We’ve been scrutinizing your responses to our recent survey, in particular the question that asked what you’d like to see more of on nameberry, with an eye to accommodating your suggestions.  Quite a few responders put in requests for more ethnic names— with pronunciations—and a couple took note of our blog on birth announcements in the London Times, interested in seeing similar subjects, which Pam will be updating soon.

So, since we aim to please, this time we are taking a look at announcements in the Irish Times over the past few months–the ethnic and not-so-ethnic names found there–with pronunciations when needed.

The current batch of newborn names in Ireland shows a typical mix of Anglo-Saxon classics (especially for boys), modern Irish standards , and the old Gaelic names that have been revived and become fashionable in recent years, as well as some internationally trendy choices.  Below are some of the more interesting, with pronunciations where useful–bearing  in mind that they change from region to region (and reference book to reference book).

GIRLS

Among the currently most popular girls’ names are Emily, Lucy, Isabel (and Isabelle, Isabella and Isobel), and Grace, with several appearances of Hazel and Sophia/Sofia , Rose and Ruby.  Leading middle names in this sampling appear to be Elizabeth, Grace, Rose, Louise, May and Maeve.

Here, some of the more unusual choices–including some interesting combos:

AMELIE Rose

ANNA Catriona (kat-REE-na) Monica

AOIFE (EE-fa)

ARABELLA Elizabeth

ASHLING Elizabeth

AVA Maeve

BEVIN

BRONA Rose

CAMILLE Ita

CAOIMHE (KEEV-eh) Nadine (more…)

Maybe there are certain kinds of names that you really like–flower or color names, say, or virtue names– but you’re reluctant to use one of the more obvious examples, the epidemically popular ones, attractive though they may be.  Well, there’s no reason you have to limit yourself to those few; more and more parents are digging deeper into those appealing categories and coming up with  newer sounding choices.

Take flower names. If you want to move beyond Rose, Daisy, Lily and even Poppy and Violet, you might consider these more exotic blooms that are beginning to come into their own:

AMARYLLIS

ASTER

AZALEA

HYACINTH

IRIS (not exotic, but long neglected)

JONQUIL

LILAC

LOTUS

MARIGOLD

PRIMROSE

TULIP

Similarly with gems–Ruby, Crystal and Jade aren’t the only jewels in the case.  Consider:

AMETHYST

EMERALD

OPAL

PEARL

SAPPHIRE

TOPAZ

TURQUOISE 

And speaking of Turquoise, there are also some richly hued colors beyond Scarlet and Siena: (more…)

 Ooh-la-la.  Tra-la-la.  What sounds could be more lilting, more rhythmic, more energetic than these?  This is surely one reason why parents–both celebrities and civilians– are flocking to names with double L-starting syllables, such as:

LILY.  This is the most classic of the bunch, a lovely flower name that has re-blossomed in the last several year, and g iven some modern celeb cred by singer Lily Allen.  We’ve counted at least eight recent starbaby Lilys–and that doesn’t even count Lou Diamond Phillips‘ LILI, Chris O’Donnell’s LILLY and Johnny Depp’s LILY-ROSE.  The more formal versions, LILLIAN and LILIANA are also showing signs of rebirth.

LILAC is another floral option, fresher and newer sounding than both Lily and the similarly-hued Violet; it was picked for his daughter by Donovan Leitch.

The sexy LOLA (though several degrees lower on the thermometer than LOLITA) is also on the rise.  First brought to prominence as the nickname of Madonna daughter Lourdes, it’s now heard almost daily on TV via the daughter of Live with Regis and Kelly’s Kelly Ripa.  It’s also been bestowed on their little girls by Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, Chris Rock, Jennie Garth, Lisa Bonet, Carnie Wilson and several other celebs–all of whom ignored  the warning of the song “Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets.”

LILA is a relatively sedate member of this group, even if it did start life as a diminutive of the seductive biblical Delilah.  But don’t confuse it with the variously spelled LAILAs, LEYLAs, LAYLAs and LEILAs out there.

And then there’s the Disneyfied LILO, sure to be a favorite with baby’s older siblings.

LULU is the high-stepping showgirl of the group,  a member of the Coco-Gigi-Fifi contingent (plus, of course, the irascible comics-book Little Lulu.

Looking for something a little more unusual?  We like the charming LILOU, now very hot in France; some other names in La-La land include LALA itself, LALIA, LALITA, LALLY, the Hawaiian LEILANI, LELIA, LILIA (a fictional character in The Ten Commandments movie, LILITH , LULA and LILLA.

And even rarer: LILEAS/LILIAS — the Scottish version of Lily, and LALAGE– a classical name, pronounced lal-a-ghee, heard both in the ancient poetry of Horace and the John Fowles novel, The French Lieutenant’s Woman.

By the way, I also have some thoughts about the oo part of oo-la-la. Stay tooned

Before I was born, my mother had  two names picked out for me–I was going to be either Lydia or Laurel.  She liked them because they were slightly unusual and, being an artist herself, saw them as having a creative feel;  she was also following the Jewish tradition of using the first initial of a deceased relative.  In this case, it was my father’s mother, who had recently died, and whose first and middle initials were R and L.

But once I actually made my appearance, Lydia and Laurel were never heard of again.  Whatever transpired in the hospital I’ll never know–something to do with pressure by my Dad’s sisters for names closer to their mother’s–but in any case, I arrived home with a birth certificate reading Ruth Leila.  To confuse matters further, I was never ever called Ruth.  Instead I was known to one and all by my Jewish name, Laila.  So little Laila became who I was–that is until the fateful day when I started kindergarten and my teacher, looking at my records, naturally called me Ruth.  Ruth?  Who is Ruth?  In one fell swoop, my identity was shattered.  (So don’t anyone ever ask me if you should change your child’s name in midstream–you can imagine my answer.)

I returned home from school completely distraught, no longer sure quite who I was.  My sympathetic mother said ‘OK, dear, if it would make you feel better, how about starting from scratch and picking a totally new name for yourself?’  Not having a name book handy, she proceeded to make lists of names starting with those two letters (again Lydia and Laurel went missing)–Leah, Leslie, Louise, Rachel, Roxanne, etc.  I picked Linda, which at the time sounded appealingly bright and shiny to me.  But choosing a new name at the age of five doesn’t mean you necessarily instantly internalize it and make your own–which is something I never did.  But the experience did trigger my lifelong fascination with names.

Through the years I’ve accumulated many nicknames–perhaps because friends also sensed that I wasn’t an authentic Linda.  My family often called me Lin, while others came up with Linnie, Lindy, Linneth, Linden, Linsy, and even–in the internet era–my email tag Lindro.  Lately, though, with the growing popularity of so many pretty double-L names, like Lola and Lila and Lilo and Lily and Leyla, I’ve started to really miss Laila.  As a matter of fact, a new friend, hearing my name saga, has started to call me that.  And you know what?  It really feels like me.

I’d love to hear anyone else’s story about a name change that didn’t take, or of  not  feeling comfortable with your own name for some other reason.