What could be sweeter than for your baby to have its (I know–you can’t call it ‘it’) own theme song, a readymade melody featuring  his or her name,  for you to sing along and dance to together?  Some of the most appealing of these can be found in the Oldies section, from the era of first-generation, classic and folk rock.

A logical place to check out first is the Beatles Songbook, which actually has had something of an influence on baby naming.  It was no coincidence that when “Michelle, ma belle” won the Grammy Song of the Year award in 1966, Michelle was simultaneously shooting up the name popularity list.  And now Jude–which took awhile ( linking to the good looks and sunny personality of Jude Law didn’t hurt)–is moving up the charts.

Here, names taken from Beatles titles:

ANNA

BILL

ELEANOR

JUDE

JULIA

LIZZIE

LUCY

MADONNA

MAGGIE

MARTHA (more…)

Last week we talked about the la-la part of oo-la-la names, but it seems that a large proportion of currently hot names have the cool oo sound as well. Maybe it’s because the names do share the sound with that c-word (not to mention oomph, and it’s also just a stone’s throw away from cute),  but in any case, as namiacs who parse these trends down to a single syllable, we offer a list to prove our point.

The oo sound can be reached via several vowel routes: oo, u, ou, ew, eu and ue. Here are some examples of oo names that are currently in favor or possible comers:

GIRLS

ANOUK

BIJOU

DOONE/DUNE

DJUNA

FINULA

JULIA

JULIET

JUNE

JUNO

LILOU

LOUISE/LOUISA/LUISA

LUCIA/LUCIANA

LUCIENNE

LUCINDA

LUCY/LUCIE

LOUELLA/LUELLA

LULU

LUNA

OONA/UNA

PRUDENCE

RUBY

RUTH

SUSANNA

TALLULAH

TULIP

UMA

BOYS

BOONE

CLOONEY/CLUNY

CREW

CRUZ

DOUGAL

DREW

ELIJU

JUDAH

JUDE

JULIAN

LEWIS (hot in Scotland and England)

LUC/LUKE

LUCAS

LUCIAN/LUCIANO

REUBEN

ROONE/ROONEY

RUFUS

ZEUS

ZUMA

EITHER

BLEU, BLUE

LUCA

PERU

RUDY

TRUE

Family names was the subject of a recent nameberry poll, in which you voted overwhelmingly –70%–in favor of using family names for your baby.  Where to look for great family names? In your own family records, of course, as well as in nameberry for ideas of historic names that sound appropriate for modern life. Another great idea:  you can hunt for original family names through genealogy sources — and build a family tree for your baby in the process.

The largest number of people who took our poll–46%–were comfortable with taking lots of liberties with Grandpa Wilbur or Grandma Enid’s name to make them more  modern-baby friendly.  We’re happy to help.  The following are some possible updates  for those fusty, musty family names. 

Agnes –>  ANAIS

Alvin –> ALDO

April –>  MAY

Arnold –>  ARNO

Bertha –> EARTHA

Beverly –> EVERLY

Blossom –> POPPY

Brian –>  ORION

Bruce –> SPRUCE

Diane –> DIANTHA

Donald –>  DONALL

Douglas –> DOUGAL

Edgar –> EDMUND

Edna –> EDEN

Elmer  –> ELM

Enid –> ENYA

Estelle –> ESTELLA

Ethel –> ESME           

Gertrude –> TRUE

Hubert –> HUGH

Irma –> ISLA

Irving –>  VING

Julius –> JUDE

Julie –>  JULIET

Lester –> DEXTER

Lois –>  LOLA

Lori –> STORY

Luther –> LUCA

Malva –>  MALIA

Marion –> MARIN

Mildred –> MILLIE

Milton –>  MILO

Morris –>  MORRISON

Myra –>  MYA

Norman –>  NORTH

Phyllis–> FELICITY

Roland –>  ROMAN

Ronald –>  RONAN

Shirley –> SHILOH

Teresa–> TESSA

Thelma –> THEA

Viola –> VIOLET

Weston –>  EASTON

Wilbur –>  WILLEM

Wilma –>  WILLA

How have YOU modernized a family name for your child?  Tell us here!