BRITISH BABY NAMES: Quirky & Charming

June 4th, 2009 at 7:20 am

BRITISH BABY NAMES: Quirky & Charming – Baby Name Blog – Nameberry…

In the examples of recent British baby names below, you’ll notice that lovely antique first names are combined with surnames are mixed up with nicknames, and that once in a while a word name – Rabbit, Reckless – is stuck in, ……

June 4th, 2009 at 9:45 am

I took your advice and looked through the telegraph and it certainly is replete with incredible, eccentric but beautiful names.

I like particularly:
Iona Kitty Cardwell
Clementine Diana Rose

However I can’t help but feel day for a child named Loveday Hedgcock, listed as a sibling for a son named Jem.

June 4th, 2009 at 10:25 am

It was meant to read I can’t help but feel BAD for a child named Loveday Hedgcock

June 4th, 2009 at 11:02 am

I ended up going with British names for my kids, starting with my oldest born in the 90’s: he’s Alexander Jasper Davis, nicknamed Alec (but his dad wanted to call him Jasper). His sis, also born in the 90’s, is Arabella Sydonie Foster. The littlest one, more recent, is Gemma but the middle names are more Welsh: Arwen Eressea.

June 4th, 2009 at 11:07 am

What great names! I’m wondering if someone could tell me what Princess Diana’s wedding blunder was though. I’m sure I could figure it out myself with google, but I thought I’d ask first and save myself the time!

June 4th, 2009 at 11:13 am

What are some newspapers from major American cities that post birth announcements online? I enjoyed looking at the British ones and thought I’d browse the equivalent for New York or LA, but I haven’t been able to find any.

June 4th, 2009 at 11:13 am

Sorry, I should have spelled it out: When she was saying her wedding vows, she stumbled over a couple of Prince Charles’ many middle names.

June 4th, 2009 at 11:16 am

As for Birth Announcements, we see them in small town papers and hospital newsletters, but I don’t know of any major paper that runs them anymore. On the other hand, the British government has stopped compiling and publishing national name popularity statistics because of budget cuts, so for England we’re back to tracking name trends via birth announcements.

June 4th, 2009 at 12:19 pm

I love those names! A lot of “British” names (Poppy, Daisy, Imogen, Alice) are rather popular down here too, and I think it’s lovely. I think we can alldefinitely take cues from the British (and Scots and Irish, too)… Jemima, Beatrice, Alasdair, Hamish, Angus, Brighid, Siobhan, Sinead… stunning names but sadly underused

June 4th, 2009 at 12:57 pm

These names are right up my alley… I’m a single middle name gal, but love seeing all the combinations. My first has a British name (for her dad’s home country and because we liked it) and I suspect a second will likely have another British name… some of the names above are on our short-list. Love the post!

June 4th, 2009 at 1:45 pm

Willow Serena May is beautiful!

June 4th, 2009 at 1:52 pm

Beautiful indeed! Why can’t we do these kind of individual combinations more often? Names that “flow” too often put you to sleep. Let’s shake it up!

June 4th, 2009 at 3:57 pm

Good point, Pam. I wonder why name “flow” is so important to us Americans.

June 4th, 2009 at 4:35 pm

Maybe the trick is to stop thinking of middle names as different from first names and just choose two or three (or four) names you really love and string them all together. After all, most of us don’t get to name very many children these days, so we might as well get all the names we love in there!

June 4th, 2009 at 5:34 pm

Last year, I recorded every single name that appeared in the Times and Telegraph birth announcements, and here are some beauties from the 2008 lists:

Alice Margaret Mary
Edith Eleanor Clementine
Elizabeth Ophelia Boudica Joy
Elodie Genevieve Isabel Clare
Elodie Lily Octavia Mae
Emily Martha Constance
Florence Kitty Rose
Jemima Clemency Rose
Lucinda Rose Charlotte Mary
Matilda Doris Rose
Penelope Elizabeth Anne
Violet Mary Myrtle

Albert Nathaniel Angelo
Alexander Hamish William
Benedict William Murray
Charles Benedict Rex
Edward Oswald Benedict
Hamish William Fergus
Henry Christopher Montague
Isaac Rodolphus Badian
Oliver Finbarr Andrew
Rex Anthony Octavian
Rufus Edward Baskerville Cadwallader
Theodore Barclay Raven Beville
Wilfred Robert Hawksmoor
William Thomas Ernest
Willoughby Frederick Charles

Pam – you will be pleased to hear that The Office of National Statistics for England & Wales have now said they will be producing a list of the most popular names for 2008. It should be available in July or early August.

June 4th, 2009 at 8:15 pm

Some of these names are wonderful!
My favorites:
Beatrice Isabella Catherine
Evangeline Sophia Kate (Gorgeous!)
Pearl Amelia Rose
Milo George Thomas
Toby James Hedley

The not-so-good ones:
Millie Mary Holly
Wilbur Willis Benjamin

God, I love British names! Lol

June 4th, 2009 at 9:33 pm

These are such fun!!! Thalia Violetta Carlisle is indeed gorgeous. Ivo William Casimir is my other love here.

Regarding the middles, I get the impression that most of them honor family, but maybe that’s exactly the impression we’re supposed to get? They also seem to favor alliteration, as is evidenced by Millie Mary and Wilbur Willis above.

On my blog I’ve accumulated many standouts (to me) over the past year. It’ll save you time if you don’t want to be up until 4 a.m.

http://youcantcallitit.com/category/british-names/

June 4th, 2009 at 9:44 pm

Loveday Hedgcock is so quietly British – I love it! If we would have had two girls in our trip set I would have used it with Honor. Alfred, Honor and Loveday. Sigh – so can someone explain if we liked Honor so much why we call her by her middle name?

June 5th, 2009 at 2:34 am

My daughter’s name is Roseanna Ruth Adeline and I like to think it “flows” despite the length!

Those are truly some beautiful name combinations.

June 5th, 2009 at 8:52 am

I love British names. My grandma had a long collection which was Emma Pearl Bridget Mary Josephine, and her mother was Lilly Alexa Leah Mary Louise.

June 5th, 2009 at 12:25 pm

I think name “flow” is important to some degree. After all, it’s good to choose individual names that please us, but we should want the combined effect to sound pleasing as well.

That being said, I get very tired of filler middles chosen just for flow. Grace and Marie are NOT the only rhythmically pleasing middle names. In fact, I think most of the combos above flow just fine. I especially like:
Cecilia Katherine Ottilie
Dorothea Isobel Anne
Evangeline Sophia Kate
Willow Serena May
Ivo William Casimir
Maximilian Arthur Bennett

Even fairly rhythmically bland combos (like Joseph Saxon Wallace or India Isabel Mary) can have a beauty of their own.

But Millie Mary Holly? No. It’s just not pretty. It sounds far too sing-songy when said together. While each of these names is beautiful in isolation, this combo takes the beauty away from each name. I’d say it’s the only one above that really doesn’t “work” for me at all.

June 6th, 2009 at 11:51 am

My great grandmother was Maggie Esther Violet. I just love it. Since this is my last baby I’m definietly going to fit an extra name in there somewhere. Off to see the London Times birth announcements now.

June 6th, 2009 at 12:32 pm

The Irish Times also lists birth announcements at irishtimes.com/notices.

June 7th, 2009 at 7:26 pm

Some of these are just gorgeous! I’m considering two mns for my future children and these just fuel the fire… I especially like the boy’s names because they include some classics but make a unique overall.
FAVES:
Beatrice Isabella Catherine — I’m loving Beatrice.
Cecilia Katherine Ottilie — darling!
Christabel Charlotte Silvia — love Christabel!
Dorothea Isobel Ann — so old fashioned and sweet.
Eilidh Anne Muir — I had to look up the fn pron. (Ay lee) — quite a lovely name.
Elisabeth (Elsie) Sarah Joyce — well balanced!
Elspeth Alice Eugénie — love it!
Evangeline Sophia Kate — sweet!
India Isabel Mary — modern and classic!
Maizie Anne Patricia — love the variation on Maisie.
Matilda (Tillie) Ivy Fiona — cute, cute.
Pearl Amelia Rose — darling.
Ruby Anne Mora — I love Mora!
Tatiana Adairia Lucy — so frilly!
Thalia Violetta Carlisle — the combo works!
Willow Serena May — great flow on this one, modern feel!
Alexi William Martin Rabbit — despite its length it works. Alexi is nice instead of Alexander.
Barnaby Thomas Montgomery — Barnaby may be in for a quiet comeback, fab combo!
Felix Michael Harry Lisle — also good flow and I love Felix.
Gus Edward William — modern twist.
Hugo Edward Fleetwood — Hugo is great!
Ivo William Casimir — daring, interesting and works.
Maximillian Arthur Bennett — Yay, Arthur Bennett!
Oliver Konstanty Melville — unusual but nice.
Toby James Hedley — I love Toby James!

June 8th, 2009 at 6:23 pm

Nameberry, I love your site, but I must say, as an Englishwoman myself, I find that this is article is based on somewhat of a generalisation; “British people like to use lots of middle names” is not exactly true! I am a middle class girl and I barely know anyone with more than one middle name. Those who do have are generally for family honouring (such as my best friend, whose Grandmother’s first names make up her two middle names) rather than to impress with a gloriously quirky combination. The Birth Announcements that naming websites or blogs usually look at have an enormous majority of upper class families, who typically use more unusual names (mainly because many of these children will go to public schools with the offspring of other like-minded parents, and so a Christabel or Ivo will not stick out as much). I don’t mean to be pernickity and I love these name lists as much as anyone else, but I think all non-Brits should be aware of the fact that class plays a large role in Britain, and, thus, naturally reflects in naming.

I hope you don’t mind me pointing this out, and I am not trying to be deliberately awkward, but sorry if I come across this way!

June 8th, 2009 at 6:26 pm

(That should be ‘I am not trying to be deliberately awkward, so sorry if I come across that way!’. I should really learn to proofread)

June 10th, 2009 at 12:42 am

Elsabea posted, “The Office of National Statistics for England & Wales have now said they will be producing a list of the most popular names for 2008. It should be available in July or early August.” Could you tell me where you found that information? I’ve been hunting for it on the Internet with no luck. I was *so* disappointed in January when ONS announced there would be no list for 2008 released.

And Esme, thanks for your reminder of how class is reflected in naming styles in Britain. I’ve read this from other British posters, but need to be reminded from time to time as I’m a big fan of the Telegraph birth announcements. I read on one UK blog (ordinary folks I think) that the test of a name is whether you would feel comfortable calling it out in a supermarket. Hugo was the name in question and the concern was that it might be too upper class.

June 15th, 2009 at 4:03 pm

Patricia posted “Could you tell me where you found that information? I’ve been hunting for it on the Internet with no luck. I was *so* disappointed in January when ONS announced there would be no list for 2008 released.”

Someone I know on another message board, has been in regular contact with the ONS about this, and she received in the information in an e-mail from the ONS a few weeks ago. I think other people had been contacting them too, so they gave in to public pressure.

June 15th, 2009 at 5:23 pm

That’s great news — thanks for letting us know! We’ll definitely be reporting on this and please keep us up to date.

June 17th, 2009 at 1:19 pm

One my cousin’s has several middle names, mostly because her parents weren’t sure they were going to have any more kids and wanted to honor every body at once. Her younger sister has multiple middle names, too, but they are the only people I know that have more than one middle name.

June 18th, 2009 at 2:27 pm

I love the british names! I love Urusla! I also love Elspeth, Eugenie, Alice, Ivy, Catherine, Sylvia, Ottilie, Pearl and Florence and for boys Edmund, Felix, Hugo, and Barnaby!

~Bree

June 23rd, 2009 at 1:06 pm

Two of my children have 2 middle names.

Octavian James Abel

Zachariah Thomas Solomon

I kind of wish we’d given our first born daughter, Ekaterina Joy another middle name too.

I loved Evangeline Sophia Kate!

August 26th, 2009 at 10:13 am

I love particularly these two associations:

Dorothea Isobel Ann, for a girl.

and

Maximilian Arthur Bennett, for a boy.

Smart, refined and without bad tasting.

September 21st, 2009 at 4:45 am

I’m from the UK but not living there and have named my daughter

Freya Mary Maud

I love it! Freya for Freya Stark, an early British explorer, and Maud a particularly outrageous great-aunt. I just hope Freya appreciates it when she’s big enough. My grandmother, on the other hand, had to go by Mary Gertrude Patricia, and my brother ended up with a whole pile of middle names that were mentioned in jest & my mother, somewhat addled by childbirth, didn’t realise and thus he was registered. Luckily he has broad shoulders.

January 12th, 2010 at 1:50 am

I saw the name: Octavia Isobel Rose

Gorgeous!

January 19th, 2010 at 1:41 pm

Our daughter is Isobel Kitty Taylor. Kitty is a family name and although Isobel is really popular now, our spelling isn’t used as much ( people like to tart it up with odd spellings and add ons )