Archive for the 'My Life' Category

Top Pet Names of 2009

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on January 11, 2010
in My Life and Pet Names
. 15 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?

 

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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
by
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 4th 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!

 

Sign up for the RSS Feed for this blog so you don’t miss out on any future baby name posts!

 

♥  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
by
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
by
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
by
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.

♥  Amanda