by Eleanor Nickerson of British Baby Names

Manx is one of the six Celtic languages that hail from the British isles.  It is the native language of the Isle of Man, an island uniquely situated between the coasts of Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. From its highest point, Snaefell, you can even see all four countries on a clear day.

Over the centuries it has passed from and between Welsh, Viking, English and Scottish rule, though now has its own democratic parliament. The Manx language — a close relative of Irish and Scot Gaelic — was spoken up until the 1970s, when its last native speaker died. However, it is now beginning to see some signs of revival.

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When it comes to Celtic baby names, it’s easy enough to research the history of Irish and Scottish names, and also to check out the most popular names of the year.  But what names are parents in those countries using for their kids right now?  How many of the names have brogues and burrs and how many would as easily be found on announcements in the US and UK.?  Are there any fabulous first/middle combos that we’d be surprised to see on our local birth cerificates?

I’ve been scouring some Irish and Scottish newspaper birth announcements and picked out some of the most striking discoveries—including some of the most noteworthy sibsets.  All these babies were born during the last couple of months.

Irish Girls

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British name maven Eleanor Nickerson, aka Elea, has her finger on the pulse of naming trends in the UK.

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Guest blogger Eleanor Nickerson follows her recent keen analysis of Victorian names with the period of British baby names that came next: the Edwardians.

What marks the Edwardian era of British baby names as distinct from those used in the Victorian period is the sheer number of different names used. In previous centuries the standard practice was to select a child’s name from the immediate family. When an infant died the next child to be born would be given that name, limiting the name pool to five to eight names in a family. Fanciful names were reserved for the aristocracy, and even they kept them permeating along the family line.

The Victorians made a change to this idea. Names borne by a deceased family member were now considered ‘unlucky’. Parents suddenly had to look elsewhere for names and artistic, literary and religious movements provided much needed inspiration. The Victorian love of anything ‘gothic’, and the influence of Tennyson and the Pre-Raphaelites brought back medieval and mythical names like Lancelot, Ralph, Edgar, Alice, Elaine, Edith and Mabel; the Romantic movement re-introduced names such as Wilfred, Quentin, Cedric, Amy and Rowena; and the religious Tractarian movement revived long lost Saint’s names like Augustine, Benedict, Ignatius, Euphemia and Genevieve.

By the Edwardian era many of these previously obsolete names had become de rigueur and permeated all the social classes. More than at any time before, the gap between the names of the upper classes and those of the lower was considerably contracted. The 1911 census shows that many wealthy household members shared the same names as their domestic servants.  For example, Constantia Beatrice Sophia, born 1905, was the daughter of a furniture mover and Lancelot Frederick Charles, born 1907, was a nurseryman’s son, showing that these previously ‘upper class’ names were now being enjoyed throughout the social classes.

One of the biggest trends of the Edwardian era of British baby names was the use of nature names. Some of the most popular names such as, Daisy, Iris, Ivy, Primrose, Beryl, Pearl and Ruby were used sparingly in the first half of the nineteenth century – and, interestingly, equally spread amongst boys and girls. By the 1880s, these names started to became very fashionable (now solely for girls) which led to them becoming the darlings of the Edwardian age.

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Every now and then we like to take a look at the most recent  British and Irish newspaper birth announcements, to see what parents in those countries are naming their babies at this particular moment in time. 

What we see right now in Ireland is a mix of old and revived Gaelic/Celtic names, classic Anglo names, nickname names similar to those popular in the UK, and more internationally trendy modern names.

The most widely used recorded Emerald Isle favorites of the last two months include Alice, Florence, Grace, Lily and Molly for girls; Henry, Hugo, Liam and Oscar for boys, as well as several varieties of Fin-starting  names. ( One trivia note—if you’re surprised by the unusual geographical middle name Abyssinia, you should know that little Luke was actually born in Ethiopia.)

And if you need some pronunciation help for one of the Gaelic names, you can hear the way many of these actually sound as recorded by the late Irish writer Frank McCourt on the website babynamesof Ireland.com

Here are some of the most interesting examples, with sibling names in parentheses.

GIRLS

• Alice Dáire
• Alice May (Charlie, Aoibheann)
• Amélie Anne
• Aobhai Sadhbh (Deborah, Bródaí)
• Aoife (Caoimhe, Aisling)
• Aurelia Isabelle
• Dearbha Margaret (Ruairi)
• Eleanor May (Matthew, Aisla)
• Elsa (Quin, Muireann, Milo)
• Elsa Elizabeth
• Fia

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