The Art of Naming

The Opera. What do you think of when you hear those words? I picture a magnificent stage surrounded by flowing red curtains. Rows and rows of seats and balconies high in the air overlooking the stage. The music and costuming are spectacular. Everything about the opera is high-culture and high-class. That includes the baby names that are most frequently associated with the opera.  In fact, this list contains just that!   With such a wide variety of names to choose from, which is your favorite? Abagaille                         Aida Alcina Altoun Andres Annina Basilio Bello Benoit Betto Bianca Boris Carmen Claudius Despina Drago Elena Elettra Elsa Elvino Ferrando Fiorello Floria Gilda Giovanna Giovanni Gunther Isolde Juliette Katisha Leonora Lolette Lucia Maddalena Manon Marcellina Marcello Marguerite Micaela Mimi Musetta Nardo Nedda Ottavio Pamina Pizarro Rami...

Fletcher is originally a surname that refers to a person who fletches arrows as their occupation. It is a Middle English name meaning "arrow maker" which comes from the Old French flechier . It is a surname but it has a tough, masculine feel to it with a bit of unique quirkiness added in. Following this week's post about names inspired by poetry, there was a poet named Thomas Fletcher (1666-1713) who was also a priest of the Church of England.   John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright (1579-1625) who took over Shakespeare's role as the house playwright for the King's Men. Click here to view many more famous namesakes including several fictional characters named Fletcher. This name has been in regular use since 1880 in the US. It had a boost in popularity in 1914 that lasted through the early 1950s before it declined again. However it was in the top 1000 names from 1880-1971, and 1985-1986. The year 1998 saw another boost, catapulting the name back into t...

Source There is something about the surname of poets that just happens to be, well, poetic. Not only do they have a way with words, but these poets have also left us some amazing baby name options to choose from!  Whether you studied poetry in school or just secretly love it, these names might just be what you're looking for!  There are also a few words included that are related to poetry. Below this list, I have chosen my Top 5 favorites that I'd love to see on a modern baby and listed out potential sibling names and middle names. If you'd like to share what your favorite names are (or if I've missed any that should be included) please do so in the comment section! Angelou Auden Baird Blake Bly Bogan Bronte Byron Campbell Carew Chaucer Corso Crane Cullen Dante Dickinson              Dove Dryden Dylan Eliot Emerson Fletcher Frost Giovanni Hardy Herrick Hugo Jarrell Keat...

The girl name Cordelia is a lovely, elegant and unique option! With nickname possibilities like Cora, Della and Lia, it is both cute for a baby and beautiful for a woman. The name Cordelia comes from Cordeilla which is a Celtic name with unknown meaning. However, the name is often associated with the Latin word cor or cordis which means "heart". Some sites also say that it means "Daughter of the Sea". So I suppose you can take your pick of meanings! Based on the legendary Queen Cordeilla, she was a character in Shakespeare's play King Lear written in 1606. He altered the spelling from the original Cordeilla to the modern Cordelia. In the play, she was the youngest of King Lear's three daughters and the only one that remained loyal to him. Another literary reference to the name comes from the heroine of Anne of Green Gables  who said "I would love to be called Cordelia. It's such a perfectly elegant name." This name has been in re...

Source The term "literature" covers a grand spectrum of novels. Most of these names come from the classic masterpieces that have touched the hearts of readers for decades. While I cannot possibly list every name of every character in every book ever written, this is definitely a pretty good list to start with if you're in need of a literary moniker. Below this list, I have handpicked my favorites that I think would be darling for a modern day girl. Then I went one step further and paired them with a couple middle name ideas and listed a few potential sibling name ideas to help you decide if you'd truly want to consider adding said names to your short-list. After all, that's the whole point of a list like this: to help you find the perfect name for your child! If you'd like to join in the fun, please feel free to choose your favorite names from the list and share a few middle name options that would make you fall in love with the name as a whole. And ...

In the naming world, sometimes you will find names that all begin with the same few letters. This can sometimes make it difficult to choose between them. For example, I asked which of these Jul- names you would sooner use and the results are in! The options include two boys names: the popular Julian and the strong, Roman Julius. For girls, I limited it to sweet Julia, romantic Juliet and exotic Juliana. Every single one of these names comes from the same root. They come from the Roman family name ioulos which is from the Greek ιουλος meaning "downy-bearded" which implies youthfulness. The patriarch name is Iulius from which Julius was born. Following Julius's lead came Iulia and Iulianus. The Ancient Roman Iulia inspired many of the feminine names including Julia, Julitta, Yuliya, Jools, Juliet, Juliette, Julie, Juliska, Giulia, Giulietta, Julinha, and Yulia. Names like  Juliana, Julijana, Liana, Leanna, Gillian, Jill, and Uliana came from the Ancient Roman Iulia...

The name Atticus may have been one of the very first Roman names to begin making mainstream waves. It has that ancient feel to it but because of the fatherly fictional character Atticus Finch in Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus also feels very noble and heroic. In fact, Atticus Finch was voted in 2003 as the "Greatest Hero of American film" by the American Film Institute. Finch was iconically played by actor Gregory Peck in the 1962 film adaptation of the novel. The name Atticus is Latin meaning "Man of Attica" or "From Attica". Attica is the region that surrounds Athens in Greece. While it describes a Greek area, the name was adopted by one particular Roman man who spent much of his life studying in Athens. He loved the culture so much that he gave himself the nickname Atticus since he considered himself a man from Attica. His name was Titus Pomponius Atticus (112/109 BC – 35/32 BC). He was an ancient Roman littérateur, phil...