For the Nameberry 9 this week, Abby Sandel of Appellation Mountain finds a group of sweet spot baby names--names that sound modern and new, but are still based in tradition.

After last week’s birth announcement for Rainbow Aurora, I thought it might be a quiet week.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Baby names trends are constantly evolving, but I’m struck by a theme in this week’s baby name news. It’s the continuing rise of Modern Choices with Roots. This week’s appellations weren’t as out there as Rainbow, but they’re not all conventionally established names, either.

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Of course, we all hope our kids will be good as gold, follow the Golden Rule, find the Golden Mean in life, win lots of gold medals and gold stars, and all that other good golden stuff.  So why not give them a leg up by bestowing on them one of these golden names?

The most obvious are those with the word front and center.  Goldie is an old showgirl name legitimized by and long associated with Goldie Hawn, who was named after a great aunt.  The fact that the name Goldie was recently chosen for her baby by Ione Sky sends out signals that it could make a return à la Sadie and Mabel.  Golda is one step removed, not heard much since the demise of American-raised Israeli Premier Golda Meir, who was in fact born Goldie.  Gilda is sleeker and slimmer, linked forever to the sexy image of Rita Hayworth in the eponymous film classic, then lightened by beloved original SNL cast member Gilda Radner.

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