The Art of Naming

While a lot of this could be subjective, the names on this list have a bit of a modern, spunky vibe.  Some could be somewhat unisex as well. Girls today are receiving more and more names that are beyond the scope of traditional, classic choices. Surname and occupational names are huge, unisex names or even boy-names-on-girls (BNOG) are gaining popularity, and many Irish names and word names are catching on. The following list was compiled by me in an effort to showcase some of the best modern names and offer ideas for first/middle combinations to anyone in the market for one: Mackenzie Hollis Riley Valentina Darcy Magnolia Hazel Kinsley Kennedy Lace Piper Connolly Mercy Willow Presley Morgan Addison Hadley Teagan Everly Bailey Summer Delaney Sloane Ashton Lindsay Reese Jessamine Cassidy Ryanne Paige Emerson Tatum Siobhan Kerrigan Fallon Sylvie Madigan Madison Serenity Berkley Joss Sable Amaya Taylor Felicity Whitley Harper Auden Bristol Finlay Marlowe...

Continuing with our theme, today we will explore names ending with -vy. Most of these are very rare or unusual. Do you like any names ending with -vy?  Of course, I love Ivy, but some of these others are interesting too, like Livy, Navy, Savvy and Chevy! Ivy currently ranks at #108 for girls in 2017. Avy Bevy Elvy Evy Ivy Keavy Levy Livvy Livy Lovy Maevy Navy Rivy Savvy Savy Silvy Tavy Truvy Vivy Alvy Arvy Chevy Covy Davy Garvy Harvy Ivy Kevy Levy Navy Rivy Tavy Stevy Zavy Are there any others you can think of? Which do you like most?

October 22nd is known as National Color Day! Everyone has colors that they enjoy more than others. Do you have a favorite color? Do you love it so much that you would consider using it as a baby name? If so, you're not alone. Below is a list of potential color names. The first list is much more popular than the second, but they're all interesting in their own way. More Popular: Ruby (red)  is currently ranked as the 79th most popular name in the US for girls, as of 2017. Violet (purple)  is climbing the charts! As of 2017, it ranked at #48 for girls and will probably keep going. Hazel (brown)  popped into the Top 1000 in 1998, and the Top 100 in 2015! Currently at #43. Rose (pink)  is a timeless classic and has always ranked within the Top 400. Ranked #141 in 2017. Iris (purple) has always been around, but has been slowly climbing, putting it up to #149. Sienna (brown) wasn't used before the 1960s, and it hit the Top 1000 in 1995.  Currently at #...

What are your favorite "country western" or "mid-western" names for boys?  Which names might suit a little cowboy?  This is obviously going to be highly subjective, but it's fun to explore possibilities in this category. What do you think of this list?: Alden Ames Amos Anders Angus Ashley Aston Atkins Atticus Augustus Austin Avery Bailey Barnes Barrett Barrick Bayard Beau Bedford Benjamin Billy Blaine Blaze Bo Boone Brick Brooks Buddy Buford Calvin Cash Chance Clayton Colby Colt Dallas Daryl Davis Dawson Deacon Duke Earl Elliott Emmett Everett Fenton Finch Galen Garland Garth Goddard Grady Graham Granger Granville Greer Gunnar Hampton Hank Harley Harper Harrison Hayes Hollis Hoover Houston Huck Hunter Ignatius Ingram Jackson Jameson Jareth Jeb Jebediah Jed Jedidiah Jefferson Jenner Jennings Jeremiah Jody Johnson Jones Josiah Judson Junius Kade Kasey Keaton Kipling Knox...

What are your favorite "country western" or "mid-western" names for girls? Sweet, sassy, and southern mixed with hospitable charm. Which names might define that? This is obviously going to be highly subjective, but it's fun to explore possibilities in this category. What do you think of this list?: Abigail Adabelle Agnes Alice Aliza Althea Alma Amabel Amelia Amy Anna Annabelle Annie April Ashley Augusta Autumn Avril Bailey Bea Bess Bethany Betsy Blanche Blossom Blythe Bonnie Braelyn Callie Caroline Cassidy Celia Charlotte Clementine Constance Coralee Daisy Delilah Della Dixie Edie Eliza Eloise Emmylou Faith Florence Frances Frankie Georgia Glenda Glory Hadley Haley Hannah Harper Harriet Hazel Heather Heidi Henrietta Hillary Holly Ida Imogene Iris Ivy Jacqueline Jana Jeanne Jill Jocelyn Josephine Julia Justine Kassidy Katherine Kay Larissa Layla Leigh Leora Lilibeth Lucille Luella Lyla Macy Madeline Magnolia Maribel Mary Maxine May Mayella Molly Narvie Nel...

Finally, after three and a half years, the long-running Statehood Initial Challenge series has finished! In this series, I took the two-letter abbreviations of each state in the USA, and challenged you to use those two letters to name a boy and a girl. I played right along with you. After we covered 25 states, I listed all the sets of twins that I named throughout those two years of posts and found that I had repeated several of the names multiple times. I tried to avoid repeats for the 2nd half of the challenge, so let's see how I did. I posted these states in the order in which they gained official statehood, which means Delaware was first, Pennsylvania came next, then New Jersey and so on until we finally reached the 50th state of Hawaii.  Here's the first 25, which I previously posted here : 1. DE -   Dante Evander & Dahlia Emmeline 2. PA -   Pierce Averill & Posey Augusta 3. NJ -   Nash Julian & Nova Jessamine 4. GA -  Gregor Aug...

We've been exploring different name endings based on specific letters lately. We saw -ina names for girls, and -ian names for boys. Last week we looked at boy names ending with -us. Today we will try our best to narrow it down for the letters "-ra".  Like the other series, I limited myself to only choosing one name per letter. Here are my 26 picks from A-Z. What would you pick? I also listed the ranks of those within the Top 1000, so as you can see, most of these names are rare picks! Audra Barbara  (#908) Cora   (#83) Deidra Electra Flora Ginevra Honora Indira Jara Keira   (#331) Lysandra Mara   (#670) Nora    (#28) Ophira Pandora Quorra Riviera Sierra    (#452) Theodora Uhura Vespera Wara Xantara Yadira Zamora Would you use any of these names?

The majority of names that end with -us may bring to mind Ancient Latin rulers. While many of these will remain rare, there are others gaining popularity. I put the ranking of those within the Top 1000 in parenthesis.  Which do you like? I used Maximus for my son, and would consider Augustus, Cyrus, Erasmus, Julius, Thaddeus and Xanthus! What about you? Augustus  (#423) Belarius Cyrus  (#427) Darius  (#500) Erasmus Fergus Gaius Honorius Ignatius Julius  (#336) Klaus Linus Maximus  (#200) Nicodemus Octavius Pius Rufus Severus Thaddeus (#666) Urbanus Vitus Wenceslaus Xanthus Yunus Zacchaeus Do you have any other favorite names that would also belong on this list? 

We are nearing the end of this series. We have already explored a number of names ending with -y. Now we move on to the -ty names.  There's a number of virtue names that end with -ty on this list. Do you like any of these? Girls: Amity Arrietty Betty Charity Chastity Christy Clarity Cristy Divinity Dotty Dusty Enity Esty Eternity Felicity Hatty Hetty Honesty Jonty Kaity Kassity Katy Kirsty Kitty Kristy Letty Liberty Marty Maty Minty Misty Modesty Patty Royalty Serendipity Serenity Tranquility Trinity Unity Vanity Verity Boys: Barty Coty Dusty Getty Infinity Jonty Marty Monty Moriaty Rafferty Reality Rusty Scotty Trinity Ty Vincenty Walenty Wincenty Pick a name or two and give them a middle name! Share in the comments!

We previously looked at boy names ending with the letters "-ian" .  I swapped those letters around and found girl names ending with the letters "-ina". Do you have any favorites on this list? What about other names that aren't on this list but still end with "-ina"? Angelina Bettina Celina Delphina Emmelina Florentina Georgina Helaina Irina Josephina Kristina Leontina Martina Nicolina Olivina Paulina Quelina Regina Seraphina Trina Ursina Valentina Wilhelmina Xina Yekaterina Zarina Sometimes I make lists like this for fun, so naturally I decided to share. Have you ever challenged yourself to choose names fitting specific criteria? I often do this to sharpen my naming skills and discover new names.  Play along with me! Share your favorites in the comments!

Sometimes I come up with fun "exercises" in naming to strengthen my skills. I thought it would be fun to find boy names ending with -ian for each letter of the alphabet. It was going well until I got to a few more troublesome letters.  Take a look at my list and tell me which are your favorites! Adrian Brian Christian Damian Elian Fabian Gian Hadrian Ian Julian Killian Lucian Maximilian Nerian Octavian Paulian Quillian Rhydian Sebastian Tavian Urian Vian Xadrian Yulian Zavian I may or may not have created a few of these. Specifically Paulian, Quillian, and Urian. Those were the only letters of which I could not find names ending with -ian, However, they sound like the could work just fine along with the others.  Can you find any established names starting with P, Q and U that could take their place?

March 27th is considered National Joe Day! From a "cup of Joe", to Sloppy Joes to the Average Joe; from Joe DiMaggio, to Joe Jonas, to Joe Biden, there are a ton of Joes to celebrate! So today we will take a closer look at Joseph, Josephine, Joe and other similar names. According to Behind the Name , Joseph comes from From Ioseph , the Latin form of the Greek Ιωσηφ ( Ioseph ), which was from the Hebrew name יוֹסֵף ( Yosef ) meaning "he will add". Since it his Hebrew in origin, of course it is a biblical name. In the Old Testament, Joseph was the son of Jacob and Rachel. Joseph is one of those names that translate well across a variety of languages and cultures around the world: Yousef, Youssef, Yusef, Yusuf (Arabic) Youcef (Arabic (Maghrebi)) Hovsep (Armenian) Yusif (Azerbaijani) Joseba (Basque) Ioseph, Ioses (Biblical Greek) Yosef (Biblical Hebrew) Ioseph (Biblical Latin) Jusuf (Bosnian) Yosif (Bulgarian) Josep (Catalan) Ghjaseppu (Co...

Welcome to Part Two of our series that is focused on Baby Names Inspired by the Animal Kingdom! If you had a chance to view part one, you would remember that we mostly explored names related to bears, eagles, foxes, lions and wolves. Now we will look at names whose meanings relate to birds, insects, sheep, deer, and a handful of others. Take a look at the list below and if you spot any favorites, share your thoughts in the comments! Birds: Bertram "bright raven" from Germanic elements Bran "raven" in Irish/Welsh Branwen "beautiful raven" from Welsh Corbin "raven" from French Cormac "raven, son" from Irish Gaelic Fechín "little raven" in Irish Guntram "war raven" from Germanic elements Korbin "raven" from Latin corvus Raban "raven" from German Rambert "bright raven" from Germanic elements Ronne "raven" in Frisian Lonán "little blackbird" from I...

Previously, I have made lists of bird names and nature names , but it just occurred to me that I did not have a list specifically for "animal" names. Now, there are two different directions we can go when considering this category. The first direction explores broad animal names like wolf, fox, bear and more.  The second direction looks deeper into meanings and various translations or associations. Here's the first: Bear Birdie Cat Fox Kitty Lion Tiger Wolf Here are some of the most-used bird names: Falcon Finch Hawk Jay Lark Lory Peregrine (falcon) Phoenix Raven Robin Sparrow Starling Wren Then there are names that aren't as obviously associated with animals. Some of them have meanings or elements within them that refer to a specific animal, and when you break down their etymology, it makes sense. I categorized them below: Bear: Adalbern "noble bear" from Germanic elements. Alfbern "elf bear" ...

From our previous article listing names ending with the letters "-sy" , we find a diamond in the rough. The most popular name on the list is Daisy.   This pretty name is directly related to the flower. However, it also derives from the Old English word  dægeseage meaning "day eye".  Daisies  belong to one of the largest families of plants in the world. Often they have a yellow center and come in a variety of colors, with white being perhaps the most common. . By böhringer friedrich - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5 Sometimes Daisy is used as a nickname for Margaret. It happened in a round-about way due to the French name Marguerite becoming associated with the daisy in French. Margaret means "pearl" in Greek, and daisies were considered "pearls of the field" or "marguerites".  So Marguerite, and the Spanish Margarita, gained association with Daisy and Daisy became a nickname for Margaret. In pop-culture, there is the animated Daisy...

This series is nearing the end of the alphabet. With the letters -sy, we find several interesting names. Some of these are more on the nickname side, but usable nonetheless.  Are there any names below that you would considered? The most popular options are undoubtedly Daisy, Maisy and Tansy. Notice how there are many more options for females than males. Can you think of any others that could be added to the list? Girls: Bethsy Betsy Blessy Cassy Cessy Chrissy Cissy Crissy Daisy Deisy Dessy Elsy Gypsy Isy Jassy Jesy Jinsy Joisy Kassy Keisy Kelsy Krissy Lindsy Lissy Lynsy Maisy Mimsy Missy Pansy Patsy Posy Rosy Shannessy Sissy Susy Tansy Zissy Boys: Hennessy Jessy Massy Patsy Shaughnessy Sy Do you like any of these? Share your thoughts in the comments!  And view the other articles in this series focused on "name endings".

Being the "Name Nerd" that I am, I have been keeping a list of my favorite names per letter on a yearly basis. I recently compiled these lists and sorted them out alphabetically and chronologically. I started making the list back in 2010, the year I got married and we started pondering names for potential future children. We had a son in 2012 and a daughter in 2014 whose names made the list. I have continued to keep track of my favorite names since then, and will continue to do so, but after 8 years of this, I decided it would be fun to share my choices. I wanted to see how time has drastically changed my style for some letters, and yet has been untouchable for other letters. I have just finished posting these weekly on my Instagram if you would like to browse there and see my thoughts and explanations per letter. Here we go: 2010:  Bailey, Braden 2011: Brynna, Bennett 2012: Blythe, Brennan 2013: Bridget, Benedict 2014: Bryony, Benedict 2015: Bellamy, Bertram 2016...

Are you looking for something slightly different than the norm? Just a little unusual with a touch of classic? Familiar but not weird? Here are some great name ideas for you! Some are more daring than others, and there is a variety of styles here. Feel free to mix and match or suggest even more great names in the comments! Cassia Emmeline Briar Genevieve Felicity Lane Ella Tempest Sonnet Jane Amaya Journey Lillia Myrtle Rowena Evening Anna Whisper Electra Maeve Avalon Belle Raven Serenity Victoria Echo Magnolia Eve Hazel Valentina Molly Cadence Augusta Reverie Nora Liberty Harmony Moon Liv Bellatrix Jessamine Skye Lucy Genesis Sable Quintessa Astoria Raine Juno Caroline Leona Sparrow Alethea Coral Lulu Florence Eveline Caithe Blythe Magdalena Nova Rosabel Elodie Wynne Poppy Gwenora Gemma Destiny Laureline Fable Thea Hermione Mavis Octavia Fleur Penelope Verity Lark Amabel June Wren Melisande Ivy Lorelei Brynn Eloise Iris Bellamy Alice V...

Here are some interesting girl names that originate from Norman French or Old French origins. These have a variety of popularity and usage levels in the US. Amarante - Taken from the Amaranth flower, this is the French form of the name. It comes from the Greek amarantos  meaning "unfading".  This is a very rare name. It has been used a total of 23 times on record for boys, and none for girls, but the most recent year it was used was 1933. This means it is ripe for the picking! It deserved to be renewed as a fresh floral name for girls. Avril - This is the French form of April which possibly comes from the Latin aperire  meaning "to open" referring to the opening of flowers in the springtime month. Avril first gained recorded usage in the US in 1919. It has never been common but began gaining more births per year around 2003, presumably in line with the popularity of singer Avril Lavigne who hit the scene in 2002. Blanche - From a Medieval French nicknam...