Baby Names 2012: Heard any new names lately?

I actually just came across Jodie Sweetin’s daughter Zoie’s middle name, Laurelmae. I think it’s so pretty.

It’s not new, but it’s not on nameberry but with The Rum Diary having recently come into theaters and the movie to hit DVD soon I’m surprised the name Chenault hasn’t gotten noticed. It’s certainly on my list. It is a French name, variant of Chenelle and the like and is pronounced like the Che in Chenelle, and then “no”, shuh-noh (the t is silent and the l just deepens the au pronounciation).

A member of my family is considering the name Poema, which is apparently an Italian word for poem (they’re pronouncing it like Po-emma, so I’m assuming that’s the correct pronunciation). I thought it was a lovely.

The only name I’ve heard recently that I was not familiar with is Amantha (Amantha Giselle). I like it!

I would love to hear your take on the name Elowen, the Cornish word for “Elm Tree”. It seems to have some fans on the Nameberry boards, myself included! Would you consider adding it to the Nameberry search database?

Pietari
As far as I can find out it’s a Finnish version of Peter (meaning stone) yet I discovered the name whilst watching a film, “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale”.

For girls I’ve heard:

Maeda, Macare, Ailey, Mairead, Galen, and Jenessa

For boys I’ve heard:

Briggs, Ocean, and Graiden

I spoke with someone yesterday and her name was Hesselina, nick named Hessy. I love the uniqueness of it but I cant find a meaning anywhere.

These are great, keep ‘em coming! And yes, we’re going to try to research these and will add many to the database. Thank you!

For boys I’ve heard: Seeley, Ivo, Klaytin, Ryatt, Loki, Pryce, Waven, Kiptyn, Ramsay, Moore, Gentry, Lavory, Steele, Kekoa, Crosby, Kaysha, Hendrix, Zowen, Koda, Italy, Pong, Bell, Rio, Boxer, Chevy, Azure.

For girls: Imaan, Maris, Wue, Safira, Naima, Elliana, Damae, Una, Ligia, Lexus, Kailani, Porschia, Marika, Tinsley, Acacia, Janyah, Kreeya, Aqua, Brackin, Riola, Alaska, Arden, Eris, Coast, Jazee, Palm, Lunella, Testa, Ember, Jersey, Zada.

These are all from newborn lists I’ve seen.

I’ve recently came across a few that are new to me. I love all of these girls names

Boys: Kelby
Girls: Merit, Quila, Thilda

Arrietty, Isola, Lionella, Theria, Ostara, Endrina and Palma.
I would love to see pronunciations for some of the more unusual names.
@gatoamiga I love Elowen too!

I’ve got a new boy cousin named Galen! And a brand new baby girl neighbor, named Sarai.

I was hoping for Garnet, but Galen’s pleasantly surprising for me, considering his older brother’s Britton (blech).

I can’t think of a question of the week, but I’ll see what I can come up with before long!

I just heard of a little girl (just turned 3) named Emmeliese.

There was an article in Sunday local edition of newspaper about baby names statics last year!!!! Some unheard names until I read it was Saori, Kalet Yurem (I haven’t heard Kalet before), Evolet Yamar, and some Soccer player inspiration names like Danilo and Neymar, after Brazilian soccer players in local team. Some other Japanese names I can’t remember. I am trying to find that edition on internet.

@lola One of my friends had her baby last week and choose mn Sarai. Sarai is my mn too =)

I met a woman last weekend named Legatha! Pronounced leg-UH-thuh.

Boys: Bowman, Alsten, Kainoa (pronounced Kai-noah)

Girls: Shenley, Hayla, Copper

Also, I know it’s not “new”, but I met a baby Agnes yesterday and it made my day!

The lead in the new Disney/Pixar movie Brave that comes out in June is called Merida. I thought it was kind of cute.

I know a one year-old named Maven. I have yet to ask if it was created by the parents . . . Sort of a Haven-Maeve combination? Or maybe a word name?

@Lola I just learned about a early scientist, last name Galen, who furthered research of human anatomy. He went crazy, so don’t tell your relative. ;D

I also know of some girl names Teela and Tahnee (both of which are already on nameberry) and Illea (which isn’t yet on here)

A boys name I just heard yesterday is Kelton…and a new girls name I just saw was Oaklynn. Personally not a fan of either of them, I prefer the classics, but they were definitely new to me!

I met an Alieke (pronounced A-lee-ka) a couple of months ago, and came across a Madara (MAH-dah-rah) on a reality TV show.

Just heard another one for a girl – Lindley

I know someone who named their son Escher, after the artist M.C. Escher. I think it’s pretty cool. Another name I heard in a movie, Big Fish, is Norther. I love it!

@kgcg31 Maevane is rising in popularity in France so maybe Maven is a form of that?

For boys I recently started loving Athanaël and Maxendre/Maxandre

For girls Baya (from the film Le Nom des Gens) Myriam and Thaïs (for the opera by Jules Massenet- Im coming up with an opera name list! Athanaël comes from this opera too)

I’ve really started to like the name Aitana! I think it’s very pretty.:)

They aren’t exactly new, but I have come across some I’ve never heard before doing genealogy research. My guess is they’re of Hebrew/Biblical origin.

Manoah
Hachariah/Hachaliah (records say both)
Parthema

KIRRILY

Australian girl’s name. I might also consider spelling it KIRRILLY. Pretty!

Jimothy and Kastner, both sons of folks I know. I posted a thread for opinions on Jimothy’s name; it was invented by his dad, who thought Jim ought to be the nickname for Jimothy since Tim is for Timothy, though I learned that Jimothy has had some slight use and some (mostly unsavory) connotations. Kastner was given his paternal grandmother’s maiden name as a first name, and I think it has very much the feel of today (initial K, prefix Kas-, surname as first name) while retaining the history and dignity of a family name.

I came across Brenedy and Braylee yesterday. I’m assuming the first rhymes with Kennedy. So sad.

@kgcg31 I think Maven could be a word name. Maven means expert or collector of knowledge. The French spelling mentioned above is really beautiful. I have no idea if it means the same thing, though.

A new one for a boy-Bereich (pronounced Bryke). I think it is German for field.

These are mostly on teens or preteens.
Girls: Coriandra, Shira (I knew it was a Hebrew word and it was very common as a name at summer camp, which surprised me), Grishma, Aarushi, Fallon, Cicely
Boys: Briggs, Anshul, Eitan, Harlin, Nadav

@theroadtohere- I know a two year old Braelee!! (Blech)

I know a Zeondray Zashawn (yuck), Lakelynn (g), Jabez, Rilla, Geneva, and MaKare (pronounced Muh-care)

A family friend has kids names Freestone (b), Ariceli (g), and in a few weeks Tzipporah “Tizzy”

Tessamy (Tessa + me) and Dayla via my 14 year old cousin. I’m not sure what I think about them. Personally, they’re a little too made up for my taste… though they aren’t the worst I’ve heard. Tessamy reminds me of tessellation, Dayla reminds me of Darla, which reminds me of “The Little Rascals”. It could be worse…

I love the name Ewing for a girl. I’m really, really, considering that name for my little baby on the way. I don’t know why I find it so captivating, but it is.

I was just reading my daughter one of the Clarice Bean picture books (by the same author who did Charlie & Lola), and Clarice has a little brother named Minal. I looked it up but can’t find anything about it.

Also, I love the name McKaya. I thinks it’s unique and has personality.

It’s not new, but a friend of mine just announced that the daughter she is pregnant with will be named Maud Agnes Rose.
I am really excited!

Oh, and Sylvestra (for a girl, obviously.) Since I encountered the name of British actress Sylvestra Le Touzel, I’ve researched it and found it surprisingly rare. I was disappointed it wasn’t listed on Nameberry, but none of my baby name books contained it, either! When I posted a thread here asking about the name’s rarity, one Berry pointed me to behindthename.com, which so far is the only place I’ve found it–and even there, only with the spelling Silvestra.
Oh, and by the way, Jimothy and Kastner aren’t brothers. My earlier post kind of makes it sound that way.

My cousin named her baby “Tessly”, which I don’t believe is on Nameberry. Although they call her “Tess,” I like the uniqueness of “Tessly”.

I just posted in the forums about a set a twins named Logan and Lariat (who are 18 now)… just realized that Lariat isn’t in the database either.

Kaisley, Kereston, Darynda, Kaisy (kye-see), Jaszlyn

I know a man named Gatlin, and I have always loved that name. It isn’t in the database either.

I know this probably isn’t new, but I noticed Zanna (or Zannah?) when watching a Project Runway Reunion. It was new to me, and I’m really liking it! I’m really liking “Z” names lately, especially for girls, so I’ve been paying extra attention to them. Zanna, Zara, Ziva, and Zinnia has all stood out.

some new ones I’ve heard of that I’ve researched and are not made up (well, every name technically is made up, but you know what I mean):
Ottilde, Pyrrha (like PEIR-ah), Quintessa, Ravele (like the composer ravel, with an e for pronunciation sake), Rhea, Roswinthe, Sylphe, Ursina.

Oh, and I love Ewing, Quila, Ostara, Avdel, Safira, and more! those are all beautiful!

~hope you like the stuff! ~lu

Corwyn is my son’s name. It is usually spelled “Corwin” and means friend of the heart. I have yet to come accross another one, and it was not in the data base. I believe it is Welsh.

I know two babies named Adler, one boy and one girl. It definitely seems perfectly on trend with other surname names and names ending in -er, but I couldn’t find it in the nameberry database.

One friend recently had a baby girl and named her Zahira … personally not in my taste, her son is also named Zoik

Ewing is my mother’s maiden name! I had never thought of it as a potential baby name (possibly because she’s told us many times how the mean kids called her Urine, which apparently sounded like Ewing to them). My mom’s mother’s maiden name is Osbourne, which is actually a serious contender for a boy.

Most of my students have strange/made-up names but there’s really no point in going into them, because either they’re misspellings of traditional names or they are of the “My mom likes twenty vowels and a z and a k so this is my name” variety.

I like the fact that I have three students named Thomas, one named Mary Josephine, and one named Tordis. (She’s Norwegian.)

I forgot another one!–Atelic. I spotted it in one of my sister’s cooking magazines as the name of the 2-year-old son of a subscriber, brother to big sister Raven. After searching Nameberry, I Googled “atelic” and found a dictionary definition. Atelic is the antonym of telic, an adjective describing something or someone tending toward a definite goal or objective. Atelic thus carries the meaning “incomplete” or “not tending toward a particular goal.” I’d love to know the story behind his name.

I have a friend named Anabay (pronounced Anna-bay) and I’ve never heard it before. It’s on my top 3 list for girls.

My mom is a substitute teacher, and she subbed for a boy with the last name Commander. The boy and his brother were named Sky and Ocean. That makes Sky Commander and Ocean Commander! I thought that was definitely different.

Names of babies born to friends/acquaintances/friends-of-friends in the past year (I included @ for a and 0 for o so the more unusual names won’t show up in search engines):

Aphri@ R@ven (Aphri@ is the anglicized spelling of an old Celtic name, same root as the word Africa; there was an ancient Queen Affrica of Scotland…), Noam (boy), Alpha, Nova,
Penel0pe Sphere (I just love the middle name Sphere…so pretty), We@ver (boy), S@ge Kindred (boy; again, such a great word name middle name), Bergam0t (girl). My partner and I are artists and have a lot of artist/musician friends, hence all these offbeat names. But I’m struck by how many of them included words in the first or middle spot…I do think that’s a brewing trend. All of my current faves are word names too. Hm…

Also a slightly older Kestrel. Kestrel, Sphere, Kindred, and Bergam0t are not in the database.

I met two girls one named Trachelle the other Keyla, love both of these names.

Laurann, I wonder if Tessly could be like Thessaly? http://nameberry.com/babyname/Thessaly

I named my daughter, Mirabella. It means Wonderful Miracle. It fit her perfectly since with all my complications durning pregnancy, the Doctors did not think she would survive and wanted me to abort her. I followed my intuition and she was a healthy beautiful baby girl. Since then everywhere we go, I get so many compliments on her name. I even have friends who have asked of my husband & I would mind if they named their baby Mirabella. Its such a beautiful name for a very beautiful girl. For short I call her Mira but my husband calls her Bella

I recently heard the name Lenayah and I think it is awesome

I recently heard the name Beller, which I think is spunky and fun. The Beller that I met was a little girl, but it could work for a boy as well. It follows in the pattern of names like Emerson and Halsey in that it’s a last name-unisex first name. i will start using Beller in my writing and hopefully will see it in the world!

When I named my daughter, I loved the name Addison, but it was too common for my tastes, so I hunted about for a similar, but more unusual alternative. I happened upon the name Aaralyn, which apparently means “of song”. It was a little too different for me, so I dropped the first A and named her Aralyn. I love it because it’s so feminine sounding. I also know a little girl the same age named Erilyn.

My name is Alisamyth (Alyssa myth). A different twist to elizabeth. It’s not a new name for me but I have never ran across someone else with this name.

I’ve recently heard of Elihiana, btw Elowen is beautiful!

I named my daughter Zanthe, I loved it because it was/is feminine and somewhat unique.

A friend named her daughter Veroniquia

Our sons are jackson, redford, and bodie. And likely #4 will be named Zeek in one month from now.

Somebody please help me..thinking of a beautifull, unique, unusual and catchy name for my baby girl…Choosing between smth arabic, latin, hebrew or..I don’tknow. I love names like Delilah, Leyla, Layla, Denise, Solange…those type of names..looking for a name starting with D..Any ideas..anybody?;-)

Talise, iroqois meaning i belive is lovely water.

I met a little girl named Hayvri recently. It is pronounced Hay-vree, kind of like Avree or Avery with a H in front of it.

I came across an Aqualina the other day.

I love this site for name ideas. I am trying to come up with a girls and boys name at this point. I really liked the name ADDISON until it became so popular.
can anyone suggest something like it?
I was thinking maybe AVISSYN? What do you think?
My husband doesnt like the boy name I chose either. (Ryker). Any suggestions?

We named our daughter Ave Evangeline

Avika is the one I came across recently and I think it’s very pretty.
I also know of a boy named Cobalt, which I thought was a bold pick but he goes by the not so bold Coby.

I met a baby named Judd recently, which I had only heard as a last name before. I heard of a little girl whose name is Cheynne, pronounced Shane after a deceased relative, but I am not keen on the spelling.
I also know children named Tarkyn, Lillah, Talen and Nash.

My friend who just had a little boy was considering the name Arison, nn. Ari. I’d never heard it before and she said it was Australian and meant ‘Bravery’…I can’t find it anywhere on the internet though, so I can’t check the meaning, but I was quite surprised when I realised I liked it! Maybe you could add it to the name search database?

@Dinarah What about Danica or Danika? You cold use Dawn or Daria. Personally I love Daria and Danica because they seem feminine yet the r in Daria and the c/k in Danica make them strong.
Others you could use are:
-Dayanna
-Dacia
-Danielle
-Dahnia/Dania
-Dina
-Danique
-Dannelle
Hope that helps

@Darci, I went to school with an Erralyn! I love it!

@Dinarah, what about Delia(h)? I know Dasha and Dania, both Russian. Delphine or Delphina would fit with the grandma name trend. My mom went to school with a girl named Davette which would work well with the boy names crossing over and being used by girls. Good luck!

My new niece is named Myla. I could see it catching with the little Milas, Islas, and Aylas.