Hate your name?  Feeling less-than-wonderful about your own moniker can inspire a larger love of a different kind of name, says guest blogger Jill Barnett.

I was four years old, and dressed in my best Wonder Woman Underoos, complete with lasso and headband. I had just finished watching my favorite Saturday morning cartoon featuring superheroes known as the Wonder Twins, and I decided to act out their “Wonder Twins, activate! Wonder Twins, deactivate!” super power ritual with my stuffed monkey, Marvin. (Marvin was a passive, but willing, participant.) After a few rounds of this, followed by a first-rate lasso routine, I came to the logical conclusion that I had acquired the ability to fly.

I climbed on top of a tall cabinet, adjusted my cape for optimum glide, waved to Marvin, and launched myself into the air, horizontal to the hardwood flooring below. Suffice it to say, en route to falling victim to gravity, I experienced the first “Holy @#$%&!” moment of my life.

If you could bottle the feeling of sheer panic and doom I experienced as I plummeted to Earth, you’d have a pretty good idea of the terror and dread I feel whenever I’m asked to reveal my full name. Most people love to share their names with others, but the mere thought of discussing my middle moniker reduces me to a trembling, airborne four-year-old.

Granted, Jill, my first name, rhymes with ill, kill, pill, and shrill, and is associated with a little girl who lacks the ability to successfully walk down a hill, but despite these challenges, I actually prefer Jill to my more melodic middle name. (more…)

If you’re due very soon and so are expecting a Leo baby – or have or anticipate a child born under one of the other fire signs, Sagittarius or Aries – all I can say is: Lucky you.  I’m an Aries, my first child was a Sag, and my second a Leo, and we all live up to our characteristically fiery independent natures.

If you’re interested in a name that means or relates to fire for your own little fire sign baby, or its bright, energetic image simply appeals to you, consult this list of fiery names:

AGNI – Hindu god of fire, though to English speakers the name may sound more feminine than masculine.

AIDAN and AIDEN – Popular modern form of Aodh, meaning fiery, that’s well-used for boys and also a possibility for girls.  Meaning fire, Aodh (or Ae, which is pretty phonetic) was a name borne by several High Kings and mythological heroes.

AZAR – Attractive Iranian girl’s name that means fire.

(more…)

Yesterday, as I was writing about the favorite names on nameberry, it seemed as if all was in perfect harmony and solidarity, complete sweetness and sunshine on the site, and that nameberry.com was as tranquil a place as Mayberry R.F.D.

Not totally true.

Turns out that some visitors are as passionately opposed to some of the popular names on the site as others are passionately in favor of them.  And so a kind of rebel thread was set up called Secret Name Heresies, where people could voice–make that vent–their negative feelings.  And vent is what they/you have been doing, often in EMPHATIC CAPITAL letters.  Not surprisingly, since our opinions are formed from our individual experiences, there were some who disliked a particular name because of, say, an unshakable association with an obnoxious high school classmate, or with a Disney character they will forever attach to its name.  Or in some cases a simple dislike of its image or sound.

Here, from the varied responses, are a few choice, disgruntled, examples–some of which we found hilarious:

GIRLS

ARABELLA   –  Sounds like some made-up Disney princess who lives in Arabia.

ASTRID  –  I liked this before The Office.

BRONWYN  –  I knew a very odd Bronwyn in high school.  I only ever think of her.

CECILIA  –  I have a slight lisp–Ce-ce-lia sounds AWFUL when I say it.

CHARLOTTE  –  Whenever I see Charlotte, I just see cHARLOTte,

DAISY –  I love this name but for a pet.

DELILAH  — I’m not a Delilah fan.  If I’m not reminded of the Biblical story, I’m reminded of that annoying radio host, Delilah.

EVELYN  –  It’s still 100% nursing home to me.

FREYA  –  I HATE Freya!  I only think of frayed fabric.

GUINEVERE  –  Waaay too regal.

JUNE  –  I’m not a fan of June, but love Jane.

OLIVE  –  Olive?  As in black olives, green olives and extra virgin olive oil?  No thank you.
– I just don’t understand why you would name your daughter after a small green appetizer.

OPHELIA  –  I’m not an Ophelia fan, not only because of the “I’ll feel ya” teasing but because I have a habit of putting the prefixes of “hem” and “ped” before it.

POPPY –  I’m all for nature names but this is way too close to “puppy,” not to mention the association with opiates.
– The words “seed muffin” follow this in my head.
– This is what we call my Dad instead of Grandpa, so no.

SADIE  –  Reminds me of S & M.

VIOLA  –  Means rape in Spanish.

WILLOW  –  This would be a massive problem if she was chubby.
– I HATE Willow! It’s a 100% Palin to me, and just…ick.

BOYS

DUNCAN  –  Donuts.
             — Sounds like it should be the name of a thick, chubby boy.

ELIJAH  –  The only Elijah I have ever known was a girl, so it sounds really girly to me

EZRA  –  It looks like a typo.

FELIX  –  This is a cat’s name only.

GUS  –  Just ugly and not right for a little boy–reminds me of Augustus Gloop.
          — The big, fat mouse from Cinderella to me–Gus-Gus

JASPER  –  Seems like a girl’s name to me.
— 101 Dalmatians, anyone?

KILLIAN  –  Not a fan of Killian or any other name beginning with a synonym of murder

OSCAR  –Oscar is still 100% grouch to me.

OTIS  –  Too hickish for someone who lives in rural Nebraska and gets labeled a hick for that alone.

SEBASTIAN  –  Crab from Disney movie.

THEO  –  I hate Theo!  I love Theodore but won’t use it because I hate Theo!

Back in February, a topic was posted on the Girls’ Names section of our Message Boards suggesting that people list their current Top Ten favorite names for girls, and it’s been running ever since.  What’s especially nice about this for us is that  it’s given Pam and me a fascinating look into the specific likes and loves of the nameberry community.  After all, for a long time, through our books and on the site,  you’ve gotten to know our opinions on both general categories of names and specific examples–and now the tables have been turned.

And we’re so gratified to see that we’re almost universally in synch (we’ll be dealing with dislikes and ‘heresies’ tomorrow), and that for the most part you love the names we love, affirming  to us that we have the most enlightened, most thoughtful, most tasteful, group of name lovers in existence.

Proof to us was in the pudding of names that showed up most frequently on your Top Ten lists, all possessing both substance and style.  So even though the thread is still alive, I couldn’t resist tallying up the Top Names of the Top Tens to date.

The most popular three are, in order:

BEATRIX

PENELOPE

CLEMENTINE

Followed by:

WILLOW and

DELILAH, and then:

ADELINE

(more…)

If the Hundred-Year Rule – which states that it takes a century for most names to come back into fashion – holds true, then we’re in for some interesting times, judging from the list of 100 Most Popular Names of the 1910s.

A handful of the top names in the decade from 1910 to 1920 are already solidly back in style.  These include:

Girls

ANNA
CHARLOTTE
ELEANOR
ELLA
EVA
GRACE
JULIA
LUCY
ROSE
STELLA
VIOLET

Boys

ANDREW
BENJAMIN
CHARLES and CHARLIE
HARRY
HENRY
JACK
LEO
RAY
SAM
WILLIAM

A larger group is, not surprisingly, on the cutting edge of style, supporting the whole Hundred-Year theory by indicating which names we’ll be hearing more of in the decade ahead.  The names from the Top 100 in the 1910s that sound fashion-forward today include: (more…)