International Baby Names: And other news of the week
This week’s news includes a riot of Rose names, a motley crew of moon names, international baby names and a baby named after Snow White.
Rocking Rose names
There’s a theme in the birth announcements this week…and it’s coming up roses!
Country musician Jess Carson chose a cocktail of family names for his daughter, Rosalia Jean. Rosalia was an Italian great-great-grandmother, while Jean honors Jess‘s dad Gene. She joins big siblings Ida Mae and Parker Emmanuel (who was, appropriately, born in a parking lot).
Food network host Molly Yeh used a suitably foodie middle name for her baby girl, Bernadette Rosemary – although actually, both names come from family members.
If you’re into unusual Rose names, how about Rody? It was recorded in 16th-century England, and may be a variation or nickname for Rhoda. Which puts a fresh spin on this long-overlooked floral name, doesn’t it?
Finally, there’s nothing like the simple classic Rose. It was in the spotlight this week thanks to a dance routine of dads holding their babies. The leaders were British street dancer Ashley Banjo and his one-month-old daughter Rose.
Culture-crossing international baby names
Now let’s take a quick trip around the world, and some stories of names moving from one culture to another.
Do you remember the British teen who made the news a few years back for setting up a business helping Chinese parents find an English name for their children? Well, it’s still going strong, and it’s funding her through college. Of course, there are two sides to everything and many Chinese people prefer not to use a different name to interact in English. This article goes through some of the reasons they may not want to. Staying true to your identity, challenging stereotypes and cultural supremacy…and a great question, what even is an “English name”?
Lo and behold, here’s a real life dilemma along similar lines. The parents gave their son a name from one parent’s home country. Fast forward 16 months, and they’re not sure about it any more, as some people find it hard to pronounce. Should they change his name? Or keep it international and proud?
In the celebrisphere, Kim Kardashian has been considering names inspired by her Armenian heritage for her baby boy – due in May – but says she hasn’t found any she likes. Maybe she should check out our favorite Armenian baby names: can’t you just picture North, Saint, Chicago and their brother Toros, or Zako? She’s also been considering Rob, after her father…which, in a way, would be even more surprising than the trailblazing names we’ve come to expect of Kimye.
If you’re feeling inspired now to use an international baby name, there are always plenty of ideas in the latest birth announcements from Germany: last week’s include gems like Ennis, Mirelle, Ritana, Kurt and Philippos. And there’s a treat every day of this month over at the blog Onomastics Outside the Box, as Carrie–Anne presents an A-Z of Slavic names. The letter A includes awesome names like Almira, Akilina, Alizar and Antim.
Place your bets: royal baby and Name of the Year
Moving over to the UK – where Harry and Meghan’s baby is due some time this month – now’s your chance to get involved in naming the newest member of the royal family.
Ok, you don’t actually get to choose its name. But if you fancy a bet, all you need is a printer, some scissors, and up to 39 friends. Got those? You’re ready to play the London Telegraph’s royal baby name sweepstake, featuring options from frontrunners Victoria and Arthur to the less likely Casper and Alberta. (Take some of the spellings with a pinch of salt: I can’t believe the odds are so high on Phillip and Harriett, rather than the more popular Philip and Harriet!) If you need help choosing, we made our baby name predictions months ago… though I still can’t help thinking Harry and Meghan will surprise us, in the style of their royal cousins Isla, Savannah, Mia and Lena.
One thing’s for sure: the royal baby probably won’t be called Jonathan Anomaly, Trent Artichoker, Voltaire Casino, or any other names from the 2019 Name of the Year pool. The first round of the annual lighthearted contest for the most unusual name has begun, so check out the contestants and place your vote.
Out-of-this-world names: Mahina and Callista
The planets have aligned to give us a flurry of stories about the names of moons in our solar system.
Finding names for space landmarks like moons and their craters isn’t as simple as you might think: there are rules you have to follow. If you’re up for a naming challenge that involves diving into Roman and Greek mythology, why not enter this contest to name Jupiter’s newly-discovered moons? It’s open until April 15th.
If you’re more interested in names for your baby, how about these lunar ideas, including the lovely Jacira from Brazil, Chandra from India, and Mahina from Polynesia. For even more inspiration, try these moonstruck names from the Nameberry archive.
You’ll also find a stellar example of how to do space-themed names in our March babyberry announcements, which include twins Callista Io and Orion Rigel among many other fantastic names and stories.
Fairytale names: baby Snow
While it’s not a moon name, Snow Winter Aurelia wouldn’t look out of place in our announcements. Snow is a baby girl in Scotland, named after Ginnifer Goodwin’s character in Once Upon A Time, which her mother watched during her pregnancy. Aurelia is after Lúcia Moniz’s Portuguese character in Love Actually, and Winter is just because her parents loved it. I think the only thing that would improve the name is if her surname began with N, making her initials SWAN…or is that a fairytale name too far?