaide
Tabitha
Astrid
August
Atticus
How is Miette pronounced? I think that I love it!
Miette? Miette is the French word for crumb.
I love these:
Asha
Grace
Ivy
Juliet
Mirabelle
Nova
Oona
Penelope
Una
Violet
Archie
Dexter
Finn
Isadore
Milo
Oscar
Roman
Una was part of my username when I met my husband online. I should totally have that on my ‘potential middle names’ list.
Though I always said it more like You-na, than Oo-na, so maybe I’ve been saying it wrong? Though I did get it from ‘The Fairie Queene’ that I studied at university, so I’d guess I got the pronunciation from there?
I don’t remember if I mentioned it here, but I spotted a 1 year old Walter at the park a week or two ago. That was exciting for me.
My daughter is in summer school for the first time, so I’ve been listening out for names, but we didn’t get a class list, so I have to rely on my 4 year old’s memory.
So far she’s played with Audrey, Alisa, Jaimie (girl – don’t know the spelling), Madalyn, Max, Alex (boy) and Aaron. Wow, that’s a lot of letter ‘A’. I didn’t realize that until I typed them up. My Rose doesn’t fit the ‘A’ pattern.
I love Miette. And Oscar and Otis. And Milo.
Nova is actually a big crush name of mine (I obviously couldn’t use it since I already have a Norah). I’ve done some research on this name (after meeting the most adorable little Nova in Norah’s preschool class). Beyond the latin “new” meaning and the astronomy meanings, this is the one that appeals the most (from parents.com):
ORIGIN Native American (Hopi)
MEANING Butterfly chaser
This appealing, free-spirited moniker has one of the coolest meanings imaginable — does it get better than “butterfly chaser”? Nova comes with other ethereal connotations: In astronomy, it’s the term for a sudden, rapid increase in a star’s brightness. A total winner.
Being a huge francophile, I love the name Miette. I’ve never heard it as a word for crumb, though (unless it’s slang). I think of it as “small; sweet” or “little one.”
Others that appeal – Penelope, Lucie, Milo, Archie, Oscar, Dexter, Finn (prefer as nn for Finnegan). Aila and Asha are growing on me. I also love the Scottish Aili.
Hate to be a downer, but Nova isn’t a Hopi name at all – it apparently means “food” in the Hopi language. http://www.native-languages.org/wrongnames.htm is a great resource for stuff like this. Don’t dismiss Nova just because it doesn’t meant butterfly chaser – it’s a lovely name, even without a Hopi meaning!
What a cool link, Charlotte! I live in Oklahoma near the Cherokee Nation capitol (Tahlequah), and I occasionally hear traditional Cherokee names used as real names for children.
If any are interested, there is a cool “word list” on the Cherokee Nation website: http://www.cherokee.org. You can listen to the pronounciation for most words. This is only for words and not traditional Cherokee names. Although a lot of names are simply nouns.(My husband’s parents gave my sons noun-names, but my daughter’s is “just a name” that doesn’t have a meaning.) I’ve had students in my classes named “wolf” “raven” and “lion.” They were siblings. (Go figure.) These names were spelled crazily and difficult to pronounce. They ended up being called “wolf” “raven” and “panther” in English.
There are so many nice names in those lists. I like:
Alice
Grace
Juliet
Lily
Nova
Penelope
Violet
Emmett
Ethan
Otis
Roman
Simon
Tyler
Una!! Thank God people are coming around to this lovely name. It’s been top of my list for years, but the usual reaction to it is “WTF?” as Kaitlyn says.
@Jaime, sorry to be a downer, but I don’t think Nova is a legit Hopi name – it apparently means “food” in the Hopi language, per http://www.native-languages.org/wrongnames.htm . It’s a lovely name without any additional Hopi meaning, though, so don’t dismiss it!
I found out about your blog from Ohdeedoh…I was recently thinking how much I adore names-that-are-nouns. I have new baby girl who is a noun. Her name is Pearl, and her middle name is Josephine.
Pearl Josephine is a heavenly name! How inspired. Glad you found me B.
Wow…I’m reading comments, and it’s so strange…I considered naming Pearl “Marlowe” and if she would have been a boy, her name was going to be “Walt.” I think I’m addicted to your blog.
Finn is one of our names on our list already. All our other names are safe so far.
I think Miette is adorable, though it sounds more like a term of endearment to me than a proper name. I keep seeing it as small, sweet thing, but even if that “thing” is a crumb, I don’t see how it’s all that different than the French term of endearment “mon petit chou” considering that chou is cabbage!
I also love Penelope, Dexter and Oscar off this list.
Just found your blog through Ohdeedoh and I love it – I also have an affinity for names and while my husband and I aren’t pregnant (yet) we have ours pretty much picked out. However, I still love learning about names – their meanings, their popularity. This post caught my attention because my darling niece is Aila Kay, which I think is an adorable name. Kay is a family name and Aila was decided upon because apparently it means “light from a strong place” – and as an IVF baby, lots of time and money (and tears) were spent to get her! And she is a little firecracker! I am much more of a traditionalist and like longer, classic names which can be shortened. Who knows, though, what we’ll decide once it’s our time to choose! Luckily I now have your blog as a resource. Thanks for this site – it’s entertaining and delightful!
I love the name Mirabelle. My daughter’s name is Violet Mirabelle, and I think it’s just so pretty! I love the names you’ve suggested though, I’m always on the hunt for an amazing boy name.