Category: Historic Names
Classic Baby Names: 10 timeless choices
Classic baby names can encompass several different categories. There are Biblical names, from Anne to Zachary. There are names rooted in ancient cultures, including Atticus and Juno, which have survived or are being revived today.
And then there are the classic names that have been well-used in English-speaking cultures over the decades and centuries. While classic names by any definition do move in and out of style just like other names, some manage to endure better than others and become, well, the most classic classic names.
Here, our picks for ten of the best classic baby names today.
girls
Catherine – The Duchess formerly known as Kate has done much to swing fashion toward the C-beginning version of this most classic of girls’ names. Catherine, classic in any spelling, has been borne by saints and queens along with some of the most inspiring literary heroines, including Heathcliff‘s Cathy of Wuthering Heights. Greek for “pure,” Catherine comes in countless international variations and with a wide range of nicknames. Most stylish today are Cate or Kate or the vintage-feeling Kay or Kitty.
Unisex Baby Names: Names that morphed from blue to pink
Some unisex baby names start as female choices and shift over time to become more boyish, but many more begin as all-boy names and over the decades cross to the girls’ side.
The baby names here are extreme cases. Most started life, back when the US government began recording babies’ names, as 100% male choices, and now have become mostly girls’ names.
While we were tempted to narrow the field to only those dozen names that went from 100% male to 100% female, the entire list proved just too interesting to cut.
The baby names that have morphed from blue to pink – and when they made their big switch – include:
100% male in 1880, 98% female in 2012
Jumped to 55% female in 1996
100% male in 1882, 77% female in 2012
In 1942, Alexis leaped to 69% female from 42%
100% male in 1880, 100% female in 2012
From 1942-1948 it jumped from 52% to 80% female
100% male in 1880, 100% female in 2012
Crossed the line in 1965 to become 64% female
100% male in 1880, 98% female in 2012
In 1974, tipped to 52% female
Rare Royal Girls’ Names: Christabel, Eugenie and Melita
Our thanks to Anna Otto of Waltzing More than Matilda for allowing us to reprint this condensed version of her fascinating blog. See the whole post here.
Royal babies have been on everyone’s mind lately, and we recently saw two babies born in the royal family within less than a month of each other.
Not only have been people been doing web searches for Prince George and Maud Windsor, they’ve been searching for royal baby names in general, uncommon royal names, and royal names that nobody else is using. So here is a list of queens and princesses connected to English royal houses by either birth or marriage, whose names aren’t popular or common.
Adeliza of Louvain married Henry I, and became queen of England. She didn’t produce any royal heirs; however, after Henry’s death she re-married, and had seven children and is an ancestor of many of the noble English families. William the Conqueror had a daughter called Adeliza, named after his sister – the name wasn’t uncommon amongst Norman-French aristocracy. Adeliza is a medieval English form of Adelais, a short form of the original old Germanic form of Adelaide. It’s pronounced ad-uh-LEE-za. Although it doesn’t have any connection to the name Elizabeth, it looks like a combination of Adele and Eliza, and might feel like a way to honour relatives who have variants of these names.
Names Inspired by Tarot Cards
By Isadora Vega, Bewitching Names
Tarot cards are arguably the most popular form of divination in the modern Pagan world. Let’s see if there are any names to be gleaned from them.
Tarot cards were invented in medieval Italy as a regular deck of playing cards. It’s probably not surprising then that the original iconography was a lot more Catholic than it is today. They didn’t really become associated with mysticism or the occult until the 1700′s. The major arcana has 22 cards and was originally called the trump cards because they were used for gambling. The minor arcana looks a lot more like a regular deck of playing cards except instead of clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades there’s cups, wands, pentacles, and swords. Each card has a pictogram that represents a certain concept.
It is a myth that Pagans use tarot cards to “see the future” in a literal sense. Most people who give readings will tell you that tarot cards show you the forces at work in your life and help you see what your next steps should be.
Hot Baby Names: The 16 hottest choices of 2013 (so far)
The hot baby names making the most dramatic leaps up the popularity list at Nameberry so far this year include several surnames newly favored as firsts; names inspired by a beloved literary character, a historic president and a new pope; the name of a cuddly animal and a term for a laid-back attitude.
Our 2013 hot baby names list is made up of those names whose views on Nameberry for the first half of this year show the largest gains over views during the same period in 2012.
While our hot list includes a couple of traditional girls’ names – Francine and Margo in all her spellings – along with one choice, the Irish Declan, that is decidedly a boys’ name, most of the hottest names today can work for either gender.
And most have until recently not been used as first names. Sometimes it’s a celebrity, like funny girl Rebel Wilson, who brings a new name to the fore. Celebrity babies or pop culture influences can also introduce new names to the lexicon.
But mostly, what makes a name hot is some combination of factors that catches fire in the moment.
Our hottest baby names for the first half of 2013 are:
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Author experts Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz revolutionized baby naming.
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