Baby Names Made Easy: The Complete Reverse-Dictionary of Baby Names

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“Allison is a Terrible Name for a Cowboy…”

Published

Amanda Barden

on June 26, 2010

in My Life

. 0 Comments

The danger of sitting next to me at a café is that if you start a conversation about names, I’m likely to join in.

While I was hard at work tonight, clearly not minding my own business, I overheard someone next to me say, “Allison is a terrible name for a cowboy.” Needless to say, it led to a pretty funny conversation. I want to thank the couple for being friendly and good-natured about my butting in on their chat. They gave me a good lead on a location that should carry my book, I gave them a thumbs up on their future-granddaughter’s name and we all agreed that Allison really is a terrible name for a cowboy.

Back to work…

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

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Soccer Fanatics, Hyundais & Baby Naming

Published

Amanda Barden

on June 16, 2010

in Baby Names in the News and Newsworthy Names

. 2 Comments

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Has anyone seen the Hyundai ad about the baby in England supposedly named after the soccer team in the 1960s? The ad is running during the ESPN World Cup coverage. The name from the ad (I had to listen to it several times to transcribe this…) is:

Paula St. John Lawrence Lawler Byrne Strong Yeats Stevenson Callaghan Hunt Milne Smith Thompson Shankly Bennett Paisley O’Sullivan

Watch it for yourself: Hyundai FIFA World Cup Baby Name Ad

Thanks to Wikipedia, I was able to find these names attached to the Liverpool Football Club.

Anyone out there dedicated enough to their sports team to try something similar? I meet someone recently who plans on naming a son after her favorite baseball player (Bengie Molina of the SF Giants)—but not the whole team!

What do you think about naming your child after your favorite sports team? Dedicated or wacky?

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

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HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

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BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Celeb Birth: It’s a Girl for Tiffani Thiessen

Published

Amanda Barden

on June 15, 2010

in Celebrity Baby Names

. 0 Comments

Actress Tiffani Thiessen and husband Brady Smith welcomed their first daughter. Her name? HARPER RENN.

Harper is a newly minted hot name – it entered the Social Security Top 1000 for girls for the first time in 2004 and it’s already ranked #174. That’s a pretty fast climb! Of course, the most famous Harper is Harper Lee, the author of To Kill a Mockingbird. I wonder if this was the inspiration for Harper Renn or not.

SOURCE: US Magazine

What do you think of the name Harper?

Speaking of names…is Tiffani no longer going by Tiffani Amber? All the reports I read about the birth identified her as just Tiffani. She was one of the most famous celebs with a double name – like Sarah Jessica Parker and Sarah Michelle Gellar. If anyone has the scoop on Tiffani’s name, let me know!

In the meantime, congrats to the lucky family!

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

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BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

The World Cup of Baby Names: England vs USA

Published

Amanda Barden

on June 12, 2010

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists, Celebrity Names and Newsworthy Names

. 1 Comment

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Are you watching the World Cup? England vs. USA just started and I must say, the national anthems were very emotional—the centuries of history were quite apparent, in a healthy, sporty way. The World Cup is an exciting world-wide phenomenon and I’m glad it’s becoming more popular here in the USA. Plus, I love these orange cleats.

Sporty parents might be inspired by athletes’ names. Others are just looking for good baby name inspiration wherever they find it. For all interested, here are the starting lineups for ENGLAND vs. USA. I also threw in the substitutes and coaches because there were some great names on those lists I didn’t want to leave out.

ENGLAND

Starters

ROBERT Green

JOHN Terry

LEDLEY King

ASHLEY Cole

GLEN Johnson

STEVEN Gerrard

FRANK Lampard

JAMES Milner

AARON Lennon

WAYNE Rooney

EMILE Heskey

Substitutes

SHAUN Wright-Phillips

PETER Crouch

DAVID James

JAMIE Carragher

MICHAEL Carrick

JERMAIN Defoe

JOE Cole

MATTHEW Upson

GARETH Barry

MICHAEL Dawson

STEPHEN Warnock

JOE Hart

Coach: Fabio Capello

What do you think about Ledley, Emile, Fabio and Gareth? They would be quite unique here in the USA. Ashley Cole is interesting, too. Of course, Ashley used to be a more common name for boys, but it’s almost exclusively a girl’s name in the USA today. His last name, Cole, is becoming quite trendy as a first name.

USA

Starters

TIM Howard

OGUCHI Onyewu

JAY DeMerit

CARLOS Bocanegra

STEVEN Cherudolo

RICARDO Clark

BRADLEY Guzan

MICHAEL Bradley

CLINT Dempsey

LANDON Donovan

JOSMER “JOZY” Volmy Altidore

ROBBIE Findley

Substitutes

DaMARCUS Beasley

JONATHAN Spector

CLARENCE Goodson

BRAD Guzan

JOSE Torres

BENNY Feilhaber

STUART Holden

MARCUS Hahnemann

JONATHAN Bornstein

HERCULEZ Gomez

EDSON Buddle

MAURICE Edu

Coach: Bob Bradley

My favorite name of the bunch is Jozy—such a great nickname! Landon is quite a hot name these days, ranking #36 on the USA charts. Also of note are Herculez, Edson and Clint. There are a couple more cute nicknames, too – Benny and Robbie.

These countries often share baby names, so no matter who you’re rooting for to win the soccer match, names from either side of the score card are fair game.

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

· Join my newsletter list for the latest baby name news

· Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts

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HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

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BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Autographed Books: SF Birth & Baby Fair

Published

Amanda Barden

on June 5, 2010

in My Life and Website Announcements

. 0 Comments

San Francisco Bay Area Readers – Come meet me tomorrow!

Anyone who wants an autographed copy of BABY NAMES MADE EASY should stop by my table at the San Francisco Birth & Baby Fair– Sunday, June 6^th. Click here for more info about the fair—looks there will be lots of great stuff to do and see there. It’s going on between 10:00 – 5:00 at Fort Mason.

People who visit my booth can also enter to win a hand-crocheted baby blanket that I made myself! It’s very cute. J

I hope to see you there!

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts.

GET YOUR OWN COPY OF BABY NAMES MADE EASY

HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

For more information on baby names and their meanings get your copy of

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Zoe and the Car

Published

Amanda Barden

on May 26, 2010

in Baby Names in the News and Newsworthy Names

. 2 Comments

Photo credit: Thomas Doerfer

I read an interesting article about names and cars. The French car company Renault is coming out with a new car they’re calling Zoe – the Renault Zoe ZE. They chose Zoe because it means “life,” which appears to be a nod to the environmental benefits of this zero emissions car. Pretty cool. Or maybe not…A French woman named Zoe Renault is asking the company not to name the car Zoe. She says it would bother her to hear things like, “Zoe’s broken down.”

Would you mind it if you had the same name as a car?

It will be interesting to see what happens here. Apparently, the attorney in this case has a number of clients with the same name.

The Zoe wouldn’t be the first car with a human name. Here are some others I found:

ASPEN

AURORA

AUSTIN

CAPRICE

CHEYENNE

COLT

COOPER

Crown VICTORIA

DAKOTA

DINO

ELECTRA

JIMMY

LIBERTY

MORRIS

ROCKY

SIENNA

SIERRA

Silver DAWN

St. REGIS

Did I miss any?

If you loved a name, but then a car company (or any company) chose it for a product name, would you still use it?

You can read the article here.

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

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HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

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Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

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BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Celeb Birth: It’s a Girl for Amy Adams

Published

Amanda Barden

on May 18, 2010

in Baby Names in the News, Celebrity Baby Names and Celebrity Pregnancy

. 0 Comments

411px-amyadamsoscarsfeb09-photographer-chrisa-hickey

AMY ADAMS, Photographer Chrisa Hickey

Amy and fiancé Darren Legallo welcomed a daughter over the weekend. Her name? AVIANA OLEA. So pretty!

Aviana is an interesting twist on the popular, similar-sounding names Ava (ranked #5), Avery (ranked #32) and Eva (ranked #99).

What do you think of Aviana?

Looking for other names with a similar twist? Consider:

Avalon

Avena

Aviva

Evangeline

Evelyn

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

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HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

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BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Congrats to one of my favorite actresses (Amy Adams) from one of my favorite movies (Enchanted)—

Survivor: Heroes, Villains & Baby Names

Published

Amanda Barden

on May 17, 2010

in Celebrity Names and Newsworthy Names

. 1 Comment

j0441706

Most people I’ve talked to agree that this was one of the best seasons of Survivor ever. Maybe it’s because they brought back some of the best players to ever play the game.

My fantasy finale was Rob v. Colby. It’s probably a good thing that didn’t happen though because I would have been tied up in knots trying to decide who to root for. As it was, I liked the ending. I thought Sandra played a smart game and she was my favorite of the three.

What did you think of the finale?

Let’s get to the reason we’re all here…Will Survivor influence baby naming? It wouldn’t be the first time. After Colby’s first season in Australia in early 2001, the name got a boost – going from #233 in 2000 to #99 in 2001. Could it happen again?

Here are the names of this season’s Survivor, in the order they left the show:

SURVIVOR BOOT LIST

JESSICA “SUGAR” Kiper – Sugar is a quirky nickname, but not a given name

STEPHENIE LaGROSSA – This is a twist on traditionally spelled Stephanie (a twist she shares with Twilight powerhouse Stephenie Meyer)

RANDY BAILEY

CIRIE FIELDS – I adore the name Cirie and would love to see it catch on

TOM WESTMAN

TYSON APOSTOL – very stylish right now

JAMES CLEMENT

ROB MARIANO

BENJAMIN “COACH” WADE – I bet most people don’t know his name is Benjamin. I don’t think many people will start naming their kids Coach

COURTNEY YATES

JAMES “J. T.” THOMAS – initial names are cool these days and J. T. might be the coolest among them

AMANDA KIMMEL – great name (though I am biased)

CANDICE WOODCOCK

DANIELLE DiLORENZO

RUPERT BONEHAM – one of the coolest names in Survivor history

COLBY DONALDSON – it had an impact before, maybe it will again

JERRI MANTHEY

RUSSELL HANTZ

PARVATI SHALLOW – without a doubt one of the most interesting names in Survivor history

SANDRA DIAZ-TWINE

Does anyone else like the name Cirie? I just love it.

Which names do you think could have the biggest impact on baby naming?

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts.

GET YOUR OWN COPY OF BABY NAMES MADE EASY

HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

For more information on baby names and their meanings get your copy of

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Names in the News: May 9-15, 2010

Published

Amanda Barden

on May 15, 2010

in Celebrity Names and Newsworthy Names

. 0 Comments

There have been some interesting names in the news this week. Here’s my list:

NAMES IN THE NEWS: MAY 9-15, 2010

LENA HORNE - celebrated jazz singer who passed away this week

Listen to Lena

FRANCO NERO – actor in the movie Letters to Juliet

NED YOST - new manager for the Kansas City Royals

GREYSON CHANCE - 12-year-old YouTube sensation who sings Lady Gaga’s Paparazzi

DANICA McKELLAR - making waves for her new Maxim photo shoot

She also writes books about math:

Math Doesn’t Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail

Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who’s Boss

Hot X: Algebra Exposed

CHRISHELL STRAUSE - Soap Opera star and former fiance of Matthew Morrison (who claims he was cheating on her)

BEAU BIDEN - Attorney General of Delaware and son of Vice President Joe Biden, suffered a stroke, but is recovering

ELENA KAGAN - U.S. Supreme Court nominee

DALLAS BRADEN - threw a no-hitter for the Oakland A’s (his last name happens to be one of the hottest first names these days)

Any newsmakers you’d add to the list?

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts.

GET YOUR OWN COPY OF BABY NAMES MADE EASY

HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

For more information on baby names and their meanings get your copy of

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES