Category Archive for ‘My Life’ at Baby Names Made Easy: The Complete Reverse-Dictionary of Baby Names

Archive for the 'My Life' Category

Island Baby Naming

Published

on July 22, 2010

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists, Celebrity Baby Names and My Life

. 1 Comment

Tonight, I’m wrapped up in my thermals, a sweatshirt, a blanket and I have my cuddly cat next to me – I’m still freezing though. That’s summer in San Francisco for you. If you’re traveling here on vacation, come in the fall – that’s when we have warmer weather.

All this cold weather got me thinking about warmer locals, which led to island living, which eventually led to island naming. After a little research, I found that there are some interesting island names that could double as cool, unique baby names.

Here’s my list. I organized them into Girls’ and Boys’ lists, but that’s just one person’s opinion – mix and match as you see fit.

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

CORSICA

IRELAND

JAMAICA

JAVA

SICILY

SUMATRA

TRINIDAD

BOYS’ BABY NAMES

CYPRUS

DEVON

FALKLAND

KODIAK

MELVILLE

SAMAR

SOMERSET

Lost actor Josh Holloway and wife Yessica Kumala went the island route and named their daughter Java in 2009.

What’s your favorite island name? Anything I should add to the list?

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

●Join the free BABY NAMES MADE EASY newsletter list for the latest baby name news and tips from my website

●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

15 Baby Naming Tips Article

Published

Amanda Barden

on July 16, 2010

in Baby Naming Tips, My Life and Website Announcements

. 0 Comments

A couple weeks ago, Melissa Chapman asked me to weigh in on an article she was writing for SheKnows.com about unique ways to find cool and interesting baby names. I put together a list of 15 ideas and Melissa’s article was posted today.

Here are two of my tips from the article:

Tip #2: Make a game of it

Make it a goal to meet three new people every day and get their names—the checker in the grocery store, the person sitting next to you on the bus, the barista blending your drink—you’re bound to hear something interesting. If mom and dad both do this, it will be something fun you can do together and you’ll double the number of names you add to your list.

Tip #10: Go back in time to popular names from 100 years ago

The Social Security website will tell you today’s most popular names, but it will also tell you what names were popular in the past. Some of the names parents liked for boys back in 1910 were Archie, Everett, Oscar, Otis and Henry.

Read the rest of my tips:

http://www.sheknows.com/articles/816274/15-ways-to-find-a-cool-baby-name-1

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

●Join the free BABY NAMES MADE EASY newsletter list for the latest baby name news and tips from my website

●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

“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

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

●Join the free BABY NAMES MADE EASY newsletter list for the latest baby name news and tips from my website

●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

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

Top Pet Names of 2009

Published

Amanda Barden

on January 11, 2010

in My Life and Pet Names

. 16 Comments

A topic I love almost as much as baby names is pet names. MSNBC has a cute feature about the top pet names of 2009 so I thought I’d share it because I know there are some pet lovers out there reading this.

I have a cat I named Trixie. No surprise, I chose that name because of its meaning — “blessed; bringer of joy.” She’s perfect and brings me joy on a daily basis. Here’s her picture:

My Trixie

Here are the Top Pet Names of 2009:

CAT NAMES

1. MAX

2. CHLOE

3. BELLA

4. OLIVER

5. TIGER

6. SMOKEY

7. TIGGER

8. LUCY

9. SHADOW

10. ANGEL

DOG NAMES

1. BELLA

2. MAX

3. BAILEY

4. LUCY

5. MOLLY

6. BUDDY

7. MAGGIE

8. DAISY

9. CHLOE

10. SOPHIE

SOURCE: MSNBC

It’s interesting that all of the top dogs’ names are human names, but only six of the top cat names are human names. That probably says something about how people see dogs and cats. Thoughts?

They also highlighted some of the funnier pet names. Here are my favorites:

DOOGIE SCHNAUZER, MD — hilarious!

EARTHA KITTY

FLUFFERNUTTER

KANYE EAST

VELVET ELVIS

CATZILLA

What’s your pet’s name?

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

You can also 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!

♥ Amanda

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

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

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

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

BABY NAMES OF THE WEEK: “Fireworks” Baby Names

Published

Amanda Barden

on July 5, 2009

in Baby Name of the Week, Holiday Baby Names and My Life

. 1 Comment

One of my absolute favorite things in the entire world is fireworks. They’re magical and make me feel sparkly and I love them. So, fresh off my 4^th of July fireworks high, I’ve chosen names with meanings that remind me of fireworks for the Baby Names of the Week:

Here are my picks:

GIRLS’ BABY NAME OF THE WEEK

EMBER — Latin name meaning “smoldering fire”

BOYS’ BABY NAME OF THE WEEK

ORION — Greek name meaning “son of fire”

I think EMBER is actually a very appealing alternative to more popular AMBER. It sounds interesting, it’s unique and has an attractive meaning. The only trouble I see with it is that people could mishear it as AMBER and you might end up having to repeat the name more than once. Might be worth it though for such a cool baby name…

ORION is an old favorite of mine. I’ve loved it for years and have never known why it hasn’t been more popular. It starts with an unusual letter, which parents sometimes like (think ZACHARY, XANDER and ZOE), and it has the same sound of long-popular RYAN. All the makings of a cool baby name!

That’s all for today! Tune in later this week for more baby name discussion!

♥ Amanda

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

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

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

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

BABY NAMES OF THE WEEK: A trip to the opera

Published

Amanda Barden

on June 7, 2009

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists, Baby Name of the Week, Celebrity Names, International Baby Names and My Life

. 0 Comments

This Friday night, I went to AT&T Park in San Francisco for free opera. Every summer they do a live simulcast of an opera being performed at the SF Opera House and show it at the park on the big screen (with English subtitles!) for everyone to see. They let people sit on the field and did I mention it was free? It’s not every day that you can watch Tosca and eat nachos at the same time.

Needless to say, the Baby Names of the Week are opera-themed!

Here are my selections:

GIRLS’ BABY NAME OF THE WEEK

CARMEN — title character in Bizet’s Carmen. Appropriately, it is a Latin name that means “song.”

BOYS’ BABY NAME OF THE WEEK

MARCELLO —a character in Puccini’s La Bohème. It is an Italian name meaning “warlike.”

I chose the name Carmen because it’s a quintessential opera name with such a perfect meaning for our theme! Also, I think it’s cute. Marcello is a strong baby name and a daring alternative to its more common related names, Mark and Marcus.

CELEBRITY PICKS

Some of the famous opera singers have some great names, too:

FEMALE NAMES

ANNE-SOFIE von Otter

CECILIA Bartoli

GWYNETH Jones

JUNE Anderson

KARITA Mattila

KATIA Ricciarelli

LUCIA Popp

MAGDALENA Kozena

MARILYN Horne

MIRELLA Freni

MONTSERRAT Caballé

RENATA Scotto

TATIANA Troyanos

MALE NAMES

ANDREAS Scholl

CARLO Bergonzi

ENRICO Caruso

FRITZ Wunderlich

GUISEPPE di Stefano

JOSE Carrera

LUCIANO Pavarotti

PLACIDO Domingo

SAMUEL Raney

If you’re an opera buff, there’s a world of baby name inspiration for you out there. I found so many unusual and interesting names while researching these opera characters that I’m putting together a list for you and will post it later this week. Stay tuned!

♥ Amanda

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

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

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

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

Baby Names of the Day & Golden Gate Park

Published

Amanda Barden

on April 19, 2009

in My Life

. 0 Comments

Today was one of those rare days in San Francisco where temperatures soared all the way up into the 80s!

San Francisco isn’t known for its warm weather, so I took full advantage and walked over to Golden Gate Park. It seemed like nearly half of the city was gathered there to soak up the sun, play Frisbee and people watch.

I’m never one for soaking up the sun, so I found myself a nice place in the shade and plopped down with my iced caramel macchiato (delicious!) and spread out all my blog writing supplies (notebook, cute pink pen, Social Security printouts, Baby Names Made Easy, cute blue pen). I was determined to get some good work done…

Turns out it was kind of hard to concentrate though because the people watching was just too good. Hands down the best conversation snippet I overheard went like this:

GIRL #1: …so he goes and has a baby and then decides to totally desire me.

GIRL #2: I don’t get him at all.

GIRL #1: Me neither!

(Girl #1, if you’re reading this, don’t waste your time trying to figure him out. He’s definitely not worth it!)

There was also a pretty talented group of Frisbee players who managed to hold drinks in one hand and play Frisbee with the other. Never having been good at Frisbee myself, it was sort of riveting to watch.

Anyhow, the beautiful weather did get me thinking about springtime names and I made some picks for Baby Name of the Day:

GIRL NAME OF THE DAY:

ABRIELLE — a French version of the name April

BOY NAME OF THE DAY:

KELL — Scandinavian for “spring”

I think these are both cool name picks. They each strike that balance a lot of parents are looking for these days — not too popular, but not too weird. You can find out more about each of these names in the Seasons & Time chapter of my book.

How do you like the Names of the Day? Love them or think the sun’s gone to my head? Post a comment and let me know (I also accept Frisbee tips)!

♥ Amanda

Mountain-y Baby Names

Published

Amanda Barden

on March 29, 2009

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and My Life

. 0 Comments

I escaped city life for the weekend and headed to the mountains for a little R&R. What I’ve learned so far is that you can take the girl out of the city, but you can’t take the city out of the girl. I wasn’t here 30 minutes before checking my email…and now here I am updating my blog! But all this mountain air got me thinking about “mountain-y” baby names — names that have “mountain” in the meaning. There are a few obvious picks, but quite a few that you wouldn’t suspect at all.

All these names can be found with their meaning and origins in my Geography, Topography & Locations and On The Map chapters. Drop me a note and let me know your favorites, least favorites, best tips for mountain living, anything you want to share…Here’s the list I came up with:

GIRLS

Aspen, Glenna, Mineko, Olympia, Parvati, Zaltana

BOYS

Beaumont, Berg, Everest, Glen, Huntley, Huxley, Kip, Kiri, Knox, Lamont, Landon, Orestes

GIRL OR BOY

Fuji, Himalaya, Kenya, Montana, Nevada, Vail

I think I’ll take a walk down to the lake now and enjoy the rest of my vacation.

Archive for the 'My Life' Category

♥ Amanda