The Baby Name Wizard

Not surprised at all to hear that JRPGs (never heard them referred to as Eastern RPGs, though I suppose that takes in the possibility of Korean games &cet.) and especially Final Fantasy take the crown for nameable names. Vincent's another name that was probably helped along some from FFVII, but it's hard to tell peoples' reasons for naming kids things like Zack/Cid/Vincent.

Couldn't resist sharing the name of Jamie Oliver's new baby son: Buddy Bear Maurice (born 15 September 2010), brother to daughters Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela, and Petal Blossom Rainbow.

Well...at least they harmonize....

Actually, I like Petal, Blossom, Rosie and Daisy, but do feel they have a cute toddler vibe, which might be hard to live with as an adult. Judge Daisy Boo or President Petal Blossom, anyone?

D'oh! I should have thought of Final Fantasy. I sort of did, but the presence of Cloud on the previous list threw me off!

I will say that I'm happy to see Rikku on the list of names. She's such an affable character. I wouldn't necessarily name my child Rikku, but it makes me happy that there are Rikkus in the world.

So, I'm still being distracted by the social security administration. I downloaded the beyond the top 1000 datafiles and played with them a bit. I just have looked at the last 12 years so far, but they definitely are interesting!

For example, Diane actually was used less often than Aurelia in 2009. I'll be interested to see the 2010 data and see if this trend continues. From 1998 to 2008, Diane was used much more frequently than Aurelia.

And Trajan shows a fascinating bump. 1998 it was 40 and 2000 it was 41, but in 1999 it was used 140 times! Thanks Trajan Langdon! It also appeared to have another spike around 2006-2007, but I don't know why that one happened.

Chiron shows up in 2008 at 6 babies and 2002 at 5, but was used less than 5 times in the remaining years from 1998 to 2009. Yet Kyron is used over 100 times in almost all of these years! I thought of Kyron as the made-up one, but maybe we are the backwards ones.

And Aletheia has had a pretty substantial surge. It was around 7 with some years even under 5 from 1998 to 2005 (with a 16 spike in 2004. I have no idea why. At first I was thinking due to Love Actually, but that name was Aurelia!). Went back down to 6 in 2005, but then has been elevated. 2006-15, 2007-10, 2008-23 and 2009-27. Why?!? No guesses from me!

I think it would be great if the name trend software was expanded so that it included the data from the beyond the top 1000. Since 27% of names given currently are not in the top 1000 and that percentage is growing, this seems like it would be incredibly useful! Playing in the outliers is always fun.

My husband is a big Final Fantasy fan, and we do have a son named Vincent. We didn't think about the connection at the time, but I'm not ruling out the game leaving a favorable impression of the name.

I know many of you "name pros" already know this, but for others that may be more novices like me, the info on the beyond the 1000 is available at: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/limits.html.

The zip of all of the annual data can be reached from that page or at this link: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/names.zip.

I did have a friend recently mention that her first son was given her husband's role playing name from high school. It certainly seemed like an original way to name your son after his father. I could see how roleplaying games could help spawn new names.

What aboutthe new Big Thing, Dragon Age: Origins? From what I hear from my gaming friends, it has a big-time character-driven plot and revolutionary levels of character development. I wonder if we'll start seeing a sudden jump in little Alistairs, Morrigans, maybe even Zevrans?

I took a fifteen minute break and expanded my annual name lookup for the total names data back to 1980. But now I need an interesting name to look at. ANy ideas anyone?

One thing that showed up to me is I think Trajan Langdon must have made the Trajan name. I find this interesting since I hadn't heard of him until after our son was named. From 1980-1993 there were never 5 or more.

Looked at the trail off of Diane has me further convinced that making this extended data part of the website tools would be a powerful move.

Anyone know a theory why the percentage males (of those babies named with a name at least four other babies received that year) increased at 1989?

You can see an example of what a few names look like when their data is pulled for these years: https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AljewO5qNfuqdGwtX1FUYkhWWnBSb2x.... I can easily do any name...

ETA: #N/A just means there were less than 5 babies with that name that year. So the actual count could be 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

Valerie, that's amusing. I've actually liked all the girls' first names-- Poppy, Daisy and Petal-- but felt that the addition of those particular middle names has the effect of "upping" the infantile quotient...

Now with Buddy Bear Maurice, you have to go deep into the name to get out of the nursery. Not good for the little boy over a lifetime, I believe. "Buddy Oliver" would make a great name for a jazz musician, (or a young chef!) but personally, I always like having a formal first name to fall back on...

chipper28-My thoughts for name info are Oliver/Oscar to see when the resurgence ocurred OR Juno to stay on topic a bit since it was a movie name a few years back.

This topic about video game names makes me think about the game I have recently found. It's called Faunasphere. It is a bit like the currently popular Farmville and all the other -ville games on Facebook. However, in this one you are creating little animals. Then you have to give them names. Woohoo! The game requires you to level up the animals and so on... The animals all have different traits. Eyes, ears, tails, color, and patterns on their bodies can all be spontaneously different upon "hatching" or even customized by "buying" the trait. So my new little cat I have just hatched is black with beady eyes, long ears, and straight tail. She/he is named Charcoal. It takes the question "what does he/she look like" a step further. However, there are only so many color names one can use! You can only hatch one at a time though so the twin situation brought up in the last thread does not come up.

Oliver, Oscar and Juno at: https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=0AljewO5qNfuqdEt1N21PZDBrRUpMMDd....

So 2007 movie of Juno I get, but what happened with Juno either around 1996 (but that could be such a small increase maybe nothing) or really 2004?

Looks like Oliver started really coming back around 1997 and Oscar having less of a clear breakpoint. Oliver did have two interesting years with greater than 30% growth in 1987 and 1990. It has had growth that's large, averaging over 20%, from 2002 to 2009. The two most interesting single periods for Oscar to me are the 13.2% drop in 2009 and the period of continuous growth from 1987 to 1993.

This stuff looks much better and more interesting visually, but I'm not sure how to incorporate that into this format. I vote for extending the site data ;-)

Thanks so much chipper28. I will take a look at the site you posted.

LibbyLibrarian, I hope Alastair makes a comeback, I think it's a great name! And from Laura's list, I like Aeris, Aerith, Yuna, Auron, Locke, and especially Tidus - it's similar to Titus, but makes me think Neptune/ocean god. I've never played Final Fantasy, so my liking of these names is based on sound, not association.

Wow, you guys have been busy...

Final Fantasy was the game I would have guessed after the last post! (It is the only series I know that is a role playing game). An RPG makes total sense to influence names more. WoW was another idea I had.

I like: Aeris, Rinoa, Rydia, Auron, Cyan

To join in on the many conversations...
Twins I know:
Eric & Cody
Sandra & Susan (Sandy & Suzie)-- interestingly, their siblings are Jamie and Kane. They are all born in the 80's. A place where the boys name is more creative than the girls'. It comes from a smoosh of their parent's names, Kevin and Jane.

Also, chipper28: how about Taran, Vienna, Lexington, Gibson, Kallista, Evadne, Colette, Milana

Oh, and for twins names, I saw on another site the idea of using initials to connect-- for example, E C Lastname and C E Lastname. A cool way to connect twins, not too obvious, and could work for any gender combo!!

re: Aletheia

Do you think this could this have something to do with His Dark Materials? Despite the classical roots, I know I can't see/hear this name without immediately thinking of Pullman's alethiometer, a sort of divination device that is integral to the plot of all three books. The series is much-beloved and many people with agnostic/atheistic leanings particularly revere it. I'm having a baby this spring, and if it's a girl, she'll have a HDM-inspired middle name; maybe other parents wanted to honor the series too? The trilogy was originally published between 1995 and 2000, so it fits with the spike in the early '00s.

Alizarin: I'd be interested to know what your HDM-inspired middle name is: is it Lyra? Or something more obscure? Do tell.

I'm inclined to think that Aletheia probably didn't get a bump from the series, just because the alethiometer, while central to the plot, is still a kind of obscure connection. Naming your child after a pseudo-mechanical instrument doesn't seem to be the same as naming your child after the character; while it honors the series, it just doesn't have the same intimacy. And, for further anecdotal evidence, all three Alethieas that I know are the children of very progressive Christian parents, who chose the name to signal their commitment to truths of all kinds: theological/scientific/etc.

As for twin sets, I've known several, and although the matchy kind usually rub me the wrong way, my favorite combo ever were the daughters of Spanish-speaking parents who I met in an ICU years ago. They were Dulce and Dorothea.

I love reading this blog and its comments, my new favorite addiction. I was wondering if I could get your opinion on the baby name Serena. I worry a bit that is sounds sort of "made up" even though it is an old name. Sibs: Lydia and Madeleine-Does it "go" with my other two? I don't want their names to be matchy, but I also don't want them to be completely different styles. Thank You!

Interesting! I do know a 4 year old Cyan and I always wondered about it.

How long does comment moderation take?

CCSmith, I think Serena fits pretty well with those too... And I like the sound of it. Serena Williams is the first that pops into my mind, but you're right that it's old. What middle name are you thinking?

CCSmith: Serena is lovely! I (vaguely) know someone called Serena so it doesn't sound made up to me. Lydia, Madeleine and Serena also sound good together. Not matchy, but not dramatically different either.

CCSmith- I love those three names together too. Serena and Lydia have always been particular favorites of mine.

Eo- Yes, I agree Buddy Oliver works pretty well as a musician or chef... but Buddy is pretty unknown as a name (or word) in the UK. I think of it as very American. They certainly like to go out on a limb!

CCSmith: I think Serena is pretty versatile. It seems more serious and old-fashioned with Lydia and Madeleine, while I would otherwise think of it as more contemporary.

I thought of more twins:
Adam and Cullen (around 20)
Erin and Robin (preschool age, not sure of spelling of Robin/Robyn)

re: Cyan: I know of one too, but pretty sure she is named after the color as dad's an artist.

Very interesting! I love the name Ezra for a boy, but my husband plays a computer game (I don't know which one) with a character named Ezreal so he says Ezra is out. I actually thought about Ezreal, but I'm not really a fan of made-up names (no offense!) and I don't think it goes as well with my daughter's name (Ada).

I don't know final fantasy, but my four-year-old met a little girl named Zella the other day and immediately exclaimed, "You're almost like Zelda in the Legend of Zelda!" Almost. :)

I need help everyone! I'm having my fifth boy in December and we can't seem to agree on a name. My other kids are Th0mas, Fr3deric, L!ly, N@thaniel, and B3njamin. I told my husband that I don't want a bible name this time (so Fred3ric won't be the only one without), and I don't want a name ending in 'n.' We came up with Clive, Arthur, Elliot, and Charles. We decided we like Clive and Arthur best, but my favorite is Clive, dh's favorite is Arthur, and those children old enough to have an opinion are split down the middle. What do you well-informed people think? Any other ideas for names fitting those criteria? (I like Edward, but Twilight killed it for me. No offense, Twilight fans!)
Help please! :)

chipper28-Since you are a registered user (as I am) I would just resend the post if you find it not showing up. I'm guessing unregistered users take about a day or so as Laura seems pretty up on checking this blog. Whenever its happened to me I just resend and it shows up. I think it is a problem with the server or browser.

CCSmith-I love Lydia and Madeleine. Especially that spelling of Madeleine. I beleive the more traditional way of spelling Serena is the way you intend, but I have seen it spelled other ways also. It seems less classic than the other two though. I checked through Nymbler. Obviously it isnt my choice but since you asked for opinions, I would choose one of these if it were me:
Sophie; Gabrielle; Josephine; Audrey/Aubrey; Susannah; Eleanor; Claire--I think Charlotte is the perfect choice!

ajg-My first thought was smush the two into something like Alaric/Eric. Then I realized its the ending/(matching too close) with Fr3deric's name. So I again turned to Nymbler and these are my alternate suggestions. However, I think Arthur Clive flows better than the other way around if you use those names. I was also thinking the ending needs to be different from your others.
Joel; Alexander; Oliver; I like Charles and Elliot; Andrew; Maxwell; Joshua; Spencer; Anthony; Stuart

@CCSmith, I think Lydia and Madeleine take Serena in a totally different direction. It makes me like Serena much better.

@ajg, I *love* Arthur so I'm probably no help there, but have you considered Edmund or Hugh? Those seem like they might be in your style family.

ajg: I prefer Clive to Arthur. I feel like Clive is hipper and Arthur has more teasing potential. But I guess I'm thinking of my own generation; who knows what today's babies will find teasable?

@ CCSmith: I think Lydia, Madeleine (I love this spelling), and Serena work amazingly together!

@ ajg: I like Clive a bit more than Arthur, but I think they're both great!

@CCSmith: I totally agree that Serena goes well with Lydia and Madeleine and makes me like it more. Actually, in the show 'The Unit' the young daughter of some characters was a Serena and that made me appreciate the name more.

@ajg: I really like Clive. Arthur isn't really my style but that's mostly because I have an uncle called Arthur and it's still too musty for me. A little Artie would be cute though! I also like Elliot and second the suggestions of Maxwell, Edmund and Hugh. I'll also suggest Clement.

We were thinking Serena Mary, thank you for your help. Julia is another favorite of mine, but I think it sounds too similar to Lydia. Clara is another favorite, but I really want to use the middle name Mary (after a dear grandmother) and I would hate to give up that middle name. Clara Mary just doesn't sound right. I actually like Mary as a first name, but it just doesn't work with my last name.

Serena Mary is good.

Arthur is good.

I like Frederic a lot.

interesting names from my local listings:
CARLIN - KENLEY - FARRAH - KARIELLE - TRITEN - JAYMIN - ADORA - DREYZEN

I love that we can find names to love in so many places. My DH is always wanting to pick math names (Eigan, Vector, etc.) I also ran into a baby Terra once, which while used pretty widely is very popular in SciFi.

I'm generally just a lurker, soaking in all of the great info and opinions, but I've been unable to find anything on the idea of giving an initial as a middle name. It feels kind of neat and old-fashioned to me, and I'm considering it as a way to honor my dad without using his name (Barre, but pronounced Barry.)

So, any thoughts on a possible little Hugo B?

Thanks!

I once had a fiance who just had an initial--J--for his middle name. His father was named Jason, quite an unusual name for his generation--he would be in his nineties if he were still living--but he went by Jay. Hence the middle initial J. was a reference to his father. As far as I know, just having an initial for a middle name presented no practical problems. I also knew a family in which everyone had just two initials--T.J., B.R., etc.--no names at all.

@ justrachelmarie: I know a Patrick S, I don't know why just S, but that was his middle name. Harry S. Truman had no middle name, just S. He had no middle name at all though and just took the S. on later for no reason (that I know of at least.)

justrachelmarie-I wouldn't think it would cause any practical problems just having an initial instead of a full mn. The aforementioned Truman entry on Wikipedia includes this:
His parents chose the name Harry after his mother's brother, Harrison Young (1846–1916), Harry's uncle.[5] His parents chose "S" as his "middle name" in an attempt to please both of Harry's grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The initial did not actually stand for anything, a common practice among the Scots-Irish.[6][7]
So that may be all the precedent you need to squash any comments that may be made. I cannot think of any other actual names that you could use.

So this got me thinking about U.S. Grant. I knew that there was something similar going on. I looked up his story and found it an interesting case in naming. It turns out in his case he was born Hiram Ulysses Grant but as a child went by Lyss. The congressman who recommended him for West Point forgot about the Hiram and thought his middle name was Simpson (his mother's maiden name) so filled out his application Ulysses S. Grant. Apparently Grant tried to correct the Army's mistake when he arrived at West Point but was told that his official application could not be changed so if he wanted to attend West Point he would have to accept his name change!

I have a friend whose middle name is two initials. His parents wanted to honor two relatives, but didn't think they would be permitted to bestow two middle names. Thus they used only the first initial of each relative's name, making my friend's middle name C.Y. He says that people sometimes assume the name is Cy and try to pronounce it as such, but otherwise it hasn't been a problem. He seems to like his name and the significance of the initials. It's interesting to me that so far all of the examples of initials as middle names have been males.

@ Jen PH - I know a female with a middle name/initial of "E" which is to honor multiple relatives whose names start with the letter. So there you go, a female example!

It's funny (in Canada) to think of Buddy as an unknown or very underused word.. maybe it would be like naming your kid "Mate."

CCSmith - I think Serena goes well with Lydia and Madeleine, and without being super matchy either. The name makes me think Gossip Girl but I can't even remember if that's the exact name of the girl. And Sailor Moon, same idea, either could have been Selena.

agj - I vote Arthur over Clive. Clive still sounds musty/sleazy and Clyde-like to me. I have a friend named Arthur who is more of a liberal "f the man" type than anything nerdy or bookish so it's easy to see the name wear well and not type-cast it's keeper.

justrachelmarie - I sort of like the initial as a namesake. Hugo B. rings cute as well as pretty dignified.

Oh, I almost forgot, I met an "Andromeda" today!

One of my husband's and my choices, while not a video game name, is helped by its fantasy sound. We both love Elspeth, and it's a close #2 on our list for girls. My husband is definitely into the video-game, sci-fi/fantasy type of nerd culture, and he's mentioned that Elspeth sounds to him like it's straight out of a fantasy novel, which is a good thing for him.

RE Final Fantasy names: Before having kids I used to always play the FF games as soon as they came out and I really loved the name Rinoa. I thought it would make a good name for a pet because, at the time, I felt that naming a child for a video game character was silly but it seems that now a days that's not so much the case. Kids are being named all kinds of things (see below) and Rinoa has a really pretty sound.

Allison Margaret: I like Elspeth. Familiar yet unusual.

CCSmith: Serena Mary is lovely with Lydia and Madeleine.

ajg: I love Benjamin, Lily, and Frederic! You have great taste in names. All of these names were considered by us for our kids and Frederic is on our short list for boy #2 as is Arthur. So I vote for Arthur.

Some interesting names I've run into around my area lately:

A friend of mine was just telling me that she met a woman at the playground this past weekend with three boys who were all named after guns. I was, of course, immediately reminded of the discussion on here a while back about that sort of thing (I think it was in the post about the name Gauge/Gage) so I asked her what the three names were. In my mind I was thinking Colt or Smith. Maybe Gunner or Gauge. I was shocked when she told me they were called Gatling, Derringer, and Dakota. Of course I'm aware of Dakota as a name (apparently there's a gun company called Dakota Arms) but I've never heard Gatling or Derringer used as first names before.

There was a little girl (about three, I'd say) at story-time on Friday with the name Sterling (as in sterling silver).

My daughter came home and told me that a boy in her class (first grade) was named Nanue1 (Nan-u-el) but preferred to be called Nathan. I asked if she meant Manuel or Emmanuel but she was emphatic. His name was NAN-u-el with an N. They have name tags on their desks and she sits near him so she's seen it written. That was a new one for me too.

Wow Kristin, I guess it takes all kinds of names to make the world (and this blog) an interesting place.

"I did have a friend recently mention that her first son was given her husband's role playing name from high school. It certainly seemed like an original way to name your son after his father."

Going off of Melanie1's comment, if we named a future son after my husband's old Everquest (I think that was the RPG he played in high school?) name, he would be Aedwl@n, which he pronounces something like "uh-DWELL-in". Kind of an interesting sound, but I don't think the spelling is very intuitive.

SLV-Reminds me of the song/plant Edelweiss (Aid-ell-wise). Would that work for a girl (similar sounds)LOL!