New Baby Names: Debuts on the pop list, from Aleph to Zephyrus
Posted May 16th, 2012
Over 1500 new baby names joined the Social Security extended list this year, 641 boys’ names and 896 names for girls. Nephele, one of the original Berries, tallied all the new baby names for us from the complete list of names given to five or more children in the U.S. in 2011.
Are there any gems in the bunch? A couple, which we will highlight for you in a moment. For the most part, though, the new baby names are either kreeatif spellings of old names – Cathrynn and Zakarri – or inventions such as Dhyey and Blessn unlikely to inspire many imitators.
Still, the names below are notable for a variety of reasons:
girls
ACE – We’ve been hearing more boys named Ace, but think it’s a cute nickname-name for a girl.
ANSON – If you’re on board with the Emerson-Jensen style names for girls, Anson is one that might honor an ancestral Ann.
ARLINGTON – Of all the fresh place name possibilities, this one is particularly attractive. Read the rest of this entry »
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Favorite Baby Names: Your Personal Top 10?
Posted May 15th, 2012
Popular baby names are the Number 1 topic of the week, but today we thought we’d turn the tables and ask instead about favorite baby names. What are your personal Top 10 names for each gender?
The criteria: Those you love best, period. Put them in order, with Number 1 your very favorite on down. Or hey, if that’s too hard, just give us your ten best in any particular order.
And if you can’t come up with ten for each gender, then list as many as you can think of!
Whether or not your personal favorite baby names are favorites with anybody else doesn’t matter. But if you’d like to add commentary on how popularity or family or your personal history factors into your decision, it would be very welcome.
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Popular Baby Names: Tops of the un-pops
Posted May 14th, 2012
This week, Appellation Mountain‘s Abby Sandel looks beyond the Top 1000 most popular baby names list to find some still undiscovered goodies.
Wasn’t yesterday a little bit like a birthday/Fourth of July/belated Mother’s Day celebration all rolled into one? I’ll admit it: I hung up on my own mother to watch The Today Show announcement.
Most of us – whether we’re due next month or many years away from starting a family – immediately search a few key names. If you were hoping to keep your favorite all to yourself, there might have been disappointing news on May 14. Adele and Olive both rose. So did Willow and Beatrice, Declan and Archer, Nico and Enzo. Penelope was up, and Ezra, too. Berries tend to be ahead of the curve, but the wider world does eventually catch on.
But fear not – there is a silver lining. Search for stylish, appealing appellations that remain unranked and outside of the spotlight, and there are plenty to choose from.
I spent yesterday looking for what isn’t on the much-awaited list. Read the rest of this entry »
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Popular Baby Names: Sophia, Jacob new Number 1s!
Posted May 14th, 2012
The most popular baby names of 2011 are officially here, with Sophia unseating Isabella to become the the new top girls’ name in the U.S..
Jacob remains the most popular name for boys for the 13th year in a row. An Old Testament name that means “supplanter” and a cousin of James, Jacob has been in the Top Ten for nearly two decades.
The Social Security Administration announced the 2011 Most Popular Baby Names on The Today Show this morning.
The complete Top Ten are:
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Is It True? Sophia, Jacob New #1s!
Posted May 10th, 2012
Nameberry exclusive! Sophia and Jacob are the new Number 1 names, according to the headline of a press release posted briefly on the Social Security website and just as quickly taken down. A sharp-eyed Berry alerted us to the possible leak. The Most Popular Names 2011 announcement was supposed to have been made today, but was postponed until Monday morning on The Today Show. But Nameberry may have just scooped NBC, thanks to our wonderful Berries! xxxx
And now on to our regularly scheduled program. This year, Nameberry says Happy Mother’s Day by saluting the best baby-naming celebs who have become moms since last Mother’s Day–some for the first time, some not. We’re staying away from the more extreme choices (so sorry, Mariah and Beyonce and Jessica), in favor of those that have shown an elegant sense of style, a degree of creativity–and in a few cases some ingenuity by unearthing some great buried treasures.
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Popular Names: Your 2011 predictions, please!
Posted May 8th, 2012
The official list of U.S. Most Popular Names 2011 will be revealed this Friday, and so in advance of that announcement, we’re asking YOU to predict:
What do you think will be the 2011 Most Popular Names?
Will Jacob and Isabella hold their top spots? If not, which names do you think will make it to Number 1?
What about the Top 10? There’s a prize (see below) for the first person to guess correctly!
In 2010, these were the Top 10 names for girls and boys:
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International Faves: Top names across the globe
Posted May 7th, 2012
As we eagerly await the revelation of what the top names were in the US last year, we thought it might be fun to see what international faves were heading the lists in other parts of the world. Which American favorites were also among the three preferred choices in other countries (Jacob in Argentina, Noah in Belgium)? And which names shone internationally in their local variations (eg Lucas, Lukas, Luka). Are there some less familiar names worthy of importing (Florencia? Zuzanna? Noam?).
We’ve taken a look at the three highest-ranking names across the globe in the last year counted and here are the most interesting results, with the American rankings for comparison.
Girls
Alice—#2 in Sweden (Number 172 in the US)
Ava—#3 in Scotland (Number 5 in the US) Read the rest of this entry »
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Retro Baby Names: Dorothy, Gloria, Maxine and Estelle, the latest comeback kids
Posted May 6th, 2012
In perusing the baby name news of the week, Abby Sandel of Appellation Mountain documents the latest developments in the trend for retro baby names.
We all know that names drift out of fashion and then slowly find their way back into style. But when is it time for a comeback – and how do you know?
This week’s big baby name noise has been about Jessica Simpson’s use of two family names for her new daughter, combined for the masculine Maxwell Drew. Parents of boys called Max everywhere accused the celeb mom of name-napping and general bad taste.
But maybe we’re all missing something. Rumor has it that Simpson plans to call her daughter Maxi – a sassy retro choice that fits right in with Sadie and Sophie. Could it be that Jessica’s faux pas is really an invitation to dive right into names from the 1910s?
And why stop there? This week also saw high profile birth announcements drawing on favorites from the 1920s to the 1980s. Read the rest of this entry »
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Boys’ Names: Names gone wild
Posted May 3rd, 2012
What’s with the fashion for fierceness in boys’ names? We see it as a wish to recapture traditional male strength and power along with an impulse to leave conventional civilization behind. These names suggest old school bad boys in a brave new world, one in which boys still throw rocks and ride dirt bikes but also wear earrings and headbands.
Here are the fierce names we’re hearing today:
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Political Names: Which ones would you vote for?
Posted May 2nd, 2012
Canadian guest blogger Abby Simpson, of The Name Station, takes us today into the realm of political names--past and present.
People say that few subjects are more controversial than politics, but sometimes politics has nothing on the often polarizing world of baby names! While some parents seek to avoid politically-inspired baby names at any cost, there are others whose passions drive them to use politically-inspired monikers from Thatcher to Reagan to Hillary, and even Chad.
So whether you need a list of names worth avoiding as we get closer to the U.S. election in November, or a list of names to inspire, this entry is as inclusive as politicians aim to be.
Reagan – the quintessential Republican hero has a surname that’s found relatively common use as a name through the years, though more for girls than boys. But if you’re looking for a more current GOP name, then why not Romney? Similar to hot Rom- names like Romy, Roman, and Romilly, the likely Republican presidential candidate has a gender-neutral name that could be shortened to Romy or Rome. Other notable past Republicans with names to inspire? Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Simpson Grant, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, and even Sarah Palin. Read the rest of this entry »
