7 Deadly Trends
New parents should be fully aware of current trends in American baby naming.
THE SEVEN DEADLY TRENDS, PART 1: THE MICK CLAN
Most parents who choose a Mc-name today are not donning kilts and bagpipes.
It began with Mackenzie Philips of “One Day at a Time” fame in the 1970s. Her birth name, Laura Mackenzie Philips, became forgotten as this troubled teen rose to become a household name. Then in the 1980s we were exposed to the adorable black-eyed Spuds Mackenzie, spokesdog for Bud. The popularity of MacDonald’s probably has something to do with it too. When “Home Alone” swept the nation in the 1990s with Macauley Culkin as its star, babynamers were doomed. The Scottish Mackenzie and the Italian Michaela became unlikely partners in crime when together the two spawned a whole host of a new kind of name: McKayla, Makayla, McKenna, Maklynnzey. What is it about these kind of names that makes parents gaga? And for that matter, isn’t the letter M getting more than its fair share of attention with Madison, Madesyn, Madeleine, Madalynn, and Madigan? My belief is that the letter M is still very much worthy of consideration, as are genuine Scottish monikers (starred*). I am however, a bit tired of the McCraze. Here are my McSuggestions:
Macaria (Spanish)
Maeve
Mairead
Mairin
Madeleine, Madeline (French, English)- These two spellings only, please
Margaret (English)- Margaret is eternally classic and boasts some of the best nicknames ever: Daisy, Maggie, Maisie, Meg, Molly, Pearl, Peg, Peggy
Marina (Ancient Roman, Bulgarian, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish)
Marianne (French)
Marsaili*
Matilda (English)
Maura*
Micaiah (Hebrew)
Michaela (Hebrew) -Still usable in this form
Michalina (Polish)
Mika (Finnish)
Muriel
**Incidentally, one of my name heros, J.K. Rowling (who’s ruined some fabulous names due to the popularity of her children’s books), has a daughter name Mackenzie.
THE SEVEN DEADLY TRENDS, PART 2: SURNAME NAMES
This trend came about from a few different converging movements. Primarily, we may credit Southerners, who have been using family surnames for their sons and daughters for generations. This lead to a perception that certain surnames conveyed a moneyed image and would help a child escalate the ladder in life. In the 1990s, parents gave their daughters “unisex” names in droves because they thought that not knowing a person’s gender, a name would scew male and give the girl an edge in the job market. This may have actually backfired, for names like Taylor, Mackenzie, Madison, Avery, and Haley are now almost exclusively female. Many celeb babies are also donning the surname, from Gwen Stefani’s Kingston (think they vacay in Jamaica? It’s a place name to boot), to Nicole Richie’s Harlow (a la Jean), to Brooke Shields’ Greer (female).
According to babynames.com, these are today’s most popular names on that site:
- Addison
- Charles
- Sophia
- Landon
- Valentina
- Hayden
- Avery
- Hannah
- Madison
- Grace
I thought this represented an extraordinary cross-section of naming styles and trends. FIVE of the ten choices are surnames, so clearly this post is prescient! Below is what I culled from the top 200 in the U.S. born last year:
Boys:
Ryan (16), Logan (17), Tyler (21), Dylan (29), Brandon (31), Jackson (33), Mason (37), Austin (48), Landon (49), Cameron (50), Connor (55), Hunter (57), Cole (84), Blake (88), Carson (90), Brady (93), Cooper (95), Devin (101), Brody (105), Parker (108), Riley (109), Preston (114), Colton (117), Ashton (124), Peyton (125), Nolan (133), Tanner (149), Gage (150), Maxwell (153), Conner (159), Grant (161), Garrett (162), Travis (169), Spencer (174), Trenton (177), Bryson (179), Bradley (194), Wesley (195), Donovan (198).
Girls:
Madison (5), Addison (11), Ashley (13), Hailey (23), Taylor (24), Allison (46), Avery (48), Riley (52), Mackenzie (65), Aubrey (69), Haley (76), Bailey (83), Jordan (100), Kennedy (110), Peyton (121), Leslie (127), Jordyn (140), Reese (150), Payton (152), Reagan (156), McKenzie (161), Kendall (166), Skylar (171), Makenzie (178), Hayden (195)
Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the girls’ list rounds out at 25 and the boys’ is only slightly larger at 39 count. There are repeats on the ladies’ side and exceptions made for the letter Y so as to be included here. The majority of boy’s names are two syllables and end in N or R, most with Irish or English heritage. Most of the surnames deemed girl’s names are two or three syllables and end in N or the ever feminine “ee” sound. Offshoots of these include many made up names of the Railey/Emersyn/Shyler variety. Our advice: stick to actual surnames with the original spelling, and look to your own family tree for possible candidates before turning to somebody else’s. Lastly, we’d love to see people put a halt to giving their daughters names that incorporate “son.”
Fresher Sounding & Culled from the Phonebook- Genders Subjective:
Adair, Adler, Auden, Barnett, Beck, Beckett, Bellamy, Byrd, Clancy, Clark, Connolly, Cormac, Dempsey, Dietrich, Duncan, Ellery, Finnegan, Flannery, Gardner, Garner, Garrison, Gauthier, Giles, Harper, Haydn (“Hi-den”), Hollis, Holloway, Jensen, Keane, Keats, Langston, Larson, Lowry, Messina, Monroe, Quincy, Redmond, Reid, Roarke, Rosen, Rowley, Royston, Smythe, Sullivan, Vaughn, Wallis, Whitman, Wylie
THE SEVEN DEADLY TRENDS, PART 3: ADVENT OF AIDAN
About five years ago, many of the young women I knew in a small hippy town began having babies. I noted three Aidans born within months of each other. There would have been more, had one of the town’s prominent musicians not been named Aidan (“we love it, but it would be weird” explained one friend). I recall this because it’s fascinating to note Aidan’s widespread appeal: From agricultural hippy parents to suburban neocons to jetsetting urbanites, everyone seems to just LOVE Aidan. What’s not to love: he’s kind, stalwart, and capable, much like his designer carpenter character on “Sex and the City.” It’s not the name Aidan itself that we find troubling, though it has had its day. It is his myriad rhyming brothers who are taking over. This is part of a broader trend of two-syllable boy’s names that end in N, which I will address in a subsequent post.
Here is an A-Z list of names parents are considering today. I did not make these up. Someone else did. WARNING: DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.
Aidan- Gaelic, means “fiery.” The original.
Brayden- Similar to Brandon, yet reminiscent of a donkey’s bray
Caden- Not quite Cade, not quite Aidan. Hmm.
Dayton- Ohio
Eden- A new Biblical favorite for girls
Fenton- I suppose you could do Faden, but I actually know a boy with this name.
Graydon- Mr. Carter, Editor-in-Chief of “Vanity Fair.”
Hayden- Surname getting a lot of love on the girl’s side
Ioden- OK, I’m streching here.
Jaden- Thanks to Will Smith and Jada Pinkett, this was one of the first. I actually like it for their family.
Khaden- A city in Iran. Alternate place name?
Leighton- Leighton Pierce is a highly regarded experimental filmmaker
Maiden 
Hee Hee
Nathan- Hebrew for “giver”
Odin- Old Norse meaning “rage, frenzy”
Phaedon- Greek
Quadon- For the gaming crew
Rayden- I saw someone contemplating this one for her child
Shayden- Another woman was considering this on the same day
Theoden- From Lord of the Rings, for the die hard fan
Upton- OK, this one doesn’t really rhyme. What was I suppose to do- Udon, like the noodles?
Vaden- Suggested to a new mother (Thanks, MJ)
Wheaton- like the college. Pronounced “Wheet-un”
Xaden- Put an X in it and it feels sci-fi
Yarden- Y was hard.
Zaden- For the Z sibset.
You get the point. Here I can’t resist borrowing Laura Wattenberg’s gorgeous wave charting Aidan’s meteoric rise from her blog, www.babynamewizard.com. According to Wattenberg and her analysis of the social security administration data, of boys born in 2007, 1 in 25 has a name that rhymes with Aidan.
THE SEVEN DEADLY TRENDS, PART 4: HELLA ELLA
Yes, you’ll find a hella lot of Ellas leapfrogging and hopscotching with Bella, Hayden, and Peyton. Do kids even hopscotch anymore? Maybe they’re texting. Anyway, as an alternative to Emma, Ella is one of the top “fresh-sounding” choices for new moms these days, as its sound is simple, lithe, and feminine. In fact, Ella is SO feminine, it actually means “her” in Spanish and is pronounced “A-ya.” Her French counterpart is Elle (“her”/”she” as well), also very popular amongst the under 5 set. Ella and Elle’s Italian cousin could be said to be Bella, which literally means “beautiful.” You won’t be finding any Ellas in Barcelona or Bellas in Bologna, but there are enough of them being born right here in the United States to go around.
How is that possible? You’ve checked the stats, and while Ella is on the rise at 21, it’s still not top 10? Bella is all the way down at 159, and Elle and Belle don’t even make an appearance on the top 1000 list. Please don’t refuse to believe me when I tell you all “ell” names are running a muck. How many Isabellas do you know? Isabelles? Any of them go by Bella or Belle? I bet almost all of them. There’s also Annabelle, which is on the rise at 196, and that’s not even counting Annabel, Anabel, Anabelle, and Annabella. Stella is bringing up the rear at 244, which is not insignificant. Ella, Ellie and Elle may conveniently be derived from any name containing “el”– Elizabeth, Eliza, Eleanor, Ellen, Elena, Ellery, Elliot, Ellison, Gabrielle, Gabriela, Danielle… which gives credence to my claim that it’s better to name your daughters Elizabeth than Elle (bias aside, of course).
Among trends, Elle is the most appealling. Other than meaning “her”, her only offense is to bombard the ear with oversaturation. If you’re in love with Ella and Bella but would like something a bit more distinctive for you daughter, the choices below come highly recommended:
Adela, Adele
Amélie
Antonella
Aurelia
Belén
Belinda
Christabel
Cicely
Cybele
Eleni
Eliana, Eliane
Elke
Elodie
Eloise
Elspeth
Emmanuelle
Estella, Estelle
Fenella
Fiorella
Giselle
Hannelore
Mabel
Marcella
Marianela
Marielle
Marisela
Mirabel, Mirabella, Mirabelle
Raffaella, Raphaela
Rosabel
Zélie
Aaah, those are beautiful options, if I do say so myself!
THE SEVEN DEADLY TRENDS, PART 5: K KRAZE
Forgive me for spelling “Kraze” with a K.
Remember Kwik Mart and Circle K? Of course there’s still Kmart kicking around. Just today, I kid you not, I passed by a store called “Bubble K” (??!?@#*&??). The letter K appears so rarely in the English language (fewer than 1% of English words contain the letter K), that it was used as a marketing tool to grab attention. So too it is in names, although people are more likely to glaze over and ignore K-anything than take notice at its originality.
As a testament to its rarity, English scrabble contains only one K and that garners you 5 whopping points. The only letters that rank higher are J (8), X (8), Q (10) and Z (10). Ks are used frequently in Greek, Dutch, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Polish, Russian, and Malaysian. Yet the K does not originate in any Romance language (i.e. French, Spanish, Italian…), it simply does not exist save for imported words.
In the 50s and 60s, K denoted strength and masculinity. Kyle, Keith, Jack, Mike, Chuck, Clark Kent, Captain Kirk. I propose that K has done an about face, and now connotes quite the contrary: femininity (or femaleness). From just plain Kay, to Karen and Kelly, to Kayla and Kaitlyn and Kendall and Kamryn, Ks are no longer distinct. The letter K is being inserted where a C should be, and being smashed together with other familiar syllables and called a name.
Here’s a smattering of bonafide babes born in 2006 and 2007:
Kadence, Kaely, Kailei, Kaileigh, Kailey, Kaitlin, Kaleigh, Kaley, Kali, Kaliyah, Kamora, Kamryn, Kara, Karla, Karlee, Karlie, Kasey, Katelyn, Katelynn, Katlyn, Katy, Kayden, Kayla, Kaylah, Kaylea, Kaylee, Kaylen, Kaylie, Kaylin, Kaylyn, Kaylynn, Kealy, Keegan, Keely, Keeton, Keira, Kelsea, Kelsey, Kendall, Kendalyn, Kenia, Kenna, Kenzie, Kerrigan, Keyla, Khloe, Kiana, Kiara, Kiera, Kileen, Kiley, Kimberly, Kinley, Kinsey, Korina, Kyla, Kylah, Kylan, Kylee, Kyleigh, Kylie, Kyra, Kyton
& BOYS: Kade, Kaden, Kaeden, Kai, Kaiden, Kale, Kaleb, Kalton, Kamden, Kameron, Kamron, Kane, Karter, Kasen, Kasey, Kason, Keegan, Kelan, Kelton, Keenan, Kellen, Kendall, Kenny, Kenyon, Keshawn, Keven, Kody, Kolby, Kole, Kolton, Konner, Konnor, Korbin, Kyler
What’s the unifying element here? Kutesiness. K, L, and Y in random combination also appear to be alive and well. Yes, once worn on a person, a bunch of letters do become their name. Yet there are so many delightfully intriguing historical names both that begin with K and that contain K, that I cannot help but want to steer people in that direction. I propose not to abandon K, but to return to K’s exoticism, the way she was intended to be. Why not draw from Estonia and India?
Here are my suggestions for genuine K names:
Kadri- Estonian, “pure” (Katherine’s cognate); Turkish, “value”
Kalani- Hawaiian, “the heavens”
Kalina- Bulgarian, “rowan tree”
Kallista- Greek, “most beautiful”
Kalliope- Greek, “beautiful voice”; Goddess of epic poetry, one of the nine muses
Kamala- Sanskrit, “lotus”
Kamaria- Swahili, “moonlight”
Kaori- Japanese, “fragrant perfume”
Karolina- Polish, “warrior”
Katarina- German, Swedish, Hungarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Lithuanian, “pure”
Katelijne- Dutch, “pure” (cognate of Katherine)
Kassandra- Greek, “shining”, mythological soothsayer
Kasumi- Japanese, “clear flower”
Kazuko- Japanese, “harmonious child”
Kelila- Hebrew, “laurel crown”
Kerensa- Cornish, “love”
Keturah- Hebrew, “incense”, Abraham’s second wife
Keziah- Hebrew, “cassia tree”, one of Job’s daughter’s
Khalida- Arabic, “immortal”
Klara- Scandinavian, German, Russian, Ukrainian, Czech, Polish, Slovene, Latvian, “clear, bright”
Kleio- Greek, “glory”, one of the nine muses, goddess of history and heroic poetry
Klementyna- Polish, “merciful, gentle”
Kristjana- Icelandic, “Christian”
Ksenia- Polish, “hospitality”
Kumiko- Japanese, “beautiful child”
Kyriaki- Greek, “of the Lord”
Suggestions for the Little Man in Your Life:
Kai- Hawaiian “sea”; Japanese “forgiveness”; Scandinavian “Earth”, Welsh “keeper of the keys”
Kalidas- Sanskrit, “servant of Kali”
Kasimir- German, “peace” or “destroyer of peace”, depending on the source; I’ll keep looking into this
Kaspar- German, “treasurer”
Keane- English variant of Celtic Cian meaning “ancient”
Kemen- Basque, “courage, vigour”
Kemp- Old English, “champion”
Kermit- Celtic, “free man”
Khalil- Arabic, “friend”
Kichiro- Japanese, “good luck son”
Kieran- Celtic, “little dark one”
Kiyoshi- Japanese, “pure”
Knut- Old Norse, “knot” (silent K, pronounced Noot)
Konrad- German, Scandinavian, Polish “bold counsel”
Konstantin- German, Hungarian, Serbian, Russian, Bulgarian- from the ancient Roman Constantinus, “constant, steadfast”
Kwasi- West African, “born on Sunday”
Tucking K away as a surprise later on: Agnieszka, Aleksandra, Annika, Anouk, Ekaterina, Elke, Franciszka, Marika, Naoki, Oksana, Rebekah, Saskia, Ulrika, Valeska, Vibeke, Viveka, Yuki
Boy K: Akio, Barak, Daisuke, Farouk, Enok, Haakon, Henrik, Iskender, Joakim, Luka, Oskar, Yanick, Whitaker
THE SEVEN DEADLY TRENDS, PART 6: SUBSTYTUTES
The letter Y is inciting the modern American baby naming imagination like no other. Y is currently enjoying a disproportionate renaissance, and is being inserted at random to make a name one’s own. From Alyvia to Zoey, Alyxandra to Zsophya, people are taking perfectly beautiful classics like Olivia, Zoe, Alexandra, and Sophia, and creating invented forms by using Y as a vowel (A, E, I, O, U, and now Y more than ever). Revisiting my list of common K names, let’s try trading the K for other popular letter combinations (see www.youcantcallitit.com/2008/05/26/the-seven-deadly-trends-part-5-k-kraze). We arrive at Shayley, Jayla, Braylin, Rylie, and Myleah. Sound familiar? The letter Y replaces Is and Es, and is being made to rhyme with I and E as well. Confusion arises. Not only are spellings no longer intuitive, but pronunciations aren’t either. Let this be clear: misspelling a name, be it with a Y or otherwise, in no way makes a name unique. It will make your child part of a greater trend in which Americans are distancing themselves from the English language, from “ur” instead of you’re/your, to “gr8″ in lieu of great. Remember that a child’s name belongs on a diploma, not just in an instant message.
Y is for the most part, but not exclusively, being relegated to girls. According to Roy Feinson in The Secret Universe of Names, girls are thirty times as likely to have a name beginning with a Y than boys. Whether it begins, ends, or is within the name, Y bestows a youthful feel, which can sometimes border on the infantile. If the Greek i itself is what you’re after, the Greeks and the Welsh have a plethora of more sophisticated traditional Y names to choose from.*
Here’s a List of Possible Alternatives:
Ayla- Turkish, “moonlight, halo”
Betrys- Welsh form of Beatrice, “blessed voyager, bringer of joy”
Bronwyn- Welsh (traditionally this name is spelled Bronwen, but this version has entered common usage), from bron ”breast” and gwen ”white, fair, blessed”
Bryony- BRIE-uh-nee. English, a type of flowering vine.
Carys- Modern Welsh, “loved”
Delyth- Modern Welsh, “pretty”
Euphrosyne- Greek, “myrth, merriment”, one of the three graces
Gwyneth- Welsh, “fair, blessed”
Hyacinth- English, from the flower; also derived from Greek mythology
Lydia- Greek, biblical place name
Maëlys- Breton, “chief”
Mireya- Spanish, “miraculous one”
Myrtle, Myrtille- English and French, respectively; from the plant
Nerys- Modern Welsh, related to “lord”
Olympia- Greek, from Mount Olympus
Sylvia-Ancient Roman (Silvia), “wood, forest”
Yasmin- Persian, “jasmine”
Yayoi- Japanese, “spring”
Yelenys- Hispanic rare form of Helen, “light”
Yseult-French form of Isolde, meaning “beautiful”
If It’s the Buoyant “ee” Ending is What You Want, Why Not Try:
Amelie- French, from the German Amalia, meaning “hard work”
Aurelie- French, from Ancient Roman Aurelia, “golden”
Bryony (see above)
Calanthe- Greek, “beautiful flower”; a type of orchid
Calliope- Greek, “beautiful voice”
Cecily- English, from Ancient Roman Caecilia, meaning “blind, hidden meaning”
Coralie- French, “coral”
Elodie- French, from Alodia meaning “foreign riches”
Emily- English, from the Latin, “industrious”
Eulalie- French, from the Greek “eloquent”
Eugenie- French, from the Greek, “of noble birth”
Hermione- Greek, “messenger”
Hiromi- Japanese “beauty”
Ianthe, Iolanthe-Greek “violet flower”
Leilani- Hawaiian, “heavenly flowers”
Lucy- English “light”
Marjani- Swahili, “coral”
Mary- English, ultimately deriving from the Hebrew, Miryam. Disputed meaning, “sea of bitterness” or “wished for child”
Naoki- Japanese “honest tree, joy”
Naomi- Hebrew “pleasantness”; Japanese “honest beauty”
Noemi- French, Italian, and Czech form of the Hebrew Naomi
Ottilie- German variant of Odilia, meaning “wealth, fortune”
Penelope- Greek, “weaver, webbed eye”
Phoebe- Greek, “bright”
Ruby- English, from the red gemstone
Silvie- French form of Sylvia (see above)
Thisbe- Greek, from the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe
Yuki- Japanese, “happiness”
This list does not take into account darling nicknames like Maisie and Millie, as I limited the list to full names recommended for the birth certificate. A fun nickname thread will be forthcoming!
*For more musings on the letter, please check this out: http://www.4geeks.net/blog/2007/10/10/the-plight-of-endangered-letters/
THE SEVEN DEADLY TRENDS, PART 7: GEOGRAPHY 101
There was much debate as to what the Seventh Deadly Trend should be. First, I had it slotted for misspelled names, but those were largely covered in Parts 5 and 6 with the K Kraze and Substytutes. It was suggested to me by several of you to tackle boys’ names on girls. While I may write about this in the future, I think for me it’s not qualifying as a Deadly Trend for three reasons. The first of which is that primarily, most of the boyish names chosen for girls these days are either originally surnames, like Madison and Cameron (or Kamryn), and so qualify in Part 4, the Surname Names post, or they are names like Charlie and Sam (not your finest stroke, Tiger), and so fall into the Nickname Names category addressed in Why John and Katherine Are Better on the Birth Certificate. Lastly, I understand the philosophy behind wanting to give a daughter a truly gender-neutral name. Those same parents might not want to dress their daughter in pink or give a little boy Transformers to play with.
So, after much soul-searching and deliberation, I bring to you the Seventh Deadly Trend, geographical baby names. Like Aidan and Ella, it’s not so much the individual names themselves that gore me, but that society is turning to these names en masse.
When David and Victoria Beckham named their first child Brooklyn, I was appalled. For one, I associate this name with a particular place, and while it has sentimental value for me as well, it is not a particularly glamourous or savory namesake. More galling still was the fact that this name was chosen in commemoration of the baby’s CONCEPTION. Not only that, but the whole world will think about poor Brooklyn Beckham’s conception each time they think about his name, which is just kind of sad to me, not to mention, gross for a kid. This spawned a host of female Brooklyns across the nation, often spelling it as a contraction of Brooke and Lynn, such as Brooklynn. While I can see how people might view this name as pretty, I cannot endorse it as anything other than a place to call home.
Many “place name” names were, in fact, originally given names. The state of Georgia honors King George; Charlotte and Carolina, King Charles. Equally irritating as names that draw solely from a particular place, are accusations that names used historically as given names are only after a particular place. Orlando comes to mind. Sure, we all think of Disney World, but is noone familiar with Shakespeare and Virginia Woolf?
Asia, China, and India all have a long, established history on little Caucasian and African-American girls. India and China arose out of a love affair with the Far East during the British Empire. Asia is often seen on African-Americans, perhaps because it both has a lovely sound and has an exotic flair. Still, does it strike anyone else as strange?
Among young children, I have heard of or come across Abilene, Alabama, America, Aspen, Chelsea, Holland, Hudson (after the river), India, Ireland, Jamaica, Kenya, Kingston (in addition to Master Rossdale), London, Milan, Montana, Roma, Savannah, Seoul, Trenton, Utah. There is also a rising trend embracing Biblical place names, among them Eden, Zion, and the infamous Nevaeh, or heaven spelled backwards. :-[
If honoring a heritage is important to you, please consider given names used in the country in question. If you do choose to home in on a place itself, there are certainly many lovely cities, counties, countries, and topographical possibilities. I completely respect and understand wanting to remember where you and your spouse met or honeymooned. Just please don’t commemorate a child’s conception. They will forever have to live with that image emblazoned on their impressionable little mind. If you do, just don’t tell anyone that’s why you chose the name.
{ 118 comments… read them below or add one }
What a terrific column! So comprehensive and insightful. I clicked over from the Baby Name Wizard site (I’m an avid NE who reads Laura’s blog every week!) and I’m glad to find another intelligent source of naming goodness.
I’ll be a faithful reader.
Thanks!
Thanks so much Caren, welcome!
The internet is such a wonderful resource for we name addicts/aficionados. It’s thrilling to actually have a community of people to get into the nitty gritty of this somewhat fringe topic.
I’m thrilled to see that my son’s name doesn’t appear on the list of deadly surnames as first names!
I think it goes a lot further back than southern USA though – looking back through the Scottish branches of my family tree, I see wives’ maiden names being used firstly as second/third names, then moving up the list – names like Hay, Marshall, and Campbell stand out from mid-1700s onwards.
On my husband’s side the same thing has happened, which is how we end up with the gorgeous name Fraser (not to mention it goes beautifully with our surname, starting with H ending with S, two syllables)
Great blog, btw – using you for inspiration as we hunt for names for our second!
Um, could you be anymore biased? When Campbell Brown uses her middle name, it’s wonderful! When Shep Smith does (which he chose to do himself, as he found David Smith too plain when going to jobs) it’s some sort of devious marketing ploy by us darn conservatives! Ridiculous double standard, anyone?
Get over yourself.
Um, could you be any more miserable? Sorry your parents forgot to put the extra L in your name.
Michele, you misread the post. “I prefer Alma” does not imply that “Campbell is wonderful”, as you claim, nor did my questioning of when the shift occurred for Mr. Smith’s name imply political bias. I question the overall trend, and think that all media are capitalizing on it.
I love this list! It’s hilarious and true. It named all my top pet peeves when it comes to baby names these days.
This is absolutely brilliant. You managed to put my thoughts into words more eloquently than I could have hoped. I have made many of these suggestions to others in forums for the last few years, but in small chunks, and probably not as clearly.
I’m glad to see that most of the names I love are in your “suggested alternatives” lists, not the “oh God, please don’t” lists.
I chose my teenage daughter’s name before I had any way of knowing it would become popular (it has inched into the top 100 now, to my amazement), but Charlotte is a classic just the same. Now I am naming my son who is due in July Asher Theophilus (family name/Mozart reference), and I was trying very hard to avoid the overly popular names, or anything made up, while still finding something I loved. Now I worry that Asher will jump in popularity and become the next Aiden, but I’ll take my chances.
One suggestions I might give to any of your readers who love the Will & Jada Smith “made up” name of Jaden, try JADON, which is a legitimate Biblical name meaning “thankful.” Same pronunciation, same number of letters, and almost the same spelling—but far less popular, and much older, and with a nice meaning.
Gulp…you got me with the Ellie’s. Our DAUGHTER’S name is Elliott. Yes, daughter. and we call her Ellie or Elliott (or Smelliot, thanks to her big brother.)
When we named our daughter Avery 3 years ago, we knew no other children with that name. It was nowhere near the SS top 10 list. Suddenly it’s everywhere. Which is incredibly frustrating. In three years it’s gone from a fresh, quirky little name to trendy. It makes me very nervous about naming the baby I am currently gestating.
I just wanted to inform you that the name Mika is a boy’s name in Finland. I know there are girls named Mika, but their names must be of an other origin. The Finnish Mika is a short form of Mikael (Michael), and was extremely popular in the 1970s.
I have been reading your blog for a few months and just wanted to say that I really enjoy it. This post was especially fabulous as I found it to be so true. I love your taste in names and your common sense when it comes to naming a child. Thanks and I look forward to your future posts!
Every point is so true. Re: sin #7: I regularly hear of people who want to name their children Jersey, Camden, or Trenton. I suppose I could almost (and only almost) understand it if you are from there and there is sentimental value. However, if you aren’t… have you ever been to Camden? I live near there. It is a murderous hellhole. Why name your child that? Or people who want to name their kid Riker. Like the prison? I don’t think that they even make the connection. Same with Hudson. Whenever I first ran across a little Hudson, I would end up saying something like, “Oh, like the river?” The mother’s response would inevitably be a quizzical look. And sin #6: I was calling out names as a part of my work once, and the next form read: “Krystyn.” I knew that it had to be pronounced like “Kristen” or “Kristin,” but I still had to pause for a moment and take it in. That day Krystyn blew my mind. And not in a good way.
This was amusing to read, especially the dawn of Aidan.
This isn’t one of those Ima Hogg stories, I actually went to school with a Cambodian family with two girls called Mississippi and Hawaii, respectively.
I went to college with Shephard Smith and was close friends with his step sisters. He was Shep then to them and Shephard to most everyone else, and the same before college. He hasn’t changed much from those days, name or style.
6 degrees!
Thank you so much for answering this question, Heather. I wrote this post over a year ago, but it actually just crossed my mind again last week.
Anybody go to school with Campbell?
Actually, the post about Campbell Brown was what caught my attention first-my 4 year old son is named Campbell Calvin. It’s a family name that dies out with a favorite uncle and we really liked it as a first name. But we’re southern, so you nailed it. Who Campbell Brown went to school with, I haven’t a clue. Campbell doesn’t show up on BN Wizard or anything…yet. But I’ve heard of a few kids, boys and girls, sporting it recently. And my son had a Cam signed up for his preK3 class (of 12) last fall, but was a no-show. Others in his class-Ryan, Austin, Ashtyn, Christian (2 of them), and Morgan. So Campbell was a breath of fresh air.
Also have to add I love the name you chose for your baby girl, fresh yet recognizable and just lovely. Congrats on the name and the baby!
Thanks Heather! She’s settling into her name nicely.
I like Campbell a lot too. It’s a family name for us as well and I was sincerely hoping a cousin of mine would choose it for her baby boy. Alas, no. Calvin is also a favorite of mine. Another family name?
Yes, of course! My husband and I both have a lot of great old family names and named our son for great uncles on each side that did not have any children, thus ending the line for their names. Plus, they were both favorite uncles for us. Mine was Stewart Calvin, and several other cousins had used Stewart already for the same reason, so I opted for Calvin. I was almost named Stewart myself, which would have been odd for 1968-Heather Stewart. Other family names we considered were Frederick, Harmon, Theron, Charlotte and Helene or Helena. Campbell wears his name well, is a happy-go-lucky little boy that is rarely serious-he is Campbell Scramble when he’s giggling and dancing around.
I do agree that Southerners tend to use surnames as first names: One of my close friends was named Porter, after his mother’s maiden name. (I think it’s a good idea if the maiden name truly is considered a real first name, but horrid otherwise.) Another friend of mine was Kennedy. There was also that Davis in my third grade class, the Campbell in my fourth grade class, the Miller that was my friend’s friend, and many, many more. (I found/heard/saw all these names during my live in North Carolina.) I’m a bit new to this blog, and Wordpress in general: Congrats on the baby! What, pray tell, is her name?
FYI that Kalani is a boy’s name, not a girl’s name.
I am sure that Kalani could be for either a boy or a girl, just like any other name has become today.
When I was 16 I came across the name Kaden and fell in love with it. I decided right then that my first child would be a boy and I would name him Caden.
Seven years later, at 23, I gave birth to my first child (a boy) and named him Caden Reese. Although the Aidan fad was going strong and I know that he is going to be swarming in a sea of other Caden’s, Aidan’s, Brayden’s, etc…when he gets into school. But, his name was set in my heart and mind for so long I just couldn’t think of him as anyone else. It stinks that it became very popular at the same time I decided to have a child!
My Daughter’s name is Annabelle and I was cringing when I read the “Elle” section. It is so true. I named my daughter Annabelle because I loved the name “Annie” and I have a great aunt Annabelle. Still, I hate to be trendy. Now I’m searching for a sibling name. Charlotte? Julia? Faye? I want to stay classic–I consider Annabelle a classic name. I don’t want to feel the same remorse–I still wish I would have spelled my daughter’s name “Annabel.” Yikes! this is hard!
Annabelle is eternally lovely, please don’t fret. I do think Charlotte is the perfect timeless complement. Know that by the numbers, there are more Charlottes than Annabelles. I never tire of Julia. Faye is unexpected but rather abrupt next to the melodious A. I might save it for a middle.
Annabelle and
Charlotte
Julia
Juliet
Iris
Lydia
Cecilia
Delia
Genevieve
Marina
I named my three daughters with an “elle” in their middle names. I speak French, and I have always loved French names. I have Kalista Arielle, Maya Gabriella, and Katherine Noelle. Gabriella came from my husband’s Spanish grandmother Gabriela. We have two Ls though. Calista was my favorite name since 1994. My daughter is almost 13 now, and my husband wanted it spelled with a K.
I never see the name Blythe on any lists. I am considering this for my upcoming daughter. Is this name not even close to being on the top 10,000 list for a bad reason? Is it a good name or not? I think it sounds timeless and melodic… Blythe…. Perhaps I am just trying too hard? Suggestions for middle names to go with? Or should I scrap this name altogether. My other daughter’s name is Fiona. If that helps.
Blythe is gorgeous, perfect, simply divine.
What about a longer middle?
Blythe Alexandra
Blythe Cecilia
Blythe Estelle
Blythe Rosalie
Blythe Penelope
Blythe Isadora
Blythe Wilhelmina
Blythe Juliet
??????? Any family you’d like to honor? What about your maiden name?
How helpful you are! I was thinking…
Blythe Viletta
Blythe Velore
Blythe Veloria
Blythe Merlot (like the wine)
or
Blythe Amaryllis
Our last name starts with ‘S’.
Thank you for the input!
Blythe Violette or Blythe Violetta would be to die for. I also love Blythe Amaryllis. I’d avoid Merlot though. It sounds like you were having too much fun drinking the wine!
All the best. Let us know what you decide.
Well, here i am now holding my newborn girl whom i have named Blythe Velouria…Everyone seems to love it! Thanks for your help
I have just come across your site – I am a 55 year old single mum of six teenagers (no twins), live in Wales, and have been nuts about names for as long as I can remember (I think it all started with my cut-out paper dolls, circa 1960!) I have lots of old books on the subject – my most precious is a Victorian tome by Charlotte M. Yonge published in the 1860s – and have been scanning birth announcements for the past forty years.
So coming across all these fantastic name sites and blogs on the web is the most wonderful thing! I could spend my entire day here (were it not for the six teenagers, two jobs, one evening class, six cats, all that laundry etc)
I will be back!
Ailsa
X
PS Although I am Welsh, my mother must have foreseen the future (I married a Glaswegian and lived in Scotland for fifteen years raising the children) as Ailsa is Scottish Gaelic, and is the name of a tiny uninhabited island off Mull, called Ailsa Craig (Ailsa Rock). But I am sure you all know that already.
Back again — Once more on surname names, I’d like to add in that I just read My Sister’s Keeper, and Anna’s lawyer is Campbell Alexander. At their first meeting, at the end, she looks at him and says, “Does it bother you that you have a backwards name? Your first name is a last name, and your last name is a first name.” That stuck with me, my name-nerd self!
Of the Elles, you have many of my favorites on the list: Adela, Amélie, Elodie, Eloise, Estella, Hannelore, Mabel, and Maribel among them. Considering my great aunt is named Elaine, my sister’s middle name is Louise, and my brother-in-law’s middle name is Louis, (coincidentally, said sister and brother were both born on the same day) Eloise may become a very viable choice as a middle.
Hi! It’s Annabelle’s mom again. Annabelle’s nm is Annie. We have it narrowed to three. Hoped you could give us your take on these.
Jillian Sarah (mn after my sister)not fond of nm Jill
Charlotte Sandra (mn after my mother)
Margaret Nell (mn grandmother) nm: Maggie or Maisie
I have always loved a lot of names for both genders that begin with F but I’m not so in love with the letter itself (how it looks written out). Is this strange?
I read a couple of your posts and decided to respond to this because I am seeking advice on some not very popular but are they actually genuine F names. What do you think of:
Fauna
Faustine/a
Filia
Fletcher
Ford
Finley
Are the boy names a sin of the surname names? Are the girl names too out there for an American? Thank you so much for all the helpful posts!
my daughters’ name is Fiona. Everone loves it… Filia is also beautiful… the hebrew word ‘philea’ means love so, it is a good meaning too… pronounced Fai-lee-uh i presume.
Well…I do like this article. But, unfortunately, a few of my top favorite names fall in one of these categories. Aiden, for a boy and Brooklyn, for a girl.
:’(
One other Aiden name you don’t have is Thaden. I know someone who was considering this.
This is hilarious and informative. I really like browsing your site, and find it endlessly entertaining, even though I have committed one of the deadly sins – I have a Ramsey in my house! He is actually named after his great grandfather, but that doesn’t change the fact that it is, in fact, a surname. Doesn’t help that our last name is a common first name for an older generation, either. Oh well! We love his name anyway!
Thanks again!
How did I miss your announcement Janie?? Congrats! I love the name Blythe so.
I dunno. Names have always gone with the ebb and flow of popular culture. In the past, we named our kids after royalty, now it’s movie stars and trying to be different. Coming from a name minority (especially in the early 70′s), and even an unusual spelling of it, I can relate. And I named my son something unusual, but meaningful to our family. And the girl name we had was equally unusual and meaningful, still hoping to get to use that someday…If people think they are being clever by spelling a name with a Y or a K, or naming their kid after their honeymoon location, no need to bust their hump over it.
It’s a good point, Tiffini. Pretty much this whole website is predicated on the notion that some names stand the test of time better than others, and that we don’t all have to choose the same names. I appreciate your perspective, and try to be sensitive to it. Also, I may have a name prejudice, but that doesn’t make me prejudiced to those people. I do hope you’ll find things of value here, and thank you so much for speaking up!
While I appreciate your article and agree with a lot of it, “Dylan” originally was not a surname. Dylan actually comes from Welsh mythology. He was the son of Gwyddion and Arianrhod and was God of the Sea.
Where did Bob Dylan get his Dylan surname? Well, he was originally a “Zimmerman” but felt like he had the wrong name, so just started going by Bob Dylan instead of Robert Zimmerman. He even used it as a surname for his children.
Let’s also not forget about the great poet Dylan Thomas. He was born in 1914 so I hardly think the name Dylan is a trend.
“Dillon” on the other hand, is an Irish surname derived from “de Leon” and “Dilleen” and could be added to your list, but it’s not in the top 200.
Just thought I’d clear that up.
Thank you Chelsea and you are absolutely right! There are aspects to the 7 Deadly Trends that need clearing up, and this is one of them. Will correct in due time. I so appreciate you writing.
Hope I’ve floowed the rules in creating my name list!
http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9758804
This is fabulous, and I agree wholeheartedly with all of these except the 7th. While I do think it’s uncool to tell the world you’ve named your child after the place where the little munchkin was conceived, I think, as a whole, place names can be beautiful if done right. Sure, don’t name your child after some god-awful place, like Ryker prison, but there are many beautiful place names that deserve to be honored. For example, I met a woman named Avila, because her great-grandmother was from there. And some people I know named their daughter Teanna because they were camping on the Teanna river while the mom was pregnant. I think the trick is to name your child after a place that is obscure (as opposed to, say, America) and meaningful to you.
I think, instead of this, your 7th deadly trend should have been occupation names. Sure, a lot of these are also last names, but this trend has become a whole world of annoying in itself: Taylor, Cooper, Painter… My least favorite is Tanner, as tanners were often considered ‘dirty’ and were shunned from main society. Why would you want to name your child that?! And Cooper? Someone who makes barrels? That’s a noble heritage to live up to.
My name is Ellison, nicknamed as a child Ellie or Belle. I was one of three Ellies in my grade school. Went to Notre Dame and started going by Ellison and still haven’t encountered any one with the same name! My kids are
John Benjamin Theodore(Jack)
Iris Josephine Mary (Jack’s twin, important bc their names are said together often!)
Vivienne Amelie Rose
Felix Henry Daniel (adopted from Brazil, honor heritage)
Arthur Nathaniel James
Elisabetta Angelina Louise (kept name when adopted from Ethiopia, nicknamed Betty)
I realized all my daughters’ names are themed Iris=English, Vivienne=French, Betty=Latin
My name pet peeves are alliterating sibling names or first & last names.
Ellison, you can name my next baby, should I ever have one.
i agree to disagree!! – when i first met my husband Benjamin, and discovered his siblings were all “b” names – Brad, Brian, Benjamin & Bethany – I said, “just so you know, I’ll never name our kids alliterative names – i think it’s soooo cheesy” . . . here we are now with #3, and somehow, i ended up with Emmanuel, Eden, and Evangeline! I just couldn’t break the family tradition after we made the decision of an E name with our 2nd born . . .my only fear is that if we have more than 3 children, a 4th E name might be over the top, and somewhat of a tongue-tier to say!! But I think it does give our children a sense of unity – all three of their names are strongly Christian, and blend well together
Ha ha, well put Lois.
I love your children’s names. If you find yourself with child again, let us know! We could do a fabulous E post for you. I’m sure the perfect name is out there! XO
I know a woman with nine children all starting with E- I’m not making this up!
Esther
Elisabeth
Evelyn
Erika
Emmanuel
Elena
Edmond
and Elsa and Eldora (twins)
Personally, I like Evelyn, Evangeline, and Eloise.
Don’t forget Raiden – the Mortal Kombat character. The game came out in 1992.
And yeah I agree, for Will and Jada, children, Jaden and Willa work since it’s a take on their names.
The worst “place name” name!
I went to high school with a boy named Madagascar! I kid you not. Needless to say, he chose to go by Mat.
Several of your suggested Japanese names/translations are incorrect, fyi…
Many Japanese names have multiple translations into English and I have used trusted sources for all my information. However I do not read Japanese. If any are truly incorrect, I would love for somebody to correct them so that little children around the world aren’t given the wrong name! That would be awful.
when my son was born (almost 7 years ago) we named him Maxwell. At the time, NO ONE was naming their kids Max, I was told it was a “dogs name”… and his middle name was my maternal families name of Warner… so I guess I have two of the deadly trends…
Even though Maxwell is popular now- why can’t I ever find anything that has that name pre printed on it?
Max and Maxwell are great names. Max was on my list when I was first pregnant actually. I’m always a fan of using family names, surname or no. I’m relaxing my rules a bit in my old age.
When I named my son Nolan three years ago, no one had heard of it as a first name apart from Nolan Ryan although it’s used as first name in Canada. I hate that its becoming “trendy.” Two new moms in my neighborhood are contemplating it after hearing our son’s name (and admitting as such). We chose it because we are the last in our family to have children (hence all the decent family names were taken) and we wanted something a little unusual (but not wordy and hard to pronounce) since we have a very common two syllable last name. We had picked Evan or Benjamin but when he came out with bright red hair, well he just didn’t look like an Evan or Ben. We thought something Irish might work but tried hard to avoid the cliches (Sean, Shawn, Patrick, etc…) or the Aiden, Caden trend…guess we failed by picking a surname.
Hey! My name made it onto the list as a better alternative. Well you spell it Kalina I spell it Kaleena. But same difference.
PS- I love my name!
I’m southern and LOVE surname names, for boys mostly, especially ones that mean something to the couple. My husband wanted us to name our daughter Walker had she been a boy. He is an avid UGA football fan and grew up idolizing Herschel Walker. Alas, she was a girl and we named her for one of his grandmothers and one of mine- Daisy Emma.
Just wanted to add that what we think of as place names or surnames or whatever names – there are often multiple sources. It’s hard to know where the “first” Camden or Hudson or Walker or Cooper or Davis or what-have-you showed up. Sure, some are “surnames” but a person may choose it not because it means “barrel maker” but because they camped on Cooper River. Or whatever. Someone may live in Arizona and like the name Camden or Hudson and not associate it at all with New Jersey/New York. Just so many “places” names come from these days and so many reasons someone may pick a certain name. That’s what makes this so interesting! We can’t put names in boxes!
I grew up with a surname first name. My mother, being a very liberal free spirited 70′s mom, said regardless of my gender, I would have still been Blair, which was her grandmother’s maiden name. My middle name Elizabeth made the combo a bit more feminine.
Interestingly, I have 3 friends (none of whom know each other) who all named their girls Claire Elizabeth–very similar!
My husband and I are preparing for our first and I am greatly enjoying this site. We have to honor family tradition if it is a boy so it must be William __??__ St–k. With such a soft first name and harsh last name we are having tough time coming up with names that “sound” good, and that we also like. Any suggestions of course are welcome.
Girls names we have a bit more flexibility on (and I am LOVING previous poster Ellison’s name combos!)
We are naming our daughter Caroline Olivia. Caroline is after my mother, and Olivia is the female derivative of my husband’s great-grandfather, Oliver.
My question is what are your thoughts on calling her Olivia? I prefer Caroline, and my husband prefers Olivia. I worry about the confusion of calling her by her middle name. Lately, in a compromise, we have been calling her Coco (For C. and O.).
To anyone reading the article and thinking- oh no my child’s name falls into one of the sins..I really wouldn’t sweat it.There are always trends in names and I don’t think it’s bad. It’s just like any other trend- fashion, interior design..you want to be somewhat INSIDE that trend..On this earth we evolve together..
and I think most children actually like having that isn’t so out of the ordinary..I say if you love a name and it feels right..use it. The person determines the name and not the other way around..at least that is what I think…
at the same time, I will be looking around this site for name ideas on both the recommended and not recommended lists! Thanks.
Oh! I totally agree with all of these Deadly Sins, including the substytutions. Which is quite ironic because as you can see, I spell Meredith with a y. I changed it in 7th grade when I felt the original was dull and way before I knew anything about any Krystyns or anything else. I still like it, but I cringed a little looking at this section. I agree about the substitutions, but I like my name! And, conveniently it is Welsh so maybe I can pretend it fits nicely with the Bronwyns.
Hello! I just discovered your site and I am so happy that I did! I am a total name nerd. I have done posts similar to this in light of the “lee” and “lyn” trends right now. I would love to see you do something like that!
I adore the name Blythe and was happy to not see it included in the 7 deadly trends. Right now it is our top girl name. Our son’s name is Bennett which isn’t totally unheard of but not popular. It falls into the surname category but we really loved it because of the meaning…”blessed”. It fit perfectly. His middle name is Harris because that is my maiden name. A tradition in both of our families.
I can’t wait to read some more of your posts!
Bryony/Briony is also pronounced BRY-ann-ee. Perhaps you should watch the movie Atonement to hear it. Just thought I should share how to properly pronounce my awesome name,
Knut is pronounced with a hard “k” not a soft one.
Isn’t Blythe a surname? Gilbert Blythe in ‘Anne of Green Gables’, for example. But it is kind of pretty…
I’d just like to add that if you think that your child might ever go off and explore the world, try choosing a name which can be pronounced in various languages. My name (originally Latin but mostly used in Scandinavia) has proved surprisingly hard for foreigners (Germans, English speakers…) to pronounce. Always a bit annoying!
Hi,
This is great… thanks…
Seeing as you seem happy to give out advice I’d really love some. We are having our first this coming December (actually due on Christmas day) and have somewhat settled on Hugh for a boy (though middle names are still up in the air so suggestions appreciated).
Girl… well that’s harder… currently we quite like Estelle though Iwe’re a bit stuck on middle names that flow nicely (and don’t have bad initials) to go with our ‘T’ last name (that you can see on my email address if that helps). Nothing seems to work!! I quite like Natalie but I’m just not sure if it works… Estelle Natalie…. help!!! Also, I’m slightly frightened that Estelle will become a super popular name and I’d really like her to have something a bit unique (though not weird!!) Do you think it’s too popular?
Thanks in advance.
Julie
Hugh and Estelle are both perfectly gorgeous! Estelle is hardly popular– it’s Stella that everyone seems to be gravitating towards. You know if you name her Estelle Natalie you’ll be naming her Christmas Star?
Have you tried Estella?
Hugh Gregory
Hugh Sebastian
Hugh Timothy
Estelle Gwendolyn
Estelle Iris
Estelle Susanna
Estelle Zenobia (for fun!)
If you want to do a private or public name consultation please email me for more! youcantcallitit (at) gmail (dot) com.
MAN, I wish I had seen this blog 3 years ago before I named my daughter (and first born) “Ella”. I’ve always thought it was such a pretty name until finding this. Unfortunately, I just read Part 4 and now have a totally different attitude towards the name…how sad.
Lucky for us, we don’t know any other Ellas, but it sounds like we’ll be bombarded as soon as she hits Kindergarten.
Unless you teach preschool or work in labor and delivery, how do you know what’s going to be popular? It’s so frustrating and I don’t want the same thing to happen with my second.
Oh Betsy, I absolutely HATE that something I would write would color your view of your own daughter’s name. Please ignore me. It really is pretty.
As for how do you know that something is going to skyrocket? That’s part of the reason I write this blog– I have my ear to the ground in a city and culture that is a bit a step ahead of the rest of the country, and I watch birth announcements across the country (and the world) like a hawk. Ella is just one of those names that’s at a cross section of several different trends and current sounds, which is why everybody loves it.
You can also track specific names at the social security administration to see their trajectory, but that doesn’t take into account multiple “sound alike” names. It’s a tricky business.
I’ve been thinking about doing a Siblings series for people like you who want to find a companion to a name like Ella that goes but is more under the radar. Thank you for reminding me of it, and watch for it in the future!
All the best.
I saw a news story about a baby girl Raydon (she was registered as a boy, the parents were outraged). One commenter said they first thought was that the name was Raygun. Raydon’s mother explained it was after her grandpa Ray. Arguing ensued.
I LOVED this!! Although I was a little bummed to see my son’s name in SDS #2… Wesley.
We love the name and couldn’t imagine calling him anything else.. plus, you never hear it.. well, we don’t anyways.
We are currently expecting number 2 and we aren’t finding out the sex. Due date is Valentine’s Day and for a girl we love Violet, but a middle name that “flows” is almost impossible! Especially since our last name is with a “G”… that completely rules out any “A” middle names… the initials thing.. my little girl would be mad! And for a boy we love Marshall (it sounds especially cute when you pair it with our 1st son’s name), middle name would be Matthew after my father.
Any help on a middle name for Violet? One of the possible choices was Grace, but to me it seems like a last ditch effort to find a name, since you hear that name all the time.
I know that “Greta” is short for “Margareta”. Do you think it is too much a nickname to use as a proper birth certificate given name? I absolutely love Greta and do not like Margareta at all, especially since we ahve an “M” last name.
Greta’s grand! I think it’s been in use long enough not to use on its own. It’s the feel of the name, too. Go for it.
great, great, great post! henceforth and forthwith bookmarked for easy and hilarious reference!
I found you through appellationmountain.net, and I’m so glad I did. My husband and I knee deep in figuring out a name for bébé #1, and we’d like to find one with as much (pronounceable, meaningful) originality as we can muster.
We’re torn, tho, b/c we both know it can be as painful as it is cool to have an unusual or unusually-spelled name…there were many a day when I *wished* my parents had chosen ‘Sarah’ or ‘Ella’ or ‘Ashley’.
Seriously, can you imagine a tiny 5-year old introducing herself as ‘Hildreth’? And before meeting me, my freshman roommate thought I would show up in a breastplate, long blonde braids and a horned helmet. I don’t think I’ve ever just said my name without having to spell it immediately afterwards.
Kudos to parents who’ve gone with their gut and named their little ones however they see fit, regardless of trends – I certainly know my parents did!
I like Mika and Sophia, those are two of my favorite names. I mean why wouldn’t they be, they just look so good, no? No I’m kidding obviously but I do like those names. Anyway take care.
I wish you provided some alternatives to the “Aidan” names…
We are going to have a boy this spring and I’ve liked the name Aidan for almost 10 years now – ever since I figured out that it was my name backwards (Nadia). It would be great to indirectly name my son after both myself and my husband (use DH’s name as the middle name).
I am highly concerned with the popularity of this name AND the fact that his sister’s name is Ukrainian (Zoryana).
Do I just go with this name I’ve liked for so long with it’s special meaning to me or do you suggest going another route?
Honestly? In the case of Aidan I suggest going another route. There are just too many of them, and so many names rhyme with Aidan now it’s really out of control. I love the idea of a post on Aidan alternatives. Look for one soon.
What do you think of the following names?
Boy
Miles/Myles middle name Gregory
Nathan Gregory “Nate”
Girl
Audrey (any middle name suggestions?)
What first names sound good with “Mary” as a middle name?
SOrry if somebody already pointed this out, but the correct spelling of “Maireed” is “Mairead” – I have never seen “Maireed” anywhere (I am a native Irish person, and I know lots of Maireads). The pronunciation is “Muh-rade”.
It is so weird to me to see how Aidan has risen in popularity here in the States. I love the name, and have always known it (once again, being Irish and all
). The various spellings kind of bother me but hey, whatever. Last year my friends had a baby boy – they are 100% American and Jewish – and named it “Aiden”…times have changed!!
Thank you, that’s so important! Noted and corrected.
First of all, I love this! Thanks for writing it and putting it together. It summarizes and expands on a lot of trends my husband and I complain about all the time!
To the Aidan section, my husbands brother and his wife named their son Aiden two years ago. They said they heard it several years ago in the movie The Ring and have liked it since then.
And to the Geography section, did you skip Sydney? Maybe it has a better history than just being an Australian landmark but honeymoon location is a reason I’ve heard for why that name was selected for someone I know. Also, a friend of mine recently named their boy Raleigh.
I once started a collection of names (as a joke/for research sake) that were plant names, colors and fruits/food. Examples: Daisy, Lily, Amber, Sienna, Gray, Olive, Peach, etc. As much as weird names make me twitch, I actually quite like the sound of Mauve or Clementine. I’d be happy to send you my list if you want it.
I would love it if you send me a list.
I actually did write a list a while ago of “Edible Names”, and have done a few posts related to specific colors:
http://youcantcallitit.com/2008/06/06/edible-baby-names/
http://youcantcallitit.com/2009/03/17/green-names/
http://youcantcallitit.com/2009/02/27/purple-mountain-majesty/
I don’t think I’ve done any other color ways yet though. Thanks for the reminder, and for your comments!
I could not agree more with your List… We sorta broke Rule 5 with one of our names, but you do cite it as an original “K” name. Although I have really strong opinions on names, we it came time for my husband and I to choose names for our gender-unknown triplets, I was remarkably easy-going. In fact, we didn’t have a second boys name on hand when our boy/boy/girl trio was born and I think we decided on one when I was still drugged up, lol. The middle names are all family names: Keith William (Keith was my husband’s beloved grandfather who died right before we became pregnant); Colin Alfons (Colin was the only boy’s name we agreed on) and Evelyn Rose (Evelyn has been hubby’s favourite girl’s name for as long as he can remember). If we had had boy/girl/girl, we would have used my favourite name, Elise. I hate that Elise is becoming so popular… with that in mind, we settled on Evelyn! Very shortsighted on my part, but I never really thought of how/if the names went together. Colin and Evelyn rhyme (eek!) and Keith and Colin both start with the same consonant. Regardless, we love them!
This was great! Thanks Elisabeth! You put into words what I have been thinking about baby name trends for a long time. But now you have me worried because of part 4- I am pregnant with my first child, a girl and we want to use a family name. I would love to name her after my mother and great grandmother, Elna. By no means is that popular, but it seems to fall quite nicely in your Part 4 category. Should I avoid using it? Other runners up are my husbands mothers middle name, Fae, Charlotte (which is a little too popular for my tastes), and Luella (great great grandmother), which my husband has yet to add to his list due to it rhyming with Cruella…but I love it! Any thoughts would be super appreciated!
I love all your choices actually. Elna has a much older feel than Ella. If you’re in love then go with it. Don’t let any old name blogger get you down, I mean it. That’s not what these lists were meant to do. I also think Fae, Charlotte, and Luella are all gorgeous. Luella is fairly on- trend and I’ve seen it pop up a bit among some outside-the-box thinkers. Charlotte is too popular for my tastes as well, though it’s actually also one of my favorite names, I don’t think you can go wrong there. Fae is too sweet. Tough call! Use the name that’s closest to your heart, and ignore these silly trends.
Thank you for your help, Elizabeth! We’re getting closer (5 weeks!) to the due date and I feel like we may have actually made some progress. I’m convinced that men just need time to mull over names, because my husband suddenly really loves the name Luella, which previously wasn’t even on the list. So, unless things change in the next month, that’s what we’ll be having! Love it! And the nn’s are great too: Lu and Lula- maybe Lulu. Yay!
I HATE when people misspell names and I HATE when people make-up names. On a board I was on, someone wanted to name their daughter Bailyn (to match her sister Brooklyn). You can’t just add “lyn” to the end of a phoneme and call it a name. Thankfully many people told her it sounded like “bailing hay.” Another girl wanted to name her daughter Milan but was afraid ppl would mispronounce it?! Several ppl said “they will pronounce it just as they do the city” – to which the mom replied, “It’s a city?”. Google the name you wish to give your kid – and you should know it is one of the most well known cities in the world before you name your child Milan?! Grr!
Love you post, hate the trends. I will not name our child anything that didn’t exist 100 years ago. Just say no to making up names!
I hate the made up names that people have these days. Celebrities are the worst. How do you take anyone with the name Pilot Inspektor and turn them into a doctor and have anyone really even think that’s a real person? I’d probably not really take them seriously. People should look into the future as to what they name their child and not name them something with some meaning and not just make up stupid things just to make a wave. I was pretty unhappy with my husband’s choice of “Brooklyn” because I don’t like it as a name, but it had a meaning to him because Jackie Robinson was one of the most famous player that he so admired from the Brooklyn Dodgers and he wanted to honor the old team but didn’t want to use Jackie Robinson’s name; so he used “Brooklyn” instead. At least I could see the why, but I still am not fond of the name. I just call her Brooke.
David Bowie’s son (born in the 70s and legally named Zowie Bowie at birth) changed his name to Joe as a kid for that reason!
ok I think I am a walking oxymoron! I need help! I am due any day now with a baby girl after having 3 boys. I love this article, but I also feel like everyone must hate the names we have picked so far because all of my kids names fall into one of the sins. All the while me and my Husband try to pick names that go against popular trends! Not knowing we are in the trends! My boys names are Mason (which at the time when he was born was not in top 100), Reagan (a boy) and Camden. So we apparently are drawn to the Aidan rhymes, surnames and place names. Now for our girl, after searching for the last 4 months for a name we have overanalyzed so many options. My Husband thinks her name should sound good with all her brothers, so we started looking at names that end in “n”. I want her to have a feminine name at the same time though. So we have been thinking of the name Ellisyn (I was thrilled to see that a woman named Ellison wrote a post!) and our nicknames for her would be Ellie and Elle. However, after reading this article I feel like I am incorporating almost every sin! Surname, boys name for a girl, the ella/ellie/elle nn, and the substitute of y.
I feel silly because we want her to have a name that is not in the top 100 but yet it seems like we are falling subject to every bad trend! Help!!!
The other names we have come close to choosing are Adelyn (but dont like the nn addie, I prefer ellie) Arden (but don’t know what nn she would get and wish it was more feminine)
Eliana (but my name is Elena and sounds too close) Noelle (still like but wonder if a name that starts with the letter N is not as warm as starting with a vowel, and it doesn’t match with sib set) and lastly Elia (pronounced ellie-uh, but many people would mispronouce as Aaliyah, and also doesn’t match with sib set).
If anyone has any advice for me it would be greatly appreciated!!! I feel so confused and this little girl will be joining us at any moment.
Hi Elena,
Don’t fret! I’m sure so many of us can identify with your predicament.
Mason, Reagan and Camden are all nice names — strong and masculine. Not weird, not made up. So far so good!
I think your instinct to give your daughter a feminine-sounding name is right on target. When you have three boys and a girl you don’t want the girl’s name to exactly “match” her brothers! Her name can still “go” with the boys’ names without sounding like she’s one of the boys. You yourself have a pretty feminine name and so should she! I think it is a nice idea to set her apart and not give her a name ending in an n. After all, do you want people who hear your children’s names (without first seeing them) to think you have four boys, or three boys and a girl? Maybe an “E” name like her mama, such as:
Eliana
Elisa
Elissa
Elise
Emmelina
Emmeline
I happen to think Eliana being the daughter is sweet!
And I like Mason, Reagan, Camden and Eliana as a sibset, as well as the others I have listed.
Others you might like are:
Adele
Adelina
Adeline
Adrienne
Adriana
Adrianna
Amelia
Amelie
Analisa
Annalisa
Annalise
Anamaria
Annamaria
Annamarie
Annemarie
Ariane
Arielle
Naomi
Nina
Neoma
Noelle
Noemi
Noemie
I happen to love Noelle as well and think Mason, Reagan, Camden and Noelle has a beautiful sound as well.
And for what it’s worth, I think Eliana Noelle would be a beautiful first name/middle name. But of course you didn’t ask for middle name advice!
Good luck, Elena. Please keep us posted! I’m sure many of us would love to know what you decide.
Any thoughts on the name Arden Grace?
My names on there :~(. I love my name since I’ve only saw one person with the name( that boy on sister wives). I still can’t see it on a boy though, maybe since I’m a girl.
I am considering Marietta which could be Etta for short, but I really wonder if Etta will be the next step from Emma to Ella? I don’t feel my child must be the only one named _____ in school, but I don’t want a total trend name either? I don’t know if that makes sense, but i does in my head.
Awesome advice/warnings
I am not pregnant but I am forever thinking of baby names..perhaps obsessed:) My husband and I really like the name Bastian for a boy ..I do like the name Sebastian as well but I prefer Bastian; however, when I mention this name..most people think it sounds too much like ..bastard…which ..well..scares me!! Any thoughts on this name?? Should I stay away from it??
Hi Sarah, I completely understand have named unborn children of my own since I was a child. It was good practice.
People make word-associative connections like this more frequently with names they are not accustomed to hearing. I wouldn’t have made the connection between Bastian and bastard, but I see it now that you pointed it out. It is a name used on its own in Europe and I think it’s absolutely fine. He may get teased though, or he may not. The full Sebastian gives him a choice to switch should it ever become a problem. That said, sometimes when you actually conceive a child your opinions completely change. It’s hard to explain. You may wind up with a completely different favorite down the road.
I was wondering about a nicknames for Annabel, my mother in law is from Greece her name is Aspasia, her “American” name is Anne/Annie so even tho’ I love the name Annie I’d rather stay away from it. I thought if I spelled her name AnnaBEL instead of AnnaBELLE she would be saved from the Belles and Elles. Family members have gone towards calling her Belle which I’m not fond of (my mother has a cat named Belle). When we found out we were having a girl we decided on the name Penelope and we spent the last few months of my pregnancy referring to her as Nell, I ended up changing my mind in the delivery room! ANYway, sorry this is a very long way of asking if you think we could call our Annabel, Nell? or is that too much of a stretch???
Nell works very well as a nickname for Annabel.
Thanks! my husband thought I was crazy
Happy to see my daughters name ‘Jamison’ did not make list of 7 deadly trends for surnames! I noticed a trend for ‘Nature Names’ in 2010-11, started with Apple. How about you?
I love your post, this was so much like my own pet peeves in baby naming.
However, my own daughter is named Florence, after the city, where we lived when she was born, so I cringed a little at Geography 101.
My sons middle name is also a surname, Rossetti, after the pre-raphaelite painter! Guess I’ve committed a few of these deadly sins myself!
Our childrens names are generally considered ‘strange’, what with another daughter named Ophelia Melody!
I really like the name Beatrice and would consider shortening it to Bea or Bee as a nickname. Is it too trendy to have her go by Bee, or should I stick to the traditional Bea? I am just imagining a baby announcement with a little bumble bee on it…
Love Bee!
Found this site doing some name-browsing, and a lot of these are things I hew to already (yay!). Husband and I are Anglophone but we also speak French (and he’s from a country that also has French as a national language), and live in India… so we’re starting a name-hunt for names that can be pronounced reasonably well in all three languages. Fun times ahead?
Mairead’s irish! But a great name
My name is the old original English spelling of the name usually found in its French form: Marjorie. It’s not a neologism or a misspelling, but folks think it’s strange. In my heart of hearts, I think it’s a pretty name, but it is misspelled 90% of the time, even by people who have known me for many years. I always have to spell it out, which is no fun at all. I named my kids two-syllable, plain plain English names that I thought nobody could misspell, but my daughter Ellen sometimes gets Erin- or Ellyn-ized.
This post is amazing. While their are some things I don’t exactly agree on (I think some guy names are cute on a girl. I had a teacher named Devin and a friend named Reegan) most I find to be pet peeves. My name is Krissandra though I go by Krissy and I find that, while I tend to dislike it, I enjoy having a unique name, paired with unique middle names such as Eileen (after my grandmother) and Sheran (my aunt). Some of my favourite names include Rhiannon, Khalida and Luna, although Luna is a bit too showy I find.
My name is part part of the Ella craze eek but I was born 14 year ago so before the craze began and my mum gave me a double name just in case Ella became too popular so I could just be Ella or Violet or Ella-Violet. I know two Ellahs, and two Elea’s (short for Eleanor and Ellen) but only one other Ella (though hers was short for Daniella). And never another Violet or Ella-Violet.
I couldn’t agree more. In the oh-so-glamorous city of Pittsburgh in the 1980′s, girls in my high school transferred in with traditionally male names or last names in apparent effort to convey an impression of wealth. The boys on my young son’s sport team sound like a law firm when called out at practice – Smith, Davis, Afton, and many X ‘sons… The girls in his class sound like a gathering of faux-Scottish clans.
We almost named him Aiden. Thank goodness we didn’t. He has a traditional Scottish GIVEN name.
ok, so I have a hudson, but not because we named him after a location by any means. We liked that it was an older name, in which I get many compliments from “elderly” people in that it is such a nice, masculine name. However, I am due with boy #2 and am really having a tough time finding a name. We are definetly using Lee as the middle name after my dad, but are so undecided because we need something that sounds good with hudson. So far our favorites are Knox, Keller, and Dylan. I also like Calvin, as it is also a family name, but it is also my nephew’s middle name. Would that be copycat?? Any suggestions for this baby? Due in April!
I think using a family name that’s been used as a middle name is totally acceptable. Just have a conversation with the parents first, letting them know how much the name means to you and hope that they don’t mind. I also love the sound of brothers Hudson and Knox!
I fit in the K category. While both of my children’s names start with K, they have awesome (in my opinion) names. My eldest is Kodiak Kade, my youngest is Kordelia Kansas. My stepdaughter’s name does not fit in the category her name is Haleigh Rayanne. I am now pregnant and want to continue with the k’s, my husband however is not on board. It is driving me crazy. Just a side note, both of my siblings continued the theme of double initials, though not k’s. Bosten Blu (girl), Joey Joplen (girl), Josi June and Mckenzi May.
Ummmm, well…
I agree with your interpretation.
My name is….. Candance. Yes, like
I can dance, pronounced, candence.
I have always gone by candy.
Changing it to Candie as a teenager,
due to all the things people can come
up with to refer me to things.
So, either way I was screwed,
Candance…. I actually became a professional
Ballet/ jazz dancer( my have been subleminal)
and then Candie…. How is it that Candie
Reminds men of sex!? Funny enough,
I love sweets. So much that I have a tatto
Of candies and cupcakes!
Sorry to go on forever, I just really found
this fascinating! Well, I am 42 now. Finally,
Love my name Candie. Maybe bc men are
More respectful, due to my husband being
6’5 and very protective. Funny though,
I went in the opposite direction ( subconsciously)
With my children. They all received biblical
names; 1.Sarah Elizabeth 2. Hannah Eve
3. Jonathan David 4. Dirk Gabriel ( Gabe )
5. Gabriella Marie ( Mary ) goes by, Ella )
Hopefully they too grow to be more
like those people, and not a professional
Piece of dancing Candy! lol
Again, I apologize for the length of sharing.
Just had to mention: you’ve pronounced my name wrong in the Substytutes section! It’s BRI-ah-nee: long ‘I’ sound. Not brie like the cheese, BRI like Brian or RYE.
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