Sam and Sadie: Geezer Names for Babies

Sam, Max and Jake were once seen as cigar-chomping movie moguls who had retired to Miami Beach to become pinochle-playing Grandpas.  But they’ve all gone on to be popular baby names, both in their nickname and long forms, with Jacob topping the list since 1999.

Samuel, Jacob and cousin Benjamin are all, of course, Old Testament names, used in this country since Colonial times–think Samuel Adams and Benjamin Franklin.  Max is a different breed entirely.  A short form of the Latin Maximus‘s derivative Maximilian and the later Maxwell, Max was well used at the turn of the last century, took a dip in the 60s and 70s, now placed  in the mid-to-high 100s on the Social Security list (even higher on the pet name list, where it’s sometimes ranked at number one for dogs).

Lately Max has become a starbaby hottie, with first Christina Aguilera and then Jennifer Lopez choosing it for their baby boys. Also following in its slipstream are a number of Maxwells (Atomic Kitten Kerry Katonah), Maxims (as in the men’s mag), Maximillians (the full name of the Lopez-Anthony twin), Maxfields (Ugly Betty‘s Eric Mabius) and Maximuses (Maximi?) –the latter no doubt inspired by Russell Crowe’s striking character in the 2000 Gladiator movie.   Maybe it has something to do with the maximal connotations of these names–after all, in Latin, Maximus does mean greatest.  To make things even more interesting, one celebrity came up with the idea of maximizing Max–skater Scott Hamilton named his son MAXX.  (He’d make a good playmate for Kimberly Roberts‘  little SKYY.

And what were the wives of Jake and Max doing while there husbands were schmoozing and smoking?  Sadie (originally a pet name for Sarah) and Sophie (the French variant of Sophia) were at another table playing canasta or mah jongg.  Their names have taken a similar leap up the popularity list, both being higher than they’ve ever been before, and showing every sign of continuing to climb.

Here are some other former coffee-klatch names that could be or already have been rejuvenated:

GIRLS

ADELE

BELLA , BELLE

BESSIE

BLANCHE

CEIL

DORA

ESTELLE

ESTHER

FANNY

FRIEDA

GERT

GOLDIE

IDA

LIL

MOLLY

PEARL

ROSE

RUTH

SELMA

TILLIE

BOYS

ABE

ELI

GUS

HARRY

HY

IZZY

JULES

JULIUS

KALMAN

LEO

LOU/LOUIS

MACK

MANNY

MEYER

MOE

MORRIS

NAT

REUBEN

SAUL

SOL

WOLF