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.