The Art of Naming

The name Juniper is most notably a type of evergreen shrub in the cypress family whose berries are used to flavor gin. This name joins the ranks of other tree names such as Acacia, Hazel and Willow. However, it triples as a nature name, a place name and a saint name.  Saint Juniper , or Brother Juniper, was called "the renowned jester of the Lord" and was one of the followers of St. Francis of Assisi. He died in 1258. This name is ultimately derived from the Latin word iuniperus or juniperus  which is a combination of the word junio which means "young" and parere which means "to produce". These put together equal "youth producing" or evergreen. Beyond this, Juniper could also be a derivation of the Welsh name Guinevere. Click here for even more information about this possible connection. This name has become more than just a guilty pleasure as evidenced by the way it has skyrocketed up the charts in the past five years.  Juniper first g...

Modern parents today seem to love taking liberties with their daughters' names more than their sons'. You will see girls with creative names more often than boys which is why this list of unusual and quirky middle names for girls is longer than the boys list from last week.  There just seem to be so many more options for girls! Here is a list of interesting choices that you may find appealing for a spunky middle name, or maybe even a bold and different first name. Which of these are your favorites? Keep reading to view my Top 10 below.      Aberdeen           Alaska Alezae Allifair Amaranth Amaryllis Amaya Amethyst Amoret Artemis Arwen Avalon Avis Avonlea Bardot Bellamy Belphoebe Bette Bijou Blanche Blossom Bluebell Blythe Briar Briony Burgundy Calantha Calypso Cambria Canary Carlisle Cascade Caspienne Ceridwen Cerise Cerys Charis Charm Cherry Cheryth Circe Claret Cloud Clover Coral...

As a name, Caspian is relatively new. It is most notably the name of a sea between Europe and Asia that is considered the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth. It is said that it was this body of water that inspired the name of the other notable Caspian: Prince Caspian of the children's book series The Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S. Lewis in the 1950's. Prince Caspian first appeared in the fourth book of the popular series as the rightful King of Narnia. The Caspian Sea has a complicated name history itself including a number of different names and spellings in a variety of languages in the surrounding countries. But it is said to have been named for the city of Qazvin which was named for the ancient Cas tribe, or the Caspian people. The origin of the name comes in direct relation to the Sea which is situated between Iran and Russia. Caspian is mostly just considered a place name with an unknown meaning and origin since it borders so many countries. Howev...

All of us have a "guilty pleasure" list of baby names. Most of us aren't brave enough to actually use those types of names in the first name spot, but some of us are willing to slip them into the middle! After all, middle names are rarely used or known to other people in day to day life. That gives us a great excuse to throw something exciting into the middle for our own enjoyment. Here is a list of some wonderfully quirky middle name ideas for baby boys! Which of these might you actually consider? Keep reading for my Top 10 at the bottom of the list! Boy:            Alasdair   Auburn Badger Bay Baylor Bloom Calcedon Caradoc Caspian Cirrus Cloud Clove Cobalt Copper Cordovan Cove Cyprian Danger Dante Dashiell Davey Django Dodge Equinox Escher Falcon Fate Finch Forest Fox Frost Garneau Hale Harvey Hawk Hawthorn Heath Indiana Kite Knight Loxley Malachite       Marduc Maverick May...

I asked another popularity question recently. "Which Max name is your favorite?"  Then I listed them from the most-popular to the least. 74 votes were cast and there were three top names. Maxwell    24 Votes (32%) Max       17 Votes (22%) Maximus    15 Votes (20%) Maxim      8 Votes (10%) Maximilian   5 Votes (6%) Maxton      4 Votes (5%) Maximo      1 Vote  (1%) 32 percent of you name-artists prefer the name Maxwell and 22 percent would rather go with just plain ol' Max. 20 percent, myself included, voted for the cool Latin Maximus, and 10 percent chose to drop the -us and go with Maxim. The very-long Maximilian only received 6 percent of the vote while the made-up-sounding Maxton had 5%. Bring up the rear was the Spanish Maximo with a single vote. Let's learn more about these names. Do they all have the same root or do they differ? Maxwell is actually related to ...

The name Mara seems to come from a few different possible origins. Firstly, Mara is a Hebrew name that means "bitter". It was taken by Naomi in the Old Testament at Ruth 1:20.  Since it does mean "bitter" or "sorrow", she took it as an expression of her grief after her husband and sons died. As another possibility, Mara is the Hungarian variant of Maria and the Croatian and Serbian variant of Marija.  Of course Maria is the Latin form of the Greek Μαρια which comes from the Hebrew  מִרְיָם or Mary.  Marija also comes from Maria.  The name Mary comes from the Hebrew name  מִרְיָם  or Miryam which does not have a known meaning. Theories include "sea of bitterness", "rebelliousness" and "wished for child." However! There is a possibility that Mary comes from an Egyptian name that is partly derived from mry which means "beloved," or mr which means "love". Whew! Sorry about all of that technical jargon....

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 ...