The Art of Naming

The very first thing that all name-searching parents do when they find a name is say it. Whether it is in their mind or out loud, pronouncing the name always comes first. How does the name sound when you say it? Do you like the sound of the name? Does it easily roll off the tongue or are there pronunciation issues that could cause the child problems in life?  Many of these questions are answered subconsciously as we say and hear the name. And of course, this is going to vary greatly per person. What sounds like a lovely name to one person may not be attractive at all to another. But the question is, are there specific sounds in a name that are more mass-appealing than others? Do we, as a country, tend to gravitate toward certain sounds within a name?  Take for instance the top 5 girl names of 2016. They all end in the letter A: Emma, Olivia, Ava, Sophia, and Isabella.  These are all very vowel-heavy names that easily roll off the tongue. Today’s parents are flocking to these

We previously explored some of the most unusual boy names from the 1910s . Now it is time to take a look at some interesting names given to females from 1910-1919. Now, there were so very many names to browse through and I'm sure there are dozens more that could be added to this list, but these are some of the top choices I could find.  All of these had either 5, 6 or 7 births for the year within the decade of the 1910s. The names came straight from the US Social Security Administration's data. Let's get started! While some aren't quite as unusual as others, browse slowly and try to imagine what it would be like to live with one of these names: Albirdia Allien Almeter Alphild Amparo Appie Areather Arloene Bannie Beedie Bernetha Binnie Birchie Bird Birdella Blandina Bleeker Blossie Bonzie Boots Borgny Brooxie Brownie Bular California Casilda Cellie Clatie Clesta Clevie Cliffie Clister Clova Cozy Creasie Cumi Dar

Today we are zooming in on the decade of the 1910s to discover some of the most unusual names given to boys at the time. I analyzed the data from the Social Security Administration and looked at the names at the very bottom for each year from 1910-1919. I pulled interesting names that only had 5-7 births per year, and I did so for each of those years. Take a look at this list and try to remember that these were once names given to baby boys. Some of the boy names that I found within the far-reaches of the data were straight up words. Here are some of the most interesting ones: Admiral Battle Bland Boss Boots Carless Castle Champion Chief Choice Colon Coma Commodore Concetto Converse Doctor Doll Dunk English Fess Flake Fleet Fort Friend Gentle Glee Happy Hooker Jolly Math Method Normal Orange Other Perfecto Precious President Press Seaborn Shade Smiley Speed Square Swift Tiny Tip Watt Welcome White Worthy Here are even

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 "

This is the third article in this series that takes a look at faded names, one decade at a time. Today, we'll look at the names that ranked within a combined Top 200 from 1900-1909. This information is according to the Social Security Administration. The list that I used can be found here. First, I tossed out all of the names from that list that currently rank in 2015's Top 1000. While those are all great names too, we want to find the more obscure ones. The names on the list below are not often heard on modern boys, but that could change if any of these catch on again with parents. But it isn't always that easy. If a name is not fashionable or trendy enough, (or a family name), it may not stand much of a chance until those definitions of style change. Old names come back around all the time, so these could be favored again in the future, if not now. What do you think of them? 1. Elmer (#41 overall  from 1900-1909): Elmer isn't actually as fuddy as you'd t

While looking at the Top 200 Names of the 1890s via the Social Security Administration's data, it is obvious that the most popular names of the decade include John, William, James, George, and Charles.  Even today, James and William still dominate the charts. In fact, many of today's hottest boy names have actually been popular for decades, starting way back in the 1880s when records were first kept. Today, we're investigating the Top 200 names of the 1890s and you may notice that the same few traditional choices have stuck around from then until now.  But what about some of the more "old fashioned" names that are no longer in style today? Could they potentially be revived again in the future? I combed through that list from the 1890's collective data for the whole decade and tossed out all of the names that still rank within 2014's Top 1000. Then I picked my 10 favorite names that I think should regain some popularity in the future. Which of the f

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

Many of today's most-popular boy names have actually been rather popular for decades. The same few traditional choices have stuck around and lasted the test of time moreso than many of the popular female names have. While looking at the Top 200 Names of the 1880s via the Social Security Administration's data , it is no surprise that the hottest names of the decade include John, William, James, George, and Charles. While John, George and Charles have declined in usage, James and William still dominate the modern charts. How many interesting names from the 1880s could be revived and given to modern boys? In order to find these names, we will need to skip over the evergreen names that are still ranking well in 2014. We aren't interested in those right now. We want to find the names that have fallen from favor, names like Clarence or Earnest that were once well-used. Sticking to the collective data from the entire decade, we will take a closer look at 10 of those names

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

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

Just like last week's post about boy names from 1920, here are some wonderful vintage classics for girls as well as some names that are no longer very fashionable. It is interesting to see how many names remain popular over time and how many have returned to the limelight after a vacation from the Top 1000. Which of these do you like most? Enduring Classics Names that are in the Top 100 for both 1920 and 2013 and have always been within the Top 1000: Elizabeth #8 in 1920 #10 in 2013 Anna #10 in 1920 #35 in 2013 Evelyn #12 in 1920 #20 in 2013 Lillian #18 in 1920 #26 in 2013 Ruby #26 in 1920 #93 in 2013 Grace #37 in 1920 #22 in 2013 Katherine #45 in 1920 #77 in 2013 Emma #46 in 1920 #2 in 2013 Sarah #50 in 1920 #48 in 2013 Julia #55 in 1920 #75 in 2013 Eva #58 in 1920 #88 in 2013 Charlotte #79 in 1920 #11 in 2013 Lucy #94 in 1920 #66 in 2013 Returning Vintage Faves Names that were within the Top 200 in 1920 but fell out of

The year 1920 was big and booming for many baby names. I thought it would be fun to take a look at a few different categories of names from 1920 and see how they compare to the recent 2013 list. Enduring Classics Names in the Top 100 both in 1920 and 2013: John #1 in 1920 #27 in 2013 William #2 in 1920 #5 in 2013 Robert  #3 in 1920 #62 in 2013 James #4 in 1920 #13 in 2013 Charles #5 in 1920 #57 in 2013 Joseph #7 in 1920 #20 in 2013 Thomas #11 in 1920 #61 in 2013 Henry #17 in 1920 #37 in 2013 Jack #20 in 1920 #40 in 2013 David #25 in 1920 #18 in 2013 Anthony #43 in 1920 #19 in 2013 Samuel  #44 in 1920 #25 in 2013 Andrew #49 in 1920 #22 in 2013 Michael #50 in 1920 #7 in 2013 Daniel #52 in 1920 #10 in 2013 Benjamin #83 in 1920 #14 in 2013 These names just keep hanging in there as the years pass by. Other names have not been so lucky. Faded Memories Names in the Top 100 in 1920 that are no longer in the Top 1000 in

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

We see plenty of interesting and odd baby names being used today but it is not a new concept. People have always had strange names. I thought it would be fun to take a look in the past and see what kind of names were being given to the peers of our [great] great-grandparents. Way back in 1900, I found some interesting choices for baby boys. These were all listed on the US Top 1000 chart for boys 114 years ago. Do you think any are actually usable or are they too out there? Admiral                             Alford Brown Buddie Burl Cleve Cloyd Collis Colonel Connie Curley Doctor Dorsey Earlie Early Effie Elige Ellsworth Elmore Elzie Ewell Fate Foy French Furman Gaylord Goebel Green Gust Hamp Henery Hobart Hosie Hyman Junious Lemon Less Lige Luster Mearl Moody Norval Otha Pink Pinkney Pleas Pleasant Rolla Rosevelt Rossie Sim Son Spurgeon Tallie Vester Wash Wayman Zollie Sometimes names that we consider "female-o

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