Whenever I speak to one of my most trusted name correspondents from her loft in a hip bastion of lower NYC, I can usually depend on her to give me some unexpected name news.  A while back, Emily was the one who first told me that Oscar was over before most of the country even knew it was in.  Several months ago she gave me the news flash that Sylvia was hot.  Sylvia?  I’m still waiting on that one.  But yesterday she informed me that she knew two Djangos under the age of two, and several Anaises.  Now that was news I could work with.

Django and Anais are part of a new group of musical and literary namesake names that seem to take on a life of their own once they start to catch on.  Sure, parents who name their child Tennyson (as Russell Crowe did) are obviously thinking of the poet, and the same is true of Mingus (Helena Christensen) and Lennon (Liam Gallagher) and Hendrix (Zakk Wylde), but are all those who are calling their kids Django (silent ‘d’) passionate fans of the jazzy rhythms of the seminal French jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt or do they just like the jazzy rhythm of the name?  Are the little Anaises being named for the writer Anais Nin, known as much for her erotica as for her diaries, or are the parents just attracted to  the name’s lovely sound?  And all those little Becketts in the playground–how many degrees of separation between them and the author of “Krapp’s Last Tape”?–not to mention all the boy and now girl baby Jaggers: are their parents really thinking of aging rocker Mick, or do they just like the swagger of Jagger?

That said, here are some more musician and writer names that you might like whether or not you’re aficionados of their work:

MUSICIANS

ABBA

AMADEUS

ARLO

BIX

BOWIE

CALLOWAY

CROSBY

GUTHRIE

JOSS

MORRISON

PLACIDO

RAMONE

ZEVON

WRITERS

ANGELOU

BLY

BRONTE

CARVER

DASHIELL

DIDION

DJUNA (a cousin of Django)

FLANNERY

FROST

JUNOT

LORCA

MILLAY

SVEVO

THURBER

ZADIE

The attitude towards middle names has changed radically over the last generation.  No longer are they thought of as throwaway connectives, the way they were in the era of Karen Ann, Debra Sue and Jamie Lynn: parents are now giving almost as much thought to the middle name as they do to the first, carefully weighing its meaning and its rhythm and sound in combination with the first and last names.

And now middle names even have their own separate set of trends.  One of these is to follow the British royal tradition of using two (or more) of them, perhaps to honor both grandparents, as Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin did with Apple Blythe Alison (both grandmas) and Moses Bruce Anthony (granddads.)  Another is to use it as a place for a name that you like but consider a bit too risky for lead position–as in starbabies Alice Zenobia and William Huckleberry.  The middle spot is also ideal for honoring a cultural hero (or two)–we’ve heard Lorca, Lennon, Amadeus, Bela (for Bartok, not Lugosi), and Kafka, to cite a few.  Another interesting–and endearing–trendlet we’ve spotted is using the nickname of an honoree instead of his/her full name (Amanda Peet’s Frances Pen, Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber’s Alexander Pete) in middle position, making for a more intimate connection.

Older traditions continue to survive as well.  The venerable practice of using Mom’s maiden name in that place, for both boys and girls–as well as a grandmother’s birth name which might otherwise be lost to history–is thriving.  It can also be a safe slot for a family or friend’s name you want–or feel obligated–to use, but not necessarily as the name your child is known by.  In any case, giving your child a great, imaginative middle name gives him another option if–perish the thought!–he’s not happy with your first choice.