The Art of Naming

Welcome to our annual list of unisex names. This is where we analyze the gender ratios of each name. Some of these may not truly classify as a true "unisex name" because they will swing very heavily to one side or the other. I chose to include some names like that because it is worth mentioning, especially if it ranked at 3% last year and now ranks at 5%. That means the name is beginning to gain more popularity for the minority gender. Over time, it could continue to change and become more of a 20/80 thing and perhaps later a 40/60 thing. Wouldn't you like to be able to guess these things in advance if its a name you're pondering for a future child? There have been many cases where a name was traditionally male and it was then slowly taken over by the girls. Some of those formerly male names are now considered completely female. Names evolve. If we can catch them in the act, well, I think it would be exciting. I'm only mentioning all of this because last...

The brand new Social Security Administration list of the most popular baby names in 2014 is here! For the first time since 2008, Emma has reclaimed the throne, surpassing both Sophia and Olivia! On the boy's side, Noah has held onto his popularity another year even though many were speculating that #2 Liam would take it. Here are the new Top 10 for each gender! I thought Sophia would have continued her streak at #1 again this year, only possibly being unseated by Olivia. I was right about Olivia surpassing Sophia, but I didn't see Emma coming to claim the throne again after only being #1 once in 2008.  Charlotte made her way into the Top 10 by knocking Elizabeth out of the ring. With the birth of the new princess, Charlotte will probably continue to rise, potentially being #1 within the next 5 years! Any thoughts? My guess was that Liam would take #1 but Noah holds on to the throne another year! Mason surpasses Jacob, and James takes Jayden's place! The names...

Two polls were recently posted on our Facebook page and we've received quite a few votes, but we could always use more for the sake of the data!  If you have a moment, vote for your favorite names within the US Top 100 chart. The polls are embedded below and your answers are completely anonymous! Loading... It will take a bit of scrolling to view them all but don't give up! Loading... Thanks for voting! Don't forget to share this with your poll-loving friends!

This month's set of birth announcements started out somewhat unusual as I began building the list, and as I continued, the names got a bit more traditional.  However, they are all mixed together because of being placed alphabetically.  Once again, the middle name choices seem to be very common or old-fashioned for most of the babies below. There are a few interesting exceptions like Yaamach and Kapri. I wonder why so many parents choose "safe" middle name options. I feel like the middle name, since it is mostly tucked away, provides the perfect opportunity to use guilty pleasure names or the highly unusual.  Instead, there are more unusual first names being used such as Alithia, Zyanya, and Kipper. What thoughts spring to your mind as you browse through the following list?: Girls: Adele Grace Alithia Brooke Aliza Bethany Allison Marie Amy Rose Lei Annabelle Rose Ara Fae Ariauna Danielle Linn Athena Jene Leann Irene Aubrey Faith Aurora Kapri Belle Madely...

Birth announcements can be even more telling of what names are actually being used than even the most official lists of statistics and data. The US Top 1000 chart may show the most popular names, one spelling of that name at at time, but it does not make any mention of middle names. I like to see name combinations: firsts and middles put together. Like I mentioned in last month's birth announcement list, the middle names that many people seem to use are rather common or "filler". I'd like to do another quick tally of the repeated middle names on today's list: Girls:  Ann: 2 Elizabeth: 3 Louise: 2 Lynn: 2 Marie: 3 Rose: 8 Did you see all those Roses? It seems to be a very popular choice! And then there's the adorable and old-fashioned middles like Sue, Joan, and Mae. Which of the following names do you like best? Girls: Aerabella Lee Adley Ann Anastasia Rose Aniyah Rose Aria Rose Aubrey Virginia Brynn Renee Carly Rae Catherin Marceline ...

In this set of birth announcements from a hospital in Pennsylvania, I found myself more fascinated by all the middle names than anything. Count with me. Ann/Anne: 5 Marie: 4 Jane/Jayne: 2 Noel/Noelle: 2 Rayne: 2 Rose: 4 Alan/Allan: 3 Andrew: 3 James: 3 Johnathan/Jonathan: 2 Joseph/Joesph: 3 Michael: 4 I started to think about middle names and how often a more common or "filler" name is chosen. I wish there was an official SSA-style list for just middle names so we could calculate the most popular ones. However, it would make a difference if these were family names or used for sentimental reasons as opposed to just filling a space. Beyond just finding repeating middle names, so many of these are classic or traditional names. I do like seeing the more unique options like Patience and Raven, Axel and Dash. However, I used Alexander for my own son's middle name and Sophia for my daughter so I understand the thought process. What are your kids' middle n...

I went through the US Top 1000 baby names for 2013 and pulled out as many unisex names as I could. At least one name had to be in the Top 1000, but most of the names are on the list for both a boy and a girl. If you can think of any names that I missed --and I'm sure there are a few-- let me know so that I can include them. Seeing information like this is helpful for those who are considering a unisex name but are unsure of how popular it really is for each gender. For example, Harper has really skyrocketed up the charts for girls lately. If you have always pictured it on a boy, it may be handy to know that only 4% of all Harpers are boys. Perhaps that matters to you, perhaps it doesn't. Either way, that kind of information can be found here.  You may even come across a name or two that you had no idea was somewhat unisex. Alexis: 20% boy / 80% girl Boy:  1,182 births (#294) Girl: 4,741 births (#46) Amari: 62% boy / 38% girl Boy: 951 births (#337) Girl: 576 ...

Moritzburg Castle, Germany Featured German Names: Alaric & Lorelei This month's World-Wide Wednesday features baby naming customs from Germany. Prior to the late 19th century, Germany was a vast territory that saw major differences in the way baby names were given across the land and in different time periods. Traditionally, most boys in central and southern Germany in the 1700s were named Johann or Johannes. (Hans was big in the 1600s). Sometimes they would go by a middle name to differentiate between them. Similarly, girls tended to be named Maria or Anna. In the north and northeast, children in the mid-1800s received anywhere from three to five given names. This was a sign of nobility. The more names a person had, the more important they would appear. In records, ministers would often underline the preferred name, and sometimes marriage licenses would have the names in a slightly different order than what was on the birth record. They may have even been simplified...

Ever since I began The Art of Naming, I've had a pretty firm stance against using popular names. My objective was to help parents find obscure and unusual names to use instead of going with the most common choices that everyone else is using.  While I still completely love unique names, I have a big confession to make. As many of you may know, my husband and I are expecting a daughter in August. We have chosen three names for her, a first and two middles. The kicker is, despite all of my pro-unusual name posts, two of my chosen names are within the Top 50.   [Cue the collective gasp]. We were originally planning on using a first name that ranked in the mid-200s but now we've bumped it to the middle name.  We will be using one of the more popular names as her first name because it *feels right*.  If any of you have had a child, I'm sure you can relate to the feeling of a name just being "the one". I realized it when I saw her little face in an ultrasound pic...

Featured French Names: Olivier  & Colette This month's edition of World-Wide Wednesday will focus on French baby names.  The French were originally very limited in what names they could use for a child because France was very strict as far as which names were and were not allowed. Traditionally, babies were only allowed to be named after Roman Catholic saints . Sometimes a child acquired the name of the saint who's National Saint Day fell on the day they were born. Today, that practice is not commonly used anymore, however most French people are still given the name of a saint or a version of a name of a saint. The Saint's Day associated with their name is then celebrated throughout their life as a second birthday. The most common saint names that were used include Jacques (James), Jean (John), Michel (Michael), Pierre (Peter), or Jean-Baptiste (John the Baptist) for males; and Marie (Mary), Jeanne (Jane), Marguerite (Margaret), Françoise (Frances), or Élisabeth...

I selected four French boy names and threw them in a poll on the blog. You voted and Olivier was barely the winner with 14 votes, sneaking past front-runner Laurent in the 11th hour. So let's take a look at the French name Olivier as we kick off French-Week! Stay tuned for our World-Wide Wednesday post about French naming customs too, and a girl name on Friday! Parents are in love with Oliver today. Nameberry describes it as "energetic and good-natured, stylish but not nearly as trendy as twin-sister Olivia, with a meaning symbolizing peace and fruitfulness." The French Olivier may have pronunciation problems in the US along with sister Olivie, however there are also other similar options such as the Spanish Olivero and the Italian Oliviero. Olive is also becoming a favorite for girls. With the following pronunciations, o-lee-VYAY (French), O-lee-veer (Dutch), Olivier isn't exactly rolling off American tongues the same way Oliver is. Both of these names may co...

I have seen the question arise quite often lately: "what is your favorite month name?" I believe this question is driven solely by everyone's sudden interest in the name August. And as you'll see below, this name has come back to the forefront very quickly after not being seen much since its heyday in 1915. It is also pretty much the only logical boy option and parents are quickly falling in love with it. The majority of these names are ruled by girls, the most obvious choices being April, May and June. However, you may find it interesting that 11 of the 12 months have been used many times over the years. Read below to see which month gets no love and which months are the most popular: January: This first frosty month has been given to baby girls since 1951 in the US. The name was most popular in the late 1970s. It had one big popularity spike in 1978 with 257 births and has fallen out of style since then. There were 26 births in 2012 for a ranking of #52...

I thought it would be nice to see what the top 10 names are for every letter. Perhaps you know that you want a name that starts with the letter C for all of your children but you don't want to choose the three most popular C-names. Now you can see exactly how popular each name is per letter as well as overall in ranking according to the US Top 1000 chart (ranking in parenthesis). Soon we will be able to see the top names for 2013! The following names were for 2012. Let me know if you'd be interested in a similar post (or series of Facebook posts) like this for the next year!  For now, enjoy these: Top 10 A-Names for Girls in 2012: 1. Ava (#5) 2. Abigail (#7) 3. Avery (#13) 4. Addison (#14) 5. Aubrey (#15) 6. Amelia (#23) 7. Anna (#35) 8. Aaliyah (#36) 9. Allison (#38) 10. Alexis (#40) Top 10 B-Names for Girls in 2012: 1. Brooklyn (#29) 2. Brianna (#51) 3. Bella (#54) 4. Bailey (#79) 5. Brooke (#102) 6. Brielle (#111) 7. Brooklynn (#137) 8. Brynn (#189)...

For those of you that follow The Art of Naming on Facebook, you've probably seen me post lists like this before. I thought it would be nice to see what the top 10 names are for every letter. Perhaps you know that you want a name that starts with the letter A but you don't want to choose one that is overly popular. Now you can see exactly how popular each name is per letter as well as overall in ranking according the the US Top 1000 chart (ranking in parenthesis). I started posting these on Facebook around June or July of 2013 and finally got through the entire alphabet for the year 2012. Now it is nearly time to discover the top names of 2013!   If you like this sort of information and wish for it to be compiled again for the next year, let me know in the comments! Enjoy! Top 10 A-Names for Boys in 2012: 1. Alexander (#9) 2. Aiden (#10) 3. Anthony (#15) 4. Andrew (#18) 5. Aaron (#51) 6. Angel (#57) 7. Austin (#58) 8. Adrian (#60) 9. Ayden (#69) 10. Adam (#82) ...

Just like fashion is constantly changing, so too are names! Occasionally, very old names will even become new and fresh again many years later! I thought it would be interesting to see just how names have changed over the years. The data that I used comes in 30-year intervals, starting in 1892 and ending last year in 2012. 1892: Boys 1. John 2. William 3. James 4. George 5. Charles 6. Frank 7. Joseph 8. Robert 9. Harry 10. Henry 11. Edward 12. Thomas 13. Walter 14. Arthur 15. Fred 16. Albert 17. Clarence 18. Roy 19. Willie 20. Samuel 1892: Girls 1. Mary 2. Anna 3. Elizabeth 4. Margaret 5. Ruth 6. Florence 7. Emma 8. Ethel 9. Helen 10. Clara 11. Bertha 12. Minnie 13. Bessie 14. Alice 15. Annie 16. Grace 17. Ida 18. Edna 19. Mabel 20. Lillian Much like present-day England and Wales, the 1880s in America saw the use of "nickname names" or diminutives of proper names that are used as given names. Examples above include Harry a...

Source Have you ever wondered which beginning letters seem to be most popular when it comes to baby names? I know that I tend to favor a certain few letters and then there are those letters that continuously stump me when searching for a favorite or even one that I can tolerate.  Have you ever tried to pick a single favorite name for each letter of the alphabet? I cannot narrow down my favorites for A or C or E, but when I get to the tail-end of the alphabet, choosing a decent one seems to be an impossible task! It begs the question, why do we prefer these letters and side-step those ones? Does it have to do with the sounds? I see trends that favor soft letters like vowels and L's and M's, (think names like Lila and Emma). Are there letters that just have really, really bad name choices all bunched up together?  For instance, I was reminded of  this article that discusses F names and how there is only ONE in the entire Top 100 in 2012 but there were 9 in 1880. ...