The Art of Naming

Recently, I was looking over the post I made last year regarding Colonial names . Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I thought I'd cover colonial names a bit more. Colonial names are full of history and laced with virtues and biblical associations. Sometimes these names are even comprised of long phrases . You probably won't see many boys named Comfort or girls named Modesty today, and something like The-Peace-of-God or Fight-the-good-fight-of-faith probably won't work well for official documents. This led me to wonder what the most usable, wearable names that were favored in early America might be. With much thought, scrutiny and consideration, I narrowed it down to my top 5 boy names and top 5 girl names that date back to the colonial era but can still sound fresh and usable today. Girls: Charlotte The lovely Charlotte is the French, feminine form of the name Charles which is typically listed as meaning "free man".  Modern parents love this n...

Welcome to my new segment "Get To Know!"  Recently, I've had the opportunity to meet a few fellow name bloggers and I decided it'd be lovely to let you get to know them too. The naming community is such a wonderful place! If you truly love names, it never hurts to follow more bloggers to get your daily name fix.  Today, I had the honor of interviewing Meagan from TulipByAnyName .  She is most known for her work discussing interesting names on her YouTube channel. She is also one of the six  Name Sisters who run a great YouTube channel collectively.  Beyond videos, Meagan also has a successful blog and Instagram account that revolves around names. Most recently, she's become a new contributor to Nameberry's Berry Juice Blog , too! She is involved in lots of exciting name-related projects! Let's take a moment to learn more about her own personal name tastes and experiences with names: 1. What are your first and middle names? My name is Meaga...

This compilation of birth announcements came from a couple hospitals in Indiana, USA. This batch seems to be rather conservative and traditional. There aren't any wacky or odd names that stand out. If you could only name your child one of these names, which would you choose? Girls:  Abigail Rae Adlee Dawn Alisa Ray Allison Renae Alyssa Gale Anna Jean Annabelle Rose Aria Marie Athena Lee Autumn Lynn Avery Kay Bailey Alexis Breanna Lee Cassandra Marie Cora Mae Daisy Faith Delaney Carol-Sue Emory Louise Evelynn Jane Gabriella Pearl Gracie LouAnn Hadley Caroline Harper Rayne Kiara Rose Layla Lyda-Jean Leyla Brianne Irene Madison Faith Maisie Claiborne Mila Jean Molly Suzanne Rebekah Joy Hadessah Reece Addison Saria Jane Savannah Nadine Skylar Rose Mae Sophia Fern Sydney Amara Zoey Kiana-Marie Boys: Benjamin Scott Bryan Manuel Bryce Andrew Caleb Duane Christopher Scott Cooper Andrew Cruz Michael David Samuel Elijah Lewis Elijah Mich...

To complement Tuesday's post regarding the best V names for girls , and last week's post about the best V names for boys , I chose to feature the feminine name Savannah which contains the letter V. Savannah isn't just a city in the state of Georgia, USA. It comes from an English word that indicates a large, grassy plain. Originally, Savannah comes from a Taino (Native American) word zabana. Variants of the name include Zavanna and Savanna. It's a place name and a nature name. Savannah gained usage as a baby name in the 19th century. It has also been on record in the US every year since 1880 but its usage was very minimal until it suddenly boomed in the 1980s. This increase in births-per-year is most likely a result of the 1982 movie "Savannah Smiles". There were only 43 births in 1981, 118 in 1982 and in 1983, there were 434 Savannahs born. That means the name went from ranking in the 1100s to being #466 in just one year. The year 2000 had a record-h...

The letter V has a certain appeal to it that has been captivating modern parents, especially the Av- and Ev- names. This is a compilation of the best girl names that contain the letter V. It may seem long, but trust me, I narrowed it down quite a bit. There just happens to be a lot of lovely name options with a V in them! Which of these do you like best? Alivia                 Alva Ava Avabelle Avah Avalee Avalie Avalina Avaline Avalon Avalyn Avalynn Avani Avari Avaya Ave Avelaine Avelina Aveline Aven Averie Averil Averley Avery Avia Aviana Avianna Avie Avielle Avigail Avila Avis Aviva Avonlea Avra Avrielle Avril Belva Bev Beverley Beverly Bevin Chava Chavela Chevaune Chevelle Chevonne Clavel Clove Clover Dava Davalyn Daveigh Daveney Davette Davia Daviana Davida Davina Devan Devanie Devany Devanya Deven Devere Devereaux Devin Devina Devlyn Devon Devona Devony...

Today's featured name is a strong, handsome Irish name that I hand-picked from this week's blog about boy names that contain the letter V! The masculine name Donovan comes from an Irish surname which ultimately came from the Irish Ó Donndubháin which means "descendent of Donndubhán". That name is basically Gaelic for "dark brown". Donovan has been in use in the US since 1900 and it has nearly always been in the Top 1000, save a few years early on. It peaked in 2003 with 2,210 births and a ranking of #176. Now in 2013, it has fallen to a respectable #281 with 1,224 births.  It also ranks at #380 in France. Since this name is on the decline, it'll only become more and more unique. There probably isn't a danger of it sounding dated since it has been solidly established since 1900. It also wasn't incredibly popular. If it had peaked in the Top 50 and then immediately declined, it would be a different story. As it sits, it's still receivi...

The letter V provides one of my favorite sounds within a name. It is a striking but attractive letter that is popping up in various trends across the baby naming community. In order to celebrate the beauty of this great letter, I've put together a collection of the very best boy names that contain the letter V. If you were to give all of your sons a name with the letter V in it, which of the following names would you choose? Share your favorite names and first/middle name combinations in the comments below! Alvaro                  Alvin Arvel Averett Averill Avery Avett Avi Avory Avraham Avram Avrian Belvin Benvolio Bevan Bonaventure Brevin Brevyn Calvary Calvin Carver Cavan Cavell Cavin Chevalier Chevy Cleve Cleveland Clive Clovis Cordovan Corvin Cove Covington Davian David Davide Davin Davion Davis Davison Davy Delvin Denver Devan Devereaux Devin Devlin Devon Devonte Do...