The Baby Name Wizard

I think it's an conscious trend...people think they just like the sound of Addison. I know a couple that named their daughter Ayla; they said it was after the character in Clan of the Cave Bear.

I knew a couple who named their daughter Ayla recently and I thought "I love names and I've never heard that one" she got a it from a co-workers granddaughter or something. Weird. I'd have a hard time with Arley, though - reminds me of the dame genre of Harvey or something. Dorky. I like Madison to Addison, but Ayleigh bugs me. I guess we shall see in a few years, right?

My friend and I are agape at two of the name choices you offered. My blog recently had a long discussion about the name Millicent. People called it an "old lady's name." I pointed out that my daughter's name was an "old lady's name" also -- it's Adelaide. But Adelaide gets rave reviews, whereas the response to Millicent was only tepid, when not hostile. As usual, you scored right on the mark!

-- SJ

i happen to be very fond of "old lady" names. mabel is one of my absolute favourites. and i *love* adelaide. there's a lovely song with "adelaide" as the title by an alt-country band - the old 97s.

I had noticed this trend towards chopping the top off of names, keeping the very contemporary sound combinations. Reading this I was suddenly struck by the name Ayleigh. This -looks- like a made up name to me but I said it out loud and it is my sister's name.

Eilidh.

Now, that will probably look very odd to most of you, and you may not think it is phonetically related, but Ayleigh is exactly how it is said. It is a Scottish Gaelic name popular amongst those who actually speak the language (as opposed to the made up names I find on many lists that purport to be Gaelic but are full of sounds and even letters that do not exist in the language). What strikes me is the number of similar names (or groups of naming sounds) that have grown up in separate cultures. Can anybody think of other examples? I think native African names may be a rich source here.

Laura- fascinating post as usual! Thanks!

Moe- interesting idea... off the top of my head I can think of a woman from Nigeria I know called Tinuke, which is very similar to the Dutch Tinneke in pronunciation.

Just a comment on Ayla- I have loved that name since 7th grade when I read the entire Clan of the Cave Bear series over a summer. I've re-read the whole thing a time or two since then. There is a lot of great different sounding names in that book, Ayla and Joplaya being #1 and #2 on my fave name list the entire way through high school.

Oddly-since then I've only ever heard Ayla as a boys name, I've never understood that, its so light and airy and feminine to me, but I've heard worse, lol.

Love Adelaide, and really wanted to use the nn Addie, but DH said no. Remined him of the ditzy forever-girlfriend of Nathan Detroit on Guys and Dolls. (Sigh) No Addie for me. Incidentally for Anne of GG fans out there, Adelaide Pringle was the name of Emmeline Harris's mother.

Will Nevaeh turn into Evaeh? Will Destiny turn into Estiny? I've already heard of children called Iannah, I wonder whether that's a derivative of Brianna or Gianna? I've also heard of children called Aya. (from Maya?)

This post has reminded me of the name Arlo. I think this would fit very well into current trends, including the -o endings some folks have mentioned previously. I also like Marlo, but of course would only use one or the other. Do you think Marlo could be for a boy or only a girl? These names are totally going on my list. Arlo fell off the charts in the -40s and Marlo in the '80s. Woo hoo! Mine mine mine!

Moe: I think similar sound combinations arising from different cultures is very interesting! Because we are dorks, my husband and I came up with a list of last names that can be either Chinese or Caucasian (I'm not sure of their origin beyond that; I think some are English, some more like Nordic or something but I'm pretty clueless about Europe so I'm not sure if it's even appropriate to type names as english or Nordic.)

Anyway, we are both part Chinese so this list started from our chlidhood (and adolescent) confusions about the racial backgrounds of Robert E. Lee (American Civil War general for those not in US) and Karl Jung.

Some of the names on our list: Lee, Lang, Young, King, Zane

I think we had more but I can't remember right now...

I've got one: Helen is trending more popular than Ellen--that's an example of a move toward the initial consonant sound. (Doesn't apply to Helena/Elena--the latter is more popular there.)

On the boy's side, Alan/Allen/Allan is a respectable top-200 name, but Talon/Talan is skyrocketing in popularity (though still in the bottom half of the top 1000). That might be another example of a move toward the initial consonant sound, especially if Talan becomes much more trendy.

The thing that I really like about The Baby Name Wizard is that she makes me think about "unpopular" names as much as, or maybe even more, than the popular ones. And then the weird thing is that names like Millicent and Gertrude, despite all those hard consonants, start to sound.... not so bad, maybe even a little refreshing? Am I the only one out there saying to my significant other, "What about Gertrude? Trudy would be a cute nickmane. I'm sure it will grow on you sweetie."

I have a distant cousin named Arlo. When my great grandmother would talk about him, it took me years to figure out it was a person and that was his name!! Names get mangled in my grandparent's generation and region though, so that's part of why it seemed so odd.

Census records show tons of girls named Lidda, because locals pronounced Lydia as Lie-duh and the census workers had no idea what name these people were saying :)

Great post with the initial consonant thing. I hadn't put that together yet...

Speaking of the O trend, what about Jago? It's the Cornish form of James, and seems to be rising in popularity in the UK.
I think it fits in quite nicely with Milo, Arlo, Leo, etc.

Great post, Laura! I have other comments to make on your post, but wanted to bring my last post over to the new thread, cause I need help with boys' names!

want to thank everyone who gave their well-wishes, gave H names, and commented (again) on WInter! Jack and Henry's mom, I'm glad Winter is growing on you. Hopefully it will grow on my parents!

The other Anne, my parents; names are Margaret and James, so I had to laugh!!!

I am having a really hard time with boys' names. Here are some I "like":
Jude
Kieran
August
Ambrose
Alexander
Gabriel

We've also talked about Lawrence and Paul, because they are beloved family members. Ugh. I'm just "eh" on every boy name!

Moe -- Eilidh has been one of my favorite names since I spent spring 1996 in Scotland. Unfortunately, I'm betting the kid would spend her life getting called "eyelid" on this side of the Atlantic.

Arlo fans: check out this video if you haven't seen it already:

http://www.jenville.com/pleasures/uncleliamshow.html

You'll have the Arlo song stuck in your head forever.

p.s. just to be clear: I'm not the Jen of Jenville, just another child of the 70s whose parents thought they were being original.

Re: Eilidh becoming eyelid.

One of the names I love is Eilish.

Struck it off the list when both my sisters independently said "Eyelash"

Never heard of Aylin before...it is going to take some getting use to.

Robyn T. -- love Arlo.
Anne -- love Jude. That was have been our third or fourth child's name, but they turned out to be Elinor and Judith respectively, instead.

Jude sounds like a nickname for Judah to me. It's incomplete somehow. Then again I strongly prefer full names to nicknames. August is very classy. August Judah would be cute. He could be called Gus, Jude or A.J. depending on your, or later on his, preferences.

I've heard of several baby boy Arlos. At least one mom credits Arlo Guthrie for the name.

Laura P.- I had a good friend in high school named Elinor. Love the spelling! However, she pronounced it "Ellie-nor", not "ella-nor" or "elli-nor". How do you pronounce it?

Mary- I guess, like Jack and Henry's mom, I've just never thought of Jude as a nickname. Was Jude from Jude The Obscure a Judah? Anyone know? I always thought it was a full name in and of itself.

As far as the vowel-discussion goes, how many people know more 'Anya's than 'Tanya's? I know about four Anyas who are my age (30).

I love Jude. AND Arlo. That was my secret name that I was not telling anyone, not even you people! Alas, I also like Milo. I think Milo and Jude sound good together. Erm. Maybe not. Argh! So glad I'm not having kids for awhile!!

sam, I love Milo. The Phantom Tollbooth was one of my very fave books growing up!

Jude is fine as a name on its own - much more common as a first name than Judah in the Uk (where admittedly we do like our shortened forms) . Think Jude Law, Jude the Obscure, Hey Jude and St Jude, patron of lost things.

I noticed an Anna - Hannah - Anya drift in recent years.

Keren- true. I should have said, "Was St. Jude short for Judah?" since he predates Jude the Obscure by at least 1000 years...

The consonant-vowel shift is interesting. A lot of my favourite names start with vowels - Eleanor, Anne-Louise, Ingrid, Alice, Eloise, Irena for girls, and Ambrose, Isaiah, Adrian, Elijah, Augustus, and Innes for boys. Strange though that it's just A, E and I. I don't really like any O names (perhaps Octavia or Ophelia, but I don't love them) and certainly don't like any U names! Oh, another vowel name I like is Adeline - much more refreshing that Madeline!

Re Aylin:

"Hi, I'm Aylin."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Have you seen a doctor? And what's your name?"

"Here are some I "like":
Jude
Kieran
August
Ambrose
Alexander
Gabriel"

Jude is on my "don't love it, don't hate it" list. Kieran, I don't like the American/Anglicized spelling, only the Gaelic: Ciaran. (Picked out for my second boy, btw.) August, I know the history and everything (having taken 3 years of HS Latin), but it just sounds like a month to me. Augustus is better. But I still am not fond of it. Ambrose is nice. I like that one but wouldn't use it for my kid because it wouldn't fit with our others, to my ear. Alexander and Gabriel have always been among my favorites. We want an Alex but unfortunately Alexander and our last name are a prominent historical figure, so we plan on making Alexander a middle name to John if we want to use it, and then calling the kid Alex until he's old enough to decide what he wants to be called.

Sorry to dissect all your choices! I couldn't resist!

Oh, and I've heard "Aylin" pronounced the same as "Eileen." Which comes with its own set of puns, of course.

Judas was shortened to Jude fairly early. All that confusion with Iscariot...

Anne: I could see Anya still being used today too, much more than Tanya. Wow.

Marie-Claire: I love Adrian! Do Adeline and Madeline rhyme? i would pronounce Adeline with a long I and Madeline with a short I. Maybe there are differnet pronunciations?

I noticed that Brandon became Andon for a short while--there is a tiny spike in the Voyager for 2004 that shows Andon's brief life at the top. Perhaps it staged a comeback in 2006?

I've always thought of Adeline as having a long i as well.

Elizabeth T: I went to high school with an Anden (b. 1977). His sister's name was Deann. I always thought his name was kind of strange cuz it sounded like "And then?"

I also have a friend (also born in the late '70s) named Anson. His brothers are named Trevis (b. late '70s) and Isaac (b. around 2000)

St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes or last resort. St. Anthony is the patron of lost things. My great Aunt Helen used to say, "Tony, Tony look around. There's something lost that needs to be found."

The book of Jude from the New Testament -- in the Greek it is labeled Juda(h). The author identifies himself as Judas which is the Greek form of Judah. There were 3 Judas in the New Testament -- Judas Iscariot, the other apostle named Judas, and Jesus had a brother named Judas.

Re: Jude
Kieran
August
Ambrose
Alexander
Gabriel

Like Jude. Love Alexander. Gabriel and Kiernan are okay. Ambrose is a no on my list. I would keep away from August if you someday plan to have a daughter named Winter... It becomes almost a theme but not quite since one is a month and the other a season.

I have been thinking about sib sets for Winter and have these suggestions:

Jett
Bryce
River
Blaise
Blue
Zane
Talan

Lots of Milos and Arlos over here in SF, so if it's your secret name it's not a secret!

Funny to think of chopping consonants off of my generation's names: Im, Elly, Eather, Ichelle, Icole. Nope. Maybe Aura for Laura would be nice.

A propos of nothing, here are some original names I remember from high school: Nils and Anders (very Scandinavian), Sage (a boy), Hopi (hippie parents, a girl), Marisa (a beautiful name), Tino (a boy, short for something Italian, but so cute on its own), Audra. Free for the taking, 20-odd years later.

To Heather A.:
Yes, I know what you mean. I have also been giving the name Gertrude a second look, because yes, it does sound "fresh" now. I can't believe it! I used to hate that name, but now I finding myself re-considering Gertrude and Gretchen.

As usual,Laura is spot-on. I've noticed both Aya and Ayla on several baby polls lately-also Isla. Addison, though, I think we have to pin on Grey's Anatomy. If there is a big spike in Meredith, we'll know for sure!
It's definitely true that not all old names are being revived. I had a beloved Great Aunt who was born in the early 1900's. Her fn was Thelma-not one experiencing a big boom, but her mn-Evangeline, is suddenly on the rise again. I think she would have gotten such a kick out of that. Apologies if I've already shared that-I get so caught up in these threads.
Anne-I love all your boys' names, save Ambrose, which just seems like too much of a handle to me. I do agree with someone that August might not be a good idea if you're still thinking about a daughter named Winter. I love Jude and would also be glad to "give," you Jonas or Julian-two of my favorites, or how about Dashiell with the nn Dash? I was too chicken to use it myself, so I'm forever trying to "sell," it to others!
Happy naming all.

I think River, Blue, and maybe Talan are a little hippie-ish with Winter. Although I suppose if you are into that, there's nothing wrong with it.

Beth: Elly is cute! Well, probably Ellie. Hopi seems kind of strange though. A friend of mine was telling me about folks who name their dogs after Native American tribes--I think maybe these are like hippie folks? But it seems weird and appropriation-ish to me.

St Jude is the patron saint of lost causes because his name was Judas and kept getting confused with Judas Iscariot, which did him no favors.

I would have to respectfully disagree that Ashley is not getting transformed by adding a consonant. The name Ashlyn has risen in popularity every single year for the past 20 years or so.

Adeline is my daughter's name and I love it. She gets nothing but rave reviews from others from our generation, but a lot of quizzical looks from people my parents' age. Adeline in the US is pronounced with a long I, but in England and France (and everywhere else in Europe) it's pronounced Adeleen with a long E. As far as I know, Madeline is supposed to be pronounced with a long I as well, like the children's book character Madeline who walked in a line, and Madeleine with a short I. That rule definitely is not hard and fast though...

"Maybe Aura for Laura would be nice."

"As the blackbird in the Spring, 'neath the willow tree
Sat and piped I heard him sing, singing 'Aura Lee.'
Aura Lee! Aura Lee! Maid of golden hair,
Spring-time came along with thee, and swallows in the air."

*grin*

I can totally see Aura.

And I have always pronounced "Madeline" with a long "I", but all the little Madelines I meet nowadays are pronounced like MadeLYNN. Go figure.

"I would have to respectfully disagree that Ashley is not getting transformed by adding a consonant. The name Ashlyn has risen in popularity every single year for the past 20 years or so."

Paz, I'd guess that last letters are different from initials. Names ending in n are definitely an epidemic around here! They even got their own whole section in Laura's book.

Not to be contrarian, but I quite like Ambrose. But then I like both St. Ambrose and Ambrose Bierce. Between the pair of whom lies quite a lot of conceptual space.

Thanks for all comments and thoughts. I must admit I lean toward Ambrose, because it was my beloved grandfather's name. Of course, he hated it like hell. LOL.

And it is a very good point that August and Winter is way too close to a theme for my tastes. So I guess August is waay on the back burner. I don't like the boys' names that might "go" with the mood of Winter. I'm pretty much a traditionalist, although I used to like 'Blue' as a girl's name!

Laura:

I was wondering if you had any baby name suggestions to go with the name Vienna.
My husband and I have a daughter named Vienna, and our second child is due in June.. not sure if it is a boy or girl. All the girls names we like so far seem to have the same a ending.. and we want to stay away from that. Please help.
Thanks

Jenae,

Do you like any of these (to go w/Vienna):

Charlotte
Angeline
Juliet
Opal
Celeste
Adrienne
Leonie
Clare

I named my son Avaugn, sounds like Avon cosmetics...i have gotten great responses from this name.

Sorry Cheryl... don't like any from the list... sound too formal.. I guess Vienna sounds formal too... we like names like Sienna, Victoria, Layla, & Catrina.. problem is they all have a's at the end...

Beth, I went to school (graduated '95) with a Tino. Short for Constantine.

Off topic, but here some unusual names I ran across while looking at the nursery photos for a local hospital: Cocona, Jazzie, McKynlee, Jailynn, & Crew.

Jenae: How about Chloe, Ashley, Ashlyn, Tristin, Grace, Eden, Gabrielle, Jade, Skye, Holly, Lauren, Layne, Laurice, Celine, Sydney, Marie, April...??

Jenae: What's wrong with having two girls with names that end in "a"? Such a huge percentage of female names do that it's far from sounding "matchy" -- it's not like names that rhyme or have the same initial letter.

Also, I'm just curious, where did the name Vienna come from? Was it a reference to the city or did you just like the sound of the name?

I don't think that most of the babies now being named Aylin are being pronounced to rhyme with Kaylin. Instead I believe the great majority of them are Hispanic and the name is just a Hispanic respelling of Eileen. There are also lots of Hispanic boys named Brayan. The "eye" sound is normally spelled as "ai" or "ay" in Latin American Spanish.

If you want a vowel-starting name that I think may well be greatly increasing soon, what about Olive? It is a "different but not too different" shift from Olivia, it fits in with other "flapper" type names that are being revived such as Stella and Hazel, and it has just gotten an incredible shot of positive media attention because it's the name of the little girl in the hit Oscar-nominated film "Little Miss Sunshine". I'll be surprised if Olive doesn't enter the SSA top 1000 list soon.

The Tino I know is short for Valentino!

Interestingly, back in 2005 Evan was our first choice name for a boy. Now, we prefer Stefan, so we have actually added consonants!

Do you pronounce Stephan and Stefan both with short E's? I'm concerned that people would pronounce Stephan to rhyme with Steven.

To Jenae: It's funny, when you mentioned Vienna I thought immediately of Sienna, a name I love. But of course the rhyme makes it impossible (or at least undesirable).

How about:

Tamsin

Delphi (a place name and more, but not obvious)

Lorelei (or Lorelai)

Sidonie

Carine

Carys

Sabine

I'd also second Chloe, Skye, Jade and as Celine as options.

Julie: I think that when I see the name Stefan, it is clear to me that it is pronounced differently than Steven. Stephan is a little cloudier--I think if I were paying attention, I would pronounce it with a short E, but I might not notice the A, and just think it is Stephen (which I think is always pronounced STeven right?).

Comments on three names:

Talan is from Talan Torriero, a 'character' on Laguna Beach. I'm sorry, but the name spelled as 'Talon' is laughable to me. Do people realize it's a bird claw? I just think it's an awful choice for a boy. There's someone on a baby board that I post to with a son named Talon and I just had to bite my tongue when she was so excited to have come up with a unique name.

Anya is a nickname for Anastasia, not a shortening of Tanya. Or at least that's how it started out.

Ayla Brown was a teenage girl on American Idol last year (tall, pretty, basketball scholarship to college, Senator's daughter) who was the last one cut before the top 12. I wonder if her presence on the show added to the resurgence of the name.

Anne/kq...is your last name by any chance "the Great"? If so, does your husband have a brother, because that? Would be so awesome.

lol! No, not "The Great!"

Think American history. And if that doesn't get it, think money.

The only Alexander I can think of with American history is Alexander Hamilton...

Lizpenn:
The name Vienna.. was chosen mostly for the sound. I knew a girl with that name growing up and thought it was quite pretty but different.. and my husband loved it. But also in reference to the city.. it conjured up nice images for us.

We called our son Arlo and I still love the name. I got it from the cricket commentator Arlo White, who is on Radio 5 and Radio 4 test match special. Prefer it even more now we live in Somerset and people say it with a great Westcountry Burr...Arrrrlowww. Mind you...The old "town in Essex" joke is wearing thin and it is sometimes misspelt as Arlow!

So, would definitely encourage others to name their son Arlo to make it more well known, so less people will scratch their heads when we tell them our son's name ;-)

If you like matchy-matchy names, Verona is a nice sister name for Vienna. Ronnie and Vinnie make cute nicknames too.

jenae, i love vienna, can really see it catching on especially as sienna increases in popularity. I also agree that an -a ending is not necessarily too matchy as long as the rest of the name is quite different.

if not how about:
scarlett
catrin
saffron
amelie
phoebe
romilly
jessamy
laurel

Waaay back at the top of the comments, someone mentioned Nigerian names. Our church has hosted a lot of Nigerians and they all were given christian names at birth such as Lawrence, Peter, Emmanual, Frances, etc. My priest tells me that the country is split pretty evenly between Anglican/Catholic and Muslim, so I'm guessing that Muhammad is also a popular Nigerian name. I don't know what they all would have been named a few generations ago before they were all evangelized.

Jackie: I can imagine people liking Talon as a very fierce, strong name for a boy. You know, like Remington Steele. Not my cup of tea, but...

I do love the sound of Vienna, though I am a staunch conservative about names. Is the place-name trend because of Paris Hilton? Dakota Fanning? I taught at an artsy college with girls named London, Boston, and Ireland ... I could imagine using Delhi (girl), Berkeley (boy), Finland (boy), Atlanta (girl). If I were more fanciful I might choose Tallahassee (girl), Portland (andro), Lisbon (girl, what the heck), Raleigh (andro). Other place names you'd choose for sound?

Talon has been on the SSA top 1000 list for boys since 1990, 14 years before "Laguna Beach" came on the air. The earliest use of Talon as a male name I've so far found is for the hero of a 1982 fanatasy film called "The Sword and the Sorcerer." The birds that have talons are eagles, hawks, falcons, and other raptors, and dragons are also said to have talons. That connection will seem "cool" to a lot of people.

"Talon has been on the SSA top 1000 list for boys since 1990, 14 years before "Laguna Beach" came on the air."

FWIW, I don't think anyone was suggesting that Talon came from Laguna Beach -- that's TalAn. Talon is just one of those half-hippie, half-tough-guy names. Like Canyon.

Kelly- that's interesting. Most of the Nigerians I've met have not had Christian names-- eg Ade (ah-day), Funke, Ademilola, Tunde, Tunji. I think these are Yoruba names (one of the tribes). See this link for more info. http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/yor.php
As far as I can tell, the names all have precise meanings and are often composed of a prefix such as Ade- or Olu- . My friend Funke, is actually Olufunke.
The meanings are very beautiful- imagine your name meaning "My crown has come home"(Adebowale)!
The most interesting thing I heard is about the naming of twins.
"The first born twin, whether a boy or a girl, is always called Taiwo, meaning ‘having the first taste of the world’,
whereas the second is named Kehinde, meaning ‘arriving after the other’. Although being born first Taiwo is considered as the younger twin. His senior Kehinde is supposed to
send out his partner to see what the outside world looks like. As soon as Taiwo has given a signal by crying, Kehinde will follow. Kehinde is supposed to be more careful, more intelligent and more reflective, while Taiwo is believed to be more curious and adventurous, but also more nonchalant."http://www.randafricanart.com/Yoruba_Customs_and_Beliefs_Pertaining_to_Twins.html

Talon is also a name in Star Wars books. The character Talon Karrde was created by Timothy Zahn in his "Heir to the Empire" trilogy in the mid-80's ('85 or '86 is the publication date of the first, I believe.) So at least some of those little Talons, like some of those little Maras (especially Mara Jades), are probably geekified Star Wars references. ;)

As for the guess on American History, Alex, and my last name, I can neither confirm nor deny. ;)

Anne,
From way back: we pronounce it Elli-nor, although we call her Ellie. It's from Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. She is my second favorite Austen character. I just couldn't name our daughter Fanny, after my first favorite.

Another slicing off the first consonant I heard today - a one year old girl named Abrielle. Never heard it before.

Just discovered this blog! What a treat, I love talking about names :)

I'd love to get folks' comments on the name Agatha. Is it still too old-lady-esque? I'd love to have a little Aggie someday (as my DH is from a farm and we now live in the big city). My husband and I also love Agatha Christie. Any thoughts? Otherwise my stand-by old school name is Adelaide unless it becomes too popular before we have a baby.

Agatha Christie has been done. Try being a little more original.

I meant we admired Agatha Christie the author. NOT that we'd name our daughter Agatha Christie Lastname. Sorry, thought that was obvious.

Anne B. -

Hmm...I don't know about Agatha. Not bad - sounds a little similar to Martha.

One of my nieces is named Alice, but she goes by Aggie. That might be an option, if you really like Aggie.

Or maybe it could be a nn for another name like Angela, or Abishag (if you like Biblical), or Dagney, or Hagar, or Magdalena, or Teagan (maybe)....you get the idea.

Nothing wrong with Adelaide, either. :)

I really like Agatha, think it definately could make a come back, already know one trendsetting little Agatha, age 3 and goes by Agsie, v.v.cute!

Guess I'm just a little thrown off by that gutteral "g" sound surrounded by vowels. For some weird reason, "g" just sounds better to me if it's either at the beginning or with other consonants. Seems to make it smoother. Just my personal preference, though (yes, I know I'm weird). If you love it, go with it.

I think it's a very sweet name and unique.

Phonetically, it would be going against the trend if that's something you care about. I agree with Melanie that to many people the "g" sound may be too harsh. I'm also wondering about "th"... That might be considered out of style as well... --> Ruth, Beth, Althea, Bertha, Cathy... Those aren't names I've been hearing a lot.

I'm sorry, I just don't get "place" names. Especially if you have no connection or have never even been there.

I think place names make more sense if you have a special connection to the place - and I tend to assume that the parent does, whether it's true or not. I suppose they are like flower names (Violet, Rose,), gem names (Opal, Ruby), color names (Scarlett, Amber) or names taken from the calander or from nature (Forest, Summer, River, April, Rain).

Some I like. For instance, I think Sienna or Siena (depending on whether your reference is a color or a place) is a lovely name, and it doesn't sound trendy to my ears.

Interestingly, some very old names that I like are basically place names (Aurelia and Sidonia, for instance).

Regarding Agatha: I think it's lovely and due for a revival. I like that it sounds different from the dominant phonetic trends. If you really like Aggie but are lukewarm about Agatha, the suggestions I read above are very good. Alice can be Aggie, and so can Margaret or Magdalena.

Best of luck!

Beth-- A couple of place names I find myself thinking about for people-names:

Riga (Latvia)
Tallinn (Estonia)
Catalonia (Spain)

I have no connection to them, I just always smile when I hear them. But, with Tallinn, I would be wary of wandering into "Talon" territory... (Not a fan of Talon. I can't help but hear Napoleon Dynamite asking "Do those chickens have Talons?" :)

Beth, Bethany and martha are all popular in the UK. I've come across a few babies called Agnes as well. But Agatha..still an old lady's name to me. Sorry!

I love place name, the sound exotic to my ears. I love Sierra, Daytona, Georgia, Verona, London, Paris (although Paris Hilton has ruined this name),Egypt, Vienna, Dakota, York.. when I hear them I think of places of mystery and wonder. Maybe parents use them because they are places they wish to travel which have things they love.. so that is what creates the connection.

Chelsea Clinton supposedly received her name because her parents had been trying without luck to have a child but succeeded in conceiving while in Chelsea, England.

A couple of place names that many have used are India and China. I love them however I'm over Paris and Sienna now they've been spoiled - pity!
If you had to have a 'connection' to use a name it'd generally be pretty limiting, don't you think? For me naming is a chance to stretch the imagination and present your child the way you hope they will be.
Afraid Talon and all its spellings leaves me cold - too 60's sci-fi come Troy/Dane/Glenn for me.

Hm, Anne. I have to say we have ultra-trendy jet-setting friends who just had a baby and named her... yes, Agatha. I admit I was surprised because it did strike me as kind of a frumpy name. But she's very cute and guess what -- the name now strikes me as "avant guard". They are just the types to be ahead of the curve...

I think the only current place names I like enough to use (that I can think of) would be Siena or India. I did have a friend named Skye, who was named for the Scottish Isle where she was conceived, and I thought that was sweet.

I wouldn't want to limit people to names with which they had a special connection (I'm not the name police!) but I always assume that there is some reason why a name becomes important enough to bestow. That goes for any name, not just place names.

But of course I know that many choose names because they simply like how they sound, and I must admit that the way a name sounds is also very important to me. It's the combination of meaning and sound that gets me.

I've liked Florence for a long time- LOVE the place and think the name is sweet. Maybe Flora for a nn. And it's way out of style, according to the Name Voyager, which can only mean one thing... it's about to be on the way up again!

I don't think I'd use a place name unless the place meant something special to me and also convinced me as a name.

Here are some girl names I really like to go with a soft-sounding, 1-syllable last name beginning with H. Any red flags that immediately come to mind?

Verity Grace
Keelin Elizabeth
Susannah Christine
Kira Patrice
Chloe Olivia
Evelyn Iona

What do you think? Any favorites?

I don't quite get naming a baby after where it was conceived. I'd hate for my child to be forming the mental image of what exactly happened in London or Louisiana or Pomona. And it can only lead to trouble: babies being named Chevy or Futon or Holiday Inn.

i like the name agatha - and i think it's about to become more popular thanks to the "old lady" name-revival. besides... i think it's important to choose a name that you *love* even if others aren't approving. the last thing you want is to regret a name choice because you didn't want to cause any ripples.

Janea -

Someone suggested Sabine to go with Vienna. I think these sound great together! Good luck.

Thanks for the comments regarding Agatha! We have time before we need to decide on a name, but I appreciate the feedback.

BTW, I really like Verity Grace above - I think that's beautiful and unusual. I also like, rather than Iona, Ilona. I remember hearing a sweet song about a girl named Ilona in some obscure musical long ago.

I'm coming in late on this topic, but had to comment. Our son's middle name is Ambrose--its a family name. I'm curious as to why so many people think it is "too much". I guess that for a first name it could seem a bit high brow. We like the meaning though, "immortal".

On another note, in the southern US the name "Ansley" for girls is becoming popular in some circles. The name is connected to neigbornhoods in Atlanta, and new moms are really starting to pick up on it. I'm wondering with the trend towards "vowel names" if it will spread. Has anyone noticed this name in other parts of the US or UK?

Don't know if anyone's mentioned it yet, but "Heidi" is one of the nicknames for "Adelaide". In the book HEIDI, Adelaide was Heidi's full name.

Thanks, Anne B. :) We really like "Veri" as an unusual nn. Shades of Arrested Development, I know. (they had a girl nn'ed Maybee).

Good idea about Ilona. Speaking of place names, I've never actually been to Iona (it's an island in Scotland, I believe)...it was my great grandmother's middle name and I've always kind of liked it. Except sometimes it sounds like "I own a..."

R: "half-hippie, half-tough-guy" is hilarious!

Valerie: very interesting about the twins, especially that the first-born is considered younger. i wonder if this is still done for ALL twins though. there are alwys those who like to break tradition i think.

Place names: I think it's creepy when people use these as "exotic" names. I think it is sooo wrong to name girls Asia. I find it very porno-rific.

o.h.: hilarious!

Jen: I've met one Ansley in Hawai'i--she's around 30 though I think. Maybe 20. And I'm pretty sure she's not from Hawai'i.

I agree about Iona, Melanie-- love it but also know it can be awkward. There's a well-known violinist in London called Iona Brown and often on posters it says Iona Brown Violin.

OMG, I've just remembered we also have a distant relative on our family tree called Iona Buss! I'm not kidding!

I have been considering the name Iona myself, as my grandma's name is Ione. I keep thinking of the "I own a" thing, too. If I make it a middle name then it would be like, "Jane, I own a, Doe" when said altogether. Her middle name is Dorothy -- not a name that really floats my boat.

I love Kira, Susannah, Chloe and Evelyn.

In fact, I considered Kira and Evelyn for my second daughter. Chloe is way too popular for me and Evelyn is also in the danger zone for my popular name phobia. My first daughter is Suzanna.

I don't think you have to worry about Iona as a middle name, it is beautiful and the family connection makes it a fine choice.

I think that Verity would be called Variety (my first thought on reading it).

Keelin sounds like a boys name to me...
or a made up name based on Kaylin, Kylee etc. Know it isn't but something you might want to consider.

I suppose I could always follow the trend and add a "Ky" to Iona and use Kaiona!

All three of my girls have vowel names-India, Arabella, Adelaide (BTW, we call her Ada, not Addie. Sounds too common with all the Maddies running around). We also have place names going too; we have a son named York, and a son named Finn Argyll (named after Argyll in Scotland, not Finland as people tend to assume). We kind of abandoned the place name thing after a while. I didn't want to get too themey. We picked places that we liked or that had some meaning for us. I guess Adelaide is also a place, but that's not what we were thinking.
I knew a lttle girl (9 years old) named Venice. Except her parents pronounced it like Denise. I wonder why.
I just flipped through our school directory. I found a Seville, Kauai (that's a new one for me!), China, Egypt, Hastings.

My husband and I chose a family name - Lucia (loo-sia) for our child about to be born. however, I cannot for the life of me find a nice sounding middle name. Our last name begins with an "H" and is 4 sylabls and ends with an "O". Any suggestions?

N.H.
Lucia Grace
Lucia Jane
Lucia Clare

Whoops, got cut off!
Also,Lucia Rose
Any good?

hi everyone...just found this site...so cool..what does everyone think of the name trinity? my dh thinks it sounds down scale..but i really like it..he also thinks it is too 20007..meaning like jennifer 70's shirley..40's etc..does anyone know of adult trinity's? thanks marylin

Trinity was the name of the girl in the Matrix. I considered it for a while but tired of it.

What do you think of the name Ocean for a boy? My husband loves the ocean and i thought this would have special significance to him, but he doesn't seem to 'get it'.

Oceane is a very popular girls' name in France, so I would find it a bit odd for a boy.
I love the name Verity. So pretty and a great meaning. If my son had been a girl he would have been Anna Verity.

Agree with Valerie that Lucia cemands a one syllable mn.

I know a little Iona, she has a sister called Isadora. The I-own-a thing never struck me until now!

I would have pronounced it I-own-a. How are you supposed to?

Oceane- is that Oh-see-ann or Oh-she-ann?

for those concerned with the "i own a" thing regarding the name Iona, maybe consider Ione - as in Ione Skye from Say Anything... btw, Skye is actually her middle name, Leitch being her given name... to continue the thought/name train, she's the daughter of 60's singer Donovan - that's her brother's name as well, and Donovan Jr. has a daughter named Lilac Jean.

shan..why did you tire of trinity?

Lilac calls out for a different middle name to me. It's so pretty and unusual, whereas Jean seems so pedestrian to me. I do hope her daughter doesn't use the last name Skye, however! That would be a bit over the top.

Oh, not because of it's overuse or anything. I just personally got tired of it. I still think it is pretty and unusual and unique but just not for me.

Margaret- Glad to hear that I'm not the only one out there re-thinking Gertrude.

Anne B.- Agatha sounds wonderful and completely fresh to my ears, and I love the nn Aggie.

Marylin: Honest opinion: I don't personally like the name Trinity.
But it has become popular recently. I tend to think of it as a name younger parents choose, probably because of The Matrix. So to me it has a kind of comic book, sci-fi feeling to it. Do you have other favorites? Would you be interested in suggestions?

Melanie: Of your choices, I prefer Verity Grace (gorgeous meaning, lovely and gentle sound, novel and sweet nickname . . . this one has it all!)

I really like Iona, Ilona and Ione. All are graceful, unusual names.

Best of luck to you both!

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Marilyn:
I've met a couple of Trinitys, but not many so far...I teach school so I have a lot of names on my "will not use" list (these are generally kids who get into trouble a lot and make me wear out their name over the course of a year). LOL

Trinity sounds very nice. I like the rhythm. It's not on my list for only one reason: sounds a bit like schizophrenia to me. "I am Trinity" just sounds a little funny to me. But that's just my one nit for an otherwise very beautiful name.

i'm back..melanie..that's is funny...eleni...i would love some suggestions...my dh likes barrett..for his mum's maiden name..im not sure..she passed away last year so there is the sentimental value but...maybe a little too boyish..

marilyn--don't like Barrett for a fn, but maybe a mn? Just not if your ln is Browning, or if you go with Elizabeth for a first :) It would go well with a very feminine fn.

btw-not personally a fan of trinity. sounds to me like the genre of neveah, et al. Are there any others that struck you?

Marylin: I think Trinity is a cool name but it definitely makes me think of The Matrix. So I guess that could make it kind of dated. It also reminds me of the holy trinity... which could be a plus or minus.

Triity was on my name for years, even before the Matrix, my brother went to school next to a Trinity Church and I just loved it. I was going to use it for my son if he had been a girl. I still love it, and even though I read that it was a name that was fast growing in popularity, I have neer seen/heard of any children with that name.

It doesn't matter if you want to give your baby a name that sounds "exotic to you". Naming your daughter China or Vienna or London or Paris when you have never even been there, have no connection whatsoever or anything is kind of sad somehow.

There is one place name I really liked. I even lived there for a while. But because of people randomly naming their kids place names I would no longer even think of it. The trend is rather tacky at the moment, wheras maybe 10-15 years ago it was still kind of fresh and unusual.

I also have problems with names like Destiny or Trinity. They lock your child into a certain mold. I don't know a lot of neurosurgeons named Krystalee or Angel. It's just so hard to take those names seriously.

I think the name Verity is lovely, but I always think of the company when I hear it. To me, it has the same feel as naming your child Verizon. Come to think of it, why isn't anyone naming their child Verizon? Not that I'm advocating it, but it has the trendy V and Z and it ends in an N!

not sure if you are familiar with it... Trinity is also a little girls name on the show Trailer Park Boys... since that I kinda view the name is trashy... since well that is the shows basis.. I have a little cousin named Trinity though.. and she is very quite...

What about the name Trianna instead.. that is her sister's name actually.. and the name is nice along the same lines, but a little bit different.

JB -

Dang. I didn't know there was a company named "Verity." Well, back to the drawing board, maybe.

I don't know that V is necessarily as trendy as some of the other big Scrabble points letters. Most of the names I can think of that start that way sound slightly old-fashioned but well-established: Vera, Victor, Virginia, Victoria, Vivian, etc.

I like V as a first letter partly because of the way it feels to write it. It feels like a very "confident" letter, if that makes any sense.

As opposed to my name, which seems kind of mumbly to say. Not that I'm complaining...

Speaking of place names, I can't wait to name my next IVF child "Kaiser Permanente Lastname." Very dignified, no? I hope she marries young Futon.

Agatha. I knew a supercool girl in college with that name, and I think you do have to be supercool to pull it off. Frumpy names do work best on terminally hip people, but if you like it, go for it.

Trinity. OK, here is where I come out as someone who once had an unsavory nightclub job, and that was a popular dancers' stage name, right up there with Destiny, Fantasia, Strawberry, Sugar, and Jazz. No, no, no. An aside: I had to choose from a list of readymade stage names like this, and I saw "Piper" sitting among these godawfuls, and snapped it up. Which then made me the butt of all these "play my pipe" jokes. So I suppose context is everything...if Trinity is a priest's daughter, it might work.

Beth: Was Asia on the list?

Melanie: I never thought of the letter V that way, but I'm kind of liking the idea.

Thanks for the vote of confidence in the letter V. I love it! And my name is quickly moving up the SSA list too.

Interesting that a couple of posters find it uncomfortable to have children named after exotic places. I guess adventure isn't for all - but to say they are 'pornographic' is saying that a place is pornographic? Not only odd but to me, rude!

Melanie- I wouldn't throw Verity out the window just because of it being a company name. I don't even know what co. they are talking about. I'll google it later.

But that does remind me of one name I like that has a beautiful meaning but was vetoed against it because it is a name of a drug, Allegra I am so mad that they would name a drug that!!

Tansey, it's not that "adventure isn't for all". I've lived and grown up all over the world and wouldn't think of naming my kid any of the towns I lived in.

On the other hand you have people who have never left West Virginia naming their children after places they have never been and often know very little about. To me this is kind of sad.

I really think naming a child should take a lot of thought and you should have some sort of connection to the name. This is of course only my opinion.

Vienna, for example, is the capital of Austria. Do you know anything about Austrian culture? Are you Austrian? Have you ever been to Vienna? Do you know the history of the city? Do you know anyone who is Austrian?

These are all things to consider since your daughter will constantly be asked "like the city?"

I knew a lovely little girl named Milan, who happened to be Italian, living in America. Her parents had travelled there many times (she had lots of family there), she had been there about 6 times by age 6, and it was an important city to her family and culture. This makes quite a lot more sense to me than naming your daughter Milan because it "sounds neato and so exotic".

Re: the name Asia

I think folks name their daughters this because it's seen as "exotic." Let's face it. Asia is seen as exotic. I don't like that it is; it's a gross stereotype.

I think there's also a weird parallel between invading land and invading women. I can't cite anything off the top of my head but I think similar language is (or has been) used to describe conquering land and conquering women. And we (maybe not we specifically) do (or did) perceive men as conquering the women they date/marry/etc. White slave-owners raped female slaves, while Black men were lynched for looking at white women. I think there's still the sense that women of color are more acceptable than men of color. The practice of white men dating/marrying Asian women has a long history (mixed with the imbalance that comes when American soldiers are in countries like Vietnam or Korea), while it is still sort of unusual to see Asian men with white women.

(cont)
I don't mean to say white men should not date Asian women. My husband is mixed but some folks think he looks white (and I am Asian American). Still, the numbers are screwy!

I know my thoughts are all over the place. I am open to objections that challenge me to clarify.

Robyn,

Don't quite understand the parallel between invading land and invading women and naming a child after a place...

If someone named a boy after a place -- would you have the same reaction?

Some suggestions to go with Vienna:
Scarlett, Poppy, Serena, Aspen, Valerie, Sascha

I'm not objecting to the naming of children after places in general. I just think that when people name their daughters Asia... maybe it's the stripper name thing like some others have mentioned, which generally I don't agree with. Like, part of me thinks that names like Krystal and Angel or whatever will be respected--and will be not just stripper names--when folks with those names *are* CEOs or whatever. But the name Asia seems somehow different to me.

I think I worry that the use of the name perpetuates the exotic Asia stereotype. There's a short answer. Does that make sense? (Ugh, I may have just taken you all on a ride through my baggage unnecessarily.)

Anyway, if anyone has named their daughter Asia or has considered it, (or konws someone, etc.) I'd be interested to hear the reason since I've never had the opportunity to ask someone in real life.

Also, I don't think anyone would ever name their son Asia. What place names do people use for boys? YOrk and Paris have been mentioned in this thread...

(cont) Would a boy be named after a non-European place? I'm not sure but I wouldn't be surprised if non-Euro place names are more common for girls.

Paris is sort of interesting because I think it has the "exotic" vibe, which I think may be less common for boys, but I wonder if it is used for boys because of Paris in... the story with Helen and Troy and all that...

Robyn and L - its all perspective. Maybe someone with a dream who has never travelled nevertheless names their child after a place they see as beautiful and desirable to visit. What a compliment to that place. Naming only if you have a connection is so limiting for most people - dreams are free and so are beautiful names.
I think Asia is exotic, using the meaning 'attractively strange or unusual' Concise Oxford'. If invading a land somehow prohibits naming a child after a place there, then pretty much all cultures would have to prohibit a mighty lot of names!
BTW - I've had various homestay students from a range of Asian countries and any I've spoken to about the exotic thing think its flattering. Just as other countries or continents have their tags, Asia gets exotic!

Robyn and L - its all perspective. Maybe someone with a dream who has never travelled nevertheless names their child after a place they see as beautiful and desirable to visit. What a compliment to that place. Naming only if you have a connection is so limiting for most people - dreams are free and so are beautiful names.
I think Asia is exotic, using the meaning 'attractively strange or unusual' Concise Oxford'. If invading a land somehow prohibits naming a child after a place there, then pretty much all cultures would have to prohibit a mighty lot of names!
BTW - I've had various homestay students from a range of Asian countries and any I've spoken to about the exotic thing think its flattering. Just as other countries or continents have their tags, Asia gets exotic!

Exotic is in the ye of the beholder though...I always find it so funny when people call their children after very un-exotic British places, because they think it sounds classy, different etc...Coventry for example was once mentioned on this blog, or Preston, York or Chester. Even Chelsea is more of a football team than a girls' name.

And the Beckhams calling their son Brooklyn caused much merriment in the British press.

Robyn,
I had one very blonde student named Asia in a writing class a few years ago. I have no idea why she was given this name, but she was a very hippie sort of a girl, so perhaps her parents were striving for the exotic ideal.

Tansey: I don't have anything against naming children after places one has never been. And I don't mean we shouldn't name kids after places that have been invaded.

To address your original comment, I hope I've made it clear that I don't think Asia is pornographic; I think people *think* of Asia as pornographic.

Another perspective: I've been talking to a couple friends about this. One said she thought it was weird to name a kid Asia because no one would name their kid Europe. So we also talked about how Asia is the only name that is a whole continent. I know folks also name children based on sound, so perhaps that also has something to do with it.

Anyway, I am still opposed to this name, but I don't think I will be able to convince anyone. I had a chance to state my side and that's fine. (I am open to further questions and challenges, but not sure if I have anything to say that will not be repetitive.)

Asia isn't the only continent that has children named after it. America is a fairly common given name in the Hispanic American community (and turned up occasionally among non-Hispanics in the USA back in the 19th century), and that's TWO whole continents. Africa is also now occasionally used in the African-American community, though Asia is much more common there. Part of the use of Asia by Black parents in the USA comes from some confusion of that name with the Muslim and Arabic name Aisha. I know of African-American women named Aisha who pronounce that as "Asia" instead of as "ah-EE-sha" or "eye-EE-sha" as those more familiar with Arabic culture usually say.

As for place names for boys: Dayton, Trenton, Camden, Phoenix, Dakota, Montana, Boston, Raleigh, and Richmond are examples. Kobe, as in Kobe Bryant, comes from the city of Kobe, Japan. And the African place names Zaire and Kanye turn up fairly regularly in the Black community today.

I realized the parallel I see between interracial relationships and naming daughters Asia: I worry that these are based on the same stereotypes of Asia. (I know this is not always the case, but still, I think it is a genuine concern.)

I think the use of Asia as a girls' name shows our perception of Asia as feminine, just as European, AFrican, and American (taken from Native words) place names are used for boys. (thanks for the list, Kent!) People want their boys to be cultured, or strong, or whatever. These names can be equally... based on icky stereotypes.

I also think maybe it's that naming your kid Asia or Dakota is not really about the place, but the people. and it's not naming the kid after the person like, "I'll name him after my dad because he was a good man." it's naming the kid after some group of people who are assumed to hve certain characteristics. That's stereotyping, isn't it?

In a more general statement about place names, I think we need to differentiate between naming a child after a place and names that also happen to be place names. Remember when Laura had that post about place names and people said they didn't even think about Madison because they don't think about it *as* a place name. I don't know if names like Dayton and Trenton are intended to be in honor of those towns either.

Yep. Kenya is pretty popular too. And Jordan and Israel are/have been popular for boys, though they probably cannot be considered strictly as place names.

Then there are the European names, Ireland, London, Paris, Vienna, etc. And the USA names Dakota, Brooklyn, Savannah, etc.

And, in defense of Asia, it is a small (which is trendy) name with the very popular "A" on each end.

That said I do find it a little odd when babies are given names of places that were clearly not in their ancestry. I still think China was a strange pick for the Jefferson Airplane baby.

But, hey, my tastes run toward the unexotic (Charlotte and Joanna) and it is just my one vote.

People pick what sounds beautiful and meaningful to them. And even if it is something we wouldn't pick ourself (Madisyn, McKenzie, Timber, Orion), it would probably be better to not paint the person who chose the name with too broad a brush.

Yep, Asia was on the list of dancer names. For whatever that's worth. I did laugh at "Piper" when I saw it because I thought it was so preppy, and hadn't thought of its potentially obscene connotations. I still love it as a name.

The thing about those stripper names was that they were never names, but always a thing (Fantasia, Strawberry, Sugar), a place (Asia, Africa), or something grandiose and quasi-religious (Destiny, Trinity, Zenith). So no stripping "Susans," or even, suprisingly, Trixies or Tiffanies. I so wish I had a copy of it! But you can satisfy your curiousity with the Exotic Dancer Name Generator at http://www.blogthings.com/exoticdancernamegenerator/

cheryl: yeah, i do recognize that Asia is an -a name, and also that boys are less often given -a names. But thank you for mentioning China. I am sort of uncertain about that one too, but Asia seems worse for some reason. Maybe cuz an Asian fetish is more common than a Chinese fetish. (And uh... I sort of like the name Orion. Well, more when I was in college. I think I've outgrown it a little.)

Beth: Great point about stripper names being nouns. My husband thinks it's weird to name a kid any noun, but I think names like Honor and Justice are less creepy than Asia. BTW, did any of your coworkers take the names Asia or Africa? If so, what was their racial background and how was the name perceived by customers?

I know a beautiful little girl called Asia. Her mother is from Morocco, brought up in France and her father is half- Vietnamese, half-French.As you can imagine, she is gorgeous and definitely looks slightly Asian. They pronounce the name Ah-SEE-ya. I'm so in love with her. I must say in her case the name seems to fit, although I do hear what you've been saying, Robyn, about stereotypes.

It's so fascinating to read all these posts. Do you think it's better to give your child a name that generates reactions, albeit some of them strongly negative, than to give your child a name that generates a yawn and a ho-hum? At least people won't forget Asia's name, whereas they might John's.

I suppose my husband and I aren't risk takers, because when we realized both of us had Bronwyn on our list, we used it as a middle name because we weren't daring enough to give it to our daughter as her first name.

On another note, I delivered a meal to a new mom last week. I asked her what the baby is named and she said, "Chambers," immediately followed by "it's a family name." She sounded very apologetic. She's obviously been getting some negative reactions, which made me feel sad for her, because she clearly chose what she thought was a beautiful name for her daughter. I thought it was a cute name, especially for the daughter of two lawyers!

i'm a new reader, just browsing, but had a thought for a name to go with Vienna....
How about Cathe or Cathay? or possibly Olympia or Olive...I have an Olivia who is now 10 and prefers Olive over all other nn's... She's still Olivia to me and the rest of the family, but she's quickly turning teachers and friends to her preference.

Also, I see nothing wrong with choosing a "place name" even if you haven't a real connection. As an avid reader I feel strong connections to many places I'll quite possibly never visit.

Robyn T.-
Just wanted to throw out there that I did know a guy named Asia a couple years ago. He's probably in his late 20's now, and I would guess that his mom was maybe a little hippie. I'm not positive, but I think he many have spent part of his childhood in some part of Asia, or his mom did before he was born. That seems to ring a bell anyway. He was a very nice guy; definitely not Asian though, very tall and Caucasian looking. He didn't seem to have any issues with his name either. Actually, he didn't seem to have issues period, just to be really well-adjusted and happy. I have to add though that he lived in a very progressive, but pretty hippie-dippie part of California, where people give their kids all sorts of "unusual" names and no one blinks an eye.

Cool! I'm glad to hear of some folks named Asia that do not fit into my great fear. Heh heh...

Valerie: Do you know why they pronounce Asia the way they do? Is that just how it's pronounced in French or something? Or is there another reason?

As for the guy named Asia, while I can imgine that also coming out of stereotypes (maybe the mom wanted him to be zen or something), i think it bother