There was Holly and Ivy and Noëlle and Joy,
Merry and Carol and Nick for a boy,
But do you recall,
The least famous Christmas name of all?
During the holidays, I renewed my annual acquaintance with the name that represents the season best to me. This name calls to mind generations of families around the world, celebrating with those little family-specific traditions that carry the most cherished memories. The name is Tammis.
The funny thing is, Tammis isn't part of any tradition of mine. In fact, I don't know much about the name, though I quite like it -- it's a female name, simple but chic and very uncommon. The holiday link comes via a lovely household I visit each December. One of the family-specific traditions in that home is an old Little Golden Book of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, laid beneath the tree each year. And therein lies our tale.
This Golden Book was first published in 1958. It was written by Barbara Shook Hazen, and illustrated by the great Richard Scarry. I was raised on Scarry's Busytown books, which used cartoonish animal illustrations to present original stories from the practical (What Do People Do All Day) to the bizarre (The Talking Bread, Schtoompah the Funny Austrian.). But before Busytown, Scarry spent years at Golden Books illustrating other writers' works in a more conventional picture-book style. His drawings for "Rudolph" took the material totally straight, with one exception: names.
In a key scene, Santa holds a long scroll naming all the "good boys and girls" on his delivery list. Little John and Mary and Peter and, yes, Tammis are destined to be happy on Christmas morning. Here's the full lineup:
John
Mary
Leo
Betty
Ralph
Peter
Henry
Ruth
Sally
Huck
Joan
Jane
Tammis
Edward
Michael
Frances
George
Lucy
Carlton
Pierre
(You can see the original image, courtesy of a random flickr user.)
Every year I pore over the names, reading Tammis, Huck and Carlton and wondering about the real meaning of Santa's list. It's not mentioned in the text of the story so I assume it was Scarry's own contribution, a shout-out to all the "good boys and girls" in his own life. I like to imagine that Tammis could refer to Tammis Keefe, a great textile designer of the same period whose animal prints could have done a Golden Book proud. (Check out some of Keefe's handkerchiefs with crocodile, circus and exotic animal motifs.)
Whatever the real story behind the names, the list speaks across time. It's a moment of connection, a glimpse of quirky humanity in an otherwise sanitized setting -- like a family tradition passed down to us from the Scarry household. And Tammis is a pretty nifty name, too. Maybe one to add to your own list of "good little girls"?
UPDATE: Since I posted this, readers have joined me hot on the trail of the elusive name Tammis. Theories about, but evidence seems to be mounting that its roots are in Celtic variants of Thomas, and that it can be used for boys and girls. Close relatives are Tam (the Scottish version of Tom) and Tamsin (a Cornish contraction of Thomasina which is now widely used across the U.K.). Thanks, everybody!
Comments
Penelope--a friend of mine was in your shoes and used the Spanish-language version of a family member she wanted to honor as a middle name. In her case, the parallel name was obvious and the three names together flowed well. I suppose there are names in which a translation would be more difficult.
Dear Guest (#198): Of your choices, I like Violet and Bethany best, Bailey and Bree least.
Guest (#198): I like Violet the best from your list. It is probably my favorite name for a girl right now.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck had a healthy baby girl yesterday. I don't think the name has been released but I am very curious to see what name they chose to go with Violet.
Guest- I like all of those but Bree which I think of as more of a nickname. Do you have a baby to name? If so could you give us an approximate idea of what you are looking for, anything it should match with the LN, MN, siblings, etc?
Eo- love the list of Jazz singers, what fabulous names!
Nora, I love your girls' list!! I'm a big AOGG fan and we've recently been getting the tv show "Avonlea" which was based off of the town on Netflix. It's a lot of fun. I love the idea of Avonlea as a name, if she did want to avoid the connection there are lots of nickname options there. You might be safer going with Avonlea as a mn though as mentioned above. I also like Sylvie Avonlea- a little sing-song but in a good way! For boys I really only like Archer of your choices. Avon I keep trying to say like Avonlea and it just doesn't sound right on it's own. Usually if I try to keep a certain pronunciation in my head I can so this may be a bad sign for other people getting your child's name wrong. I also just like the idea of Avonlea for a girl better anyway:). I also like the suggestions of Leo and Leander, I know an old Leon so that's the association for me.
Apologies, I didn't refresh before I posted so I'm a little behind in my comments!
Miriam, I agree it's a bit odd that no one remember the name. "Uncle Dick" was acuatally my husband's great uncle (m-i-l's uncle), and as he lived in Israel and died in the '50s or '60s at the time she was growing up in Venezuela, it's not that surprising that she wouldn't know his Hebrew name.
Guest post 198:
Some opinions (for what they are worth)
Emma: Lovely name, too popular for me personally at the moment
Bree: Makes me thing Desperate Housewives.
Bailey: Cute, but I had a roommate whose dog was called this so I can't think of it as a human name anymore.
Brynne/Brynne: Snappy and Modern. I like it.
Bethany: Classy and conservative. Love nickname Beth.
Violet: I really like this name and think about it for future children. The one thing I'm not sure if I can get past is that "shrinking violet" thing.
Cara: Pretty and friendly.
Guest -- I know of a recently born baby Bree, big sister is Elle. All I can think of is the cheese!
I like Brynne best from your list. Also like Violet, but I think it is becoming kind of trendy.
Nora -- I know an Avonlea who is about 4 now. She goes by Ava. I agree with what others said about Avon being mispronounced (also it is a not so great town in the Boston area so I don't have a good association with it).
Guest, from your list, I like Violet, Bethany, and Cara the most. I think any of those would be good picks. Emma is nice too, but too popular in my opinion. The others I don't care for as much--they sound too trendy to me, and, for what it's worth, I've also known a lot of dogs named Bailey.
Thanks!
Well Jenny L3igh, I looking for a name that is not too popular. I am also looking to have a B name as first or middle.
middle would probably be Elizabeth (not with Bethany), Elise or Amelia
some combos could be
Bethany Elise
Bailey Elizabeth
Cara Bethany
Guest-- I'm assuming you are the same guest from #198... here are my favorite combos from your choices:
Bethany Elise
Cara Elizabeth
Violet Elizabeth
Brynne Elise
Oops-- failed to see the B as first or middle name stipulation
I still like the names I suggested-- but
Cara Bethany
and
Violet Bethany
work also
Guest#198-
I tried to post earlier but it didn't go through. Let's see if it does this time. Thoughts on your posted names.
Emma=Like it. Old-but-new-again. Not overly popular in my area but is in others.
Bree=Love but sounds like nn because I knew a girl Bree nn for Brehan (Bree-ann).
Brynn/e=LOVE LOVE!
Cara=Okay name. Reminds me too much of Jon+Kate to use currently though.
Bethany=Great underused name.
Bailey=Okay but sounds like boys name to me.*Disclaimer-I used to Love the show Party of Five*
Some combos for you:
Bethany or Brynn Elise
Anything goes with Elizabeth as mn!
Amelia Brianne
Sylvia Brynne
Bailey Eileen
For those of you commenting on Bailey as a dog's name here is the reason you're hearing it so much-
Top Ten Dogs Names in US(from Yahoo):
10. Chloe
9. Sophie
8. Daisy
7. Maggie
6. Buddy
5. Lucy
4. Molly
3. Bella
2. Bailey
1. Max
And not to be left out, the Top 10 Cat Names:
10. Charlie
9. Shadow
8. Bella
7. Oliver
6. Smokey
5. Lucy
4. Tiger
3. Tigger
2. Chloe
1. Max
Guest -- I have a 14-yr-old niece named Bryn Elis4b3th. It's a spunky name that fits her perfectly. I prefer Bryn without the extra /n/ and the /e/.
Man, there are a lot of cross-conversations going on ...
I like the name Leon a lot
I know a year-old Sylvi@ L@urel, and I think it's a dignified name
I know a three-year-old S@bin@ Oce@an, and I think it's an artistic name
My three-year-old calls his still unborn (and still un-named, sigh) sister "Leaf," which is maybe why my husband likes the name Laurel so much
But then my son also suggested Avalin@ Shoppingl@ast
... that's all the responses I can remember right now!
Buest: I think Bree is a super cute nn for Sabrina, but then you lose your B initial. I also really like Brynn or Bryn - I don't really care for the e on the end. I also like the name Brenna.
Guest198-I still like all of your original choices but I also thought of some more currently underused B girl names:
Bonnie
Belinda
Beatrice
Brigitte/Bridget
I once worked with a man in his thirties who was named Lord. I'm not sure what his middle name was. His name was the topic of many conversations. I think I would stay away from Jesus and Lord and stick with Mary or Joseph. As for Tammis...I like it, but I would be afraid people would shorten it to "Tammy".
I can't say that I know the origin of Tammis, but I do know that Huck was Scarey's son's name, named for Huckleberry Fin. It's also the basis for the name of the main character in the Busytown books (Huckle Cat).
Just one more thought to add.
Anna
I have yet to meet someone whose name is Tammis. It must be a rarity in this side of the world. Tammy could be more feminine though. Tammis sounds very Arabic and biblical to me. Maybe it traces back to ancient Babylon, or Canaan. Hmmm... Tammis is not a bad name too for a role playing game. I might as well use it. Cheers Laura!
Kevin
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