The Art of Naming

As we reach the end of the month of August, let's take a moment to look at the related Aug-/Ag- names that could be used on a person today. Generally, these names all come from the Latin augere meaning "to increase", but other meanings came to include "great" and "venerable". Augustus was a title that Octavian, the first Roman emperor, was given. He was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. There are many options available for both boys and girls. Some are more popular than others, but these are mostly rather uncommon here in the US.  Are there any that you would use? By Unknown Till Niermann (Own work)  [ GFDL , CC-BY-SA-3.0  or CC BY-SA 2.5 ], via Wikimedia Commons Agostina   (Italian form of Augustinus - feminine - zero births on record for 2015 in US) Agostino   (Italian form of Augustinus - masculine - 5 births on record for 2015) Ágúst (Icelandic form of Augustus - masculine - zero births in 2015) Agust (Swedish form of August - masculi

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

As one year winds down and another promises to begin, we are all given a sense of a clean slate. 2015 will bring about the feelings of a fresh start and many will have high hopes for the future in the form of resolutions. These similar feelings can also be experienced during pregnancy as we anticipate the arrival of a brand new, tiny person. If you're expecting a child in January, you may feel inspired by the following New Year related baby names: Girl: Asha Aurora Beatrice Dagny Dawn Esperanza Eve Garnet Hope January Janvière Makara Mika Nadia Neoma Newlyn Neve Nova Novella Oriana Renee Roxana Taraja Zara Zora Zorina Boy: Abraham Anno Asher Aster Davian Felix Finn Gennaro Navin Neo Newcomb Newell Newman Orion Paxton Ridley Thaddeus Walid Whittaker Which of these do you like most? Share your thoughts in the comments below!