The Baby Name Wizard

Woohoo! I never bought the first one, since I just found this site recently and I've been waiting for the revised version. Now I can join the BNW fun!

yahoo! this is great news-- i was getting worried after all the difficulty people were posting in the other thread.

Yay! Just placed my order. Are you going to have a Kindle edition?

Wonderful news! So glad to hear that at least Amazon has been straightened out.

I just received my alumni mag (small midwestern christian university) and wanted to share all the new baby names (and sib sets):

Camdanh An James -adopted from Vietnam (Kaleigh-13 and Emma-11)

Kenneth James (Hannah)

Michael Batley

Addison Marie

Gabriel Melvin

Colin Monroe (Lily-3)

Belle Marie

Gideon Allan (Alayna-13, Rebecca-12, Caroline-9, Josiah-8, Mathias-5, and Linnea-2)

Rylan Gerald (Kimberlyn Marie-8 and Braeden Wayne-5)

Elijah Lee (Samuel-4 and Lucy-3)

Chloe Faith

Chase Matthew (Christian-12, Bailey-9, and Connor-5)

Zachary Allen

Joshua Ryan (Bethany and Adam)

Elijah Dale (Caleb)

Quaid Franklin

Grant Evan (Gage Samuel-5)

Ella Marie

Dawson Patrick

Ainsley Caroline (Abbey-4 and Jacob-2)

Trace Garrett (Cooper-2)

Rebecca Luane (Grace Annabelle-3)

Amos (Anna-4)

Julianne Lynn

When I click on the link Amazon lists a book that was pubbed in 2005.

Hi everyone,
I'm having a really hard time finding girls and boys name to to with my daughters' names, Layla Christine and Adeline Sophia.

Names I like so far are Emma, Amelia and Ava. For boys, Jack and Samuel.

Thanks in advance!
Melissa

"When I click on the link Amazon lists a book that was pubbed in 2005."

Yep, that's part and parcel of the ISBN problem I talked about last time. They list the old publication date but new page count, etc.

I'm going to try to use the Amazon author tools to provide more info, plus the publisher will be updating the product description.

This is also interesting, I wonder if this is Chapters-Indigo Canada trying to sort out the version discrepancies:

http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/search?keywords=baby%20name%20wizard...

The site lists another Baby Name Wizard by Laura published January 1, 2050. I guess I will see what will come of this.

I must say that I'm excited for this new book. Even being relatively new my copy of BNW is pretty messy.

Hurray! You've made the day for my best "name-friend" and me. Off to order!

Laura, I was sure you'd find a way for us to get the new edition of your book ASAP. I just ordered a copy through Amazon and am looking forward to receiving it next week and seeing all the additions and changes you've made. I love your approach to baby naming.

Melissa Love - I typed Layla, Christine, Adeline, Sophia, Samuel and Jack into Nymbler. Here are some of my favorite responses:

Boys:
Saul
Julian
Quentin
Elliot
Finn

Girls:
Ava
Abigail
Charlotte
Genevieve
Olivia
Eve

Yay Laura!! I'm so glad.

Bethany, Quaid is an interesting one! Apparently it's the Irish form of Walter. (Maybe PunkPrincess can confirm.) I like it! It's a cooler Wade.

Ordered my book about an hour ago! Yay!

On another topic, doing a kids program with church this week, and I'm working with slightly younger kids than normal, so met some new ones. I have a group of 8, ages 9-10, 4 boys and 4 girls. Boys are Austin, Joshua, Tyler, Jacob. Girls are Megan, Bailey, Natalie, and JUNNA.

The last one is the one that surprised me, I've never seen it before and would assume it was pronounced with a short u just by looking at it, but she pronounces it June-ah. I googled it, and apparently a JUNNA was an emperor of Japan. Is anyone else familiar with this name? Is it a common Japanese name? The name seems fun and spunky to me, but maybe just because she's such an adorable little girl! :)

I'm so glad too! It will kind of suck to succumb and order it from Amazon when I work at a bookstore where I can get a nice discount and Amazon is my competitor, but it might be worth it if it takes too long for my distributors to go through the old stock and I can never get my hands on the new.

@Guest-Betsy, I feel that way too a little bit. But I work in a used bookstore, and I've never even seen the 1st BNW come in, I think it's probably the kind of book people hang on to instead of trading in. So I figure it'll be years before a BNW2 makes it through our doors, so I just caved immediately instead of playing the waiting game and then caving in 6 months! :)

I do apologize to all of the independent booksellers here. (I love bookstores, and if anybody is interested in hosting a book event let me know!) But the Amazon arrangement makes a good quick fix, especially for readers who wrote to me in a panic, 8 1/2 months pregnant. :-)

The publisher says that old copies should be out of the main distribution lines within a few weeks, then everybody should be back on even footing.

Awesome! I started reading the 'look inside' preview on Amazon and pouted a little when the excerpt was over :D

I've told everyone I know who's having a baby or might have one soon about the book and this site. Love it!

Hmmm, I looked again and maybe the preview is of the first edition. Still can't wait to read the new one, though!

Melissa Love: The family I know with a Layla also has a William (Liam).

Anne with an E: i studied Japanese, visited Japan in 1996, and live somewhere with a lot of Japanese American and Japanese. Never heard the name Junna, although I think I am probably unaware of current name trends in Japan. (One day I realized that our textbooks probably had old-fashioned names! And I think most (3rd, 4th gen) JAs probably don't know current trends in Japan either). I know there is a boys' name Jun though.

Names overheard on airplane:
Adrienne (sp?) (2 yo)
brothers: Braden (or Raiden?) (2 yo), Travis (8 yo).

I'm interested by Junna, because coincidentally I was just yesterday thinking of Djuna (don't quite know how it popped in my head). I remember reading some Djuna Barnes in school, and like the sound of the name. I looked it up and it seems like it was coined by or for her. She led such a dark life, unfortunately, so it turned me off of using her name. Too bad. I agree, though, that Junna lookes like it should be prounounced with a soft "u" with that double "n". I guess you'd have to do Juna? I like the D in the front, though...

Excellent news! I'm waiting to get the book until there's an actual pregnancy (a jinxy thing of mine) so I'm sure the new edition will be in stores by the time I get around to it.

Re-posting from the previous thread, as this one opened before I finished reading the other:

daisy_kay: I adore the name Ambrose, so Ambrose William and Frederick Ambrose get my top votes. (Frederick Ambrose is practically perfect in every way).

PPP: Saoirse Verity and Fionavar Olwen take the cake for me. I think it would be nice to take your DH's preference for an English name into consideration if you do go with Aoibheann (which has seriously grown on me after seeing it written so many times--I now pronounce it correctly in my head immediately!)

Marie-- Sophia's popularity would be a deal-breaker for me. I hear the name constantly in my neighborhood in NYC, plus my niece is named this, plus I know of about 4 others born to facebook connections in my age cohort.

Try to figure out which would make you more regretful-- to use the name and then have your daughter be one of a crowd of Sophias, or to not use it and be reminded that you passed it up every time you hear of a child named Sophia.

Along those lines, my husband and I decided years ago that our first daughter would be named Josephine. Well, now that we're closer to kid-having time...I've grown kind of bored of the name. It's a bit more popular than I would have liked. And having all the decisions made already is no fun!

As I mentioned in a previous thread, I'm completely besotted with Cornelia Maud these days and am seriously yearning to use that name. My husband likes the nickname Nell, so there may be a chance. But do I abandon ship like this (once we get pregnant)? Can I really chuck Josephine Edith and her many family connections for the bright, shiny Cornelia Maud? I feel like the stereotypical CEO, trading in his faithful wife of many years standing for the new secretary!

Djuna is an interesting name, but I read Nightwood in grad school and I'm sorry to say that I seriously regret that those are hours of my life I'll never get back. Luckily, she's obscure enough that most people would have never heard of her.

Still, it's always a gamble naming a kid a name known only to the general public by way of a single source (even if you're not intentionally naming your child after that person.) I went to college with a Tatum who would have liked her name except for the fact that every time she introduced herself to someone new they said, "Oh, like Tatum O'Neill." Every. Single. Time. If she went somewhere new or started a new class, this would happen to her literally a dozen times a day. So now I think about that whenever I meet a little Gwyneth or Beyonce and want to say, "Oh, like..."

Anne with an E--Junna sounds and looks Korean to me. Is the little girl Asian or part Asian? Jun (may also be spelled Joon), pronounced June, is a very common name syllable in Korean, as are -na and -ah.

@hyz, she is at least part-Asian, I've only met the mom (who is Asian); not sure about the Dad.

I've never heard of Djuna Barnes! And I work in a bookstore! I hate it when people mention authors I've never heard of, it's like I lost points in the author game...

I don't think I'd actually use the name Juna or Junna, it's not really my style, but it just seems to fit her really well, and stands out amidst all the other fairly generic names in the group of kids I mentioned.

Oops. New thread! Didn't notice this was open when I posted this a few minutes ago...

Coll: You could always hope for twins! I think Josephine and Cornelia would make a great twin-set. (I love love love both of these names!) :D

Marie: I agree with the poster (I can't remember who it was) who said that it's more important what's popular in your circle than what the SSA lists say is popular. If you know tons of little girls named Sophia, you might have more regrets than if you are the only one of your friends or family with one. In that case you may regret passing it up more. Also, if you give her a very unique middle name you could always call her Sophia MN in the case of two or more in her class. Personally, I like Charlotte, but then I'm biased as I have a little girl named Charlotte.
Just a word of caution though: If you move to another area, you may find that the name you chose is WAAAAY more popular than it was where you lived before. We lived in NJ when we chose the name Caroline. I didn't know any other Carolines despite working in several schools and daycare centers for four years before having kids. Then we moved to South Carolina and it's in the top twenty. I actually didn't enroll her in one specific private pre-school because there were already three other little Carolines in what would have been her class! She'd have been one of four in a class of only 20 children! UGH!
Anyway, if you love Sophia, you should use it. It's a truly lovely name and I think that the timelessness of it will age it better than other (less) popular names that sound made-up. (More like Amanda and Christina rather than Jennifer and Christy or Katelynn and Ashley.)

Ok, no way I'll use Djuna, because of the associations, but it's too bad.

Does anyone know the correct way to pronounce Thalia? I always assumed it'd be THAL-ia, but when I was young I thought Penelope was pronounced to rhyme with cantaloupe, so...

@Mirnada, the one Thalia I know pronounces it with almost even syllabic stress, but slightly more on the first syllable. Tah-lee-ah, but slightly TAH-lee-ah. I don't know if that's the "right" way though, or if that's just her...

I would pronounce it THA-lee-a but I've never heard anyone say the name before so I don't know if that's correct or not.

Re: Junna/Djuna.
I think it has a very pretty and unique sound but I'd be hesitant to use the Djuna spelling because of the association. Juna or Joona might be a way around it though, if you really liked the name. I could never use it though because I know a *nasty* old lady named June. Too bad 'cause it's really pretty.

Mirnada, I would probably be inclined to pronounce Thalia basically the same as I say Talia (tall-ya), but I don't know if that's right.

On a similar vein, I have always thought that Thora was pronounced thor-a, but recently met a Thora who pronounced her name Tore-ah. Does anyone know if this is common?

Yeah I've always heard it pronounced without the H also. TAH-lee-ah. I hear ya on Penelope. Not with that one particularly, but there are a couple of words I've read in books for years and years but never heard anyone say, so when tempted to actually use them myself in conversation I sound like an idiot. Most recently, about a year ago, cacophony... which I believe I said something like "COCK uh phoney" much to my boss's shagrin.

Random---

But I just looked up baby names by state on the SSA Web site. Some definite surprises--- for instance, in my state both Jake and Alex surpass Timothy, Steven and Oliver in popularity. I know names like Jack and Max, once considered nicknames, are common as full names now, but Jake? Also I think names like "Oliver" must get more play on these boards than IRL.

On the girls side, Julia is MUCH more popular in-state than nationally (top 10). Also was surprised to see Nevaeh higher in rank than names like Audrey and Gabrielle (to be fair, the difference is small... but still)

I know a RL Thalia who pronounces it THA-lee-a, although the last two syllables do run together a bit. She definitely says the H, though.

hyz,

Thora is always pronounced To-rah or Tore-ah (both hard T, long o) in Scandinavia. Thor is pronounced Tor (hard T, short o). Maybe the hard-T-Thora's want the original pronunciation? Also, most of Europe would pronounce "Th" as hard T in names/words that aren't obviously English.

Mirnanda - When I was in school I knew a Thalia who pronounced her name ta-LEE-uh. But more recently I met a little girl (12 maybe?) who prounounces it THAL-ya.

Coll - I agree with Kristin, Josaphine and Cornelia would make a good sibling set. I also understand what it's like to have your name way early and then change your mind as time goes by. My husband and I had a full finalized set of names 10 years ago and now that I'm approaching pregnancy I've grown very restless with the names. It annoyed my husband at first but he's on board for the most part now. ;).

What do people think of Lila as an alternative to Lily? (I'm thinking of pronunciation LYE-la, not LEE-la.) DH says Lily is too cute for his tastes, and I sort of agree, actually. I think this is also why he prefers Mira to Mia.

The Thalia I know is in her 70s and is from Greece. Her name sounds sort of in between THAL-ya and THA-lee-ah to me. Closer to the first.

Marie: I just had a friend name her daughter Lylah (lye-la). I think it is a great name.

Marie: I just had a friend name her daughter Lylah (lye-la). I think it is a great name.

Marie,

Lila is a little less cute than Lily, but still too cute for me. I like Leah better because it's less singsongy. And Leah immediately makes me think of Thea [Téa] which I like even better because it contains the not-cute consonant T. Is Lily/Lila intended to honour someone?

A few other ideas for you (that I find tolerably cute, without forcing another letter on you): Leni, Lara, Louise, Lori.

Marie,
What about Delilah with the nickname of Lila? One of my current favorites.

zoerhenne -- Going back to the previous thread: Man, have you scored cool points in my book recently... You know I liked Zoe from my comment a few days ago, and then come to find out your dd is Natalie... brilliant.

Natalie is the only name my husband and I have ever REALLY agreed on, and I've always dismissed it as too popular, but in reality the only one I know personally is probably about 18 now, so I think I might be ok to give it another chance.

Oh, about the spelling of Junna, knowing the Japanese alphabet, my guess is that this is a direct transliteration. In Japanese, the double n doesn't change the sound of the u. I think it makes a longer N sound, like Jun-nah.

Also, I really like Camdanh (from the announcements list) for the context. Based on my guess at pronunciation, it fits well with current U.S. trends. I'm also assuming it's a Vietnamese name, and the spelling hints at that (whereas Camdan or Camden would not do that as much).

Marie: I really like Lila. I think it sounds much more sophisticated than Lily. It also makes me think of that song (Simon & Garfunkel) that goes Lie-la-lie Lie la lie lie Lie la Lie... (For me this is a plus). It really rolls off the tongue in a lovely way.

Betsy: I only know of one little Natalie (about 18 months) and she just had a baby sister, Samantha. It was very cute on her. I definitely don't think it's too popular for consideration.

Great news Laura! Yay!!

Anne with an E - was it you who was looking for name suggestions for people who wanted a name that meant path/journey? I posted a whole lot for you but then you disappeared...

i studied japanese in college. the double n indicates a small pause; jun-nah, as robin t said, is probably the best way to express it (the u is still long, like "oo", regardless).

Yay, Laura! I'll be ordering my copy tonight!

Re: Thalia, I've never known anyone with this name IRL, but I definitely prefer Tal-ee-uh to Thal-ee-uh. I have a neighbor, Thea, who pronounces it with the hard /t/ so I suppose I'm more inclined to see these types of names as T- rather than Th-.

Marie, I like Lila, and you could always use Lily as a nn. Be aware, Ls are generally very popular, but that may not be a consideration for you.

I went to my daughter's camp's parents' day today. Here are the girls who are 7-8 years old (all entering 3rd grade in the fall):

Alana
Aliya x2
Anna
Astrid
Elinor
Emily x2
Christina
Nina
Paloma
Satya
Sophia
Sophie
Taylor

Anne with an e- For the people who wanted a name signifying 'path', I thought of Camino. It has the significance of pilgrimage also. But I know I'm way late on this one! I've been away and have spent two days just catching up on all your comments!

Thanks, Laura! I just ordered 2 copies on Amazon. One for me --and one for son and d-i-l.......and I have another on order at my local bookstore! If they all come in, I'll save one as a gift.. Lovely.

My best friend's granddaughter is named Lyla..It is pretty, but I prefer Delilah--with Lilah as a nn. I went to school with a girl with that name and it seemed graceful and,yet, serious to me.

Tess, was the girl at school named Delilah? I love the name and would be happy to hear someone say it sounds graceful yet serious. So far most people just say "Like the harlot in the Bible?" !

Laura I would love to see you post on these 2 topics:
1) middle names
2) the issue of whether you should/shouldn't call your child 2 names that have the same derivative, eg Isabella and Elizabeth, which some people write off as "the same name", but for others are very different names, though they share the same etymology.

Anyway, just suggestions... I have learnt a lot reading your posts over the past year or so.