The Art of Naming

Taken from our article about names ending with the letters "-hy", we found the name Dorothy. Dorothy is a form of Dorothea which comes from the Late Greek name Δωροθεος (Dorotheos) meaning "gift of God".  Dorotheos is pulled from the Greek words δωρον (doron) meaning "gift" and θεος (theos) meaning "god". Interestingly, the names Theodora and Theodore (and their variants) also come from theos and doron, but their direct Greek origin name (Theodoros) is a little different: Θεοδωρος. However, all of these names do share a meaning. Perhaps the most well-known Dorothy comes from literature and film. In 1900, an author by the name of L. Frank Baum published a little fantasy novel called "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" featuring a young girl named Dorothy as the main character. Portrayed by actress Judy Garland in the 1939 film, Dorothy has become a classic and iconic character in pop culture. You don't meet all that many "

We previously took a look at female names that were well-used throughout the 1880s. Today, we'll move forward through time to the next decade and examine 10 names that were hot for girls in the 1890s. More specifically, we want to find names that ranked within the Top 200 back then, but also do not rank within the Top 1000 of 2014. So these names ranked then and do not rank now. What we want to consider is which of these may or may not have the chance to make a comeback for modern girls. Reviving these names would indicate that they would now receive enough usage to begin climbing back up the charts and potentially ranking within today's Top 1000 again. Many vintage names have already been revived lately, could any of the following do the same?: 1. Minnie (#13 in the 1890s)  Minnie is one of many nickname names that were fashionable around the turn of the century. Typically it is short for Wilhelmina, which comes from the German Willahelm meaning "will, desire&

When you take a moment and travel back in time within the realm of baby names and compare your findings to today's data, you'll see that boy names don't change nearly as much as girl names do. Males have certain evergreen names that seem to always be in use. Many of them happen to be biblical which is the most obvious reason for their consistency but it is a different story for females. The most evergreen name for girls is Elizabeth . Biblical, classic, versatile. Sure there are a few others. Mary had a record breaking reign unlike any other name, but for the most part, girl names swing in and out of fashion frequently. Some names that were popular even ten years ago are already losing steam. Is it any different for names of the 1880s? Are they still out or are many of them back in now? A bit of both. While many of the more fashionable grandma names are increasingly being labeled as vintage and are rapidly climbing the charts, many of their stuffy counterparts are

The baby girls who were born in 1950 are now grandmothers. They will turn 65 this year! It is safe to say, though, that a lot of their first names may not be getting passed down to their grand-daughters at the same rate that grandpa's name is probably being given to the boys. While the boys have some solid classics on their side --even their more dated options like Jerry are well-used today-- the girl names have not survived the test of time as well. Take a look at how the top girl names of 1950 rank then and now and see if you don't agree: Girls:             Linda Mary Patricia Barbara Susan Nancy Deborah Sandra Carol Kathleen Sharon Karen Donna Brenda Margaret Diane Pamela Janet Shirley Carolyn Judith Janice Cynthia Elizabeth Judy 1950:     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 2013:                        643 121 680 838 844 689 814 766 1617 664 882 416 1340 634 181 1841

You and your partner just found out that you're expecting a baby girl and you couldn't be happier. Immediately, baby names pop into your mind and you're determined to find one that will honor your beloved grandmother. The only problem is that you totally and completely hate her name. Oops! It's difficult when you love someone so much that you want to honor them but, in your mind, their name leaves little to be desired. You simply cannot picture yourself yelling at little Thelma across the playground and you couldn't handle saying Dolores a hundred times a day. These names work beautifully on your grandmother but they are not right for your modern daughter. What can you do? Here are ten exciting ways to reinvent, revamp and retrofit your loved one's name in order to fall in love with your choice while still honoring them. These will be in the order of most relevance to the person's actual name. The lower you go on the list, the less obvious the ho

The last post in our Summer Names segment is this lovely girl name. Pearl is considered a rather old-fashioned name but it is coming back into style today! I chose this name because it is the birthstone for June, a summer month. Historically, pearls were a favorite gem during the Roman Empire. Tudor England was even nicknamed "the pearl age" during the 1500s. They were probably so popular because they are said to give wisdom and bring wealth, protection and luck. They symbolize purity, generosity, integrity and loyalty as well. That's quite a lot for a baby girl to live up to if she's named Pearl! Pearls are also unique in that they're the only gems that come from living sea creatures. This means that they have a natural beauty that is not made or altered by man or machine. However, cultured pearls dominate the market in place of natural pearls and have since the 1920s. As a baby name, the English word pearl refers to the concretions formed in mollusk she

In 1900, there was a big trend occurring among baby girl names. Parents loved the cutesy style of names that ended in -ie. These were not nicknames, they were given names. As you can see by the list below, there was a plethora of options just within the US Top 1000 names .  We're seeing a few of these threaten to come back into style today while others, like Sophie, Ellie and Sadie, are already hot! Drew Barrymore just used the name Frankie for her daughter last month! Did your [great] great-grandmother have a name like this? If so, do share it with us in the comment section below! Which of these -ie names are your favorite? Would you ever use it? Abbie                   Addie Aggie Allie Amie Ammie Angie Annie Arie Arlie Arrie Artie Audie Bennie Berdie Bertie Bessie Bettie Billie Birdie Bobbie Bonnie Callie Carrie Cassie Charlie Christie Classie Clemmie Cordie Corrie Dessie Dicie Dixie Dollie Donnie Dottie Dovie Dulcie Eddie Ef

The lovely name June has been used for girls as a given name since the 19th century!  Boys occasionally wear it too but not to the same extent as girls.  As a month name, June originally comes from the name of the Roman goddess Juno. Juno's true meaning is unknown but it is said to possibly be related to a root name meaning "youth". Juno was the wife of Jupiter in Roman mythology and considered the queen of the heavens. She protected marriage, women and childbirth. That is one of the reasons that many weddings traditionally took place in the month of June. This sweet name hasn't been very popular lately.  In fact, there was a twenty year dry-spell that ended in 2007 where June was not ranked within the Top 1000 names at all. Until recently, She's generally been considered an old-fashioned, grandma name because of her super-popularity that peaked in 1925. But as the 100 year rule goes, she's due to become a hot name once again and we're already see

They say that it takes 100 years for names to come back into fashion. They aren't wrong. When you think about all of the names that are currently at the top of the charts (or rising quickly) how many of them were previously considered "Grandma" names? Perhaps these names are now being used to honor those grandparents. Or maybe those names now belong to the great-grandparents of current baby-namers and aren't well-known or thought of as old. Just like fashion trends, names have a way of coming back around and seeming fresh again. The 100 year rule is real! To prove that, here are some names that saw popularity spikes in the 1915-1925 range. These same names have begun gaining popularity since 2010 (and sometimes earlier because of those parents ahead of the trend.) We can only assume that these names will continue to climb our modern day charts and hit their peaks around the 100-years-later mark and then decline again. Name: (Year with most births) #ranki

Are you trying to find the perfect baby name that has history and class? Many parents find themselves looking to the past. Names that were hot for our grandmothers and great-grandmothers are now turning the corner and becoming fresh and new again despite being classified as "old lady" or "old fashioned" names before. Perhaps the perfect name for your daughter is on the list below! Take a look and see if you find any that you like. They are all wonderful options. Check out the "Naming Services" tab above if you'd like more information about a certain name or if you'd like an outsider's opinion on which you should go with! I can help you narrow down your choices statistically!  Enjoy! Ada Adelaide Adeline Agatha Alice Alma Amabel Anna Antonia Augusta Beatrice Catherine Cecily Celia Clara Cora Cordelia Dorothea Edith Eleanor Eloise Elsa Esther Etta Evelyn Flora Florence Frances Francesca Georgia Harriet Hazel