The Art of Naming

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? 

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

One of The Very Best V Names around is Viola, of course! Taken from our previous article, this name is still a rarity but could potentially gain popularity in the coming years. The name Viola means "violet" in Latin. If Violet is too popular for you (it ranked #67 in 2014), try Viola. It is very similar in sound but it is ranking well below the Top 1000 chart. As you may know, the viola is a bowed string instrument. Wikipedia says that "it is slightly larger than a violin in size and has a lower and deeper sound than a violin. Since the 18th century it has been the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello."  This would be a great name choice for musical parents, specifically ones who may actually play this instrument. The Viola is also a genus of flowering plants within the violet family of Violaceae . The name Viola would please not only musical parents, but those with an appreciation for nature. Additionally, literature love

Names that start with the letter U  aren't always favored very highly but Ulysses is a great exception that deserves more usage. The masculine name Ulysses is the Latin form of the excellent Greek mythological name Odysseus. Odysseus is said to be derived from the Greek οδυσσομαι ( odyssomai ) which means "to hate, wrathful". While that isn't the greatest meaning ever, both of these names are strong and interesting. In Greek legend, Odysseus was a hero of the Trojan War. Homer's The Odyssey, follows Odysseus's journey back to his kingdom and his wife Penelope. As for the name Ulysses, it was used as the title of a book written in 1920 by Irish author James Joyce. This story was loosely based on The Odyssey and was adapted into a movie in 1967. The most famous man named Ulysses in American history is Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), the commander of the Union forces during the American Civil War. He later became the 18th President of the United States f

Taken from the list of The Very Best S Names for Boys and Girls is the interesting masculine name Soren. Let's learn more about it. Soren is a Scandinavian name that's starting to catch on with American parents today. There are three different ways to spell Soren . First, there's just the anglicized Soren which is typically pronounced Sorr-en. If you venture into Scandinavia, there's also the Danish and Norwegian form the name spelled Søren and pronounced more like SUU-ren. Derived from that is the form that the Swedes and Germans tend to prefer: Sören , also pronounced SUU-ren or ZUU-ren. No matter how it is accented, the name originally comes from Severinus which is a Roman family name derived from Severus meaning "stern" in Latin. This name has been well-used in Denmark. Just take a look at the long list of mostly Danish famous people on Nameberry.   What about its popularity in America? Soren first appeared on record in the US in 1912 but it

Leonardo da Vinci There is a very large Latin presence in the United States these days. Did you know that there are several Spanish, Italian and Portuguese names for boys that rank within the Top 1000 most popular names? My favorite of the bunch is listed as the "Italian, Spanish and Portuguese form of Leonard" on Behind the Name. Leonardo fits all three origin categories with ease and yet it is familiar enough to English ears that it could be considered for American boys who do not have Latin origins. The part-Italian Leonardo DiCaprio has helped make the name more mainstream in America. Interestingly, his name was chosen when his pregnant mother felt him kick for the first time while his parents were viewing a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo isn't the only name that works across all three of these cultures though.  Below are all of the Latinate names and their popularity rank for the year 2014 in the US. Let's take a look at the first half of th

Based on this week's list of The Very Best R Names for Boys and Girls , I've chosen the vintage, gem name Ruby. Ruby is derived from the Latin word ruber which means "red". As you might know, it is the name of a precious stone with a red hue that serves as the birthstone of the month of July. Along with other gem names, Ruby was first used as a name in the Victorian Era. As a baby name, Ruby gained usage in the 19th century. It has been in use since name records were first kept in the US in 1880. Ruby was particularly well-used in the early 1900s, peaking from 1918-1924 with over eight thousand births each year. Vintage names like Ruby that were popular around 1920, declined in usage and then began climbing the charts again in recent years are fashionable now. There are many that follow this same pattern that's sometimes called the 100 Year Rule which basically states that once-popular names tend to come back in style after about 100 years have passed.

Quincy was hand-chosen from our article that featured The Very Best Q Names for Boys and Girls. We'll take a closer look at it now. Quincy is a surname that came from the place name Cuinchy which is a village in France. Cuinchy was originally derived from the Ancient Roman praenomen, or given name, Quintus which means "fifth" in Latin. Typically, Quintus was only given to the fifth born son but this isn't a necessary requirement for a modern boy named Quincy. Perhaps the most famous bearer of this name is the sixth president of the United States, John Quincy Adams, who happened to be born in the town Quincy, Massachusetts which was named after his mother's grandfather Colonel John Quincy. This interesting, quirky name has been in regular usage since name records were first kept in 1880 in the US. It was never all that popular until the mid 1970s. At its peak, Quincy ranked at #273 in 1977 with a total of 717 male births. Usage has now fallen to a steady 4

Inspired by our list of The Very Best N Names for Boys and Girls , I present the name Nova. Nova comes from the Latin word novus which means "new". A nova is also a space term for when there is a cataclysmic nuclear explosion on a white dwarf planet. It causes a sudden brightening of the star. A nova is slightly different than a supernova which is a stellar explosion that briefly outshines an entire galaxy with as much energy as the sun before fading. As a name, Nova has been in use for girls since 1885 in the US but it was never popular until it exploded within the past 5 years. It ranked below the Top 1000 at #1133 in 2010. By 2013 it was up to #529. As of 2014 Nova ranked way up at #287 with 1,121 births for the year. It also ranks well in the Netherlands and Sweden. Nova has recently spiked for boys, too. It has always been given to males here in the US but not regularly until 1996. In 2014 there were 102 boys named Nova for a rank of #1553. Do you like this n

Our featured boy name is Milo. It comes to us from our previous article that featured The Very Best M Names for Boys and Girls. The origin of the name Milo is not fully known. Milo has been listed as being both Latin and Old Germanic. Sometimes it is said that it is a form of Miles, but it seems more likely that Milo came first. According to Behind the Name, it's possible that Milo came from the Medieval Slavic name Milu from which names like Milan, Milena, Ludmila, and Miloslav come. It makes sense that Milo would be related to these names but apparently it isn't certain. What we do know is that the name Miles came from the Germanic name Milo which was introduced to England by the Normans. The confusing part is that Milo is listed as the "Old Germanic form of Miles as well as the Latinized form." So according to Behind the Name, Milo gave rise to Miles which gave rise to Milo. Either way, this name dates back to the Middle Ages where it was found bein

Taken straight from our list of The Very Best L Names for Boys and Girls is the lovely name Luna. While Luna is usually listed as either Italian, Spanish or both, it originates as a Latin name meaning "the moon". According to the ancient Roman mythology, the goddess Luna was considered the divine embodiment of the moon and was often portrayed as driving a white chariot through the sky. Her Greek counterpart is the goddess Selene. As a baby name in the US, Luna dates back to the start of our modern records in the year 1880. Luna has been used on and off over the years, encountering a bit of a dry spell in the mid-60s. It was never popular until recently when it joined the Top 1000 names in 2003. It has been steadily rising on the popularity chart since then. 2,314 baby girls were given the name in 2014 for a ranking of #143. At this rate, it should continue to rise in popularity. Luna is short and sweet. It carries beautiful imagery with it as it evokes peaceful vibes

While everyone will have differing opinions about which are The Very Best J Names for Boys and Girls, I'm sure many can agree that Juno is an interesting and unique choice! The feminine name Juno is very mythological. The ancient Roman goddess was a daughter of Saturn, the wife (and sister!) of the Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. She was the goddess of marriage and childbirth and often looked after the women of Rome. Juno was also the Queen of the Gods, known as "Regina" which means Queen. Her Greek equivalent is the goddess Hera. The meaning of the name Juno is generally thought to be unknown but some speculate that it is related to an Indo-European root word that means "youth".  Juno is a variation of the Roman name Iuno. Other related names are Iunius, Junius, Iunia, and Junia. As a name, Juno isn't very used in the US. It randomly charted way back in 1919 with 6 births and it wasn't heard from again until 1996. This name re

The list of The Very Best I Names for Boys and Girls offered plenty of interesting choices.  This week is the boys turn for a featured name and the options were hard to choose from. In the end, Ignatius was the victor. The name Ignatius comes from the Roman family name Egnatius . Originally, Egnatius had an unknown meaning from the ancient Etruscan origin. As time went on, the spelling was altered so it would be similar to the Latin word ignis which means "fire". Because of this, the Etruscan Egnatius became the Latin Ignatius and inherited itself a meaning. There were several saints named Ignatius. The most well-known St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) was the founder of the Jesuits. Interestingly, his birth name was Íñigo which is sometimes regarded as a form of Ignatius, but it is probably just because of its association with this saint.  (Inigo was also one of our featured I names that I nearly chose. It is Spanish but comes from the name Eneko which is deriv

To complement our list of The Very Best H Names for Boys and Girls , we will further examine the feminine name Honora. It was the Normans who introduced the name Honora to England and Ireland. Honora is a variant of the name Honoria which is the feminine form of Honorius. Honorius is a Late Latin name meaning "honor". It has been worn by a few saints and popes as well as an emperor. In addition to the lovely Honora, there is also the Irish Onóra and the English Annora. Nora is an excellent nickname for all of these, and diminutives include the similar Norene, Noreen, Norah and Nóirín. While some parents like the shorter and simpler name Honor to reflect its virtuous meaning, others opt for a bit more of an elaboration with Honora or Honoria. These types of abstract virtue names were popular with the Puritans after having been introduced to Britain by the Normans. Today in modern America, Honora is very under-the-radar. It has been used quietly but consistently s

There was once a time back in Ancient Rome when it was common to have several children. So many that parents sometimes numbered them via their names. If you couldn't imagine naming your children one, two, three, four, five... you're not alone. Fortunately, there are Latin options that sound much cooler than that if you happen to find the idea of numbering your offspring to be appealing. There are also some updated modernized versions of these old Latin names that are faring better than their ancient counterparts. Many ancient names are being used again today with a renewed sense of style such as all the -us names like Atticus, Maximus, Cyrus, Augustus, etc. But does this interest extend to these numerical names? Do they stand any chance for revival?  Let's take a look at some of the possible choices per number. One (1):  Prima Gender: Female Last year used: 2004 # of births in that year: 6 Most recorded usage: 14 births in 1975 Primo  Gender: Male Last y