Aug
23
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
nameberry.com
The Harry Potter books are a name lover’s dream, author J. K. Rowling being probably the most prolific and creative character namer since Charles Dickens. Her seven Harry Potter books have an enormous cast of magical wizards and wizards-in-training, witches, ghosts, Hogwarts School professors and studentsmost of them named with great gusto, humor, and a genius for witty wordplay and cleverly engineered misspellings, interweaving Greek and Latin roots with skill and panache. Like Dickens, Rowling takes delight in matching name to nature and employs symbolism as well, as for instance calling Harry’s good and pure mother Lily.
A favorite trick of hers is drawing characters’ names from the realm of astronomy, thus producing such...
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Aug
12
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Nameberry.com
There’s no doubt that middle names have been taking on increasing importance in the hearts and minds of baby namers. They’ve stepped up from the inconsequential connectives especially for girlsof a generation or two ago to full co-starring roles on the birth certificate. For many, it’s a welcome opportunity to honor a family member, preserve a maiden name, or use as a solid alternative for their child to possibly choose to use later on.
But for others, it’s place to be whimsical, to salute a creative hero, to use a favorite word or nature name they wouldn’t dare to put in first place. For examples of how this works, we need only to look to the stars, those beacons of extremeif not bizarre baby naming. So here are some...
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Jul
15
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Nameberry.com
When Matthew McConaughey chose the name Levi for his son, he was, in a subtle way, naming the baby after himself. How so? Because in the New Testament, Matthew and Levi are two names for the same person.
There are many other such pairs of names with close connections that aren’t immediately evident, whether they are different ethnic versions of the same name, double identities for the same person, having historic or literary ties, or as sharers of linguistic elements. Being aware of this can be a useful tool for baby namers seeking not-too-obviously linked twin or sibling names or, like McConaughey, another less egoey version of your or your spouse’s name.
And of course it could also come in handy when looking for a more modern...
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Jul
09
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
From Nameberry.com
Summer is one of the nicest times of year to have a baby, the warm weather and slow pace making it that much easier to relax into new motherhood (and, from your baby’s point of view, into life). Here, some names that summon the season:
SUMMER
As a seasonal name, Summer may not be your top choice. It’s feeling a tad shopworn after coming close to cracking the Top 100 in 1977; it’s been above number 200 for the past fifteen years. Autumn is more popular but Winter is cooler.
Summer also has three excellent months names that include several usable variations. These are:
JUNE
The hip middle name du jour, was out of favor for many years but now is back in a big way....
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Jun
09
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
We all know, thanks to Princess Diana’s infamous wedding blunder, that British people like to use lots of middle names. But it’s not just about quantity: The multiple British names feel inventive and surprising, chosen less for any conventional notion of flow and more for individual considerations of style and family.
Thalia Violetta Carlisle? I would bet the nameberry farm that not a single child in America was given that combination of names last year….or maybe any year. It’s quintessentially British, and it works.
In the examples of recent British baby names below, you’ll notice that lovely antique first names are combined with surnames are mixed up with nicknames, and that once in a...
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Mar
19
Posted by
besttech
OK, I’m going to come right out and say it: There are now officially enough little girls with the middle name Rose.
I can hear the screams of protest and wails of anguish already: But Rose is my grandmother’s name! Rose goes perfectly with my favorite first name! I’ve been planning to use the middle name Rose forever!
Well, go ahead, then. It’s a perfectly lovely name, warm and feminine yet not overly assertive, making the ideal bridge between first name and last.
But so many thousands of parents have used it over the past decade that it’s become the Ann, the Marie, the Sue of the new millennium. Consider the celebrity babies alone with the middle name Rose:
AIDAN...
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Mar
10
Posted by
besttech
The cover baby of our recently published book “Cool Irish Names” is an adorable redhead, appropriate for a volume that includes lots of Irish names that mean red hair (there are lists of those that mean blond and dark hair, too, but that’s another post).
Red-haired names have a special significance for me, being a coppery redhead myself. My mom had bright red hair, as does my middle child, Joe. And daughter Rory’s name is one of the red-haired choices, appropriate since she has my coppery hair.
Here, from our new book “Cool Irish Names,” is a list of names for your own little redhead. For Irish-American babies, accents and Gaelic spellings are optional:
GIRLS:
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Feb
11
Posted by
besttech
The names of characters from the television shows that we watched when we were young often stick with us forever, from kiddie shows to teen-oriented programs to favorite sitcoms. Grover, Oscar, Kermit — those Muppetish images are hard to shake: Oscar seems to have recovered from his grouchiness, but Kermit might stay green forever. Ditto the shows we might have been glued to through our school years — especially if they happened to feature a teen idol.
A name from an old TV show might remain with us because we found it especially appealing, or if it was attached to a favorite character, or perhaps if we hadn’t heard the name before, giving it a fresh resonance. Here’s a list of some examples from the past few decades that fit one or more...
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