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My husband, who has deep New England roots, had a collateral ancestor named Waitawhile. Needless to say, she was one of the younger children in her large family.
@C C & B's Mom, that is interesting about the Brenda Rose you know. I really like the sound of the -Rose suffix to make a male name feminine, much better than -Anne. It's very sweet, but modern-sounding too! Austin Rose, Landon Rose, Chase Rose .... quite pretty, at least I think so. And everyone would know the child was a girl.
@Guest Conana, regarding the use of -Anne, etc. as a suffix for a male name to name a girl: We lived in central Missouri for ten years, and that's where I heard this form of naming. Friends of ours have said they've heard it used in the South also. I doubt it is very common in a more urban environment.
In the Midwest, a very common solution to this problem used to be to add the suffix -Anne to the male name being honored. So you would have: Austin-Anne Connor-Anne Landon-Anne etc., etc., with the child always addressed by both names. There was a Kevin-Anne in my grade. This was sometimes also done with -Rose, -Jane or other short but clearly feminine name.
By now, it's hard to think of Samantha Jones of Sex and the City being named anything else. But if her creators had actually looked for a name popular in 1958, which names should they have considered? In the Top 25 were Mary, Susan, Linda, Karen, Patricia, Debra, Deborah, Cynthia, Barbara, Donna, Pamela, Nancy, Cheryl, Kathy, Sandra, Brenda, Sharon, Diane, Lisa, Carol, Kathleen, Elizabeth, Julie, Debbie, and Cindy. Which one fits her best? My choice would be Pamela or Julie. Definitely not Cindy or Karen.
Bryony is a lovely botanical alternative to Briar. Not common -- and less prickly! ;-)
Elizabeth T., it was intriguing to see the name Nancy on your list. Have recently run into two other little Nancys -- anyone think the name may be making a comeback from limbo?
We know a 14-year-old Sienna -- the first child we ever heard of with the name. I like the "Siena" spelling, honoring the Italian city like Rjoy's friend, much better.
Those of you who remember the old sitcom "Gilligan's Island" -- Bob Denver (who played Gilligan) was married to Dreama Peery Denver from 1976 until his death in 2005 -- and yes, she is from Princeton, West Virginia!
I am positive that the popular TV fame of the blue-collar characters: Alice Kramden, Alice-the-Brady-Bunch-housekeeper and Alice-the-diner-waitress (on "Alice", starring Linda Lavin) coming one after another is what killed the name in the U.S. for the last 30 years. Before that, Alice was more of an upper-class name (e.g. Alice Roosevelt Longworth) as it still is in Britain. What's interesting about Alice is that while you have that well-bred charming English side, you also get a subversive wild side. Think of: Alice Cooper Alice in Chains and even marijuana brownie inventor Alice B. Toklas!
We have an English surname that has suddenly rocketed into popularity as a first name (chop the "h" off my name here to see what it is) and it feels very odd to encounter it so often. I don't expect this popularity to last very long, and wonder what this means for our kids when they have kids of their own to name. I suspect that even if they want to use it as a first name to honor their family of origin, it will sound passé by then because it's so hot now. Also, it is fast becoming a girl's name, so might not work for a son anymore at that point. Anyone else with the same issue? (any Peytons? Madisons?)
As always, Laura, your posts are very timely. I was told this story just yesterday -- along with the "Mah-le/Fe-mahl-le" one. I DID have a gym teacher named Soda Popp. And he had a sister named Lolly. They are both still alive and well in Missouri. That's not an urban legend!
Stacy Leigh: we have a niece named Annalise, which is the Dutch spelling, even though our family is German. Her mother felt that this spelling would make it easier for others to pronounce in the U.S., and she was correct. ANNA-lees. The German members of our family call the little girl Anneliese -- UN-nuh-lee-ze -- and she doesn't mind at all. She gets many compliments on her name, but all three names you mentioned are lovely. My order of preferences: Annalise, Annika, Anastasia.
Verity is one of my favorite names ever, and I don't think I've ever seen it on these boards before. I hope it doesn't take off over here, although it's not uncommon in England. My teenager has already decided to use it someday -- hopefully far in the future :-) It would make a stellar middle name with one of those Irish first names you mentioned.
PunkPrincessPhd, that is fascinating. Thanks!
I agree with Elizabeth T. I knew a Melony, who should have been a Melanie but the registrar had no idea how to spell it as it was an uncommon name at the time. I would definitely have gone back and changed it. However, in those days there was a lot more deference to authority. People weren't encouraged to stand up and fight for what they wanted as much as they are now.
The name Imogen, popular in England now, is another example. It was originally Innogen, but according to one story, Shakespeare himself misread it and changed it to Imogen for his play "Cymbeline". The original Celtic name was Inghean.
Lorien, congratulations on Kai joining your family! My sister-in-law out West has a Kai. He is half-Japanese. They chose the name because it has positive meanings in many languages, including Japanese of course. It is truly an international name. She had never met a Kai before she had him, but since then, she has run into quite a few little boys named Kai out there. Here in the Northeast, I have not met any at all.
Ooh, I LOVE Philippa!! And it's uncommon, but not "weird". Romantic and English. Some English Philippas go by Flip.
There are many little Eleanors here in the Northeast and I have heard nothing but praise for the name. Most of them go by Ellie. We have two at our church.