The Art of Naming

I chose to feature the name Casper this week because of its well-known association with "the friendly ghost" who is an animated character that's actually been around since 1939. It felt appropriate since today is Halloween and ghosts are a spooky staple of the holiday. Beyond the ghostly association, though, resides a really fabulous family of names.  Casper is the Dutch and Scandinavian form of the name Jasper which comes from the ancient Hebrew word Gizbar meaning "Treasurer". Gaspar was traditionally the name of one of the wise men who were said to have visited the newborn Jesus Christ.  Other related names include Caspar, Kasper, Jesper, Gaspard, Gaspare, and Gazsi. Casper is not an unfamiliar name to the ear in the US. However, it isn't being used all that often. It has been consistently used since records began in 1880, but it has never been popular. It was once ranking in the bottom half of the Top 1000 chart, but it fell off of it in 1933. Th

If you are expecting a baby this week and you still aren't settled on the perfect name, perhaps one of these timely choices will jump at you. From the sweet and sugary candy names to the spooky, ghoulish and bewitched options, you're sure to love this list, especially if Halloween is your favorite holiday. Some of these may not be very obviously tied to Halloween, but upon inspection of their meanings or their associations to certain legends or myths, it will all make sense. Some of these names may be a bit on the questionable side of things so I'd recommend doing your research before signing the birth certificate! Girls: Autumn Blair Buffy Candy Carrie Cat Circe Coco Elvira Endora Eve Glinda Harlow Hazel Hermione Isis Lilith Lolly Luna Maeve Morrigan Morticia October Oriole Persephone Raven Reese Regan Rosemary Sabrina Samantha Selene Tabitha Tarot Tempest Trixie Tootsie Wanda Wednesday Wendy Zena Boys: Addams Bram Cas

This month's set of birth announcements started out somewhat unusual as I began building the list, and as I continued, the names got a bit more traditional.  However, they are all mixed together because of being placed alphabetically.  Once again, the middle name choices seem to be very common or old-fashioned for most of the babies below. There are a few interesting exceptions like Yaamach and Kapri. I wonder why so many parents choose "safe" middle name options. I feel like the middle name, since it is mostly tucked away, provides the perfect opportunity to use guilty pleasure names or the highly unusual.  Instead, there are more unusual first names being used such as Alithia, Zyanya, and Kipper. What thoughts spring to your mind as you browse through the following list?: Girls: Adele Grace Alithia Brooke Aliza Bethany Allison Marie Amy Rose Lei Annabelle Rose Ara Fae Ariauna Danielle Linn Athena Jene Leann Irene Aubrey Faith Aurora Kapri Belle Madely

The male Dutch name that I featured this week, Diederick, is relatively rare. The female name that I'm about to share is actually ranking pretty well in the Netherlands! Madelief is the name. It is pronounced mad-uh-LEEF and it's actually rather adorable! I think this could catch on in lieu of the more popular "Maddie" names like Madeline and Madison if more people knew about it. It would fit in well with other unusual Mad- names like Madigan and Madeleva as well as male choices like Maddox and Madden. It also goes hand in hand with botanical names that are gaining popularity today. The best part is that this adorable name comes from the Dutch word madeliefje which means "daisy". So it's actually an obscure nature name! I say that it is obscure because, well, it is. It may rank at #126 in the Netherlands, but here in the USA, Madelief is non-existent. There have never been at least 5 girls given this name in a single year. Anyone who has this nam

Featured Dutch Names: Diederick  & Madelief This month for our World-Wide Wednesday segment, we will be examining Dutch baby names. These are classified as names that are mostly found in the Netherlands as well as the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium known as Flanders. Like many other countries, parents in  present-day Netherlands are attracted to internationally loved names like Emma and Luca: names that are a bit more anglicized and less traditionally Dutch. While some things tend to change over time, there are still plenty of traditional names being given to Dutch babies. This article will focus on the interesting traditional choices available and how they were used in the past. However, many of these names are difficult for non-Dutch speakers to pronounce. First, let's start with naming traditions. Like many other countries in the past, Dutch families tended to use and reuse the same few names over many generations. Patronymic names were big. According to DutchGenea

The male name Diederick is the Dutch form of the Germanic name Theodoric. Both mean "ruler of the people". Theodoric is completely different than the similar sounding Greek name Theodore which means "gift of God". There was a Theodoric the Great in the 6th-century who became the ruler of Italy. He was also called Theodoricus but the original Gothic version of the name may have been Þiudreiks which is where Diederick comes from. Pronounced DEE-də-rik, this cool and unusual Dutch name has some equally cool counterparts in other languages like Theoderich, Derek, Derrick, Dirk, Thierry, Tiede, Dierk, Dietrich, Thilo, Tielo and Tudor. However, as a baby name in the USA, Diederick is unexplored territory. There are zero births on record since records were first kept in 1880. Since the Social Security Administration does not report births for a name unless there was at least 5 in one year, it's possible that there have been a few boys named Diederick born in

Just like last week's post about boy names from 1920, here are some wonderful vintage classics for girls as well as some names that are no longer very fashionable. It is interesting to see how many names remain popular over time and how many have returned to the limelight after a vacation from the Top 1000. Which of these do you like most? Enduring Classics Names that are in the Top 100 for both 1920 and 2013 and have always been within the Top 1000: Elizabeth #8 in 1920 #10 in 2013 Anna #10 in 1920 #35 in 2013 Evelyn #12 in 1920 #20 in 2013 Lillian #18 in 1920 #26 in 2013 Ruby #26 in 1920 #93 in 2013 Grace #37 in 1920 #22 in 2013 Katherine #45 in 1920 #77 in 2013 Emma #46 in 1920 #2 in 2013 Sarah #50 in 1920 #48 in 2013 Julia #55 in 1920 #75 in 2013 Eva #58 in 1920 #88 in 2013 Charlotte #79 in 1920 #11 in 2013 Lucy #94 in 1920 #66 in 2013 Returning Vintage Faves Names that were within the Top 200 in 1920 but fell out of

The year 1920 was big and booming for many baby names. I thought it would be fun to take a look at a few different categories of names from 1920 and see how they compare to the recent 2013 list. Enduring Classics Names in the Top 100 both in 1920 and 2013: John #1 in 1920 #27 in 2013 William #2 in 1920 #5 in 2013 Robert  #3 in 1920 #62 in 2013 James #4 in 1920 #13 in 2013 Charles #5 in 1920 #57 in 2013 Joseph #7 in 1920 #20 in 2013 Thomas #11 in 1920 #61 in 2013 Henry #17 in 1920 #37 in 2013 Jack #20 in 1920 #40 in 2013 David #25 in 1920 #18 in 2013 Anthony #43 in 1920 #19 in 2013 Samuel  #44 in 1920 #25 in 2013 Andrew #49 in 1920 #22 in 2013 Michael #50 in 1920 #7 in 2013 Daniel #52 in 1920 #10 in 2013 Benjamin #83 in 1920 #14 in 2013 These names just keep hanging in there as the years pass by. Other names have not been so lucky. Faded Memories Names in the Top 100 in 1920 that are no longer in the Top 1000 in