The Art of Naming

Hello Moms and Name-Enthusiasts! Here is another baby-naming dilemma that could use a bit more input!  The mom-to-be is looking for the following:

• Girl name beginning with either W, P or Q. 
• Feminine but does NOT begin or end with a vowel.
• Avoid the Top 100 names.
• Longer first name with a one syllable middle name.
• Middle name cannot start with an A.
• The last name is also one syllable.

Right now, the priority is to find a name that ends with a consonant sound that mom and dad can agree on. Their naming styles seems to differ. He likes common and classic whereas she is a bit more adventurous.  They have two children with somewhat classic names, but she is not concerned at all about finding a name to "match".

Liked names:
Quinn
Gwen
Willow (despite vowel ending)
Pippa  (despite vowel ending)
Whitney

What other names would you suggest? I've sent plenty of options and am waiting for another reply once she has a chance to talk with her husband but I thought I'd open this up to all of you name-lovers and see what ideas we can compile for her!

Thanks!

Our first "Fan of the Week" contest winner was a woman named Kiira who chose two interesting European names! I will feature the girl's name next Thursday.



The boy's name is Kinnon. It is a Scottish name that originated as a Gaelic surname. It comes from the name Mac Fhionghuin which means "son of the descendant of the well born".  The source was a bit confusing, but I believe it was first recorded in 728 a.d. as Mac Fhionghuin.

Over time, the name has had many different spellings. One of the first recorded spellings of this family name was on a man named Lachlann Makfingane in 1409. After that came Fingonivs, and it evolved to M'Fynwyn around 1490, Makfingoun in 1560, and then Kynnane in 1587. The spelling McKynnoun was around in 1621, McKinin came in 1680, and by 1781 it was typically spelled MacKinnon. Other variations include McKinnon, MacKinning, MacInnon, MacKinnen and MacFingon.

As a baby name, it is said to mean "fair born". Interestingly, there was only one baby born in Scotland in 2012 with the name Kinnon.

In the US, Kinnon is virtually unheard of! There have only been 7 babies on record who were given the name and they were all born in 1996. Keep in mind that the record covers 1880-2012.

If you are looking for a truly unique name, try Kinnon! It works well as an alternative to similar-sounding names like Keenan or Keegan (although those two are Irish and Kinnon is Scottish.)

What do you think of this rare name? I love that its not only rare in the US but it's rare in Scotland where it originates!  Thanks again, Kiira, for suggesting the name!

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Ailsa, Caitir, Elspeth, Finlay, Fiona, Isla, Lorna, Mackenzie, Moira, Paisley, Rhona, Sheena
Brothers: Alistair, Brody, Calder, Callum, Duncan, Ewan, Finley, Kenneth, Lachlan, Macaulay, Malcolm, Ramsey, Stuart

Middle Name Ideas:
Kinnon Ross
Kinnon Alasdair
Kinnon Eideard
Kinnon Fionnlagh
Kinnon Ellis

As a Middle Name:
Frasier Kinnon
Douglas Kinnon
James Kinnon
Taggart Kinnon
Roy Kinnon

In honor of Monday's post about names that are considered unisex, I thought I'd choose my favorite of the bunch. I'm not personally a fan of unisex names, I prefer to keep things gender-specific and obvious, however, I do like Rowan and cannot decide which gender I like it better for. What do you think?


The name Rowan comes from an Irish surname. It is an Anglicized form of Ó Ruadháin which means"descendent of Ruadhán".  Sometimes this name is associated with the rowan tree which has red berries. It is also said to mean "little redhead".  This name is said to have been used for both genders since the middle ages, most commonly in Scotland and Ireland.

In 2012, this name ranked #301 for boys with 1,138 births. On the girl side, there were 678 births which ranks the name at #455 in 2012. It isn't quite a 50-50 split, but it is more evenly distributed than some of the other names that are considered unisex.  Additionally, there were 234 baby boys who spell it Rowen instead of Rowan, and the 97 female Rowens.

Source

Overall, Rowan first appeared in the states as a male name. It dates back to 1916 for boys, and it wasn't used for girls until 7 births in 1942 and then more regularly in 1975 after that.

The most famous Rowan is Mr. Atkinson who is well-known for his persona Mr. Bean. There is also Brooke Shields' daughter who is named Rowan.

I would pair Rowan with very gender-specific middle names like:  Rowan Isabelle or Rowan Alexander.  Which gender do you prefer this name on? Do you know any little Rowans?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Unisex: Alexis, Avery, Charlie, Dakota, Emerson, Finley, Hayden, Marlowe, Riley, River, Sawyer, Skyler, Taylor
Sisters: Caitlin, Fiona, Matilda, Laurel, Olivia, Sarah, Willow
Brothers: Aiden, Ethan, Dylan, Lucas, Mason, Nolan, Xavier

Middle Name Ideas (Boys): 
Rowan Alexander
Rowan Isaiah
Rowan Nicholas
Rowan Matthew
Rowan Oliver

Middle Name Ideas (Girls):
Rowan Isabelle
Rowan Grace
Rowan Elizabeth
Rowan Alexandra
Rowan Sophia

As a Middle Name (Boys):
Daniel Rowan
Anthony Rowan
Chase Rowan
Elliott Rowan
Thomas Rowan

As a Middle Name (Girls):
Scarlett Rowan
Violet Rowan
Juliet Rowan
Cassandra Rowan
Michaela Rowan

Inochi (Life)

Once a month, I will venture into international waters and find "exotic" and "foreign" names that are common in that particular native land.  For this first installment of "World-Wide Wednesday" where I find interesting name choices from around the world, I thought I'd focus on Japanese names.

Authentic Japanese names can be so wonderful! Its a shame that some Japanese immigrants to the US feel the need to "Americanize" their name, or choose a boring, English name like Jerry or Lee.  However, there are many that keep the name their parents gave them.

I read that it is traditional to have a big celebratory feast for the infant on its "Oshichiya" or its seventh day of life. They hang on the wall a very special "Shodo," or name plaque, that has the child's name inscribed in Japanese characters on very special paper.

Clearly, they take baby-naming very seriously! How many of us even had a celebratory feast when we were born, or when our children were born?

Meaning in names is very important. The Japanese use kanji characters that will mean things like "to soar," "great," and "big" for boys; and girls will receive characters meaning "beauty," "love," and "flower" among others.

In the past, it was very common and traditional for girls to have the kanji character "ko" meaning "a child" on the end of their names. Some of Japan's recent female royals were named Michiko, Kiko and Masako. However, this naming trend is almost completely gone now.

Many baby girls are receiving names that end with "ka" or "na" now instead of "ko".  Names like Haruka, Hina, Honoka, Ayaka, Yuuna, Momoka and Haruna. Western-sounding names have been trendy too, as well as shorter names like Hina, Yui and Miyu.

Another trend for girl names is to use Hiragana characters instead of kanji because it is softer and offers popular names like Sakura, Kokoro, Hikari and Hinata. There is a greater naming diversity in Japan today.

For boys, many of them receive endings like -to, -ki, and -ta. Popular names include Haruto, Yuuki, Souta, Kaito and Haruki.

Japanese names can be so diverse because you could ultimately choose from thousands of kanji characters and mix and match them to create a name.

Here are the 50 most popular Japanese boy's names in 2012:

1. Haruto
2. Yuto
3. Sota
4. Yuki
5. Hayato
6. Haruki
7. Ryusei
8. Koki
9. Sora
10. Sosuke, Riku
12. Soma
13. Ryota, Rui
14. Kaito, Haru
17. Kota, Yusei
19. Yuito
20. Yuma, Ren
22. Takumi, Minato
24. Eita, Shota
26. Daiki, Hiroto
28. Kosei, Takeru, Hinata
31. Toma, Manato, Ryuki, Rikuto
35. Aoto, Ibuki, Tatsuki, Haruma, Yamato, Ryuto
41. Taisei, Yuta
43. Itsuki, Soshi, Taiga
46. Kosuke, Shoma, Yushin, Ryuga, Ryo, Rento


And these are the 50 most popular Japanese girl's names in 2012:

1. Yui
2. Rio
3. Yuna
4. Hina
5. Koharu, Hinata
7. Mei
8. Mio
9. Saki
10. Miyu
11. Kokona
12. Haruka
13. Rin
14. Akari, Yuna
16. Honoka, Momoka
18. Aoi, Ichika, Sakura
21. Himari, Yume
23. Airi, Sara, Nanami
26. Ayaka, Yuka
28. Riko
29. Noa, Mao, Yua
32. Ayane, Hiyori, Misaki, Yuzuki, Rina
37. Sana, Ria, Ruka
40. Kanon, Kaho, Hana
43. Karin, Risa
45. Shiori, Fuka, Rino
48. Anna, Natsuki, Nana, Reina

Click here for a longer list of names that are popular in Japan for both genders.

Whether you have any Japanese blood or not, which of these names do you like best?

Note: If I have gotten any information wrong, please let me  know. I did some research, but I'm not Japanese, nor have I ever been to Japan. No offense intended. Just naming fascination! Thank you.

Source | Source | Source | Source

Here is a list of names that are considered unisex today. I am only including those that have a good amount of births for both genders.  There are some names that have a couple hundred births for a boy and several thousand births for a girl (or vice versa). That's pretty much a landslide so I'm not including them. To be included, the names have to have at least a 90/10 split.

Name:  Percentage of use per gender (Boy/Girl) in 2012. (Example: 77% of all babies named Alexis in 2012 are female.)

Alexis (23/77)
Angel  (83/16)
Avery (19/81)
Casey  (61/39)
Charlie (59/41)
Dakota (48/52)
Devon (89/11)
Drew (84/16)
Elliott (84/16)
Ellis (65/35)
Emerson (39/61)
Emery (20/80)
Finley (34/66)
Harley (33/67)
Haven (18/82)
Hayden (69/31)
Jordan (85/15)
Jules (49/51)
Justice (46/54)
Kai  (87/13)
Kendall (12/88)
London (87/13)
Marlowe  (12/88)
Morgan (89/11)
Parker (84/16)
Payton (17/83)
Peyton (32/68)
Phoenix (61/39)
Quinn (32/68)
Reese (16/84)
Remy (54/46)
Riley (37/63)
Rio (66/34)
River (64/36)
Rory (69/31)
Rowan (63/37)
Sage (34/66)
Sawyer (83/17)
Scout (33/67)
Sky (24/76)
Skyler (41/59)
Skylar (12/88)
Taylor (15/85)
Teagan (20/80)
Toby  (79/21)
Valentine (47/53)
Zion (81/19)

These names were for the year 2012. For an updated list, take a look at this article:

Boy to Girl Ratios of Unisex Names in 2013

Can you think of any other names that might fall in this category?

I was surprised to see that there were more-females-than-males named Justice, Finley, Harley, and Taylor. In fact, only 15% of all Taylors are boys now. I thought it was a bit more even.  I was also a bit surprised that Charlie was 59/41. I figured most would be named Charlotte (or the like) and be nicknamed Charlie; I didn't expect so many females with Charlie as a given name.

Did any of these ratios surprise you?  Might you change your mind about using any of these names now that you see the ratio? Let me know in the comment section below!

I'd like to see Erasmus and Isidore have more usage for modern boys. Which do you like?

In honor of yesterday's post about "place names," I've chosen to feature Vienna for the Girl Name of the Week.

Of course, Vienna is the capital of Austria, and it is also its largest city with 2.4 million people within the metropolitan area.  The city is known as "The City of Music" because there have been more famous composers living there than anywhere else. It has also been called "The City of Dreams" because it was the home of Sigmund Freud, a famous psycho-analyst.


The Italian name Vienna comes from the German name "Wien" which is thought to be derived from the Roman "vindobona" which comes from the Celtic word "windo-" meaning "white or fair."
Some claim that it comes from "Vedunia" which means "forest stream." As you can see, the exact origin and meaning is a bit hazy.

Every source I looked at seemed to have its own meaning and origin for Vienna, for instance, one site says that it is "Latin" meaning "from wine country".

Vienna was used in the US in 1882 for 5 baby girls, and it wasn't heard from again until 1899. Its usage remained in the single and double digits until 2007 when there were 107 births for the year.  Now, in 2012 there were 214 births which puts Vienna at #1141.

Source

No, Vienna has never cracked the top 1000, but she is rising slowly. Perhaps parents are using Vienna as an alternative to the more-popular, similar-sounding Sienna.

Do you think Vienna will appear on the top 1000 chart some time soon or do you think it will remain somewhat obscure?  I could see it being more popular if it weren't for "Vienna sausages" tainting the beauty of this place name. What do you think?

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Adelaide, Bethany, Geneva, Mila, Savannah, Sierra, Victoria
Brothers: Austin, Daniel, Henry, Kellan, Lincoln, Scott, William

Middle Name Ideas:
Vienna Grace
Vienna Penelope
Vienna Sage
Vienna Louise
Vienna Meredith

As a Middle Name:
Elizabeth Vienna
Harper Vienna
Madison Vienna
Lily Vienna
Pearl Vienna