The Baby Name Wizard

I think Gauge's twin should be Beige! I am working with ESL (English as a second language) adults..and just the thought of explaining and pronouncing this gives me a headache!

Funny, funny post! My hubby is a fan of the "cowboy-ish" names out there, he wanted to name our son Zeke. o_O. I am glad we settled on Frankie.

@Tess: Only if you spell it Bauge...

Interesting thread, I have relatives named Damien, Adrian and Reagan, all born around the times of the respective movie releases!

OT, my SIL is trying to come up with a name for her new baby girl. Her DD #1's name is Simone. We've found she likes names that have an emphasis on the second syllable - Raquel, Helene, Lenore -- Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Speaking of Stephen King names, did _Carrie_ (book or movie) have any effect on the name "Carrie"?

My friend had a cat named Gauge, because he was the gauge of how good a cat could be. How's that for using the meaning of the word! Also, what's wrong with just plain Gage? I don't get changing spellings on names that are already unusual enough.

Gina: Michelle, Adele, Mireille, Renee, Josée

On a personal note, I've been reading the Twilight series and just hit the name Renesmee. I needed to share my pain and I knew no one else would understand.

Gina: Camille!

Twilight lost me at Renesmee....

Emphasis on second syllable...

Marin
Loren (pronounced like Sophia Loren)
Corinne

But I second Camille !

For Gina:

Joanne
Marie

Not sure how Gauge is being pronounced - to rhyme with Beige? Maybe the u is to make it seem less like Gay? Really don't like it, anyway.

A few things from the last post:

KimB - I like Benjamin Anthony. I'm curious as to why you're not excited about it too.

Eo - I think I'm with you on Brian and Kevin. Somehow they didn't become classics per se or retain their charm? Oh, but an Irish friend just had a nephew born, named Brian, so I wonder - is it more timeless over there?

Anna - thanks!

Akaya - I didn't even think of the Juden connection, likely because in Jude we pronounce the J, and in Jude/Juden we pronounce it with a Y, which saves Jude a bit. I completely agree with you that this is a far worse association than the biblical one, and more importantly, I'm sorry to hear about your family.

Is gauge always pronounced gage? Im sure I would pronounce it gorge, is that just me or do other people in the UK (particuarly the North) agree?
Apart from that the name, spelt Gage, grew on me throughout the post, so I guess it just took me getting over the fact I had never heard it before.

Not usually a person who posts here, but I lurk all the time.
I am a stickler for proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling. I was pretty shocked when I first learned about the "re-assignment" of the spelling of the word gauge in my husband's line of work. He works for the US Geological Survey, and they have gauges all over the country to measure the water...but they have changed the spelling to "gage" in part because people were constantly spelling it wrong. That has irked me for years!

English spellings: gauge laugh taught - it is highly dysfunctional. Lets accept changes in English spelling when the reformed spellings are consistent with existing patterns: gage/page.

Gina: If you don't mind having one French name and one Spanish... I love Simone and Raquel as sisters. The names share an exotic European sophistication that's very appealing and somewhat uncommon these days. A similar choice would be Pilar. If you prefer another French name - I second the suggestions of Camille or Adele. Or how about Joelle, Nadine or Colette? I love the French Helene "ay-LENN", but pronouncing it "huh-LEEN" seems to put it in the awfully dated Darlene/Raylene/Verlene category...

Bianca: Thanks for the kind words! Actually, the more I think about it, I feel Jude, given its meaning, is a name we should "take back" and wear proudly.

The word gauge being misspelled as gage has always bugged me, because I'm a self-professed grammar/spelling freak- I was about ready to make my dad return his new car when I saw that it said "check gages" on the dashboard....

Now, a name I'm familiar with (thanks to a romance novel, another weakness of mine) GAGE is being "misspelled" into GAUGE. My head is spinning. To me, "misspelling" a name is almost as obnoxious as misspelling regular words, and there's a real difference between acceptable variatons (Kathryn, Catherine, Katherine) and these made-up spellings. Overall, I fear we will become a nation of extremely confused people who can't spell anything "rite"!!

Re Gauge:

A very interesting post. I've never come across Gauge as a name before. If I was reading "adjust the pressure gauge" in my dishwasher manual, I would have no trouble pronouncing the word as "gage". However, if I saw it on a nametag... I'm not sure the correct pronunciation would spring to mind. I would think "godge". Or else over-think, "Maybe it's some ethnic version of George? Gow-jay?"

Well, now I know!

My brother and sister-in-law just got a new black Labrador retriever puppy and are naming him Gauge in reference to hunting. Being a native Texan, whenever I hear the word gauge, I automatically think of guns (ie 12-gauge shotgun). I wonder if the name is benefitting from that association among western-style namers.

Gage in any of its spellings is completely nms as a name. I am disheartened to hear that we're giving up on "gauge" as the spelling for the word itself, though.

@Gina, I think Camille would be lovely with Simone. Similar without being overly matchy, familiar without being overdone, and both travel well, which is a huge plus in my book.

Gage makes me think of a high school friend, John, who we called "Johnny Gage". Maybe that's because I don't know anyone with Gage (in any form) as a first name.

For all you grammar people, and the ESL teacher, there is a poem I like (but I can't think of who it's by) that's about all the pronunciations fo O-U-G-H. It's worth googling. If I get some time to look for it, I'll post a link.

As to why I'm not excited about Benjamin Anthony, I think it's the cadence. My first son is Lincoln Douglas. I like the sound of it, probably for the cadence. I think Lincoln and Ben work okay together, but the edge that brings being pleased with a name just hasn't hit me with this one. Then again, with Lincoln, I couldn't decide for sure on it until he was born and even now I sometimes wonder if it was the right name. But, my wonder about it is more because I don't know a single other Lincoln (in person) and so I wonder if the name fits and will fit him. I suppose he'll make it his own and that's why we liked it - didn't sound too out there but wasn't common (or Kr8tive).

Here's a link to all kinds of poetry about spelling and grammar. The one I was referring to is called OUGH and is midway down the page.
http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/13/13-3353.html

Last post for now, really.

need a name - I, too, think two -a names could be find and make you feel good about your choice, particularly if they don't sound too similar. I do think you should go with what you like. (You might try yelling the names together, as you might at the playground, or introducing yourself and your two daughters. This might be a good test for whether you like the two together.)

As for names ending in -a, I am partial to Sara(h), Tessa and Julietta, but I seem to be a minority with these last two.

I actually know a couple men who really like this name in our social circle. It's works for the hunter gatherer types becuase of guns 10 gauge and what not. I don't mind it a bit.

My MIL taught siblings Gage and J@velin recently, and both were a complete handful. I expect she'd have a few words to say about the name! Anyone else come across the latter before? Seemed such an appropriate name for a naughty kid!

I never thought about Gauge and guns. (To be honest, I know nothing about guns, I didn't know they had gauges.)

I wonder if use of the name is related to gun culture, more than to Pet Sematary? I checked out Gage on the NameMapper (Gauge hasn't reached the top 100 anywhere, yet), and the name seems to be used most in Wyoming, Idaho, Utah and Maine. With Maine I could see the Stephen King connection, but the Mountain states are surely more likely hunters more than horror movie fans.

LMBO about Paige/Pauge!!

I first saw Gage when my dd was in preschool, some 9 years ago. I thought it was a kre8if spelling of Gauge! Then I thought maybe they took the name from the plant/fruit greengage. I never knew that it was used in a movie - or that Gage was the correct spelling! What is it about horror movies that makes people want to use those names? That's the complete opposite of what I'd have thought.

Ayaka, Laura has highlighted before that many trendsetting names come from Wyoming/Idaho/Utah. Utah was first place that the name Spencer made it to the map! These 'red states' are more willing to use new/kre8if/uncommon/unusual names than those in blue states (she documented it with a study, look back through the archives). So Gage is right on target for following that pattern.

I have an acquaintance whose son is named Gage. I'm not sure about the spelling, though. I have a mission now!

As for why horror movies "spawn" popular names, I suspect it's because the main audience is teenagers and college-aged kids. When they start having children, they think about the names that made a big impression on them, and the horror names are there at the ready, just begging to be used. The parents might not necessarily remember where the names are from (although in a case like Damien it's a little hard to forget), but they were names that were well chosen by the scriptwriters and that made a lasting impression.

I decided to test this out by looking up the one film I could remember off hand, Poltergeist, but discovered that the scriptwriters were definitely not NEs. The little girl was named Carol Anne! And her siblings were Dana and Robbie. Not cutting edge (the movie came out in 1982). Dana and Robbie were well named for kids born in the late 60s and early 70s, but Carol Anne?!

Telle - I think you're exactly right with Gauge/Gage getting a boost from the hunting association in western states.
Great name for a bird hunting black lab!

Gina- what about Delphine for your SIL? I think Simone and Delphine are a nice set, maybe too matchy though?

KimB- Love that poem, English really is rather ridiculous when you think about it!! Does anyone know where the spelling of the word gauge comes from? (Miriam??) It really is kind of odd, that said I think changing the names of the gauges in a factory to "gage" is nuts. Why not just teach everyone to spell gauge?:) That said for a name, I do find Gauge confusing...

needaname- I don't mind the two names ending in -a, there was one you mentioned to go with Eva but now I can't remember what it was... none of those bother me. FWIW, my sister and I are Jenny and Julie and that's never been a problem in the least. To be fair, we did have very different formal names, but have always gone by the nn's which are waay matchier than your girls would be!

Valerie, I was very surprised at J@velin at first, but it actually fits so well with the current trends when you think about it!! Starts with J ends with the sound -en, has a v, multiple syllables... This could be a riser;)

bianca and valentine, I completely agree about Renesmee. I was totally thrown for a loop and had no NEs to confide in! What an awful choice.

Gina:

Simone + Elise

How do you say "Renesmee"? I haven't read the books or seen the movies so everytime it comes up here it totally throws me. Ren-EZ-may?? Oy.

"it strikes a nice balance between the cowboy machismo of Colt and Cash and the preppy breeziness of Tate and Trey."

Laura-Love this post and you are right on target. That is right where I'd consider that name to fall too. I have recently come across this name in a Nora Roberts trilogy (yes I read slowly-I've mentioned the book before). The books are the Pagan Stone Trilogy. The main characters 3 boys: Gage, Fox, and Calvin nn Cal and 3 girls: Cybil, Layla, and Quinn. I originally had a hard time with Cybil's name as not quite fitting her character but the others are spot on.

Gina:I like Camille as a suggestion to go with Simone. Also like Renee, Ophelia, Bianca, and Yvette.

yeah, i can only think of Pet Sematary when i hear the name Gage. i would be scared of any little kid named Gage.

underrated horror movie btw

I know someone who considered using Grayce for their little girl. Naturally, I kept my mouth shut about the choice, but secretly all I could think was that since 'grace' is already a word with a specific spelling, adding a 'y' was unnecessary. I was thrilled when they decided to go with Grace instead.

Meanwhile, I know a ton of pregnant gals who have slowly but surely been announcing the decided-on names of the babies to be. Thought you might be interested.

Girls:

Evelyn
Emily
Emma
Logan
Lainnie

Boy:
Joshua

Check out all the E's and L's for girls!

How funny will it be if the name Gage and the word guage gradually switch spellings? I think the NEs of the future are going to have an awful headache when they look back at this decade and try to track the origins of some of the names we're making up...

I've spent the last hour trying to find out the entymology and thus reasons for the spelling of "gauge" in English. Yes, I am a total word nut. From what I can gather it is from the French "jauge". So it seems to me that it is now spelled with a G in English because the J would give it a /soft G/ rather than /hard G/ sound. Think of the words jam, jaw, gay, game, etc. The J and G sounds are differently voiced depending on what letter follows them.
Also found this neat entry about the definition of "gauge" :
I had another request, from Dr. David M. White, who wrote the following: 'Not exactly a word root issue, but I've been puzzled for a long time about the use of the term 'gauge' in needle sizes. I went on a lark once and tried to figure it out, and I found that gauge in relation to shotgun pellets has a distinct definition, which relates to both diameter and weight, and gauge with regard to rail track also has a defined distance associated with it. However, there is no mathematical relationship between the 'gauge' of a needle and its interior or exterior diameter, or even the weight/thickness of a metal used to construct the needle - at least not one that I could find. Any help would be appreciated - one of those little things that gnaws at you...'

The etymology of 'gauge' can be traced back to 15th century Middle English and before that to Old North French. Apart from the distance between the rails of a rail track, the word - sometimes also written as 'gage' - indeed refers to the inner diameter of a shotgun's barrel, expressed as the number of lead balls just fitting that diameter required to make a pound, e.g. 'a 12-gauge shotgun'. More generally, it is a linear measurement according to some standard, like the diameter of wire or of hypodermic needles. Also, the fineness of a knitted fabric, as expressed by the number of loops per unit width, is related to the diameter of the needles, and there are other uses, from mechanics (strain gauge) to quantum electrodynamics and chromodynamics, both examples of 'gauge theories'.

I know actual little girls named Simone and Colette. Grandparents are French so they wanted French names.

Interesting article I just found about the complexities of English spelling:
http://www.whitesmoke.com/spelling.html

Also thought of some other alternative spellings of Gage that I hope DON'T catch on:
Gayge; Gaydge; Gaege; Gaedge; Gayje; Gaije; Gaeje. Ewwwwww!!!

to figure out why names' from horror movies get picked up, maybe we need to think about how the names of those characters get picked. maybe they try to pick unusual names so as not to saddle any existing folks with baggage? but these are inevitably somewhat decent sounding names so that audiences can buy that there is a child named damien/regan/gage. sort of fits into the popular criteria "everyone knows, but no one uses."

Hi all,

For those of you who have been following my naming saga...she's here!

Sylvia Grace was born on Friday evening. She is adorable and we are very much in love.

If you recall, we had gotten down to Sylvia and Fiona as the two name options. I had no leaning one way or the other and we were going to wait to meet her until we decided. In my mind, Sylvia would be a dark-haired laid-back kind of baby, while Fiona would be light in color with a fiery personality. We had a pretty equal opportunity of having either type of child.

Well, wouldn't you know it, she came out just the most laid-back, observant, and blonde kid imaginable. Huh. It was quite a quandary. So, we slept on it. But, by Saturday morning, it became quite clear to me that Fiona just would not work on this kid. I'm not entirely sure why, but it just felt wrong when I tried calling her that repeatedly. Sylvie, on the other hand, felt right. And so it is.

We have mainly been using Sylvie, as we planned, but I do find myself calling her Sylvia more than expected. We have had a few subtly raised eyebrows in response, but mainly the reception to her name has been very positive with some people even raving about how beautiful. One friend, in fact, pouted and revealed that that had long been her secretly planned baby name. Sorry, Rachel. :)

Thanks to all of you who helped us with the decision! We are very pleased with our choice and ecstatic to be Sylvie's parents.

"The word gauge is a classic of English orthography, a completely non-standard bit of spelling..."

One could argue that the pronunciation, not the spelling, is off.

Gage is nmsaa but I was thinking about it as a nn for Gabriel George.

Philippa- many congratulations on the birth of Sylvia Grace. She sounds adorable, and I love your choice!
Funnily enough the only Sylvia I knew growing up was a beautifully elegant local ballet teacher with blonde hair, so Sylvia has been a fair-haired name for me ever since! She was a lovely person, so I have great associations with the name. I also love Sylvie.

Philippa-LOL that story is great and one you should write down in her baby book. Welcome to the world Sylvia Grace!

New baby name alert I saw posted:
Hayden William

Congratulations, Philippa! Sylvia Grace is a lovely name. I wish you restful sleep and a peaceful baby.

Congratulations, Philippa! I absolutely LOVE the name Sylvia Grace. Enjoy your wonderful baby!