The Art of Naming

Today's featured boy name is pulled from the list of names ending with the letters -cy. Percy is is male given name that comes from an English surname. There is a commune in Normandy in Northwestern France called Percy-en-Auge from which the surname was derived.  The House of Percy (or Perci in Old French) was one of the most powerful noble families in northern England. There are still members of the Percy family to this day who are Dukes of Northumberland. Their surname comes from the manor of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy which was their home during the Norman Conquest. The name Percy started out being used as a given name in their honor. The Greek Perseus is similar in sound and could be assigned the nickname Percy. It means "to destroy" in Greek and was the name of a mythological hero who killed Medusa and founded the ancient city of Mycenae. Percy can also be considered a short form of the name Percival. The name Perceval, with this spelling, was created by a

Water is everywhere. We use it for countless reasons every day. Heck, we're made of water. It is essential to life as we know it. What better way to honor our precious life-sustaining water than to choose a name inspired by it? Plenty of parents are already fans of nature names, why not filter those down to just the water-related ones? You'll find that you have many great options to choose from. Before we dive into the deep end, let's explore a bit of mythology. The God of the Sea is known as Poseidon in Greek mythology. One of his love interests was the Sea Goddess Amphitrite . Together they had a son named Triton who was the Messenger of the Sea.  The Roman equivalent of Poseidon is Neptune , the God of Freshwater and the Sea. Here are some of the best names inspired by water: Bodies of water that could be used as names: Bay Bayou Brook Cascade Cove Delta Fjord Frost Harbor Icy Laguna Lake Marsh Ocean Rain River Snow Names of falls

Today's featured girls' name, Phoebe, is brought to you by our previous article, T he Very Best P Names for Boys and Girls. Phoebe was Latinized from the Greek name Phoibe (Φοιβη) which means "radiant or bright". It is pronounced FEE-bee. There was a Titan named Phoibe in Greek mythology who was associated with the moon. One of Saturn's moons is named Phoebe after this Titan whose granddaughter was the moon goddess Artemis. Occasionally, Phoebe is considered as a synonym for Artemis. Biblically, the name Phoebe appears in the New Testament and refers to a female minister from Cenchrea, mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans. Spelled Phebe, there was a shepherdess by this name in Shakespeare's As You Like It, published in 1623. The name Phoebe gained usage in England after the Protestant Reformation which ended in 1648. In the US, the name Phoebe has been in use since records began in 1880. It has very slowly gained more and more usage

The beautiful, feminine name Flora is brought to you today in light of our previous post that featured The Very Best F Names for Boys and Girls. As a name, Flora has been in use since the Renaissance era in France. Diminutives of the name include Flo, Floretta, Florrie and Floella. In Dutch, Flora is known as Floor or Floortje. The French call her Flore and Florette, Hungarians say Flóra while the Welsh use Fflur. Flora could be used as a nickname for Florence but the two aren't actually related since they come from different roots. Another similar name is Fleur which is French for Flower; there's also Fleurette, a diminutive of Fleur. Flora It's no surprise that this lovely name comes from the Latin word flos meaning "flower".  Flora was the goddess of flowers and the season of spring according to Roman mythology. She was the wife of Favonius, who was the west wind and bringer of light spring and early summer breezes. This couple's Greek equival

Inspired by this week's article featuring The Very Best D Names for Boys and Girls , we will be taking a closer look at the name Daphne, pronounced DAFF-nee.  This lovely Greek name means "laurel" which is a flower. Laurels are often used in circular wreaths, one of which was worn on top of the head of Apollo in Greek mythology. According to the legend, a beautiful female nymph named Daphne gained the unwanted attention of Apollo and was turned into a laurel tree by her father in order to escape Apollo's advances. Apollo is associated with laurels because of his desire for Daphne. As a baby name, Daphne has been in use in the US since 1886. While it has never been popular, it had one large spike in usage in 1962. In that year, 1,131 girls were given the name which ranked it at #266.  Usage declined through the 1980s but suddenly climbed again in 2001. As of 2013, Daphne is on the rise with 770 births and a ranking of #397. This is the best the name h

As we look at celestial names this week, there's no better name to look at than Atlas. Atlas was the titan of astronomy and navigation in Greek mythology. After the Titans were defeated in war with the Olympians, Zeus condemned him to the western edge of Gaia, or the Earth, where he was then forced to hold the celestial spheres on his shoulders. There are many depictions of Atlas "carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders". There's plenty of history that can be learned about Atlas, but we're here to talk about the name itself. You can read more about the mythological figure here. A golden statue of Atlas As a name, some of the etymology is uncertain, however, the ancient Roman poet named Virgil was the one who defined Atlas. He regularly translated etymologies of Greek names and combined them with appropriate adjectives. In the case of Atlas, he was given the adjective durus which means "hard, enduring". Therefore, the name Atlas has

To complete our week of analyzing German baby naming traditions and names , I present to you the lovely name Lorelei. It actually comes from German mythology. According to legend, a beautiful seductress lived on a rock headland on the Rhine River . The rock itself is located near St. Goarshausen, Germany and is named the Lorelei even today. It is said that the maiden, or "water spirit", lures fishermen to their death with her haunting voice and beautiful song. For this reason, Lorelei  means "luring rock" or "alluring temptress/enchantress".   It is sometimes spelled Loreley as well. The image of this deadly siren has been a part of the name Lorelei for ages. Some may view that with a negative connotation, and others may enjoy the mythic beauty of a singing mermaid seductress despite the fact that she caused many deaths. It is just a legend, after all, so it is up to you whether the association is an issue or not. Another strong association that h

The feminine name Aurora is the Latin word for "dawn" so naturally Aurora was the Roman goddess of the morning. She has two siblings, a brother (Sol, the sun) and a sister (Luna, the moon). It is said that she would renew herself in the morning and fly across the sky to announce the rising of the sun.   In Astronomy, the northern lights are also known as the Aurora Borealis. It is a natural light display in the sky mostly seen in high latitudes.  They named this celestial phenomenon after the goddess. Beyond astronomy and mythology, though, Aurora has one of the longest Wikipedia pages that I've ever seen for a name. Aurora has so many associations across a variety of subjects like colleges, all sorts of entertainment from films to novels to song titles, fictional characters like the Disney princess from Sleeping Beauty, geographical locations all around the world, sports and forms of transportation. If you're considering this name for a daughter, I would re

Althea is a feminine, Greek Mythological name. It comes from the Greek name Αλθαια ( Althaia ) and might also be related to the Greek αλθος ( althos ) which means "healing". Most baby naming sites say that this name means "with healing power" or that it refers to the Althaea genus of perennial herbs including the marshmallow plant which is noted for its healing powers. In Greek legends, Althea was the mother of Meleager. Behind the Name says "soon after her son was born she was told that he would die as soon as a piece of wood that was burning on her fire was fully consumed. She immediately extinguished the piece of wood and sealed it in a chest, but in a fit of rage many years later she took it out and set it alight, thereby killing her son." Clearly this name has some tragedy behind it but it is still interesting and lovely in sound. In the 17th century, a poet named Richard Lovelace used the name Althea as a poetic pseudonym for his belove

The thing about mythological names is that they are flush full of history. Whether past namesakes were a part of a tragedy or a utopian rulership, these names are bound to offer an abundance of strength. This list mostly contains Greek and Roman deities and legends, but there are mythological figures from various other origins as well. These names may have a beauty and a unique freshness to them in today's society but be sure to research these names before committing to one. Make sure that you like the namesake!  Let me know which of these names you like the most! Would you ever consider using it?       Acantha Althea Andromeda           Antheia Aphrodite Ariadne Artemis Astra Atalanta Athena Aurora Brigid Brunhild Calliope Calypso Camilla Cassandra Cerelia Ceres Chandra Clio Cybele Cynthia Daphne Delia Demeter Diana Echo Enid Eos Etain Fauna Flora Fortuna Freya Gaia Grainne Halcyon Hebe Hera Hermione           Hero Hestia Iant

The name Evander has two possible backgrounds. The first comes from the Latin Evandrus which comes from the Greek Ευανδρος ( Euandros ). This means "good man".  This background is the most widely accepted on baby naming sites. The second possible origin says that Evander is the anglicized form of Iomhar which is the Scottish from of Ivor. Ivor comes from the Old Norse name Ívarr meaning "bow warrior". Ivor was carried into Great Britain by Scandinavians in the Middle Ages. According to Behind the Name , in Roman mythology, Evander was an Arcadian hero who founded the city of Pallantium where Rome would later be built. He was responsible for bringing the Greek pantheon, laws and alphabet to Italy. This Evander also appeared in Virgil's Aeneid , a Latin epic poem written between 29 and 19 BC. The most well-known modern-day association with the name Evander belongs to boxing champ Evander Holyfield. There is also a Canadian hockey player named Evander

This name list mostly contains Greek and Roman deities and legends, but there are mythological figures from various other origins as well. Whether or not you believe in mythology is your own choice. Personally, I do not. I like to think of them as fables passed down through the generations. But I do find these stories to be very fascinating, especially the names that come from them. The list that I've compiled below contains a great assortment of the best masculine names that spring from the most well-known myths from around the world. I am sure that there are plenty more that could be added so feel free to leave me a comment below if you'd like me to add some. In fact, Behind the Name has an amazing collection of mythological names that is much longer than this one if you're looking for more obscure choices. Here are some of the names that I feel are easier for a modern boy to wear today:                           Achilles                     Adonis Ajax

The Girl's Name of the Week also comes from my Australian research. The name is currently ranked at #130 in Australia and gaining popularity! The lovely name is Freya. Freya is a Nordic name meaning "a noble woman". The Norse goddess of love, beauty and fertility was named Freya.  However, this is not the usual spelling in Sweden and Denmark. In those countries, it is spelled Freja and in Norway it is Frøja, but Freya is the common spelling of the goddess's name in English. This moniker has been rather popular in the UK for quite a while! It ranks at #16 in Scotland, #19 in England and Wales, #53 in Northern Ireland and #61 in the Republic of Ireland. In Victoria, Australia, Freya is currently ranked at #130. As for the United States, this name was first seen in 1931 on 5 baby girls.  It wasn't until 1939 that it saw more regular usage, however many years had single digit births or none at all. Finally in 2007 the name hit the triple digit mark with 109 b

Our "Fan of the Week" Kiira chose a super cool girl's name straight out of Norse Mythology. Love it! The name is Eir. Eir was a Norse goddess of healing and medicine. The name means "mercy" or "protection, help" in Old Norse. If you're wondering how it is pronounced, you can listen to it here .  To my ear, this Icelandic pronunciation almost sounds like "ayvf."  I've also heard it said sort of like "air" on a character in the video game "Guild Wars 2," Eir Stegalkin. No matter how you may pronounce it, this name is rare. And I mean RARE. Upon researching the number of births that Eir has had in the US, well, the results came back "No matches were found." Aha! Nobody in the States has ever used this name. Well, at least not the minimum requisite of 5 babies per year in order to be recorded. Despite these statistics, there's actually quite a bit of information on the name on Wikipedia , which

The Boy Name of the Week has both mythical and celestial associations to it. Orion is the name of a constellation of stars. Most visible to the naked eye is a line of three stars that form Orion's belt. The constellation was named after a legendary Greek hunter who is said to have been killed by a scorpion that was sent by Gaia.  However, here are many different tales about Orion and his origins in mythology. The name Orion does not have a known meaning, but could be related to the Greek ‘οριον' (horion) which means "boundary" or "limit". Orion has ranked in the US since 1880 but it was extremely rare and hardly used until it began gaining a bit of momentum in the 70s. It landed on the top 1000 chart for the first time in 1991 at #995 then fell back off for two years. Starting in 1994, this name has been on an upward trajectory!  In 2012, there were 673 baby boys named Orion which ranked the name at #419. There were also 21 female births in 2012.

The Boy Name of the Week is the Scottish form of a Gaelic name: Ewan. It is pronounced YOO-un. It comes from the Gaelic name Eoghan. There were several legendary Irish figures with the name Eoghan, which possibly means "born from the yew tree" in Irish. Some say it may be derived from Eugene which comes from Greek words meaning "well born."  I've also seen some sites say that Ewan means "Youth" but I'm not sure where they got that information from. So while I can't seem to get a clear picture on what it really means, it is still a very handsome name. Ewan can also be spelled Euan, Ewen, Ewyn or even Ouen, depending on where you live.  Sometimes it is said to be a variation of names like John, Owen, Evan, Hugh and again Eugene. Owen is actually the Welsh spelling of the name, also spelled Owain. If you do more research on Eoghan, you'll see that it also has various spellings and that its true meaning is heavily debated.  The ency

The Girl Name of the Week is a short and sweet Irish name in honor of the one-syllable girl names post from yesterday. This name belonged to a legendary ancient Irish queen: Maeve. Today, it is starting to come back into favor with modern parents for both a first and middle name. Maeve is the anglicized form of the Gaelic name "Medb" which means "intoxicating". In Irish legend this was the name of a powerful, warrior Queen of Connacht. Her fight against Ulster and the hero Cúchulainn is told in the Irish epic "The Cattle Raid of Cooley." In Ireland, the Irish spelling Meabh is used more frequently. It is in the top 100 names there, but that spelling isn't recommended for usage in the US. Meabh actually comes from  "Medb" which is the original Irish form of Maeve. Other variants include Meadhbh, Mave, Maive, Mayve, Maeva and Meave. However, Maeve is my favorite. It is gaining popularity in the US. It has the lovely nickname Mae/Ma

Today's Name of the Day is Helena. This name is the Latin form of the name Helen, which has a ton of history. Most notably, there is Helen of Troy who was the daughter of Zeus and Leda in Greek mythology. She was kidnapped by Paris and was the cause of the great Trojan War. And a more modern example was Helen Keller who overcame being blind and deaf. While Helen is a strong name, I prefer the girlier Helena. I like to pronounce it Hel-AY-na as opposed to Hel-EN-ah, but both are pretty! This Latin name means "bright, shining one" which is a lovely meaning. Helena was used for two characters in Shakespeare's works, one in "All's Well That Ends Well" and one in "A Midsummer's Night Dream."  Another Helena was a 4th-century saint who was the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine. The name Helena translates well around the world. In 2012, it ranked at #560 in the US, #328 in England/Wales, #194 in France and #243 in the Netherlands. I

Today's featured name is a lovely and truly rare gem in the US: Calliope (Cuh-LIE-oh-pee). The nickname Callie is adorable for this big, strong name.  The meaning of this name is "Beautiful Voice." Straight out of the Greek Myths, Calliope was the name of one of the nine muses, inspiring epic poetry. Since this name is so bold and creative, it would be recommended for artistic parents who enjoy literature, poetry and music. Hopefully your daughter will also enjoy these things and be able to live up to the image that this name portrays, namely, a beautiful artistic muse. In the real world, there is an American actress who wears the name, Calliope "Callie" Thorne.  In the TV world, there's a Dr. Calliope "Callie" Torres on Grey's Anatomy. The original form of this name is actually spelled Kalliope. The meaning "Beautiful Voice" comes directly from the root of the name:  from Greek καλλος (kallos) "beauty" and οψ

I chose this name for my very first "Name of the Day!" It is one that I've recently discovered and fell in love with. The name Lavinia ranked on the Top 1000 chart from 1880-1929 and hasn't been seen since then! An old name that dates back to Roman Mythology, Lavinia was considered the mother of the Roman people. She was the wife of the Trojan hero Aeneas and he named the Town of Lavinium, Italy after her. In Literature, Lavinia was the protagonist's daughter in Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus" which includes the line "She is Lavinia, therefore must be lov'd."  There is also a Lavinia in "The Hunger Games" series, which may have caught the eye of our younger name-enthusiasts! American actress Ava Lavinia Gardner wore the name gracefully during the Old Hollywood days.  Emily Dickinson's younger sister was known as Lavinia "Vinnie" Dickinson. And an Italian painter wore the name from 1552-1614, Lavinia Fo