The Baby Name Wizard

Miley Cyrus came by the name Miley later in life, so it probably seemed more intimately her own. Her comments sound more like a mother talking about her baby's name than someone talking about her own name. JM2C

SarahC., FWIW Cyrus only made the legal name change recently, but I believe she'd gone exclusively by Miley since toddlerhood.

Thank you. I only know about her from media sound bites and assumed she took on the name the same time she took on the show.

when i went into the hospital to have my baby, i was informed by my labor & delivery nurse that jennifer garner was probably going to name her baby violet too. i was bummed. but while the name has gotten more popular, i think that's just because it's a great name coming back into fashion. and since i love the name, i totally understand that.

as for me, growing up i only ever met one other maya. no one knew how to spell it or pronounce it and i hated that. now just about everyone knows how to say it and they know that there's more than one way to spell it. in a way, i feel it's lost a bit of uniqueness - but then i just call myself 'the original maya' to make myself feel better. ;) maya angelou might want to claim that fame since she was born before i, but her real name is marguerite, so that's why i claim the title. ha.

Somehow I managed not to grow up around many other Sara(h)s until I was an early teen, so I thought I had a fairly unique name. Then I moved into circles where Biblical names were popular, and was that ever the shattering of an illusion. I once attended a conference of 100 girls, and six of us were Sara(h)s. So I sympathize with Miley's disappointment, especially at age 16. My defensive measure is to be obsessive about No H On My Name.

-- SJ

We named our dd (dearest daughter) Evangeline about 2 months before ABC's hit LOST came to the airways - and thus Evangeline Lilly. A name that was not even in the top 1000 suddenly began creeping up. At one point even Laura W wrote a blog wondering where this name was since it had all the making of a 'hit name'. We've yet to meet another Evangeline and I hope it stays that way.

I've always been the only Joni I know - well once and a while I meet a Joan called Joanie/Joni, but none whose given name is Joni like me. I have enjoyed it being "my" name while at the same time it's been fun to occasionally met another one.

People have asked me if my name was inspired by the actress Gillian Anderson. Nope. She wasn't even acting when I was born. Still, it's strange to think that what represents you is what makes other people assume you are following someone else's identity. I was named for me, just like Gillian was named for her. Sometimes the similarities are just coincidence.

well... Miley sounds a lot like the Hawaiian name Maile... the different spelling she mentions especially makes me think of this... idk what my point is... that idk how strong her claim is to being the first? maybe that this throws a wrench into uniqueness... the same name (basically) can come from two different sources... i've also been thinking about this in terms of Livia which came up in the last thread... like the parents could've seen it as a variant on Olivia or known the history someone mentioned. I think maybe it is the stories behind names that are more interesting than the names themselves... like what if you collected stories from everyone who named their kid Sophia or something... that would be cool...

maya: do you know where your parents got the name? i think the first mayas i knew were japanese.

I have to say I was very disappointed to hear that Angelina Jolie named her daughter Vivienne, after I had just determined that it would be perfect for a future daughter of mine! I had to cross that one off my list and now I'm hoping that my other top names won't be snatched up!

Back to the rule they should hand out at birth prep classes--ANY name you choose for your baby *is* being used by other families somewhere, maybe in the same city, maybe even in the same hospital or school district. Choose a name you love and don't be defensive about how it might make you look "trendy"--because (gasp!) if other folks love the name too, you ARE part of a trend.

As for Miley, she's a teenager--I can't quite take her perspective on this as the fully-baked version yet. She may change her thoughts on this a hundred times between now and lunchtime.

For Evangeline's mom--I know a third grader in our neighborhood named Evangeline. Definitely also pre-LOST, and she goes by Eva, but I've seen her sign her full name on schoolwork.

My name is Emily so I'm used to sharing my name with others. I've had Emilys around me my entire life but it has never bothered me. Every Emily I've known, including myself, are all very unique people. I always think of myself and other Emilys as the person and not the name.

Maia was a Greek goddess, and the Maya people of Central America also have a pretty strong early claim, so I think the "earliest Maya" line moves way back if you count that. I also think of filmmaker Maya Deren (1917-1961), though I see from wikipedia that her original first name was Eleanora.

Hi there -- w/ permission from Laura I'm posting my question here (I wasn't sure exactly where to post it) because I thought you might be the right group to help! ;-)
My co-worker is very stuck searching for a baby name, and I told her I'd use my internet prowess (I read this blog often:-) to help her out.
She and her husband are both Russian, and expecting twins in March: a boy and a girl. The girl will be Eleanor Zoe and they are stuck on a boy's name. Because they are Jewish, they need to stick with the tradition of using the same first letter as a close deceased relative (Eleanor will be after the maternal great-grandmother Ethel). So, they need to use the letter K, after paternal grandfather Konstantine, for the boy. The name needs to be easy for the Russian grandparents to pronounce and sound okay with Eleanor, who will be called Ella. I don't want to put in their last name since it's not mine to put out there, but it starts with a G, is easy to pronounce and two syllables; I can't think of anything it would likely clash with. I have suggested Keenan or Kaleb, but she'd like more ideas. (She definitely doesn't like Kaleb and is so-so on Keenan.) They'd like to use the middle name 'Joseph.' I know she'd appreciate any suggestions - she's really starting to panic!

bamela -- If your friend doesn't like Kaleb (creative spelling) and is so-so on Keenan, how about:

Kingston (maybe too far out?)
Kendall
Kenneth
Kelvin

Those all sound good with Joseph.

bamela - I don't know if this would be cheating, but your friends also have the Kn- names to consider.

bamela - I'd also suggest:

Kaiser
Kaspar/Kasper
Keaton
Keith
Kieran
Kirk
Kurt

Kiril is a nice Russian boy name that starts with a K and would be workable in an Anglophone setting. (It's the Russian form of Cyril, but pronounced with a hard K.) Kazimir may also have potential. Kolya is the Russian nickname for Nikolai; I like it but I can see how it would read as feminine in some contexts.

Other suggestions for bamela:

Keaton Joseph
Keegan Joseph
Kent/Kenton Joseph
Kiefer Joseph
Kurt Joseph

I like Keaton, Kenton and Kiefer the best myself. HTH!

Joni,
I work with an Evangeline who is probably in her 20s? And is hispanic. I don't know if maybe it's more popular in hispanic circles? Or maybe her parents were thinking outside of the box, I don't know her that well!

All this talk of who took what name first remind's me of my friend's doctor. His name was fine until a few years ago. Now whenever he calls somewhere people think he's kidding and sometimes hang up on him. His name is... Harry Potter! My thoughts were maybe he'll have to start going by Hank... poor guy!

Bamela,

I assume they don't want to use Konstantine? I feel like it could easily fly in modern times as being a cool russian name!

Bamela,
There is also-
Konrad ( I knew a man with this spelling, I think he was German though)
Kyle
Kellan
Kieran

If they are willing to use not a K, but the 'Con' sequence to honor Konstanine-- there is Connor or Conrad.

Kristian
Kyler
Kolby
Kristopher
Keen
Kayden
Kaysen, Kaison
Krispin
Kenley, Kinley
Kirby
Kipling
Kameron
Kassius
Kevin
Korbin
Konnor
Kade
Korrigan
Kortez

I really like the Keifer suggestion as with as I like Korbin.

Joni:

I know a Joni although her name is Jonie-Lynn. She is in her late 20's and goes by Jonie or Jonie-Lynn.

Also I know an Evangeline.. .born was before lost she is in her early 20's and she has always went by the nick name Vanje. I don't think I have ever heard her being called Evangeline. I absolutely love the name Vanje and I think its a really nice nick name that's a little different for some one considering the name Evangeline.

Jenny L3igh, that's hilarious! Poor guy (although if he's a pediatrician, that could be big business for him!)

Only boys' K names I haven't seen mentioned are Keith and Kai. I like the suggestion of Kiril.

Copying from other thread in case the people I responded to miss it there:

Hudson & Brogan mom: I'd also pronounce is ma-TAY-ah. I love it. Would never have thought of it myself, but think it's just gorgeous. Also, it plays into the Isabella, Francesca Italian girls' names trend without being frilliana.

One caution-- Mattea Jo is nice. Mattea Joanna-May is awkward. Too many "Ma"s and "a"- endings.

Tirzah-- I'm torn on Crusoe. On the one hand, it's got a great, snappy sound, it's offbeat and unique yet easily pronounceable, and has a host of on-trend nicknames, as you pointed out. I'm a big lover of literary pedigrees, as well, so there's that.

But as a literature snob and doctoral student in 18th/19th century Brit lit--I'd be pissed off if someone named their kid that who hadn't read any Defoe. It's probably an unfair, irrational reaction, but there it stands.

SarahC., I have similar questions about the name Johanna. It was my grandmother's name (born around 1915 or so), and for that reason I love it. But when I eventually (I hope) name a daughter after her, I'd rather use Josephine as the homage. Josephine sounds more "quaint" old-fashioned than Johanna.

But I haven't ruled out Johanna, because my husband actually prefers it to Josephine and I think Josephine is far trendier in my neck of the woods (liberal yuppy Brooklyn). My one stumbling block is nicknames. I HATE with a passion the nicknames Jo and Joey for a girl. With Josephine, you can also do Josie, Posey, Fina, and Finny, all of which I like. With Johanna, I think you're stuck with Jo.

Coll- Haha you may be right! Or the guy gets a lot of disappointed kids expecting to meet Harry Potter:)

Tough choice on nicknames for Johanna... I agree with you I like the Josephine nicknames better. You could do Hanna as a nn although that might confuse people more than it's worth... What about Joni (per poster above!) or Jona? I kind of like Jona, unusual but not too far off from Johanna.

Karl?

It isn't easy to find a boy's name that starts with a "K" and isn't surnamey. (It would be a shame to pair a lovely name like Eleanor with something like Keegan or Keaton.) Since the grandfather's name is being translated from a cyrillic alphabet, wouldn't "C" work just as well as "K"?

Of the "K" names, I think the best ones are Karl and Kenneth.

Coll -

You can use Anna or Annie - both are adorable!

bamela,

I like
Kieran Joseph

Or perhaps
Kevin Joseph
Kyle Joseph
Kiefer Joseph

Eleanor is a traditional name that evokes the old-lady charm, but Ella and Zoe are very modern. Joseph is traditional, so something slightly fresher but not too modern would be good for the boy for their names to go together.

Some names seem too modern (like Kayden, for example, part of the -ayden phenomenon). I am not a fan of respelling names that usually begin with a "C" with a "K" just because you need the initial(K/Christopher, Connor, Cameron, Colby, etc).

Kieran and Ella sound really nice together, IMO.

K is a hard one. Personally, my favorite listed so far is Kazimir (though I might prefer Kasimir)--could give you Kaz/Kass as nns--with Kiril(l) and Konstantin as runners up. If a hard C is an option, that would make things a lot easier.

yes - my mom said it came to her in a dream. before that, she was planning to name me mariah.

which would've been interesting as well.

Johanna is lovely--and Josie or Joni or Jo are all fair game for nicknames. As well as Hanna, Hani, Hannela, Nan, Anna, Annie, or even Jackie... or Hank!

Any surname that sounds fine with Eleanor should also work with Kasimir--same number of syllables, same first-syllable emphasis, same final r.

Bamela- I think the name Eleanor needs a more classic boys name to pair with it... while I like Keifer and Keaton, they don't seem to fit, to my ears. But I like Kevin Joseph a lot, that would be my choice/suggestions.

I've been a lurker on this website for a while, mainly because I think names are so important. My Mom gave no real thought to my name, and gave me one of the most popular names for girls in the year I was born. She picked Jennifer because she thought it was different and because I was born way early and she thought she had some more time to pick out names. To top it off, I have one of the most common last names in the US, and there is always someone with my name, my whole name, and I hate it.

I gave myself the nickname Jenny when I was in 3rd grade. We had just moved and I didn't like being known by my last initial. ( For example, Jennifer J. to distinguish my from all of the other Jennifers in the class) no one else had to do this, their names were enough.

When I was in 8th grade, I changed the spelling to Jennie, which I like much better. I feel as though I've found a way to be slightly different with my name, and since I've picked it to an extent, it's mine.

But there are still lots of annoying aspects to my name, there was another Jennifer J (same last name) who had my orthodontist, and one day I came in for my appointment and they told me my appointment wasn't until later that day. I came back when they told me to and they asked me why I had failed to show up for my appointment that morning.

In college there were 9 other Jennifer J's, 3 of which had the same middle name. One of those Jennifers was in my major, and my middle name was spelled with and "e" at the end so I was distinguished by that 1 letter instead of a name. (at my graduation the other Jennifer J sat with her 2nd major so our parents would know which one was which)

And the worst was when I was in the hospital (I get kidney stones) and they drew up someone elses medical file- the person had the same complete name as me and had been born one day before in the same year. I was almost given some pain meds that I can't digest.

But there are always hassles with having such a common name, and when I have kids I don't want them to have to deal with these problems. So I understand Miley's disappointment with her name becoming more common, especially when its a personal nickname her family gave her (the story I've heard was that they called her smiley, which over time became Miley)

Sorry that was so long, but its just my 2 cents.

bamela-

Kendrick
Kerrick
Kent
Korbin
Kale
Klint
Kaysen

Coll-
I know what you mean I've been thinking that over. I may have to compromise on the middle name, which I never thought would happen.
Maybe I should try making a different name out of JoAnna-May. You know like; Janay. Or could I just have a middle name Jo?

Coll: I knew a girl in high school named Jonna (John-a). I always thought it was an interesting name--could also be a nn for Johanna.

Hudson & Brogan's Mom,

I think Mattea is really pretty without being too flowery or trendy, but it doesn't really go with Jo to my ear. Jo seems a little too tomboyish to me, and a little awkward as a middle name. I can't remember from before, but is it a family name? I don't know what your last name is like, but what about Mattea Josephine? Or Mattea Josine? Even Mattea Joanne would work fine, really. Oh, and re: pronunciation, when I read Mattea, I definitely hear Ma TAY a.

Mojo Jojo (BDL) - saying that i'm "the original maya," well, that's a joke. :)

i vote for Konrad. it seems more eastern euro and to my ear sounds better for a russian jew than any of those irish-y names.

Ella & Konrad sound decent together, and not matchy.

My name was fairly popular around the time I was born. Despite my parents' choice for the less popular spelling, there was still a girl in my first grade class with the same name, same spelling. What's funny is that as I think of names for my future daughter I try to think of something that will stand out, but admittedly, I don't think that's AS important to the child as I try to claim it is. After all, because we had the same name, that other girl in first grade and I became the best of friends. It is now over 20 years later and she still is, by far, my closest and most trusted friend. Who knows why we decided to be buds when we were 7... but I'm pretty sure it's because we thought it was cool to share a name, and for the life long friendship it's brought me, I'm VERY thankful.

Jennie J --

I am also a Jennifer born at the height of Jennifer's popularity and my parents also didn't put much care into my naming. My nickname was always Jennie and I go almost exclusively by that to this day... I also had a common surname and had all my records mixed up with another Jennifer SameLastName on my same block in NYC! (Imagine, we used the same bank, doctors, gym, dry cleaner, etc). In ninth grade, there were 7 Jennifers in my Biology class, so I told the teacher my name was Katrina, and for the rest of the school year everyone called me Katrina!

When I named my daughter I worried that she would wind up with the name that was the Jennifer of her generation. And the only name her father and I could agree on was Isabel -- and there were already four other little Isabels on our block!!! C'est la vie!

In any case, at least we Jennifers have great songs the memorialize our name -- Like Jenny (867-5309) and 27 Jennifers!

JB

Mojo Jojo: Yes, we are way too obsessed with uniqueness and being the first. I didn't know there was a Greek goddess Maia. I don't know that the Maya count though--did they use Maya as a name? Did they even call themselves Maya? Or is that just what we call them?

bamela: I know a Konstantino from Greece. In the U.S. he goes by Kosta (pron. Coast-a). I think it is a cool name. I also like Kelvin, Kent, Konrad, and Karl from others' suggestions. Although Karl might seem a little odd on a kid--and doesn't nick well.

Jennie J: Oh my goodness! But on the plus side, you can probably reveal your full name here and it will be no big deal. haha...

Also there is Kaledon.. nick name Kal. Or Keldon.

As someone who grew up with a name that people have problems pronouncing (Mairin, rhymes with Erin is how I usually introduce myself), my dream is to find a name that is pretty and somewhat unique, but easy to pronounce. My husband and I have names picked out for boys (we're going to start trying next year) but the girl names drive me crazy! I loved the name Lilah, but my sister-in-law just had a baby girl and named her Isla. What are people's opinions about cousins whose names rhyme? I love my sister-in-law, but I don't want her to think that we are copying her name when Lilah is a name that I've always loved. I also don't want the in-laws to think that. DH really likes the name Lilah too, but we have one other girl name in mind that he seems happy with as well. Thanks for your help! I read this blog ALL the time (which hasn't helped me get over my baby naming obsession:)!

How funny that today there would be a post from another person naming after an Ethel. My husband and I have chosen Thomasina as the fn for our daughter due in 8 weeks, but are a bit stuck on the mn. I like Ethelyn as a sort of update (even though it's old), and he likes Ethelene, which reminds me of the gas rotting fruit gives off. Of course we could always choose another E like Elinor or Edith. Our last name is the same as a Disney princess if that helps. Any suggestions or preferences?

I like Thomisina Edith Princess (if it's the one syllable I'm guessing). But, I have an almost irrational love of the name Edith and can't think of any way I don't love it.

As a scientist, ethelene definitely screams toxic chemical to me. It's usually spelled ethylene, but I still made that connection immediately. I would actually vote for just Ethel, of your choices.

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback! I'm going to pass the link to this entry w/ the comments for her to read! I know she appreciates all the help!!!

Another Jennifer here. I too have a common last name. In fact, there was a charachter on Law & Order the other week that had my first middle AND last name. Growing up, there was always at least 1 other Jennifer in my class (but more Jessica's, why aren't people anti-Jessica?). But a funny thing happened. When I got into the workplace, the other Jennifer's seemed to disappear. I'm 28 and I haven't worked with a single Jennifer at two mid sized offices since graduating college. I'm not really sure what happened, but I don't have to go by Jennifer B. anymore which is nice. I do work with 3 50ish aged women named Linda.

(My best friend is also from grade school and named Jennifer too haha.)