Hard times are hitting economies around the world, and hard choices have to be made. Even in my baby-name bubble I recognize that tracking the rise and fall of Nevaeh doesn't make any top-10 list of national priorities. Still, it was a shock to learn to that UK Office of National Statistics has decided to stop reporting on popular baby names as a cost-cutting measure.
The announcement of the year's most popular baby names has quickly become a tradition around the globe. It's a happy tradition: a rare moment when our government tell us something just because it's fun and interesting. It's also a unique barometer of our changing national mores. As an American, I learn something new about my country with every new name list. Similarly, looking at the England & Wales stats each year taught me a lot about how our countries are the same, and how we differ. I'll sorely miss watching names like Alfie and Poppy climb toward the top 10.
There's no substitute for true national statistics. They capture the full range of the nation's tastes, while private listmakers -- web sites or newspapers that poll their readerships -- systematically ignore large swaths of the population. As the UK experience demonstrates, we shouldn't take the government data for granted.
The United States first started tracking popular baby names in 1996. As I understand the story, a Social Security Administration actuary by the name of Michael Shackleford compiled the first name popularity lists, simply because he could. After a couple of years Shackleford left the SSA to dedicate his mathematical skills to the gambling industry (see wizardofodds.com). By that time, though, the name stats were so popular that the other actuaries had to continue Mike's pet project. Eventually the SSA realized they could use this popular feature as a showpiece to lure in parents and educate them about other family programs. Thus the current name stats website was born.
The SSA's approach to name data keeps evolving. They've gradually tweaked and expanded the figures they make available, which are now the the world's best. Last year they tried to jazz things up, making the data release a Parade Magazine "exclusive" and adding some freaky talking babies to their website. This year, who knows?
On behalf of the name-loving public, let me beg the SSA to keep doing what it does so well. (No, dearest actuaries, that does not mean more talking babies. Please, no.) Baby name statistics deliver a lot of cultural bang for the buck. We love them, and we love you for providing them. See you in May, SSA! I hope.
In Memoriam: UK Baby Name Statistics
01/07/2009, 10:39AM
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Comments
I don't love Seraphina, either. Tess, they should have called you & gone with Eloise Pearl!
re: Carden - isn't that what they do to underage-looking youth at bars? ;)
I too am not a fan of Seraphina. That isn't even close to any of the guesses I had for the new baby's name. I agree that it is rather frilly and doesn't pair too well with Violet. Oh well. I guess I should be happy that they didn't pick a name that I am in love with which I was worried about since Violet is at the top of my list.
I've heard the last name Carden, so it doesn't surprise me that it has been used as a first name. However, I don't know any little ones named Carden.
Re: Seraphina - although I was surprised this was the name they picked with Violet (does seem a little more frilly and unusual), I do think the names work, and I wish them all the best.
Thanks to everyone who gave input on Marlow.
Baby Affleck's initials are S.E.R.A. I think they will be nicknaming her Sera! Other nicknames could be Phin and Phina. Vi and Phin is cute.
Regarding virtue names: There is a relatively new show on Nickelodeon, called True Jackson, VP. It's about a teenaged girl named True who becomes a vice president for a large fashion corporation.
I, too, am surprised to hear that the Afflecks chose Seraphina. I was thinking more along the lines of Helen, Clair (or Clara), or Luisa.
I do like Charlotte Church's name for her son, Dexter. Doesn't Diane Keaton have a daughter named Dexter? I believe she must be in her teens by now. I've always thought it was a cute nerdy-but-in-a-good-way name!
Dexter will be forever associated (for a tv junkie like me, anyway) with the Showtime series "Dexter," about a serial killer who tries to employ his murderous predilections for good instead of evil.
I lOVE IT! Serephina is actually a name I have liked for a while but can't use since I already have a Serena. It is a name I like to say. It just rolls off the tongue. I also think it does go well with Violet. Both are girly, antique, and not too popular names.
Hmm... I prefer Baxter to Dexter I think although both are cool
Serephina is growing on me. Reminds me of Angelina and Josephina.
Thank you everyone, for the "Indian In the Cupboard" help. I am glad to hear I have been pronouncing Omri's name correctly! I am surprised that so few Israeli names have made their way across to the US. Adiel is a great name, and I like Omri, too...
As for the name Serephina, I actually know one, she is 9 years old. She HATES to be called Sera, and prefers "Phina." Her brother is Gabriel; I think the parents were going for an angel theme.
Oh this is interesting, I know a couple with a Luci@ Viol3t and they were considering Gabriel. I find it sort of interesting when names sort of link up like that... I picture a big web... I wonder how my friends feel about Seraphina. (This is in reference to toothfairy's mention of siblings Serephina and Gabriel.)
RobynT, I have noticed the same thing, sibling names that are commonly found together although I can't quite put my finger on the link... for example, I know of three families with both a Tess/Tessa and a Bridget.
Also,
Taylor and Brooke (girls)
William and Lillian (because of similar endings?)
What other sib sets commonly occur together in your experience?
Reading the local paper and it had the names of the children in playschool here. I was suprised to see not one Emily or Emma... and the most common boys name was Cooper.
Class includes: Dawna, Raylin, Tiera, Brody, Tuff, Zoe, Gabby, Cooper, Isaac, Spencer, Jayde, Darius, Aileen, Alexys, Britlyn, Cooper, Fischer, Jacob, Joel, Matthew, Kalan, Kody, Login, Madison, Mark , Aiden.
I thought Tuff was an interesting choice, as well as the spelling of Login... sounds like computer talk... please Log in .
Omri is an interesting name. In the Bible it is the name of a King of Israel who attained the throne by killing King Zimri at the battle of Tirzah. Omri is the father of Ahab and therefore the father-in-law of Jezebal. Omri founded a dynasty which was successful militarily, but culturally was the opponent of the prophet Elijah and his followers. The Bible gives Omri, Ahab, and Jezebal very bad press, and their names were absolutely not acceptable for use in traditional Judaism. Elijah OTOH gets very good press, and his name has been very much in use through the millennia (Elijah is my father's name). With the State of Israel (largely led by secular and even anti-religious Jews of the Left) plunged into war immediately upon its founding in 1948, names of biblical kings successful in war and of other "strong men" became popular. Two obvious examples of the Israeli rehabilitation of the names of biblical "bad guys" are Nimrod and Omri. Ariel Sharon has a son Omri.
Adiel is the name of several very minor biblical characters, mentioned only in passing. Gillon is a surname used by Israels, but also used by people of Celtic heritage. A notorious head of the notorious Israeli secret service, the Shin Bet, was named Carmi Gillon.
I too read the Indian in the Cupboard to my son back in the day, and I wondered what point, if any, was being made by the name choices. I chalked it up to the Protestant, in particular Puritan, tradition of using obscure biblical names like Mahlon, Adlai. Alvah, Gomer, and so on. I don't know if there is more to it than that.
It's interesting the sibling sets that pair up over and over again. I can understand how that could happen often... people liking a specific style that goes together. What I often question is my two cousins (on different sides of my family) and my sister's sister-in-law ... all named Jennifer and all with daughter's named Jordan. Can anyone explain this, or does anyone know of any other instances of this mother-Jennifer and daughter-Jordan phenomenon?
@ Lyllpedia4 - oh dear, Login? That's going to get messy when the kid starts using a computer. And imagine calling IT support and them saying "What's your login?" "L-O-G-I-N" "ah, no, you're not understanding my question...."
Maybe Login is a comp. techies' child and they decided to make a play on words? I hope that's so, and that he is able to understand comp. well enough that the above scenario doesn't happen.
Well, the Garner/Affleck baby name is finally out: Seraphina Rose Elizabeth. Interesting choice, though I don't love it and to me it doesn't go very well with Violet. I'm also not a fan of two middle names unless the parents are from countries/cultures where that is common. It's lot more elegant than the rumored "Chase Milan," though!
What do you think? And do we assume they'll call her "Sera" (pronounced "Sara")?
Re: the Indian in the Cupboard names.
Lynne Reid Banks' less famous books include several set on a kibbutz in Israel in the 1960s. So I decided to do a little googling and discovered that she lived in Israel for 8 years with her husband Chaim Stephenson, and they had 3 sons--one of whom is named Omri. I couldn't find out if the other two names in the IITC books were the names of her other two sons or not.
Re: Tirzah's comment about Eloise being lost in the Elle/Ella crowd (#197), I had had the same thought, and was trying to come up with alternate nicknames that emphasized the 'lo' part of the name rather than the 'El' part. I thought of Elo...but that just sounds like someone saying hello with a dropped h. Any opinions on Lilo? On the one hand I think it's cute, and on the other hand I think it's too Disney-ish.
Nicole S: LOL! I hadn't thought of that one, but it sure does sound like "hey, man, they're carden' at the bar tonight." Great!
DRDS: I guess it is true that Carden as a first name is along the lines of Brooks, Jordan, Smith, etc. I hadn't thought of that possibility. Still, Carden for a girl?? Just nms, I guess.
Oops, just saw that there were already comments on Seraphina from yesterday, above! Sorry, folks...
Anne with an E- what about just "Lo" I kind of like it, like "Vi" for Violet.
Lyllpedia4- Oh I really don't like Britlyn or Login, I wonder if Tuff is really a nn? I hope they weren't going for the kid to be "tough"...
Tess- I also like Eloise Pearl better than Seraphina, oh well!
Guest, one of the most common sib sets in my experience is Heidi and Heather--more for people in their 30s than for kids today, obviously. More common sets from that age range seem to be Sarah/Deborah/Elizabeth/Ann, and Emily/Laura(or Lauren).
I'm ok with Seraphina, but I would hope they would use the nn Phina or one of those that Eo suggested rather than Sera--if they use a nn at all. What's the point of finding an unusual and interesting name but then calling her something that sounds so common? (No offense to the name Sarah, which is lovely.)
Bethany, I know two father/son combos Joe/Jason, but I guess that's not so weird since both names are pretty common for the people's ages.
I think the only repeated sibling names I've seen are Jamie and Jason. I'm sure you can guess when these folks were born.
Anne with an E: Another association with Lilo is that Lindsay Lohan is sometimes called that. I'm not a huge fan, but it could be cute.
JillH-I agree and Sera sounds a bit like Suri and how would we keep our celebrity babies straight? I think Serafina Affleck is somewhat problematic where the two "A"s come together...I suppose she could be Rafi, but that is a stretch and rather boyish...and a bit "F" heavy with Affleck.
Two of my siblings are named Sam(uel) and Sophie. I think that's a pretty common pair among the under-10 set.
Also Aaron and Noah.
And Hannah and Leah.
A pretty common sibset among Irish-Americans in my generation is Colleen and Shannon. (Yes, my name and one of my sisters' names). If I meet a girl named Shannon Brennan or McDermott or Kelly born in the late '70s to mid '80s, I would wager money that she has a sister named Colleen (and vice versa). This has been borne out multiple times in my experience.
I've also known several Ben and Sam sets.
Another cute nickname for Eloise (one of my faves) could be Lisi (pronounced Lee-see). Fresher than Lisa, which would also work but is so date stamped.
Bethany-I know a Jennifer(mom) and Jordan(son) but I do not know any Mom/daughter combos.
Also celeb alert:
Allison Sweeney of DOOL and Big Loser fame gave birth to a baby girl named Megan Hope. Nice normal name. I like it!
Lots of Elizabeths and Catherines out there. Of course Laura's Namipedia is trying to capture this exact sibling phenomenon by recording the sibling groups.
I read an article in February's Domino Magazine regarding Mark Ruffalo's home. I like Mark as an actor and I adore his wife's name Sunrise. Their kids' names are interesting as well:
a son Keen, born in 2001, and daughters Bella Noche, born in 2005, and Odette, born in 2007. I particularly noticed that the 3 year old was repeatedly called Bella Noche, not Bella. I love it when my magazines list the kids' names. If you have a cool house, there's a good chance that your kids have cool names! :)
Re: sib sets, I know three different Michelle/Stephanie combos (all adults now, as you'd imagine).
Re: Seraphina, I think Phina is a much better nn than Sera -- I can't even begin to count the numer of Sarahs I know/have known in my life.
Tirzah: Yeah, I like how sibling names on Namipedia get bigger to show multiple cases. I think some kind of web image could be cool too though...
re: Keen: I went to school with two Keanes. Only after I moved away realized that the name is not very common elsewhere. Blaine is another name that was common where I grew up. I think these were like western US names of the '80s.
re: Bella Noche: I wonder if she became Bella Noche after they realized there were a lot of Bellas. Maybe that's a good solution if you choose a commoner name: have a middle name that could work well as a double barrelled name.
Jane stbmo5- I second Hannah and Leah!
Also:
Patrick/Connor/Mason
Jonah and Micah
Bella Noche reminds me of an Italian restaurant in my city called Bella Notte.
The only thing that confuses me about Bella Noche is the pronunciation. Do they say it with a Spanish pronunciation, i.e., Baya Noche? Mark is Italian, so why isn't it Bella Notte? If they don't use the Spanish pronunciation, then I think it's strange to have a unitary name be half Italian (Bella) and half Spanish (Noche).
Just saw an update on little Adolph Hitler Campbell. Sad, although I can't say I am really surprised either.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090114/ap_on_re_us/hitler_cake
Some unrelated thoughts:
Is it Seraphina Elizabeth Rose or Rose Elizabeth? I hope it's the former for the initials fun, but I've seen the latter as well.
When I was little, my absolute favorite name was Aurora Bryony. I think I mashed it up from Sleeping Beauty and a Flower Fairies book. I used it whenever I wrote a story or played dress-up or make-believe. I believe there were also a few Barbies renamed Aurora Bryony. But the mark of a real budding name enthusiast: I renamed my Barbies every time I played with them--every story featured new characters, who, of course, always needed new names.
Third and last: the name Alice. I like it, but the only way I really like it is spelled Alise. It seems way more old-english/old-french to me that way. I don't think I'd ever use it (kre8ive spellings are pretty much anathema to me), but that's the version of Alice I gravitate towards. Alice, Alyce (which is probably in fact the oldest version), and Alyse just don't do it for me like Alise does. Do any other classical spellers have names that they only like an alternate spelling of?
I really only like Graeme (vs. Graham)... it's been an issue as Graeme/Graham is a name we've considered for one of our twin boys, due this spring. I'm not sure, though, which version is older or more authentic... I didn't get far enough with my husband with Graeme to actually research it. If I had, I suppose I could have changed my mind.
Regarding Alice: Has anyone noticed an uptick in Alice-like names recently. I know two babies named Elise (one born yesterday named Elise Scott (for the maternal grandfather)). There also seems to be a lot of interest in Eloise and Iris and Annaliese on this board... but I never hear of anyone actually considering Alice...
The above was for Guest.
Guest- According to people.com it is Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck.
Does anyone think there will ever be any issues between the two Affleck girls as to why one has two middle names and the other only has one? I know there are mothers on this board that give multiple middle names---do you give your children the same amount of middle names?
Guest, I don't really care for the name Alice, but I agree that it looks nicer with an s - a bit less sharp, to my eye. Maybe that's why I prefer Alison. I do know two small Alices.
For Guest-
I find I love Elinor, but hate the spelling Eleanor, which is the more traditional I suppose. I generally like to stick with the more recognizable spellings for names.
re: Alice: I like it! It was the character on The L-Word that really made me see this name as fresh. Before that I knew it as the name of my mother's aunt (b. 1930s I guess...) and of course from Alice in Wonderland, the Disney version, in her prim dress.
sme: I don't have kids yet but I feel like when I do, I will want to give them the same number of middle names.
Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck's daughter's name is Seraphina Rose Elizabeth.
Seraphina is not exactly my cup o' tea.
regarding Virtue names, I know a young woman named Proud. Her family is Thai-American, and she is one of the sweetest, smartest, most wonderful people I've met. She went through dh's middle and high school band programs, grad from a prestigious West Coast univ. with dual degrees in Psych and Econ, and is in a prestigious East Coast law school. It's made me love her name.
Sib-sets:
Andrew and Justin
Jacob and Joshua
Michael and Christopher
I don't notice as much with girls.
Sibsets I see a lot of: Jack and Kate, Chloe and Sophia, Kaitlyn and Lindsay, Henry and Charlie
I have a preschooler neighbor named Alice--just as sweet as her name is. It's a great choice, way fresher than all the Sophias and Isabellas that are crowding the kindergartens just now.
Seraphina? I LOVE when parents don't follow suit with sibling names, and I hate matchy predictable sibsets, so it gets a big thumbs up from me on that count. It's not my favorite name, but as I'm not married to either Affleck or Garner, that's irrelevant--if they love it, then it's lovely for their child.
However, if they start calling her Fifi, I completely withdraw my vote of approval.
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