The Baby Name Wizard

FYI, Senator Barack Obama's real life Indonesian sister is Maya. One of his Kenyan sisters is Auma.

Indira was the first name that came to mind for Barack.

She was prime minister of India, so it has a political connection if that is what one is after, and it also has a groovy ethnic vibe, IMO.

I'm posting without reading the above comments because I didn't want to be influenced by what anyone else had said. Here goes...

BARACK

Olivier
Willson
Treeve
Anatole
Jean-Baptiste

Amina
Grace
Mariam
Tirzah
Zurie

KINGSTON

Maxim
Tate
Dashiell (Dash)
Piers
Jacobs

Lola
April
Keilah
Alder
Mercy

SYLVIE

Remi
Griffin
Calvin
Ezra
Amoux

Elodie
Aimee
Aurore (Rory)
Severine
Anouk

Interesting... after reading all the other comments, I now see some of my suggestions tied in with those made by others:

2 people suggested Amina as a sister for Barack.
5 people suggested Mariam/Maryam as a sister for Barack.
2 people suggested Tirzah as a sister for Barack.

2 people suggested April as a sister for Kingston (and several more suggested Avril)
2 people suggested Lola as a sister for Kingston.

4 people suggested Remi/Remy as a brother for Sylvie.
3 people suggested Calvin as a brother for Sylvie.
2 people suggested Ezra as a brother for Sylvie.
2 people voted for each of Aimee, Anouk and Elodie as sisters for Sylvie.

Laura,

I think it's extremely interesting to see what other people see as sibling names for these three diverse sources, and to see how much overlap there is.

Is there any chance you might put a place on this site solely devoted to sibling name suggestions by your readers? Or is the comments section already devoted enough to this? I know nymbler already does this (I'm a huge fan), but it would be a lovely complement to that software.

Regards,

Elisabeth
http://youcantcallitit.com/

I'm thinking about who might consider naming a child Barack. It could be political (I'm not). It could be African or Arabic. It could have to do with the name's meaning. It could recall a cultural icon, living or dead. Names that come to mind are:

Martin
Lennon
Colin
Ghandi
Tupac
Pax
Cosmo
Plato
Socrates

Okay, now that I've read the comments through, I have some more ideas. Since Laura W. wants sibling names that use Barack as middle-eastern or political heritage based here is my new list.
BOYS
1. Omar,
2. Sharif, (There is a famous Egyptian actor named Omar Sharif and I think both his FN and LN are viable as a sib.)
3. Zain/Zayn or the American Zane
4. Douglas or Wilder (getting into political matches)
5. Martin OR
6. Luther (either name for either guy)
Luther is also the name of the comic relief character in "South Pacific" who turns out to be a hero of sorts. And now I have the song "Honey Bun" running through my head)
7. Booker (I like this name a lot. It seems a cousin of Carter, Cooper, Miller, Fletcher etc)

GIRLS
1. Zuleika (Zuzu! Such a fun nickname.)
2. Raniya/Rania
3. Elizabeth (a classic and the name of any number of pioneering women)
4. Lucretia
5. Victoria
6. C.J. (Super smart millionaire.)

Yes, Zuleika is great-- the only one I've ever heard of is Zuleika Dobson, and I don't even know who she was. (I'm one of those who, if I hear a distinctive name even once, even decades ago, it lodges in my brain, often divorced from any context or knowledge of the bearer, aaagh.)

It does remind me of Zenobia. Thanks Sister Melinda for the extensive background on that. Both Zuleika and Zenobia are names ending in -a that are nevertheless strong and not too frilliana.

I still like "Martin" (Luther King) as an homage sibling name for McCain, not Obama. I'm looking at shared crucibles of courage and suffering, not "ethnicity". Ethnic background is to my mind the least interesting aspect of the many facets of any individual, and certainly the least determinative of his or her character...

Karyn, I love the suggestion of Kingston and Juno. That seems absolutely perfect. I can just see those toddlers running around together with their faux-hawks.

Mary, I'm not getting the Lucretia recommendation, as it immediately makes me think of Lucrezia Borgia. Is it the incest/poisoning rumors you're recalling here (kidding, of course)

All of these suggestions for Barack and Kingston remind me of studying for the Miller's analogies tests in middle and high school. Here's a Sesame Street ("one of these things is not like the others") take on those problems: Which of the following names does not belong? Why?

Calypso
Kingston
Moses
Coco

This could have two answers: Calypso (the other three are the children of celebrity moms Gwen Stefani, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Courteney Cox) or Moses (the other three evoke the Carribbean).

Can you all come up with trickier sets? I'm not sure this game would be fun with Sylvie, but Barack and Kingston both fall into several categories, as we've seen with all the suggested sibling names.

I would suggest Arabic matches for the name Barack. You called it African, in truth its root is the Arabic B-R-K which means he blessed (more or less.) Good matches would be Karim (another spelling of course is Kareem) which means Generous, and Hakim, which means wise, and Malek, which means king, but I am sure you could find several more if you search Arabic names. Amira is a good female match. I also like Zahra, but the pronunciation is difficult in English (you have to sound out that H.)

Sylvie, for some reason, immediately brings to mind Peter, and perhaps, Oliver and Louis.

Long time lurker, first time commenter here.

I think Gloria is a fab sister to Kingston, but any child of Gwen would have to have an alternative name so maybe Gloria (which is a bit of a middle age mummy name) is a bit too obvious.......I think she will have another boy so I will go with Rex (if BB contestant doesnt put her off)

Matches for Sylvie, you say? I picture a little girl with blonde curls ... and names that sound somewhat French and well-to-do. These come to mind:

Yvette
Lily
Elise
Mona
Cate
Acadienne

Alexandre
Dumas (both names work as a first name)
Simon
Philip
John-Paul (avoids the teasing that might result from using "Jean" in a boy's name)

I'm fascinated at the handful of names that have been suggested to go with more than one of the "problems," at hand.

I was trying to think of a name last night that could be a reasonable fit with all three.

I kept coming up with M sounds-Marina, Mahalia, Maya, Malia (obviously the last two are already taken in the real-life Obama household).
I remember Laura did a post a while back on names that "travel-well."
It seems like we're looking for something similar in this challenge.

The name Zenobia always reminds me of Genovia, the imaginary kingdom in the Princess Diaries.

Zuleika Dobson is a literary character. She is a woman so beautiful and charming that all the men at Oxford committed suicide for her. (Despite the morbid ending, it's a light fun satire.)

"I still like "Martin" (Luther King) as an homage sibling name for McCain, not Obama. I'm looking at shared crucibles of courage and suffering, not "ethnicity". Ethnic background is to my mind the least interesting aspect of the many facets of any individual, and certainly the least determinative of his or her character..."

Eo, to your continued focus on this topic, I'd second what Easternbetty said. This is not a political exercise, but a "If you liked X, you're *sure* to love Y" kind of a thing (said in my best movie preview announcer voice). I would *never* pick the name Barack (I don't like such current pop culture references, I don't usually go for namesaking in general, he's not someone I'd pick as a namesake, and the name itself is just NMS) so it's a bit tough for me. BUT, assuming someone is drawn to the name because of Barack Obama, I think it's fairly disrespectful/offensive to suggest (even tongue-in-cheek) that they must be the kind of extremeist lefties who would appreciate Fidel, Che, etc. or that they would be off-base to pick something based on MLK. Regardless of your opinion or any objective reality, I would venture to say that most people who are enthusiastic about Obama do *not* see him as an extreme leftist figure, but as a potential unifying force in American politics, maybe as a great African-American leader, or maybe just as a great American. With that in mind, I think that any suggestions relating to fairly mainstream current or past African-American political/cultural figures are right on (MLK, Rosa, Zora/Alice/Toni, Thurgood, Mandela, etc.), as are names that reflect general "African (American) pride" (or whatever you'd want to call it), and names of other revered political Americans with a more liberal/leftist bent (I could see something re: Abe Lincoln, FDR/Eleanor, Kennedy, etc.). Any remarks making personal value judgments of Obama or the suggested namesake "matches" is sure to offend some and lead to a discussion perhaps better suited to another type of blog.

You've suggested in the past that others be more sensitive with their comments, in consideration for the diversity of thought and background on this board, but I think this is a case where you are rather relishing a (perceived) contrarian role, and forgetting your own excellent advice to keep a respectful and open-minded tone.

Lucretia in this case is a reference to Lucretia Mott, a Quaker reformer in the 1800's. Although I suppose Lucrezia Borgia could be considered some kind of role model for survival and managing to die of natural causes unlike some other children of popes.

I still have "Honey Bun" stuck in my head.

Hear hear, hyz! I couldn't have said it better myself.

The more I reflect on it, the more I think "homage" names are the wrong way to go for the Barack sibset. I mean, someone that is going to name their children specifically after political/cultural figures probably doesn't need or want help as much as the person saying, "Hmmm, I like that name, the way it sounds, and since I like Barack Obama, I see no reason not to use it." The first person will make their own judgments about the people they want to honor. The second person has chosen a name that is hard to match with anglo sounding names... That's where BNW comes in!

Could anyone help a friend of mine?
She's having Quadruplets (!) and so far only has one name picked out (Lucia). All babys (as far as we know) are girls. My friend is Dominican and her husband is American with a strong French background. Hubby's name is William (called Willem), and Friend's name is Maya.

Thanks! :)

Wow, quadruplets!

Lucia
Adele
Lourdes
Clara

Kingston
Brothers: Blake, Micah, Elliott
Sisters: Mackenzie, Kylie, Tyler

Sylvie
Brothers: Charles, Julian, Win, Louis
Sisters: Aurelie, Rina, Simone

Sylvie

brothers: Hugh, Hugo, Ferdinand, Max,

sisters: Millicent, Eleanor, Beatrice, Amelie

Kingston

sisters: Maxima, Arabella, Sydney

brothers: Baltazar, Jasper, Sterling

For the quads, I like the suggestions of Clara and Adele to go with Lucia. I'd add Amelia/Amelie, Caroline/Carolina, Isabel(le), Sophia/Sofia, Eloise, Susannah, and Rosalie. I'm thinking of names that work pretty well in either Spanish or French, sound old-fashioned, and are fairly popular, or at least accessible.

Hi hyz-- This is one time when I quite disagree, although I appreciate your explanation of your point of view, as always.

Ideally, I like the "Never complain/never explain" school of response (who coined that-- was it Yogi Berra, or maybe H. L. Mencken?) but I believe I've been maligned, in this case. (Those of you completely uninterested in the intricacies of this, please talk amongst yourselves!)

First, as I said before, only when political figures have been introduced as subjects for the blog, have I responded. Both Senators Obama and Clinton have been introduced over the last few years, very often with accompanying favorable editorializing and for lack of a better word, "boosterism".

No problem. However, those introducing such topics must be prepared for the "wry" or otherwise feedback that may or may not ensue. Just like when any other subject comes up, there will be a range of opinion.

Whatever else I do, I make it a point to engage in civil discourse, as do most here. The good senator IS widely perceived as very far left. A non-partisan group, (was it the National Journal?) designated him, based on votes, as the most liberal Senator out of all one hundred. And those who are acquainted with and/or admire his philosophy, would concur, I believe.

As to whether I "relish" a perceived contrarian role-- I didn't know I had anything as identifiable as a "role"! But, hey if I can bring a little "diversity" to a corner of cyberspace once in a while, I'm up for it. With a side of civility and good cheer, one can only hope...

Quads: Lucia, Marisol, Ruben, Hugo

Sorry to copy your "Hugo", Guest, but I thought of it before reading your entry, and it is such a neat name!

Oh, brother I just noticed that they are supposed to be all girls-- back later...

Hmm, without looking at anyone else's suggestions, here are mine.

Barack: Anita, Maya, Julius, Samuel, Lincoln (hee!)

Kingston: Sonya, Rita, Maya, Marianne, Renee, Cleo

Sylvie: Dennis (or Denis?), Claude, Bernard, Robert

How about we call the quads...Lucia, Sylvie, Kingston and Barack?

In all seriousness, Sylvie would be a nice sister for Lucia. And we could round it out with Clara and Adele, as others have suggested, to avoid the "all-the-names-end-in-a" trend (that's the kind of matchy-matchy I can't stand).

quads: Lucia, Paloma, Nathalie, Adrienne

Quads! Yikes! I used to work with a woman who is Dominican and whose husband is Anglo. I know they considered the name Alma for their first daughter. I don't know how well that works in French, though. Others possibly worth considering: Ana, Nora, and Beatriz.

Eo, I honestly haven't seen the "boosterism" to which you refer (on this blog, anyway--I'm *thoroughly* familiar with [imho] grating Obama boosterism from real life family and friends), which is the basic gist of what I was trying to say above, and which is why I find your advocacy for "the other side" here a little over-zealous, perhaps--but I can certainly agree to disagree, also fully in good cheer. Since I'm *not* a person who would choose Obama as a namesake, I don't feel personally affronted, and was just attempting to present the issue from an angle which you might not yet have considered.

After reading some of the political debate, the question occurs to me: Who (demographically) names their child Barack?

It is possible that it is ridiculous to come up with a sib set because these parents are so now-focused on pop/political/African-American culture that the name of "Barack's" sibling simply isn't on the radar screen yet?

I ask this in part because my personal bias is not to give namesake names, particularly not after living people. Who knows what scandals lie ahead? (For any of us?)

OK, Lucia, Marisol, Ines, Nieves. Or if Nieves is too close to Ines, then Catalina. Or I'll go for two of my French faves, Solange and Colombe.

Also love Pilar. I'm guessing that both Marisol and Pilar are considered a bit old-hat by now, but they are so pretty.

Incidentally, did you notice the Columbian woman rescued from terrorists in her country, has the impressive name "Ingrid Betancourt". I wonder if "Ingrid" has become popular in South America, or if this is an anomaly?

Megan W., that's a good question. Honestly, as gung-ho as some of my friends and family are about Obama, I can't see any of them even naming a *pet* Barack, much less a child. Demographically speaking, these are upper-middle class, highly-educated people, mostly white (some black), male and female, ranging in age from about 20 to 60. My stereotype (and yes, it is a stereotype, with all the shortcomings of any other stereotype) of someone who *would* name a child after a popular living figure is either some sort of super-enthusiastic true believer, or a younger and/or less educated person who is generally quite enthralled with pop culture. Re: Barack specifically, I would add a third group of people who might (like CB suggested) like names that sound like Barack for some other reason, and consider the Obama connection to be an incidental plus. So, as much as I think Martin, Lincoln, Rosa, Mandela, and Thurgood are plausible and attractive suggestions, I'd be less surprised to see little Barack's siblings turn out to be kids like Aaliyah, Shakira, Malia, Malik, Trey, and Mustafa, for example.

Eo, to my knowledge, Ingrid IS quite common in Central and South America, and in my exprience, it has *not* been my friends of majority-European (i.e. my Italian-Argentine, German-Argentine, and Spanish-Chilean friends) ancestry who have used it. (not to say others of these ancestry-nationality mixes don't, though.

I also know several Mexican and Central American women and girls with the names Gertrude (Perhaps as an alternative to the Spanish version Gertrudis), Damaris, Karen, and Lilibeth. I like how all these names sound in Spanish.

Mary, I liked your suggestion of Rania for Barack's sister because it is both a name popular in the Muslim-majority world (especially the Arab countries proper--i.e. the Gulf), but the name of a public figure who is widely beloved and perceived as a social campaigner (Queen Rania has spoken out for women's rights). People who perceive Barack O. similarly will certainly appreciate this double-threat name for a sister. Really good work.

[apologies if others mentioned that name]

hyz, did I miss a famous-in-the-West Mustafa? Or was that a character in _Aladdin_ (when in doubt, reference the Disney flicks--at least four popular names will be in there).

Clue me in!

I agree with your assessment of who might be naming a kid Barack this very second in 2008. But I think in a year or so, if he does not win the presidency (hence, he won't be front and center in the public whirlwind), non-celebrity-obsessed, educated folk (especially non-immigrant African-Americans) will think about using the name precisely in the sense of "social movers and shakers." And maybe many of them will have a good idea of whom else they want to honor for their other kids...but probably just a few will be hitting the bookstore baby name shelf.

For the quads, how about: Lucia, Clara, Eloise, Adele (to second some of the wonderful suggestions above). Other suggestions: Camilla/Camille, Annabel, Flora, Evelyn, Rose, Violet, Iris, or Isadora.

Also, King Mustafa was a character in The Lion King.

For the quads I'd suggest going as distinct with the names as possible. Actually, this is a situation that may call for "clashing" names. Lucia, Molly, Quinn, and Sarah for example. The mother could pick her favorite names from different genres...how fun!

I know Ingrid Betancourt has dual French/Columbian citizenship.
Am I wrong in thinking her mother is French?

Coincidentally, the only young Sylvia I've known had Argentinian parents.

You see how sharp my NE instincts are, Marureen?

Except when it comes to spelling names, that is.. MAUReen.

Ingrid Betancourt was born in Colombia, to Colombian parents, Yolanda and Gabriel (but as her surname indicates, her father's ancestry was French, and he spoke French as a career diplomat). She and her sister Astrid were raised in Paris when their father moved there in 1975:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%8Dngrid_Betancourt

She married a Frenchman and her children are named Melanie and Lorenzo.

Seems like a family with a flair for the "names that travel well"--Yolanda, Gabriel, Ingrid, Astrid, Melanie, and Lorenzo are all very portable choices!

I haven't been following the Betancourt case, but I do know that there was a Venezuelan president with the last name Betancourt. That Betancourt spent time in Colombia when he was exiled from Venezuela--perhaps he's related to Ingrid?

At any rate, there are lots of names like Ingrid popular in Latin America. Regions that have had socialist/communist types of regimes have had waves of babies named Vladamir and Svetlana. Other regions that have had right-wing/fascist regimes have seen babies named Benito for Mussolini. And South America has long been the destination of immigrants from all over the world. I was surprised when I lived in Central America to see a lot of people who had clear Asian ancestry. So the names in these countries are often very diverse. Hugo Chávez, the current Venezuelan president, recently attempted to limit the list of acceptable baby names to 100. He was offended by the proliferation of names such as Jhonny Owee, Nixon, Kerbert, and Yurbiladyberth (all names quoted in one article I read). Fortunately, despite his seeming ability to hoodwink the Venezuelan legislature into almost anything, he has been unable to achieve this goal. One man quoted in the article said, in an ever-so-understated way, "Why not 120? To me this seems kind of arbitrary." (Translation mine.) I've been to Venezuela many times and can attest to their love of unusual names!

One of the Brazilian states was founded by US Southerners opposed to abolition. Since Brazil's slave trade was still going strong in the 1850s and 60s, thousands of them fled to Brazil. Many people in that region still have Anglo-influenced names. There are small communities of Amish and Pennsylvania Dutch in Paraguay (that blew my mind when I first learned of it)--they have kept their way of life along with their Germanic names.

Sorry for this long tangent. I just find the variety of Latin America fascinating and am rarely surprised to hear of a Colombian, Peruvian, or Cuban with a name that sounds not in the least Spanish.

I'll admit that I haven't read all the previous posts, so I apologize for any repeats on my list.

For Barack's brothers:

*Shalom (could be for a girl, too)
*Americus
*Atticus
*Abraham
*Jefferson
*Roman

For Barack's sisters:

*Malia
*Sasha
(Since Obama named his daughters Malia and Sasha, those names kind of automatically flow, although the connection might be too obvious for some parents)

*Demi (Going with the political aspect, I'm using Demi as a variant of "Democrat")

*Kenya

*Zambi (A little out there, but works as a derivative of Mozambique)

For Kingston's sisters (since you've matched boy's names already):

*Reina (Spanish for "queen")

*Queenie (Probably too cutesy, but I do think it works; could also go with "Quinn", same sort of sound, w/o the obvious play on words)

*Marly (playing off the reggae beat)

*Destiny (thinking of Kingston as a place, "Destiny" sounds a bit like "destination" and it flows well with Kingston)

*Odessa (Another place name that has some fun, upbeat nicknames)

For Sylvie's brothers (since you already have sister matches):

*Forest or Forrest (since "Sylvia" means "of the forest," this is a natural match)

*Yves (means "yew tree" and has the benefit of being another French name)

*Landon (means "long hill" and fits today's naming trends without being trendy itself)

*Lyle (means "from the island" and the double "l" with the "y" goes well with Sylvie)

*Peter/Pearce/Pierce/Pierre (means "rock")

*Holden (means "deep valley" -- see Landon above)

*Glen/Glenn

Very fascinating, Elizabeth T. And isn't there a tiny contingent of Welsh, in the more remote regions of Argentina? Or did I hallucinate that? I would imagine they're assimilated by now, though...It would be interesting to find a little pocket of Gareths, Myfanwys and Eryls there!

We do forget how much of a melting pot Latin America is. Germans figure largely in the Hitchcock-Cary Grant-Ingrid Bergman thriller "Notorious", set in mysterious, polyglot Rio de Janeiro (sp?) during World War II.

Oh, coincidentally, another favorite film noir of the Forties, "Gilda", is set in Buenos Aires. Rita Hayworth's nightclub-owner husband seems to be Argentinian, and his name, "Balin Mundsen" suggests vaguely Scandinavian heritage to me...

Lots of notes:

SusieQ,
I love your suggestions of Dashiell for Kingston and Griffin and Ezra for Sylvie. Ezra was an almost-choice for my picks.

Mary,
I think Zuleika is perfect for Barack. Great nickname in Zuzu too.

Coll,
I agree: Kingston and Juno are great together. Unfortunately, I’m not sure if the movie helped or hurt the potential for this goddess name.

Heather,
Yes, I could actually easily see a Gloria or Glory for Gwen. If any celebrity can revive a stuffy, old name, it’s probably her.

T,
Mona for Sylvie is brilliant!

Brother and Sister names for Sylvie:

Elodie
Daphne
Amelie
Leoni
Vivien
Celeste

Louis
Felix
Miles
Lucien
Hugo

Easternbetty--yes, the only "prominent" Mustafa in the US that I know of is courtesy of Disney, but the name occurred to me because I used to know two young brothers named Malik and Mustafa. NMS, but I still thought it was a handsome pair of names that fit these little boys well. I also agree with your assessment of how the demographics of those who would pick Barack might change in the future. Given that Laura is looking for names to go in a book that will likely sit on the shelves for years to come, perhaps the "of the moment" names are not the right ones to look to.

Thanks guys! Maya likes the sound of Clara and Adrienne, but isn't committed yet. I'll let you know the final names :).

As a point of interest she was originally going to name the girls in a cutesy pattern: Lucia, Gloria, Maria, Sofia (or Nadia?).

We talked her out of it.
(Question of interest though; how bad do you think it would've been if those were the names? I've heard of much worse match-y naming of multiples so may that's why I'm partially immune to this set.)