The Baby Name Wizard

Interesting!What about Canada?

in usa, its according to race ,if you are black you have g--latricia,limguisa,leatrice,w- betty, mary, alice,if your from the south, billy-bob, bubba, little tom, !

Could you specify how the Irish names are supposed to be pronounced? Some of them are quite confusing!(incredibly interesting blog, by the way)Inbal (that's a common name for girls in my native - Israel)

Oisin - is pronounced Oh-sheenand I think it's Darra and Ian for the other twoout of the girls, the only one I know is:Niamh - pron. Neem

Anon, the Irish girls' names are pronounced:Aoife - EE-faNiamh - NEEVCaoimhe - KEE-va

On the Irish namesDarragh is pronounced DaraEoin is pronounced OwenOisin is pronounced UsheenAoife is pronounced EE-faNiamh is pronounced NeevCaoimhe is pronounced Quee-va

Parents, Please do not try to be clever or cute when naming your children. It is not a good idea to try to reflect your own creativity in your child's name. Don't try to be differnt--life is hard enough without an unusual name that you have to constantly explain, spell or otherwise be made to feel self conscious. Remember, someone else has to live with it.

I disagree, Paige. I think that children can learn quickly with a few words of encouragement that they can be proud of their unique names. Understandably, if a name is especially difficult to pronounce it could be frustrating; however, there is nothing wrong with being "creative" or "different".

This is not small town living anymore...millions cross each others paths with our technology and the world is only getting smaller. Everyday people try to set up an e-mail address, web address, etc. with no luck since the names are already used. What a nice way to identify yourself today with difference! I have a different name and love being one of the only people my friends know with my name,it's special. If you love your child and their name they will love themselves and the name you give them as well.

Excellent blog. The most famous owner of the name Canada must be Canada Lee, a first-rate black actor who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Lifeboat' in about 1940. Don't have Halliwell to hand, so can't add any other reliable information. Other people named after countries:The first time I came across 'India' as a girl's name was in 'Gone With the Wind' - Ashley Wilkes has a sister called India. But it seems to have become quite common in the UK in the last few decades - I know of three or four Indias in their twenties/thirties.At the time of the brutal repression of the attempt by Biafra to become independent of Nigeria (late '60s?) the British journalist Auberon Waugh (son of Evelyn) named his new-born daughter Biafra out of sympathy for the Biafrans. France seems popular not among metropolitan Frenchpersons but among those of French descent or from former French colonies. I don't know if the Vietnamese actress France Nguyen (well-known in the west 30 years ago) was given that name by her parents or whether it was a screen-name, but I know two French-Canadian women called France. On Irish names: I had always been in the habit, like most people I think, of pronouncing the name Sinead to rhyme with 'made', but I saw Jeremy Irons interviewed on TV recently and he twice referred to his wife Sinead Cusack as 'Shin-add', rhyming with 'had'. Sinead's sisters are Niamh (Neev) and Siorcha (roughly Shorruhuh). Their father was Cyril Cusack, reinforcing the point about English names (Cyril must have been born soon after 1900) giving way to Irish/Gaelic name sin Ireland. By the way, I recently saw a TV programme in which a young woman beautician was identified by an on-screen title as 'Feleny'. And there's a girl band in Britain called 'Lickerish'. I suspect that they've just gone (like a lot of bands) for a jokey spelling of 'liquorice' and may be unaware that there's a good old English adjective 'lickerish' (used by Shakespeare) meaning 'lustful'.

Richanah said:Knowing from experience from having an unusual name myself, I completely disagree with Paige. I love and always have loved having different name. People always remember you, which although you could argue is a bad thing, I think not. It always aspires to comments such as " What a beautiful name" , " Wow, that really is an unusual name" and I can't remember how many times I have had people make the comment " Wow, I wish my parents had called me something pretty / cool/ beautiful / unusual like that, instead of boring Jean , Colin, David, Anna , Tracy etc" You will never be forgotten, and above all, as it was completely made up by my parents, it shows true originality. So parents, if you want to be creative then do. Because, as I see it, the only people that make ridicule of an unusual name, are only jealous that they can't think of anything inspiring and more inventive, than just the average Jow bloggs , that everyone and their dog are called !!Pronounced (Rich-ar-na)

I also disagree with Paige. Although my name is not that unusual, I always enjoy correcting others when they spell my name with a "C". Most of the time they will comment on the spelling and tell a story of a person they know, or have heard of, that also spells their name like mine. I have always been proud of my name and will always remember the stroies I have heard associated with its spelling.

Paige, I don't know how old you are but the name Paige is becoming more common now. I knew 2 Paiges in school. I know 2 little Paiges now. One is my daughter the other is my friends daughter. Paige is a wonderful name.

I think the whole point of this blog is to say that there are so many names that people thought were strange and now are "normal". However, there is a difference in "different names" and cruel names that kids are given. I talked to a girl on the phone whose name was Latrina - poor girl got a lot of trouble over the years for that. I knew a family whose last name was Rabitt and their children were Jack, Peter and Bunny - now THAT is mean. An unusual spelling or a really different name is something entirely different. Even though they mauy get tired of hearing how unusual their name is - they won't hear the taunts and jabs....

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A school teacher weighs in: Class time goes to waste because of names spelled one way but pronounced another or because of foreign names that cannot be anglocized. Some youngsters choose to make an issue of their own names. Names chosen for their oddness seem to me a form of vanity, not creativity.

Well, school teacher, I think you've just hit the nail on the head. Parents who try to give their children unique monikers are holding up the education of their own (and other) children! Imagine that I, with the simple act of naming my child "oddly", could subtly undermine the standardized educations of possibly hundreds of children! I for one shall be naming the rest of my children something monosyllabic and simple to pronounce so their kindergarten teachers won't waste any time trying to figure out their name. What a powerful argument against what you consider "odd" names. Seriously though, I hope my gorgeous daughter, Kaja, never ends up in your class.

"foreign names that cannot be anglocized." What a disgraceful thing to say.

And the word is 'anglicized'.

Don't you think kids learn more by learning to spell and pronounce someting a bit more unusual than Jane and Jack? And if you're at the stage where they're learning to write their names, presumably speed isn't exactly of the essence...

When furriners come to Anglo-land, what we should do is have, like, a port or something, maybe an island, where they can all be processed and have their names changed to something Anglos can spell.

I've just discovered this very interesting blog. I'm guessing that most of you are in the US or Canada (may be wrong). Just to let you know I'm in Scotland. I find this whole subject very interesting and also important. I have always detested my given name, which is Jonathan. Many of you may not agree. I choose to call myself Jonny or Jon. When our first child was due, we gave the name a lot of thought and eventually decided the child would be called Joe if it was a boy and Jo if it was a girl. Around here this name is not very common, so we liked the (semi) individuality of it and also we didn't like the "designer" names that were in vogue in 1999. For example, Kylie and Ryan (after a soccer player in England).When the second one came along, we had a short list for either sex. She was nearly Kira, until my wife said when the baby was about 30 minutes old, "did I mention Gina as a possibility?" She hadn't, but the spontenaeity of the suggestions, along with the fact that it met the criteria we had before (simplicity, but not common) decided it.We have a third one on the way and I have started thinking about names. I have always like the Scottish name Catriona (pronounced Ka-treena), but my wife doesn't. I also really like Green, which I discoverd from the Joni Mitchell song Little Green. I haven't thought of any boys names yet. I would be interested if you have any comments. Thanks for your time.Jonny

Hello all. As for the Irish names Springing back to there Ancient Roots. Your half right.. Alot of the Irish fomr the northern regions Keep the Celtic style names for there children hence why my name for example ( Ferin Thain O'shealy) happned s to be quite old with a bit of the Nordic Influence. Just figured I'D let you know.

I named my son Seathan, it was a combination of Seth and Ethan pronounced as Sea-then. He loves it, and we later found out it was a traditional Scottish/Irish name.

notablogger,I have a story similar to your Rabbit family. My brother went to school with a kid named Jimmy Hawk, whose older brother and sister were Tommy Hawk and Holly Hawk. When a girl marries into a name with similar results, that's one thing, but when kids' parents do it deliberately, you have to wonder if they chose their names from the Marquis de Sade Book of Baby Names.Susan

"When furriners come to Anglo-land, what we should do is have, like, a port or something, maybe an island, where they can all be processed and have their names changed to something Anglos can spell"....that is provided, they (those 'specific' mean minded Anglos), can spell at all!! even in their own language! in their own (grabbed) Anglo-land!!

WHY DOESNT THIS WEBSITE NOT HAVE FRANCE ON IT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

This article is obviously about English speaking countries, not France.

I grow extremely tired of ignorant and uneducated idiots criticizing names that are different or unique. Every name was unique at some point but has since gained common acceptance through popular usage. My name, Sean, is definitely not unique, yet some ignoramuses still mispronounce it to rhyme with "bean". One of these days one of them is going to receive a friendly punch in the jaw. Regardless of this, I often wish that I had been named something more creative and original. I disdain the thought that I have to share my name with others. I am a unique individual, yet my name does not reflect that. I can assure you that my children will definitely not be receiving boring names like John, William, or Mary. One only names their children such names if they lack imagination and don't want to bother expending any mental effort determining what to name their spawn. I definitely prefer unique and uncommon names like Kaszimierz, Aoife, and Calynda. They all have a nice ring to them and anyone who encounters anyone with these names should simply stuff it and make the effort to learn how to spell and pronounce them. It's not that atrociously difficult.

I am five months pregnant with a girl whose name shall be Niamh Leslii.This is a personal choice from an anglo saxon mother living in Australia. If non anglos can have names that we consider "different" ie: mouhammud, then where exactly is it written that I can't adopt a name from my heritage and use it today? There are thousands of names, spelt thousands of ways and as we are all different and unique, these should all be embraced. If everyone was called Jack or Mary, the world would be a very boring place.

I am 6 months pregnant with my first child. My husband is Russian and at the moment we are planning to call her Anastasia (pronounced by Russians Anna-sta-SEE-ah) Eve. Now this may not be a particularly unusual name, but the pronunciation is quite different. For us her names are a reflection of her heritage and her family history (the names of grandmothers for each of us) and I am sure that she will be proud of her name and her cultural history on both sides.

you're more likely to meet an angus in australia than glasgow because angus is a breed of cow that's native to scotland and who wants their kid named after that?

I think that when people are naming their children, they should always remember how cruel kids can be & avoid any names that leave their bubs open to ridicule. Also if people from non english speaking back ground spelt their kids name how they'd like it to be pronounced, they'd save their kids alot of time & frustration/embarassment
I know, although my name is simple & short, being in Sydney Australia & having a husband & many friends from different ethnic backgrounds.

"At the time of the brutal repression of the attempt by Biafra to become independent of Nigeria (late '60s?) the British journalist Auberon Waugh (son of Evelyn) named his new-born daughter Biafra out of sympathy for the Biafrans."

I think this is incredibly selfish and vain, using your child's name to make a political point. The kid will have to live with it when you're long gone. Either nobody will have a clue what Biafra is supposed to mean and the name will just sound pointlessly odd, or if the political debate is still raging, the kid is stuck labelled with a partisan name whatever their view on the issue, if they even have one. Awful, awful, awful.

My name is Fiona, which is a foreign name that I guess cannot be anglicized. When I was younger, no one in America had EVER heard of this name (unless they were older men who said, "Ah, the prettiest lassie in the town of Brigadoon!" I still loved having a "different" name so I didn't have to be Nicole S. or Nicole R. in class

i have no problem with simple names such as bob sue e.t.c. but i dont think people should be so critical about unusual names. i, for one like unique names. everywhere i go people comment on how 'beatiful' my name is and i am not ashamed of it. My sisters letitia (le-ti-sha), anya and aoife also love there names. i am 4 months pregnant and am planning on naming my baby girl something like lilia, siobhan (she-vonne), mairi (mar-ee), or maylee. i have always had three hannahs three davids and two peters in my class, i dont want my children to have such a common name.

Is it just me, or are the American names hopelessly tacky?

I don't like ridiculous spellings of names, nor do I like overly common names. At the moment I rather like

Nancy, Astrid, Violet, Odette, Madeleine for a girl and Kurt Layne and River for a boy!! None of these nsames are common (At least not in England) And they are all beautiful!!!

I was one of 5 Marys in fifth grade. We had to go by our first & middle names which I hated! I swore my kids would never have to do that They are Aaron, Siobhan & Adrian--which were not common names in the late 60's & early 70's when they were born.

I was one of 5 Marys in fifth grade. We had to go by our first & middle names which I hated! I swore my kids would never have to do that They are Aaron, Siobhan & Adrian--which were not common names in the late 60's & early 70's when they were born.

I was one of 5 Marys in fifth grade. We had to go by our first & middle names which I hated! I swore my kids would never have to do that They are Aaron, Siobhan & Adrian--which were not common names in the late 60's & early 70's when they were born.

OOPS!!!!! Sorry about the extra two!!

wel i love my name,it's not a name you come acrose everyday...and it's treu they always remember you and that is sometimes fun but sometimes it can be anoing because whene ther do forget tour name they will be like arn't you the girl with the wierd name??and than i'll get the chance to say no i'm the girl with a beautiful creative diffrent unusual name.and it's spelled ri-sh-a-na