The Baby Name Wizard

I certainly have been waiting for you to address this Laura!

This is rich. As one of those who flooded your inbox, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your perspective here. Thank you for reintroducing the name style region map and for touching on the idea of style climates when it comes to naming choice.

A community that supports young marriage and reproduction will in turn be more open to more fringe naming choices, than one filled with older adults whose references may be shaped by years of college literature and history texts (with their Richards, Catherines, and Josephs galore). This doesn't make one superior to the other (though there are certainly social class issues at work, both in the choosing and the value one passes on "eccentric" names such as Track and Bristol).

What I find most fascinating is that these names tacitly inform like-minded voters that Sarah Palin shares their cultural values (or doesn't, if the names strike you--as they do me--as funky and odd). We have a since of who this candidate is and what she believes in just from the names of her children. In a way that we perhaps wouldn't, if they were names James, Mary, Ruth, Rebecca, Christine, and Joshua...or perhaps those names would be equally revealing, based on cultural style climate.

This was very insightful. Thanks for this interesting perspective. I always say that I'm only conservative when it comes to baby names -- and now I understand why.

Any one want to hazard a guess on the baby name that Bristol will use for her baby?

Fascinating. One of the most compelling blog entries you've done lately. I can't wait to hear more on this topic!

What Yolanda said here:

"What I find most fascinating is that these names tacitly inform like-minded voters that Sarah Palin shares their cultural values (or doesn't, if the names strike you--as they do me--as funky and odd). We have a since of who this candidate is and what she believes in just from the names of her children."

is SOOOO true.

I'm predicting that Bristol will choose to honor her parents by naming her baby Todd or Sarah. Then a funkier middle name that evokes Alaska, like Snow or...McKinley? Ok, so I don't really have a good idea of what evokes Alaska. But as I said before, I'm fascinated by the feisty literal-mindedness of the Palin name picks.

Did anyone else think Harvey's Bristol Cream when they saw the prego daughter's name? Maybe just me...betraying my age.

I am a conservative Christian and agree with Palin's political views (but don't align myself with any particular political party), but her kids' names are very different from my personal naming style, which is more in line with the typical blue state style Laura mentioned. But then again, I am 30 with a college degree, and I live in a blue state. I guess not everyone fits in a box. :)

This is interesting to me because I live in Brooklyn, where plenty of people get creative with their naming style yet are most definitely NOT down with what Sarah Palin has to say. Let's just say there are Obama signs everywhere...even kids holding bake sales to raise money for Obama.

That being said...the more "creative" names here follow a certain path too. I've met a Yucatan and a Sequoia and an Atticus. Never a Trig nor a Bristol. Interesting.

When I heard two of her kids' names are Track and Bristol, I figured they were NASCAR fans.

Fascinating, thanks Laura.

Wow! Great post and very surprising! I would have thought Red=more traditional/Biblical names while Blue=innovative names. I can't wait to hear more about these trends; I find it very interesting.

This post has left me with a lot to think about! I'd like to hear what you have to say, Laura, about my area specifically: Southern California, because it kind of seems like your categories don't apply as much here.

I'm 32 years old, I'm a red person (evangelical conservative), I live in a blue state. I was a literature major and have a BA from a prestigious university. My husband is a doctor. I was 28 when our first son was born, 31 with our second. Their names are Judah and Micah. If we ever have a girl, her name will most likely be Evangeline. Obviously, my choices (Biblical, but not the new traditionals like Peter and John) fit in one of your categories (red person), but not the others (I'm highly educated and was not a young mother).

Looking around at my friends, both red people and blue people, all levels of education, their kids' names are all over the board. An Elsie and a Carson (girl) in the same family. A Savannah and an Annabelle in the same family. They range from Aaron (red parents) to London (girl, blue parents) to Zoe and Leah (sisters, red parents) to Jenna and Jacob (red parents) to Haley and Riley (sisters, blue parents).

So what do you think? The categories don't seem to fit as neatly around here. Do you have any stats for this area?

Red people and blue people? My preference would be that political preferences not be used to describe the person as a whole. We're not two different races! Maybe that's why you don't fit neatly into one category, Kristy!

Great post -- it's more complicated than I would have guessed, but then when I think about my own life and friends (blue state, Democrats) it's mostly true. A friend just named her baby Henry David. She is among my most liberal/feminist friends. And I certainly like Elizabeth and John more than Bristol or Trig.

Of all the Palin kinds, I think I like Piper the most.

kinds = kids, sorry :)

Reading the interesting comments here, I want to emphasize that I'm making broad generalizations about what shapes a community's "style climate." Every individual is a mixed assortment of life experiences. The shorthand of red *states* and blue *states* doesn't translate to simple red *people* or blue *people*!

There's a lot more to be said about this naming divide, though. If there's enough interest, I'll delve into more detail in a future post.

Kristy,

I agree that Southern California bucks many of the naming trends. In addition to missing the red state/blue state trend, the area also flouts the upper class/lower class split. I know lots of wealthy parents who have kids named things like Caley, Kayla, Jaden, Jade, Rylie, McKenna, Taylor, Jagger, Jackson, etc. My theory is that class is much more ridged in other blue states (i.e., the East Coast). In addition, Californians are much more comfortable with the untraditional, whether it be clothing, art or baby names.

okay, so the thought that Alaska is on the creative fringe on naming made me go and look at their top 100 names on SSA. With the exception of Aurora (Borelais?) I found the names to be... boring...all names that are in the top 100 in other states.

So I looked at Mass. a blue state if there ever was one. It looks very similar.

I don't have time for this, but is there a NE out there who can compare the two states? Are their naming styles really that different?

of course if all Alaskans go for unusual names like Trig and Bristol, then it could be like the African American naming trend -- none of them show up on the popular name list because there is only one of each...Laura, is there any way to know how many "unique names" are given in any state?

any idea where the name track comes from, specifically?

also, did you do a blog post explaining the regions that you can point me to?

thanks for the great post!

"okay, so the thought that Alaska is on the creative fringe on naming made me go and look at their top 100 names on SSA. With the exception of Aurora (Borelais?) I found the names to be... boring...all names that are in the top 100 in other states.

So I looked at Mass. a blue state if there ever was one. It looks very similar."

Alaska and Massachusetts very similar? Have to disagree. Of course, a top-100 list is going to include include a lot of names everybody agrees on, but just from a quick eyeball here are some names on the Alaska likst but not the Mass. list:

Aaliyah
Aurora
Brooklyn
Cadence
Cheyenne
Hayden
Serenity
Trinity

and vice versa:

Alexandra
Caroline
Catherine
Eva
Lucy
Maeve
Margaret
Nora
Sofia
Victoria

Fascinating! Please do another post on this...this is such stuff as the glory of name study is made of!

Also, Eo, not sure you saw this before:
-->In your opinion, how similar is too similar? Megan and Rita both derive from Margaret--are they too similar for siblings? Bettina and Isabel (Elizabeth)? Evan and Johanna (John--speaking of which, I think Ivan Reginald Ian Cameron is too much John)? Just wondering, because you pointed out something very interesting.

What a wonderfully thought-provoking post, Laura! Yes, please do explore this topic again in future posts.

I don't like the idea of baby names as a commentary on one's social class/education/political affiliation. It justs feels so... wrong and inaccurate. (I'm tired and can't think of a better way to word this!)
I live in an affluent town just outside of Boston, and many of the wealthy, Ivy-educated families have daughters with names like Finley & Avery (not Madison & Willow though) and sons named Tucker & Cooper (not Tyler & Braedon though). There are of course a few named Annie, Charlotte, Henry & John, but overall, the names are an even mix of traditional and modern/surnames. I work with many lower income families, and there are far more children named Sophie, Isabella, Michael and Joseph in that group than in the more "upper crusty" group.
Anyway, I just think that the process of lumping people into categories based on their naming style is disturbing. Perhaps it's just me!

Laura, I knew I could count on you to come up with an interesting blog about these names! :D What I am thinking about too is if McCain were to win, would we end up with a spike in baby girls named Palin? Ala Harper or Tatum? I can see it working. It ends in the beloved 'n', it's a ln, it rhymes with Kaylyn/Jalin etc...

I'd love to have a conversation with Sarah Palin about how and why she chose the names she did. Esp Track. I read on one news story that Trig's second mn is Van - Trig Something Van Palin, a nod to Van Halen (the band). I also read that Piper was named for the plane... :)

Joni--That something is Paxson.

Mari--I would agree with you if we were discussing individual people, because, as has been mentioned, no individual can be put into a box, and there are countless influences on individuals beyond their general educational status or whatever. But I see no harm in noticing and analyzing overall trends (as long as we keep in mind that they don't apply to everyone), which of course do not cover every last person, but which do exist and do say something about society *as a whole*.

Fascinating post, Laura. I agree that more on this "naming divide" would be very interesting.

Sorry to go off-topic so soon, but I have a naming challenge. A co-worker is expecting her second son in January and is casting about for names. Her older boy is Charl3s Frankl1n (nn Charlie). The ln begins with a hard /c/ and ends in an /o/.

First names that are on their acceptable list so far include Henry, Theodore, and Jansen. They're still thinking about Gus, Andres, Sam, Scott, Geoffrey, and Max.

Middle name possibilities (all family names) include Emmet, Alois, Edward.

Parents have a mixed ethnic background: Germanic/Slovak, Colombian, Spanish, French, Scottish/Irish, if that helps.

Rules are:

Nothing too popular
Nothing that ends in /o/
Nothing that begins with a hard /c/ or a /k/
They like names that have nns, but that's not a requirement
No William, Andrew, Michael, Robert, or Matthew (too many in the family)

I told her about this blog, and she's excited to see what the NEs are able to come up with.

On the origin of the name...

These are it according to an essay from Maureen Dowd of the NY Times:

Track (named after high school track meets), Bristol (after Bristol Bay where they did commercial fishing), Willow (after a community in Alaska), Piper (just a cool name) and Trig (Norse for “strength.”)

Also, for people who are concerned about the categorization, I think it's fair to say that Laura is talking about a tendency or trend based on people who fit a certain demographic. We all overlap many demographic categories. I am a 32-year-old, African American, college educated, woman, with a biracial child, and living in Southern California. My identity doesn't neatly fit into one category, but that doesn't mean that I completely buck all trends amongst my "groups."

Amy3 -- how about Thomas? It's my son's name, and I thought of it immediately when I saw their first son's name (we've considered Charles as well). Thomas Emmett, Thomas Alois, and Thomas Edward all sound great imo ... there is the great nn Tommy, and also the possiblity of Teddy (my dad calls our Thomas that sometimes ... and with Edward as a mn, it'd make sense ... and Theodore's already on their list).

May I respectfully ask that we keep political arguments/debates out of our comments? I like a good political discussion and I have strong views on the presidential campaigns, but that's not what I come to this blog to read.

Thanks, Erika. My sentiments exactly.

Kate -- I love the suggestion of Thomas. It's my father's name, and I've always loved it. I agree that it works well with Charles and with the mn suggestions, particularly Edward (a fave of mine).

FYI: I've deleted a few comments focused on partisan politics. We all have strong feelings in this election year, but there are plenty of places to express your views on the candidates. Let's keep this a place to talk about names and their relation to culture.

Thank you!

Back-to-school night, Southern California, diverse suburb, 2nd/3rd grade split class:

BOYS: Benjamin, Mika (pr. like Micah), Yusuf, Daniel, Jonathan, Alexander, Eric, Dylan, Christian, Kierin

GIRLS: Kavya, Samantha, Claire, Tamara, Kayci, Adriana, Jazmine, Helen, Lea, Christina

See? We're not all Moonbeam and SaN*DeE out here!

Me, my kids' names (James and Helen) match my handmade Obama t-shirt and my PhD.... I'm definitely the stereotype described in this post by Laura!

I was just waiting for you to comment on this, Laura!

While I certainly hope not to have expectations or judgments about individuals based on these trends, I find the trends themselves fascinating.

Thanks for the data, analysis, and insight, per usual!

yay! I've been internet-less for a week and I've been dying to see what the NEs were thinking about Palin's naming style! The minute I heard her reference her kids when she was introduced I knew y'all would be talking aobut it.

I like some of the names (mostly girls) but I don't like the boys names at all. Trig will always mean math to me and I wasn't that good at track so didn't have much fun at the meets! The names don't seem to go together but with Laura's description of naming styles and Yolanda's list of sources they make sense in some strange way.

ok, OT traditional nn question:
my mom is really into genealogy and wanted me to ask you all how the name Martha managed to collect the nn Patsy? apparently it shows up that way several times in our family. Oddly, my mom just managed to avoid being named Martha--but got named Patricia. which is what Patsy seems like it should come from.

Fascinating, Laura! Thank you!

Here's a wrinkle for anyone who wants one:

I've read a couple compelling articles arguing that there really aren't red and blue states (TV maps to the contrary).
Instead, the authors argue, voting can be explained much more simply in terms of rural vs. urban. Big cities are reliably blue; rural communities are reliably red, and the suburbs are somewhere in the middle, with older sections of the 'burbs tending more blue and newer ones tending more red.

Perhaps this explains why we all know so many little "exceptions."
We live in a middle/working class suburb of Washington state, and I feel like we're really in the middle of both styles.

Yes, Laura, please do more on the regional differences in the future. Fascinating stuff!

One last thought: I've mentioned this before, but I do think names reach what I call a popularity "tipping point."
When this point is reached it becomes very hard to pin down anything about why it appealed to the parents in question.
For example, Isabelle is Very popular out here, but an Isabelle is just as likely to be sister to a Mackenzie as an Emma.

The Martha-to-Patsy sequence is:

Martha-Marty-Matty-Patty-Patsy

I agree it seems strange, but the steps between are all pretty common for Anglo nicknaming patterns. The M-P initial shift is also seen in Mary nicknames (Molly-Polly) and Margaret nicknames(Maggie-Peggy), for example.

What do California, New York, and Illinois have in common? Big (and old) cities. And blue states.

What do Texas, Wyoming, and Arizona have in common? Low population or fast-growth modern cities. And red states.

I wonder if the naming differences have more to do with settlement patterns than with political affiliation.

I was going to say these are Alaskan names but I see someone already caught it.

Bristol Bay, look at a map

Willow, a common tree and city

Piper cub, as in the extremely popular aeroplane. AK has tons of private planes and Piper cubs are everywhere.

I would like to put in my vote for more on regional naming! I think it is fascinating.

I also live in Southern California, and I find its naming different from anywhere else I have lived. I teach at a diverse university with lots of East Asians, SE Asians and Latinos. Since the students are already 20-ish, their names don't represent current naming trends, but I find an eclectic mix of the kre8tiv, traditional (John/Elizabeth), old-fashioned (Eugene/Carol), and names from the students' ethnic backgrounds.

With parents Bristol and Levi, I see the Palin-Johnston baby going in one of two directions, based on gender. For a boy I imagine a popular Biblical name like Jacob or Joshua, while for a girl I envision something girly and traditional with a creative spelling, such as Madlinn or Abigayle. Not really sure why, but it makes sense in my head! No matter what, I wish her luck. It must be hard enough to be in her position, without being thrust onto the national stage.

I'm pleased to see some posters I haven't heard from in a while and several whose screennames don't ring any bells at all. Welcome, and keep your comments coming!

I agree with Valerie and others that neither "red/blue" nor geography alone are the whole story here. Some posters touched on the town-and-country divide (and it is age-old, in so many countries around the world), and others mentioned education. Perhaps the key to understanding this in a way that avoids facile "check-boxes" of identity is that all of these disparate threads are looped together in some way--e.g. the largest concentrations of less-diploma'ed parents are in semi-rural and newly suburban communities, and the largest communities of Euro-American evangelical Christians are in semi-rural and newly suburban communities, and so on. In that sense, "red state" or "Creative Fringe" are terms that are not labels, but rather, indicators of sorts.

[I already commented in the last post on why I think Palin's naming "spectrum" appears very artfully done, even if it turns out to have been more haphazard than I give her credit for.]

The rich white social-liberal idea is to do the right thing but not force others to see everything the same way you do. So you name your kids traditional names - already proven to be 'good'.

The everyman social-conservative idea is that you are in a free country and can do whatever you want, with the exception of things that are somewhat religion-influenced, in which case they should be regulated for everybody. So you do what you want with non-traditional names, because it's not regulated by religion, and you have to go crazy somewhere!

Hmm.

I think the reason that there is so much interest in Sarah Palin's naming choices is that she seems to have been selected for the VP role as someone with minimal political experience, but whose experience of running a family gives her the savvy she would need to step up to run the country should something happen to McCain. However, she is such an unknown quantity that very little about her is publicly known. But one thing we do know about her family (and therefore, her apparent qualifications for McCain's choice of her as his VP) is what she has named her children. Hence the reason why, in my mind, it is so important.

However, I find all the commentary about what her daughter might choose to name her child extremely distateful, whether on this site or any other.

When I first saw this topic, my heart sank a bit. History has shown on this blog that inevitably subjects like this lead to sometimes heavy-handed political and social commentary, something I definitely don't come here for.

That said, thank you, Laura, for trying to keep things on "track" (ha) as it were. I do think it's a losing battle.

Mari, Valerie and others expressed well the uneasiness I feel. I feel such a resistance to stereotyping by "class", region, political leanings, etc.

As one with a traditionalist, conservative viewpoint, I'm pleased to think that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie must be leaning evangelical, based on their name choices!!

Theirs seem far closer to the Palins than to so-called blue state favorites. Yet, it's interesting to me that, in general, most of THEIR name picks were greeted by their public with wonder and approval, while the Palins have not been treated quite so well.

Oh, Sabrina, sorry I missed answering you in the last one. (I'm flattered you would want my opinion. Ahem)

Megan and Rita-- Not crazy about this name combo, but strictly on the merits, I THINK perhaps Rita has been divorced from Margaret long enough that it wouldn't bother me. (Maybe)

Ditto Bettina and Isabel, MAYBE Evan and Johanna. But I agree with the poster who made the case that it's particularly the SOUND and repeated letters of "Kitty" and "Katya", PLUS their derivation from one name, Katherine, that makes them too alike for me as siblings.

Heartily agree with you that "Ivan" and "Ian" in one name is too "John" repetitive. I bet they were honoring real-life relatives or ancestors with that one.

Paradoxically, I quite like "Jane" and "John", or "Charles" and "Caroline" as siblings. (Oh, no, I must have latent "blue state" tendencies...)

This is fascinating. I have an evangelical friend who told me that she and her husband were considering naming their first child Whisper. I concealed my initial reaction, which was, "But you are 5'11" and your husband is 6'5"--the child is going to be a Shout!" and smiled politely. It was not meant to be, however, as the baby was a boy. They named him Tr3k, because they liked the idea that life is a journey. I thought that was much cooler than naming a girl Whisper.

I'm totally ignorant of American evangelical naming history (paging Cleveland Kent Evans!). Is the evangelical embrace of more modern names a reaction against Catholicism, which until recently dictated that children be given saints' names? Among my Catholic friends (I am Catholic, so I have many), the most politically conservative still tend to name their children things like James and Mary, even though they trend red in their political views. What do you all think?

EO, the Charles and Caroline set I can't abide, those are WAY too similar for me. (But they were sort of charming as the given names of Ma and Pa Ingalls). I also knew a sib set named Michelle and Michael. That was so odd to me. The daughter was older, and I always had the feeling that they wanted a son named Michael, named the daughter Michelle thinking they'd never get to use it, and then had a son. Danielle and Daniel have a similar feel.

Amy3: what about suggesting Jasper, Oliver, Thaddeus, and Roland? They're less traditional than your friend's current picks, but I think they'd go well with Charles and the parameters for the last name. Worth a shot.

I think Laura handled this potentially explosive topic very well. As our discussions of local popularity pockets and the influence of social ties on name choices prove, they are both designators and products of our social networks. I don't believe Laura (or many of the posters, for that matter) has ever said "You named your daughter MaKenzie, therefore you are a [fill in the blank]." While the temptation to apply broader social characteristics to individual situations is potent--and can be harmful and inaccurate--that doesn't mean those social characterizations have no merit. Name choices *do* correspond to various social factors, and discussing those factors is a part of discussing naming trends. And isn't the sociology factor one of the reasons we enjoy discussing names so much?

We've all got strong feelings about this election--I certainly do!--but I think most of us are trying to keep political opinions out of the conversation, as difficult as that may be. And doing a good job of it!

Addition: Elizabeth T, that's an interesting point you've raised. I'm also Catholic--does my lifetime of friends and family named Theresa, Francis, Mary-Whatever, and John--as well as various Irish-American names--cultivate my distaste for names like Track, Trek, and Whisper as much (or more!) than my higher education and geographical region? It's entirely possible. A lot of staunchly Catholic communities are both politically conservative and in major blue-state cities. (Of course, Catholicism also has a long tradition of political liberalism, so there go the generalizations).

Rather than red/blue or urban/rural, I'd like to see the baby naming be organized by Claritas PRIZM clusters. (For what these are, see: http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/claritas.htm) You'd have to screen out the clusters of people who are mostly over the baby-naming age, though.

Then again, I'm pretty geeky when it comes to this sort of thing.

Christians who belong to denominations which practice adult baptism (and this would apply to many evangelicals of all backgrounds), having no religious strictures/customs concerning names, freely name their children in all sorts of (creative) ways. Christians belonging to denominations which practice infant baptism tend to be constrained to give children at least one Christian given name. While people of any and all socio-economic statuses can belong to any denomination, the infant baptism denominations (particularly Episcopalianism) tend to trend toward the higher end of the socio-economic continuum and also tend to have more socially liberal practices. Thus, at least some of the regional naming practices may reflect which religious denominations are more prevalent where.

I am also Catholic and live in a very densely Catholic state, which generally votes very blue. Based on my experience, I would say that other factors probably have more influence than Catholicism but that saints names do seem to show up more, especially as ethnic names, especially Irish, Italian and Portuguese.

Hey. I have one... Charles and Caroline, Michael and Michelle, etc... How about Michael and Michaela. They go by Mikey and Micky. No kidding.

I have been pondering the name Levi since it came up thanks to the current events. What is YOUR gut reaction to it. Biblical, Western, or something else??

Miriam -- interesting re: naming choices being affected by baptismal practices! My husband's father was Catholic (infant baptism) and his mother Evangelical (adult baptism). He and his brother were baptized as infants per his dad's tradition ... and have solid, traditional names that are both biblical and Catholic saint names (both first names and middle).

Funnily enough, though his mom is an adult-baptism Evangelical, she does not feel free to name children in creative ways. She wrinkled her nose at a middle name we were considering, which was a combo of her first and middle names, and has made it pretty clear that she thinks a "Christian name" (by which she means a "biblical name" -- Catholic saints don't count) is a necessary component of any child's name (including our children).

Jessica -- Levi is biblical ... but did you mean, why did his parents choose it? Because they like Biblical names, or because it has a Western feel, etc.?

One last comment -- I know siblings Stephen (oldest in the family) and Stephanie (second oldest).

@Amy3 - for your coworker's baby brother to Charles, I prefer the MN "Emmett" (w/double "T" ending), though I feel the spelling should be however it's been used in her family.

From her FN list I like:
Henry (but NOT the nn Hank) Emmett
Samuel (nn Sam) Emmett

Agree heartily w/ others who've suggested:
Thomas Emmett (nn Tom)

Also:
James Emmett (nn Jim)
Tobias Emmett (nn Toby)

Best wishes!

Charles and Caroline...there is a "real life" sibset with these names--in Pride and Prejudice!

I'm really sorry if my speculation on Bristol Palin's name seemed offensive to anyone. I didn't mean it to be so at all. And I certainly didn't mean the name choices I suggested to reflect poorly on the young lady--they were just what came into my head. As I already said, I wish her well, and feel terrible for her getting thrust into the spotlight like this.

Thanks for all the name suggestions for Charlie's new brother. Here is the feedback I have so far:

They aren't crazy about Thaddeus. She says she'll see what her husband thinks of Jasper, a name she hadn't considered. They can't use Roland because her husband wants to name their future dog Roland. They like Oliver, but don't like Ollie for a nn.

She didn't say anything about Thomas so I can't tell what her read on that is.

To Mari("I don't like the idea of baby names as a commentary on one's social class/education/political affiliation. It justs feels so... wrong and inaccurate.") and others concerned with this:

It's interesting, because there's a chapter in Stephen Levitt's book "Freakonomics" about naming trends and how they relate to social class and education. (I think this book has been mentioned before, since it also predicts the top names for the future--I don't have it with me right now to recall the year)

Though I agree there are certainly exceptions, I think Laura's hit the bullseye! I too have been waiting for someone to address the Palin children! Can't wait for more regional analysis!

Oh my word! My sister and I were discussing this long before Sarah Palin's kids' names were even known. We noticed how the names in Maine, Montana and Alaska always had a flair to them and because of that I always wanted to move that way. It's like since being cut off from trendy cities, they can do what the heck they want and I love that.

Alaska rules when it comes to baby names.

Because of them my baby list name rocks! My son's name is Izaiah Adrian Rebel and when I have more kids, I'm going in that same vein.

Hmmm....Our denomination baptizes infants, but there isn't any particular requirement about the child's name.

BTW, my husband, who finds discussing names when we aren't anticipating any additional children very odd, announced out of the blue that he loved the name Mahtilda.
Seizing the moment I said, "And don't you love Piper?"
"Piper," he said, "I love Piper."
So, at least some of the Palin children's names have broad appeal. I'm not even sure I'd consider Willow all that creative-is it more so than Ivy or Lilly?

Amy3-What is your friend's definition of too popular?
Come to think of it, I'd love to do an informal poll on this issue.
I know many of the regular posters to this forum would consider a name in the top 100-or even 1,000, too popular, but I suspect the general population isn't quite as fanatic about it.

I live in Connecticut, but I like names like Zebediah, Summer, Arrow, Cassius, Ignatius, Isaiah, Phoenix

So what does that say about me?

I'm definitely not the one to name my kids Jack or John or Emily or Christina, but there are nothing wrong with those names.

Just as I wouldn't do made up names like LaQuan and Detricia.

If you had nothing to go on but the baby names -- I want people to think "Hey I'd like to meet this kid's ma!" or "This mother must be off her rocker!" Ha.

Off topic, but had to share the names of a family of four children. My mother is a teacher in an urban elementary school, and often sees the children of new immigrants. A family of four Vietnamese children have gone through the school. The first two: Tin and Thin (spellings are phonetic -- I know they are wrong, but presumably traditional Vietnamese names). The next child was a boy: Franklin, which also happens to be the name of the elementary school. And the last little girl: Cathy. Presumably, Franklin and Cathy had traditional Vietnamese names at birth, which they dropped for "American" sounding names when they went to school. Such a fascinating illustration of these parents' efforts to assimilate.

I'll have to go back and look at the regional map post, I hadn't picked up on the fact that Utah would be one. Actually, my brother and sister-in-law have spent a lot of time living in both Hawaii and Utah and creative fringe does help explain my niece Naliy4h's name to me a little (apparently they took Aaliyah and added the n, the opposite of the chopping the heads trend discussed earlier). Because my husband likes using family names I've gone through the family tree a few time and been struck at how one branch of my family seemed to have names that screamed rural Utah to me. LaVerne, Hyrum, Della, LaRue, etc. I haven't always been sure what was generational and what was regional but I can definitely see how Utah has its own naming trends. Does anyone else have names they've come across that seem to pinpoint a location and not just an era?

Yes, in general, it's challenging to discuss the social class implications of various names without sounding crass. That said, I think the posters here are unusually thoughtful & nuanced. It's not about casting aspersions at various social groups. It's about sharing useful information, which can be so hard to find IRL, particularly where people may not wish to offend. If someone is considering naming their child X, this is a place where they can go for some honest feedback from a wonderfully diverse group. Thank you, Laura for creating this space & for sharing your insights.

"Does anyone else have names they've come across that seem to pinpoint a location and not just an era?"

There are some very regional Italian names that only survive in certain Italian-American communities--so that, if I hear of a young guy, American-born, called Canio (for one example), it's a good bet they're from Northeastern Pennsylvania. I knew three guys my age and a couple adult men named Canio when I was growing up; it wasn't until I left for college that I realized that wasn't a common name, even among Italian-Americans. It's pronounced CAH-nee-oh there, though real Italians would say a smoother CAH-nyoh.

J&H's mom -- Apparently James and Thomas (suggested earlier) are too common for her. She likes Tobias, suggested by Coll. She still likes Henry.

Oh, sorry! It was Carly who suggested Tobias.

awesome post!!

btw i've been realizing that i like the sound of Bristol more than the look. when i hear it on tv, it sounds like Crystal and thus seems less "out there."

i'm thinking that the "blue" naming trends laura describes can be dangerous for liberals/Democrats. republicans like characterizing democrats as blue bloods and these "blue" names do sound quite blue blood to me... i hope this is not too much of a political statement.

i think people are being very respectful! i don't really understand the critique of speculating on what bristol palin will name her kid though.

SS Beacon, I'm betting Bristol will name her baby Crystal if is a girl.

Sarah, I'm surprised you find it so distasteful that we are discussing Bristol Palin's potential baby names. This is, after all, a place to discuss baby names! Within just the last few months, we have discussed what Gwen Stefani and Angenlina Jolie would be naming their children, and no one seemed to think that was distasteful. Just because she is in the unfortunate position of being pregnant at 17 doesn't mean we, as NEs can not have an interest in what name she will choose for her child.

I think this is a great post by Laura. I love thinking of general naming trends. And I must say that among folks I know, the trend is dead-on. All of our more highly educated friends have kids named Andrew, Anna, Kathleen, Colin, Aidan, Sarah, Benjamin. Our other friends, who have maybe a few college courses have kids named Brayden, Christen (yes, spelled like that). Also Reese and Caitlin who are a toss up between those styles, I think :) In fact, Reese and Caitlin's parents' are probably the most religious of the bunch! As far as politically speaking, most (but not all) of our friends lean toward Ron Paul Libertarianism!

Personally, my discomfort at the idea of discussing Bristol Palin's baby name comes from the fact that she is not a celebrity who has chosen the spotlight, although she is the daughter of someone who is/has. Bristol hasn't chosen the publicity, and may very well be experiencing the worst week of her life. It just seems too crass to me to treat her situation so lightly.

And by the way, I happen to be an Obama supporter, but I'm keeping any discussion of that away from this blog. It's nice to find a place where we can just talk about names and not politics!

Valerie,

We also discuss the names given to children of our in-laws, co-workers, grocery clerks, and neighbors. None of these folks have chosen to be in the "spotlight." We're just talking names here.

Please note we are in no way discussing the circumstances under which Bristol is creating her family. That would be unsuitable for this blog and to my mind just plain inappropriate since she is a young girl

Maybe I'm being a little thick here, but I'm still a little clueless as to why discussing the potential name is distasteful. It's not like discussing names is something shameful. Can anyone clue me in here?

HELP
my cousin had a baby boy last night and he needs a name.

Sibs are Calli, Charles (the fifth), Bryce and Braden. No Br- names and no -aiden names.

What would you name a baby *today*!

To whomever responded to my query about Levi... I was wondering what YOU think of when you hear it. For example: I am very strong Christian and it is not a *Biblical* name to me as much as *Western*.

About discussing Bristol Palin's baby's name: It must be remembered that it is the name we discuss, not her. Does that help your distaste? ^^ up the way Laura made it clear that she had deleted several comments and I assume will do it again if we get too far off course.

If ever a preggy mama needed grace it would be Bristol. This week.

This is off-topic, but related. I live in a blue state area where popular names seem often to be old-fashiony, trendy names like Violet, Stella, Lena etc. Our first daughter is Eliza, and we are looking for names for a new baby girl. We like the classic but not too common feel of Eliza. The names we have been talking about so far are:

Tilly (but don't like how Matilda sounds)
Ruby
Olive
Tallulah (nn Tilly?)

I feel though that we are missing some great names. Any thoughts on these or other ideas. For various alliteration reasons we have eliminated names starting in A or V.

Thank you!

@Jessica - Congratulations on the birth of your little cousin. Your question "What would you name a baby *today*?" is hard for me to apply to the birth of a child with several older siblings, because I feel there should be some symmetry amongst the names, and also because your cousin and I don't share styles (apart from the name Charles which I like).

Is little Bryce a girl or a boy? A family I know of has four children: Br00k3, Tyl3r, Paig3, & Bryc3 (a girl).

There seems to be a C and B pattern in the family, so for the new baby boy how about:

Christian
Carter
Cooper
Blake
Boyd

@Amelia - For a baby sister to your Eliza (that does not begin in A or V):

Lydia
Celia
Letitia
Beatrice
Eleanora

Best wishes!

Bryce is a boy.
I agree about symmetry.
Girls name they like are Brielle and Elaina (maybe different spelling but that is the pronunciation.
Last name begins with K and rhymes with sign. Single syllable.

"Does anyone else have names they've come across that seem to pinpoint a location and not just an era?"

Definitely south Louisiana. Don't think you run into too many Theophiles (pronounced Toe-feel) and Alcees elsewhere.

Alert: "he" has a name.

Jamon Axel

The explanation was this: Jamon is Hebrew for Right hand of favor. Axel is hebrew for Father of peace.

I would love to hear from some of you who have more knowledge about Hebrew names than I.

Hi all! It's been about a month since I've been around, and for good reason. :) Our daughter, Minna Ivy, was born a month ago, and she's been keeping us very busy! Since you all were a huge help (and also very patient) in following us through the name search, I'm posting a few photos here. We think she's the most wonderful baby ever, but of course we might be a bit biased. ;)

http://picasaweb.google.com/hyzenthlay08/MinnaIvyFirstMonth?pli=1&gsessi...

I was so concerned with whether the name would "fit" her, and in a way I think it's still too early to tell, but we're quite happy with it. DH has pegged her as a serious and thoughtful baby, so I guess that fits. We've gotten some very nice comments on Ivy's name from friends (especially those with small children), and no particular comments from grandparents, which is fine. My MIL caused some friction by convincing DH *while* I was in labor that Minna should be spelled Min-ah (both she and DH had favored the Minna spelling prior to that). However, after I endured 30 sleepless hours of natural labor (including almost 4 hours of pushing), DH didn't argue the point, so Minna she stayed. Argh. MILs.

Anyway, it's good to be back. I just finished catching up on all the most recent comments, and for the record, I quite like Palin's girls' names--not names I would use myself, but *almost*. I don't see any of them as so out there, and I think they fit together nicely. Track and Trig both made me say "huh?", though.

Hyz, congratulations!!!! Minna Ivy is positively adorable, and I think her name suits her very well. Thanks for posting the pictures- she's quite a little charmer! Best of wishes to you and your family!

hyz: She is darling!!! O. wow. I like her name. And "WAY TO GO!" on the labor and pushing. You are the girl! ;) (I am a huge natural birth fan and pushed almost that long with my baby.)

"Jamon Axel

The explanation was this: Jamon is Hebrew for Right hand of favor. Axel is hebrew for Father of peace."

Um, not exactly. Axel is a north Germanic name derived from the Hebrew name Avshalom (in English Absalom). Avshalom means father of peace (av=father, shalom=peace). Axel is no more a Hebrew name than James is. James is derived from the Greek form of Ya'akov which is a Hebrew name.

Yamin is the Hebrew word for right (hand)--Yamin Elohim=the right hand of God. I remember learning a little dancing tune when I was a tot that went Yamina yamina, smollah, smollah (right right left left). I don't see anything in Jamon which would indicate favor, but maybe someone else can do better. (My Hebrew dictionary was also destroyed in Katrina, and I haven't replaced it.) If the name Jamon is pronounced like the j in strawberry jam, then Jamon is not Hebrew. As for whether Yamin is a Hebrew name, well, pretty much anything can be a name in Modern Israeli Hebrew naming practices. It is not a traditional Hebrew name like Avraham, Ya'akov, Yitzchok, etc.

Names like John, Mary, Elizabeth, James--and Axel are not Hebrew, although they do have Hebrew antecedents.

Let us just say that most of the online sources for baby names and their meanings are not entirely spot on. If someone happily told an Israeli that they had just given their son the lovely Hebrew name of Axel, the Israeli would say, "What?!"

hyz, what a cutie! Congratulations. I'm glad you're back.

Amelia, I think the perfect name for Eliza is my (hoped-for) future baby girl's name, Josephine. I love the combination Josephine Eliza, in fact.

Others I like with Eliza (keeping in mind your preferences for Tilly, Ruby, and Olive):

Beatrix
Charlotte
Camilla
Daphne
Flora
Philippa
Maeve

Oh and congratulations to the entire Hyz family on its adorable new member.

hyz--Major conratulations! Minna Ivy is an absolutely beautiful name.

Any of our great historians know anything about the names of early New Englanders Increase Mather and Cotton Mather? We're studying them in my history class, and it crossed my mind that someone on here might know the story or where to find it.

Re: Levi--My automatic reactions are, in order:
1. Biblical
2. Blue jeans
3. Western guy

Amelia--I like Ruby best. Good luck! Other suggestions (came up with this list before readin other posts, so I may be repeating, sorry):
Ruth
Frances
Thomasina/Tamsin
Lucy
Harriet
Susannah
Sybil/Sibyl
Sibylla/Sybilla
Leonore
Katherine/Kit/Kitty/Kay
Ivy
Eva/Eve
Margaret/Maisie
Claire/Clare
Louisa
Josephine/Josie
Genevieve/Genny/Evey
Edith/Edy
Lydia
Lucia
Colette
Beatrice/Beatrix
Marilyn
Felicity
Laura
Esme
Rosalind
Miriam
Cecilia/Cecily
Marisol
Temperance
Charlotte/Lottie
Ivy
Paloma
Rhea
Noemi
Natalie/Tillie
May/Mae
Ginevra/Ginny
Willodean
Daphne
Cass/Cassandra/Cassie/Cassidy
Leona
Leora
Clara
Damaris
Christabel
Hazel
Rosalie
Patrice
Georgia
Opal
Tabitha
Gloria
Philippa
Fern

Eo, thanks--I agree with you and the other poster, the K/K--Katya/Kitty thing was too much. I also think the K[vowel]t[second syllable] thing has soemthing to do with it. Thanks for sharing!

PS I'm going back to posting as Harriet...'ve decided that I like that name better.

my parents, both conservative republicans, belong to a conservative church that always announces the names of new babies in its newsletter and i was always perplexed by the palin-like name phenomena. this makes more sense to me now.

as for me, a 32 y/o, married, liberal, intellectual mother of penelope mae, 4, my own selfish reason for posting is because we just found out we are pregnant again and are looking for good sibling names for penelope mae.

my husband, a scientist, loves 'edison' for a boy - which i dont hate - but worry it will get lost in the sea of contemporary -en names - even if we would be using it in honor of thomas edison. i love the name bruno - but my husband does not care for it. any other boy suggestions?

we havent talked a lot about girl names, but i love:

olive
polly
delphina

...but like i said we havent done a lot of thinking there...

anyway - any ideas? penelope mae is 4 and so thrilled to have a sister or brother - we plan to only have the two children.

thanks in advance!

hyz-What a beauty, and she looks so smart, too!
Is she going by Minna or Ivy?
Thank you so much for posting-there was some concern about you!

Jessica-Zachary, Tate, Carson, Connor, Colby, Blaine, Xander, Nicholas, Tyler, Rylan

I can't explain why all of those seem to work and most aren't to my taste, but there you go!
Hth!

Thanks for the suggestions so far for Eliza's sister.

Philippa is a name I like particularly because I like the nickname Pippa. However, I have never met anyone with the English version of this name (have met a Felipa), so I am wondering how it is pronounced generally - PHIL-i-pa or phi-LEEP-a?

Thanks!

PS So at lunch today, I and a group of other 11th-grade girls discussed Sarah Palin's kids names. We're nerdy, politically liberal kids in the Northeast US; spectrum of socially liberal to conservative; spectrum of qualifying-for-food-stamps to upper-crust; white, Asian, and I think one Latina. The *general* consensus is:

Track: Weird, kinda mean--what if he turned out to stink at running or hated it?

Bristol: Slightly weird, but pretty.

Willow: Didn't really come up...not so novel I guess.

Piper: Cute, kind of random among the siblings.

Trig: Math class. Also kind of weird, what if he hated/was bad at math?

hyz,

YESSSSS! My dream has come true. I will graciously accept 1/300th (or my part of however many people liked the name)credit for casting my vote for Minna Ivy.

I'm very pleased with the spelling of Minna. If you'll recall, I loved its ambiguous cross-over between a conventional Korean and a Western-friendly milieu.

Sorry, Mother in Law.

Cheers to you, your husband, and the rest of your family.

Don't forget to occasionally get back on the blog (inbetween new baby duties) and resume name commenting!

Miriam: Thank you for clearing that up for me. I knew you would come through. :)

Sabrina: I missed seeing the name Harriet. Welcome Back ;)

Amelia: I love the suggestion of Josephine. My understanding is PHIL-i-pa. I find it hard to roll out but I love the look of it.

J&H's mom: did you see the official name^^?

Hyz, I'm thrilled for you! Ivy is precious. You're biased, but not blind! It seems amazing to read about the birth of this child since I've been thinking about her name since the days when you were just naming rabbits. :),

hyz,
Congratulations! Minna Ivy is a beautiful little girl. I, along with every other NE who frequents this site, are so happy all is well. We've all been wondering how you were. Welcome back. Aren't new babies wonderful??

hyz: congrats!! and thanks for posting photos! she is so cute!! and i am increasingly baby-obsessed; i guess my clock is ticking!

megan: i have heard of a penelope whose sister is named sabine. it's actually a very sad story (http://news.cnet.com/James-Kim-found-deceased/2100-1028_3-6141498.html). maybe you remember it from the news a few years back but besides the family's story sticking with me, the girls' names did too.

btw, i can't believe i forgot to tell you all. in class the other day (i teach freshman composition) we were discussing some readings and some students said they wondered what race the person they were reading about was. i asked what they thought and they said they thought she was white. when i asked what about the reading told them this, an (african american male) student pointed out that her name was sally. this cracked me up and i got to share my baby name trivia knowledge that there are in fact lists of top caucasian names, top african american names, and top crossover names. it also got me thinking on developing a course around names. ooh...

hyz -- Congratulations on Ivy! She is beautiful!

Amelia -- I'll second the suggestion of Josephine for Eliza's sister. I think that's a great name with lots of nice nn possibilities.

I also would pronounce Philippa PHIL-ip-a. BTW, I met my first Pippa IRL this past weekend. She was in her 30s probably and completely charming, as I'd expect a Pippa to be.

megan -- We had a mom of a Penelope here recently who named one of Penelope's sisters Delphine, which is so close to Delphina I was struck. I would also suggest Beatrix here. Love that name!

Re: Levi, it has a much more Western feel to me than a biblical one.

I finally have my daughter's 2nd grade class list (we're in NYC):

*Girls:
Aliya
Astrid
Elisa
Heather
Isavella
Jessica
Kathlyn
Nina
Rachel
Satya
Sonia

*Boys:
Alfred
Cristobal
Dmitri
Eddie
Elias (pron EE-lee-us)
Greg
Joshua
Marco
Mitchell
Nick
Thomas
Tommy
Victor

Penelope's sisters for me would be my favorite off-the-beaten-track names, like Iris, Louisa, Harriet, Astrid, Rowena, Flora, Cleo, Glenna, Melisande, Bronwen, Agatha....

Eliza's sisters might be some of the same names?

Axel as Hebrew--yeah, that kind of explanation always cracks me up. I've had a few friends try these kind of "origins" on me, and it takes ever fiber of my being to keep from saying "No, Madison is *not* Gaelic for 'precious angel,' you ninny, think about it--does it even look or sound like a Gaelic word to you?" (That's a made up example, but you all can fill in with a million examples, I'm sure.)

Axel as Hebrew, though--huh. Can these Bible readers think of any other Hebrew names that have an X in them? I'd think that would be a big flashing clue it might have a very different history!

Re Penelope--

The only Penelope (Penny) I know is my age (meaning not at all young), and her (slightly younger) sister is named Jessica. They are from England. At the time they were born and named, Jessica was not the common name it has since become. At the time, both names were "literary"--Homer and Shakespeare. Well, they still are, but I don't think people automatically connect Jessica with the Merchant of Venice any more.

If you like the idea of hooking Homer up with Shakespeare, other possibilities are Miranda, Imogen, Cordelia, Portia, Perdita (might not like the alliteration of the P- names), Nerissa, Marina, Hermione (endings too similar?), Beatrice, Helena, Adriana, Bianca. I think I particularly like Imogen and Nerissa. Ethel-Mae notwithstanding, I doubt that there will be a plethora of Nerissas in any kindergarten.

Oooh, but a trend alert--Miley Cyrus is voicing a character named "Penny" in an animated movie called "Bolt" this holiday season--about a dog named Bolt looking for his human friend Penny, it seems, and vice versa. Could give the name a little bump, especially in combination with Penny on LOST and Penelope Cruz and a few other pop-culture references....

Amelia-

It is indeed pronounced PHIL-i-pa, but I do get the mispronunciation phi-LEE-pa quite often. That, and Phi-LIP-a, which I *hate* and really can't quite understand.

I like my name and generally go by the full moniker, although it varies in social circles (Philippa, Philly, Pip, Pippa). Pippa's curently only really for family, but I do want to bring it back. It seemed too "litle-girlish" when I was a teen/20-something, but now that I'm in my thirties I actually have fallen in love with it again.I just feel weird changing it with my existing social network - like it would sound fake rolling off my friends' tongues. Maybe if I ever move...

Megan

Other options for Penelope sisters:
Cecilia
Charlotte
Violet
Matilda
Camille
Theodora
Hazel

More Penelope brothers:
Oliver
Graham
Felix
Warren
Simon
Gideon
Abram

Hope that helps!

Also-- I'm relatively new to this board so I'm not sure if this has been brought up before but:

It seems the majority of the people on this board are teachers, writers, or people with Jewish backgrounds. I personally am the last two.

I just wonder if there is some kind of NE profile we all fit!

From metafilter:
Sarah and Todd Palin have five children: boys Track, 19, and Trig, 4 months, and daughters Bristol, 17, Willow, 13, and Piper, 7.

Dear GOD! Vice Presidents don't get to NAME anything, do they?!
posted by ColdChef at 8:09 AM on August 29

I had to LOL when I read this. I guess I have a different naming style.

More possibilities for Penelope's brother, along the lines of Edison (scientists):

Franklin (what Edison didn't invent, Franklin did)
Graham (for Alexander Graham Bell)
Pascal
Darwin
Isaac (Newton)
Leonardo
Wright (brothers)
Kelvin
Russell (Bertrand)
Mitchell (Maria)
Ptolemy (well, with Penelope....)
Davy (Sir Humphrey)

Jessica-I totally missed that.
Thanks.
I don't know remotely enough to comment, though!

Aybee--

The demographics of this board have come up before. Quite a few of us have advanced degrees, often in some field related to language and literature. Others of us are in different fields, and some of us are younger and still in high school or college. In general, the posters skew high in educational level.

Several of us are Jewish, but together we cover a wide variety of ethnicities, religions, political stances, and places of residence. I don't know how many countries are represented, but it's quite a few.

And we are all interested in onomastics from one perspective or another.

BTW I myself fall into all three categories you mentioned.

Thanks Miriam (which by the way is my aunt's mn)!

Congratuations, Hyz! She is beautiful. I especially like the picture wherein she is wearing the little pink outfit. And Minna Ivy seems to fit her so well.

Also, hyz, I've always had epidurals myself, so I have endless awe for those who do it the natural way.

Though not *quite* enough awe to actually emulate.

Or maybe too much awe would be a better way of putting it. Last post.

Wow, it took me a while to read all the comments.
Laura-interesting thoughts regarding regional name trends. I would like to see more of this.

Hyz-WELCOME BACK!! I'm glad everything turned out okay for you. I was one of the ones who was wondering when you'd be back. Congrats on Minna Ivy!!

Coll- You said-"While the temptation to apply broader social characteristics to individual situations is potent--and can be harmful and inaccurate--that doesn't mean those social characterizations have no merit. Name choices *do* correspond to various social factors, and discussing those factors is a part of discussing naming trends. And isn't the sociology factor one of the reasons we enjoy discussing names so much?"
I think you very eloquently related my feelings on the political vibe of this topic. Thank you.

Now further commenting on that-I am white, from the North, now mid-atlantic, was older when I had my kids, college-educated, not brought up with any religious background, and not really all that versed in politics or the like. I chose to name my children semi-popular names (lower towards 50-100) because A) I didn't want anything too out-there B) didn't want confusion with spelling and C) just liked the names. I guess I'm kind of purple! I think my husband's veto power very much played into my choices as well. This is also something that has come up recently on this blog. Laura, can you comment and run an article on this sometime?

Jessica-Jamon Axel does not seem to match the other children.

Amelia-Eliza seems like a very flexible name that could go in a lot of directions. It could match "old-fashioned" names or "new again" names. It also fits in with the Ella craze. So my thoughts for sibs are many that have already been posted:
Charlotte; Beatrice; Paige; Hazel; Bridget; Vivienne; Martha; Ruth. BTW, there was a poster here not too long ago (i forgot who sorry!) that had posted about her soon-to-be-dd being Phillippa Tate. I'm not sure if that was the end result but if you search the last few months you'll probably find it unless someone wants to repond to this.

Megan- Penelope Mae sibs:Rebecca, Isabelle, Charlotte, Lydia. I agree many of the thoughts for Eliza are also interchangeable with this name as well.

Megan-I know a Penelope with a sister Candace. I like that pair of names!

Philippa-I am one of those who pronounces this name as Phil-LIP-ah. Apparently, this is not how you prefer YOUR name to be pronounced and you asked for an explanation. Here is mine.
I say it this way because of the following: I am from the north. I am accustomed to saying Phil-LIP which your name seems to be derived from. It seems odd to me to put the emphasis on the first syllable and say PHIL-i-pa. It seems most "Phil" words I know do NOT put the stress on the first syllable ex. Phil-a-DEL-fia; Phi-LAN-der. I think to me it would make a bit more sense to spell it with an F to get that pronunciation along the lines of FIL-a-buster; FIL-ter. But of course Filippa doesn't really seem correct. Anyway, just giving you my ideas. Take em or leave em.

Hyz- She's adorable!! Congratulations! And thanks for sharing the pictures with us.

Zoerhenne- that's interesting. I've never come across anyone who pronounces Philip with an emphasis on the second syllable (and it's my brother's name, so I've heard many people tackle it), but if you do, that would explain pronouncing Philippa in a similar way. In the UK, where both names are classics, the emphasis is on the first.

Hyz- yay! So glad to meet Minna Ivy and that all is well!

Hyz-- She is so very pretty and bright-eyed-What a treasure. I,too, have thought of you and hoped that all was well. Her lovely name, Minna Ivy, suits her well. Congratulations!

Zoerhenne: no but they have a very hard time naming kids and if they both like it...

So I googled Axel. Every site that has it give reference to it being Hebrew with varying forms of Father is/of Peace as a meaning. Can't say I blame her on that count.

Hyz - Congratulations! The pictures are adorable. I love that fluffy baby hair. I'm so glad to hear that she arrived safely.

I think the perfect match for Penelope is Clementine. But that might be too perfect!

On Alaskan names: you have to be a certain kind of person to live in Alaska, I think -- adventurous, kind of tough, and a little edgy, and a bit non-conformist. Palin's names fit these qualities, IMHO.

On the what-will-Bristol-name-her-baby question, go to: http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/trailhead/archive/2008/09/04/name-brist...

Juneau was inspired, I think!

I am delighted with this subject, so I thought I'd share a few of my ruminations after giving the Palin names some thought.

Track: This name has such a sporty appeal to it. I think one-syllable names work especially well for boys who feel at home on a ball field. So much easier to shout "Track!" than "Oliver!" for instance.

Bristol: This is the one I gawked at... or should I say bristled. However, as soon as I thought of it as rhyming with Crystal, it made perfect sense to me and it help me fit it stylistically into my name lexicon.

Willow: This name seems the most conventional to me of the bunch. I think Buffy, I think trees...

Piper: I've seen this name mentioned many times before on name sites, so I understand that it's trendy although I personally don't get it. In my mind, it would fit better schematically with boy names. But I guess it has the same cross-over appeal as a name like Riley or Parker.

Trig: I can see the parents clearly wanting his name to "match" with the older brother's name. It also sounds cute and sporty, although I fear it may lend itself too easily to teasing names (e.g. "don't bump the trigger")

I would be curious how the public at large may or may not be subconsciously influenced by her naming choices. I definitely feel like people's name choices help color my judgment of them-- an inner tendency I embrace although I'm happy to be proven wrong.

it's silly to try to guess what bristol palin will name her baby. while trends and stereotypes are fun, they're barely relevant for predicting what individual people will do. especially people you've only "met" through the media.

An Alaskan here, and lurker...love the thoughts that Laura puts onto the blog! Anyway, Sarah's kids' names seem more out-there to me than typical names. There are definitely some more unusual names I here, but I think that happens anywhere. Maybe more Denali/Dakota/McKinley/Willow names, but those are all places up here. I work with pregnant families at the hospital in our largest city, so I here a lot of names, and they seem on par with the rest of the country. In my son's preschool class last year, he was 1 of 3 Jacks, out of 30 kids. I didn't realize the name was so popular when we named him; he was named after my grandpa. Names I here more often are Jayden; Hayden; Lila; Grace; Faith; Andrew; Sam; Kira; Annika/Anika; Maya; James...that's just off the top of my head, it's late!
On a different subject, I'm overdue with baby #4 and have no name! Any ideas? My boys are Jack & Max, and my girl is Leia...don't know if this baby is a boy or girl. I like my boys' shorter names, and I like that my kids' names all start with a different letter...so shoot me some ideas! I might add to this post later on, it's late and I'm logging off now...

I love this post and all the thought that Laura put into it. I do think these naming trends are regional and can indicate things about social subset in many cases. However, doing so by state may be a little broad. I live in Ohio and out in the rural areas you will hear very different names than where I live (middle to upper middle class neighborhood) which is different from a primarily African-American urban area.

Just curious about my son's name (Abram) - some people see it along the lines of Oliver, Milo, and other names with a similar appeal. Some see it as mainly Biblical (which it is, of course, but not everyone sees that as it's main attribute) Where would it fall on the map? I wanted a real, legit name with history without too much popularity.

Zoerhenne, that pronunciation of Philippa makes sense, then, if you say "Phil-LIP." Like Valerie, I haven't heard this pronunciation, but maybe I'm not getting it right in my mind. I wish we had a voice feature on this site so I could hear exactly how you say it.

On the Sarah Palin front, I have to admit that Bristol has grown considerably on me since I first heard it. It's really NMS (I'm not into androgynous names, I like names with some historical weight, and I desire an easily derived nickname). Nevertheless I actually find Bristol somewhat charming compared to other names in this ilk.

Hi -

hyz - welcome back, and congratulations on a beautifully-named, beautiful little girl!

Valerie summed up the reasons why I find the speculation about Bristol Palin's naming choices distasteful. She is not a public figure in her own right, although she is the child of one, and although she might be pregnant she is under 18. Her mother's naming choices, as with Gwen Stefani or Angelina Jolie, are total fair comment, because those are adults who have chosen the spotlight, not a child who has had it thrust upon them. Also, I remember how I felt when people made a joke out of me when I was 17. (Don't you?)

Of course, not everyone has to agree with me.

Now, on a lighter note, a naming challenge for all you NEs. I recently met a friend for drinks and the topic turned to what she should name her potential children. Here's the challenge: she is Belarussian, her husband is half Danish and half Greek, and they live in London, so any names they pick for these hypothetical children need to work across all four cultures. We were stumped! Any ideas?

Cara: Congrats on your new addition. As for younger siblings for Jack, Max and Leia, here's what I got:
Boys (trying to keep to one-syllable, no first letter matches, strong-sounding like your sons):
Sam
Drew
Dean
Paul
Brett
Scott
Troy

Girls:
Tess
Eva
Willa
Sophie
Paige
Pearl
Rose

hyz-- What fantastic news about your lovely little girl. Somehow I had forgotten that "Minna Ivy" was a contender-- it's great. Didn't you say she would go by her second name? I also like that Minna has many meanings-- Nurnberg and Rosenblum identify it as Germanic, with