Baby Naming Challenge - Car Edition

For your challenge today, you will be naming three hypothetical siblings! This past Tuesday, we saw a list of baby names stolen by big car companies and we learned all about the name Ford a couple days ago. In honor of "car week," I want you to think about your vehicle history when choosing the names for the challenge. If that sounds crazy, just bear with me a moment.

As a visual aid, here's a short breakdown of vehicle makes and models just in case you're not sure:

Make = Name of Company (Ford, GMC, Toyota, Nissan, Dodge etc)
Model = The "brand" of the car. Sometimes this is just a letter or number, or a word or name.

If you've never owned your own car, use that of your parents or partner.  Okay, here we go:

Baby #1 

• If the make of your first car starts with A-L, you're having a boy! If it starts with M-Z it's a girl! 
• Take the first letter of the make of your car and use it for the first name of the baby.
• If the model of your car is a number/letter sequence, choose a vowel for the middle name. If the model is a name or a word, choose from B, D, F, K, T and W for the middle name.

Baby # 2

• If your current car is blue, green, red or black, you're having a boy! If your current car is any other color, it is a girl! 
• If your current car is 2-door, the first name starts with either A, L, O, P or R.  If your car is a 4-door, the first name starts with C, E, J, M or S.
• If your car has tinted windows, the middle name must be 2 syllables long. If not, go with a 4 syllable name.

Baby # 3

• If you currently have a big vehicle, (truck, SUV, crossover or van) it is a boy. If it is a smaller vehicle (coupe, wagon, sedan, luxury, hybrid) then you're having a girl! 
• If you drive an automatic, choose a first name that begins with a consonant. If you drive a manual, choose a first name that begins with a vowel.
• If your current car was made in 2005 or earlier, the middle name is 1 syllable long.  If your car is a 2006 or newer, the middle name is 3 syllables long.

Great job! Feel free to share your answers in the comments below or on Facebook!  Here are my answers:

Boy: Frederick Theodore

Girl: Cecily Winter

Girl: Sabrina Pearl

Ford

Since this is "car week", we'll look at the boy name Ford. The Ford Motor Company has been around since 1903 and was founded by Henry Ford. Clearly, the name comes from a surname but it was originally derived from a place name meaning "ford" in Old English. Nameberry says that it means "dweller at the ford". A ford is defined as "a shallow place in a river or stream allowing one to walk or drive across." That makes Ford a nature place name and a surname.

Famous namesakes include the aforementioned Henry Ford, former U.S. President Gerald Ford, popular actor Harrison Ford, writer Ford Madox Ford, Pre-Raphaelite painter Ford Madox Brown and sportswriter Ford Frick. Actor Owen Wilson named his baby boy Robert Ford.

In pop-culture, there's James "Sawyer" Ford from the TV show Lost, and Nathan Ford on the TV show Leverage. There's a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy named Ford Prefect.  This name seems to be used most often as a surname as opposed to a first name.

In fact, the history of popularity for this name contains very small numbers. The question is, are parents ignoring this name because of the motor company? There are plenty of surnames that have had popularity for boys over the years. Nameberry believes that "the long association to the Ford Motor Company doesn't stand in the way of this being a strong, independent, single-syllable name."  Perhaps Ford just hasn't caught on yet.

It has been given to boys since 1880 but only in handfuls. 1915 was a good year for Ford with 133 births and a ranking of #483. 1923 was also good with 115 births. Since then, the name has hung around in the 30-50 births a year range until it dropped even more in the 70s. It slightly increased again around 2000 and by 2013, the name Ford received 179 births for a ranking of #1050. It has now surpassed its original early peaks and could be poised to finally land within the Top 1000 again for the first time since 1951.

Ford as a given name for boys is still a rare gem that modern parents should take advantage of! Otherwise, there are a few names that contain "Ford" within the name that could be used with Ford as a nickname:

Alford                      Bedford Bluford Bradford Buford Clifford Crawford Forden Gifford Kalford Lanford Milford

Oxford Rayford Redford Rexford Rutherford Sanford Stafford Stanford Talford Telford Wilford Winford

As far as using Ford itself as a given name, here are a few suggestions that I came up with for sibling and middle names to go with it:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Audra, Brooklyn, Cora, Harper, Lena, Presley, Tessa
Brothers: Arlo, Bridger, Clive, Franklin, Gage, Owen, Parker

Middle Name Ideas:
Ford Everett
Ford Jonathan
Ford Oliver
Ford Sebastian

As a Middle Name:
Andrew Ford
Ethan Ford
Tristan Ford
Vincent Ford

What would you pair with Ford? What do you think of it as a baby name? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below or on Facebook!

123 Potential Baby-Names Used on Cars

Here is a list of names (and potential name ideas) that have been used by automakers and car companies. Are there any that you would love to use as a name but feel as if it is too closely associated with the car? I think Ford and Lexus are cool but they are very obvious.  Have any of these been ruined for you or would you still use them anyway? There sure are a lot of little Bentleys being born lately!

Makes:

• Acura
• Alfa Romeo
• Ariel [Atom]
• Aston Martin
• Audi
• Austin Healey
• Bentley
• Ford
• Kia
• Lexus
• Lincoln
• Mercedes
• [Rolls-]Royce
• Shelby
• Tesla

Models:

• Acadia  (GMC)
• Allante (Cadillac)
• Alero (Oldsmobile)
• Altima (Nissan)
• Amanti (Kia)
• Apollo  (Buick)
• Aspen (Chrysler)
• Astra (Saturn)
• Aura (Saturn)
• Aurora (Oldsmobile)
• Avalon (Toyota)
• Aveo  (Chevrolet)
• Azera (Hyundai)
• Azure (Bentley)
• Beretta (Chevrolet)
• Cadenza (Kia)
• Camaro (Chevrolet)
• Camry (Toyota)
• Capri (Ford / Mercury)
• Caprice (Chevrolet)
• Carina (Toyota)
• Carrera (Porsche)
• Catera (Cadillac)
• Cavalier (Chevrolet)
• Cayenne (Porsche)
• Caymen (Porsche)
• Celica (Toyota)
• Chevelle (Chevrolet)
• Cobalt (Chevrolet)
• Colt (Dodge/Mitsubishi/Plymouth)
• Cordia (Mitsubishi)
• Corsica (Chevrolet)
• Cosmo (Mazda)
• Cooper  (mini)
• Cressida (Toyota)
• Cruze (Chevrolet)
• Daytona (Dodge)
• Diamante (Mitsubishi)
• Diesel (Volvo)
• Echo (Toyota)
• Elan (Lotus)
• Elantra (Hyundai)
• Electra  (Buick)
• Elise (Lotus)
• Enzo (Ferrari)
• Evora (Lotus)
• Fiero (Pontiac)
• Forester (Subaru)
• Genesis (Hyundai)
• Giulia  (Alfa Romeo)
• Giulietta  (Alfa Romeo)
• Herald (Triumph)
• Holden Monaro (Pontiac)
• Hunter (Land Rover)
• Integra  (Acura)
• Jetta (Volkswagen)
• Jimny (Suzuki)
• Lancer (Mitsubishi)
• Liberty (Jeep)
• Lucerne  (Buick)
• Lumina (Chevrolet)
• Magnum (Dodge)
• Mark (Isuzu / Toyota)
• [Grand] Marquis (Mercury)
• Maxima (Nissan)
• Miata (Mazda)
• Milan (Mercury)
• Milano (Alfa Romeo)
• Millenia (Mazda)
• Monaco (Dodge)
• Monte Carlo (Chevrolet)
• Murano (Nissan)
• Optima (Kia)
• Orlando (Chevrolet)
• Pantera (DeTomaso)
• Rio (Kia)
• Riviera (Buick)
• Sable  (Mercury)
• Sedona (Kia)
• Sentra (Nissan)
• Sephia (Kia)
• Sequoia (Toyota)
• Seville (Cadillac)
• Shelby (Dodge)
• Sierra (GMC)
• Sienna (Toyota)
• Sky (Saturn)
• Sonata (Hyundai)
• Sonoma (GMC)
• Sorento (Kia)
• Tacoma (Toyota)
• Talon (Eagle)
• Tiburon (Hyundai)
• Tucson (Hyundai)
• Vega (Chevrolet)
• Verona (Suzuki)
• [Crown] Victoria (Ford)
• Zephyr (Lincoln / Mercury) 

Whether you are inspired by one of these names or they make you think twice about your favorite, what do you think of the list?  My favorites are Apollo, Aurora, Cadenca, Carina, Cavalier, Cressida, Elise, Jimny, Lumina, Maxima, Milan, Sable, Sephia, and Verona.  What about you?