In one of my extra-curricular, non-name  lives, I write about the field of collectibles and in doing so, I’ve amassed several shelves full of books on the subject of dolls. I’ve always been intrigued (surprise, surprise) by the names these kiddie playthings have been given by their makers during various periods, making them kind of  time capsules of trends and popularity during different eras. Of course, the manufacturers tried to pick names that they thought would be especially appealing and attractive to little girls.

1890s-1910s
Unfortunately, few of the gorgeous early French, German and other bebe dolls were given names–they would more likely be identified as “Baby Open-Mouth, Glass Eyes” or “Molded Blonde Hair Child,” leaving the actual bestowing of a name up to the child playing with it. But those with an official ID had names that were typical of their time:

ALMA
FLORENCE
HILDA
JEANETTE
KATIE
LILLY
MABEL
MARIE

1920s
The Patsy series introduced the double names that would soon become prevalent in the population of dollyland. Most of the other names were relatively formal and conventional, some a little on the fancy side.

BENEDETTA
EDWINA
GLORIA
HENRIETTE
LAURA
MARILEE
NORMA
PATSY, PATSY ANN, PATSY JOAN, PATSY RUTH, PATSY MAE, PATSY LOU
PHYLLIS
PRISCILLA
RITA
ROBERTA
ROSEMARY

1930s
The inclusion of middle names like Ann and Lee now became quasi-ubiquitous; also seen are time-stamped Bobbsey Twinish nicknames like Flossie and Ginger.

BARBARA ANN, BARBARA LOU
DORA LEE
FLOSSIE
GINGER
HILDA
LUCIA (Italian doll)
MARY LEE
JUNE
NANCY LEE
PATRICIA
PEGGY JEAN
ROBERTA
SALLY
SHIRLEY (Temple, of course)
SUZANNE, SUZETTE
WENDY, WENDY-ANN

1940s
Nickname names take over–Barbara Ann is now Babs and Patricia has become Patty.

BABS
BETTY JANE
CYNTHIA
DEBBY
JEAN
JENNIE
JUDY
JULIE
MAGGIE
MARY JANE
PATTY
PEGGY
POLLY
SUE
TRUDY
VALERIE
VELVA
WANDA

A wide range of names for early Baby Boomers, with fresher choices like Karen, Cheryl and Cindy entering the mix.

1950s

APRIL
BECKY
BERYL
BETSY
BINNIE
BONNIE
CAROL
CHERYL
CINDY
CONNIE
DAWN
EDIE
ELISE
ELLIE
ELOISE
GINNY
HOPE
IVA
JAN
JILL
JULIE
KAREN
KAY
LINDA
LUCY
MARGIE
MARGOT
MUFFIE
NAN/NANETTE
PAMELA
PAT
POSIE
ROSEMARY
RUTHIE
SANDRA SUE
SARA ANN
SARALEE
SUSIE
TAFFY
TINA
TONI
WANDA
WENDY
WINNIE

1960s
Includes names emerging from and reflecting popular culture, such as First Lady Jacqueline, Marlo, Tabitha and Tammy.

BARBIE (debuted in 1959)
CATHY
COCO
CRISSY
ELISE
FRANCIE
HEIDI
JANIE
JACQUELINE
KATIE
LESLIE
LIZ
MARLO
MARY ELLEN
MIDGE
POLLY
SALLY
STACEY
TABITHA
TAMMY

1970s
Names become much more imaginative in the Swinging 70s, with new and unconventional choices popping up on doll boxes, including Cricket, Harmony, Tiffany, Tuesday and Velvet.

BLYTHE
CARA
CINNAMON
CORA
CYNTHIA
CRISSY
CRICKET
DARCI
DAWN
DINA
GLORI
HARMONY
HEATHER LYNN
KERRY
MELANIE
MIA
SASHA
SHERYL
STEFFIE
TARA
TIFFANY
TUESDAY
VELVET

Parents in search of names emblematic of a new masculine image for their sons are also looking toward ethnic choices unknown in the U.S. just a few years ago.

The inspiration?  To some extent, it’s celebrities, from actors like Joaquin Phoenix to star dog trainer Cesar Millan to Heidi Klum’s son Johan, Jennifer Connelly’s Stellan, and Madonna’s Rocco.

And then there’s simply our widening global sensibility, taking in more and more images and cultural cues from around the world.  When it comes to boys’ names, these names may symbolize a more enlightened masculine image, or at least a fresh one.  Whether the name is Irish or Latino, African or French, we may see that exotic guy as being more stylish and more sophisticated and definitely more worldly than our regular old Bills and Jims.

Here, a selection of new ethnic choices for boys on the U.S. popularity list.  And don’t forget to take our poll on the new masculine names at the end of the column!

Amari
Andre
Andres
Axel
Braydon
Cesar
Connor
Cortez
Cruz
Declan
Enzo
Finn
Gianni
Giovanni
Hugo
Ivan
Jamari
Joaquin
Johan
Jonas
Kellen
Kieran
Killian
Liam
Luca
Malachi
Matteo
Mekhi
Milo
Omar
Orlando
Owen
Rafael
Raul
Rocco
Santiago
Santino
Soren
Stellan
Valentino
Xavier

The grooviest type of new names for boys are the surname names, either the real – Carson, Hunter, Porter – or those that simply have a surname look and feel, such as Drake or Deacon.

Okay, okay, I know there are people with the surnames Drake and Deacon, Gunner and Ryder, but I don’t think that’s why those names are popular.  It’s more that they aren’t conventional first names that’s important, I think, than that they fit any other kind of mold.

In terms of names that convey the new masculine image, the huge surnameish trend is interesting because it makes boys’ names in some ways more formal and traditional than they were before.  What sounds more imposing, after all:  Jefferson or Jeff?  Jacoby or plain old Jake?

It may be the move away from family names – when’s the last time someone you know named their baby a junior? – as well as from religious and ethnic strictures is what makes these new names for boys so appealing to parents.  Names like Fletcher and Hayden convey the aura of family lineage and power without any of the nasty obligations: no endless Thanksgiving dinners or visiting Uncle Theodore in the nursing home to make sure you sew up your inheritance.

Rather, you can wear these faux family names as lightly as a Ralph Lauren sweater.  And on a similarly shallow note, the surname trend is partly inspired by celebrities and their characters who are often called by their last names: Beckham (a big winner in the 2008 popularity poll), Chandler, and Donovan, for instance.

While these names are all prominent on the 2008 popularity list for boys, many are of course used for girls too.  In the past, once a name crossed to the girls’ side, many parents abandoned it for boys, but that’s not happening as much today — a positive development, we think.  For a closer look on surname names and gender identity, see our blog on unisex names.

REAL SURNAMES

Beckham
Blake
Brennan
Bryson
Carson
Chandler
Clay
Cohen
Cole
Dawson
Donovan
Fisher
Fletcher
Grady
Grayson, Greyson
Griffin
Hayden
Hudson
Hunter
Jackson
Jacoby
Jagger
Kane
Landon
Lennon
Lincoln
Logan
Maddox
Marley
Mason
Nolan
Parker
Pierce
Porter
Quinn
Reid or Reed
Riley
Ronan
Rowan
Tanner
Tucker
Weston

FAUX SURNAMES

Braxton
Brock
Caden, Kaden and bros
Colton and Colten
Corbin
Dallas
Dalton
Dane
Deacon
Devin
Drake
Easton
Gunner
Jaxon
Jett
Kade
Keegan
Kelvin
Kingston
Kobe
Kyler
Maverick
Paxton
Peyton
Reese or Reece (or the Welsh Rhys)
Ryder
Ryker
Rylan
Sage
Slade
Talon
Tate
Trace
Trey
Trip or Tripp
Wade
Zayden et al

Tomorrow, new boys’ names imported from around the world.

While girls’ names are arguably more interesting – there are more of them, with more variations, and they move up and down the popularity ladder more nimbly – boys’ names are where the real baby-naming story lies today.

Parents are virtually reinventing the genre, abandoning traditional masculine names that have ruled for centuries in favor of a new brand of names for boys.  These might be ancient names resurrected from the Bible or mythology, established surnames reconstituted as firsts, ethnic choices newly imported to our shores, or – most frequently – names invented to suit the current style.

All these different types of names yield the same result: They identify a new type of boy.  He’s decidedly masculine, yet not conventionally so.  He’s strong, yet individualistic; he nods to tradition, but doesn’t necessarily follow it.

Our sons, parents seem to be saying via these new boys’ names, are neither sissified nor the same old Dicks and Johns to be shoehorned into some outmoded macho mold.  These names herald a quiet revolution in the way parents view their little boys and, by extension, in the way they’ll raise them.

Are we putting too much stock in the power of names to affect a change in something as fundamental as gender roles?  Actually, we think it’s the other way around: The vision of gender is changing, for boys as well as girls, and the new boys’ names reflect that.

This week, we’ll look at some of the new masculine choices moving up the popularity list.  The first group are the old names made new again.

Asher

Atticus

August

Caleb

Cyrus

Ezra

Felix

Garrett

Gideon

Isaac

Isaiah

Jadon (though it’s used less often in this original form than as the nouveau Jaden, Jayden et al)

Josiah

Levi

Maximus

Moses

Nehemiah

Odin

Orion

Roman

Romeo

Sebastian

Solomon

Titus

Tobias

Tristan

Zachariah

Tomorrow: Surname names, real and synthetic, for the new brand of boy.

In a recent blog, one half of the Nameberry partnership suggested ten neglected names–five for girls and five for boys– names that aren’t receiving the attention or popularity they deserve. Now here are ten more from the other half–names that have been consistent favorites of mine, but which have never really caught fire despite our recommendations. (I should add that two of the names on the first list–Barnaby and Dinah–have been enduring loves of mine as well–in fact Dinah was the runner up to Chloe when I was naming my daughter.)

So, from the Land of Lost Opportunities:
 
AMITY.  Unlike her solid, serious, one-syllable virtue-name cousins Hope, Grace and Faith, Amity has a lacy delicacy as well the wonderful meaning of friendship.  And yet it has not appeared in the Top 1000 in 150 years.  The same is true of the similarly neglected VERITY, which also has the attraction of a trendy V-beginning and the meaning of truth.

DUNCAN. This handsome Scottish name has always been near the top of my boy favorites list, for its combination of sophistication and bounce. It has literary cred from Shakespeare (Macbeth) to James Fenimore Cooper (The Last of the Mohicans). Though it hasn’t been completely neglected –it reached as high as 377 in the late 90s heyday of D-names like Dylan, Dustin and Dalton–it’s never been fully appreciated. Could Dunkin’ Donuts be to blame?

GENEVA. Believe it or not, this was quite a common name a century ago, in the very low one hundreds in the first two decades of the 20th century. Being one of the original place names, with the long-popular Gen-Jen beginning (and logical nickname), it’s surprising that it hasn’t been picked up on in the modern age.

JANE. Whatever happened to Baby Jane?  Once ubiquitous, it has virtually disappeared, and while the names of several of Jane Austen heroines have succeeded, her own name has not. I’ve never thought Jane was plain, seeing it as much more vibrant than cousins Joan and Jean. It makes a  sweet, old-fashioned middle name too–moving away from dated Mary Jane to cooler combinations like Ethan Hawke’s Clementine Jane.

LARS. One of a number of appealing Scandinavian names that have never made their mark in this country, Lars is strong, straightforward, friendly, and a touch exotic–a perfect choice for someone seeking a distinctive no-nickname name or a namesake for a Grandpa Lawrence. (And for those who like the en/-an-ending trend, there are also SOREN, KELLEN, and STELLAN.)

 LIONEL. Not quite as obviously leontine as Leo or Leon (of which it’s a French diminutive), Lionel has a lot of multi-dimensional cred, as a Knight of the Round Table, and in the jazz and TV-character worlds. Runner-up: the Welsh LLEWELYN, if only for its cool double-L nicknames–Llew, Lleu and Llelo.

MIRABEL, MIRABELLE. The perfect alternative for those tiring of the mega-popular Isabel and Annabel and Miranda, this is another choice that has never reached the Top 1000, despite its feminine charm and accessibility. It can also be considered a nature name, as mirabelle is the name of a variety of sweet yellow plum. Italian version MIRABELLA is another winner.

POLLY. Why Molly and not Polly?  I’ve never understood the enduring  popularity of the one and the neglect of the other, both being vintage rhyming nicknames for Mary. The disparity might be accounted for by the childlike, innocent, pigtailed, Pollyannaish (and maybe avian) image of Polly, a name which has hardly been heard since the 70s, (except maybe for Mattel’s Polly Pocket dolls), having peaked on the charts in 1881!  I say it’s time for a revival.

REMY. A French name that’s not as effete as Anatole or Antoine. Au contraire. Remy–meaning someone from the city of Rheims and sometimes associated with the Cajun cadences of New Orleans– is lively and charming, with just a pungent whiff of cognac.  Kids will relate it to the plucky rat chef hero of Ratatouille.

ZEBEDEE. A distinctive Biblical name with zip as well as gravitas, belonging to the fisherman who was father to two of the twelve disciples, James and John. Other pluses: the cool initial Z and the cool nickname Zeb.