The Art of Naming

From our previous article listing names ending with the letters "-sy" , we find a diamond in the rough. The most popular name on the list is Daisy.   This pretty name is directly related to the flower. However, it also derives from the Old English word  dægeseage meaning "day eye".  Daisies  belong to one of the largest families of plants in the world. Often they have a yellow center and come in a variety of colors, with white being perhaps the most common. . By böhringer friedrich - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5 Sometimes Daisy is used as a nickname for Margaret. It happened in a round-about way due to the French name Marguerite becoming associated with the daisy in French. Margaret means "pearl" in Greek, and daisies were considered "pearls of the field" or "marguerites".  So Marguerite, and the Spanish Margarita, gained association with Daisy and Daisy became a nickname for Margaret. In pop-culture, there is the animated Daisy

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

As you may know, the Social Security Administration has released the list of 2016's most popular baby names. It covers the Top 1000 in the site, but more names beyond that are also available for download. Emma has ranked at #1 four times now. The first time was in 2008, and now she's been ruling the chart for 3 years straight (2014-2016). Will Emma continue her reign again next year? If not, which name will steal the crown? I think Olivia will rise to the top in the next year or three. As for the boys, Noah replaced the long-running Jacob in 2013. This is Noah's 4th year in a row being #1. How much longer will it remain at the top? If it dips next year, which name would replace it? My bet is on Liam. What do you think of the top 2? Here's the rest of the Top 20 as well: Source Names on the rise include: One notable thing is that Elijah joined the Top 10 for the first time ever. Other names to watch include Oliver, Charlotte, Amelia and Evelyn.

This name is a fast-rising modern Greek name for girls. It was featured in this week's list of gorgeous Greek names and we will learn more about it here. The usage of the name Penelope dates back to Homers Odyssey. In the story, she was the wife of Odysseus who had to stand strong against suitors while he was in Troy. As far as the origin and meaning go, it was possibly derived from the Greek  πηνελοψ ( penelops ) which refers to a kind of duck. However, it is also possible that Penelope is taken from  πηνη ( pene ) which means "threads" and  ωψ (ops) which means "face" or "eye". With those combined, Penelope is sometimes listed as meaning "weaver". As a name in America, Penelope has been in use since records began in 1880 but it wasn't steadily used until 1909. It ranked well from 1935-1975, but left the Top 1000 until 2001. It was majorly trending upward from then on, hitting the Top 100 in 2013. As of 2015, it ranks as the 34

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

This name comes from our list of names ending with the letters "-ky". If you saw that article, you know that this is a very limited club of names, but there are definitely some cool choices. One of the coolest options from the list is Rocky. Rocky is given as a full name, but it is also treated as more of a nickname. It could be considered a diminutive of the name Rocco which is a Germanic name from the element hrok which means "rest". Rocco is the patron saint of the sick. However, as you may know, Rocky is not so much a saint as a famous fictional boxer. The Rocky franchise of movies starring Sylvester Stallone as Rocky began in 1976 and is possibly the most well-known association with this name. Another association comes from the old cartoons "The Bullwinkle Show" and "Rocky and His Friends" both of which aired in the 1960s. These featured a flying squirrel named Rocky and his moose pal experiencing a variety of adventures. Interestin

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 "

Today's featured name comes from our list of names that end with the letters "-ey" . There were many to choose from but Harley was the winner. Harley comes from a surname which was derived from an Old English place name meaning "hare clearing", taken from hara meaning "hare" and leah meaning "clearing, meadow". If you name your child Harley, you could definitely get away with rabbit decor.  This is a unisex name. In the US, it ranks higher for females. In England and Wales, it ranks highly for males. In Australia and New Zealand, it is only male.  If we look closer at the popularity statistics in the US, we'll find that Harley has been on record for boys since records began in 1880. It has consistently kept up as the population grew, still ranking within the Top 1000 all these years. In 2015, there were 386 boys named Harley which ranks the name as the 663rd most popular name in the country. Girls, on the other hand

Taken straight from our list of names that end with the letters -dy, is the lovely Melody. This name is also an English word with which you're no doubt already familiar. Melody is derived from the Greek melos meaning "song" and combined with aeido meaning "to sing", which forms the name Melodia. Via Late Latin and Old French, you get the name Mélodie. After that, it winds up as the English word and name Melody.  Google defines it as "mel·o·dy -ˈmelədē. noun: a sequence of single notes that is musically satisfying." This musical name has been around in the US on record since 1914, but it wasn't until 1942 that the name arrived on the scene. It joined the Top 1000 in that year and continued to climb in popularity until it peaked in 1960 at #153 with 2,757 births. Its numbers declined a bit through the 1980s and 1990s, but since the start of the aughts, Melody has started climbing up the charts again.  In 2015, there were 2,168 girls given tha

Here in America, we tend to like putting the long, proper form of the name on the birth certificate even if we end up calling them by something else as a nickname. Other countries sometimes cut to the chase more often and just name them the short form to start with. However, it isn't unheard of here in the US. The #2 boys' name of 2015, Liam, is essentially the second half of the name William. It's considered the Irish form, but it still ranks higher than its longer companion. I thought it would be fun to browse the Top 1000 and find some names that are typically thought of as nicknames (or diminutives or short forms) more often than given names. Most of these are considered nicknames for something longer and many have probably stood alone for years. You may be surprised at how well some of these more abrupt names actually rank on their own: Liam #2 Luke #28 Jack #40 Eli #53 Jace #75 Leo #91 Max #118 Jayce #132 Alex #134 Jase #182 Mark #196 Jake #205 Xan

If you had a baby in the year 2015, you essentially cast your vote for the most popular names in the country.  And since another year has come and gone, we now get to dive into the latest baby name data! As you may know, the Social Security Administration rounds up the applications submitted for the year and they tally up how many names received how many births. It may not always be completely accurate, but it is very telling. It allows us to analyze which names are trending throughout the country. This is important for many parents who do not want their kids to be one of five Liams in a classroom. Some people try their best to avoid any name ranking within the Top 10, or Top 100 or even the Top 1000. Statistics are important, people. So which names were used the most in 2015? You can view the full Top 1000 names on this list here.   Do you have any favorites in the Top 10?

Our final featured name for this alphabetical name series is the female name Zoey. Did you get a chance to view the final list of The Very Best Z Names for Boys and Girls earlier this week? The name Zoey is actually a variant of Zoe. Interestingly, while Zoe has been in use in the US since before 1880, Zoey has only been around since 1967. Despite that, Zoey is the more popular spelling today. Both names are currently ranking within the Top 40 though. Zoey joined the Top 1000 chart in 1995 and entered the Top 100 in 2008. Now, as of 2014, Zoey is the 22nd most popular name in the country with over 7,300 female births. Zoe peaked quicker, entering the Top 1000 in 1983. By 2000, Zoe was the 82nd most popular girl name. Even though Zoey has surpassed Zoe, Zoe still ranks at #32 in 2014 with over 5,800 births. After breaking down those American popularity statistics, which name do you prefer? If you're not sure, let's take a closer look at the names. Zoe is a Greek na

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

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

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

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

Today's featured name comes from the list of The Very Best K Names for Boys and Girls. This one actually happens to be unisex these days but it will be mainly presented for males in this article, (hence the blue below). The Kai that I'm most familiar with is the Hawaiian name that means "sea". This is the one being featured here.  Other possible meanings for this name include "forgiveness" in Japanese, "food" in Maori and "willow tree" in Navajo. Kai is also considered a diminutive for names like Gerhard, Nicolaas, Cornelis and Gaius/Caius. It is also a feminine variant of Kaja which comes from Katarina. Internationally, Kai ranks well! It is actually doing better in other countries for boys than it is in the US. However, we're the only country that has a ranking for this name as a feminine one. This is how Kai ranked in the US: Boy: 2,387 births (#177) Girl: 262 births (#1000) This means the name's unisex ratio i