The Baby Name Wizard

More new baby names from my husband's alumni mag ...

Ella
Bella
Elly
MaKyla
Ava (x2)
Maggie
Scotlyn (g)
Lydia and Claire (twins)
Dinah
Rogue (b)
Jerry
Danny

And the Ethel-Mae Postulate:
Abby Claire and Abbey Claire

The vast majority of these kids are from the South, but Rogue lives in the NW and Maggie is from the Midwest.

I was interested, given our recent discussion of naming someone "just Maggie" at the number of nns as given names in the bunch, including a Maggie. Although I sense that could be more common in the South. Perhaps someone could corroborate that? Easternbetty? Miriam?

Just to weigh in on the Palin names - I think it's the combintion of the boys' names that does the whole set in. Piper, Bristol, and Willow are odd on their own but match each other. Track and Trig, Trig and Track - those two sound like a nursery rhyme. Maybe each could stand with the girls' names, but add them both in and you get problems. And Laney, I can totally see the set as teen drama names. Good call.

Laney-Your comment about the names of Palin's children being very 90210-ish is very spot on and totally funny! I would tend to agree with you but it might make me look like a 15yr old who watches every OC-type of drama with great fervor. I DID do this when I was of that era, but now I am a bit older and wiser. I think whatever anyone wants to do with their children's names is fine whether they are public figures or not. However, many of these people (public figures and members here as well) do not share my personal style nor do I of thiers. This is okay because this is what makes the world interesting and gives many of us something to gossip about.

Amy3-Was your Great-grandma Olive?
Maybe we're related!

Honestly, while some of the Palin children's names are a bit much for stodgy old me, I think they work as a group.
The striking thing about them is that they seem very much like names moms would be considering Now. While this certainly wouldn't make me change my politics, I think one could make a reasonable case for the Palins being ahead of the curve in terms of naming styles.

Do you all remember the naming expert who passed away last year? His first name was Kelsey, and he blamed what he saw as a decline in naming quality on the increasing involvement of Fathers in the naming process.
Maybe someone can find the article, or one of you scholarly types can weigh in on whether naming has traditionally been the domain of fathers or mothers.

Here is the link

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/nyregion/22harder.html

Specifically, he blamed names he thought sounded like "Playboy centerfolds," on the men of the house!

Thanks J&H's mom, very interesting article!

My ds born 2000 was named the only name we could both agree on. My dd born 2003 was named by me with my dh having veto power.

J&H's mom- that was a cute article, thanks for finding it. It made me smile.

DH thinks he named our kids, when really, they were all my first choices. He didn't even like dd's name at first, but I just kept using it when talking about her impending arrival, and after just a couple of weeks, he was hooked. Now he takes credit for it! LOL

Here in the UK I can't remember an occasion where the names of politician's kids have been part of political debate - I'm sure someone will prove me wrong though.
If names are perceived as weird then peole in public life are mocked - I'm thinking of Bob Geldof with Fifi Trixibelle, Pixie and Peaches; Jamie Oliver with Honey Boo etc.
The only politician I can think of where there's been interest in the children's names is Boris Johnson and even then not that much interest.
But then no UK politician has kids called Track and Trig...not to mention Bristol which, as someone said, in Britain is like calling your child Tit.

J&H's mom -- Sorry, my great-grandma was Ellen.

My husband and I agreed on middle names that would honor deceased relatives, but I was the one who chose all first name possibilities we considered.

My kids were always named in my head; at about four or five months, husband asked "so what's her name?" And I told him. End of negotiations.

I figure, he doesn't even like to pick out his own clothes at the store, so why would he enjoy being involved in this decision? ;)

Jane: It sounds like Maria but with an A in the front? I think maybe it could be a place. Or maybe I am thinking of Sumeria. I'm not very familiar with the Bible.

re: Gustav: This site says there are six different lists the names come from (http://www.komonews.com/news/archive/4079811.html). Ooh this page has lists for different regions (http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml). I guess six lists for each region. And then it seems the lists change every few years.

Easternbetty: I love those questions! I feel like you always hear about female politicians being judged more for their clothing or marital status, but naming is sort of new I feel. Although I think having a story sometimes seems to justify anything--like if it's a family name or somewhere you've lived or whatever. I think you see that pressure all over this board and it's just sort of amplified for public figures I guess.

Miriam: LOL at Aryan Justice!!

Rogue is fascinating! It's the name of a female character in the X-Men and also a hipster beer I think. haha.

All your stories about your and your partner's naming processes are hilarious! Being name-obsessed, I am already producing lists (although we've got at least another year or two) and husband vetoes (especially old-fashioned names). He also has some names he likes to throw out though. And he chooses names from his ethnic heritage and I get veto power on those.

The theory about "Playboy" naming when men get involved in the process is interesting...but from my own experience, it is men who are quickest to point out (derisively) what they think are "stripper names." Someone here also mentioned hanging out on a male-dominated blog, where avoiding porn/stripper names was one of their greatest concerns.

But I'll take the findings of the professional onomastician over my own observations.

And all this sexism about female politicians makes me sick. I agree 100% with Miriam, easternbetty, and others, who suggest that female politicians are far more susceptible than males (Obama flag pin controversy aside) to the overly-critical examination of their wardrobes, hairstyles, children's names, and other such matters that have no relevance for their candidacy. I was angered, for instance, to see people on the nytimes boards dismiss Sarah Palin as a "breeder." There are many other reasons I won't be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket, but the fact that she has five children is certainly not one of them. (That said, I hate the names, especially Track, but to each her own! Why should I care what she named her children?!)

Robyn T.--

Each part of the world subject to cyclonic storms has lists of names drawn from the languages spoken in that particular area. These (six) lists are rotated over a period of six years. Whenever there is a "bad" hurricane (like Katrina, Mitch, Andrew, Camille, Betsy, and now Gustav), that name will be retired (like the jersey number of a great athlete), and a new name of the same gender inserted into the correct alphabetic slot. So Gustav will be retired, and a new male name starting with G will be added to this year's list of names which will be repeated in six years.

Aryan Justice is the name of a real little girl whose arrival a few years ago was lauded on Neo-Nazi websites. Ariana, fine name; Aryan Justice, not so much.

Much as we speculated on what names Gwen Stefani and Brangelina would choose, is it now time to imagine Bristol Palin and her so-far anonymous boyfriend's choice? Will she follow her parents' naming style? Will she look to the Spears sisters and other celebs for inspiration? Should we be looking at Alaska gazetteers or People magazine to aid our speculations? Or will the young couple rebel and name their child Margaret or James? Stay tuned as the world turns....

BTW the most recent children born to the poker dudes: Thomas Field and Aeris Isabella.

Jane, you are a stand-up person! Appreciate that!

Easternbetty, trust you to bring up fascinating and provocative things for us to chew on...

I agree that there seems to be a persistent sexism which influences (some) people's perceptions of female politicians, and a crudeness to their judgments of same, which is very off-putting.

The glee with which serious family matters are seized upon, and avidly speculated about, seems to be most often reserved for high-profile women. Although, I do think that male public figures in some cases, are also ravaged in ways that are deeply unfair. More and more, though, the Internet-fueled nastiness backfires-- here's hoping!

I remember rather liking Tony Blair's children's names-- doesn't he have a Euan or Ewen? Vaguely think they were Scottish influenced?

Banks has a children's biography of Teddy Roosevelt, and we always like reading about his rambunctious, naughty but endearing offspring. I think their names were great-- the irrepressible Alice Roosevelt, Quentin, Ethel, (very fashionable name for the era!) Kermit, (back then had no frog connotations) and I'm probably forgetting another little Roosevelt...

Tony Blair's children arer Euan, Nicky, Kathryn and Leo.

Gordon Browns's are John Macaulay and James Fraser.

Boris Johnson children are Lara Lettice, Milo Arthur, Cassia Peaches and Theodore Apollo.

and finally David Cameron's are Ivan, Nancy and Arthur.

Im sorry I couldn't find Blair or Cameron's children's middle names.

Also I completely agree that the names of your children should have no say in politics. They should be interesting information and thats all.

Doesn't the youngest Cameron have Elwen as a middle name? They made a big thing of saying it didn't come from Lord of the Rings, but they found it in a baby book.

Lettice and Peaches in one family...typical Boris.

After a quick google:

the Cameron kids are Ivan Reginald Ian, Nancy Gwendoline and Arthur Elwen.

The Blair kids are Euan Anthony, Nicholas John, Kathryn Hazel, and Leo George.

And the name of Gordon Brown's daughter who died when she was about 10 days old was Jennifer Jane.

Garth Brooks has a daughters named August Anna, Taylor Mayne, Pearl, and Allie Colleen.

Re: Bristol's baby
I think it depends on how she sees her own name and how much input her "partner" is given. If she sees her own name as a burden and one she has had to explain constantly, then she might go for the more ordinary and top 100 kind of name. If however, she finds her name wonderful and full of heritage and meaning then she will also give her child a name as such. It's be interesting to know a little more about her so we could start a list of possibilities.

"Lettice and Peaches" may sound like someone's searching for names in the produce department, but Lettice is a traditional name beyond its vegetable reference--it's an old variation on Letitia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettice_Knollys

A humble request: Could someone explain the Ethel-Mae Postulate for me? I've seen reference to it many times, I can't figure out from the context what it means.

Thank you much!

hi, I'm a frequent reader of this blog (and comments!), but have never found anything to say, but i've been thinking and thinking about the Palin kids, as my mileage on them seems to vary considerably, which it ususally dosen't, and I can't figure out why, so heres the two cents:

I really like them. They sound perfectly, totally mainstream american to my ear (Which has never and does not currently live in an english speaking country, so this fits well with the "90210" sound people mentioned - all my familiarity with american culture is through the media or the internet).

Willow and Piper sound modern and a little androgynous, but not at all odd (Probably due to growing up with "Buffy" and "Charmed") and I quite like the sound of both, phonetically, and they fit well with-

Bristol, which I can't understand the dislike for - it's a simple, androgynous place name. Logically, it should be right in the middle of american naming culture. It sounds no weirder to me than China or Dakota (and phonetically nicer than either, Also, it sounds quite feminine ("It could be a boy, but sounds girly") probably because of the "Bree" beginning, which reminds me of names like Brittney, Brigitte, Brianna.)

I also like both Track and Trig (their similarity and background of "Track" notwithstanding). They have a sort of very easy masculinity (I agree very much with someone upthread who said they had "machismo". If you find that a bad thing, more power to you, but it does seem to be something thats being looked for) that the common male naming categories seem to me to miss out on.

The classical, Charles, Oliver, Sebastian, etceteras, sound very refined, european, old fashioned, classy (In the marxist sense of the word) And just a tiny bit snobby, Aidan, Jayden, Caden and friends are just too phonetically graceful (and a have certain tweeness about them) while Cooper, Tanner, Hunter etc. are way too forced, and have a certain "fakeness" about them, and all three categories sound somehow "Fussy".

Trig and Track, OTOH, seem to fit right in that last category, stylistically, but without that forced feeling. (Maybe its the 1 sylable. Maybe the -ck ending - when I tried to think of other names I found "effortlessly masculine" I came up with Zack and Jack and only later noticed the shared ending). They're like contemporary Bob and Joe.

Basically, what am I missing? I thought I had this aspect of american culture cracked. Alas, I am disillusioned.

-Datepalm

The Ethel-Mae postulate is basically this: There is NO name immune to the possibility that there will be another child with the same name in school. You can name a kid Ethel-Mae after your granny, SURE that nobody else will do the same; and lo and behold, there's another Ethel Mae at the Kindergarten drop-off five years later.

The lesson of the Ethel-Mae postulate is that it's hopeless to get TOO invested in the idea of being completely unique. If it's a name or even just a pleasing combination of sounds, it's being used by someone, somewhere, already.

Thanks ET and Sarah. Most interesting collection of sibs!

Although in many ways I'm amused by Boris Johnson as a person, his children's names seem just that much TOO contrived, taken all together. Terribly fashionable and all that, but not quite my cup of tea.

A consistent collection of sibling names used to be Corbin Bernsen and Amanda Pays' children-- Henry, Oliver, Angus. They seemed to go together. Then the fourth child was named Finley, which to me upset the applecart just a bit. Is their Finley a girl, by the way?

Oh, I very much like the names Charles Dickens gave to his large family. I think he bestowed all or most of them himself-- he seems to have been a huge NE himself. Must Google them after I put Banks to bed and report back.

I like when Dads have input on their children's names, by the way. The type of father who is fascinated by names and likes the names that I do is inevitably a soul mate!

Sib set alert ... Summ3r (3 yrs old), big sister to St4r (8 months old, also a girl). The mom doesn't read as particularly hippie-ish, although these names do to me. That said, I don't exactly dislike them, even together, although I could never have gone there myself.

OK, back from reading aloud "Farmer Boy"!

The names of Charles Dickens' ten children:

Charles Culliford Boz Dickens

Mary Angela Dickens

Kate Macready Dickens

Walter Landor Dickens

Francis Jeffrey Dickens

Alfred D'Orsay Tennyson Dickens

Sydney Smith Haldimand Dickens

Henry Fielding Dickens

Dora Annie Dickens

Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens

Aren't you struck by how many literary "hommages" there are? Dickens must have been a huge fan of other writers. I find that very charming and endearing, considering how brilliant he himself was. Despite a necessarily "healthy" ego, he was able to pay tribute to the work of others.

The "Boz" I know a little bit about. It came from an affectionate nickname he had used for his brother, that he later briefly used as a pen-name. Believe it or not, it was a shortened and corrupted version of "Moses".

I just think those children's names offer such a revealing glimpse of Dickens...

Eo- thanks so much for sharing Dickens' children's names. What an interesting bunch!

(And I LOVE Farmer Boy, so I hope you're having a great time with that!)

I just want to say that my reaction to the names Track and Trig would be exactly the same with a male politician. I think they're very strange choices, and I think parents take equal responsibility for naming.
But I take Datepalm's point about them being very American, maybe they do sound odder to a British ear. Willow and Piper aren't odd at all to me, and I can see that Bristol is only strange to me because I'm British.
I think Boris's children's names are fascinating because his persona seems so contrived, but the names fit exactly with it. I feel quite happy about judging him on his children's names, but then I don't believe that one can divorce a politician's private life completely from their public one. Male or female.

When I listed Palin's kids' names at the dinner table, my 5 year old immediately said that her favorite was "Bristol," because it sounds like "Crystal." When I told her that my favorite name of the group was "Willow," she asked if that was because it incorporated the sound of my maiden name. I was a bit stunned, because of all the years I had Willow on my list, it never occured to me that my maiden name was tucked in there. I was both chagrined at having missed it and proud of my little budding name enthusiast!

I heard that Track was named that because... they love running and were both on the Track team. Okay. And that there's a Van in Track's name as a second middle-- because they liked Van Halen. Sooo not my type of names! And I agree that the boys' names don't go with the girls' names, though they go together as separate sets.

I loved that list of Dickens' kids' names. :)

Tirzah,
I think that $hefler is the first name. I have long since deleted the email about his birth announcement (he's about two now), but I believe that his middle name might be Ph1lip, his grandfather's name. It's been a while, though! The children's last name is a common boys' first name, so maybe that's why they went with surnames as first names for their kids. I'm not sure where the Raini3r reference comes from. A tribute to the mountain? Rilke with a French twist? A family name? The next time I see my boss (she's actually my ex-boss as she retired a few months ago), I'll ask.

To Artemis and other new readers of this blog:

Regular readers of this blog have coined several terms to describe various naming phenomena. The first, coined by Easternbetty, is "NE", short for Naming Enthusiast. If you are reading this blog beyond the confines of having to imminently name a child, you qualify!

Brunka de Loof described the Ethel-Mae postulate above. I actually woke up thinking about this over the Labor Day weekend. It seems to me that our naming choices are perhaps most influenced by relations of the third degree. [First degree relations, in the way I'm using the term, would refer to relatives and close friends. Second degree relations would be acquaintances, and third degree relations would be people one meets very briefly, or people referred to by first or second-degree relations. Social scientists, please clarify if I'm way off base here!]

I would never have used the name Lillian for my child, for example, because my niece is named Lillian. And Will is out because two dear friends have sons named Will. I'd be on the fence about using Lydia because a very close friend's niece is named Lydia, and even though I haven't met this baby, I hear about her all the time and it would seem rather like I poached the name. But I might use it. But if a casual friend (second degree relation) were to mention that her nephew were named Otto, and I took a fancy to the name Otto, I would probably use it. Somehow hearing about a name from someone I know might make me more likely to use it than merely reading about it in a name book or hearing about it in the news. I think this might be particularly true for the majority, non-NE naming public. Those folks don't constantly ruminate over potential naming choices until they're faced with having to make a decision. And at that critical moment, they're suddenly paying attention to the names that other people they know are throwing out their as real baby names. And bingo, you suddenly have three babies named Ethel-Mae in Lincoln, Nebraska within a year of each other.

Does that make sense? Anyone care to refine this?

Datepalm-

I think most of the negative reactions have been to the names as a group. Honestly, the only one I really don't care for is Track.
I adore the name Piper, and I quite like Trig.
I think the thing that some have touched on is that as a group the names are a bit "theme-y."
For example, if I did have a daughter named Piper, and I needed to name another baby girl, I'd look for something with a similar spunky, slighly-arty kind of feel.
However, I'd try to avoid something too obvious-for lack of a better word. So, I'd probably have Piper and Frances or Piper and Georgia, rather than Piper and Willow. Maybe someone can express what I'm getting at more eloquently....

Oh, and my friend eo might suggest that the demographic of this blog (hyper-educated English major types) tilts slightly to the left, so that may have influenced some posts subconsciously (sp). I hasten to add the one name I Really don't like is Ashley-the name of Joe Biden's lovely daughter.

Elizabeth T-I don't know how we'd begin to prove your theory, but I definitely think you're on to something.
When we were thinking about Henry we went to a party where we met a young Henry (though he goes exclusively by Hank).
These aren't people we see regularly, so we weren't worried about "poaching," but it was sort of nice to hear the name on a real little boy.

I think Elizabeth T is on to something. We either hear a "new" name or find we like and happen upon a child carrying it. This name enters our subconscious and we catalog it as something to revisit. When that visit comes around it is far enough removed from everyday life that one we automatically put it into context of our current life, not its actual origin. hmmm...

I am going to stick my neck out and wager that Bristol (and Co.)names her baby something that does not rhyme with -Aiden, if it ends in an N it will be a classic style name, and will have 2 mn.
My captcha is Gordon. Wonder how that would fit her baby? :)

Usually when they do it in alphabetical order, they go by the LAST name. At least in my school they did.

<3
Sarah T., 24

...(I don't have a cell phone-something I really don't need-, but have saved friend's names on my parent's cell before) If they are that important to you, just put a number before their name or use their last name: Example, my friend Robin is under her last name in my mom's cell, which starts with C.

Slate magazine is holding a "name Bristol's baby" contest, with entries due tomorrow afternoon (http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/trailhead/archive/2008/09/02/reader-con...). Who could be better qualified to participate than the name nuts on this site?

Gosh, I'd think the last thing that kid needs is strangers having fun with her decision-making in the next few months. She's going to have quite enough "advisors" in her life for a while. And anyway, I have a policy against offering advice about baby names (and most other subjects) unless someone is very specific about saying "do you have any advice?"

Sometimes it's kinder to just hum "None of my business" and bite your tongue or sit on your typing fingers, don't you think?

Makes total sense, Elizabeth T.! You're so right-- I couldn't use any of the name choices of close, living relatives. For example, we have a glut of "Jonathans" in the family, so no go. But the 'farther out' you go in acquaintanceship, the less taboo it seems to "poach" an appealing name...

Slate magazine participating in the media mockery and singling out of this 17 year old girl? For the basest of motives. They degrade themselves, I believe. (Not that they care what I think.)

The lists of children of British pols jogged my memory of another English sibling set I remember liking. The Princess of Wales' brother Charles has an "Eliza", a "Katya", and a "Kitty Eleanor". But it did seem slightly odd that they would have a Katya and a Kitty in the same family-- two versions of the same root name, Katherine. But maybe that doesn't bother other people. I do love them individually on their own merits.

But to me it would be like having sisters named "Helen" and "Elena", or "Sarah" and "Sally"...

Wow, I decided to double check, and Charles Spencer has had more children than the above three I had remembered. Here they are, minus their titles:

Kitty Eleanor Spencer

Eliza Victoria Spencer

Katya Amelia Spencer (the site all helpfully pointed out that she is known by "Amelia")

Louis Frederick John Spencer

Edmund Charles Spencer

The first four were with Victoria Lockwood, I think, and little Edmund with his second wife, Caroline.

By the way, regarding the name "Amelia". I was complimenting a woman in church on her little girl's name, and she said she was an Air Force brat and her Dad had drummed into her a love of the name Amelia because he loved the flier Amelia Earhart.

I told her I knew another, toddler Amelia and she was shocked. She has never met another one. I don't think she realizes that the "zeitgeist" (sp?) has been favoring that name for a while...

I am hoping that you will be able to help us. We are looking for a baby name suggestions for our first born child, a girl. Based on a family tradition the name needs to start with the letter "H."

Our LN starts with a "Ch" sound as in chew.

I don't care for the names Helen, Hazel or Honor. My husband likes the name Hera. I don't know...

We could really use some help.
Thanks!

who has the best naming style of the 4 presidental and vp candidates?

Obama - Malia and Natasha (Sasha)
McCain -- Meghan, John and Bridget (other kids he adopted after they were named)

Palin -- Track, Trig, Bristol, Willow, Piper
Biden -- Joesph (Beau), Robert (Hunter), Naomi, Ashley

I tried to find out the names of Bob Barr's 4 kids -- he is Liberatarin candidate with no sucess and as far as I know Ralph Nader (Green) does not have kids.

Obama's names are my favorie... Biden and McCain's picks are rather boring. I like Willow, but Track, Trig and Bristol are just too out there for me. Piper would be okay but Piper Palin sounds like a TV weather girl name to me.

Hattie -

My favourite H name is Harriet. Others I quite like are Holly, Hedda, and Hillary. Good luck!

Oh, and Heidi and Hannah, of course!

Hattie, I'm assuming you've already thought of this given your handle here, but what about Harriet? It's gorgeous, with a strong history behind it and a few readymade nicknames.

Along those lines, Henrietta is nice too, although not my style. Hestia might be a good mythological alternative to Hera.

Wendy--I like Obama's names too, but it has always driven me nuts that he uses Sasha as a nickname for Natasha. In Russian, Sasha is a nickname for Alexandra or Alexander, NOT Natasha (which itself is a nickname for Natalia). The English equivalent would be like naming your daughter Trixie and nicknaming her Lexi. I know, I know...I shouldn't judge, and he has the right to nickname his daughter whatever he wants...it's just one of those inexplicable pet peeves, like the previous poster's aversion to Piper.

McCain actually has named five kids--Meghan, Jimmy, Jack, Bridget, and Sidney. Jimmy and Jack sound just right for boys in a military family. Bridget also has a quiet strength that I like. Meghan, especially with that sore-thumby H, seems tired and overused in comparison.

Naomi is a beautiful name (and one that is inexplicably uncommon), although that story is a tragedy. It's interesting that Biden's son chose to honor his sister by giving that name to his daughter.

As for the Palin brood, they are not remotely my style, but I get a kick out of their kookiness. I think the Palins were just singlemindedly literal when choosing their kids' names. We like to run track? Let's name our son that! We fish in Bristol Bay? Let's have a little Bristol! We like Van Halen? How about Van Palin? If they wanted to go fresh and modern, I'm glad they chose things that were meaningful to them instead of resorting to McKayla and Madison. But do I like the names on their own? Not really.

Well, my daughter is Helen, so I like H names including that one. Hera wouldn't thrill me, because the mythological Hera is generally not portrayed as a very nice or even very interesting goddess--she's just the wronged wife wreaking vengeance, most of the time.

But maybe Heidi, Haley, Hallie, Hannelore, Harmony, Harriet, Heather, Hedy, Hermione, Holland, Hollis, Hope, or Hyacinth cover enough styles for something to catch your eye?

whoops sorry I missed a couple of McCain kids.

Kids he named: Sidney, Meghan, John (Jack), James (Jimmy) and Bridget.

Hattie-Some H names I thought of:
Heather; Hailey, Hadley; Hannah; Halcyon; Harmony; Harper; Haven; Heidi; Helga; Heloise; Hermione; Henrietta; Hepzibah; Hera; Hester; Holly; Hope; Hosanna; Hyacinth and of course Hillary
Ans if these dont suit you go to this site and check out some more:
http://www.20000-names.com/female_h_names.htm

At my daughter's school, "A" names are extremely popular. In a class of 20, 7-8 students have names starting with the letter "A". Many of the students have parents from Hong Kong who find "A" names to be lucky.

Hattie, some more H names:

Helena (which I think has a very different feel from Helen)
Hallie (or Hali)
Honora