The Art of Naming

This featured name is pulled from the list of names that end with the letters "-ly". This list is one of the longest ones in this series so far. It was full of great options, but I decided to highlight Molly. Not many people will realize that Molly comes from the name Mary. It developed as a diminutive based on Malle and Molle over time. Polly is in the same boat. Now, Mary ultimately comes from the Greek Mariam and Maria , which were from the Hebrew Miryam . The meaning of Mary has never been absolutely certain, but meanings such as "sea of bitterness," "rebelliousness," and "wished for child" have been thrown about as possibilities. It's also likely that Mary was originally an Egyptian name derived from mry meaning "beloved". So by association, Molly and all of Mary's other forms, variants and translations, mean the same thing. In the US, Molly has always fared well as a stand-alone name. Since 1880, it has ...

To continue our series, let's take a look at the many names that end with the letters -ly.  This list is not necessarily exhaustive, but it is fairly long and full of great options if -ly is your favorite end-sound. Girl names: Ally Amberly Aracely Beverly Billy Blakely Bly Caily Caitly Callalily Carly Cecily Chantilly Chavelly Cicely Connolly Daily Dolly Donnelly Eily Emily Everly Gilly Haverly Havily Heavenly Holly Ily Irely Italy Jessaly Joely Josaly July Kaily Karly Keely Keily Kelly Kessly Kimberly Kirrily Lily Linsly Lolly Lovely Marely Mariely Molly Nallely Nathaly Nelly Nerilly Noely Orly Paigely Pialy Polly Reilly Romilly Sally Shyly Sicily Siddaly Sonaly Tally Temily Tessaly Thessaly Tigerlily Tilly Truely Truly Tully Vally Verily Waverly Weatherly Yanelly Yanely Zaily Zeely Boy names: Anatoly Beverly Billy Chavelly Connolly Dally Daly Donnelly Early Huntly Karoly...

Way back in January 2015, I began a little series on Instagram that featured the two-letter abbreviations of states within the USA. I started with Delaware, the very first state that was given official statehood, and then I continued on from there. This has been a very long and slow series, but finally, two years later, we've reached the halfway point. With each post, I would ask you to name a boy and a girl using those initials as the basis. And each time, I would also post my name choices for those letters. Let's take a look back and see how my impulse naming panned out. Over time, did I actually create a family tree of names that might match nicely? Or did those names vary greatly with each state? How many times might I have repeated a name? I'm willing to bet that my general naming style fluctuated greatly, but, if you've followed my blog since the beginning, perhaps you'd find me somewhat predictable. If you'd like to play along with this name game,...

This name comes from our list of names ending with the letters "-ky". If you saw that article, you know that this is a very limited club of names, but there are definitely some cool choices. One of the coolest options from the list is Rocky. Rocky is given as a full name, but it is also treated as more of a nickname. It could be considered a diminutive of the name Rocco which is a Germanic name from the element hrok which means "rest". Rocco is the patron saint of the sick. However, as you may know, Rocky is not so much a saint as a famous fictional boxer. The Rocky franchise of movies starring Sylvester Stallone as Rocky began in 1976 and is possibly the most well-known association with this name. Another association comes from the old cartoons "The Bullwinkle Show" and "Rocky and His Friends" both of which aired in the 1960s. These featured a flying squirrel named Rocky and his moose pal experiencing a variety of adventures. Interestin...

We've covered nearly half the alphabet already. Sure, there are some letters that just won't fit into this category, so we have skipped a few of them. But here we are, arriving at letter K for a compilation of "-ky" names! How many can you name off the top of your head? Luckily, you don't have to since I did the legwork for you! I even went so far as to include names ending with "-kie" since the choices were slim for "-ky" names.  Enjoy: Girls: Becky   Jacky Lucky Nicky Pinky Ricky Sky Suky Vicky Beckie Cookie Frankie Jackie Lockie Markie Mickie Nickie Pinkie Rickie Rivkie Saskie Sookie Sukie Vickie Boys:   Chucky Dicky Franky Jacky Ky Melky Nicky Ricky Rocky Sky Starsky Dickie Frankie Mackie Mickie Nickie Rickie Can you think of any that I missed? Would you use any of these?

Let's explore another ten female names that are more on the unusual side. If you are tired of the same popular names that you hear on every 4th child you meet, here are ideas that are much less common these days. Some may have been common in the past, but for this current generation of babies being born, they're not as frequently used. The information below comes from the US Social Security Administration's 2015 list of the most commonly registered names. The first number listed is the number of births for the year, followed by the ranking number when compared to all other names. It's possible that one or more of these names could suddenly gain more usage from one year to the next. Which name do you think has the best chance of gaining a small popularity boost in 2016, if any? Marcella (170 births - #1,380 in 2015)  This is the feminine form of Marcellus which is a Roman family name, a diminutive of Marcus. That was most likely derived from the Roman god Mars who...

Welcome to Part Six of our Barely Used Boy Names series!! This list has some interesting and unsual options for you. Idris (138 births - #1286)   Idris possibly means "interpreter" in Arabic and it is the name of an ancient prophet in the Qur'an, typically equated with the biblical Enoch. Idris is also a Welsh name meaning "ardent lord". This name ranked at #280 in England and Wales recently, as well as #447 in France. It gained usage in the US for males in 1971 and has slowly been gaining births per year but it has yet to reach the Top 1000. Sheldon (137 births - #1294)  There are several locations in England called Sheldon. It generally means "valley with steep sides" and was both a place name and a surname before it was ever a given name. In the US, Sheldon has been given to boys on record since 1881. It has also been used infrequently for girls from 1931 to 2002. For boys, it gained entry to the Top 1000 in the early 1900s, earning as many...