The Art of Naming

Today's Name of the Day is Larkin. It is Irish in origin and means "rough or fierce."  While "Lark" is a bird name that is generally used for a girl, "Larkin" is considered a masculine surname name. Just over 1900 boys have been named Larkin since 1880, which is an average of 15 baby boys every year. It has steadily been used, but it has never been popular. Even though it was technically in the Top 1000 in the late 1800's, very few boys were given the name.  The early data and ranks aren't comparable to today's data. For example, in 1880, Larkin was ranked at #454 with 16 boys carrying the name. In 2012, 20 boys were given the name Larkin and it ranked in at #4757. While the charts vary over the years, the amount of babies given this name is very steady. Starting in the 1970's, parents began regularly giving this name to baby girls. Just over 1000 girls have ever been named Larkin, or an average of 25 girls every yea...

Alexandra Kinova STANISLAV ZBYNEK/CTK/AP This past Sunday, a Czech woman, Alexandra Kinova, 23, gave birth to quintuplets! This is the first recorded quint birth in the country! They were conceived naturally and were born at 31 weeks without any complications. Their weights ranged from 2.3 lbs to 3 lbs. She delivered them by Cesarean section. The mother was originally told that she was expecting twins. She did wind up having identical twin boys, as well as a girl and two more boys. They have chosen the following names: Tereza Michael and Deniel (Twins) Alex Martin Their father, Antonin Kroscen, 26, told reporters that he is very happy to welcome these five little ones into the world. "I was crying all the way since I feared I would not manage it," he said. He was held up by a late train but made it on-time to be present for the birth of his children! The couple already had a young son together as well.  We want to congratulate these new parents and wis...

A name that was very common in the 12th and 13th centuries, Amabel is a rarity today. It was revived during the 19th century when a medieval fad swept through England.  Amabel is the feminization of the Late Latin male name " Amabilis " who was a Saint in the 5th century in France. Amabel is a much older name than the popular Annabel. However, its shortened form Mabel has had much more popularity in recent times.  Amabel (and Mabel) mean "Loveable" in Latin which may appeal to parents who have high regard for name meanings. This distinctive name would be adorable on a modern day baby girl. It fits right in with other old-fashioned names that are seeing a strong revival, as well as the popular -bel/-belle names. However, Amabel is much more unique (even though it feels familiar) because it has never once ranked on the US Top 1000.  As of 2013, there has been a total of 98 girls named Amabel on record since 1880. There were only 10 girls named Amabel in 20...

I'm a fan of names that are somewhat under the radar but still have a solid history. I like names that were popular in the 1880's-1920's and never heard from again until modern times. I have been focusing on these for my "Name of the Day" report, and am doing so again today with the name Arlo. Primarily a boy's name, Arlo is short, sweet and full of character. Two celebrities recently named their sons Arlo, (Natasha Kaplinsky in 2008, and Toni Collette in 2011). Johnny Knoxville named his daughter Arlo in 2011, which suddenly throws this name into the "possibly unisex" category. (Popular girls names Harlow and Marlowe are similar, which may be the reason for Arlo going female.) It will always be a boy name in my mind since it has never ranked for a girl. It ranked in the 600-1000 range on the US Top 1000 chart between 1910 and 1944.  It did not rank again until 2011 when it hit #916, and jumped 98 spots to #818 in 2012. If you read my previou...

I keep hearing talk about a new trend in boys names and I wanted to do some research to see if this is a real thing yet or not. Apparently the new favorite thing is boys names that end with the letter -o. Some examples that I keep hearing about are Hugo, Arlo, Milo, and Leo. Now, when I went through the Top 500 names of 2012, I found so many more names ending in -o than I imagined that I would. However, the Top 100 was very absent of a single -o name. It wasn't until I hit #110 that I found my first, Diego. In all, there were 37 names between #110-500. As a woman of Hispanic heritage, I have to imagine that most of these -o names are legitimately used by Spanish and Italian families. It leaves me wondering how many of these are truly gaining popularity across the race spectrum, and how many have always lingered around their respective ranks. I have no way of looking up the race of the parents, but I had to dig deeper to see which of these are climbing the charts and which are...

Today's featured name is a lovely and truly rare gem in the US: Calliope (Cuh-LIE-oh-pee). The nickname Callie is adorable for this big, strong name.  The meaning of this name is "Beautiful Voice." Straight out of the Greek Myths, Calliope was the name of one of the nine muses, inspiring epic poetry. Since this name is so bold and creative, it would be recommended for artistic parents who enjoy literature, poetry and music. Hopefully your daughter will also enjoy these things and be able to live up to the image that this name portrays, namely, a beautiful artistic muse. In the real world, there is an American actress who wears the name, Calliope "Callie" Thorne.  In the TV world, there's a Dr. Calliope "Callie" Torres on Grey's Anatomy. The original form of this name is actually spelled Kalliope. The meaning "Beautiful Voice" comes directly from the root of the name:  from Greek καλλος (kallos) "beauty" and οψ ...

The Name of the Day for June 1, 2013 is Gideon, a boy name taken straight from the pages of the Old Testament. Biblical Gideon was known as a modest and humble young man of the tribe of Manasseh. With the help of an angel, he was divinely called upon to save the Israelites from Midianite oppression. Before he could do this, he had to be tested to prove himself worthy for battle. God asked Gideon to destroy his father's alter to Baal and to cut down the sacred pole that stood with it. For this reason, the name Gideon means "Destroyer" or "Feller [of trees]" or even "One who cuts down".  It may also mean "Hewer" or "Great Warrior", depending on where you look. Many parents opt for biblical names for their sons, but for those who are tiring of the traditional Benjamin, James or Jacob, Gideon offers a fresh approach to naming. This name has began climbing the charts in recent years. It was always rather popular among the Puri...