The Baby Name Wizard

Congratulations, Eric!

I have met one baby Kingston, and one baby Kingsley. No Mileys yet, though I see people online considering it all the time. Yeesh, a name that comes from "Smiley", a nickname from a nickname, and it's off the charts! We all know her birth name is Destiny Hope Cyrus, right? Cyrus is the name I'd like to see get more play.

I actually think Kingston is more out there than Moses, by far, but I'm more of a traditionalist. Moses has been around a long time, particularly in Jewish families. Moishe, too. Totally appropriate for Gwyneth's son.

COME VISIT MY BABY NAME BLOG: http://youcantcallitit.com/

OK, so this is just weird. My sister and her dh recently arrived from Oz on vacation, and they've been staying with his brother and family (including two young daughters, Isabel and Honor) in Los Angeles. My sister just reported to me,"Oh, you know Jessica Alba just had a baby named Honor... well, it was named after [brother in law]'s daughter."
Apparently a friend of the family loved the name, mentioned it to *her* friend, Jessica, who immediately leaped on it... and the rest is celebrity history!

Good luck, Laura!

And on a random note--any info on the name Yaretzi?

I agree, Elisabeth, about Moses v. Kingston. I'd rather be a boy named Moses than Kingston. Kingston just sounds like "less of a name" to me, and what can you nickname him, King? Unless it's a family name, it seems like a rather random choice. Moses is pretty unconventional in a non-Jewish context, but I guess being a Bible name lends it some kind of unconscious legitimacy, or at least familiarity... For me anyway. It sounds more down-to-earth.

Valerie, that's such a cool story! Small world, eh?

I don't think Kingston is random at all for Stefani. As a musician who's influenced by reggae and ska, she honored a city known for this particular musical heritage. "Place" names are certainly hot, as is the "-en" ending phoneme. It's got all the right stuff, at least in her scope and frame of reference.

Not as traditional as Moses, (and not my own personal style) but certainly "Kingston" has merit as a name.

"Moses is pretty unconventional in a non-Jewish context, but I guess being a Bible name lends it some kind of unconscious legitimacy, or at least familiarity."

Moses/Mose appears with some frequency in African-American families, no doubt due to the
resonance of the Exodus story in African-American history. In New Orleans it frequently shows up in the French form Moise. It also shows up in Latino families and appears in its Arabic form Musa.

I don't know what you mean by "unconscious legitimacy." Why wouldn't it be legitimate in all senses? It is among the oldest of names still in use, dating from the ancient pharoahs like all those named Thutmose/Thutmosis. One can hardly get more legitimate than that. Perhaps you meant "rarely used in certain circles" or "not fashionable"?

OTOH Kingston is a place name/surname recently appropriated as a given name by a celebrity. Hardly to be compared with the name of the great pharoah Thutmose III and the major biblical figure as far as legitimacy goes.....

Eric, congrats! Very astute of you.

Although "place names" are not my cup of tea usually, I can see the appeal of Kingston. The short form "King", has a slightly raffish, retro, "back to the Thirties" kind of feeling. "Duke" was big then too, especially for rather flamboyant, larger-than-life characters. Peerless John Wayne, of course, was "Duke" to his buds...

In "It Happened One Night", heiress Claudette Colbert was fleeing across country to her powerful boyfriend, and HIS name was "King Something". Lucky for her, she got distracted by Clark Gable, and ended up with him instead!

I love all the info you give on baby names. I was wondering about a name. I heard a random mother at a store one day call her daughter "Southern." I have never seen it in a baby name book, but it has really grown on me over the years. I have always loved the name Savannah and Southern reminds me of it. Is it even on the charts anywhere?

Okay- totally off-topic, but I was thinking- can anyone think of an "Aiden" rhyme name that was present in the census data before Hayden? Does Hayden even countin that group seeing as it follows a different popularity history? Incidentally, does anyone know what (if anything) made Hayden jump so dramatically from the 80s to the 90s? Hayden Christensen didn't get popular until the early 00s. It popped up in the "sea of names", and after taking a look, I got curious.

Congratulations, Eric!

Count me as another person who prefers Moses to Kingston. I love the solidity of Moses.

Just to throw in my 2 cents: There have been 8 babies (all girls!) born in my family / social circle recently. They are 1) Maggie Grace (not Margaret), 2) Abby Jill (not Abigail), 3) Evy Kate (not Evangeline / Evelyn Katherine), 4) Sarah middle unknown 5) Hannah middle unknown 6) Amelia Rose (called Mia) 7) Natalie Anne and 8) Emily Blanche. Also I work at a newspaper and there have been a fair share of Miley / Myleighs in our listings. No other name stands out as a pattern.

Valerie -- Your Jessica Alba story is crazy! Talk about 6 degrees of separation ...

A little off topic but many people have been mentioning Irish names - Siobhan, for instance. I'd like to learn to pronounce them (usually I have no idea unless I individually google them). Anyone know a good site that spells out the pronunciation of these names?

I don't know a site that does that (though that would be really awesome if someone else does), but if spelled phonetically Siobhan would probably be something like Shavonne.

Elisabeth, I love your baby name blog! I just had a quick look at it: the graphics are beautiful and the history and serious discussions of various names are much appreciated. I've bookmarked your blog and will read it all when I have time. Thank you!

Kristine,

Here's a great Irish name website, which not only spells out the pronunciation of a name, but let's you listen to the name being pronounced:
http://www.babynamesofireland.com/

I've been fascinated by the girl's name Saoirse since one of my daughters was looking for a name, possibly Irish like their surname, for her second child. I came across Saoirse somewhere and looked it up on this website to find out how it's pronounced. As an example, here's the information given, plus there's a 'button' to click on to hear the name pronounced:
Saoirse "sear + sha"
Irish word saoirse "freedom, liberty." It has only been used since the 1920s and has strong patriotic overtones.
It has become a very popular baby girl name in Ireland in recent years.

Irish actress Saoirse Ronan plays the young girl in "Atonement". And I recently learned that the only child of Courtney Kennedy, Bobby & Ethel Kennedy's second daughter, is named Saoirse (born in 1997).

Re: Moseses mostly being Jewish

I've run into plenty of Jewish Moshes, but never a Moses. The only modern-day Moses I know of is Korean-Am. And he's a gangster, so he obviously isn't living up to his namesake.

Ack I wanna write more but I have no time.

Again, regarding Moses being Jewish:

I've read that before the Reformation Catholic families in England didn't tend to use Old Testament names (with a very few exceptions). That may be why many OT male names are associated more with a Jewish background even today.

On the other hand, my great-great grandfather was named Moise by his French-Canadian parents. Sometime after the family migrated from Quebec to Vermont, young Moise became "Moses".

I'm kind of surprised at the impression of Moses as an "out-there" name or as an exclusively Jewish name. I've a cousin named Noah (he's 15 I think) who was almost named Moses... and I've never felt that was particularly odd. Doesn't America have a long history of giving Old Testament names? Today it is more likely to be something like Benjamin or Daniel, but years ago Moses was pretty common.

I checked Name Voyager, and in the 1880s Moses was ranked 159, or exactly the same as Conner (and Bella for girls) was ranked in 2007.

In fact, Moses is still in the top 500 today. It is more popular than Gideon, which I would not think of as an "out-there" Old Testament name, either.

Patricia:
Thanks for the site! I'll definitely have to explore it this afternoon!

It is true that OT names were rare (but not non-existent) in England and neighboring areas in Europe before the Reformation (for example, the Frankish princess Judith who becomes Queen of Wessex and then Countess of Flanders in the ninth century and Isaac of Stella, a Cistercian monk, born in England around 1100). Adter the Reformation, the Puritans in particular used OT names and brought that naming preference to the American colonies.

There remains a strong tradition of OT names in the African-American community. In the antebellum South slaves were often given Classical Latin names like Pompey, Atticus, Cicero (think Cassius Clay), but after Emancipation, the former slaves often turned to their Bibles to name their children, and names like Moses, Isaac, Isaiah, and Solomon became common and are still in use today in that community, albeit less common now than they were in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Congratulations, Eric!
I adore the name Paige, btw!

Maybe Gwen could use Royal for the next one?
I believe that is a name with a fairly solid pedigree.

So, speaking of sibling names...what would anyone suggest for the sibling of a Miley?

I think that with uber popular names it's hard to suggest a sibling name without knowing what about it made it attractive to the parents. I got to meet a baby Miley last night (about the most beautiful baby ever, btw); at any rate, as I've mentioned before, her parents chose it largely as a tribute to the father's Hawaiian heritage.
They would probably choose a different sibling name than other parents of Mileys.
I think any super popular name can pose a similar challenge. Emma, for example, is clearly no longer just for those who like classics.

At any rate, I'd love to hear any suggestions for Miley siblings!

J&H's Mom: The Miley you know was spelled that way and not Maile? I think that's interesting as Maile is the more typically used Hawaiian spelling, but I could see using Miley as sort of... another step of Anglicization. Or just fitting with common trends, or making it easier for folks to pronounce or something.

Saw a name in my local birth listings that I thought would interest folks: Navae. I assume it is a variant on Neveah. Seems she is a twin and the sister is Niara.

Also, can anyone suggest NNs for Cordelia besides Cordy, Delia, and Lia? One of my friends wants to use this name. I remember someone on here was really good at coming up with creative NNs...

RobynT, my favorite nn for Cordelia is Cora. One could also use Coria, Cory, Dell, Dia/Dea, Cordia, Corda, Clia, Ria/Rea, or maybe even Coral.

For Cordelia:

Cory
Cora
Keely
Kia
Kiki
Deedee
Della

Anyway, I was gonna say before that I was at a party the other day, mostly middle to upper middle class white and Asian teens. They were all laughing as one kid told about his ex-camp counselor Latoya who was obsessed with the names of her future children. He said that she was determined that NO ONE ever share a name with one of her kids. The only name she was dead set on was Yboc, Coby backwards, pronounced Yibbik.

Just in case anyone was interested.

Btw, RobynT, nice to see you back!

I think Cora would be an appropriate nickname for Cordelia. Maybe Corie?

re: Moses

I always think of this as a Spanish name, Moises is what I am most familiar with.

re: Moses

I always think of this as a Spanish name, Moises is what I am most familiar with.

J&Hs mom:

Here are my sibling suggestions for Miley:

Sisters: Aubrey, Taylor, Shelby, Ashlyn, Macie

Brothers: Jackson, Landon, Braydon, Caden, Maddox

What do you think?

Patricia-I also have to thank you for posting that Irish website. We touched on this on the last post that I love these names but have no idea how to pronounce a lot of them. I think I'll be spending a lot of time there.

For Miley sibs-if chosen for meaning (Smiley) I would choose something characteristic to match like Joy. Rhyming (if you liked that) might be Hailey or Riley. If you were looking for a famous youthful name I would pick Jordyn (last years Idol winner). Brittany seems like the same style as well. Nymbler makes a few similar suggestions:Bailey, Hailey, Brinley, Ainsley, Cayla, Makayla, etc for girls.
For boys Nymbler suggests:Koby, Kelby??,Malcolm, Jaden, Corey, Kian, Malachy, etc. I might do something trendy like Colby, classic like Charles (since Miley is like Miles), unisex like Ashley, sound similar like Brian or Michael, or again something characteristic (although I can't think of one right now).

One of my favorite names is Kalliah. (Cal-EYE-uh) Any suggestions on how to spell it so it's easier to pronounce?? Also, nickname suggestions? Thanks much.

Kalyah? K'Lyah?

Thanks Patricia. I'm so glad you are enjoying the site. I'm having fun with it, too.

If there's anything you would particularly like to see addressed, please do let me know!

All the Best,
~E

http://youcantcallitit.com/

Phoebe-you were asking about the name Hayden. There was a television show on for a few years, probably in the early 90's called "Coach" about a college football coach and his bumbling staff. The coach's name was Hayden Fox. I don't think it was a hugely popular show, so I doubt that is where any of Hayden's popularity comes from, but it is just an idea.

Caren-I'm with you on Gwen Stefani's baby Kingston. I always assumed that he was named after Kingston, Jamaica, given that her start in music was on the ska scene.

Elisabeth- Love your baby name site!

Names of infants 3-18 mos. from a waterbabies class in Los Angeles--

Girls:
Maya
Ameiya
Jules
Sidney
Charlotte

Boys:
Issac
Maddox
Jordan
William

Guest, the little girl's name you heard may well have been "Southern", but I wonder if it could have been "Sothern", a British surname? That might also be used as a first name for a girl, esp. if there's a family connection. It's charming.

Reminds me of a relative who's first name is "Sutherland". It, too, is a surname used for family reasons. Her nicknames are "Suthie" (SUH-thee) and "Suds".

Cordelia could also go to Cody, if she wanted something a bit on the sporty side.

Kahlyah;Kahliah maybe?

"Kalyah? K'Lyah?" Just say "no" to names with apostrophe's. A friend's DH is an emergency room doc and he had a patient named K'La. Only in the printed paper work it came out as Kla (computers aren't good at handling apostrophes and other non letter characters in names). You can imagine for yourself how it went over when he went into the room and pronounced her name as 'klah' rather than Kayla...

My suggestion for Kalliah is just to spell it as it is and deal with the people who don't know how to spell it. I assume that you'd get plenty of 'KAL-ee-ah' pronunciations but it seems to me that a fair number will get it right too. The h on the end after -ia is like other -iah names (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nehemiah...) that people are familiar with.

Miriam - about Moses and "legitimacy" - I should have been clearer. Of course, I consider it a completely "legitimate" name, as much as any Old Testament name like Daniel, Sarah, Rebecca etc...

The reason I used the phrase "unconscious legitimacy" was because I'm wary of using the word "legitimate" with regards to names. I've seen that some people get ruffled by the idea that some names are "legitimate" and some not, perhaps partly because of the unpleasant connotations of the word when applied to people. I didn't want to accidentally offend anyone who had named their child something like Kingston by implying that it was "not legitimate".

By "unconscious legitimacy" I hoped to convey that Moses *felt* like a real name (as indeed it is), but that wasn't to say it was on some official list of "real names" and Kingston wasn't. Subjective rather than objective. Although I've never met a Moses, I've heard of a few and the name is familiar to me through the Bible so it feels more "real" than Kingston, which I know only as a place name.

I do tend to accidentally offend on the internet for some reason (though I do try not to!), and it looks like I've just done it again with you!

I hope you get to read this so you don't go away thinking I meant any disrespect to Moses, Old Testament names or anything else! :-)

Caren: "I don't think Kingston is random at all for Stefani. As a musician who's influenced by reggae and ska, she honored a city known for this particular musical heritage. "Place" names are certainly hot, as is the "-en" ending phoneme. It's got all the right stuff, at least in her scope and frame of reference."

Fair enough then, I guess I don't know as much about La Stefani as I thought (though thinking abut it I should have guessed, because I do prefer her old, more ska-style music with No Doubt)! Not my style either but it makes sense for her.

Eo, I rather like Duke and Earl. They're not my usual style at all, but there's a strange attraction nonetheless! Like you say, "raffish and retro", although I don't really see it in King.

Re: Kalliah

Maybe Kallaia or Kalaia?

Some Hawaiian names that can easily work on the mainland as Maile/Miley siblings are Akela, Hina, Kaena, Kai, Kaia, Kalani, Kalea, Kalena, Kanoa, Kea, Keala, Kealani, Keani, Keanu (hey!), Keoki, Kinana, Kimo, Kina, Lahela, Naia... Yeah, so if you don't like K names, the list of possibilities gets a lot shorter!

A lot of these are Hawaiian versions of Anglo names (Lahela = Rachel, for example). I've known boys here in LA named Keani and Keoki (not related to each other)--and Kai is a name that works in several languages, from Danish to Japanese.

Sabrina-Great suggestions! I agree with the use of "ai" for the EYE sound and thus rescind my previous thoughts on this. However, anyway you spell A LOT of names, you will get pronunciation (and spelling) errors.

I don't actually know if the Miley I know is Maile or Miley.
I've only met her mom twice, and although I've thoroughly interrogated her otherwise, somehow I forgot to ask about the spelling.
No wonder my dh wanders away from me at parties!

At any rate, I'm enjoying your suggestions!
She told me they had thought about Kai or Kona for a boy but didn't have other girls' names picked. They aren't sure if they'll do Hawaiian if they have another.

If it was a "random," Miley, I'd probably suggest Mia, Kayla, Bailey, or Mackenzie (none of which are personal favs. of mine).
Not sure about boys....

I think Maile was already on the rise because it is fresher than Kylie, and because Hawaiian names are hot right now. The arrival of Miley Cyrus on the pop-culture radar sealed the fate of Miley/Maile.

The Miale I know is 7.

what do you all think of the name trinity?
i think it is so cute for a baby or a toddler

but will she like it as an adult?

my baby is due in august ..so we still have time

i dont want her to dislike her name

my other choice is angelina

much more traditional
but..

thanking you all beforehand for all your input

charlotte