The Baby Name Wizard

To me John is such a plain name. No spunk or personality. However, it's not got "bad" associations with it like Homer or Eugene or Ignatius. But there are others I like better.

Yipee! The new digs look great, Laura. Congratulations.

Woo-hoo! The new site is up!

I work at a big law firm. There are 10 attorneys named John. Even though we occupy 5 floors in a high rise building, 6 of the Johns are on my floor. It is very confusing. None of them have nicknames so you always have to use their last names. Actually, more most of them we only call them by their last name. So I say, beware John! (Unless you really like your last name!)

Just FYI, we have 7 attorneys named Andrew, 9 attorneys named Joseph (*all* of whom go by Joe) and 10 attorneys named Michael.

fancy digs! glad to finally get in!

One of my students is named John and he told me *not* to name my son-in-utero John. Apparently there are so many Johns in his family they fight over who he is named for. But I can only think of 1 baby/toddler/preschooler John that I know...

Laura,

a question about the search option--right now it just searches blog posts. But we are a chatty group and there is a lot of information hidden in the comments. Is it possible to search the comments as well? I noticed b/c I went to search for Ned (which I know has come up a few times recently) and there is only 1 entry, one of your posts from 2006.

The new site looks great. Nice to see you've kept the graphic design elements of the book cover. Sophisticated but playful color scheme.

Glad to see we can use html. Maybe that italics will help cut back on our use of ALL CAPS. ;)
The only thing I'm a bit leery about is the seapration of Comments into different pages, which will lead to a bit of cumbersome clicking through every time I want to get back to a certain post. Ah well...

Tirzah: Funny thing about John, in that I have only ever met one (at least who goes by John) in my age group (late twenties-thirty). Odd, no? Now, Matthews, Michaels, and Andrews...forget it; I know so many, I could form an army with them.

Is there a difference between hitting the reply button at the end of each individual's post and filling this in at the end of the thread?

the new site looks great... can't wait to see how it will evolve. wonder what other 'tools' will be added.

testing...

no... it doesn't look like there's a difference at all - unless maybe you get some sort of email alert that somebody has replied to your comment?

I'm loving the new site visually and agree that I'm excited to see how it evolves!!

Welcome home, Laura! Gang, it's good to see you here! I'm sure we'll have the new furniture broken in in no time!

Cute new place! I like that Name Voyager is right at the top with a good graphic. (Funny side-note: my husband used NV to get character names for his creative writing class--needed names that were popular/evocative of certain eras)

Concerning John, my husband is Jonathan (sometimes Jon) and we each have a grandfather named John (his was a Juan), but I only knew 2 my age (late 20s) and both were a John Adams.

Oh, I agree...I'd love to be able to search the comments.

The new digs look great!

Like Lisa, I'm married to a Jonathan, but he's a "just Jon." I'm surprised you all know so many-everyone we know is Mike! I love straightforward, time-tested names for boys, so I'd find a preschool John charming. I have to agree I don't remember Laura discussing it much, though.

I love the way it looks over here--very nice! I don't have much to say about John. It's my father's name and he hates that it's so common. If I have another boy, though, it will probably be his middle name. I like family names.

The only problem I'm having is that the scrolling is really jerky here. It's fine everywhere else I frequent, so I'm not sure what's up. Anyone else having this problem?

Like the new look. Still waiting for a forum so all of us name-nerds can get down to business.

Is the RSS feed working for anyone yet? The feed has yet to pop up in my feed reader, and I'm getting impatient! :)

(Love the new site!)

It's the same way for me, too, Cat. I like the new look, Laura! Love the ability to search previous blog entries. A way to search all of the comments would be wonderful!

Looks great! I can't wait to explore it some more!

And for those of you that want to search comments as well as posts, I recommend the Google toolbar. Type in the word/phrase/name/whatever and click "Search Site." I use it all the time all over the 'net.

My sister's husband likes boy nicknames for girls, e.g., Sam for Samantha, Alex for Alexandra, etc. Can you think of any full names for the following nicknames?

Billie
Kit
Bobbie (but not Roberta)
Johnny

My sister doesn't like any of the obvious female names with male nicknames (e.g., Josephine, Charlotte, Jessica, Francesca) She doesn't really like frilly names. Regarding her style, the only names that she has told me that she likes are Kira and Paloma. (Not very similar names, I know. BTW, her in laws all speak Spanish)

So far, the only one that I think she might like is Sam for Samara. Maybe Will for Willa. The only thing is that Willa doen't translate well into Spanish.

Billie- Wilhelmina, Belinda

Kit- Christina, Christy, Kirsten, (etc.) Katharine, Kate, Catalina

Bobbie- Robyn

Johnny- Joanna, Joan, Juanita

I think Valerie's suggestions are generally good. I'd just like to add Roberta and Barbara for for Bobbie. Both are family names (for me), and I've known Bobbie's off of both. Plus, I think both work well in both English and Spanish.

Just to put it out there, Markie is another boy-girl nickname. I've known a female "Markie" who got the name from Margaret.

There's also Teddy for Theodora or Theresa, both of which would work well in Spanish (with spelling modifications). Kit could serve as a nickname for Kira, and Paulie for Paloma. Both Kira and Paloma work in Spanish, so I think she should stick with one of those.

Yay! So glad to see the comments are up and running. Laura, the new site looks great. I, too, would love a way to effortlessly (i.e., without Google's help) search the comments.

As for John, it's a boy name I actually like a lot and think my husband could probably get behind (whereas my typical boy choices have been met with "You can't name a boy that!"). I think John has a wonderful, solid feel, and it doesn't bother me that there are many of them (although while I know Johns my age, I've never met one my daughter's age). All that said, we're not planning on any more kids so this will have to remain a hypothetical John.

I love the new blog! But why do the NameVoyager and Baby Name Tools tag send me to the same place?

My two-year-old is named John. I have never met another child his age with the same name, even though it is so common for older men. I think it is a good name for a toddler, because he can pronounce it, and everyone he meets understands it immediately. Unlike my daughter, Juliet, who still stumbles over her name at three-years-old and always is understood to be saying "julie-mumble-mumble." Admittedly, this is a temporary consideration, but still nice as far as John goes.

Kit can be for Katherine
Bobbie can also be for Barbara
Johnny perhaps Johanna

Kira and Paloma do have the similar ending and seem very contemporary and both seem like they have an ethnic homeland. (not sure what Kira, is but I think it does have one)

Paula/ Paulie
works in spanish

just my thoughts

nice new digs!

I thought i would share this youtube video I found.  It is from the Australian comedy team the Chaser's War on Everything (otherwise known as the guys who dressed up as Osama bin Laden, said they were Canadians and drove a cavalcade of cars through the Sydney APEC security last year).  It's about policing "inappropriate" baby names in Sydney. So it sort of follows on from the last thread.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXTngYxm8Bs

Billie can also come from Sybil/Sybilla.

Why do we have to type in an email address on this new comments system? Didn't have to on the last one. Grrrr.

Oh thank you Alexis- that clip was priceless! All the things I've ever wanted to say but never would!

Thanks for the Chaser's War clip. Hilarious! I wish there were more!

I too am having a problem with scrolling through the site.

What about Lara/Laura - nn Larry? Antonia - nn Toni would work well in Spanish.

The site looks lovely! But bloglines doesn't recognize your RSS feed yet. Is it working?

I'm also finding scrolling through the comments really awkward and slow. Other than that it looks great.

How about Freda/Freddie - or even Freya/Freddie

I haven't had any problems scrolling--it works just like the old site did.

Yay for the new location!

I don't know how well it would work in Spanish, but another option is Matilda/Matt. Billie could be used for almost anything with "bel" in it imho (Isabel?).

My great-uncle had the middle name of Ellis. I was thinking of using it as a middle name for a son. When I looked it up, it was listed as a name for both boys and girls. What do y'all think of using Ellis for a girl?

Thanks for the warm welcome, everybody! For those of you finding the scrolling choppy, it's a browser-specific issue--hang in there, we're working on it. And as for the mysterious extra "tools" button...think of it as a harbinger of good things to come!

I like Ellis for a girl if you have a family connection to it. One concern, though: would everyone your daughter met hear her name as "Alice" or "Elise"?

Re: Ellis for a girl

I might not have been hearing correctly, but I'm pretty positive that Ellis was the name of Meredith's mother on Grey's Anatomy. Given the spark that show has given to the name Addison, I wouldn't be surprised to see it drift more and more to the girls.

When I searched yesterday, it seemed like the search did include the comments.

Is it possible to have the choice whether to include the comments in the search or not? Sometimes I'm just looking for an old post, and having to wade through all of the things other people have said makes it a lot more difficult to find things that you, Laura, have posted.

My brother-in-law's name is John. All the other John/Jons I've known are Johans or Jonathon's in reality. I think the lack of toddler's with the name has to do with the fact that even the most popular names are not so popular any more. My family has a ton of boys named James but I haven't found too many the same age of my son. I used to think James and John were too plain and common for my taste, but the James has grown on me now that my husband and son have that name. Along those lines, I think since reading this blog and all of the unique names that are mentioned, plus the Ellie craze starting to make me rethink my original pick for girls, I find that plain old Mary is starting to appeal more to me.

The new site looks fantastic!

Andrea is another name that works in Spanish, and has the nickname Andy.

As for Ellis, I think it works as a distinct name from Alice and Elise, and it's cute, especially given the family connection.

Tirzah:

I know a Laurie (LAH-ree) that goes by Lars. She's 18 & loves it. I think she might spell it "Larz" though.

I know what you mean, Melanie. I met siblings called John and Mary recently (aged 8 and 6) and I so wanted to know what their little brother was called. It seemed charming, particularly as they were lovely kids.

My grandmother's a Phyllis, nicknamed Billie as a kid. Kit would be Katherine. Johnny could be a Joanna. But it seems odd if she likes Kira and Paloma, which are not very nicknameable (unless Paloma became "Pal," but what a tragedy).

Oh, oops, I saw "reply" and thought it was threading comments, so I replied before reading all the rest of the comments. Apologies for saying what's been said!

My favorite boy-nickname is "Frankie" for "Francesca."

My husband and I recently had a baby boy and named him John David. Most people don't comment on his name so.....I can only assume they think it's boring. So why John? We wanted a boy's name that was strong, masculine, and would stand the test of time. If you hear his name you don't know if he's 2, 22, 52, or 92. We actually call him "John David" with both names together like that. Before he was born, we didn't know if he was a boy or girl. If he had been a "she", the name would have been "Bettina Pearl." A totally different name style! I was prepared to defend the name Bettina as a quirky but feminine name, a variant of Elizabeth. I felt Pearl had old fashioned charm. But instead we had a boy and I am surprised to find myself defending a "plain" name. And honestly before we had him, we weren't sure if we'd call him John, Jack, or John David. I'm looking forward to your "John Blog" Laura!!

It's comforting here. Reminds me of my trusty, well-worn name book.

BTW, I think Penelope's sisters need a makeover.

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