The Baby Name Wizard

I'm still in shock. I debated long and hard between Shiloh and Rihanna... I thought that mistake would take me out of the running for sure. Yay for Ty. :)

Aiea and Melissa C., a heartfelt congratulations! I enjoyed reading about your lists and reasoning for your choices. And congratulations to you, Laura, on the heavy-duty number crunching! You must be exhausted.

Oooh, but who scored worst? I think I had a chance on that end of things... ;)

I don't remember what I chose, other than Addison as a riser (along with everybody else, it seems). Congrats to Aiea and Melissa C! Great job, ladies!

I don't remember what I chose, either, except that I think I had Addison as a riser and Katrina as a faller. Congratulations to the winners!

Laura, maybe next time you can make your javascript automatically email us with what we chose, so we can remember it months later? ;-)

I tried to choose an "unusual but traditional" name and of course tapped into the zeitgeist. Every name on my top ten list rose and the name I actually chose appears in the top 1000 for the first time since 1890. Hopefully it won't get too popular!

We were going to choose Violet but then with the Afflecks, I decided against it. Glad I did!

Hey MamaLuxe--dodged a bullet with Violet, I guess! There are a surprising number of perfectly familiar, nice, old-fashioned names that aren't in the US top 1000 (and haven't been for years): for girls, they include Louisa, Mabel, Prudence, Thea, Freya, Isadora, Minna, Flora, Germaine, Agnes, Emmeline, Rosalind, Harriet...

Any of these may have particular problems for particular parents, but they're available, and almost certain to be "the only one in their school," if that's a factor.

Congratulations, you two!
I'm a huge Lost junkie, but I was surprised to see Sawyer rising. It's a name I liked at one time, but I've cooled on it since, and I thought the surname/first name trend was fading. Also, the Lost character doesn't seem like an obvious one to choose as a namesake.
Do you think it's that bad-boy appeal of the character? That might explain Cash as well! I know that's sort of off-topic.
Jodi-if you're still "here," I also thought I'd suggest Rhett to pair with Jack and Luke. I think it has the qualities you said you were looking for, though my favorite of your current choices was Will.
Best!

Regarding Sawyer... I was looking up it's history on the SSA site. What happened in 1991-1992 with this name?

It premiered on the top 1000 at 951 in 1991. In 1992 it leaped to 595! Was there something in pop culture that caused this jump?

Not Prudence - pleaseeeeeee!!!!! The poor kid would suffer unduly with every small child calling her 'poo' amongst other names! Thea is lovely though and there are lots of the flora names that appeal to a select few( excluding Poppy, Rose and Violet which seem to be fashionable right now).

Interesting about Sawyer 1991-92; those years coincide with the years Forrest Sawyer was anchoring the ABC News an Nightline as a substitute. I doubt anyone specifically chose the name in reference to him, but his name was around a lot, and might have floated into more minds in those years.

About Prudence and taunts--I've always gone under the assumption that EVERY name has taunting possibilities, so there's no point in trying to avoid them. Better to raise a kid who's got enough sense to see what nonsense such taunts are.

Anyone have any ideas of girls' names that can lead to Mae as a nickname? I've thought of Mabel, Maeve, and Maybelline (I know - it's a makeup line and a Chuck Berry song - not the best option for a name.) I adore Mae, but I'm not sure if I'm comforable naming a November baby Mae as a full name...

Lucy-- The form "May" was often used as a nickname for Mary in the nineteenth century. "Mae" could also plausibly be a pet name for Mavis, Mairwen, Marissa...

I love "Maisie" or "Mamie"-- of course, they were already nicknames themselves, for Mary, Margery, Margaret, etc.

For the daring or surname-inclined, Mae could be a pet form of "Mason" or "Maitland", or "Meynell". Wow, the possibilities are endless...

Mae is so lovely! My first thought was Maida--Maida Vale is a well-known neighborhood in West London, where the BBC studios are, but Maida is also found as a first name (I know a fifth-grader named Maida). In the 19th century, a lot of Marys used May as a nickname--so any names in the Mary constellation might be fair game. I could easily see Mairwen, or Maia, or Mariella, being behind the nickname Mae.

Hey Ellyn, Great Minds Think Alike, eh? We must have been typing at the same time.

Mae is a pretty name - even for a November baby. The only other ideas I can come up with are:

Esme (this one might be a stratch)
Mason (pretty boyish)
Maisie
Macy
Maegan
Charmaine

or maybe some kind of double name like:

Maelyn, Maybeth, Mayellen, etc.
Ella Mae, Anna Mae, etc (sort of sound country to me though)

typo - should be stretch not stratch

I wouldn't have been horribly surprised if Shiloh had made the top 1000 list, but in spite of speculations it seems to me that celebrity babies really haven't been as much of an influence on the introduction of names as celebrities themselves and the names of the characters they play have been. Though interestingly, the main exception to that is Angelina Jolie's first child, Maddox, whose adoption and seems to have clearly spawned the upsurge in boys given that name. But Shiloh, with its -oh ending, probably doesn't fit in with today's popular sounds for girls' names as well as Maddox did for boys. Max and Matthew had sort of paved the way for Maddox, which also could have been seen as a "masculine" form of Madison.

I was suprised because Olive didn't make the list because of its similarity to Olivia combined with "Little Miss Sunshine." But perhaps we're still at a stage where too many young parents remember Olive Oyl. :)

Yes, Penn, we must have been "channeling" or whatever the chic term is now--how eerie! "Maida" is neat, although it does strike me as rather crisply Teutonic, Maida Vale notwithstanding...

Eve Arden's character in "Anatomy of a Murder", the sardonic secretary to lawyer Jimmy Stewart, was named "Maida". It fit. She was discreet, witty, utterly competent.

Following up on Cleveland Kent Evans' comment, anybody else inspired by film character's names, old or new?

Penn--I already had (and named...didn't make her wait) my baby girl and I have a feeling my next ones will be boys, but I'll keep those in mind.

Prudence, Thea, Flora, Agnes, and Rosalind were all on my list, though I think only Flora made it to my short list. I would watch out with those ;)

At least I'm not as much of an accidental oracle as my Aunt...she named her kids (in order): Chloe, Olivia, Zachary, Ava, Elijah...all pretty much before the names became popular.

Mae as the nn for:
Meagan/Maegan, Mayra, Mariah, Madelia, Mada, Macy, Maelie, Maeron, Marin, Maia/Maya, Maine, Maura, Mayte,

How about Maeby as a name leading to Mae? I love the name Maeby-there was once a character on a tv show with that name but the wife wouldnt go for it. Its pronounced like maybe.

There is also the name Magalie.. (Meg-AH-lee).which could have the nick name Mae. Its really cute and very different.

Maeby was a nickname for the first name Mae (not the other way around) on "Arrested Development." She had an alter-ego named Shirley (shades of "Airplane!").

Anyway, I don't think Mae should be a nickname for Maeve or Maia/Maya because of the phonetic differences, but that really could be just me.

My middle name is Maitland -- it's a family name somewhere on my mother's side -- and in my adolescent years I flirted briefly (i.e., for no more than a day) with the idea of being called Mae. So I suppose I second Ellyn's recommendation.

Maitland is traditionally a man's name -- not that that has ever stopped anybody, of course. There's a female film critic named Maitland McDonagh and, in later seasons of "Boy Meets World," an actress named Maitland Ward. Why I know the latter bit of trivia I have no idea; "Boy Meets World" is hardly "Arrested Development."

Lastly, Mae West's real name was Mary Jane West.

I just found this blog and am enjoying reading everyone's comments (from this post and earlier as well).

I love Mae in and of itself, but I can see where you'd want a more formal given name. I'm partial to Madeline, Maude, Magda, and Mabel, but Maeve is also great (or Mabb? .. but I guess you'd get lots of mispronunciations then). I hadn't even thought of Maida / Maeda in years, but that kind of grows on me.

Maybelline kind of scares me. I have the "Maybe it's Maybelline" jingle in my head now.

Penn - try living with it first - after 50 odd years first hand experience, I'm over it, completely! And I have to add most Prudences I know don't love it much.
Lucy - I'm not a mad fan of Mae(prefer May) but what about one of the Mary names such as Marigold, Marilyn, Maribelle etc? One other that could be nice is Marilla(from Anne of Green Gables) although her wee namesake was known as Rilla.

I have the opposite question (to the Mae question). I like the name Olympia, but what's a good nn?

In regard to the Mae discussion, you might want to tread carefully with "Magalie." -megaly is a medical suffix which denotes that something is too large (ie thryomegaly is enlargement of the thyroid gland). That's what I think of when I see Magalie, but I guess if the pronunciation is different, like MegAHlie, you could maybe get away with it? Probaby not on first pass at any pediatrician's office, though.

Which reminds me of the worst name I ever heard of, Meconia. After the undesirable stuff in the amniotic fluid at birth. The mother just loved the way it sounded and thought no one would know.

And, has anyone noticed that Braxton is a top 1000 name nowadays?

:)

Kimberly -

How about Mia?

RE Prudence: Well, the Beatles are a bit before my time, but I can't hear the name without getting that song stuck in my head... "The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful, and so are you, dear Prudence..." I think that song really redeems the name - if it even needs to be redeemed.

Meconia!!!!!!!! That is even worse than Miasma

Firstly, the name Magali- I know two French Magalis (I think the name is primarily French) pronounced Mah-gah-lee, with a pretty equal stress on all three syllables... well, maybe a bit more on the last syllable. Beautiful name, but I've never come across it outside France.

Secondly, I love all the discussion of M names. I've always loved M names! What I'd like to know is, does anyone know where the name Marni came from? I know there's a singer called Marni Nixon and a Hitchcock movie of the name. Is it short for something? Oh,"Behind the name"says it's Hebrew for "Rejoice". I wonder if it could be used as a nn for something else...any ideas? I prefer it as a nn.

Valerie--I know a ten-year-old Marnie whose real name is Martine...maybe it's from there? Anyway, it works as a nn for Martine or Martina. Maybe Marina?

Marnie could also be a good nickname for Maren? The only Marnie I know is just Marnie, though.

I think Marnie is a nickname for Maren, originally, but the Marnie I know is just Marnie.

The Hebrew name meaning rejoice is Marnina. I think Marnie is great on its own.

I know a Marnie short for Margaret.

The Oxford Dictionary of First Names gives Marnie as 'pet form of the Swedish name Marna, now also used as an independent given name in the English-speaking world'.

Marna turns out to be a contracted form of Marina, which in turn is a derivative of Marius, which is of uncertain Latin origin, possibly to do with Mars, the god of war. Apparently, Marina is only coincidentally the same as the Latin adjective 'of the sea', but has been associated with it since the early centuries AD.

(...)

(...)

That got me thinking - what with Marina being the same as the vocabulary word, and perhaps having been chosen for it, does that change its meaning or add a new one?

And I always thought Katherine came from 'katharos', Greek for pure, and loved it for the meaning as well as the form. But the Oxford book now says this was a confusion and Katherine is actually of uncertain origin, though has always been associated with the Greek word and had the 'h' added and sometimes the spelling changed to Katharine to reflect that. So would I be right to name a daughter Katherine for the meaning of purity?

I could swear one of my old, out-of-print name books posited "Marnie" as a nickname for Marian/Marion, so add that to the pile! Makes sense, since a lot of nicknames originally were a way to soften the perceived starchiness of rather formal-sounding names.
Although "Marian" is more and more pretty to me with the "Maid Marian" connection.

Have also heard "Marnie" for Margaret, Stacey.

Hear, hear to you "Marigold and "Maud/Maude" fans. Gorgeous antique names. The mention of "Maris" made me think of "Damaris" ( I like "of the sea" names) which has the accent on the first syllable (I think) and is obscure enough to be very attractive to me...

I have somewhat of a name dilemma, and welcome all opinions. We're due with our second baby in a couple of months- a boy, and a close childhood friend who now lives in another state and I see her/talk to her maybe 2 a year used a name I have always loved for her son now 1 1/2. I want to use the same name for our son, but I worry what she will think. If she will be hurt or take it as a compliment. Should I just go with it b/c my husband and I love the name or would that be a bad idea?

Wait, I'm starting to freak out. Growing up I knew a girl named Maeve. Her name was pronounced "Meeve" (rhymes with "peeve"). Is it actually pronounced as to rhyme with "rave"?

Lisa - I would suggest that you ask your friend about the name rather than just using it and finding out what her reaction is. If you really love it, you might end up using it regardless, but knowing how she feels may take some of the stress off. Chances are she won't mind because she too knows what a great name it is.
Also - do you mind if I ask what your first child's name is? That might give us some direction to make suggestions for then new one.

I've always thought that Maeve rhymed with rave. Although, I have to admit, I've never heard it said out loud.

Lisa, How common is the name? If it is one that is used all the time, I wouldn't worry about it too much. On the other hand if it is a rare name that your friend picked because she wants her son to be unique, then I would avoid it.

Talking to your friend would be a good idea.

As to Katherine: I think the best way to describe the origin of the name (at least the forms in Western European languages, where the name was adopted through Latin) is that it is a BLEND of the ancient Egyptian Aikaterine, meaning unknown, with the Greek word "katharos", meaning "pure". Without the Romans mistaken belief that Aikaterine was related to "katharos", the name would still have its first syllable and would not have the "h" in western Europe. If you want to associate the name with "purity", that's up to you.

Of course my main reaction to discussions like this is how very odd it is that we call the etymological origin of a name its "meaning". We really should not be using present tense when we talk about this; the etymology is not what the name MEANS but what it MEANT in some ancient language. The word "nice" goes back to an ancient Latin word that meant "ignorant", and the word "orchid" to a Greek word that meant "testicle", but "nice orchid" does not MEAN "ignorant testicle" in modern English.

Cleveland Kent Evans-
Thank you for the laugh!

Cleveland- that's hilarious! Cheered up my morning...

Thanks everyone for the input on Marnie. You are such a resource! I love the idea of using the name Marina, with nn Marnie, but our last name has a similar meaning to hill, so juxtaposing the two might be a bit comical.

BTW, I've always loved the idea of calling a child Stella Maris. It means 'star of the sea' and is also one of the symbolic ways of referring to the Virgin Mary. Not that I'm Catholic. It just seems beautiful.
However, having now watched many episodes of Frasier, I don't think I could bring myself to call my child Maris!

Nicknames for Olympia are rather tricky! Ollie comes to mind, but perhaps you're not interested in reducing such a beautiful and dignified name to one that brings to mind a cheerful rolly-polly? I think it's cute . . .

Pia?

Hannah: I have only ever heard Maeve (not that uncommon a name in my experience) pronounced in such a way that it rhymed with rave.

Lisa: I would probably go with another name, especially if it is a rather unusual name and/or if your friend is a fairly close one. Personally I would try to avoid naming a child for someone in my closer circle of acquaintances, especially another child close in age. And I would be rather irritated if someone close to me named their child the same name I had chosen a year or so before . . . there are so many good names out there that I would imagine it would make you happier (I know it would me) to choose another strong contender for your little one, so that he's got the field to himself. Just my thoughts . . . you'll know best what to do!

Amy A - Anything "traditional" will say that Katherine means pure/purity, etc. If you speciaficaly want a name that means purity, you might want to keep looking, but I'd say just about anywhere you look Katherine means purity, so you're good.

Lisa - talk to your friend. If it's a really obscure name, she might have objections, but you live far away, so it's not like your boys will be running in the same circles all the time.

I also always assumed Maeve rhymed with rave. Anybody know the answer?

Always knew Marinas as "Marnie"