Max, the name of both the child hero and the young actor who plays him in Where The Wild Things Are, is one of the hottest boys’ names these days.

Max can stand on its own or may be a short form of the ancient Roman name Maximus, which means “greatest,” or of Maximilian or Maxwell.  It’s one of the down-to-earth cigar-chomping grandpa names last popular a hundred years ago and enjoying a huge revival now.  Like brothers Sam and Jake, Max is unpretentious and friendly but also sounds cool.

Celebrities led the way in launching the revival of the name, starting in the late 70s and early 80s.  Stars who are the parents of now-grown kids named Max include Dustin Hoffman, Henry Winkler, Steven Spielberg, and Nora Ephron & Carl Bernstein.

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We looked at trailblazing women in Part One of this blog yesterday—bold and courageous achievers who would prove worthy namesakes for a daughter.  Now we turn to those with major accomplishments in the arts—a varied mix of writers, artists, and musicians of the far and fairly recent  past—many of whom seem to have appropriately creative names—whether they were born with them or not.

Again, remember that the name’s the thing here—so sorry, Mary Cassatt and Elizabeth Barrett Browning–not this time.

WRITERS

AGATHA Christie

ANAIS Nin

APHRA Behn (also seen on the trailblazer list)

AYN Rand

CARSON (born Lula) McCullers

CHARLOTTE Bronte

COLETTE (born Sidonie-Gabrielle Collette)

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What could be a greater gift to bestow on your daughter than a name with a heroic namesake, someone with an inspiring story to add a layer of pride to your little girl’s  feelings about her name–and give her great material for a school report?

The following is a list of mostly American women of great courage, perseverence and accomplishment—many of whom broke barriers for women– that could fill this bill.  And of course, this being nameberry, the name’s the thing, so apologies to all the equally distinguished Marys, Elizabeths, Sarahs and Anns who haven’t been included: the following  ladies were picked (almost) as much for their interesting names as for their  achievements.

ABIGAIL Adams – The first First Lady to occupy the White House and an  ntellectually equal partner of her husband, President John Adams.

ADA LOVELACE – daughter of the poet Byron whose work in mathematics was (probably) a precursor of the modern computer.

AMELIA Earhart — the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. (more…)

When Henry was chosen as the #1 favorite boy’s name on the collective 5-star lists of the nameberry community, I was somewhat surprised and yet somewhat not.  Because in many ways Henry is the perfect boy’s name—as classic and historic as James and John and William –yet with a quirkier edge that makes it seem modern, and even hip.

Henry has a lot going for it.  Let us count the ways:

HENRY IS POPULAR, WELL-LIKED, BUT NOT EPIDEMICALLY TRENDY.

At #78 on the Social Security list last year, Henry was given to fewer than 4,000 boys across the country.  It was much more commonly heard in the past, having been #10 in 1900, 12 in the 1910s, 18 in the twenties, 25 in the thirties, then dipping to a low of 146 in 1994, after which it started its edge back up.

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With the World Series fast approaching and the baseball season coming to a fever pitch,  the sports pages are filled with the names of players.  Irresistible  lists of names. So though I’m far from what anyone would call a dedicated sports fan, I’ve become mesmerized by the rosters of team players’ names.  After parsing those of all the major league teams, I have now made my picks of a favorite first name from each–my own personal MVPs.  You might like to do the same.

Oh, and a bonus for me–I finally see what’s behind the popularity of the boy’s name Jacoby–probably the last person to know.

Here they are:

ANDERSON  Hernandez  –  New York Mets

AUGIE  Ojeda  –  Arizona Diamondbacks

BOONE  Logan  –  Atlanta Braves

CASPER  Wells  –  Detroit Tigers

CHASE  Utley  –  Philadelphia Phillies

COLBY  Rasmus  –  St. Louis Cardinals

DEXTER  Fowler  –  Colorado Rockies

DMITRI  Young  –  Washington Nationals

ELVIS  Andrus  –  Texas Rangers

FELIX  Pie  –  Baltimore Orioles

FERNANDO  Perez  –  Tampa Bay Rays

GIO  Gonzalez  –  Oakland Athletics

HEATH Bell—San Diego Padres

JACOBY Ellsbury  –  Boston Red Sox

JENSEN  Lewis  –  Cleveland Indians

KAZUO  Matsui  –  Houston Astros

KENDRY  Morales  –  Los Angeles Angels

KIKO  Calero  –  Florida Marlins

LUCAS  May  –  Los Angeles Dodgers

MICAH  Hoffpauir  –  Chicago Cubs

OCTAVIO  Dotel  –  Chicago White Sox

OMAR  Aguilar  –  Milwaukee Brewers

ORLANDO  Cabrera  –  Minnesota Twins

OSIRIS Matos –  San Francisco Giants

ROBINZON  Diaz  –  Pittsburgh Pirates

ROMAN  Colon  –  Kansas City Royals

VERNON  Wells  –  Toronto Blue Jays

XAVIER  Nady  –  New York Yankees

YONDER  Alonso  –  Cincinnati Reds