NEW TOP 1000 FOR 2009!!!

I'm probably a little behind on this - but it's super exciting!

I was right with my prediction of Isabella taking number one for the girls. Jacob and Isabella for number one - who would have guessed? (Evil Twilighters!)I'm not too upset, though - Isabella and Jacob are very classic and I would much rather see these two than some certain other names *coughMadisoncough*






Top 20 each:

Girls:

Isabella
Emma
Olivia
Sophia
Ava
Emily
Madison
Abigail
Chloe
Mia
Elizabeth
Addison
Alexis
Ella
Samantha
Natalie
Grace
Lily
Alyssa
Ashley


Seriously people? Ashley? Come on - it's so dated and masculine.


Boys:

Jacob
Ethan
Michael
Alexander
William
Joshua
Daniel
Jayden
Noah
Anthony
Christopher
Aiden
Matthew
David
Andrew
Joseph
Logan
James
Ryan
Benjamin



Really - Madison, Addison, Alexis, Ashley, Taylor, Hailey, Kaylee? Come on.......so boring. Time to move on. Riley is really disappointing, too. Madison and Riley are probably the two names that really get under my skin. They're just so blatantly masculine....ew. Payton, Kennedy and Addison are close runners up, though. Let the girls be girls and let the boys keep their names. It's not cute. It's not creative. And since when does having a masculine name make a girl any "stronger" or "give her a leg up"? Ridiculous, people. Femininity does not mean a weak little air head - look at Forbes' "100 Most Powerful Women" list. Angela? Indra? Cynthia? Irene? Ellen? Whoa! TWO Angela's......whats more feminine than the Angel- names? Obviously - femininity carries just as much power as masculinity. I'll repeat myself -let your daughters embrace their femininity and shine with it.

The boys names aren't TOO disappointing. Jayden kind of came out of left field and I expected Aiden to really make the top ten. The -ayden names are the only really disappointing ones that stick out. Hunter, Jason, Kevin...those are kind of dated, but not horrible. The boys have a lot better taste than the girls, really.

NEW(er) celebrity babies!!

Everyone's heard over and over again about little Audio Science and Moxie Crimefighter - it's time to bring the newer (and slightly better named) starbabies into the light!

Jenna Jameson's twin boys Journey and Jesse are interesting - if slightly cliched (because of the same letter thing). It's nice to see Jesse on a boy, where it belongs. Journey is mismatched and a tad on the cheesy side for me. All in all - they aren't terrible, but they really could have been spectacular.


Amanda Peet has me all fuzzy inside with her latest addition - Molly June. It's sweet, charming a a little bit vintage. It goes incredibly well with sister Frances Pen (I'd like to know the story behind Pen).


Bethenny Frankel has me slightly disappointed with her choice of Bryn. Slightly masculine and pretty trendy.

Christina Milian has me slightly disappointed and wondering if she has a slight case of ADHD with the choice of Violet Madison. Violet is stunning! Classy, sophisticated, and full of spunk. Madison is ugly, trendy and masculine, it just makes for a very contrived combo.

Rebecca Gayheart has me scrating my head with little Billie Beatrice. I can see how Billie might be appealing because of Billie Holiday, but it's still very, very masculine. Beatrice is incredibly sweet and very nice to see - it's just really mismatched with Billie.

Adriana Lima did a fantastic job with daughter Valentina. It's exotic, classy and sophisticated to the max.

Gisele Bundchen's choice of Benjamin was fantastic in my book. It goes really well with big brother Jack. The style is flawless.

And last but not least - Sandra Bullock! I love her choice of Louis - it fits him to a tee. He's so cute and pudgy! <3



Thats all for the moment folks - I'll probably find more to dig up.

Births!

Some of these are spectacular!

Elijah
Lillian
Veronica
Liam
Olivia
Samuel
Eden
Piper
Elias
Evan
George
Archer
Gideon
Jasper
Caleb - not that I'm biased or anything.
Lillian Annabelle!! Love it.
Willa Rose
Simon
Emma Josephine
Isabella Pearl
Ruby Jean- My Nana was Ruby Jeanne! How awesome.
Natalia
Sofia Melina!!!!
Isaac Edward
Lila
Ella June
Matea
Gabriel
Ada Maria
Jack
Collin
Elizabeth Ann
Sophia Abigail


Pretty refreshing!

Then again - I still saw an Aaralyn and an AndyJo. *headdesk*

The French!

The French have some of the most beautiful, luxurious names out there, in my opinion. A lot of popular and well known names have French equivalents that would make a beautiful alternative to that popular love of yours.

Adele - this one might appeal to the lovers of the -elle sound, but don't want the popular Isabelle.

Elodie - French form of the name Alodia. The popular El- beginning and -ie ending, definitely a winner.

Felicienne - A pretty and unusual alternative to Felicia. It contains the popular -enn sound (like found in Sienna and Brenna).

Alexandrie - An interesting and spunky variation of Alexandra.

Joelle - French feminine form of Joel. J names are all the rage at the moment, but this one is a definite step up from Jayla or any of that nonsense.

Margot - mar-go, it's got that spunky O ending - a great way to honor Aunt Margaret.

Aurelie - not too much to say about this one - other than it's simply beautiful.

I thought I would try doing the names of the day thing again - it kind of died towards the beginning. *le sigh*

Boys:

Felix - masculine - of Latin origins, meaning "lucky". This is one of my all time favorites - it's quirky, spunky, but still familiar enough to use - a winning combination.

Auden - From the surname of the poet W.H. Auden, he penned the wonderful quote at the top of my blog. I think this name will probably take off, at least a little bit. It is very close to the ever - popular Aidan, but different enough for people to think of it as an alternative.

Girls:

Amirah - feminine form of the Arabic male name Amir, which means "commander" or "prince". I like the exotic factor Amirah has - very refreshing.

Alessia - Italian form of the Alex- names. I personally adore this name. It's sweet, charming and has a familiar enough sound to be different without sounding alien.

Okay, so these are some interesting alternatives to the top 10 most popular names. I know popularity really bothers some people, and it's really common for me to hear things like "I didn't know it was so popular" or "I didn't like that it was popular, but I couldn't find anything close to it!". These are some random ideas to throw out at you - I had some awesome help from the girls at "In The Name Of" - a great names forum.

Emma - Emmeline (emm-ah-leen, emm-ah-lin) Emmelina (emm-ah-leen-ah), Emmelise (emm-el-ees), Emanuelle / Emanuella, Emer, Imogen, Gemma....

Isabella - Isadora, Isemay, Isla (eye-la), Anabella, Arabella, Mirabella, Isis, Bellamy, Rosabella, Isannah, Marcella, Ishara, Isolina, Esmee, Isabeau (is-ah-bow).

Emily - Emilia, Amelia, Emiliana, Adelie, Amelie, Amity, Cecily, Elodie, Milena, Camilla, Eliza.

Madison - Madeline (mad-ah-line), Madeleine (mad-ah-lyn), Madalena (mad-ah-layn-ah), Madelaine (mad-ah-layn), Madira, Madalina, Magdalena (mag-dah-lay-na), Matilda, Marcy, Maialen (my-ah-len, Basque version of Magdalen), Mahala (mah-hay-la), Mahalia (ma-hay-lee-ah), Madina.

Ava - Ada, Eva, Eve, Avani (ah-vahn-ee), Aveline (av-ah-leen, av-ah-lin), Avia, Eveline, Evelia, Ayla, Aviva.

Olivia - Livia, Liviana, Lavinia, Olive, Liv, Olivine, Ottilie (aw-til-ee), Olena.

Sophia - Sonia, Zofia, Zosia (zo-sha), Soraya, Sophiane, Sophiana, Saskia, Sylvia, Susannah, Seraphina, Zinaida, Shoshana,

Abigail- Avigail, Gail, Adelaide, Abiona (abbie-own-ah).

Elizabeth - Eliza, Liza, Beth, Bethany, Elise, Eliana, Elysia, Elena, Ellen, Elinor, Elisa, Elisabet, Elsa, Bethan, Elspeth (Scottish form of Elizabeth, els-peth), Elisabel, Eleri (eh-leh-ree), Elsabe (elsa-bee).

Chloe - Zoe, Kalea, Kaia, Clover, Cleo, Claire, Clara, Coralie, Cleome (klee-oh-mee), Cleone (clee-own-ee).



Boys! (Are really tough!!)

Jacob- Jacoby, Caleb.

Michael - Micah, Malachi (mal-ah-ky), Malachy (mal-ah-kee), Manuel, Emmanuel, Gabriel, Raphael..

Ethan - Aeson (ay-son, from Greek mythology), Ephraim, Owen, Ian (ee-an),

Joshua - Joash, Josiah, Jude, Elishua.

Daniel - Dominic, Samuel, Dante

Alexander - Alec, Alasdair, Eksander, Lysander, Xander, Alexei, Leander, Evander.

Anthony - Anton, Antonio, Antonin.

William - Liam, Willem, Wilhelm, Lachlan, Niall, Cillian.

Christopher - Crispin, Collin, Caspar, Carsten, Conri, Conor.

Matthew - Matthias, Matteo, Macsen, Mathis, Maxwell.


*Whew* That was tough! I know the boys are sort of lacking.....any ideas?

Top 10 most popular names of 2008

Since the popularity list for 2009 is just around the corner - I thought I would review the top 20 names for each gender from 2008. (From the Social Security Administration website)

Here we go! I'll do boys first this time.

Jacob - I have a feeling this will stay near the top - partially due to the popularity of Twilight, I also think that Jake is a timelessly endearing nickname.

Michael - this is one that I think needs a break. Don't get me wrong - it's a strong, sturdy classic, but it's a tad boring at the moment. I'd still rather see a little Michael than a lot of the junk kicking around these days.

Ethan - I've always liked this and I have a feeling people don't realize this one is as popular as it is.

Joshua - This is an old staple - one that has always been and will always BE popular. Like Jake - Josh is so timeless and endearing.

Daniel - I have a feeling this ones going to fall a bit - who knows. It seems oddly outdated at the moment.

Alexander - This one I don't see going down in popularity, at least not in the middle name spot.

Anthony - This one I don't see dipping much in popularity, either, at least not in my area....old area...as in Buffalo NY.

William - this I see being exchanged for Liam.

Christopher -another old staple, but like Daniel - this one seems oddly outdated at the moment. think it's because they were both very popular when I was in school, too.

Matthew - Another staple. I wouldn't mind seeing this retired for a bit. Matthias and maybe Matteo would both be interesting alternatives.


Girls:

Emma - I like Emma well enough and I can definitely see the appeal - I just think it needs a bit of a rest.

Isabella - Another Twilight name. Beautiful, dainty and great nicknames. I personally love her, but there are some other great alternatives if you want a bella name.

Emily - this one is probably the longest runner on the top 10 list. It' soft and feminine, not much more you could ask for.

Madison - I seriously hate this name. It's trendy, ugly, masculine (it means "son of Maud"...). Come on people - you daughter deserves something strong and FEMININE. Why can't femininity be strong? The whole boys names and surnames on girls thing is very outdated and the logic is just ridiculous.

Ava - very classy and beautiful. I like this, but there are some equally beautiful alternatives that don't have the popularity factor.

Olivia - this is a personal favorite of mine. The popularity doesn't really bother me, personally. I don't see this dropping a whole lot, either.

Sophia - yet another personal favorite. I prefer the Sofia spelling, it looks more feminine and soft to me (probably because of the sof- beginning.) I think it's a beautiful name and one that I don't mind being in the top 10.

Abigail - I don't mind this, but it IS getting a bit stale. There aren't a ton of direct alternatives to it. I can take it or leave it.

Elizabeth - Another staple. I adore Elizabeth. It doesn't matter how many Elizabeths I meet - I still smile every time I hear it. The nicknames are beautiful and full of spunk. (Liza, Betsy, Betty, Beth, Eliza, Lizbeth..... The list goes on...)

Chloe - I adore Chloe. I'm kind of sad to see her so high on the list, but it's not surprising. I don't see it dipping too much, either.

Well, thats it, folks.

Hi there!

Hello - this have been insanely busy with moving out of state and all, I hate it. Anyway, I've done some major restructuring of my top girls list and I thought you might be interested.

First is my Felicity Combo - Felicity Johannah Carys. I still love it, but I'm finding it a bit heavy at the moment. The middle names have meaning to me, but I'm thinking about finding a more satisfying combo and worry about honoring family when the time comes. *le sigh*


My second combo at the moment is Piper Eliza Faye. Piper is kind of out of my element, since I suspect it's a bit on the trendy side (even though it has linguistic origins) But it fits the bill at the moment, which for me is extremely quirky and full of spunk.

My third combo is very new, but I'm loving her all the same. Lumi Roksana Gwendolen. Lumi is a Finnish name meaning "snow", pronounced loo-mee. Roksana (rahk-sahn-ah) is the Russian form of Roxana - I'm not huge on X's for girls, and I really love the way Roksana looks. Gwendolen has been creeping into my brain lately and I think she fits in here nicely.

Modern Cuties

Okay - so I've also noticed another style of name emerging. I call it "The Modern Cuties". These are the names that people go for when they don't want an old lady name, but don't want something off-the-wall trendy, either. It's a mix of modern and vintage.

A List:

Liliana Lucy
Phoebe Natalia
Brielle Paige
Piper Briana
Chloe Eden
Mia Cambria
Melody Brynn

See what I mean? They aren't "trendy" and they aren't classic and for the most part they are pretty modern.....(maybe with old roots). Not too bad. If you aren't for the over-the-top obscure names that I covet or the old ladies that are so vogue - this might be the way to go!

Sorry, again

I've been neglecting this bad boy for a while now, sorry!

I've been noticing lately that people seem to forget that they are indeed naming PEOPLE, not babies. I wonder if people realize that these babies grow up and eventually become adults and most likely won't appreciate some of the stupid, misspelled shenanigans that their parents have come up with. When these babies become adults, they will most likely want a job - guess what? I can not look a resume in the face and be serious with something like McKaiden staring back at me, it's just not possible. These children DO have to lead productive lives one day.

Remember this when naming your child.

It's not something to be taken lightly.

Some oddballs

Okay, I've collected some oddballs for you guys who might enjoy the quirkier names:

Sofiel
Audovere
Dulcinea
Jadzia
Tullia
Momoka
Evelia
Prisca
Niobe
Thearosa
Annalena
Sabela
Eliezra
Viatrice
Anahi
Zosia
Elswyth
Madelief
Cerinthe
Meiriona
Nereida

Sorry!

I've been VERY busy, I'm sorry!

A huge mix of randomness, lovely though and pretty inspiring. I'll be back with a new names in a couple days, if not sooner. I'm trying to find something interesting enough to post. Until then - enjoy.

Pania
Audra
Cosima
Elena
Sidonie
Aida
Giada
Petra
Imogen
Anneke
Galatea
Ketzia
Serafie
Elinoa

Time for some boys names

I noticed that my blog is sorely missing some boys names. Here is a random list to rummage through - it's basically just a whole mash-up of favorites of mine.


Maxwell
Tristan
Oliver
Auden
Henry
Asher
Jude
Sawyer
Micah
Felix
Miles
Micah
Oscar
Soren
Simon
Rory
Edison
Conor
Benjamin
Riley - I LOVE Riley on a boy - where it belongs
Isaac
Jasper
Elliot
Gavin
Fergus
Finnegan
Hugo
Leo
Enzo
Milo
Roman
Josiah
Gabriel
Ciaran
Levi
Caspar
Everett
Rhys
Elias
Nicolai
Owen
Gideon
Noam
Etienne
Seamus
Ezra
Jameson

Interesting finds

I had someone suggest a new site to me, it's all Nordic names. I'm assuming these are just one's used in Nordic countries? Here are some that stood out to me:

Female:

Adalena / Adelina
Adeleine - yum! I'm assuming this is said like Madeleine, so add-uh-lyn?
Adrielle
Aida
Aila
Aleksandra
Alina
Almira
Amira
Andriana
Aneka
Aneline
Anella
Annika
Annali
Annasofie - one of the best smushes I've ever seen!
Anneli
Axeline

Caia
Carina
Caris
Catarina
Catia
Cecilie - I almost like this spelling better than Cecily!

Dagny
Dania

Elena
Eliana
Elinor
Elisa
Elsabe
Elsbeth
Emiliana - mmm, luxurious
Eufemia
Eulalia
Evalina
Evita

Fina
Flavia
Freja / Freya

Gabriela
Gustava - yum! So frilly and amazing!

Halla
Hera

Ida
Idamarie
Ilia
Iliana
Ilsabe
Ilsabeth
Inia
Iselin
Ivara
Ivi

Jansine
Jetta
Joa
Josette
Juna
Junia

Karenlise
Karia
Karina
Karis

Leona
Leonia
Lia
Lida
Lidia
Lilia
Lillemor
Lillien
Lina
Linea
Lisbeth
Livia
Lora

Madalena
Madsine
Maia
Maike
Malina
Maren /Marin
Maylen - What? Didn't I rip on this for being pick-n-mix? If it's actually legit, then I apologize.
Methea
Mian
Miana
Mirian
Miria

Natalina
Natasia
Nathalia
Nicolaia
Nicolina
Ninon
Nomi

Oliva
Otilia
Ottoline
Ottomine

Rania
Rhea
Rosea
Roseline
Rosina
Runa

Selenia
Simonia
Simonie
Siria
Stephania / Stefania
Sunniva

Tua

Una
Ursa

Valeria
Verena
Via
Viva
Viveca

Xenia

Yasmina

Zandra
Zara

Names with pretty meanings

I know a lot of people look for names with specific meanings, particularly for girls. Here are some names with great meanings:

Carys: (Care-iss) Welsh, means "Love".

Kerensa - (ker-en-sa) Cornish, means "love"

Imani - (Im-ahn-ee) Swahili, means "Faith"

Aisling - (Ash-lin) Irish, "Dream"

Veda - (vay - da, though I could be wrong), Indian , "Knowledge"

Indira - (In-deer-ah) Indian, means "beauty"

Shira - (sheer-ah) Hebrew, means "song"

Luna - (loon-ah) Latin, means "moon"

Rhian - (rhee-ahn, though I'm not positive, it would be different with an English accent) Welsh, means "Maiden"

Linnea - (lin-aya) Swedish, it's the name of a small, pink flower.

Laelia - Lay-lee-ah), Roman, but is also the name of a flower in South America.

An old list of mine.....

I found an old list of mine from when I belonged to Baby Names World before the switch to parents connect. This is from 2007, I still like most of those, I'm pretty impressed with myself! (especially considering I was 17 at the time...)


Cecily
Adelaide
Isla
Anastasia
Elspeth
Pearl
Josephine
Jada
Persephone
Tabitha
Sadie
Maisie
Lucie
Lilevi
Euphemia
Violet
Beatrix
Lucia
Celia
Claire
Sofia
Catharine
Gwendoline
Ruth
June
Jane
Augusta
Freya
Helena
Kerensa
Penelope
Primrose
Tatiana
Calista
Lillie
Lillian
Camilla
Annevieve
Ginevra
Jessamine
Tullia
Junia
Priscilla
Demetria
Lucinda
Elodie
Lillibeth
Annabeth


Another one, this is from 2006, at the tender age of 16:

(Yes, those have 2 middle names...)


Fiona Laurel Octavia
Isadora Felicity Grace
Hollie Mariana Lillith
Hollie Mariana Elizabeth
Eliza Katriona Lillie

One last list, right after I turned 16:


Mattea Juliet

Bronwyn Felicity or Felicity Bronwyn

Calista Jane

Athena Grace or Athena Isadore

Valencia Nicholette

Elora Autumn

Aloria Grace

Mythological Beauties

I decided I would do a post about Mythology names today. It seems as though Goddess names (the the occasional God name) along with other names from mythology (from all over the world, not just Greek...) are getting to be rather popular. What better inspiration than Mythology? Literary, beautiful, artistic and meaningful.

Greek:
Female:

Athena
Evadne
Althea
Halen / Helena
Gaia
Alcyone - al-sigh-on-ee
Alethia
Chloe
Accalia - ah-kay-lee-ah
Calypso
Cassandra

Male:

Aeson - ay-son
Hector
Leander
Zephyr


Celtic Myth

Female:

Aina - ahn-ya
Branwen
Fionnuala - has been shorted to Finola, though.
Ceridwen - care-id-wen
Deirdre - deer-dra / dee-dra
Emer
Sabrina
Epona
Brigid - also Bridget
Eri
Damara
Morrigan -I love this spelling for a girl! Morgan is so masculine.
Niamh - neev
Rhiannon - ree-ann-en
Sirona

Male:

Aeron
Gwydion
Taliesen - kind of like tal-is-on and tali-esson, kind of in the middle, though English speakers will probably say Tal-is-on.
Cian - kee-an


Norse Myth:

Female:

Beyla
Freya
Nanna
Ran

Male:

Loki
Meili
Thor
Tyr
Odin