The Baby Name Wizard

Thanks for this, Laura. I've never even heard of the name Elbert!

I know of both a male and a female Stacey. The use of the name on boys was abandoned much longer ago, which the male Stacey has to deal with all the time. Sort of sad that it's going that way for the female version as well. But if you think of the doll name Barbie - virtually nobody is called Barbara these days. Is the Stacy doll also going to be a lone relic soon?

Also, Laura, any hints as to when the next edition of the book is coming out? :)

My father-in-law's name is Elbert. It is a family name. He hates it though and goes by a nickname based on his last name. When we were naming my son, he said that he absolutely did not want us to use Elbert, not even as a middle. No problem there.

It's "In Memoriam" not "In Memorium," btw.... unless you're getting kre8tiv on us!

I have never heard of Elbert either! That's one I missed when I compiled the list of "bert" names a few weeks ago.

I'm least surprised about Carol. That name was so popular that it's indelibly pegged as a boomer name to me. I can't picture it on a baby, even though I have warm fuzzies about the name because of the many wonderful Carols I know, including a former housemate.

That's funny--Carol IS one of the names that surprised me. I think it's a lovely name, especially for a baby born near Christmas. I think it sounds strong and crisp with its consonant ending, and should be kept relevant by the more popular Caroline. If we didn't have a very unappealing relative by that name, it's one we would've considered.

I'm surprised by Colleen, too. I feel like I know a lot of Colleens, many boomer-aged, but also several 20-30 somethings, teenagers, and even younger girls. It seems like one that would have some staying power because of the enthusiasm for Irish sounding names.

Yeah, I know a twelvish Colleen--but I guess it's mostly seen as part of the earlier Irish-style wave of Maureens and Shannons and Kerrys, not part of the current set of faves (which seem to be more prevalent in the boy's column this round).

Donna caught my eye, because the current "companion" character on "Doctor Who" is Donna -- she's not a glamorous character, but she is very human and funny (played by comedian Katherine Tate); I wonder if the name can regain a little bit of shine from her adventures.

I am surprised by Katharine, and a bit sad that Yvette is gone. With all the kre8tive spellings of popular names going around, I never would've guessed that Katharine wouldn't be used. Is Katherine n' family going down in popularity in general? Or are the people who even consider any Catherine relative NOT the kre8tive types? I mean, Katharine isn't even all that extreme of a variation. Maybe it's not extreme enough for the kre8tive people?

I've always liked Yvette, even if I can't picture myself using it. I would've liked to have met a few younger Yvettes.

I agree with Elizabeth T. and hyz about Carol. Carol always seemed to have a modern sound to me, in spite of all of the older Carols. Maybe it'll bounce back onto the charts? Or maybe Im just really out of touch with modern culture?

I wonder if Katharine McPhee will bring this spelling right back onto the charts?

I have noticed while going through the 2007 rankings and grouping names based on pronuncation it seems that names that have been around for a long time tend to have fewer spelling varieties in the top 1000 as time goes on. I distinctly remember being surprised at the few variations of Katherine in the top 1000. Has anyone else noticed this?

Does anyone else think that the trendy names of today will settle into a few accepted spellings in time? Maybe they will all fall out of favor and we won't have to hear or look at them anymore...

Ok, so that was just wishful thinking.

Apparently people stopped watching My Name is Earl...

Sigh, this is just one more sign of me getting older. I am a Stacey (yes please put an E in there). I was always under the impression that w/o the E is more commonly a boys name. Anyway,I also went to school with a Yvette, Colleen, Carol, and Perry. I know older generations with Carol and Donna as well. Never met an Earl though!

I'm not surprised Carol has gone, but I do have a certain nostalgia for it, as my best friend was a Carol, growing up. I tend to think of it along with Susan, Linda and Julie- all popular amongst my classmates.My friend Carol's siblings were Martin and Julie, and my friend Julie's siblings were Carol, Zanny (Suzanna) and Joe.

*Madeline*, I was curious about the name Katherine so I looked up how many variations there currently are compared to the past. To my surprise, there are many, many more variations of the spelling of Katherine 100 years ago than today.

1907 Katherines in the top 1000:

Katherine
Kathryn
Katharine
Katheryn
Kathrine
Kathryne
Catherine
Catharine
Cathrine
Cathryn

2007 Katherines in the top 1000:

Katherine
Kathryn
Catherine

Most of these names do surprise me for some reason. I mean, I knew that a lot of people weren't naming their daughters Donna or Carol or Stacey anymore, but I did think enough would to at least place those names in the top 1000! It's just hard to believe that more people chose Marlen or Alyvia for their daughter than Stacey. Or more people chose Daxton for their sons than Perry. But maybe I am out of touch.

I was unfortunate enough to grow up in a rural area where there were Earls aplenty. Let's just say that most Earls were just like Earl Hickey from "My Name is Earl," BEFORE he discovered karma. It's just not a very nice sounding name to me, probably because of my association with the many Earls growing up.

Oh shoot, we're back to Captcha? Bleck. I almost never get these right the first time--I can see fine, but I must have dyslexic fingers.

On the other hand, if you want to use the name "Juckie," it was my captcha word (!). When you think how often we have to type random strings of letters these days, is it any wonder such combinations are comfortable as names to more young parents?

An internet aquaintance has a new sister as of early this morning. Abigail Luthera Lillie. nn Allie

o man. captcha? Please tell us it is not here to stay...

I'm not surprised Laura resorted to Captcha given the spam that had started showing up in some of the comments sections.

I'm sure one of our spreadsheet mavens could tell us if we're really seeing a demise of 60s-style names overall. Any takers?

My dad is one of 5 boys:

Marion, Earl, Edwin, Eugene & Roy.

A very 20's/30's set of midwestern names. I often think the only one of the set that is missing is "Milton". (I also wonder at the string of "E" names.)

I have often wondered if short, simple names like Roy, Earl and Rex will come back because they are short and because they are royal titles. They seem to fit with Max to my ear, but Max has that cool X, which my suggestions (save Rex) do not.

On a separate topic, I wonder if all the would be Carols are now some form of Caroline.

When you said that Louise has been off the chart for years, I was sure it was a typo, so I scurried off to the SSA site to check. Sure enough, Louise does not appear in the top 1000. I'm truly shocked. Isn't it a top 20 name in the UK?

Louise is currently ranked about 140th in the UK. Most famous "baby" Louise, is Lady Louise Windsor (the Queen's youngest granddaughter) who was born in 2003.

I know of a brand-new Colleen, b. 2008. A very surprising name choice since her older sister is ... Jaden! Weird that the parents would go for an ultra-trendy new name immediately followed by a completely unfashionable one. I'm not crazy about either name but the unexpected combination made me sit up and take notice.

Brangelina alert: "Another celebrity publication, Britain's NOW magazine, then reported the latest additions to the Jolie-Pitt clan had already been named Isla Marcheline and Amelie Jane."

This came from the New York Times. Somehow those names seem pretty I'm not convinced.

oh this captcha thing is a pain.

and dangit, if I have to go through captcha, can't I be allowed to edit too?

redo: While these names are pretty, I'm not convinced they are the real names yet. Especially since the kids aren't due until July. That said, twins come early a lot I know.

Hmmm. I expected the brangelina twins to have worse names than that. Something along the lines of "Lava and Kusha" or "Trinidad and Tobago" or "Castor and Pollux" or "Shake and Bake".

The conversation about Katharine and its many variant spellings made me wonder about modern classics. I use the term "modern classic" to mean a name that has been introduced to the SSA charts in the last few decades but is one that you all think is here to stay and that will avoid the peaks and valleys associated with a date-stamped name. We all know that William, Catherine, Elizabeth, or John could be any age. What recent names do you name mavens predict will be like those 100 years from now?

Carol (along with Nancy, Susan, Barbara, and Linda) sums up the female side of my high school graduating class... the year was 1960.

Sic transit gloria mundi. (And, by the way, Gloria was the class valedictorian.)

Re: Carol -- it's my mother-in-law's name, and in trying to decide how to honor her with future children, we never even considered Carol itself ... like Megan W. thought, we focused on Caroline or other Car- names for a girl and Charles or Carl for boys ... and ended up deciding on "Carine" as the mn for our baby if we have a girl. I just couldn't do "Carol" -- it definitely feels too dated to me ... and "Carine" has the added benefit of having the same meaning ("beloved," as a pet form of "Cara") as my middle name.

Off topic, re: a discussion on a previous post recently about the name Jacinta -- I remembered this morning that Halle Berry's character in her James Bond movie ("Die Another Day" I think?) was Jacinta/Giacinta (depending on which quick-search internet source you go with) pronounced jah-cinta (not hah-cinta) with the nn Jinx.

Name Theorist -- I know a Gloria who just had her 6th birthday. Maybe it's coming back around.

If Angelina Jolie's babies are named Isla and Amelie, I'm choosing both of them as my picks for fastest risers next year! Isla has not yet cracked the top 1000, but it will for sure if the Pitt-Jolie child is given this name. Amelie is currently in the 700s, but given the popularity of Amelia, it is bound to rise even without a boost like this.

RE: Elizabeth T. on modern classics

I actually took these from th BNW from the 'New Classics' list, but I edited quite a few out.

Allison, Andrea, Cassandra, Erin, Julianne, Karen, Kimberly, Laurel, Lauren, Megan, Meredith, Michelle, Natalie, Nicole, Samantha, Stephanie, Vanessa.

Aaron, Adam, Bradley, Brandon, Brian, Christian, Christopher, Eric, Jeffrey, Justin, Kevin, Lucas, Mark, Ryan, Sean, Shane, Steven, Zachary.

Anyone think I missed any?

OH darn! I suggested Isla to my son and dil- because they felt Lila was too popular.. And now Angelina does this! I think I'll call Jennifer Aniston to commiserate. I do like the names and the honoring of their two mothers in the mn slot. Unexpected choices, if true..

Tess

I feel your pain. Our girl name (we had a boy) was Amelia Jane. I feel like the Jolie-Pitts are stealing our name. (The spelling of Amelia was up for grabs - I think the grandma we were naming for was Emila (Italian)).

Harrumph.

(I am amazed that I can feel that way, even though we actually had a boy and didn't use the name. Maybe I can learn to share!)

All the reports regarding the Jolie-Pitt twins are speculation at this point, right?

I guess I wouldn't get too worried about them using these names until we know for sure.

Does anyone else see the name Isla and constantly want to say "Ilsa" instead?

meh... I liked Isla, I don't want them to steal it! ^_^

On a completely unrelated note, do you guys think Sheldon will still be in the top 1000 next year (it's currently at 954 and has been dropping steadily) - my boyfriend and I have a bet on this... I say it'll be off the charts for 2008 when they come out next May and he says it will still be there. What do you think? ^_^

It's funny to me to see Stacey grouped with Donna and Carol. Being a Stacy born in 1980, I associate the name more with Heather, Jennifer, Jessica, etc. Donna and Carol are "mom" names to me.
I'm not surprised that Stacey has lost popularity. It's definitely "time-stamped". As a child, I was always happy that my parents didn't give me the "awful" name Anastasia, but now that I'm grown up, I sort of wish they had. No one in Spain pronounces Stacy properly, so I go by Ana, which was derived from having explained so many times that "Stacy" was a diminutive of "Anastasia".

I wouldn't pay too much attention to Now magazine all you Isla and Amelie lovers...

Stacy in Spain -- I have a friend Stacy whose mom wanted to name her Anastasia, but her dad refused. Now that Stacy's a mom herself she has a daughter named Anastasia (nn Ana).

Earl is such a dreadful name...

Earl is such a dreadful name...

Thanks for the feedback. I posted this yesterday morning on last weeks blog and I am reposting it here. I would like to solicit some advice from the name mavens. We are due to have a baby boy in a little over two weeks and we have narrowed it down to two names. I am looking for feedback. Our last name is pronounced BUR-zins and we are deciding between Emmett and Augustus, with Gus for short. My dh likes Emmett a little more but I am not sure it goes as well with our last name. To give you an idea of the context the baby will grow up in, we live in a middle class town in the north east and both have PhDs. We appreciate the feedback.

Raya,

I'm going to reiterate that I don't like Emmett. I'm not sure why. I have a friend who named his son Everett or Emmett and I can never remember which one b/c I don't like either.

Gus/August and all variations is/are great names. I wish Gus didn't sound so 's'y with DH's last name. Works much better with yours.

In general I think names sound better when they have different numbers of syllables. So Gus/Augustus Burzin sounds better than Emmett Burzin. Although Emmett is so different it actually doesn't sound so bad. Its just a name I don't like. a lot, apparently.

Sorry for the double. Hmm, Perry doesn't sound very strong or masculine to me, Donna's just boring. I can quite understand why these names aren't used anymore. But maybe in the future they will be again. I live in Slovakia (I'm Slovak), and I think we don't have any date-stamped names here. Till the year 1989 people had to choose from the government approved names (in the calendar-name days), so there are still a lot of young people who own the names from the previous generations... My mom wanted to give me a rare name, and she was picking between Linda, Nina and Natalia (in 1985)...

Elizabeth T + Madeline-How about adding Olivia, Nicholas and maybe Connor to the list?

ooh another one sorry-Charlotte

Natalia, I agree that Donna sounds pretty boring, but I softened on it a little after knowing a very clever and funny Croatian woman named Dana, pronounced very similarly to how Americans say Donna, but just a little more crisp. Now I love the name Dana, but only with that pronunciation. I (very briefly) considered using Donna to get that pronunciation, but I just couldn't get past my frumpy Donna association. Just shows what a difference spelling can make, I guess.

Hyz, my mom's name is Daniela, called Dana (REALLY) sometimes, but mostly Danka by friends (she likes that better), so I do know that name. But I've never liked the nickname Dana much to tell the truth...

So I met with a friend today whose nephew (due next month) will be named Earl Warren LN. In an Earl Hickey world, why not use Earl as a middle name to honor your father? Especially one who is still living. I'm pretty sure Warren was a family name too. There just doesn't seem to be very many nickname opportunities here.

I of course told my friend that Earl has dropped out of the top 1000 so her sister is bucking the trend!

Oddly, his last name (to be) is one that I've seen here offered as a possible Last Name First option and is pretty cool.