Sunday, August 26, 2018

Sweet, Sassy, Southern Names for Girls



What are your favorite "country western" or "mid-western" names for girls? Sweet, sassy, and southern mixed with hospitable charm. Which names might define that? This is obviously going to be highly subjective, but it's fun to explore possibilities in this category. What do you think of this list?:

Abigail Adabelle Agnes Alice Aliza Althea Alma Amabel Amelia Amy Anna Annabelle Annie April Ashley Augusta Autumn Avril Bailey Bea Bess Bethany Betsy Blanche Blossom Blythe Bonnie Braelyn Callie Caroline Cassidy Celia Charlotte Clementine Constance Coralee Daisy Delilah Della Dixie Edie Eliza Eloise Emmylou Faith Florence Frances Frankie Georgia Glenda Glory Hadley Haley Hannah Harper Harriet Hazel Heather Heidi Henrietta Hillary Holly Ida Imogene Iris Ivy Jacqueline Jana Jeanne Jill Jocelyn Josephine Julia Justine Kassidy Katherine Kay Larissa Layla Leigh Leora Lilibeth Lucille Luella Lyla Macy Madeline Magnolia Maribel Mary Maxine May Mayella Molly Narvie Nellie Nora Odessa Odette Pauline Phoebe Portia Quinn

Rebecca Ruby Sadie Salome Sally Savannah Scarlett Shelby Sheridan Stella Suellen Susanna Tabitha Talullah Thelma Tierney Vanessa Vera Victoria Vivian Whitney Willow Zadie

Which do you like most? Can you think of more to add to the list?

Monday, July 16, 2018

How Well Did My Sibsets Match from My "Statehood Initial Challenge" Series? [Part Two of Two]



Finally, after three and a half years, the long-running Statehood Initial Challenge series has finished! In this series, I took the two-letter abbreviations of each state in the USA, and challenged you to use those two letters to name a boy and a girl. I played right along with you. After we covered 25 states, I listed all the sets of twins that I named throughout those two years of posts and found that I had repeated several of the names multiple times. I tried to avoid repeats for the 2nd half of the challenge, so let's see how I did.

I posted these states in the order in which they gained official statehood, which means Delaware was first, Pennsylvania came next, then New Jersey and so on until we finally reached the 50th state of Hawaii.  Here's the first 25, which I previously posted here:

1. DE -  Dante Evander & Dahlia Emmeline
2. PA -  Pierce Averill & Posey Augusta
3. NJ -  Nash Julian & Nova Jessamine
4. GA - Gregor August & Gesine Abigail
5. CT - Calvin Thomas & Cora Tamsin
6. MA - Maximus Alexander & Madeline Alice
7. MD - Malcolm David & Minerva Dawn
8. SC  - Stetson Cole & Sable Cressida
9. NH - Nicolai Harris & Nova Helene
10. VA - Vadden Alexis & Vienne Augusta
11. NY - Nathaniel York & Natasha Yve
12. NC - Noble Carlisle & Nova Caroline
13. RI - Rafferty Iwan & Rowan Isabelle
14. VT - Valor Thaddeus & Vella Temperance
15. KY - Killian Yannick & Kensington Yve
16. TN - Tristram Noel & Tabitha Nell
17. OH - Oscar Hadrian & Olive Hettienne
18. LA - Leopold August & Lavinia Aveline
19. IN - Isadore Noel & Isla Natalie
20. MS - Malcolm Silas & Mabel Sabrina
21. IL - Irving Lawrence & Ida Laurel
22. AL - Alexander Lincoln & Augusta Lily
23. ME - Marlon Elliott & Mavis Eleanor
24. MO - Miles Oliver & Maisie Octavia
25. AR - Asher Ramsey & Avara Raine

The first half of the challenge was spread out over 2 years and I chose them spontaneously with each post. I didn't go back to see what other names I had used previously. I simply went with what I liked at the time. As a result, there were a few repeats.

This time around, I kept track of everything and triple-checked that I had not already used a name before choosing it. There should be zero repeats in the second half.  Let's take a look at the second half of the challenge:

26. MI - Milo Indigo & Morganna Ivy
27. FL - Finnegan Louis & Fiona Liesel
28. TX - Tobias Xavier & Thora Xanthippe
29. IA - Ivander Ash & Iliana Apple
30. WI - Wim Iverson & Wren Isadora 
31. CA - Cassander Aloysius & Cordelia Avienne
32. MN - Murphy Nolan & Maia Nicolette
33. OR - Odin Richard & Ophelia Ruby
34. KS - Kellan Scott & Kaia Sylvie
35. WV - Willoughby Vance & Wren Victoria
36. NV - Ned Vincent & Nadine Verity
37. NE - Neo Edmund & Nerissa Edith
38. CO - Caius Octavian & Camilla Olivine
39. ND - Norman Daniel & Naomi Diana
40. SD - Sebastian Dominic & Seraphina Delaney
41. MT - Martin Timothy & Mildred Theodora
42. WA - Warren Arlo & Willow Amelia
43. ID -  Ian Darius & India Darling
44. WY - Ward Yvander & Winslet Yvonne
45. UT - Ulysses Theodore & Ulyana Terese
46. OK - Otis Kelvin & Opal Kathleen
47. NM - November Mason & Nyx Magnolia
48. AZ - Ambrose Zachariah & Amara Zooey
49. AK - Atlas Korbin & Audrey Kate
50. HI -  Heath Idris & Hermione Iris

Since certain letters were used more often, it became increasingly difficult to find names that I actually like. The letter N is not my favorite letter and it forced me to choose names that I wouldn't normally choose, like Norman, Ned, Nadine and Naomi. 

The letter I was also challenging to find attractive options. While I did not repeat anything, I did end up with Ivy, Irving, Iverson and Ivander which all sound similar.  I did toss in an Yvander, but since the spelling is different, I didn't count it as being the exact same name as the previously used Ivander.

In the first half of the challenge, I noted that there were several unusual names like Hettienne, Gesine, Vadden, Averill, Cressida, Vella and Avara.  In the second half, I went with bold choices like Xanthippe, Apple, Wim, Willoughby, Nerissa, Caius, Darling, Winslet, November, Nyx, and Hermione. 

But I also went for some old-fashioned names too. In the first half, we saw Irving, Gregor, Marlon, Mavis, Malcolm, Mabel, Lawrence, Ida and Laurel. In the final set of names, I opted for some Louis, Aloysius, Richard, Edmund, Edith, Mildred, Ward, Ulysses, Opal, and Ambrose.

Don't forget the more classic names! Previously I had used things like Oliver, Alexander, Thomas, Lily, Caroline, Abigail and Isabelle. The second time around, I added Scott, Victoria, Vincent, Daniel, Timothy, Theodore, and Kathleen.

Overall, this was a very fun challenge to continuously be apart of week after week. I can't believe it lasted three and a half years but here we are finally at the end of it! What do you think of my many choices? Do any of them stand out as absolute favorites? Are there any that you cannot stand? Share your thoughts in the comments and thanks for following!

Did you play along with this series? If not, we always have name games like this on our Instagram page!

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Girl Names Ending with the Letters "-ra"

We've been exploring different name endings based on specific letters lately. We saw -ina names for girls, and -ian names for boys. Last week we looked at boy names ending with -us. Today we will try our best to narrow it down for the letters "-ra".  Like the other series, I limited myself to only choosing one name per letter. Here are my 26 picks from A-Z. What would you pick?

I also listed the ranks of those within the Top 1000, so as you can see, most of these names are rare picks!


Audra
Barbara  (#908)
Cora   (#83)
Deidra
Electra
Flora
Ginevra
Honora
Indira
Jara
Keira   (#331)
Lysandra
Mara   (#670)
Nora    (#28)
Ophira
Pandora
Quorra
Riviera
Sierra    (#452)
Theodora
Uhura
Vespera
Wara
Xantara
Yadira
Zamora

Would you use any of these names?

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Boy Names Ending with the Letters "-us"

The majority of names that end with -us may bring to mind Ancient Latin rulers. While many of these will remain rare, there are others gaining popularity. I put the ranking of those within the Top 1000 in parenthesis.  Which do you like?

I used Maximus for my son, and would consider Augustus, Cyrus, Erasmus, Julius, Thaddeus and Xanthus! What about you?


Augustus  (#423)
Belarius
Cyrus  (#427)
Darius  (#500)
Erasmus
Fergus
Gaius
Honorius
Ignatius
Julius  (#336)
Klaus
Linus
Maximus  (#200)
Nicodemus
Octavius
Pius
Rufus
Severus
Thaddeus (#666)
Urbanus
Vitus
Wenceslaus
Xanthus
Yunus
Zacchaeus

Do you have any other favorite names that would also belong on this list? 

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Baby Names Ending with the Letters "-ty"



We are nearing the end of this series. We have already explored a number of names ending with -y. Now we move on to the -ty names.  There's a number of virtue names that end with -ty on this list. Do you like any of these?

Girls:
Amity
Arrietty
Betty
Charity
Chastity
Christy
Clarity
Cristy
Divinity
Dotty
Dusty
Enity
Esty
Eternity
Felicity
Hatty
Hetty
Honesty
Jonty
Kaity
Kassity
Katy
Kirsty
Kitty
Kristy
Letty
Liberty
Marty
Maty
Minty
Misty
Modesty
Patty
Royalty
Serendipity
Serenity
Tranquility
Trinity
Unity
Vanity
Verity

Boys:
Barty
Coty
Dusty
Getty
Infinity
Jonty
Marty
Monty
Moriaty
Rafferty
Reality
Rusty
Scotty
Trinity
Ty
Vincenty
Walenty
Wincenty

Pick a name or two and give them a middle name! Share in the comments!

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

26 Girl Names Ending With the Letters "-ina"

We previously looked at boy names ending with the letters "-ian".  I swapped those letters around and found girl names ending with the letters "-ina". Do you have any favorites on this list? What about other names that aren't on this list but still end with "-ina"?

Angelina
Bettina
Celina
Delphina
Emmelina
Florentina
Georgina
Helaina
Irina
Josephina
Kristina
Leontina
Martina
Nicolina
Olivina
Paulina
Quelina
Regina
Seraphina
Trina
Ursina
Valentina
Wilhelmina
Xina
Yekaterina
Zarina

Sometimes I make lists like this for fun, so naturally I decided to share. Have you ever challenged yourself to choose names fitting specific criteria? I often do this to sharpen my naming skills and discover new names.  Play along with me! Share your favorites in the comments!

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

26 Boy Names Ending with the Letters "-ian"

Sometimes I come up with fun "exercises" in naming to strengthen my skills. I thought it would be fun to find boy names ending with -ian for each letter of the alphabet. It was going well until I got to a few more troublesome letters.  Take a look at my list and tell me which are your favorites!

Adrian
Brian
Christian
Damian
Elian
Fabian
Gian
Hadrian
Ian
Julian
Killian
Lucian
Maximilian
Nerian
Octavian
Paulian
Quillian
Rhydian
Sebastian
Tavian
Urian
Vian
Xadrian
Yulian
Zavian

I may or may not have created a few of these. Specifically Paulian, Quillian, and Urian. Those were the only letters of which I could not find names ending with -ian, However, they sound like the could work just fine along with the others.  Can you find any established names starting with P, Q and U that could take their place?

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