The Art of Naming

Lately, I've been loving the name Thea. However, when I thought about longer, proper names, I just don't like Theodora or Dorothea enough to consider using those on the birth certificate with Thea as just a nickname. Some people like to skip that middle step and put nicknames or shortened forms directly on the paperwork. It occurred to me that shortening or contracting names could work for those wishing to honor a relative. You love grandma Wilhelmina but don't wish to use her exact name, so you contract it and go with Willa. Easy, right? Are there any names that you can think of that could be shortened to create interesting short forms? Maybe some that are a bit more unexpected than traditional? Sure, there's Thea from Theodora, and Tessa from Theresa. Are there any others that aren't as obvious? Just pick a name, drop a few letters and see what you're left with. Maybe it'll be the next big thing! Here are a few I came up with: Adelaide > Ada, Adla

Today's featured name comes from our list of names that end with the letters "-fy" . There weren't a ton of choices, but I picked out one of the most interesting names on that list. Buffy is one of many diminutives of the name Elizabeth. From the Hebrew name Elisheva , Elizabeth (and therefore Buffy) means "my God is an oath" or "my God is abundance". Elizabeth is known for its abundance of nicknames, short forms and diminutive options, which makes it very versatile if used in full. It has been extremely popular over the years, consistently being used as both a first name and a middle name for girls. However, Buffy is definitely one of the more obscure options as a nickname for Elizabeth. As a stand-alone full given name, Buffy is almost non-existent. It first appeared on record in the US in 1951. Nearly overnight between 1965 and 1966, Buffy caught on for a brief stint. It popped onto the Top 1000 chart at #793 in 1967, and climbed as h

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 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

The lovely name Ivy comes from the English word for the climbing plant with the same name. It ultimately comes from the Old English word ifig . This plant is known for its clinging vines and its small yellow flowers. Ivy actually symbolizes faithfulness and fidelity and was traditionally presented in the form of a wreath to newlyweds in ancient Greece. However, there is of course the association with the "poison ivy" plant that can causes rashes and skin irritations upon contact. Based on the nature of this plant comes the fictional character who uses these toxins for criminal activity. The DC Comics supervillainess, who is aptly named Poison Ivy, has been an enemy of Batman since her creation in 1966. She is essentially an eco-terrorist who is obsessed with botany and uses it to her advantage.  Modern little girls named Ivy will either think she is super cool or they will resent the association, so think carefully on this topic before committing to the name Ivy. Ther

I just could not decide which 3-letter boys' name to highlight this week so I picked a few that I liked and took the question public! I put up a poll and 53 of you voted for the next featured name! The winner was Asa with 13 votes. So let's learn a little more about the boys' name Asa, pronounced AY-suh. According to BehindTheName, Asa is a Hebrew name meaning "doctor". However, Nameberry says the meaning of Asa is "born in the morning". BabyNames agrees with both meanings, listing Asa's meaning as "physician" and including a note that in Japanese, Asa means "Born at Dawn". This led me to look a bit further. According to Wikipedia,  there are several different meanings for this name in different cultures around the world so take your pick!: Hebrew: Healer and/or physician Yoruba Nigerian: Hawk or little hawk Igbo Nigerian: Beautiful Japanese: Morning Indonesian: Hope Portuguese: Wing Biblically, it was wor

I have seen many families with a 4-letter name theme for their children. Others just like names that are short and sweet without nickname possibilities. Whatever your reason is for wanting a 4-letter name, you've come to the right place! Here are 300 of the best 4-letter names for girls that I could find! I'm sure there are many more but I hand-selected these ones to represent The Art of Naming's favorites!  Which of these do you like? Abby Abra Addy Aida Aila Aine Alba Alix Ally Alma Alva Anna Anne Anya Aria Aris Arya Asha Asta Aura Avia Avis Avra Ayla Azul Bess Beth Bree Bria Brie Bryn Cady Caia Cait Cali Cami Cara Cass Cate Cecy Clea Cleo Clio Cora Cori Cyra Daci Dana Dara Dawn Deja Demi Desi Dina Dora Edda Eden Edie Edna Effy Eila Eira Elba Elia Elin Ella Elle Elsa Elsy Elva Emma Emme Emmy               Enid Enna Enya Erie Erin Esme Esta Etta Eula Evan Evia Evie Eyre F

Four-letter boy names are in a class of their own! They have to be strong, bold and handsome all within a very short amount of space. It is important that these names pack a punch! Here are 460 of the very best four-letter names for boys! Which is your favorite? Abel         Adam Adan   Adin Ajax   Alai Alan Aldo Alec Alek Alex   Ames Amir   Amos Andy Aram Arch Ardo Ares Aric Arik Aris Arlo Arne Aron Arvo       Aviv Axel   Aziz Bard Bart Bear Beau Beck Bert Biel Bill Bing   Birk Blue Boaz Bode Bolt Bond Boyd Brad Bram Bran Bret Brit   Bryn Buck Burn Burt   Cade Cael Cage Cain Caio Cale Cane Carl Cary Case Cash Cato Celt Chad Chaz Chet Chip Cian Ciel Clay   Cobb Coby Cody Coen Cole Colt Cory Crew Cris Cruz Curt Cyan     Dale Daly Dana Dane Dash   Dave Davy   Dean   Dell Deon   Dion Dior Dirk Doak       Doug Drew Duke Earl Eben Eddy Eden Edge Edin Eion Elam Elan

Names that are "short and sweet" are often very desirable for a girl, especially in the middle name spot to complement a long first name. What are some viable names that only have one-syllable? I'm sure you can think of a few, but how many are full names and not nicknames? Let's see if we can list as many one-syllable full-names as possible! Let me know if I have missed any or if any should be removed because they are just too nicknamey. Although some may double as a nickname and a stand-alone name. This is where it gets tricky! For instance, you can be just "Gwen" but that could potentially be a nickname for Gwendolyn. I will include it anyway. Here is a short list of girl names for those who want the more common choices pointed out among the more unusual names on the list: Anne, Bea, Belle, Beth, Blanche, Blythe, Bree, Brooke, Claire, Dawn, Elle, Eve, Faith, Fawn, Faye, Gail, Gwen, Hope, Jade, Jane, Jean, Jill, Joy, June, Kay, Lane, Leigh, Lux, Mae

What are some viable names that only have one-syllable? I'm sure you can think of a few, but how many are full names and not nicknames? Let's see if we can list as many one-syllable full-names as possible! Let me know if I have missed any or if any should be removed because they are actually a nickname. Although some may double as a nickname and a stand-alone name. This is where it gets tricky! For instance, you can be just "Abe" but that could potentially be a nickname for Abel or Abraham. I will include it anyway. These are names that would work on a boy, whether they're masculine or unisex. You can find the list of one syllable girl names here,  but there may be duplicates on both lists. Short list of semi-common names for those of you that don't want to browse through so many options:  Blaine, Blake, Boone, Brant, Brent, Brice, Brock, Cade, Cane, Chance, Charles, Chase, Clarke, Craig, Dean, Drake, Dwayne, Earl, Finn, Ford, Gage, Graham, Grant, Gr

Baby Under The Towel by  Vera Kratochvil Many parents today choose long, proper names for the birth certificate but they call their little ones by a nickname. For girls, nicknames that end with -ie have always been popular. For example, perhaps you love the idea of having a little Maggie but you aren't comfortable with Maggie as a given name. What do you do? Name her Margaret.   Now, some parents are skipping the proper name and using the nickname on its own. While Maggie is a nickname for a specific name, some "nicknamey-names" could be short for any number of names.  What if you wrote Sadie or Callie directly on the birth certificate? And what about names that seem nicknamey but don't have an obvious long-form like Bonnie? In the 1880's, Minnie, Annie, Bessie and Nellie ranked in the Top 20 as a whole name. So it begs the question, which of these nicknames can stand alone today, and which require a proper given name?  Of course, there is no