Just as names move in and out of fashion so do sounds and initial letters.  In the 70s and 80s, J-names ruled, from Jennifer and Jason to Jessica and Joshua, and then came the Ms –Michael, Matthew, Melissa, Megan, the Bs—Brianna, Brittany, Brandon, the Ks—Kayla, Kimberly, Kelsey, and the still continuing As and Es—Ashley, Amanda, Ava, Emily Emma.

But what did they replace?  If you want proof of how an initial can fall totally out of favor, all you have to do is look at the performance record of the letter P.

In the last year counted, you have to scroll the Social Security list all the way down to #60 to find a single name beginning with that letter—the girl’s name Peyton—and for boys it isn’t until #124 that you get to Preston.  When P-names were in their prime, in 1950, you would have found nine names in the Top 60—Peter, Patrick, Philip, Paul, Peggy, Phyllis, Paula, Pamela and Patricia, none of which is found in the Top 100 today.

I’m not saying Phyllis is necessarily ready for her comeback (though those boys’ names could be), but there are certainly other P-names worthy of trying to resuscitate the reputation of that lost letter.  Such as:

GIRLS

PALOMA – Paloma is one of the loveliest options, and among the best bets for success.  Meaning ‘dove’ and thus symbolizing peace, it’s both gentle and dynamic.  A similarly appealing Latin name is PALMA, namesake of the charming city on the island of Majorca.

PATIENCE and PRUDENCE – Two virtue names projecting calm and—well—patience and prudence.  And the latter has the great nickname Pru plus a Beatles song for lullaby time.

PATRICE – The French unisex version of Patrick/Patricia gives either of those old standards a touch of Gallic flair and sophistication.

PATSY – Saucy, spunky nickname name that hasn’t been heard for so long that it’s beginning to sounds fresh.

PAULINA/PAOLINA—PAULINE is sweet; these Spanish and Italian versions are stylish and exotic.

PEARL – Definitely regaining some of its old luster.

PENELOPE/PENNY—Penélope Cruz has single-handedly revved up the appeal of this former frump; Penny is its cute retro nickname.

PERSIS –A distinctive New Testament choice for the intrepid baby namer.

PETAL and POSY—Rather than choosing the popular Rose, Lily or Daisy, you could go for one of these more unusual generic flower-related options.

PHILIPPA – Whereas Philip feels dated, its female counterpart, which has never gained much traction in the US, sounds interesting and new. Plus it has that bursting-with-energy nickname PIPPA. (more…)

At the beginning of this year, the UK ’s Office for National Statistics let it be known that they wouldn’t be issuing their annual lists of most popular names due to recessional budget cuts, and a collective moan was heard across the name-o-sphere.  (Can you imagine what would happen if our Social Security list didn’t appear one Mother’s Day?) 

Well, I don’t know what happened–maybe the uproar was too deafening–but suddenly,  nine months later, their lists of top 100 boys and 100 girls names  in England and Wales have now materialized.  Definitely a case of better late than never.

Once upon a time I used to think that, since we share the same language, the Yanks and the Brits would have similar taste in names.  That was before I married a Brit myself and it came to naming our daughter, when I saw just how different our perceptions of most names were.  And though things have evened out to some degree with the rise of the Internet and the international sharing of opinions, looking at the top English girls’ names today (we’ll take up the boys’ next week), we can see that there is still quite a divide.  (more…)

When we were preparing the article “Bizarre Baby Names: A Growing Trend?” for the July issue of  Reader’s Digest magazine that’s just hit the stands, we put together a lonnnnnng timeline of the key markers in American name history–much longer than they could possibly use with the story.  So here we offer you some of the dates and events that you won’t find in the magazine.

1620.  The Mayflower arrives bearing 102 passengers, mostly with classic English names, but also one Degory, one Resolved, one Remember, one Wrestling, and one Oceanus, who was born mid-voyage.

1750s. Enter classical names (Homer, Horace), chivalrous names (Arthur, Elaine), and romantic girls (Lavinia, Rosalind).  More boys are being called Junior.

1768. Birth of Dolley Madison, one of the increasing number of babies with nicknames on their birth certificates.

1825. John Quincy Adams is the first President to have a middle name, a rarity at this time, when it becomes fashionable to use the mother’s maiden name.

1845. The Irish famine sends masses of Bridgets and Patricks to America.

1925. Girls’ names ending in ’s’ are fashionable–Gladys, Doris, Phyllis, Lois; also those ending in een (Kathleen) and ette (Paulette).

1946. Publication of Dr. Benjamin Spock’s The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care encourages parents to be more relaxed, confident and collaborative: husbands participate more in child care–and baby naming.

1950.  Linda unseats the seemingly unseatable Mary as the number one name for girls.

1959. First Gidget movie released; surfer dude names like Gary, Scott, Dwayne and Bruce catch the wave.

1959.  Mattel introduces the Barbie doll; other nickname names like Lori, Cindy, Sherry and Terri are hot.

1966. Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. renounces his “slave name” to become Muhammed Ali; other celebrities follow suit, influencing African-American baby naming.

1967.  Frank Zappa names his first child Moon Unit,  a seminal ’kooky’ baby name.  Son Dweezil will follow two years later.

1968. TV westerns like Here Come the Brides, featuring brothers Jason, Jeremy and Joshua, signal a return of old cowboy names.

 1974. The first issue of People magazine accelerates fascination with celebrity culture, parents start to be increasingly influenced by names stars give their babies.

1987. Movie Wall Street proclaims “Greed is good,” summing up the Go-Go 80s and inspiring Waspy surnames for boys (Carter, Parker) and androgynous exec names for all (Kyle, Blake, Blair).

1998. Parents continue to get more and more kreeatif with spellings like Adan, Austyn and Alivia all in the year’s Top 700.

2000. The Internet inspires parents to search genealogy sites for old family names.

2003. Extreme starbaby names grow more extreme–this year alone sees the arrival of Pilot Inspektor, Audio Science and Banjo.

2008. Reason returns: With economic downturn, parents look back to solid, traditional girls’ names like Ella, Grace, Olivia, and biblical boys Jacob, Ethan, Benjamin.

If you’re a fan of cool nickname names, you’ll find Russian baby names a treasure trove of possibilities. Some of them have already entered the American mainstream–Sasha and Mischa (both unisex), Talia, Katya–but there are many more Russian baby names that are less familiar but equally appealing, as are some of the full names.

Russian nomenclature in general is quite unique, in that each person has three personal names: a Christian name, a middle patronymic taken from the father’s given name, and a surname that reflects gender, so that a son of Ivan would have the last name Ivanovich, while a daughter would use Ivanovna. At birth, a child is given a formal name known as a “passport name,” but usually is called through childhood by his or her pet name. It is at the age of 16 that a person begins to be addressed by the formal first name and patronymic, so that, for example, Piotr’s daughter Olenka would overnight become Olga Petrovna. The nickname often survives well into adulthood though–as in the case of Misha Baryshnikov, for example.

The list of Russian baby names below follows the name with its most common pet forms–many of which have an abundance of wintry charm.

GIRLS

ALEKSANDRA Sasha, Shura, Sashenka
ALENA Alenka
AMILIYA
ANASTASIA Nastya, Stasya
ANNA Annuska, Anouska, Anya Annika
ANTONINA Tonya
DANILA Dasha
DEVORA
DOMINIKA Domka, Mika
DUSCHA
EKATARINA/KATERINA Katya, Katyenka, Katyuska
ELENA Lena
ELIZAVETTA Liza
FANYA
FYODORA
GALINA Galenka, Galinka, Galka, Gasha, Galya
ILIA
INESSA Inka
IRINA
IVANNA
IZABELLA
JELENA
KAROLINA
KIRA
LARA/LARISSA
LENORA Lena, Lenka, Leka
LIDA Lidka
LILIA
LUDMILLA
LUIZA
MARA Marinka, Marisha, Maruska, Marya, Masha
MARIANNA Masha
MARINA
NADIA Nadka
NATALYA Natasha, Natalka, Talia, TAsa, Tasha, Tashka
NATASSIA
NIKA
NINA Ninochka
OKSANA
OLGA Olenka, Olya
PASHA/PAVLA A fitting name for an Easter baby
SOFYA Sofka
SONYA Sofia, Sofiya
STEFANIA Panya, Stesha
SVETLANA
TAMARA Tasha
TATIANA Tania, Tanya, Tanka
THEODOSIA Feodora, Theda
VALENTINA Tina
VANYA
VARVARA Varya, Varenka
VERA Verasha, Verinka, Verka
VIERA
YALENA
ZENAIDA Zena
ZOYA Zoi, Zoyenka

boys

AKIM
ALEK/ALEKSANDR Sanya, Sasha, Shura
ALEXEI Alyosha, Lelja, Lelya, Lesha
ANATOLI Tolya, Tolenka, Tosha, Tulya
ANDREI Adja, Adya
ANTON/ANTIN Tosha, Tosya, Tusya
ARKADI Arik, Arkasha
ARMAN
AVEL
BODHAN Danya
BORIS Boba, Borya
BURIAN
CHRISTOV
DIMITRI/DMITRI Dima, Dimka, Mitya
EFREM Rema
FABIYAN Fabi
FYODOR Fedya
GAVRIL Ganya, Gav, Gavya
GEORGI Egor, Gorya, Jhora, Jura, Yuri
IGOR Iga, Gorik, Gosha
ILYA
IVAN Vanya
KASSIAN Kasya
KONSTANTIN Kostya
LAVRO
LEON/LEONID
LEV Levka
LUKA
MIKHAIL Mika, Misha
MORIZ
NIKOLAI Koka, Kolya, Nika, Nikita
OLEG
PAVEL Pasha, Pashka, Pava
PETR/PYOTR/PIOTR Petya, Petru
ROMAN
SAVVEL Sava
SERGEI Serzh
STANISLAV Slava, Slavik, Stas, Stasi
TOMAS
VALENTIN Valja, Valya
VASILI Vasja, Vasya, Vaslik
VIKTOR Vika, Vitya
VLADIMIR Dimka, Vimka, Viva, Vladja, Volya, Vova
YAKOV Jasha
YURI
ZIVEN/ZIVON Ziv