Nameberry’s Most Popular Features of 2012
Forget Katniss and Finn: Today we leave individual baby names behind and bring you the most popular features on Nameberry in 2012.
Sifting through nearly100 million page views on the site, these are our most-read blogs, our lists that attracted the highest number of viewers, our most commented-on forums, and the user lists that drew the most attention.
How many have you seen?
Top blogs
100 Best Cool Unusual Boys’ Names and Best Cool Unusual Girls’ Names
These 2010 blogs that detailed the best names given to 25 or fewer babies continue to rank highest on our site. Our picks for boys include Amias, Barnabas, and Cashel; for girls, Fleur, Honora, and Verena.
Baby Names 2012: The 12 Hottest Trends
Our baby name trend predictions for 2012 made up the second most popular blog on the site. Among the trends we nailed: Modern Hero Names like Lincoln and Landry; Same but Different Names such as Alivia and Arabella that put a new spin on overused favorites; and Fierce Names such as Wilder and Hawk.
Vintage Names: 100-year-old Names That Sound New Again
This oldie-but-goodie, in every sense of the phrase, continues to attract thousands of readers, with its predictions of which names popular a century ago sound right for our times. Vintage names already stylish include Beatrice and Arthur, Oscar and Pearl. Still in the wings are Betty and Ida, Albert and Martin.
Most Popular Lists
Our list of nickname-names for girls continues, surprisingly, to be the most popular on the site. A few of the selections: Dot, Ellie, Maisie.
Parents in search of cool middle names flock to this list of fresh, one-syllable choices for girls and boys, from Gray to Grove, Plum to True.
Want a name that makes your son sound cool? So do a lot of other parents, who look to this cool list for guidance. Ideas include Beau and Dash, Mac and Wyatt.
Most Active Forums
Started by Kyri Laina in April, this massive thread stretches to 187 pages and counting.  The reason for its popularity: It combines real-life sibset names (and ideas) with a name game.  Isn’t it time you joined the fun, and got some great sibling name ideas in the process? Â
Drop Your Favorite: BOYS! and Drop Your Favorite: GIRLS!
In these counterintuitive name games, players drop the names they like best from a long list, ending up with the least-liked of the bunch. Â Besides being fun, this is a great way to see which names other people (thousands have posted in each thread) like most and least.
Most Visited User Lists
Beautiful but Rare Girls’ Names, by Aurra
This list details names above 500 on the U.S. popularity list that deserve more widespread use. Among the selections: Chiara, Mabel, and Scout.
Old-Fashioned, Vintage, Retro, Classic, Eclectic, Unusual and Uncommon Names for Girls, by RuthShterna
We like all of those qualities in a name! And so do a lot of other berries, judging by the number of visitors to this list, which includes such out-of-the-box ideas as Alienor, Birdie, and Timothea. But we don’t think #1 Sophia belongs here…
Common Creole Girls’ Names, by Lola
One of the oldest and still best user lists on Nameberry, Lola’s selection of Creole names ranges from the familiar Charlotte and Josephine to the unusual Manette and Perrine.
Which were your personal favorite Nameberry features of the past year?
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8 Responses to “Nameberry’s Most Popular Features of 2012”
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alzora Says:
pam Says:
Thanks for sharing those, Alzora! With over 1200 blog posts in the system now, it helps to have the best ones highlighted.
Agent99 Says:
What a cool blog post!
littlemissmariss Says:
Ohh, this is so cool! I love most all the blogs, and I regularly go back through them when I’ve got time 
But I do love..
http://nameberry.com/blog/confessions-of-a-name-heretic-or-in-defense-of-jayden
(SO funny!)
http://nameberry.com/blog/local-baby-names-whats-in-in-indiana
(very informative! Got me to start looking at state statistics rather than just the USA as a whole.. and found that some of my favorites were less popular in my neck of the woods than in general! I’d love to get another blog on this)
These two are the favs I remember There are a whole lot more though 
littlemissmariss Says:
I have to say though! As much as I like pictures, I hate having to go flip through pages to get to the next name and names info on the list 
Like their nice and all, but my ipod gets jammed a lot when I try to look through them
katybug Says:
I agree with LMM–if you ever develop a mobile version of the site, could you list the names instead of making mobile users flip through? Would be a big help. I’ve been drawing inspiration from the Clunky but Cool lists for boys.
Aurra Says:
Yay! I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks that flipping through the pictures is annoying.
RuthShterna Says:
Whoa! I totally missed this! Thanks for the mention! The list started out as my own little collection of names that grew to be not so little. I hope other people have enjoyed the list, too! I’d no idea that anyone else had viewed it.
As for Sophia being on there, well, it includes a lot of names that people probably don’t find so unusual or uncommon, but I would consider them old-fashioned, vintage, and/or retro. Sophia would fit the bill, as would Abigail, Tiffany, Olivia, and Kimberly (which I think are all on there). I guess it depends on how you personally classify.
But again, thanks so much for the mention! I’d been wondering who the 23 people were who shared my list!
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Those are great! I don’t think I had seen any of them until now though. My favorite Nameberry blog post has actually always been THIS adorable gallery of vintage girls’ nicknames that I would totally use as full, standalone names: http://nameberry.com/blog/vintage-nicknames-for-girls
And then this 2010 blog post about more very rare vintage girls’ names: http://nameberry.com/blog/vintage-girls-names-the-lost-names-of-1910
I have both bookmarked on my computer.