The Baby Name Wizard

Do you all pronounce Roland with a short O or long O? Just wondering cuz I can see Roly with a short O being a good nickname (similar to Raleigh) but not with a long O (as in poly).

I think Brindley is not bad although I'd probably spell it without the D: Brinley or something.

And I think Soraya is like Arabic or something. Does a name count as "weird" if it's from a different culture? Then again I guess every name is somehow culturally influenced and then we'd have nothing to talk about!

I pronounce Roland with a long o, as in toe, so it would be Roly as in poly, which is one reason I'm not 100% keen on the name, although I love it a lot.

Interesting that it has come up on the site again- I put it in a list a couple of weeks ago for someone here and now someone else has mentioned it- ditto Clara. Both of those are high on my list and I had that funny superstitious feeling that I therefore shouldn't mention them- but all that really means is that someone else was thinking of them too! It's the zeitgeist of naming....

Although as someone sensible pointed out, even if several of us used the name it really would still be very rare...

The other name I like which seems to be ahead of the curve is Flora (as we're confessing here), although even that one appeared here jsut a day or two ago!

Flora may be ahead of the curve in the US, but not in the UK I suspect. And how about Flora margarine?

Elizabeth T.,

'Shamela' might be a bit much. :) Must also avoid 'Fanny,' both for literary and transatlantic reasons. Turning to Miss Burney's novels, we have a font of appealing names: 'Evelina,' 'Camilla,' 'Cecilia,' and (less promisingly) her very minor play 'Edwy and Elgiva.'

I did read through the entirety of the unabridged Clarissa. I think I will have the accomplishment chiseled on my tombstone.

Roland, Clara and Flora all sound very British to me. Sort of that high-class, sophisticated name that not just everyone would choose or be able to pull off. I'm not personally crazy about Flora because it sounds old lady-ish to me, but I love Clara and Roland is growing on me.

FYI, Soraya is Arabic, but at least in the US, I've never heard of another one.

Thanks, Christiana, that's exactly what I'm going for!
And yes, Keren, Flora is a margarine in the UK, but I'm in the US now, so it's safer!

PS Here's my name of the day,seen in the New York Times: Hadewych Minis (he's a musician).

Flora and Florence are appearing more and more in The Telegraph. Beatrice is still well up there.

I just wanted to say that being born a "Sara" in the 70's, I LOVED being able (especially when I was little) to tell people "No 'H'...it's MODERN". LOL!

Sorry, I know I'm a few days behind the "sara" talk, but I JUST read it.

Also, I often think many names are influenced by movies, and there's a new movie coming out about the life of Beatrix Potter! So I wouldn't be shocked if Beatrix makes it's way back to the birth certificates.

I feel that older names are making a comeback as well. I grew up with Jennifers, Heathers, Kellys, Kimberlys, Megans, ... and I am just tired of them. They are beautiful names, but in EVERY school or business I've ever been at, there have always been at least 2 of them.

I'm hoping that if I have a daughter she'll be maybe Lucille or Dorothy or Molly. However, my fiance doesn't necessarily agree with me on the "old school" names!

I had to laugh reading your post, Sara. I have a friend named Megan whose two sisters are named Jennifer and Kelly--all born in the 70s.

Thanks for the similar name suggestions for Fox. It's the sound of it that attracts me. I guess it's the X.

New name obsession... Watched Casino Royal last night and remembered how great Mads Mikkelsen is. Mads anyone? (love those Danes).

Angela, can I ask where you live? My little Crew is in South, Western Canada and is 3. I have never met another, love it.

My husband is not into the old school names either! I wonder if it's cuz men are just not aware of current trends. Like it's the same as our parents thinking they sound like old lady names? Or I wonder if there is something specific about the current trends they don't like.

I am not usually judgmental about the names people give to their children, but yesterday I heard a hair-raising story. A friend of mine flew to Las Vegas Saturdy to be with a young girl in labor. My friend is planning on adopting a baby, and in a roundabout sort of a way, had been considering adopting this girl's son, at the girl's urging. When she arrived at the hospital, she discovered that the baby's uncle, an obvious white supremicist with all sorts of awful tatoos, had named his sister's son Aryan White ___ (last name)! When she heard that, she decided not to adopt the baby, because this would be an open adoption, and she didn't want people who would name a baby Aryan in her life. The poor baby is now part of the foster care system. Hopefully some kind foster parent will adopt him and change his name.

I checked the Social Security site and discovered that Aryan is a new hit, having debuted on the charts in 2002 and reaching 679 last year (for boys). A horrifying addition to the "-en/-an" endings!

Val - I live in suburban Omaha, Nebraska. The 5 year old Crew was our neighbor, and the other Crew was in my son's Gymboree class (2 years old). Both adorable boys and everyone in the class seemed to love the name Crew. In case anyone is interested, other babies in the Gymboree class were Beatrix, 2 Henrys, Amaya, Turner, Anna, Payton, Preston, Donovan, Carson, Kyler, and Casson. :)

Elizabeth T: Yowza. Do you think everyone who uses the name Aryan does it with white pride intentions? I was just thinking the other day how it has a nice sound, but... well actually I think the original meaning was probably not negative but it definitely has negative associations now.

OK, here's my name of the day:
Polly Hollar Pauley. She's a poet (do you think that's why her names rhyme? They do with an American accent, anyway).

Elizabeth & Robyn -- fyi Aryan is also a traditional Indian and Persian name, that accounts for most of the little Aryans born.

I once read a book about a girl named Arien (pronounced the same way as Aryan). I loved it, but when my husband heard it, he owuldn't even consider it because of the connotations. I like the sound, but I get the similarities.

If it was an addoption, she could have always changed the name without much trouble. I could see not wanting the uncle in her life, but maybe he wouldn't be. I feel bad for that kid.

Anon, I hope you're right! It does have a nice sound, and I'm sure in Farsi or Urdu (or whatever language it's common in) it has a nice meaning, but to my ears it's awful because of the Nazi/skinhead connotation. I bet that the skinhead population won't be too happy with non-white immigrants using the name Aryan, though! That could make for some interesting conversations, couldn't it?

There were other reasons my friend didn't adopt the baby (prenatal meth use, for one), but I thought it was interesting that when she wrote the email to the playgroup yesterday about the situation, it was the potency of the name that first made her think she was coming home without the baby.

There's a boy in my son's class called Arian - a better spelling I think

And it's pronounced Ar-i-an with equal stress on all syllables, and I'm sure the parents are not racists (his dad is called Mohammed)

Keren,
I'm glad to hear of your son's classmate and Anon's comment about the Persian influence. I was really despairing about the state of race relations in the US and am hopeful that most of the baby Aryans have Persian or Indian parents.

Persia doesn't even exist anymore.

I think people still describe themselves as Persian though. I met an American college student several years ago who described her family as Persian.

Yes, I had a college roommate from Tehran who called herself Persian.

Of course some people still call themselves Persian, as a political statement.

I love the name Luca for a boy, but my husband just won't have it at all! What are anyones thoughts on the name "luca"?
I guess it could also be spelled Luka..I'm not sure. Does it sound to girly or too ethnic?

Very interesting info, thank you

A couple weeks back, someone asked what the most unusual name was that we'd run across. The most mainstream kid I've known w/ the most unusual name was a young boy (~15 now) named "Cohagen". I still can't hear it without thinking: "Co(pen)hagen"! There was also a boy named Grainger that went to school with one of my kids...he was a skateboarder & artist.

At a crisis center where I used to work, I encountered the names Hezekiah, Zepplin (sic), and Dinky (nn for Deeauntay).

There was a girl named Jael (pronounced "jail"), and one named Mo-Mo.

On the upside, one of the teen moms named her daughter "Kohl", which I thought was pretty.

This is a neat site to discuss names!

Taryn, I don't dislike the name Luca, but it does strike me as more feminine. Jenny Garth (who played "Kelly" on Bev. Hills 90210) named her first daughter Luca Bella, which may be partly where I get this association.

It definitely "looks" more masculine w/ the "K", but just hearing it, I would still presume it to be a feminine name.

If you really like it and your hubby doesn't, is there another ending you can "spin" it with as a compromise? It's a stretch, but maybe something like Lucan or Lukan? With the hard "k", you could vary the ending vowel, but some variations would make the "c" seem soft (Lucen vs. Luken, for example).

Luco sounds too much like "loco", although that might make for a cool teenage nickname! ;)

I was interested to read the "Arian" discussion. It's unfortunate that it has the connotations that it does, but I wouldn't ignore them when choosing a name. At the same time, I wouldn't make any presumptions about someone who was named this, or whose parents chose the name.

I knew a young couple whose daughter's name was "Darien", which I thought was quite pretty. Still unique and with a nice sound, but not packed with the connotations.

Angela (from Omaha), I'm also in the midwest, and just saw in our paper last weekend a happy 1st b-day announcement for a little boy named "Crewster". Literally!

I like Crew by itself, but genuinely hope Crewster is just a nickname!

I just saw a post w/ the name Cecelia, and wanted to comment we knew a family whose youngest was named this, and they'd given her the nickname "Cia", as this was how she pronounced it herself when she was little! :) Adorable little thing!!

Susan -
Jael is actually a biblical name from the Old testament. She lured an enemey general into her tent and killed him, securing victory for her people. She was one of the "stronger" women mentioned in the OT.

Luca is the traditional way of spelling what I believe is a Scandanavian version of Luke or Lucas. It is traditionally a male name, but we all know how that goes. My nephew was almost named this, but had already been named Luke when they discovered the Scandnavian spelling and they didn't want to go through the paper work to change it. Since they would have called him Luc anyway, they left it.

I love the nn Cia for Cecelia - how cute.

For the sound of Aryan without the connotations, there's also Marian. This name might sound old-fashioned, but I liked it since I saw the Disney version of Robin Hood. Besides, maybe people will like the old-fashioned sound.

Have just discovered that Arian in my son's class is half Iranian (or Persian)Aha!

Someone suggested Lucan - in England that will always be the name of Lord Lucan who disappeared in the 1960s, presumed to have murdered his children's nanny.

Taryn - Luca was the name of a boy in the film 'Tea with Mussolini' - well worth a look and yes, he was half Italian. Does your husband prefer Luke?
Susan H - I like Kohl - different. I suppose some would try to spell it coal *sigh*

Lucan reminds me of Lycan, which means werewolf, but i don't know how many people actually know that. (I didn't know until I saw the movie Underworld.) I like Luca and Luka--this was the name of a character on ER and in a Suzanne Vega song. It totally strikes me as a boy's name; unfortunate that the -a is becoming a girl thing.

Keren & Taryn, re: Lord Lucan, that's news to me!

On the upside, Taryn, it seems most perceive Luca as masculine. Maybe the fact that there are several popular references to males w/ that name will help bend your hubby's opinion! :)

Robyn, you commented that it was unfortunate that the "a" ending was becoming a girl thing. Did you mean for Luca/Luka, specifically, or are there quite a few traditionally male names that end with an "a"? I couldn't think of any of the top of my head, excepting Micah/Micha, which is used for girls & boys about equally here right now.

Re: the discussion about popular name endings, I got to thinking last night about the sound "oy" (although not necessarily at the end). Roy, Loy, Leroy, Lloyd, Royce, Floyd, Boyd, Doyle & Royal were some that I thought of.

Tansey, you're probably right re: "coal"! I have to admit smiling when I hear "Cole Brown". ;)

Christiana, do you know if "jail" is the correct pronunciation for Jael?

One super popular boys' name ending in an "a" is Joshua. My daugther has an Isaiah in her preschool class, and I hear Ezra is on the rise, although I personally haven't met any. I've always thought of Micah as a boys' name, but the only two I've ever met were both female.

Susan, The "oy" sound isn't very popular these days, is it? I haven't heard of a little boy with that sound in his name in years (at least, not that I can think of).

Elizabeth, good call on Joshua. Those names wouldn't come to me! You've now reminded me of Zachariah, Hezekiah, Jedediah/Jebediah and Elijah. A friend of mine considered Ira when she was expecting a few years ago, but wound up w/ a Maxwell. So, how 'bout "Lukariah", Taryn? ;)

You're certainly right about the "oy" sound having faded from popularity! I wasn't clear in my post, but the discussion I was referring to covered current as well as once-popular endings.

I find it fascinating how these things phase in and out.

Val, you mentioned the name Parks for a boy. That is the "boy name" my bro & SIL have had picked out through all three "girl" pregnancies thus far! .

You mentioned people using the name Brazen in your area. I haven't heard that one, but it did bring to mind a family that has boys named Saber and Blade.

I also know of boys named Anakin & Atticus.

Susan H: Someone earlier mentioned a handful of boys' names ending with A, but I think that Luca/Luka probably strikes some as feminine b/c the -a names are so popular for girls right now. (Did someone already say this? Sorry, if so.)

and wow you know some creative namers. Although I did think it was cute how Anakin was called Ani in Episode I.

Robyn,

Saber & Blade were just two boys I heard being yelled at by their mom in the grocery store one night! :)

My brother Mark knows the Anakin (son of a colleague), and my brother Dave's best friend from high school has the Atticus. However, "Atticus" has acquired the nn "Whitey" already - at the ripe old age of 3! This is based upon the family's last name.

One of my old hairstylists named her son Kreigh (pronounced "kree"), however. So, I did know *that* creative namer! ;) Her choice for a girl's name was Elliott, whom they planned to call Elle.

I have yet to hear that one used for a girl, although my bro. Mark's youngest daughter is now an Evan. :)

Susan - Jael is pretty close to "jail" from what I've heard. In a fast pronunciation, it would be impossible to tell which is which. I think Jael is a little slower, - I'm not saying this clearly. You don't put too much of the "el"sound in, but a little bit. JAY-el, but it's almost only 1/2 the e sound.

My great-grandfather's name was Urcel. Sounds awful to me. His name was Urcel Royce Lastname and my dad was named for him by being given the middle name Royce. I'm really glad they didn't name him Urcel.

We've been trying to come up wiht a family name to put as a middle name for our future child. There are some pretty bad ones available.

This is for Elizabeth, Karen, and all of those who were in on the discussion of the name Aryan. I named my daughter Arian; taken from a child's name I saw in the newspaper Arion. It is pronounced Arian (Ar-ree-an) her nickname is Ari like saying R-ree. I am a history teacher and am very aware of the Aryan skin head race. I would not dare name my child after white supremacist with myself being african american. I think that it is crazy to not adopt a child because of a name. Now that child will more than likely fall to that fate.

There are people that pronounce my daughter's name Aryan. I just simply correct them and moveo on. Also, if you would do your research, Arian means enchanted, holiness, and silver. It is also a unisex name.

I hope that this will open your minds and enlighten your perceptions on such a mediocre matter. I hope that your friend will reconsider adopting the child, and not the name, and possibly even chaning the spelling, pronounciation, or the whole name entirely.

I have to say I love the name Arian, and my son's middle name is very similar - Ariel. The Aryan connection hadn't particularly occured to me before.

But I think the adoption problem (from memory)was the fact it was an open adoption, so there would be a lot of contact with the original family.

Hi Keisha,
Thanks for the education! Names are so full of meaning--you're right that we should all have open minds. My friend didn't adopt the baby not because of his name (she would have changed it), but because his mother used meth and cocaine during her pregnancy, didn't have any insurance (my friend would have had to assume a lot of costs that wouldn't occur in a normal adoption), and because she didn't want skinheads knowing where she lived and possibly coming after her son. We can only hope and pray that the baby has found a good home.

I am sorry to hear that about the child's situation. I to hope that he finds a good home. Also, I was just so shocked at how people can be wrapped with the name of a child.One of my friends almost sent me into postpartum depression because of the spelling of my daughter's name.She just kept insisting that I change the spelling to something like Auriann or something like that. This child already had a birth cert., soc. sec. card, pics taken. I'm like is it that serious to change her name. My husband told me that to name whatever as long as he could say it and spell it. I chose that spelling because it was 5 simple letters. It is spelled Arian, but we pronounce it R-ree-an. She kept saying no that is like Aryan, Aaron, or Arian. And people do pronounce it that way. I just simply correct them. And once they hear the way my husband and I pronounce it they say it is beautiful. It seems as if some people should be thankful that you and baby are healthy. My sis said you can let her worry you if u want to.