Two of the biggest success stories in boys’ names in recent years have been Peyton and Eli, which are of course the names of the football-playing Manning brothers.  Names of sports stars often prove inspirational, and in this Super Bowl weekend it makes sense to look at football names.

As with other celebrities, being attached to a fantastic player with personal appeal is not enough to catapult a name to stardom.  The name itself has to have something going for it too.

LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers is one of the best players today, for instance, but parents are hardly rushing out to honor him by using his less-than-easy name for their sons.  Plus, many football greats just have regular guy names, like Larry Fitzgerald and Ben Roethlisburger, two of the stars of this weekend’s contest.

Still, football abounds with creative names you might find inspiring for your own little athlete-to-be.  Here, some fascinating choices from the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, the teams playing this weekend.

ANQUAN Boldin

BYRON Leftwich

CALAIS Campbell

CHIKE Okeafor

DESHEA Townsend

DEUCE Lutui

DONOVAN Woods  (McNabb made this appealing name famous)

EARLY Doucet

EDGERRIN James

ENOKA Lucas

FERNANDO Bryant

HEATH Miller

HINES Ward

IKE Taylor

KARLOS Dansby

KEYARON Fox

LEVI Brown

MEWEDDE Moore

ORPHEUS Roye

SANTONIO Holmes

TRAI Essex

TROY Polanalu

And in case you’re wondering, the football above is a real birth announcement.  Football fan expectant parents can order it at Lullabye Baby.

Today, guest blogger SUSAN CHESNEY leads us through the name paths related to America’s glorious national parks.

My family and I love nothing more than to visit as many National Parks as we can. We’ve been to twenty-six of them, from Acadia in Maine to the Everglades in Florida to Haleakala and Hawaiian Volcanoes. It’s amazing that we didn’t name our children after one–we were only thinking of classic names then (we did name our son Peter, which comes from the Greek Petros, meaning stone, as in Yellowstone)–because they are such a treasure trove of possibilities.  Not only the parks themselves but the waterfalls, mountains and beaches within them have distinctive names. The passion I feel for National Parks is captured so perfectly by the artful names given to these places. Who, for example, can say Shenandoah without crossing into the past, into less complicated times?

So here is a list of National Park-related names:

ACADIA
ALBERTA (falls–Rocky Mountain)
ANSEL (park photographer Ansel Adams)
ARCHER, ARCHIE (Arches)
ASH (mountain–Sequoia and Kings Canyon)
BRYCE
CAMERON (lake–Waterton-Glacier)
CANYON
CARMEN (mountain range–Big Bend)
CRUZ (bay–Virgin Islands)
DENALI
ECHO (lake–Acadia)
ELEANOR (lake–Yosemite)
ELENA (canyon–Big Bend)
ELIAS (Wrangell-St. Elias)
EMERALD (ridge–Mt. Rainier)
EVER (Everglades)
GUADALUPE
HALLE (Haleakala)
ISIS (temple–Grand Canyon)
JASPER (forest–Petrified Forest)
JOSHUA (Joshua Tree)
JUNIPER (canyon–Big Bend)
KATMAI
KENAI (Kenai Fjords)
KING (Kings Canyon)
KOBUK (Kobuk Valley)
LASSEN (Lassen Volcanic)
MARIPOSA (grove–Yosemite)
MESA (Mesa Verde)
MOAB
MUIR (naturalist John Muir who helped save Yosemite)
OLYMPIA (Olympic)
QUINCY (mountain–Gates of the Arctic)
RAINIER
ROYALE (Isle Royale)
SAGE (creek–Badlands)
SEQUOIA
SHASTA (mountain near Lassen Volcanic)
SHENANDOAH
SMOKY (Great Smoky Mountains)
STONE (Yellowstone)
SULLIVAN (bay–Voyageurs)
VERDE (Mesa Verde)
TIRZAH (peak–Mt. Rainier)
ZION

SUSAN CHESNEY, a graduate of Art Center College of Design, was the president of a graphics company for twelve years. She lives near Pasadena, California with her husband Kent, daughter Laura (son Peter lives nearby), dog Roxanne Louise and cat Moses Malone.

The names of characters from the television shows that we watched when we were young often stick with us forever, from kiddie shows to teen-oriented programs to favorite sitcoms.  Grover, Oscar, Kermit–those Muppetish images are hard to shake: Oscar seems to have recovered from his Grouchiness, but Kermit might stay green forever.  Ditto the shows we might have been glued to through our school years–especially if they happened to feature a teen idol.

A name from an old TV show might remain with us because we found it especially appealing, or if it was attached to a favorite character, or perhaps if we hadn’t heard the name before, giving it a fresh resonance.  Here’s a list of some examples from the past few decades that fit one or more of those criteria and which might inspire a baby name choice today. (Some of the shows continued running from one decade to the next, but we’ve listed them under the one they started in.)

1970s TELEVISION SHOWS

ALMANZO — Little House on the Prairie

BAILEY  (girl)– WKRP in Cincinnati

BARNABY — Barnaby Jones

BLAIR — The Facts of Life

BO –The Dukes of Hazzard

DAISY —  The Dukes of Hazzard

FLORIDA — Good Times

ISAAC — The Love Boat

JOSIE — Josie & the Pussycats

SABRINA — Charlie’s Angels

TANNER — The Bad News Bears

1980s TELEVISION SHOWS

ADDISON — Moonlighting

ALEXIS — Dynasty

BRUNO — Fame

CHASE — Falcon’s Crest

COCO — Fame

COLT — The Fall Guy

LEONARDO — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

LILITH — Cheers

LIBERTY — De Grassi, The Last Generation

MADDIE — Moonlighting

MALLORY — Family Ties

MURPHY — Murphy Brown

SUMMER — Baywatch

THEO — The Cosby Show

WINNIE — The Wonder Years

ZAX — Benji, Zax & The Alien Prince

1990s TELEVISION SHOWS

AIDAN — Sex in the City

ANGEL — Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Angel

AVERY — Murphy Brown

BRIGHT — 7th Heaven

CORDELIA  – Buffy the Vampire Slayer

COSMO — Seinfeld

DAWSON — Dawson’s Creek

FELICITY — Felicity

FOX  —   The X-Files

GENEVA —  Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper

GRIFFIN — Party of Five

JOSIAH — The West Wing

MABEL  — Mad About You

MAYA — Just Shoot Me

MEADOW — The Sopranos

MICHAELA  – Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman

MIRANDA  – Sex in the City

OWEN — Party of Five

PIPER — Charmed

PO — Teletubbies

PRUE  —  Charmed

SIX — Blossom

URSULA — Mad About You

XANDER — Buffy the Vampire Slayer

XENA — XENA: The Warrior Princess

WILLOW —  Buffy the Vampire Slayer

ZOEY — Cybill/Zoey 101

Do you have your own nostalgic favorites? Is there one that you’ve actually used or would consider using for your child? (more…)

Ryan is the Number One name in New York City — for Asian baby boys.  Kevin is a top choice among Asian parents too.

Ethnic names are getting more and more popular, and not only among people from “matching” ethnic backgrounds.  Irish choices like Ryan and Kevin — and Aidan/Aiden, Connor/Conor, Kennedy and Riley — have been favored by parents of all ethnic backgrounds for several years now.

Spanish names are gaining in popularity too.  Americans originally from Spanish-speaking countries are more likely now than they were in the past to choose names with a Spanish flavor, from such classics as Jose and Maria to Angel, Sofia, and Bianca.

The Latin trend has been influential in a more general way, with elaborate feminine forms such as Isabella, Gabriella, and Adrianna gathering steam, along with o-ending boys’ names such as Carlo and Mateo.

Parents whose French, Italian, Russian, or African forebears emigrated generations ago are now more than ever looking back to the old country as a source for names. Choosing something with ethnic significance is a way to infuse your child’s name with personal meaning and to help establish your child’s identity in the larger world.

Sometimes, a name may be a way to assert an ethnic strain that might otherwise not be visible. Because we used my husband’s Czech last name, for example, I wanted our first child’s name to be Irish, the strongest part of my background. We considered Bridget (my grandmother’s name), Siobhan, and Kerry before settling on Rory.

But what if you like French names in the same way you prefer French food and Parisian clothes: for their style value? If you’re attracted to the romance of Italian names like Chiara and Paolo, even though your family is a blend of Jewish and Caribbean, or if your last name is Wong but you, like hundreds of other Wongs, want to name your son Ryan?

Nothing wrong with that, we say. The world of names — thanks to online sources and parents’ adventurousness — is getting wider every day, and the process of choosing the perfect name for your baby is more interesting and more meaningful for it.

Ava is one of the biggest recent baby name success stories, jumping from almost the bottom of the Top 1000 twenty years ago to #4 last year–and it could be heading for #1. I’m certainly hearing it everywhere I go, in the street and in the supermarket, and seeing it on popularity lists worldwide. This brings to mind two questions: A) What can you substitute if you like Ava but don’t want such a trendy name? and B) Is Ava the name that will knock Emily out of top place or will it be one of the other leading contenders?

Here are a few ideas if you’re looking for an answer to A:

AVALON. Deriving from the Celtic word for apple, this is a very romantic place name–it was an island paradise in Celtic and Arthurian legend where it was a beautiful island renowned for its luscious apples, the place where King Arthur’s sword Excalibur was forged. In the present day, it’s the main city on the California island of Catalina.
Starbaby namesake? Daughter of 24 and Heroes actress Rena Sofer.

AVERY. If you’re looking for an alternative with a unisex-surname spin, this is it. The only problem is that Avery is pursuing Ava up the popularity list–and also, if you care about literal meanings, ‘Elf ruler’ doesn’t have much revelance in the modern world.
Starbaby namesake? Daughter of Angie Harmon & Jason Sehorn. NEWS FLASH: Amy Locane just had a daughter she named Avery Hope.

AVIS. A vintage birdlike name which, like cousin Mavis, was once more popular in England; here the dated ’s’ ending (as in Doris and Phyllis) and the rental-car connection lessened its chances. But now it’s old-time, funky feel gives it some degree of nostalgic charm.
Starbaby namesake? Daughter of Baldwin brother Daniel.

EVA. Several glamorous Evas–Longoria, Mendes, Green–have given Eva a popularity boost. But bear in mind that in several cultures Eva is pronounced Ava, so though it may not look as trendy, the sound’s the same.
Starbaby namesake? Dixie Chick Martie Maguire’s twin daughter.

ADA. Sounding as fusty as Ava did ten years ago, Ada is in line for a possible piggyback revival. Trivia tidbit: Ava Lovelace, daughter of the poet Byron, is considered to have been the very first “computer programmer,” 19th century style.
Starbaby namesake? Not yet.

NOW TO QUESTION B–Do you think it will be Ava or some other name that will be the first to knock Emily out of top place?