To celebrate New Orleans’s triumphant Super Bowl victory, as well as today’s Shrove Tuesday launch of  Mardi Gras, here is the fascinating blog created for us last year by guest blogger Elisabeth Wilborn of ”You Can’t Call It It.”  Elisabeth is a writer, artist, and mother who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

 An inspiration for everything from vampires to voodoo, from zydeco to the Krewe of Zulu, Louisiana has been a colorful melting pot of divergent cultures for centuries.  Cajuns from Canada, Creoles and others of Haitian, African, Italian, Spanish, or Native American descent, all come together to form a mélange of backgrounds, and in point of fact, names.  Most share a history of French language and Catholicism, even if it’s not by blood. While these may not be the choices in use today in the Bayou, they have been culled from historical documents, maps, and folklore from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries.  The majority are either French proper, or my favorite, Frenchified.  Still more trace their roots to Classical Greco-Roman civilization, deep Southern culture, or are somewhere farther afield and include a curious preponderance of the letter Z.

So come on!  Allez-y! Chew on these names (and some maque choux), prepare to bare all for those beads, and laissez les bon temps roulez!

LADIES

Acadia- The word Cajun itself has its origins in Acadian

Adelaide

Alexandrine

Alma

Alzophine

Ambrosine

Ameline, Emeline

Arzilla

Avoyelles- This Cajun Parish might be picked up as a first name, piggybacking on the current Ava and Ellie love

Beatrice

Belle

Berangere

Bernadette- A much beloved Catholic saint, and one of the prettiest songs in the native New Orleans Neville Brothers repertoire

Cezelia

Clotille

Delphine- While Delphine is a lovely and lilting name, Delphine La Laurie was a famous socialite and sadist who tortured her slaves

Dixie- Used to refer to the South at large, this may have originated in New Orleans on the ten dollar bill, upon which a local bank printed “dix”, the French for ten.

Dolucila

Elva

Ernestine

Eugenie- Napoleon’s first love

Eula, Eulalie

Evangeline- An epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow recalling the 1755 deportation of Acadian Canadians to the newly Spanish Louisiana

Ezora

Geraldine

Gertrude

Ghislaine

Heloise

Ida

Josephine- Napoleon’s (second) love

Leonie

Lougenia

Magnolia- The state flower of Louisiana

Mahalia- Mahalia Jackson is a gospel and blues singer from the area, with a name worth borrowing

Marie- Marie Laveau was a reknowned Voodoo Queen who was visited by slaves and owners alike

Maude

Maxzille

Melba

Mellette

Minerva, Minnie

Oatha

Odilia

Ola, Olla Mae, Olima

Onezie, Onezime (more…)

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The New York City Health Department released its list of most popular names of 2008 today–at last–with some pretty interesting results.  (It reminded me of the old Jennifer & Jason days–before the Social Security Administration was compiling a national list, when Pam and I used to have to contact –and sometimes plead with–the Health Departments of all fifty  states for their figures and laboriously construct our own master list–and I recall that New York State and City were always the last to straggle in.)

For a long time–and especially considering the City’s hip reputation–New York’s list was surprisingly conservative, with Michael, Ashley and Emily lounging in the top spots year after year.  That changed somewhat in 2007, when Isabella and Sophia tied for Number One.  This year, the more modern Jayden joined Sophia at the head of the list, bringing New York finally and  fully into the 21st century. 

 Here are the Top Ten names for both genders:

GIRLS

SOPHIA

ISABELLA

EMILY

OLIVIA

SARAH

MADISON

ASHLEY

MIA

SAMANTHA

EMMA

BOYS

JAYDEN

DANIEL

MICHAEL

MATTHEW

DAVID

JOSHUA

JUSTIN

ANTHONY

CHRISTOPHER

ETHAN/RYAN

But what is most intriguing about NYC is that it’s one of the few localities to break down its findings into separate ethnic lists for Hispanics, Blacks, Whites, and Asian & Pacific Islanders, revealing their extremely wide disparities.  For example, the only group to have the overall No. 1 girls’ name, Sophia, at the top is the Asian; the other three each had different girls’ names–Ashley, Hispanic; Madison, Black; and Olivia, White.  A few somewhat unusal choices included Melanie and Genesis on the Hispanic list;  Nevaeh, Destiny and Imani on the Black; Esther (#2!), Chaya and Miriam on the White; and Tiffany, Fiona, Angela, and Vivian on the Asian.

The Top 5 for each group are:

HISPANIC

ASHLEY

ISABELLA

EMILY

BRIANNA

MIA

BLACK

MADISON

KAYLA

MAKAYLA

NEVAEH

JADA

WHITE

OLIVIA

ESTHER

SARAH

SOPHIA

RACHEL

ASIAN

SOPHIA

CHLOE

EMILY

TIFFANY

FIONA

When it comes to the boys, a more conservative picture emerges.  Four of the top names were repeats of last years.  Jayden was #1 for Hispanic and Black boys, Daniel for Caucasian and Ryan the top choice for Asian parents, who have long had a penchant for Irish names.  There weren’t very many unexpected selections here, except possibly for Angel (Hispanic), Elijah, Jeremiah and Isaiah (Black), and Eric, Ivan and Vincent (Asian).

The top choices for each boy group were:

HISPANIC

JAYDEN

JUSTIN

ANGEL

ANTHONY

CHRISTOPHER

BLACK

JAYDEN

JOSHUA

ELIJAH

JEREMIAH

CHRISTIAN

WHITE

DANIEL

JOSEPH

MICHAEL

DAVID

MATTHEW

ASIAN

RYAN

ERIC

JASON/MATTHEW

DANIEL

ETHAN

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We recently looked at girls’ names popular around the world yet exotic-sounding in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries, and today we turn to the boys’ version of this kind of name.

If you’re looking for a name for your son that has an international flavor yet is not too obscure or difficult to understand and pronounce, you might want to consider these choices.

ALESSANDRO – A top name in Italy, makes Alexander both softer and sexier to the American ear.

ALEXEI – Russian spin on Alex or Alexander popular there, pronounced Alex-ay or (less popular) Alex-ee. Down side: Its similarity to the very popular girls’ name Alexa.

(more…)

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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

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Latin culture is influencing everything in the United States, including baby names.  With the growing prominence of Latin stars and parents of all ethnic backgrounds more interested in using culturally significant names, Hispanic choices are moving up the popularity lists.

Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Jessica Alba and Ricky Martin may be among the most famous Latin celebrities, but their names were inspired by the general culture and are hardly inspiring modern baby namers in search of an authentic Latin choice.  The Latin celebrities (and a few fictional characters) from the worlds of film, music, sports, and fashion whose names have proven influential in the U.S. include:

Female

AMERICA FERRARA

CAROLINA HERRERA

DAISY FUENTES

DORA the Explorer

EVA MENDES

ISABEL TOLEDO — A favorite designer of Michelle Obama’s

OFELIA — The young heroine of Pan’s Labyrinth

PAULINA RUBIO

PENELOPE CRUZ

SALMA HAYEK

SELENA

SHAKIRA

SONIA BRAGA

THALIA

Male

ALEX RODRIGUEZ

ANTONIO BANDERAS

DIEGO LUNA

GAEL BERNAL GARCIA

IVAN RODRIGUEZ

JAVIER BARDEM

NARCISO RODRIGUEZ

OSCAR de la RENTA

RODRIGO SANTORO

Several names that rank high on the popularity list in the U.S. have a Latin flavor and are well-used by Hispanic parents along with parents of many other ethnic backgrounds. Isabella, Olivia, Sophia, Angelina, and, for boys, Gabriel fit into this group.  Names (and variations) with a more distinctly Latin heritage that are climbing the popularity list in the United States – and are definitely not for Latin babies only — include::

Girls

ALEJANDRA

ALICIA

ALONDRA

ANA

BIANCA

CAMILA

DULCE

ELIANA

ESMERALDA

GUADALUPE

KARINA

LILIANA

MARIANA

SOFIA

VALENTINA

VALERIA

XIMENA (more…)

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