The Art of Naming

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...

Welcome to part two of this series that features ten barely used names per month. We started this thing by investigating names just outside of the US Top 1000. We'll explore our way down the list and uncover more and more uncommon names as we go. There are plenty of great names that are not currently popular. The best thing about their "unpopularity" is that it does not denote that there's something wrong with the names, they simply aren't on everyone's radar right now. They may have been used more in the past, or perhaps they are yet to be discovered. Either way, these great, overlooked names would be excellent choices for parents who want something you don't hear everyday. The ones that I've handpicked from 2015's data are all very usable for a modern girl despite being uncommon at the moment.  In the parenthesis, the number of births for 2015 is listed, followed by the popularity rank as published by the Social Security Administration. ...

Welcome to part two of this series! Today we'll investigate ten interesting names that are currently not ranked within the US Top 1000. A couple were popular years ago and are uncommon now, while others have yet to hit their stride. Let's see if any of these could potentially start [re]climbing the charts in the coming years or if they are likely to remain barely-used. Share your thoughts in the comments below. Do you know any youngsters with these names? Within the parenthesis, you'll find the number of births the name received in the year 2015 , along with the names' corresponding popularity rank. Denzel (186 births - #1060)  Denzel is a form of Denzil which is a surname that indicated a person from the manor of Denzell in Cornwall. The spelling Denzel was made popular by Denzel Washington, an American actor. The name in the US has been around since 1906. It was rare until the early 1990s, peaking in 1993 at #311. It has since fallen off the Top 1000 chart. L...

Today's featured boy name is pulled from the list of names ending with the letters -cy. Percy is is male given name that comes from an English surname. There is a commune in Normandy in Northwestern France called Percy-en-Auge from which the surname was derived.  The House of Percy (or Perci in Old French) was one of the most powerful noble families in northern England. There are still members of the Percy family to this day who are Dukes of Northumberland. Their surname comes from the manor of Percy-en-Auge in Normandy which was their home during the Norman Conquest. The name Percy started out being used as a given name in their honor. The Greek Perseus is similar in sound and could be assigned the nickname Percy. It means "to destroy" in Greek and was the name of a mythological hero who killed Medusa and founded the ancient city of Mycenae. Percy can also be considered a short form of the name Percival. The name Perceval, with this spelling, was created by a...

No doubt you heard about the social security administration's yearly baby name list that came out a couple weeks ago for the US in the year 2015.  As you know, the #1 name for the year was Emma for girls. They also published the Top 1000 names for each gender. Did you know they also have data available for the names beyond the Top 1000? I often have parents ask me for "unique" name ideas. Now, it is hard to define what is truly unique because everyone has different definitions. Perhaps I've never met someone named Aspen or Mara but once I suggest those, you happen to have known a few and suddenly those aren't really all that unique to you even if they are to me. The best way to determine if a name is more on the unique side of things is to look at the data. If a name is in the Top 10, there will probably be many kids with those names in the same school, which some parents want to avoid. The farther down on the list you browse, the less likely it is you will...

We hear about common and popular names often. The social security administration's yearly baby name list came out a couple weeks ago for the US in the year 2015. Everybody loves to focus on the #1 names and the top 10. Quickly rising names are noted as ones to watch and quickly falling names get even more parents jumping overboard. What about all of the names that float under the radar? There are still plenty of great names beyond the Top 1000 list. These would be excellent choices for parents who want something more unique rather than something popular. The ones that I've handpicked from 2015's data are all very usable for a modern boy despite being uncommon at the moment. Welcome to my new series that features ten barely used names per month. We'll explore our way down the list and cover more and more uncommon names as we go. In the parenthesis, the number of births for 2015 is listed, followed by the rank. First up: Harris  (202 births - #1002)   Harris co...

From our new series, Darby is today's featured "-by" name. Darby is both a masculine and a feminine name. It originally comes from the name Derby which is an Old Norse name meaning "deer town". Derby is the name of a town in England which lent itself to becoming an English surname as well. That's where Darby comes from. There is an interesting proverbial phrase used by the British called "Darby and Joan" which refers to a married couple who are celebrated for their mutual devotion to one another. It is used to describe a couple that are content to share a quiet life together. This saying was first mentioned in print as a poem by Henry Woodfall in 1735 which featured John Darby and his wife Joan as the main characters. Another poet named St. John Honeywood wrote something similar as well shortly after. These two poems aren't the only mentions for Darby and Joan since it is a common phrase. As a name, Darby was first used in the US o...

There could be a number of reasons why parents would opt for a hyphenated name. Maybe they have 3 or 4 favorites that they just cannot narrow down. Maybe they'd like to honor two people in one name. Maybe they just like how it sounds. Whatever their reasons, hyphenated names do get used quite often, even here in the US, it's just that none of them have managed to get enough births per year to rank all that high. I tried to avoid smoosh names, like -leighs and -annas and -lynnes, and only pull out the ones that are plausibly hyphenated. However, it is hard to tell since the SSA's data doesn't account for any hyphens and writes it all as one name. Perhaps the name could have been intended to be written as one, but most of these are most likely hyphenated, especially the longer ones. There could be some that were written with spaces. For example, I doubt that Mariadejesus is one word or hyphenated, but that's how it came up in the data. Perhaps they put Maria de Je...

Have you ever met someone with a double-barreled first name? Two first names strung together by a hyphen? It happens often enough to be a thing, but yet it is still somewhat rare depending on where you live. There could be a number of reasons why parents would opt for a hyphenated name. Perhaps they couldn't narrow down their favorites and decided to use them all. Perhaps they'd like to honor two people in one name. Or maybe they just like how the two names sound together. Hyphenated names do get used often, even here in the US, however none of them have managed to get enough births per year to rank all that high. The majority of the names on this list have less than 20 births per year. Since the SSA's data doesn't account for any hyphens and writes it all as one name, it is impossible to know how these names are truly intended to be written. Perhaps the name was meant to be written as one, or maybe the child received two first names rather than a first and a middle...

We previously took a look at female names that were well-used throughout the 1880s. Today, we'll move forward through time to the next decade and examine 10 names that were hot for girls in the 1890s. More specifically, we want to find names that ranked within the Top 200 back then, but also do not rank within the Top 1000 of 2014. So these names ranked then and do not rank now. What we want to consider is which of these may or may not have the chance to make a comeback for modern girls. Reviving these names would indicate that they would now receive enough usage to begin climbing back up the charts and potentially ranking within today's Top 1000 again. Many vintage names have already been revived lately, could any of the following do the same?: 1. Minnie (#13 in the 1890s)  Minnie is one of many nickname names that were fashionable around the turn of the century. Typically it is short for Wilhelmina, which comes from the German Willahelm meaning "will, desire...

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...

Today we're featuring the name Finlay to go along with our recent post about the best names ending with "-ay". Finlay is the anglicized form of the Gaelic name Fionnlagh. It means "white warrior" from the elements fionn "white, fair" and laogh "warrior". It was originally a masculine given name and also a surname. Alternatively, the name can also be spelled Finley, which is the more common spelling. Recently, Finley ranked #36 in England/Wales while Finlay ranked #99. Finlay was #12 in Scotland. The spelling Finley has always been in use in the US since records began in 1880, but it was far from common. It wasn't until 2006 that the name even entered the Top 1000 at #890. As of 2014, it ranks at #374 for boys. Additionally, it is considered unisex in America. There were also girls given the name Finley for a rank of #223. This is the more common spelling for both genders. Finlay has only been used for a boy in the US since 199...

Our final boy name of the A-Z series is Yannick. It comes straight from the list of The Very Best Y Names for boys and girls. Yannick  is a diminutive of the name Yann which is the Breton form of the name John. Yann is well-used by the French, recently ranking at #113. Yannick is a bit more unusual but it did rank at #288 in The Netherlands recently. Nameberry says that Yannick is "not likely to appeal to many American ears," but I disagree. It may never be popular but it isn't strange either. It could even be unusually refreshing to meet a little Yannick. There have been many names ending with -ick over the years. In the 1960s in particular, names like Derrick, Erick, Dominick, Frederick and Patrick ranked well. They all declined in usage after that but they are all ticking upward again today. Add to that list Maverick and Kendrick too for more modern options. Perhaps, though, they are referring to the "yann" part rather than the "ick". Y N...

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 ...