The Art of Naming

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

We took a look at all the names ending with the letters -my in the previous post. Today we'll pull one of those from the list and get to know it better. I chose Jeremy,  which may feel a bit dated to many of you but it still deserves usage today. Jeremy comes from the name Jeremiah, it is the Medieval English version of it. Jeremiah comes from the Hebrew name יִרְמְיָהוּ ( Yirmiyahu ) meaning "YAHWEH has uplifted". Jeremy was occasionally the form used in England in place of Jeremiah since the 13th century. It wasn't until the Protestant Reformation that Jeremiah gained more common usage. Interesting related diminutives include Jez, Jezza, Jem, Jemmy, Jere and Jerry .  Other languages and cultures offer interesting choices such as the Finnish Jorma, Jarkko, and Jarmo; or the Biblical Greek Ieremias , the Biblical Hebrew Yirmiyahu , and the Biblical Latin Hieremias .  The French favor Jérémie and the Spanish use Jeremías . Jeremy itself works internationall

This featured name is pulled from the list of names that end with the letters "-ly". This list is one of the longest ones in this series so far. It was full of great options, but I decided to highlight Molly. Not many people will realize that Molly comes from the name Mary. It developed as a diminutive based on Malle and Molle over time. Polly is in the same boat. Now, Mary ultimately comes from the Greek Mariam and Maria , which were from the Hebrew Miryam . The meaning of Mary has never been absolutely certain, but meanings such as "sea of bitterness," "rebelliousness," and "wished for child" have been thrown about as possibilities. It's also likely that Mary was originally an Egyptian name derived from mry meaning "beloved". So by association, Molly and all of Mary's other forms, variants and translations, mean the same thing. In the US, Molly has always fared well as a stand-alone name. Since 1880, it has

Our final boy name of the A-Z series is Yannick. It comes straight from the list of The Very Best Y Names for boys and girls. Yannick  is a diminutive of the name Yann which is the Breton form of the name John. Yann is well-used by the French, recently ranking at #113. Yannick is a bit more unusual but it did rank at #288 in The Netherlands recently. Nameberry says that Yannick is "not likely to appeal to many American ears," but I disagree. It may never be popular but it isn't strange either. It could even be unusually refreshing to meet a little Yannick. There have been many names ending with -ick over the years. In the 1960s in particular, names like Derrick, Erick, Dominick, Frederick and Patrick ranked well. They all declined in usage after that but they are all ticking upward again today. Add to that list Maverick and Kendrick too for more modern options. Perhaps, though, they are referring to the "yann" part rather than the "ick". Y N

There are so many lovely 4+ syllable names for girls ; narrowing it down to one was difficult but I decided on beautiful Seraphina. Seraphina is the feminine form of the Late Latin male name Seraphinus . This name comes from the biblical, Hebrew word seraphim meaning "fiery ones" and referring to an order of angels that had six wings each. The Seraphim were described by the prophet Isaiah in the bible.  Seraphina was also the name of a 13th century saint from Italy who was known for making clothing for the poor.  As a name, Seraphina was never really favored in the past. However, it is starting to take off as an usual but pretty name. Actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner named their second daughter Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck in 2009 which put the name on people's radars more, but yet it still remains mostly unused. The celebrity endorsement bumped Seraphina from having only 50 births in 2008 to having 88 in 2009 and 107 in 2010. How

After looking at all of the 4+ syllable boy names available, I wanted to pick one that was legitimately 4 syllables on its own as opposed to a name that earned 4 syllables by adding an -o to the end of a name that is usually 3-syllables. With this criteria, it was actually rather tough to find a good one that hasn't already been featured. I settled on the biblical Jeremiah. Jeremiah comes from the Hebrew name יִרְמְיָהוּ ( Yirmiyahu ) meaning "Yahweh has uplifted". In the bible, he was one of the major prophets in the Old Testament who wrote the Book of Jeremiah as well as the Book of Lamentations. He lived in the 6th century BC during the time of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. In England, the Protestant Reformation brought about the usage of a lot of names that were later carried to Colonial America with the pilgrims. Jeremiah was one of those names. However, the shorter variation Jeremy was sometimes used since the 13th century in England. Over

I just could not decide which 3-letter boys' name to highlight this week so I picked a few that I liked and took the question public! I put up a poll and 53 of you voted for the next featured name! The winner was Asa with 13 votes. So let's learn a little more about the boys' name Asa, pronounced AY-suh. According to BehindTheName, Asa is a Hebrew name meaning "doctor". However, Nameberry says the meaning of Asa is "born in the morning". BabyNames agrees with both meanings, listing Asa's meaning as "physician" and including a note that in Japanese, Asa means "Born at Dawn". This led me to look a bit further. According to Wikipedia,  there are several different meanings for this name in different cultures around the world so take your pick!: Hebrew: Healer and/or physician Yoruba Nigerian: Hawk or little hawk Igbo Nigerian: Beautiful Japanese: Morning Indonesian: Hope Portuguese: Wing Biblically, it was wor

The name Mara seems to come from a few different possible origins. Firstly, Mara is a Hebrew name that means "bitter". It was taken by Naomi in the Old Testament at Ruth 1:20.  Since it does mean "bitter" or "sorrow", she took it as an expression of her grief after her husband and sons died. As another possibility, Mara is the Hungarian variant of Maria and the Croatian and Serbian variant of Marija.  Of course Maria is the Latin form of the Greek Μαρια which comes from the Hebrew  מִרְיָם or Mary.  Marija also comes from Maria.  The name Mary comes from the Hebrew name  מִרְיָם  or Miryam which does not have a known meaning. Theories include "sea of bitterness", "rebelliousness" and "wished for child." However! There is a possibility that Mary comes from an Egyptian name that is partly derived from mry which means "beloved," or mr which means "love". Whew! Sorry about all of that technical jargon.

The Name of the Week is the biblical girl's name Esther.  Esther is considered a Persian name that means "star" and is related to names like Estee and Hester. However, as an alternative, the origin could possibly come from the goddess name Ishtar. In the Old Testament, Queen Esther was the focus of the Book of Esther. She was the Jewish wife of the King of Persia who is known for saving the Jews from being killed.  Esther's original Hebrew name was Haddassah. In American history, President Grover Cleveland named his daughter Esther in 1893 which gave the name a popularity boost. Esther jumped from 824 births in 1892 to 1,382 births in 1893. It continued to gain popularity over the next couple decades, peaking at 6,575 births in 1918 (#38). The name declined in usage after that, but has never dipped lower than #348. Source Esther has had a slight boost in usage since 2000. In 2012, there were 1,313 baby girls given the name, ranking it at #242. This is

The Name of the Week is the biblical boy's name Simeon. Its cuter than Simon but follows the coolness of Gideon. It is pronounced SIM-ee-ən. It comes from the Hebrew name שִׁמְעוֹן Shim'on which means "he has heard" or "God is listening."  In the Old Testament, Simeon was the second some of Jacob and one of the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel. In the New Testament, Simeon was a man who blessed Jesus as a newborn.  There was also a powerful ruler in Bulgaria who bore this name in the 10th-century. Simeon has also been a popular name for saints. In 2012, Simeon popped back onto the US Top 1000 chart at #980, with 202 male births.  It has always been at the bottom of the chart, or just outside of it. It ranked as high as #360 back in 1880 (with 23 boys born).  It ranked as low as #2034 in 1928, but has always has usage.  Despite the number of births being higher today than ever, the name is still fairly rare but since it is biblical, its not unfamil

Today's Name of the Day is a soft, handsome boy name from the Old Testament: Asher. This name is a Biblical Hebrew name meaning "happy" or "blessed." Asher was the son of Jacob and Zilpah, (Leah's handmaid), and he was also the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. This name is definitely a favorite with today's parents! It has been climbing up the charts quickly! A very rare name at the end of the 19th century (only 42 boys received this name between 1880 and 1895.) It wasn't heard from again until 1910 and it remained rarely used. It finally hit the Top 1000 chart in 1983 at #934. In 2000, it ranked at #579 and has shot up since then. In 2012, Asher ranked at #108 with a total of 3,514 baby boys receiving the name (and 44 girl!) Source What do you think of this handsome, biblical name? It falls into the new trend of giving boys "softer-sounding" names.  Asher is possibly the favorite of the bunch that contain the

The Name of the Day for June 1, 2013 is Gideon, a boy name taken straight from the pages of the Old Testament. Biblical Gideon was known as a modest and humble young man of the tribe of Manasseh. With the help of an angel, he was divinely called upon to save the Israelites from Midianite oppression. Before he could do this, he had to be tested to prove himself worthy for battle. God asked Gideon to destroy his father's alter to Baal and to cut down the sacred pole that stood with it. For this reason, the name Gideon means "Destroyer" or "Feller [of trees]" or even "One who cuts down".  It may also mean "Hewer" or "Great Warrior", depending on where you look. Many parents opt for biblical names for their sons, but for those who are tiring of the traditional Benjamin, James or Jacob, Gideon offers a fresh approach to naming. This name has began climbing the charts in recent years. It was always rather popular among the Puri