The Baby Name Wizard

Quick question: since the SSA has released more informatation, do only the top 1000 still count? Thanks!

I always do horribly on these contests but love them nevertheless! Thanks for crunching the numbers.

This reminds me of our frequent discussions of pronunciation: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3027

Author argues that the way we think we pronounce a word and our actual pronunciation differ.

I hate to do this because I know everyone wants to respond to the post, but could I sneak in a plea for naming advice?

My husband and I love the nickname Ned for our baby due in May. We are debating between Edmond and Edwin (ruled out Edward and Edgar, and I don't like Edmund with a U). Which do you like better? He will have an Italian last name, if that helps.

interesting names from my local listings:
Rhenn@issance
Jh@dren
Leur@

i don't believe i've ever seen these before.

@Barnacle - love Edmond. I don't know, why, but it seems much more familiar, and to me, it has a nicer sound.

Barnacle, I second izzy's choice. I'd prefer Edmond.

My vote is for Edmund, spelled this way.

Thanks, everyone.
Can I ask why you like the U spelling better? To me the O spelling is more international and less snooty sounding.

To me, Edmond was a creepy movie in 2005 (William Macy and Julia Stiles), and a shore front snooty town in Washington state. Edmund is much better, I think!

@Barnacle, I prefer Edmond (either spelling), but Edwin is a close second. You can't go wrong, and I *love* the nn Ned!

@Robyn- thanks for sharing those names. Rhenn@issance is.... umm.... NMS!
Leur@ is actually the name of a small town in the Blue Mountains in Australia- I've been there!

Thought you would all be interested in this short exchange from an interview of a sportswoman named Kara Goucher in the NYT about being a mother:

"Q. With his name, is Colt destined to run?

A. I fell in love with that name. I thought, He’ll be my little stallion. Adam said name him Colton, in case he wants to be a businessman. We call him Colt anyway."

Seems like another case of adding a suffix to make the name sound more formal a la Grayson.

Barnacle - in response to your question about Edmund vs. Edmond: I don't dislike either, but the -o- spelling to me is very French. When I read Edmond, I say it in my head as ed-MOHN (imagine that with a nasalized French -on sound). Now, if I met an English-speaking American Edmond, I would probably know to pronounce it like Edmund. But it would bug me.

Edmund, on the other hand, is quintessentially English. As far as snootiness goes, I would be inclined to think them both slightly snooty-flavored, but Edmond more so, simply based on the historical association of French = snooty (especially when there is no clear French connection in the family—I think we have had some discussions about this on this board in the past—wasn't there a reality TV couple who named their child François who were in no way French?) By the way, I do like a lot of snooty names in the aristocratic-English vein, so I don't necessarily think this rules out the name—it's just how I think it will generally come across.

Edwin is interesting. I think it still has a bit of a geeky flavor to it, so if the child may grow up with some socially awkward tendencies, I might avoid it. But at the same time, I think it's a name that a confident kid could rehabilitate really easily.

Edmond looks "off" to me, if I saw it written down I would wonder if it's pronounced differently then Edmund which looks familar to me. I have the same feeling about Isobel. Is it the same as Isabelle or is it IS-o-bel?

Barnacle - I love both Edmond/Edmund and Edwin. I can't figure out which way I prefer Edmond/Edmund. They are both handsome and have a long history. I don't think one is "snottier" than the other. I do like the way the 'u' looks between the 'm' and 'n', though, and living in Edmonton, I'd probably go with the 'u' spelling, but I'm sure that last one wouldn't be an issue you at all! I like Edwin, too. Victorian, a little broody, less common. Also a handsome name. So, well, I guess I'm no help, just giving a thumbs up either way!

I prefer Edmond (but spelled Edmund). I'd never seen the spelling Edmond before you posted your question, so it just seems wrong to me. My ignorance is showing!

@ Barnacle, I like both Edwin and Edmond but I'd probably lean towards Edmond. Again, I prefer the Edmund spelling. It just looks 'better' to me and I think the pronunciation is more intuitive. That said I don't dislike Edmond if that is the spelling you want to go with.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone! My husband was raised in France (and we gave our daughter a French name for that reason), so we like the French flavor of Edmond. I grew up not far from a city named Edmond so the O spelling does not seem weird to me at all. Honestly, though, we just love the name Ned so much that we doubt he'll go by his full name until he's old enough to demand it!

Barnacle, I'm another who prefers Edmund, then Edmond, then Edwin as a rather distant third. I know an adult Edwin, and although he is nice and normal, I can't help but think his name sounds a bit geeky each time I hear it--which is to say, the effect hasn't worn off for me even when the name is attached to a real person. Edwin also makes me think of Edwina, which makes me think of "weenie", which gets back to my perception of Edwin--sorry, free associating here.... On the other hand, I think Edmund and Edmond sound distinguished, and rather strong and proud, and handsome. I prefer the more English vibe and intuitive/phonetic pronunciation with Edmund, but if you are going for the French association, then I think Edmond is excellent.

Barnacle-I prefer Edmond/Edmund over Edwin. I don't care for the W sound in the name. Edmond has a distinct o like in hot for me. Edmund has more of the schwa "uh" in my pronunciation. I don't think either is wrong and in your case if you have French justification then you should use the O spelling.

RobyT-those are interesting names.

Interesting sib set at the park yesterday: Rowan (g)
Sylvia
Leander

I like it!

@PJ I like that sibset, too. Leander, especially. I don't know if I would personally use it, but it's a handsome name.

I have a question for you Name Enthusiasts. What do you make of Lois? I'm quite drawn to it. I think it's a strong, punchy name for a girl, but, I keep returning to its connection to Superman. Do you think it can ever shake that? Especially with a new version to be out in the next year or so?

Thanks for all the feedback on Edmond/Edmund/Edwin, everyone.

@Yet Another: Lois does sound Superman-ish to me, and strikes me as masculine, kind of like Phyllis.

@YANG - I really like Lois and it's on my girl list. I do like slightly fusty names though! The superman connection has never particularly bothered me.

I could never use Lois. It's the name of a former boyfriend's mother. Way too fusty for me. Btw, don't care for Phyllis either as it's in the same time frame. The Superman connection is not even thought about in this brain. It might actually make it younger for me if I had ever seen the TV show or watched the movie.

Either one is nice -- I guess I like Edwin a bit more than Edmond. I also like the Irish version of Edmund, which is Eamonn -- but, I don't guess you'd get Ned from that! Good luck!

EDWIN
Means "rich friend" from the Old English elements ead "rich, blessed" and wine "friend". This was the name of a 7th-century Northumbrian king, regarded as a saint. After the Norman conquest the name was not popular, but it was eventually revived in the 19th century.

EDMOND
French form of EDMUND. A notable bearer was the English astronomer Edmond Halley (1656-1742), for whom Halley's comet is named.

@Yet Another Guest, I've grown quite fond of -is names lately -- Lois, Doris, Phyllis. Maybe it was discovering my mother's china doll, Phyllis, and having my 9-yr-old daughter fall in love with her that did it. Hearing a kid say Phyllis over and over somehow freshens it up. Plus I like consonanty girls' names. For me, the Superman connection with Lois isn't particularly strong and I did see the movies.

Lois is kind of fun, and would definitely be surprising on a little girl today, in a good way, I think. I do group it with Phyllis in some ways (the only Lois I ever knew would probably be over 100 by now), definitely musty, but I think Lois is a bit snappier, or punchier. I could see a young Lois growing up to be a very hip girl indeed, and a strong woman.

Amy3-I WOULD use Doris. I think it is much fresher than the other two. The only Doris associations are a popular girl from high school I knew and then the comedy actress Doris Roberts. She makes it a bit old because one of her major roles was as Raymond's (an adult) mom on Everybody Loves Raymond.

Hmm, I put Lois in the same place as Astrid. I find them both strong short names, nms at all but spunky on a child. (Astrid just with a Scandinavian bent)

I am listening to a book on tape, and something is bothering me. It takes place in Italy, and all the names are said with the beautiful italian pronunciation, except one of the two main characters: Alice. It is said Alice, not A-lee-chay. But this is hypocritical because, if I was reading the book from text, I would also probably say Alice the american way, but since the reader is using (and can say) the italian names, it bugs me.

Barnacle: I say go with Edmond. (I do like it better than Edwin) I LOVE Ned. (wasn't there a Ned in the Nancy Drew books? I think that is where I started to crush on that name)

And, as another side note: What is with the name Nery in 2007? Check out name voyager!

On another note, my captcha just gave me greek letters!

Here's a guess re: Nery
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nery_Castillo

Lois = Mom on Family Guy
Doris = My Grandmother (and my cousin's hamster, named after our grandmother, lol)

I'm not a big fan of -is names in general although I find Iris very adorable on a little girl and much fresher than Violet, Rose, or Daisy, possibly because of the -is ending. Maybe that will be the new-old sound of our children's generation and especially progressive people are starting to use it now. Carys is another one that I think could bridge the gap between this generation of Kyla and Kaylie and the (maybe) next generation of Doris and Lois.

HA! Now I'm imagining my daughter introducing me to my brand new granddaughter, Phyllis. ACK!

Barnacle: I prefer Edmond to Edwin, personally. I've loved Edmund ever since I read Mansfield Park in high school and Ned is a perfect nickname. Sooooo cute!

knp- Ned Nickerson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Nickerson) was Nancy Drew's boyfriend.

Found an interesting sibset. The story mentions three American children living in Japan but does not give their gender — California, 13; Jazz, 9; and Justus, 8.

http://www.modbee.com/2011/03/15/1600989/modestans-share-temblor-experie...

knp, interesting you group Astrid and Lois together. Some of the things that attract me to Astrid also attract me to Lois.

I also like Iris, Carys and Cerys. I really dislike Phyllis and Doris! Those 2 sound way too fusty for me :)

Thanks for all your input on Lois! I'm relieved that the Superman connection wasn't that strong. I've never read the comics or watched the movies or tv shows, but it was still there as my main connection to the name. I'm kind of surprised at my sudden love for Lois, but I can't seem to shake it. I love -s names for boys (Silas, Magnus, and Atticus (my eldest's name) and suddenly some -s name for girls are attractive to me. I really like Lois, Mavis Iris, and Glynis, while names like Doris, Phyllis and Gladys, seem incredibly musty. I wonder if those names are on the verge? So many "old lady names" are now popular. Ten years ago Violet, Hazel, Ivy (other personal favourites) barely registered, now growing quite popular.

The top names from 2010 were announced for my province today. Thought you might be interested: http://www.gov.ab.ca/acn/201103/30073BF52833A-0FC7-6CCE-0DBDBDFB77635136...

@ Barnacle - just a note about selecting one name with the plan of using a NN. Be sure you like the formal or full name. We named our son Maxwell with every intention of calling him Max only. At the age of 2, when he found out that his full name was Maxwell, he informed us that Max wasn't his name. 3 years later he still corrects anyone who calls him Max - "Actually, my name is Maxwell, with two l's".

We also have a daughter who we named Eleanor thinking we would call her Nora. Nope, Maxwell corrects anyone who doesn't call her Eleanor. Now she only responds to Eleanor, not Nora and not Ellie.

Just saying…

Just for fun . . .
I just heard of a new baby boy, Creed. I'd never heard that before as a baby name, which is weird since I LOVE names. It makes me think of the band.

Thanks, everyone-- We like Edmond (and the others) and would be fine if he chooses to go by that. We have a daughter who never uses her full name--most people don't evven know that her nickname (Millie) is short for anything.

Yet Another Guest -- I responded negatively to Lois at first, but I thought about it again today and found it was growing on me. I think that as soon as anyone saw it attached to a little girl, all the Superman associations would evaporate.

Barnacle - I think Edmond is a great choice if you're deliberately going for the French connection.

Guest42 - There is a character on The Office called Creed Bratton, who is played by a real-life person also named Creed Bratton (though that wasn't his birth name—he changed it as an adult). That's the only reference point that I have for Creed as a name. It would make me think of the band, too.

I'm kind of iffy on the -is names. I kind of want to like them, but most of them still have a sort of musty feeling to them. I do like Carys/Cerys and Alys (an old variant of Alice), and I'm starting to come around to Iris, so maybe it's the the prefixes that are bugging me, rather than the -is/-ys endings: Dor-, Phyl-, Lo-, Glad- all seem pretty clunky and unfeminine to me. Does anybody remember Aunt Marge from the 3rd Harry Potter book/movie? That's the image I associate with most of those names. I do very much like the look of the -ys ending—there's something very fanciful about it.

My grandma is named Phyllis, and it's always astonished me that anyone ever thought that was a pretty name.

I bet that Alys, Carys, and Iris sound pretty and fresh because of Laura's analysis that "now" names do not contain bunches of consonants. So Gladys is out. Doris, Lois, and Phyllis are more redeemable but still edging to musty. I can see Lois making a comeback, though.

I like Edwin and Edm[o/u]nd both!

Edwin is not useable for me personally because one was the namesake of an local institution I grew up with, and not one I was fond of, BUT I still think it's a lovely name and that says it really is a terrific name. I think the "win" ending is very strident and confident, and very different from the weena in Edwina. I am delighted to know a little Edwin! (Though when I met him at a noisy party, at first I thought his name was Edmund. Oops!)

I tend to think of Edmund as the English standard, too, but Edmond is definitely used in English as well. As long as you know you're picking the more unusual variant spelling and you/your kid will be spelling it out more, I think Edmond is a fine choice! (I'd think an Edmund would also have to do occasional "No, not Edward, EdMUND" - not because they sound much alike, but because I think right now people's brains just fill in ward after Ed due to its greater popularity.)

If I had to choose... hard choice. :) I might like Edmund and Edmond just ever so slightly more, perhaps because it's stuffier to me than Edwin... but that might be the influence of the institutional namesake Edwin in my childhood, though. I also like Edgar and Edric.

I was really surprised by the current popularity of Edwin as compared to Edmund and Edmond when I looked them up. In recent years in the US, there were about 2000 Edwins as compared to 124 Edmunds and 75 Edmonds. Combining the two variants would STILL leave the Edm[schwa]nd name as a whole order of magnitude rarer than Edwin. Edmund *feels* more familiar to me, though, I think from encountering it more often in literature.

PS - Guest Too, your Maxwell sounds absolutely adorable, especially his policing his sister's unauthorized nicknaming. You are so right that one can't chose what happens to the name once it's bestowed upon a kid who develops opinions of their own!

PPS - on the -is names, I actually can see all of them being used today, except for maybe Gladys. Mavis, Lois, Phyllis, also Doris, all seem definitely to be hitting the hipster naming trends in really obvious ways. I'm actually surprised I don't know any babies with those names, yet. I can imagine Gladys as well, actually - it would just be a more agressive version of the same musty-name-revival going on, because the Gl consonant cluster is more dated. Lo, Phyl and Mav all seem very cutting edge, as syllables go!

oh, i like mavis! it is my husband's grandmother's name and i would totally use it if he were into it!

@Guest Too, I know a Maxwell (nn Max) and Elinor (nn Ella) sibset! How funny!

There is at least one Edwin at my children's school. He's Hispanic, so my guess is that many of the 2000 little Edwins have Spanish-speaking parents.

Thanks, lucubratrix! Yes, I was also surprised by the disparity in popularity between the other Ed- names and Edm(o/u)nd. Edmond has such a familiar feel to me. Even Edgar, which I think is just too harsh sounding for my taste (and cannot be separated from E.A. Poe in my mind) is pretty popular, esp relative to Edmond.

If anyone's still reading here... I'd agree with Elizabeth T. that Edwin (and Edgar!) get big boosts from the Hispanic community. Also, the Edwin I know is Asian, which fits in with the trend of young(ish) 2nd generation Asians having names that sound like US 50-90 year olds (i.e. Eugene, Nelson, Roger, Brenda, Sherry, Carol, etc.)--so Edwin and Edgar may also be getting boosts from that demographic. FWIW, I also know more than a couple 30 something Asian Edwards and Edgars.

Regarding the -is names... I don't particularly like Lois, but I could see it making a comeback at some point, and I kind of like the nn Lo. The association I have for the name is stronger for the mom from Malcolm in the Middle than Superman, but that is probably just me.

Doris makes me think of Doris Day, the actress/singer, and I think that a short, cute, spunky middle name could make this name more fresh.

The others - Phyllis, Gladys, Mavis, etc. - just sound stuffy and old and unpleasant.

I really like Hollis, though. It sounds younger and fresher to me than some of the others, and would be adorable on a little girl, but it would transfer well into adulthood, too. I also like the more popular Ellis and Iris.

Then there's always -is names that are longer - Genesis, Anais, Alexis, Artemis, etc. - something about the extra syllable makes these names less "clunky" and much more appealing, in my opinion. I have loved all of those names for a long time, except Alexis which I stopped liking in like 8th grade. ;)

Lois is my 89 year old grandmother's name! :) I like it, but agree with KristinFromSC's choice of Iris better.

Hyz, I totally agree with you on the 2nd generation Asian-American Edwins... I've encountered a few young adult Edwins in this category! They all went by "Ed" though so it took your post to make me remember that I in fact have several Edwins in my life right now! Silly me!

I think Edgar is due for revival. It makes me think of Wuthering Heights as much as Poe, and in either case I think it's stylish and crisp and very underused, as well as being pleasingly neutral of particular ethnic association. I do NOT know any Edgars.