For several years now, word names have been singled out as being at the extreme edge of cool—we may have been guilty of pushing that edge ourselves at times.  But I’m starting to wonder if it’s time to pull back a little, and put the brakes on.  Celebrities have tried to outdo each other to sometimes eye-rolling effect in the effort to find a ‘unique’, attention-grabbing word name : I’m not naming names but I might mention a few words like zeppelin and pirate and peanut.

Of course there are word names and there are word names and probably the most acceptable and appealing are the centuries-old Virtue names created by the early and most zealous Pilgrims to display their righteous religiosity.  Though  such excessive male phrase-names as Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith and Fly-fornication are long gone, the simpler girl virtue names have not only survived but some are now downright trendy: Grace, Hope, Faith, and, more recently, Felicity, True and Honor.

Other worthy examples include:

AMITY

CHARITY

CLARITY

COMFORT

MERCY (more…)

Our guest blogger Marion Roach first wrote about her sister Margaret’s horse-inspired name on her blog She Said, She Said, part of the sisters’ joint site, The Sister Project.  Margaret Roach, the former editor of “Martha Stewart Living”, also runs the site A Way To Garden.

My family frequently names those we love for sports idols. For instance, among the dozen cats and dogs who have come and gone in my life there was Saratoga Roach, a terrier of a beagle, named for the late-summer racetrack in upstate New York, and Cleveland, a hapless chocolate lab, named for the Browns.

Then there is my sister, Margaret, named for the 1954 winner of the Belmont Stakes.

At one point in his life our father was a turf reporter, spending his winters at Hialeah, his summers in Saratoga and the time between at the racetracks in the East. Amid the crowd he covered, one of the great pastimes was naming thoroughbreds. It’s an art—no name can be more than 18 characters, including punctuation and spaces—as well as a science: Names frequently reflect breeding, sometimes with great flourish. For instance, the year before my sister was born, the great horse of 1953 was a colt whose father was Polynesian and mother was named Geisha. Their champion offspring was crowned Native Dancer. It’s a great tradition.

And one that continued into my family. My father had a horse named for him—it was called Sportseditor. I have a sailboat named Ruffian, for the magnificent dark filly who didn’t know the meaning of the word quit, until she broke down at the mile marker in a match race against Foolish Pleasure in 1975.

But all this really started in January 1954, when my father and mother, on their way to Hialeah, stopped off to see Max Hirsch, the great horse trainer, at his winter quarters in South Carolina.

In due course it was revealed that there was an offspring on the way in our household.

(more…)

The J names had their day: Jennifer, Jason, Jessica.  Then K was up, and we had lots of Kevins and Kaylas, Kaitlyns and Kyles.

What’s next?  It just might be L’s turn.

Linda wrote about the delicious La-La names, from Lola to Lila to Lily, that are newly popular.  And certainly, the most visible of the L names right now are these Double L names.

(A side note here: DELILAH and TALLULAH may not have an L in first place but are part of this same Double L trend.)

But there are lots of other L names coming up, or already arrived, in other categories.  For instance:

THE LOU NAMES

A pan-European trend that seems finally to be reaching the U.S., the Lou names are hugely popular in Great Britain and the Continent for girls as well as boys.  Examples:

LOU and LILOU – Both huge in France, Lou is one of the daughters of the iconic Jane Birkin and Lilou is the Occitan (a dialect of Provence) version of Lily.

LOUIS and LEWIS – Especially popular in Great Britain, Lewis has recently been the number one boys’ name in Scotland.

LOUISE and LOUISA – Louise, long sleepy in the U.S., is beginning to sound fresh again and is the chic version in France and the U.K., while Louisa (or Luisa) is more widely used in Spain, Portugal, and Italy.

LUCA – The pretty (and to some American ears, too pretty) name for boys is wildly popular throughout Europe but just beginning to be heard in the U.S., sometimes for girls.

LUCAS and LUKE – These two versions of the Biblical Luke, meaning “from Lucanus,” have been in the U.S. Top 50 for several years now.

LUCIAN and LUCIUS – Two variation on an old Roman name meaning “light” that sound fresh and, well, luscious to the American ear.

LUCY, LUCIANA, LUCIA – Lucy has been popular in the U.S. for several years now, but like cousin Lily, has many variations to suit the parent in search of something similar yet more different.

LUDOVIC and LUDOVICA – Further afield but still containing the fashion “lu” sound are these male and female versions of Ludwig, very chic in Italy.

LUNA – The Italian and Spanish word for moon makes a celestial-sounding choice.

THE LEONINE NAMES

Another name trend sweeping Europe that’s beginning to be recognized in America too are names that mean and sometimes even sound like “lion.”  Again, for both genders, examples include:

LEO – This one we’ve heard in the U.S., but still lovely.

LEON – Long a top name in German, Leon deserves to be rehabilitated in the U.S., where it had become a joke.  Brad and Angelina giving it to their twin son Knox as a middle name could give it a major boost.

LEONA, LEONIE, LEONORA – Long considered old-lady names in America, all the female lion names are newly fashionable in Europe and beginning to be considered by adventurous parents here too.

LEOPOLD – While not strictly meaning lion – its meaning is usually given as “bold people” – the Leo in this German name is derived from lion and this long-stodgy name has considerable new hipster cred.

LIONEL – A choice for adventurous baby-namers for both girls and boys.

BIBLICAL Ls

Some of the freshest Biblical names have L beginnings.

LAZARUS – In 20 years, I predict little Lazaruses will be as plentiful as boys named Noah and Isaiah are today.

LEAH – Already a hit, Leah has an appealingly modern simplicity.

LEMUEL – Destined to step out from Samuel’s shadow.

LEVI – Was beginning to reemerge when Matthew McConaughey chose it for his son, catapulting it to stardom.

LYDIA – Strong, old-fashioned girls’ name that’s reemerging.

OTHER COOL L NAMES I COULDN’T SQUEEZE INTO ANY CATEGORY

A few other L names I like: The Old Lllllady trio LAVINIA, LETITIA, and LUCRETIA.  The word name and surname LAND, originally used for one of the sons of pioneer aviator Charles and Anne Lindbergh, would make a strong choice for a boy or girl today.  Hero name LINCOLN never goes out of style, but sounds particularly attractive now.

Nameberry commemorates Earth Day with this guest blog contributed by Elisabeth Wilborn, creator of one of our favorite blogs, You Can’t Call It “It” .  Elisabeth, a writer, artist, and mom,  lives in Brooklyn, New York

Milkvetch. Wallflower. Toothwart.

Yes, the Earth is indeed a wellspring for baby names.

Actually I skipped those. Here are a few favorites culled– believe it or not– from endangered species lists. Morbid as that may seem, I promise they’re quite nice! Famous conservationists and a few other notables help bring it back down to Earth. I’d love to see Audubon or Fossey as firsts or to meet an all-American infant Sigurd.

Truly though, the names are of minor importance. Gasp! The most we can hope for is that our children do better than we did.

FAMOUS CONSERVATIONISTS

John James Audubon

Rachel Carson

Jeff Corwin

Jacques Cousteau

Dian Fossey

Buckminster Fuller

Jane Goodall

Julia Butterfly Hill

Steve Irwin

Aldo Leopold

Chico Mendes

John Muir

Frederick Law Olmstead

Sigurd F. Olson

Peter Simon Pallas

Henry David Thoreau

EMBLEMS OF THE EARTH

GIRLS

Anona- Roman goddess of the harvest

Avani- Sanskrit, “earth”

Ceres- Ancient Roman, “to grow”, Roman goddess of agriculture

Demeter- Greek, “earth mother”, Greek goddess of agriculture

Flora- Roman goddess of flowers

Francis- Italian saint reknowned for his connection to animals

Gaia- Greek, “earth”, and the goddess of the earth

Georgia, Georgina, Georgianna- Greek, “farmer”

Kun- Chinese, “earth”

Luna- Roman goddess of the moon

Perpetua- Latin, “continuous”

Terra- Latin, “earth”

Zoe- Greek, “life”

BOYS

Adam- Hebrew, debated meaning; man formed from the Earth

Asa- Hebrew, “healer”

Chayim- Hebrew, “life”

Enki- Sumerian, “lord of the earth”, god of water and wisdom

George- Greek, “farmer, earthworker”

Pax- Latin, “peace”

Vitus- Ancient Roman, from the latin for “life”

Zephyr- Greek god of the west wind

ANIMAL

Akialoa

Bear

Bison

Caribou

Cheetah

Condor

Cougar

Crane

Delphine

Eagle

Eider

Gazelle

Lynx

Nightengale

Ocelot

Peregrine

Rhea

Warbler

Wolf

VEGETABLE

Anemone

Aster

Azalea

Birch

Buttercup

Cicely

Clover

Columbine

Crocus

Cypress

Elm

Fern

Huckleberry

Hyssop

Indigo

Juniper

Maple

Oak

Phlox

Plum

Primrose

Rosemary

Rosette

Sage

Sedge

Snowdrop

Sorrel

Spruce

Thistle

Verbena

Willow

Yarrow

MINERAL

Bay

Earth, Eartha

Jasper

Marina

Obsidian

Ocean, Oceane

Onyx

Peter, Petra

Ridge

Slate

Solstice

Stone

…and finally Montana… much to the chagrin of Pam and Linda I’m sure.

Easter is a wonderful time of year to have a baby, and an inspirational holiday for names. If you’re due right about now, here are some name directions you might consider:

NAMES OF THE HOLIDAY

EASTER – Less common than Christmas but definitely a holiday name that works in its plain English version.

PARASHA – A Russian girls’ name that means “born on Good Friday.”

PASCAL etc. – There are many attractive versions of this name. The French Pascal, for boys, and Pascale for girls is especially appealing. The Spanish versions are Pascual and Pascuala; Italian is Pasquale.

PASCOE – English twist (Cornish, technically) on the Easter name popular in medieval times.  PASCO is another spelling.

SUNDAY – This day name somehow seems best related to the Easter holiday and season.

NAMES OF EASTER PERSONAGES

JAMES, JOHN and PETER – Prayed in the garden with Jesus (but fell asleep)

JOANNA – Lesser known Biblical personage who was one of the women at Jesus’ tomb.

JOSEPH of Arimathea – According to the Bible, wrapped the body of Jesus in a clean shroud and placed it in his own tomb.

Mary MAGDALENE – The prime female figure in the Easter story, she witnessed the crucifixion, accompanied his body to the tomb, and later with the other women discovered the Resurrection. A saint, she is a symbol of penitence. Her name means “from Magdala.”

MARY – Mother of James the Younger and Joseph, accompanied Mary Magdalene in her vigil at the crucifixion and with Jesus’ body.

NICODEMUS – Secret follower of Jesus who placed myrrh and aloes in Jesus’ shroud so he could be buried according to Jewish custom.

SALOME – One of the women at the tomb.

SIMON of Cyrene – Helped Jesus carry the cross.

Of course, the Easter story has its villains, too, whose names have not been used over the ages: PONTIUS PILATE, King HEROD, BARRABAS, and Christ’s betrayer JUDAS ISCARIOT.

EASTER-RELATED BOTANICAL NAMES

ACACIA – Greek nature name for a flowering shrub that symbolizes immortality, one of the main Easter themes.

BIRCH – In Scandinavia, people attach brightly-colored feathers to birch branches in vases.

LILY – We’ve said a lot about Lily and her sisters recently, but this is the flower name most closely associated with Easter. Its many lovely variations include LILIANA and LILIA. DAFFODIL, TULIP and HYACINTH are also in bloom during the Easter season.

PALMA , PALMER , and PALMIRA – All relate to the palm branches symbolic of Easter carried on Palm Sunday.

TAMAR , TAMARA , and TAMIR – Relate to the date palm tree.

WILLOW – Scandinavian children go from door-to-door at Easter dressed as witches, exchanging willow branches for candy.

EASTER ANIMAL NAMES

BUNNY NAMES – ARLEY and ARLEDGE are English surname names that relate to rabbits. BUNNY is a cute but overly fluffy name for a girl, and RABBIT was the hero of John Updike novels.

BUTTERFLY NAMES – The butterfly is a symbol of rebirth and Easter, and gives flight to many attractive names. KIMANA is a Native American name meaning butterfly, and MARIPOSA is a Romantic Spanish butterfly name. VANESSA was invented by author Jonathan Swift but is also a species of butterfly. And of course BUTTERFLY itself is also a name, perhaps more appealing in its internations versions: PAPILLON in French, BABOCHKA in Russian, or FARASHA in Arabic.

CHICKEN and EGG NAMES – CHICK is of course a nickname dating from the “Grease” era, but not one we recommend. BEZAI is a Hebrew name meaning “eggs” that has more possibilities.

LAMB NAMES – For boys, names that mean lamb are HAMAL in Arabic, and OAN, Breton. For girls, UNA means lamb as well as “one” and RACHEL means “ewe.”

NAMES THAT MEAN REBIRTH

ANASTASIA and ANASTASIOS – Appealing and underused names that mean “resurrection.”

LISSA – Name of the supreme mother goddess in African mythology and an Arabic symbol of rebirth.

OSIRIS – Egyptian god-king who died and was reborn every year.

RENATA and RENATO – Attractive Italian versions of a name that means “reborn.”

RENE and RENEE – Long the most popular names meaning rebirth among English-speakers, but dated now, plus the male Rene never sounded very masculine outside France.

Happy Easter!