Tag Archive for 'interesting names'

Sesame Street Baby Names

Published
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Amanda Barden
on November 4, 2009
in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Celebrity Baby Names
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Happy 40th Anniversary Sesame Street! I’m sure many of you have happy memories of watching Sesame Street when you were growing up and now you’re passing the tradition on to your children. Maybe there’s an even bigger Sesame Street tradition you can pass on to your children…in the form of a name.

 

Here’s a look at Sesame Street character names (and the names some of the actresses, actors and puppeteers). While names like BIG BIRD, JUGHEAD and MR. NOODLE won’t work, there are plenty of interesting options that are worth considering. Enjoy!

 

 

FEMALE CHARACTER NAMES

ABBY Cadabby

ALICE Braithwaite Goodyshoes

ALICE Snuffleupagus

BETTY LOU

BUFFY

CELINA

DEENA Monster

DOROTHY

Dr. GINA Jefferson

GABRIELLA “GABI” Rodriguez

Granny FANNY Nesselrode

INGRID

JANE Tuesday

KAMI

LEELA

LEXINE “LEXI”

LILLIAN “LILLY”

LINDA “LYNNE”

LULU “LOUISE”

MARCIA Middlewell

MARGARITA

MARIA Rodriguez

MOLLY the mail lady

OLIVIA Robinson

PEARL Monster

PHOEBE

POLLY Darton

Prairie DAWN

Rodeo ROSIE

ROSITA

RUBY

RUTHIE

TARAH

WANDA Falbo

ZOE

 

 

MALE CHARACTER NAMES

ALOYSIUS Snuffleupagus

Bad BART

BARKLEY

BERT

BRUNO the Trashman

DAVIE

ELMO

ERNIE

GORDON Robinson

GROVER

HARVEY Kneeslapper

HERBERT Birdsfoot

HIROSHI

HUMPHREY

JAMAL

JOEY

KERMIT the  Frog

KOTY

LEONARD “LEO” the Wolf

LUIS “LOU” Rodriguez

MARCO

MEL “MELVIN”

MIGUEL

MILES Robinson

Mr. HAROLD Hooper

MURRAY Monster

OSCAR the Grouch

OSVALDO the Grouch

PLACIDO Flamingo

RAFAEL

RALPH

ROBIN

SAM the Robot

SAVION

SIMON the Soundman

SOLOMON Grundy

STEVIE

SULLY

TOM “THOMAS”

VINCENT “VIN” Twice

WALLY

WATSON

WILLY

WOLFGANG the Seal

 

 

FEMALE ACTRESS/PUPPETEER NAMES

ALAINA Reed

ANNETTE Claud

BUFFY Sainte-Marie

CAMILLE Bonora

DESIREE Casado

FRAN Brill

IRRA Verbitsky

KYLA Taub

LEXINE Bondoc

LORETTA Long

SONIA Manzano

STEPHANIE D’Abruzzo

TARA Schaeffer

 

 

MALE ACTOR/PUPPETEER NAMES

BRIAN Meuhl

CASEY Kasem

CHRISTOPHER Cerf

EMILIO Delgado

GABRIEL Velez

JIM Henson

JOEY Mazzarino

JOU JOU Papailler

KERMIT Love

KEVIN Clash

KHALID Moultrie

MICHAEL EARL Davis

RICHARD Hunt

ROSCOE Orman

SAVION Glover

TOBY Tobson

WILL Lee

 

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_characters_in_Sesame_Street

 

 

I actually didn’t watch Sesame Street when I was growing up, so maybe some of you readers can let me know what your favorite characters (and names!) are. Post a comment and let me know!

 

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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

 

 

 

INTERNATIONAL BABY NAMES: Danish Royal Names

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on October 6, 2009
in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists, Celebrity Baby Names, Celebrity Names and International Baby Names
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Royals seem to do everything with a little more flare than us commoners and naming babies is no exception. Take a look at the (very) long names of the Danish Royal Family:

 

 

 

 

 

MALE NAMES

 

HENRIK, His Royal Highness The Prince Consort, (born HENRI MARIE JEAN ANDRÉ Count de Laborde de Monpezat)

 

FREDERIK ANDRÉ HENRIK CHRISTIAN, Prince of Denmark, Crown Prince, Count of Monpezat

 

CHRISTIAN VALDEMAR HENRI JOHN, Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat

 

JOACHIM HOLGER WALDEMAR CHRISTIAN, Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat

 

NIKOLAI WILLIAM ALEXANDER FREDERIK, Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat

 

FELIX HENRIK VALDEMAR CHRISTIAN, Prince of Denmark, Count of Monpezat

 

 

 

FEMALE NAMES

 

MARGRETHE ALEXANDRINE ÞORHILDUR INGRID, Her Majesty The Queen

 

MARY ELIZABETH, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess, Crown Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat

 

ISABELLA HENRIETTA INGRID MARGRETHE, Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat

 

MARIE AGATHE ODILE, Her Royal Highness Princess of Denmark, Countess of Monpezat

 

BENEDIKTE ASTRID INGEBORG INGRID, Princess of Denmark

 

 

and the  best, longest one of all…

 

 

ELISABETH CAROLINE-MATHILDE ALEXANDRINE HELENA OLGA THYRA FEODORA ESTRID MARGARETHE DÉSIRÉE, Princess of Denmark

 

SOURCE: Official royal website, http://www.kongehuset.dk/english/

 

 

 

One of my favorite things about these royal names is how long they are! I’m not sure why…maybe it’s just the name-lover in me liking the idea of choosing 11 names for a baby, instead of just a first and a middle. I know it would make filling out all those bubbles for the SAT difficult, but I say the more names the better!

 

What do you think? Post your thoughts and let us know!

 

 

♥  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

 

 

Restoration Hardware Baby Names

Published
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Amanda Barden
on July 29, 2009
in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists
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When I was at the mall earlier, I picked up the latest Restoration Hardware Baby & Child Catalog. It’s a great catalog with cute baby things and it’s full of names! They offer many items that can be personalized with names or monograms — so their ads have lots of names in them.

 

It’s an interesting peek into the advertising world and the kinds of names the advertisers envision Restoration Hardware customers using for their babies. Good stuff!

 

Here are the names from the catalog:

 

RESTORATION HARDWARE GIRL NAMES

 

ABIGAIL

ADDISON

ALEXIS

ARIANNA

CHLOE

EMMA

EVA

GRACE

MADISON

MIA

MORGAN

TAYLOR

 

 

Bonus names I found at their website:

 

AVERY

EMILY

MEGAN

SOPHIA

 

 

I also found a few names that had middle names attached:

 

CHLOE DAWN

MIA REESE

MORGAN RILEY

 

 

 

RESTORATION HARDWARE BOY NAMES

 

AIDEN

CAYDEN

ETHAN

EVAN

HENRY

JACK

WILLIAM

 

 

Bonus website names:

 

HARRISON

RYAN

 

 

Full names:

 

JACK ANDREW

WILLIAM HENRY

 

 

The first thing I noticed when I looked at the names was that there were several “boyish” names for girls — ADDISON, AVERY, MADISON, MORGAN, TAYLOR. There were also the middle names REESE and RILEY. This is a popular trend these days and that’s reflected here, so it’s no surprise.

 

Also, the A’s have it — there’s ABIGAIL, ADDISON, AIDEN, ALEXIS, ARIANNA and AVERY. A is a very popular letter for first names, so this isn’t a surprise either.

 

The majority of these names fall into the Top 100 most popular names, based on Social Security rankings. Six of the Top 10 girls’ names are used: EMMA (#1), EMILY (#3), MADISON (#4), SOPHIA (#7), ABIGAIL (#8) and CHLOE (#10). The boys have two from the Top 10: ETHAN (#3) and WILLIAM (#8).

 

The only names that fall outside the Top 100 are:

 

EVA at #114 (however, this name is very similar to ultra-popular AVA, which is ranked at #5)

 

CAYDEN at #173 (multiple spellings of this name are popular though, which has an impact on ranking — CADEN is #95 and CAIDEN is #250)

 

HARRISON at #219

 

 

I love HARRISON. It’s so cute! I can see that becoming more popular.

 

Overall, they did a great job. These are fun names. What do you think? Post your comments. :)

 

Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss 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

 

 

Vintage-Cool Baby Names

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on June 2, 2009
in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists
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Here is a list of baby names I put together that have an antique, vintage feel, but are still very useable today, and dare I say, cool:

Powerhouse Museum Collection

Powerhouse Museum Collection

There’s a magical kind of name that feels vintage and classic without sounding old-fashioned or dated. Parents search far and wide for names like these and with good reason. The names in this group are charming and stylish…at least that’s my opinion. What do you think?

 

 

 

 BABY GIRL NAMES

 ADELAIDE

AMELIA

ANNABELLE

AUDREY

CARMELA

CECILY

CHARLOTTE

CORA

CORDELIA

DAISY

ELIZA

ELLA

GENEVA

GOLDIE

HAZEL

IVY

LUCY

LYDIA

MADELINE

MILLIE

MINNIE

NAOMI

NORA

OCTAVIA

OLIVE

OPAL

RAMONA

SADIE

VIOLET

VIVIAN

WILLA

 

 

 

BABY BOY NAMES

 

AMOS

ARCHIBALD

ASA

BRUNO

CALEB

CALVIN

CONRAD

COSMO

DAVIS

EDGAR

ELIAS

ELIJAH

ELLIOT

EMMETT

EVERETT

FELIX

HENRY

HUGO

ISIAH

JASPER

JONAS

LEVI

MACK

MAXWELL

MILO

OTTO

REX

SAMSON

SILAS

SIMON

THEODORE

TOBIAS

 

 

 

What sounds “old-fashioned” is probably a matter of taste. What names would you add to or take off this list? Post a comment and let us know.

 

♥  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.

 

Memorable Names for Memorial Day… PART II: Female Airforce Pilots of WWII

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on May 25, 2009
in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Holiday Baby Names
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I just read an article about women pilots of WWII at CNN’s website. Very cool! Then I went to the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) website and found a roster. I thought it would be a nice tribute to these heroines to share some of their great names with you. Maybe you’ll find a name you like.

  

FEMALE WWII AIRFORCE PILOTS (from the WASP Roster)

 

ADELA Scharr

ADELAIDE Schaefer

ADELINE Wolak

AILSA Connolly

ALBERTA Hunt

ALICE-JEAN May

ALTA Corbet

ANNABELLE Craft

ANNELLE Henderson

ANNIE Henry

AUDREY Tardy

AVA Hamm

BABETTE DeMoe

BERYL Owens

BETTY JANE Williams

BOBBYE Crain

BONNIE JEAN Dorsey

BYRD Granger

CARMEL LaTorra

CECILY Elmes

CHARLOTTE Mitchell

CLARA JO Marsh

CODYE GWEN Clinkscales

CORINNE Nienstedt

CORNELIA Fort

DAISY Vaghan

DAWN Rochow

DELLA Gremling

DELPHINE Bohn

DORA Dougherty

DORI Marland

EFFIE Pratt

ELIZABETH McKinley

ELSIE Dyer

ELVIRA Griggs

EMERAL Drummond

EMMA Coulter

ETTA MAE Hollinger

FRANCES Grimes

FRANKIE Lovvorn

GENEVA Slack

GENEVIEVE Landman

GEORGIA Gehring

GRACE Birge

GRETCHEN Gorman

HAZEL Pierce

IDA Carter

IMOGENE Barnes

INEZ Woodward

IOLA Clay

IRIS Cummings

JACQUELINE Lake

JARY Johnson

JIMMIE Parker

JULIA Eagan

JULIETTE Jenner

JUNE Braun

JUSTINE Fletcher

LANA Cusack

LAVINA BETH Lippincott

LEA OLA McDonald

LELA Loudder

LEOTTA Cook

LILA Moore

LOLO Perkins

LOVELLE Richards

LUCILLE Friesen

LUCY Dubiel

LYDA Dunham

MABEL Rawlinson

MABELLE Vincent

MADELYN Taylor

MAGDA Tacke

MAISIE KAY Cleverly

MARCELLA Fried

MARGUERITE Tuffin

MARILYN Hughes

MARY BELLE Ahlstrom

MAXINE Nolt

MAY Ball

MERRIDEE Newell

MICKIE Carmichael

MITTIE Parsley

MOYA Mitchell

MOZELLE Simpson

NADINE Canfield

NANETTE Hazeltine

NELLE Carmody

NEVA Calderwood

NINA Morrison

NORMA JANE Emerson

OLA Rexroat

OPAL VIVIAN Hicks

ORPHA Brunsvold

PEARL Brummett

PENELOPE Peirce

REBECCA Edwards

ROBBIE Grace

ROSA LEA Fullwood

ROSALIE Phillips

ROSE Reese

ROSINA Lewis

RUBY Mullins

RUTHMARY Buckley

SARA Chapin

SARABEL Booth

SIDNEY Miller

SOLANGE D’Hooghe

SONA Kierstead

STARLEY Grona

STELLA JO Baker

SUZETTE Van Daell

TWILA Edwards

URCELA Wald

VEGA Johnson

VELMA Saunders

VERA Cook

VERDA MAE Lowe

VIOLA Thompson

VIOLET Thurn

VIVIAN Cadman

WILDA Winfield

WILLIE JEWELL Peacock

WINNIE LEE Jones

YVONNE Stafford

ZELDA Lamer

 

 

Check out the WASP roster for these names and more.

 

Do you know a veteran with a great name? Share it here.

 

♥ 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.

 

 

San Diego Family Magazine Review!

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on May 23, 2009
in Book Reviews and Website Announcements
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Eileen Cornish, a freelance writer for San Diego Family Magazine, wrote a nice review of Baby Names Made Easy for the magazine’s spring/summer edition.

“I have three sons but I never tire of reading baby name books. In Baby Names Made Easy($15, Simon and Schuster, 2009) author Amanda Elizabeth Barden organizes more than 20,000 traditional to trendy names into categories ranging from Nature to Numbers and Animals to Insects. With more than 40 chapters, the book organizes names by category with meanings or definitions listed after each. Perhaps more people would name their girls Agatha if they knew it meant good and honorable in Greek, or Alma, meaning nourishing and kind in Latin. How about Thaddeus, meaning beloved and adored in Arabic?”

You can check out the whole article here and the other books she reviewed!

 

♥  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.

 

 

 

How Well do you Know your Celebrity Geography?

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on May 21, 2009
in Celebrity Baby Names
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Who doesn’t love the National Geography Bee? The finals aired yesterday and congrats to the winner, Eric Yang!

 

This contest got me thinking about Celebrity Geography — celebrities and their kids with geography-inspired names. How well do you know your celebrity geography? Here’s my list:

 

 

GIRLS’ NAMES

 

ALABAMA (Shanna Moakler and Travis Barker’s daughter)

 

AMERICA Ferrera

 

ASHANTI

 

BRISTOL Palin

 

CHINA Phillips

 

DAKOTA Fanning

 

INDIA Arie

 

IRELAND Baldwin

 

ISLA Fisher

 

LOURDES (Madonna and Carlos Leon’s daughter)

 

PARIS Hilton

 

SAVANNAH (Marcia Cross and Tom Mahoney’s daughter)

 

SHILOH (Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s daughter)

 

 

 

BOYS’ NAMES

 

BRONX Mowgli (son of Ashley Simpson and Pete Wentz)

 

BROOKLYN (son of Victoria and David Beckham)

 

CHAD Lowe

 

 

CUBA Gooding Jr.

 

DALLAS Imbimbo

 

KINGSTON (Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale’s son)

 

ORLANDO Bloom

 

ORLANDO Jones

 

TENNESSEE Williams

 

JORDAN Knight

 

 

I’m sure there are more you can add to this list. Post your additions here!

 

 

♥  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

 

 

Gone with the Wind … a Name-Lover’s Paradise!

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on May 19, 2009
in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Holiday Baby Names
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Without a doubt, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind is one of the most beloved American novels. More importantly, it’s a name-lover’s paradise! Today marks the 73rd anniversary of Gone with the Wind, so I thought it was fitting to highlight some of the great names from this book.

 

 

 

FEMALE CHARACTER NAMES

 

BEATRICE Tarleton

 

BELLE Watling

 

BONNIE BLUE Butler

 

CARREEN O’Hara

 

DIMITY Munroe

 

DOLLY Merriwether

 

ELLA LORENA Kennedy

 

EMMIE Slattery

 

FANNY Elsing

 

HONEY Wilkes

 

INDIA Wilkes

 

MAYBELLE Merriwether  

 

MELANIE (MELLY) Hamilton  

 

SCARLETT O’Hara

 

SUELLEN O’Hara

 

 

 

 

MALE CHARACTER NAMES

 

ASHLEY Wilkes

 

BEAU Wilkes

 

BRENT Tarleton

 

CADE Calvert

 

CHARLES Hamilton

 

DARCY Meade

 

GERALD O’Hara

 

JOHN Wilkes

 

RENÉ Picard

 

RHETT Butler

 

STUART Tarleton

 

WADE Hamilton

 

WILL Benteen

 

 

 

With such a long book, it’s no surprise that it’s full of so many interesting names. But, I would say that the character’s first names aren’t the only source of name-inspiration. Here are some more possibilities from the locations and character’s last names.

 

 

GEORGIA

 

HAMILTON

 

O’HARA

 

TARA

 

WILKES

 

 

Gone with the Wind Name Trivia!

 

·         The name “Scarlett” was actually a last-minute change before publication. Scarlett was originally named Pansy.

 

·         Scarlett’s full given name is Katie Scarlett O’Hara.

 

·         Carreen and Suellen’s names are combined versions of their full given names:

 

Carreen = Caroline Irene

 

Suellen = Susan Elinor

 

·         Bonnie Blue’s given name is Eugenie Victoria Butler.

 

 

 

What is your favorite Gone with the Wind character name? Post a comment and let me know!

 

♥  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.

 

 

 

Fun Character Names to Celebrate Children’s Book Week (…and maybe some inspiration, too)

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on May 17, 2009
in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Holiday Baby Names
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Happy Children’s Book Week! I’m a huge fan of children’s books — just ask my friends. I’d take a picture of my bookshelf to prove it, but I haven’t figured out how to upload pictures to my blog yet.

 

One of the things I love about children’s books is the fun character names. I just finished reading Jinx by Meg Cabot. It’s a story about a girl named Jinx. Well, her real name is Jean, but everyone calls her Jinx. You’ll have to read the book to find out why.

 

Anyhow, in honor of Children’s Book Week, I decided to put together a list of children’s book characters with excellent names that might also give you some naming inspiration…here goes:

 

 

 

FEMALE CHARACTER NAMES

 

ALICE — Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

 

AMELIA — Amelia Bedelia series by Peggy Parish

 

BLAIR — Gossip Girlseries by Cecily Von Ziegesar

 

CHARLOTTE — Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White

 

CORALINE — Coralineby Neil Gaiman

 

GEORGIA — Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson by Louise Rennison

 

HERMIONE — Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

 

MADELINE — Madelineby Ludwig Bemelmans

 

RAMONA — Ramona Quimbyseries by Beverly Cleary

 

SERENA — Gossip Girlseries by Cecily Von Ziegesar

 

TRIXIE — Trixie Beldenseries by Julie Campbell Tatham (this one has a special place in my heart because Trixie is my cat’s name)

 

VIOLET — Series of Unfortunate Eventsseries by Lemony Snicket

 

WENDY — Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

 

 

 

 

MALE CHARACTER NAMES

 

ARTEMIS — Artemis Fowlseries by Eoin Colfer

 

BO — The Thief Lordby Cornelia Funke

 

CHARLIE — Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryby Roald Dahl

 

CLIFFORD — Clifford the Big Red Dogseries by Norman Bridwell

 

FERDINAND — The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf

 

HARRY — Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling

 

HUGO — The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

 

JASPER — Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

 

MAX — Where the Wild Things Areby Maurice Sendak

 

MILO — The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

 

PERCY — Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (Harry Potter, too)

 

 

Some of these authors have pretty fantastic names, too — CORNELIA, ROALD, LUDWIG, CECILY, MUNRO, NORTON!

 

What are your favorite character names? Post a comment and let me know!

 

♥  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.

 

 

 

Happy Mother’s Day (plus a few related baby names)

Published
by
Amanda Barden
on May 10, 2009
in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Holiday Baby Names
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Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms, soon-to-be-moms and most especially Happy Mother’s Day to my mom!

 

In celebration of motherhood, I’ve decided to highlight some of the names that mean “mother” or, in one case, something pretty similar (see Boys’ section below).

 

 

        GIRLS’ NAMES

 

Amlika

 

Janikaa

 

Jarita

 

Maia, Maya

 

Neith

 

 

 

BOYS’ NAMES

 

Quigley

 

 

 

Quigley means “on the maternal side” — I was quite excited to find at least one boys’ name I could add to my list.

 

All these names, and many more, can be found in the Heritage & Family chapter in Baby Names Made Easy. Check it out!

 

I’m a little undecided about whether “mother” is an odd meaning for a baby’s name or whether it’s a charming tribute to motherhood. What do you think? Post a comment and let me know.

 

♥  Amanda