The Baby Name Wizard

Interesting Laura! I got all the boys names correct and missed 4 on the girls names. I mostly guessed from the language and the first letters.

Ha! I think Precursor and Wax Candle make a lovely sibset. :)

That's funny.

This is hilarious! It reminds me of the time that one of my students turned in a composition that was obviously translated by his computer (I teach Spanish). When confronted, he asked how I knew, and I told him that "la Cuenta Clinton" (aka, "bill" Clinton) was a big tip off!

That's very funny!

My German relatives must use some sort of online translation as they think my second son's middle name is Deacon (it's Dean).

This is from the last thread, but I want to say congratulations to lubatrix and alr! Welcome to the world, Rupert! And, alr, your story brought tears to my eyes. So beautiful and perfect. I hope this is a story you will share with your daughter when the time is right. So touching.

Funny!

I remember an article from about 10 years ago when auto-translation was a rather new thing - they had tested the English-to-Swedish function, and among other bizarre phrases they got this:

The Chrysler Building -> That Chrysler Erection (in Swedish)
George Walker Bush -> George Pedestrian Shrub (in Swedish)

zoerhenne, you did well! I was proud of myself at first--I got all the boys' names right, but then I only got 3 right for girls....

Such a fun post. I love the mistranslations. Some are obviously awful, but I could imagine introducing my children, Cloud and Paladin. Bluegrass and Paradise might work in a pinch, too.

Students are registering for next semester at the university where I teach. I have a student named Dorit enrolled in my class!

Thanks hyz. I think the girls names were tougher because the languages seemed more similar than the boys.

Elizabeth T-Hmm it seems to be derived from Dorothy. So if its pronounced Door-it then its not so bad, but if it comes out like Door-eat then it reminds me of the snack food.

Dorit is a popular Modern Hebrew name used in Israel and among Modern Orthodox American Jews. It is derived from the word 'dor' which means 'generation.' Whether that is the source of this particular child's name I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised if it were. If so, the accent would be on the second syllable. Compare to the recently released Israeli hostage Gilad Schalit--which is pronounced in Israeli Hebrew as Shah-LEET. Many years ago I had a neighbor with that name who pronounced it SHALL-it, as did the tv personality-critic Gene Schalit.

From the last thread, the real problem with Puck is that it rhymes with "suck" and another unsavory word. I grew up with a neighborhood boy named "Chuck" who had the same problem with that "Chuck chuck bo buck..." song.

I'm attached to the Gilbert and Sullivan name "Iolanthe," which means violet flower. I can't see giving it to a child, but I would totally give it to a chicken or a fish!

Thanks for the nice comments about my list! I spent way too long compiling it, so I'm glad you liked it. :)

Miriam-Thanks for the info.

Tirzah-Iolanthe is much too pretty for a fish except maybe a betta. Could totally see it on a chicken for some reason though :)

Interesting article on the choices celebrities (and others) make when naming pets vs. children.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-rosenkrantz/baby-names-pet-names_b_1...

@zoerhenne -- some of those really surprise me! For some reason Jessica Alba's dog Nancy seems especially funny, not sure why. And Liv Tyler's Neal.

Oh, and if any of you are interested, I reviewed The Baby Name Wizard book last week on my blog. :)

http://www.quirkybookworm.com/2011/10/my-name-is-jessica-im-obsessed-wit...

As far as our family dogs go, that list is spot on--even if dogs aren't named Spot anymore. We have a Bella (full name: Bellicose Wolfe) and a Lucy. We also have Floyd Lamb, and then there's the only non-people name, Smokey the gray Weimaraner, who was already named when adopted.

@alr - congratulations on picking up your new additions and I do love both their names :) I'm glad you went with Naomi Violet, I've always loved that for you.

@Tirzah, I also love Iolanthe but the pesky 'th' in my surname makes is difficult to use.

I've noticed some of these too! It makes looking through popularity records way more fun. I also noticed that Google translates 'Svensson' to 'Smith' in Swedish, which is pretty cool since 'Adam Svensson' seems be their 'John Smith.' A bit awkward if they're talking about any other Svensson, though.

@ zoerhenne-thanks for posting that link, what a cute article. also from babycite.com i found the name Adrie for a girl, says it's Dutch and means from the Adriatic Sea (region). cute name, Adrie.

hi all, this is a name query. my latest two favorite competing girl names are:
Eloise vs. Elise I have always loved Elise, but recently when Clair was watching and Eloise cartoon, I found it so endearing and just love repeating that name. Any thoughts or lists of pros and cons or impressions or experiences with both names would be appreciated, as we are trying to conceive. thanks.

sorry, meant AN Eloise cartoon, not And!

My husband is Lithuanian. He says Migle may be right but Gabija is the goddess of fire ...

danasurfside-Best wishes for success! I like both names equally. The only connection I have to make would be the books/cartoons. Also, if it were me I would spell Elise with a Y (Elyse). Similarly, I guess you could change it to Alyse but then you might get Alice confusion. Hmm, too many variables for me in the end.

Danasurfside, good luck! I much prefer Eloise--I think it is more charming and distinctive than Elise these days. And I agree, it is quite fun to say. :)

@danasurfside - I like both Elise and Eloise but prefer Eloise. It would be on my list except it's a little too popular where I am (top 50).

Since it's quiet on here at the moment I thought I'd post the list of names from my online mum's group (we were all due June '11).

Finlay
Henry & Olivia (twins)
Elias
Eliza
Ava
Benjamin
Lucas & Jacob (twins)
Torin
Astrid*
Aurelia

*mine.

I've been playing detective with the Nordic names in mistranslation... 'cause it's fun.

Eyð, Rannvá and Rókur - first of all, these names are Faroese, not Icelandic! Google Translate does not do Faroese, and I suspect this might have something to do with the (mis)translations of those names:

Eyð (destroy) - Eyð or Eyð- is a "name element" which means prosperity, fortune, riches. The same name element is found in Icelandic names (spelt Eyd-) as well as in other Nordic names with various spellings. As for the mistranslation; in Icelandic, one word for destroy is eyðileggja, and I guess Google found a partial match between eyðileggja and Eyð and figured that was close enough? Anyway, the eyði-part (abandoned, desolate) is unelated to Eyd/Eyð. It's sorta like how mad in Madison doesn't mean mad-aka-angry.

Rannvá (investigation) - Again, an Icelandic word for 'investigate' is rannsaka (compare to ransack in English). The rann-part of the word means house (and saka means seek, i.e rannsaka = seek (a) house). Rann in Rannvá also means house while vá means stength or fight/fighter. I suspect the partial match between Rannvá and rannsaka is the reason behind this mistranslation.

Rókur (cloud) - the origin of Rókur is a similar-sounding Nordic word which means rook, a type of crow. Unlike with Rannvá and Eyð I can't find an obvious explanation as to why Google thinks the name means 'cloud'; rök in Swedish means smoke (cloud of smoke..?), rok in Danish means spinning wheel (eh?), and rokke means the fish species skate... Really, I've got no clue on this one!?

Klara (complete) - The name Klara is the same as Clara/Clare/Claire, however there's also the verb klara which in Swedish means to fix/clear/finish/complete something. I think it's obvious that Google took Klara as a verb rather than an name in this case. (Note also how the name Claire is related to clear via the Latin root/meaning clarus).

Axel (shoulder) - Axel (also spelt Aksel) is a commonish Swedish/Danish/Norvegian name derived from Absalom. There's also the unrelated noun aksel which means axle... again, I suspect Google translates Axel to shoulder via the noun aksel and the medical term axle.

Anna-Very interesting info on the REAL names rather than translations from Google. It's a bit how I decided which name went with which definition myself. I will explain my reasoning should anyone care. Elmeri looks like Elmer so 1 down. There are 2 Vietnamese names. Trung Nghia just sounds/looks right for High Definition (isn't that a band name?). Axel and Akseli seem like they both mean axle/shoulder but Akseli looks more Finnish than Swedish. Pro looks similar to pre- meaning before so that matches up with precursor. 6 done. Rokur/Ayaz/Levente remaining. Rokur seemed Icelandic and Ayaz seemed Turkish in origin so I guessed and then Levente fit in the last spot.

1. Cloud (Icelandic) Rókur
2. Elmer Fudd (Finnish) Elmeri
3. High Definition (Vietnamese) Trung Nghĩa
4. Jack Frost (Turkish) Ayaz
5. Liquidation (Vietnamese) Thánh Thể
6. Paladin (Hungarian) Levente
7. Precursor (Greek) Prodromos
8. Shaft (Finnish) Akseli
9. Shoulder (Swedish) Axel

Zoerhenne - I did the same thing; matched the names to the translations via the language as listed, plus a bit of guessing. And I was so sure of my linguistic detection skills that, given the options, I happily accepted Rannvá, Eyð and Rókur as Icelandic. (It's not an egregious mistake - the names are Faeroese, which is closely related to Icelandic. The Icelandic forms would be Rannveig (Rannvá) and Eydís (Eyðdis, Eyð) while there's no real equivalent to Rókur).

You're right about Akseli being a Finnish form of Axel, and just like with the Swedish mistranslation, akseli is also a word for axle aka shaft. Elmeri is simply the Finnish equivalent of English Elmer - often an -i is added to nativise a word/name, as Finnish nouns generally don't end in consonants. I've also figured out why Anna in Finnish becomes enter, however the explanation is mundane; anna is simply an inflected form of a verb.

Anna- Thanks again. I like many of these names looks and sounds. How is Eydis pronounced (is it eye-dis/Ay-dis/EE-dis)? I also like Rokur and Gabija and Rannva.

Zoerhenne - it's somewhere between /eye-dis/ and /ay-dis/.

BTW, small correction to my post #25; Ey (not Eyd) is the equivalent to Eyð, while the -dis suffix (woman) is typically Icelandic.

Bryndís is one of my Icelandic faves.

@danasurfside - I definitely lean more towards Eloise right now, I really like the name Louise but I have had a VERY bad experience with someone with that name so I'm pretty fond of Eloise because it changes it up but it's similar. but I also really like the name Elise, but only because it's the name of a car I really love, the Lotus Elise which is what I think of when I hear the name Elise but I'm not sure how many people would make that connection. I like zoerhenne's suggestion of using -y for Elyse, I'm not a big fan of using "y" as "i" but in this case I think it looks a lot better.

@zoerhenne - very interesting article thanks for sharing! I wonder if the human name choices for pets has to do with the way in which we perceive our pets now as "members of our families" instead of just pets... or maybe a reflection of peoples attitudes towards animals - as living, breathing, lifeforms... or perhaps people were just getting bored of the same old dog names and human names were the readily available ones. I've always wanted a dog named Clifford. One of my favourite things to do each year is watch the WKC dog show and hear all their names, their registered names are always fun and crazy but their every day names are mix of awesome dog names and normal human names.

Laura- love this post! Yes, I've noticed that when I translate Facebook posts from my Swedish friends, it translates their children's names also- e.g. Charles John for Karl Johan.

In the same vein, I recently visited Florence, and in preparation I was reading the Uffizi Gallery website. Well, whoever put together the English version was relying heavily on some kind of translation software (strange of one of the most famous art museums in the world not to at least run the text by one of the many English speakers in Florence). At one point, the website mentioned Caravaggio's famous painting "Head of Jellyfish" (http://uffizi.com/uffizi-gallery-caravaggio-room.asp ) I was mystified and eventually had the brainwave to put 'jellyfish' into google translate, ask for the Italian translation, and up popped... Medusa!

P.S. I actually recommend the Uffizi website for hours of fun. How about this excerpt?

"The deposit rooms are areas out of bounds to the public. These rooms not dirty dungeons but clean halls where the art works are neatly stacked. In these very deposits there are many paintings that deserve to be displayed but due to lack of space in the museum this does not materialize."

@Valerie #32 - love it! This one is from a Russian hotel I once stayed in:

Rules of behaviour for living in the hotel "Barentsburg" in case of fire.
<snip>
3. In case of fire in your number, if liquidate the heat source isn't possible, come out of number and close the door but don't lock it on lock.
4. Report people who are living around you about inflammation and help them be quickly evacuated from building, keep quiet and don't create panics.
<snip>

Too funny!

@danasurfside - I like both Eloise and Elyse; and I perceive them quite differently, although I obviously recognise them as variants as the same name. Eloise has an exotic, French-ish vibe to it, while Elyse is a simple classic.

I prefer the Elyse-spelling over Elise even though I'm usually not a fan of random y-for-i replacements. It's a look-thing more than anything else; the y that "goes under" just gives Elyse a more balanced look while Elise is graphically dull, if that makes sense. (It probably doesn't... does anyone else have such "visual preferences" with respect to spellings and certain letters?)

I prefer Eloise to Elise also.

And thanks for all the research Anna, interesting stuff!

Oh, and last week at open gym, met a little boy (2ish) named Cipher (or maybe Cypher?). I've never heard that used as a name before!

Anna S-Yes. I do have a visual preference for some names. Anna looks better than Anne for instance. I am a Y person because I have one in my name. Name spellings I like:(better vs. other)
Carole vs. Carol (someone I know so biased)
Brian vs. Bryan
Sarah vs. Sara
Xavier vs. Xzavier (or others)
Zachary vs. Zackery
etc. in general I like classic spellings.

P.S. the more I look at it I think that's what throws me off of Eloise. The O chops it up too much. For me, Elyse is more visually joined if that makes sense.

thanks for the input on elise vs. eloise. funnily enough, i have never liked the name louise, so loving eloise seems unlikely, but alas, it is so. also not a fan of lois, but more indifferent to it, than my less pleasant feeling toward louise. do like louisa, though. it is strange how i can get stuck on such similar names. anyone else have this type of issue?

I don't much care for Lois. I can take or leave Louise/Louisa (they seem similar to me). Eloise is okay but I don't really like the El- sound. Elyse has more of an uh sound and is pretty to me as is Alyssa. Actually, I like the Al- names much better than the El- names. I would pick Alexandra over Elizabeth, Alyssa over Eliza.

How about Doris vs. Dorothy?

How interesting that I recently mentioned the Duggar's-Michelle is pregnant yet again. Yes, you heard right she is now expecting her 20th child. Are there any more J names left?

I just heard that too, zoerhenne! And yes, there are so many good J names left that they have passed over. My vote would be June, Jane, Juniper, Jocelyn, Jewel, or Juliet for a girl, and Jonah, Julian, Jude, Jasper, Jericho, Jarrett, or Joel for a boy. Each of these is reasonable, not too far from their style, and sufficiently different from their other kids (by their standards at least) to work. I've got my fingers crossed that they don't end up with another misspelling, at least (Jinger still throws me off).

Elizabeth T - That's hilarious! My high school Spanish teachers always used to warn us away from auto-translators by giving the example "Yo fui espalda" for "I went back" but I think La Cuenta Clinton is my new favorite mistranslation!

danasurfside - I love Eloise as a name, I really do, but I have a very good friend named Eloise who goes by El. For me, she has a beautiful name that she just chops off after the first two letters and the rest gets wasted. So for that reason, I think I like Elise a little better. It's only two syllables, so less chance of getting chopped off. And I like it spelled with an I.

And woah my goodness another Duggar baby? Some names I'm rooting for: Jessica, Jacqueline (probably spelled closer to Jacklynn), Jada/Jayda Jeffery, Jared, Jason/Jachin, Jagger (wishful thinking)

Other possible names:
Girls - Julia/Julianna, Jayla, Jaelyn, Jemima, Jaimarie, Janae, Janelle
Boys - Jaden

My predictions: Julia or Janelle for a girl, Jared or Jarret for a boy

J no longer looks like a letter after going through so many J names.

fancynancy, like the suggestion of Jared, and I agree J starts looking really odd after awhile. They already have a Jason, and because of their Jessa and Jackson, I cut out Jacqueline and Jessica. Really, they have chosen some nice, traditional names over the years, and a few that are more modern/trendy, so it's hard to say how they'll go. If I had to predict, I might say Jada or Jacob. They seem to stay more traditional with the boys. Except, hmmm, Jacob is so obvious it seems they should've used it already if they were going to. So maybe I'll switch my prediction to Joel.

hyz + fancynancy-You've both made some great suggestions. I was also thinking Jonah for a boy except they've got Johannah already. Even though they mostly call her "Hannie". It's a tough call I'm going to have to go searching for a few ideas and then post back.

Oh, and I think she is due for a boy but who knows.

I agree, Jonah is pushing it a little close, but they obviously like the sound, since they have not only Johanna, but also Jana and Joy-Anna (try saying those 3 times fast)--so maybe they'll be drawn back to it one more time. As for gender, it's anyone's guess, but I kind of think they'll have one more girl to make it an even 50/50 split. They did have 6 boys in a row, so 5 girls is no biggie, I guess. ;)

Duggars:

Juan for a boy, Juana for a girl.

I'm guessing they go with Jocelyn for a girl (but 50/50 they spell it Jossalyn) and Jonah for a boy.

Anna - I had to throw out SO MANY Spanish names when I was looking through the J names list for potential Duggar kids. Two reasons why there will never be a Juan or Juana Duggar:

1. The Duggars like All-American names. Being a religiously and politically ultraconservative family, they are not very willing to incorporate other cultures' naming traditions into their own.
2. Probably the more important reason - The Duggars like the hard J sound. Although Juan and Juana start with a J and look like they could be part of the Duggar clan on paper, when said aloud, they sound Hwon and Hwonna (though with a more guttural sound than we use in English pronunciation)

Living in Spain and traveling through Europe, I get to hear all sorts of interesting new names!

@fancynancy -- I came up with Juan/Juana because of the "raspy-H" pronunciation. Apologies, I should've stated it was a play on the their J-theme.

My guess is that it's a boy and his name is Jacob. And I hope that this baby is healthy and that they finally decide that they have enough.