Welcome Hattie Margaret McDermott!

by You Can't Call It "It"! on October 11, 2011

Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott have had baby #3!  Born yesterday, 10/10, on my first daughter’s due date, welcome

Hattie Margaret McDermott

She joins siblings Liam, Stella, and half brother Jack.   I’m pleasantly surprised to say the least.  While yes, I adore Harriet and Henrietta and any of the variable ways to get to Hattie, this one is still refreshingly quaint.  She’ll fit with the Maddies and Addies, yet hold her own next to Agnes and Ramona.  It’s one of the sweeter, nicknamey old lady names and has a hint of Brit.  Margaret adds something to the name’s elegance.

I’d pegged her for Vivian or Finn, or possibly Esme.  Happy to have been wrong, though I must say she seems to have a knack for picking of the next big thing (hence my guesses).  My most recent associations with the name?  Newborn Hattie in the movie Babies, where the film’s real-life star hailed from San Francisco, and teenager Haddie (sic) in Parenthood.  Sadly, sitcoms can be the deathknell of the undiscovered treasure.

What do you think?  Are you surprised by the choice?  Will this cement Hattie’s escalation and open the door to Haddie, Hedy, and Henriette?

{ 16 comments }

Steve Jobs and the Aptronym

by You Can't Call It "It"! on October 6, 2011

“…No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary….”

While I usually have the pleasure of celebrating births on this blog, today I feel compelled to commemorate the death of Steve Jobs.  For years, he’s been someone that although I rarely thought of, he’s had an impact on my day to day existence.

Steve Jobs changed the way we relate to one another.  In addition to his inspiring words and influence on creativity in the modern age, no one has had as much of an impact on employment numbers than Mr. Jobs.  He he helped to catapult internet commerce, altered the way we share information, and created an ever increasingly level playing field for the modern entrepreneur.  He created a company whose profits exceed those of the U.S. government.  If anyone exemplifies what it means to possess an aptronym: a name that is suited to its bearer, it’s Steve Jobs.

Hope Solo, the female U.S. soccer goalie, on whom our hopes are pinned as she goes it alone to keep the ball out of the net, wears and aptronym.  It’s as if it were destined from birth that she would have this job.

Another athlete, Usain Bolt, is the fastest runner in the world.  He bolts like no one’s business.  During the 2008 Olympics, I couldn’t help but wonder whether Garret Weber-Gale was blessed with webbed feet.

Madonna has always credited her name in part to contributing to her destiny.  Hers would be an example of the ironic aptronym.

Tanya Banks is a financial analyst.  There’s a dermatologist in Memphis called Dr. Whitehead, a urologist in Austin who goes by Dr. Dick Chopp.  Sometimes I wish I was making this stuff up.

In many cases, the name comes after the occupation.  Families Miller, Baker, and Hunter, likely have ancestors who were just that.  When we choose a name for a child, we think about what they one day might become and try to choose accordingly.  The musical Overstreet family chose well for son Chord, a singer on Glee.  Does a name help to shape one’s destiny?

What difference will the passing of Steve Jobs have on employment numbers at Apple Computer?  Had Steve Jobs been Steve Jenkins, would there have been an Apple at all?  Likely it would never have made a difference to his drive and passion, but it’s interesting to ponder.

Do you have anyone in your life who has lived up to their name?

{ 17 comments }

Born This Morn.

by You Can't Call It "It"! on September 29, 2011

Siobhán’s been in touch with me lately but didn’t want me to post anything until the baby was here.  After much suspense, she gave birth this morning to a beautiful baby boy!  Many congratulations from the whole YCCII clan.  He still, however, needs a name.

 

Hi Elisabeth,

I would absolutely love your help, and the help of your readers in choosing a name for my second son, who arrived earlier today!

My partner and I have a two year old son named Luca Cy B– – –well (two syllable English surname), and while I’m not a fan of matchy-matchy names, I would love any siblings, including this baby, to have names that sit nicely together as a sibset.

As such, I considered several other European names, and have settled on the name Remy (pronounced ‘Rem-ee’ – I’m still trying to decide whether should add the French accent to the ‘e’ or not, and would love your thoughts).

Other names that I shortlisted early on include Rafferty, Rafael/Raphael, Aurélien/Aurelius, Roman, Etienne, Clement, Florian, Cassius, Caspar, Aubrey, Tobias, Tobias, Eero, Miro and Olmo, to give you an idea of the style of names I like, and all of these could now be middle name possibilities.

While I’d love your opinion on my first name choice, I would especially love to get some thoughts on my shortlist of middle names, as these seem to be proving particularly difficult. Originally, I had planned to give this baby only one middle name, as I did with my firstborn son, however I have been seriously thinking about adding another middle name to my son’s existing name (my current favourites are Luca Cy Theodore or Luca Cy Maxim, but I’d love other suggestions…), and as such, I think I would like to give this baby and any future children two middle names.

I’d like to find names that somehow tie together or bridge a European first name and an English surname. My shortlist of middle names to go with Remy includes:

Lucian** (or Lucien)

Atticus

Theodore

Aurélien

Aurelius

Levin

Maxim / Maxime

Mateo

Cassius

Cassian

Caspar

Leon

Caspian

Casimir

Clement or Clemént / Clemente

Artemis

Magnus

Albion

Hugo

Jude

Otto

**I absolutely adore the name Remy Lucian, but wonder if it would be odd to give my newborn son a middle name that’s so close to my first son’s name, Luca (even though they apparently have different etymologies)? Originally, I had wanted to name my first son Lucian and use Luca as a nickname, but my partner refused, and I’ve always grieved the loss of that name, hence why I’d love to use it now! But I’m open to hearing other people’s (honest) opinions about this, as well as thoughts on each of the middle names mentioned above. Oh, and please don’t be too influenced by the fact that my son has a very short middle name, as most of the middle names I like for this and future babies tend to be longish, so Cy will just have to be the odd name out (we chose Cy after the late American painter Cy Twombly, a favourite artist of mine, and I would love to use Lucian as a tribute to Lucian Freud, another favourite artist…). Also, I really love the Lucian spelling, but wonder if Lucien flows better next to Remy, given that both names are French…

While it’s by no means essential that I use family names as middle names, the one person I would like to honour in naming each of my children is my youngest sister Mairead, who died suddenly four years ago. As she died in quite tragic circumstances, however, I feel uncomfortable using her actual name, but would like to honour her in some other way… One reason I named my son Luca was because he was born shortly after my sister’s death, and his name means ‘bringer of light’, which felt very significant at that time.  My sister was a philosopher/lecturer, whose main area of study and teaching was ancient Greek philosophy, and who was obsessed with anything Greek-related, and this is why I thought Theodore could make a good additional middle name for Luca, and why it could be nice to have a Greek influence somewhere in each name I choose for any other children. I am also open to hearing other name suggestions that could honour my sister in some way.

So… some of the name combinations that I’m considering for my son are:

Remy Lucian Atticus

Remy Lucian Aurelius

Remy Lucian Cassius

Remy Lucian Clement

Remy Lucian Caspar

Remy Lucian Casimir

Remy Aurélien Cassius

Remy Aurelius Clement

Remy Aurelius Maxim

Remy Aurelius Leon

Remy Etienne Casimir

Remy Leon Atticus

I would love to hear thoughts on the above, and welcome further suggestions on first and/or middle names, as well as name combinations.

I am as name-obsessed as everyone else who frequents YCCII, so I’m sure you can understand my desire to find the perfect name for our beautiful baby!!

Thanks so much for your help in advance!

Siobhán

 

Siobhán, I’m thrilled to welcome your son to the world, and absolutely smitten with your choice of Remy!  Even though this is a middle name poll only, we still have much to discuss.

As for the accent in Remy, depending on what country you live in, you may not be able to include it on the birth certificate at all.  I would go with your gut on this one, and what seems the most culturally appropriate to where he will grow up.

On middles:

I’m afraid I won’t be the only one who is genuinely twitchy at the thought of LUCA Cy and Remy LUCIAN together. You said yourself you wanted to name Luca “Lucian”, but got vetoed.   You chose Luca for a reason.  For me that would mean that the ship had sailed on the name Lucian, which while according to scholars do derive from different sources (Luca being “from Lucania” and Lucian being “of light”, from the Latin lux) are awfully similar.  Luca is also sometimes used as a nickname for Lucian.  What if by chance, Remy found his name too feminine and wanted to go by a middle name some day?  You would have sons Luca and Lucian.  It’s much, much too similar.  Plus, there’s such a wide variety of amazing names to choose from.  If you do opt for this in the middle, note that the French spelling Lucien does have a different pronunciation, though English speakers will likely say them the same.

My condolences on the loss of your sister Mairead.  I love that you want to honor her by choosing something she would have loved.  We’ve featured several posts here offering a host of names inspired by Ancient Greece.

Remy needs robust, masculine names to balance out its softer feel. For this reason I would personally eliminate Etienne or use it third.  Atticus, being a name of the moment, feels like too obvious a choice in this case.  Artemis is a girl’s name.  She was the goddess of the moon and of hunting, and Apollo’s twin.  Apollo could be nice!

I advocate for Remy Aurelius Clement, a heavenly combo.

Raphael would be a nice tribute to your sister as well, with the meaning “God has healed.”

I also favor:

Remy Cassian Aurelius

Rémy Aurélien Cassius

Rémy Cassius Aurélien

Remy Casimir Leon

Remy Ulysses Leon

Remy Raphael  Aurélien (love the alliteration here)

Remy Raphael Tobias

Remy Theodore Leon (again, the alliterative repetition in sounds is intentional)

Remy Magnus Casimir

Remy Casimir Hugo

Remy Maxime Theodore

Remy Tobias Hugo

 

For big brother, the combo Luca Cy Theodore is calling to me.  Luca Cy Raphael would be lovely as well.  Another thought– if you are changing his name anyway and you truly mourn the loss of Lucian, why not call him Lucian nn Luca as you had originally intended?  For balance, his brother could be Remus nn Remy.

Readers, are Luca and Lucian too close for comfort for brothers, even if one is used in the middle?  

Have you changed or added to a child’s name years after their birth?  What was your experience?  

What fabulous three name combos can you come up with for both Remy and Luca? 

 

Image by Cy Twombly

{ 16 comments }

Twin Girls, A Namer’s Dream

by You Can't Call It "It"! on September 27, 2011

The consultation bonanza continues, but this time we have twice as much work ahead of us because Amber is expecting twin girls.  She writes:

Hi Elisabeth!

I love reading your blog and am hopeful that you and your readers can help me!  My husband and I are having a terrible time trying to come up with names for our twin girls.  I love feminine, romantic names but want to stay away from anything too popular.  We both love the name Charlotte, but I feel like every other baby that I encounter these days is named Charlotte.  Another name that we are both fond of is Estelle.  The problem with Estelle is that it was my Maternal Great Grandmother’s name and since I was very close to both my Maternal and Paternal Great Grandmothers I feel strange about honoring one and not the other (for the record Great Grandmother # 2′s name was Ethel Frances – I’m not a fan of Ethel and my husband doesn’t like Frances even for a middle name).  I’m considering striking Estelle from the list for that reason alone.

Add in our extremely long, hard to spell-and-pronounce last name and I’m stumped.  In light of the last name I feel like we should use something short and simple to spell but my heart is with longer, romantic names.  Also to save you from having to Google, our last name is of Laotian decent and is pronounced Vong-sam-pon.  My husband immigrated to the US as a child from Laos and I’m an American “mutt” so our children will be half Asian, half Caucasian.

For additional info, names that I love but have been vetoed include Claudia and Colette.  Names that are still on our “long list” include Adia, Alice, Blair, Danica, Noelle, Paige.  They are all fine names – I just don’t LOVE any of them.  Any advice or suggestions you have would be so appreciated!  Thank you so much!!

[Update]:

We are still far from agreement but we have found that we really like Rose as a first name.  I’ve also come up with the name Faith to be used to honor my Paternal Great Grandmother as she was very religious.  I’m not a big fan of Faith as a first name, but by using it as a middle name I feel like I can keep Estelle on the table.  Anyway, like I said, we are still miles away from a decision but those are the latest names we’ve hit on.  Hope you are doing great and thanks again!

~Amber

Amber I’m so glad you have come to us.  Congratulations on your impending babes!  What fun that we get to live vicariously through you as you get to name two little ladies at once.  But perhaps it’s not all fun and games for you.  Let’s see if we can parse this out.

There are actually three names that SCREAM out at me from reading your letter.  Charlotte, Estelle, and Rose.  You both love these names as first names, right?  That’s huge!  Don’t discount your favorites just because on may be getting popular.  This is the name that you’re going to be calling your child every day for the rest of her life, the name that she will always live with and introduce herself as.  For you both to love the name Charlotte is nothing short of monumental.   It sounds great with either Rose or Estelle, and I think it’s one to keep on the list.

You also both love Rose as a first name.  It’s a very common middle as you probably know, but as a call name?  Highly underused. It’s recognizable the world over and it’s one syllable is brilliant with your lengthy foreign surname.  Another winner.

Third, you both love Estelle.  Why look elsewhere?  You have me wishing triplets on you.  I completely understand wanting to honor both your great-grandmothers and think that’s definitely still possible in the middle.  If you honored one girl with Estelle, would you honor the other with Faith in the middle?

You said you didn’t love the name Faith, but because your grandmother was religious, feel it would be an appropriate homage to her.  Are there other names that might honor her equally well that you actually love?  For example, Faye and Fidelity both represent faith, but you also might want to consider her birth month, stone, or flower.  Is there anything else that she particularly loved that might represent her?  Alternatively, does your husband have anyone on his side of the family he would like to honor?

Twins’ names are tricky.  You want names that balance one another, but are decidedly different so as to help them craft their own identities.  Estelle and Rose, Rose and Charlotte, or Charlotte and Estelle all work brilliantly.  They are more eternally classic than some of the other names on your list (Blair and Paige come to mind).  Alice from your long list works beautifully with your top choices too.  I’m sorry your husband doesn’t like Frances.

Should you want to branch out beyond your top names, here are a few sweetly quaint names that might be a good match with your family.

 

Adele

Alma

Blythe

Camille

Cecily

Daisy

Delia

Eleanor

Eve

Faye

Francine

Genevieve

Jane

Martha

Nina

Opal

Pearl

Phoebe

Tabitha

Vera, Verity


 

Readers, what would you do in Amber’s situation?  Has Charlotte reached its saturation point, or is it a classic that will stand the test of time?  What name pairings do you like? 

Illustration by Emily Finan

 

{ 28 comments }

A Sibling for Virgil and Hector

by You Can't Call It "It"! on September 26, 2011

Lots of pleas for help in the inbox this month culminate in one great week of consultations.  To start, put your thinking caps on and let’s assist Alexandria in naming her third.  She writes:

Hello Elisabeth!

Thank you so much for your website. I’m a long time reader, but only now find myself in serious need of some baby-namin’ inspiration. And after pouring over your site for hours and hours, I’m so sure I’ve come to the right place.  Here’s the situation:
-
My husband and I have two fab boys, Virgil Ephram and Hector Adrien, 5 and 2.5 respectively, and I am pregnant with our third. We’re so super psyched, and not so secretly crossing all our fingers and toes for a girl :)
-
But we’ve decided to not find out the sex of the baby until he/she arrives, so we’re trying to decide on names for a boy and a girl.
-
Some details about us and our naming style:
-
When we decided to give our first son the name Virgil, most people thought we were completely bonkers. We got, ‘Hahaha… but seriously, what’s his name?’s and “The poor kid…’s left and right and we just didn’t understand why. I mean sure, it’s a letter off from Virgin and it’s not terribly common, and we certainly took that into consideration and went back and forth a bit, but in the end we were just so in love with the name there really was no other option for us. We have zero regrets. At home we call him Virg (read like verge) affectionately but he goes by Virgil to everyone else and he wears his name very proudly for such a little guy. The story behind us choosing that is as simple as that, we just really loved it. Ephram is my father’s name.
-
Hector (Heck to us) was named for Hector of Troy, my most beloved literary character in all the literature I’ve ever read or studied (I literally weep over my book every time I read his death. I can’t even explain the connection I feel with him). Since I first read the Iliad as a girl I’ve wanted to have a son to call Hector. And I do, and his name suits him so perfectly. Adrienne is my husband’s mother’s so Adrien is in homage to her.
-
We love names from literature and myth, uncommon names, sturdy names. My husband’s last name is Armstrong. Some names we’ve been thinking about but simply aren’t in love with (asterisks next to the top contenders):
-
Girls: For a girl we want something feminine, but strong. Nothing too frilly and that fits in with the boys.
Hero*
Cordelia
Viola
Etta
Gaia*
Lavinia
Valentina
Phebe
Constance
Ophelia
-
Boys: Again, something strong that goes with the boys.
Orion
Sebastien
Luca*
Silas*
Remus
Cornelius
Dimitri
Othello 
Phinnaeus 
-
I hope this gives you an idea of our tastes and what we’re looking for for our third-to-be.
Any input is beyond appreciated. :)
-
Cheers,
Alexandria
Oh Alexandria I do hope we can help!  Thank you for your sweet words about the site.
-
If you’re not in love with your current list, I’m inclined to say keep moving.  Maybe one of your old favorites will present itself in a new light, or maybe you just haven’t uncovered “the one” yet.  I will say I’m loving Lavinia and Remus.
-
Your boy’s names are divine and you’ve shown you can really do this all on your own.  BUT, I have a few additional ideas that you might like.  I have a feeling you actually like “frillier” girls’ names than you’re willing to admit to yourself.  Your own name, Alexandria, is an ancient city that fits with your children’s names, but it’s also used today as an amped up version of Alexandra.  Valentina and Ophelia certainly both fit into the frilly category for me.
-
With that in mind, here are a few thoughts culled from the ancient world:
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Althea
Ariadne
Aurelia
Cosima
Delfina
Eugenia
Flavia
Magdalena
Olympia
Phaedra
Philomena
Sybil
Theodosia
Ursula
Verena
Virginia
Xanthe

-

Ambrose
Barnabas
Bruno
Cassius
Erasmus
Ignatius
Isidore
Julius
Linus
Lucius
Raphael
Solomon
Simeon
Theodore
Theron
Titus
-
Readers, what do you love with Virgil and Hector?
-
Image: Hector Reproaches Paris by Pierre Claude François Delorme

{ 56 comments }

Ana Ortiz Welcomes Son Rafael

by You Can't Call It "It"! on September 25, 2011

Ana Ortiz is my kind of namer. Perhaps it’s the inherent exoticism that comes with choosing a foreign name.  Perhaps it’s that her choices remain familiar, yet relatively unusual in the United States.

Not long ago, she reached out for suggestions.  She needed something for a boy that would work well in English and Spanish, something that paired well with big sister Paloma Louise.  Something that wouldn’t get totally butchered.

We did our best to answer her call.  Reader suggestions were amazing: Abram, Bruno, Gabriel, Leon, Omar, Tomas.  Any of these would have worked beautifully, and I’d love to run into a little Bruno.

Maybe she looked to You Can’t Call It “It”! after all, because her new baby boy’s name was on our original list.

Joining the Ortiz-Lebenzon household?

Rafael.  

I think it’s the perfect mesh for their family.

Did you have similar cross-cultural goals when naming your child?  What was your solution? 

{ 9 comments }

Game On! Change a Letter, Change a Gender

by You Can't Call It "It"! on September 20, 2011

Longtime loyal reader Christina Fonseca came to me with a refreshingly fun concept, and fully fleshed out post entitled “Change a Letter, Change a Gender.”  The idea?  You alter one letter in a name, and it goes from a girl’s to a boy’s name, or visa versa.

Example:

Rocco –> Rocio.  Rocco is an old male saint’s name, and Rocio, which means dewdrop in Spanish, is a commonly given girl’s name in Mexico.

While Christina has probably thought of every configuration under the sun, I thought it would be fun to turn this into a challenge.

How many examples can YOU come up with?*

A few more examples to get the full concept:

Mark –> Mary

Will –> Jill

Glen –> Gwen

*If you want to make it really challenging, see how long a chain you can make, going back and forth between male and female names by changing only one letter each time. 

Christina’s full list will be up on Friday morning.

Image

Christina’s list of the Change A Letter, Change A Gender came in several installments.

 

Change a Letter -> Change the Gender

 

Ada                 Asa
Adah               Adam
Addie              Eddie
Allie                Ollie
Barb                Bart
Basia               Basil
Bess                Jess

Bev                  Ben
Daria              Darin

Day                 Dan
Diane             Duane
Dot                  Dom
Fiona              Fionn

Garnet             Garret
Jane                 Zane
Jen                   Jeb
Jen                   Jed
Jen                   Jet
Judy                Rudy
Lina                 Linc
Marin              Mario
Nan                 Ian
Nancy             Nancy
Rocio              Rocco

Tamar            Lamar
Tess                Jess

 

 

And then there’s Elie, as in Elie Weisel:
Edie
Evie
Exie
Elke
Elle
Else

 

 

Day                 Dag
Day                 Dax
Ellie               Ollie
Grace             Trace
Jayne               Wayne
Josie                Josue
Lark                Lars
Lea                  Leo
Luz                  Luc
Macy               Mack
Mary               Mark
Noa                 Noe
Nora                Norm
Roz                  Rob
Roz                  Rod
Roz                  Ron
Roz                  Roy
Ruby                Rudy
Rue                  Rui (Portuguese name)
Star                  Stan

 

 

Aria                 Arie

Ava                 Asa

Bea                  Ben

Brynn              Bryan

Cara                 Carl

Cate                  Nate

Cari                  Carl

Clara               Clark

Clio                  Elio

Danae             Dante

Day                  Jay

Day                  Ray

Elvia                Elvis

Erin                 Eric

Fay                  Jay

Fay                  Ray

Gwen              Owen

Honor              Conor

Jade                 Jude

Jade                 Cade

Jade                 Wade

Jane                 Dane

Jane                 Jake

Jane                 Jase

Jane                 Kane

Jane                 Lane

Jean                 Dean

Joy                  Job

Joy                  Jon

June                 June

Kara                Karl

Kari                 Kart

Kate                Nate

Kay                 Jay

Kay                 Ray

Kira                Kirk

Lara                Lars

Lea                  Lex

Lilo                 Milo

Lois                 Loic

Malia              Malik

Mandy            Randy

Mara               Marv

Mara               Mark

Marlo              Marco

Marlo              Mario

Mary               Mark

Mary               Marv

May                Jay

May                Ray

Mercy             Percy

Mila                Milo

Nell                 Neal

Nell                 Neil

Olive               Clive

Opal                Oral

Rosa                Ross

Rose                Mose

Rose                Ross

Vera                 Vern

Zoe                  Moe

 

and I’m adding one more: Theodora –> Theodore.  Can you still think of more that haven’t been found?

{ 26 comments }

Blogger Kids

by You Can't Call It "It"! on September 19, 2011

Birthing in the blogosphere was BIG NEWS last week.  Boheme and Reverie made their entrance, as did the as-yet-unnamed first son in the Dill family.  My Cakies also had her fourth daughter, who we’ve yet to announce here:  Joining True, Brave, and Soul?  Glow Amorette.

Yes, blogland is a veritable treasure trove of unusual names.  Some of these blogs, like Baker’s Dozen, actually came across my path because of the children’s names.  Others, like Crib Chronicles and Bijou and Boheme, are written by mamas who go way back with me to early baby name boards, before I started this blog.  Many are kindred name spirits, and all take an interest in one of the first gifts we give a child.  We even helped name a few!

Are they the new reality stars?  Will these blogger children start offshoots of mini trends, as I suspect Archer and Olive already have?

What blogs do you follow?  Are you anxiously awaiting the birth of any blog babies? 

 

Archer Sage, Fable Luella, Boheme Shalom & Reverie Lux – From the much talked about Girl’s Gone Child -See our guesses for the twins here and here.

Divine, Pearl, Olive, Azure, Clover & ??? – No Big Dill; SEW inspiring.

Eleanor Ann & August Ray – Making It Lovely - Mid-century taste and dedication make for a pretty, pretty home.  Find our suggestions for Nicole’s son here.

Finnian, Blaise, & Scout – Doobleh-Vay - A creative soul adept at many diverse endeavors, from writing to toy-making. We also tried to help name Scout!

Fox & Annika – Momfluential; Personal blogger and creator of the media outlet “network of co-conspirators.”

Hudson Paxtyn- Hither & Thither; Wanderlust at its best.

Iris & Jasmine - Pirouette.  Interviews and behind-the-scene looks at the world’s greatest children’s fashion.

Kingston & Harlow - Baby Blackbird.  Kinder style.

Leta & Marlo – Dooce.  The first.

Mia & Claudine - Sweet Fine Day.  A fellow Brooklyn Mama who holds nothing back, and takes the loveliest photos.

Moses & Roman- Oh Happy Day, currently spending a year in Paris.

Nona Plum & Valo June Reverie – Marginamia.  My new name-blog crush.  Find their name stories here and here.

Oscar & Josephine ”Posey” – Crib Chronicles; A must-read for anyone who loves great autobiographical writing.

Philippa Violet “Pippa”, Romilly Alice, Beatrix Joanna, Juniper Lucy- Jodilightful.  They also have one son going through the adoption process, and another baby on the way!  You can read about their name stories here and here.

Ralph Wallace, Maude Emma, Olive Jean , Oscar Stanley Groberg, Betty (no middle), & Flora “June”- Design Mom.  See your suggestions for baby #6 here.

Scarlett & Malcolm – Bijou and Boheme.  Lust-worthy feminine baubles, interiors, and frills.

Tilly, Ezra, Keziah, Boaz, Adalia, Enoch, Judah, Kalina, Jubilee, Mordecai, Hezekiah, Avi, Tucker, Apollo - Baker’s Dozen.  Life with a large family.

True, Brave, Soul & Glow Amorette- My Cakies; California, and the livin’ is easy.

Viola & Frank; Della & Beppe- Dos Family.  After reading this blog I would move to Sweden in a heartbeat.

Vivi Charles - Lay Baby Lay.  New nursery inspiration boards posted weekly.

Wolf – Modern Kiddo.  A one-stop-hop for all things mom + kid vintage.

 

Image via Dos Family

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No Name? No Big Dill.

by You Can't Call It "It"! on September 16, 2011

Do you read the hopelessly creative and utopian blog, No Big Dill?  The Dill family has five beautiful daughters: Divine, Pearl, Olive, Azure, and Clover, and mama just gave birth to their first son.  As of today, he remains nameless.

Let’s help, shall we?  They seem to have a predilection for nature names, but the names largely have Christian undertones to them (the family, like many of the most amazing bloggers out there, is Mormon).  It will be interesting to see if the Dills keep with the same naming traditions they’ve gone with for their daughters, or if this being their only son will have them opt for a more traditional choice.  Will they repeat initials for the first time?

Here are a few names that I feel would fit seemlessly into their crew.  What do you think suits this child? 


Fisher

Forest

Giles

Heath

Indigo

Jasper

Lauro 

Lemuel

Reef

Rowan

Sylvan

Theodore, nn Theo

Zion

{ 49 comments }

January Jones Welcomes A Son

by You Can't Call It "It"! on September 15, 2011

Meet January Jones.  The stylish, charismatic Mad Men beauty is behind one of the most highly anticipated celebrity names of this year.

We have an answer.  Welcome to the world…

Xander Dane Jones. 

It’s an on-trend choice.  Safe enough not to ruffle any feathers, and xingy enough to attend class with Bear and Bing.  Originally a form of Alexander, many parents opt for “just” Xander these days, with its attractive X initial and lack of obvious nickname Alex.  And let’s not forget about the influential Buffy The Vampire Slayer.  Dane makes me wonder if they’re originally from Denmark.  I knew a baby Dane once who wasn’t, and of course it irked the daylights out of me.

The “er” ending is a pleasant alternative to the popular N endings for boys these days.  Jasper, Dexter, and Oliver are all ascending, while Xavier is just starting to slide from a triumphant reign.  Come to think of it, Xander sounds like something you would name Xavier’s little brother in an effort to match.

I’m a little “meh” on the choice overall, but thumbs up for relative normalcy.  Of course I would have preferred to see Alexander on the birth certificate.  What say you, by name-lovin’ readers?  

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