Tag Archive for ‘vintage baby names’ at Baby Names Made Easy: The Complete Reverse-Dictionary of Baby Names

« Older Entries

Tag Archive for 'vintage baby names'

Baby Names with Vintage Charm from 1911

Published

Amanda Barden

on June 14, 2011

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists

. 2 Comments

VINTAGE CHARM

Do you like your baby names with a little vintage charm? I always think that looking back to what was popular 100 years ago is a fun source of cute picks. How about these from the Top 200 in 1911:

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

BEATRICE

CLARA

CLEO

CORA

DAISY

FRANCES

GENEVA

GENEVIEVE

GEORGIA

MAE

MINNIE

NAOMI

NORA

OLIVE

OPAL

PEARL

VERA

VIOLA

BOYS’ BABY NAMES

AMOS

ARCHIE

CALVIN

EVERETT

FELIX

GILBERT

GRADY

HENRY

LEO

LOUIS

MACK

OSCAR

OTIS

THEODORE

VINTAGE OR MODERN?

Do you prefer old-fashioned names or modern ones? You can email me or leave a comment. When you leave your first comment, you’ll need to take a couple seconds to “register.” It’s a way to prevent spammers from clogging up comment sections with off-topic advertisements. Once you do register though, you won’t have to worry about it again and can leave all the comments you want.

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

Baby Name Insider, September 2010 Edition

Published

Amanda Barden

on September 22, 2010

in Baby Name Insider and baby name trends

. 1 Comment

THE BABY NAME INSIDER:

Entertainment Weekly has The Shaw Report, I have The Baby Name Insider – the latest in cool and uncool baby names and trends. Baby naming trends change just as quickly as fashionable hairstyles, clothes and nursery themes. A lot of parents I’ve talked to were sure they’d chosen a name that wasn’t overly popular yet, only to discover they were very, very wrong. Don’t let that happen to you!

Here are my picks for today’s “Cool,” “In Limbo” and “Uncool” names and trends – some based on my opinion, some based on what I’m hearing from readers.

THE BABY NAME INSIDER

	COOL	IN LIMBO	UNCOOL
Baseball Names:	BUSTER	NOLAN	HANK
Animal Names:	COLT	BEAR	FALCON
Vintage Names:	VIOLET	PEARL	ERNEST
Nickname Names:	CHARLIE	ARCHIE	BILL

Like The Baby Name Insider? If so, let me know J You can email me or leave a comment. When you leave your first comment, you’ll need to take a couple seconds to “register.” It’s a way to prevent spammers from clogging up comment sections with off-topic advertisements. Once you do register though, you won’t have to worry about it again and can leave all the comments you want.

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

100 YEARS OF BABY NAMING

Published

Amanda Barden

on August 17, 2010

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists

. 0 Comments

100 YEARS OF BABY NAMING

Social Security has put together a ranking of the 100 Most Popular Names from the last 100 years. Do these names still appeal to parents today? You tell me.

Here are the Top 20 Names from 1910 to 2009:

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

MARY

PATRICIA

JENNIFER

ELIZABETH

LINDA

BARBARA

MARGARET

SUSAN

DOROTHY

JESSICA

BETTY

SARAH

NANCY

KAREN

LISA

HELEN

SANDRA

DONNA

CAROL

KIMBERLY

THE BREAKDOWN: Girls

Comparing this list with today’s Top 20 is definitely an interesting study in style. Relatively few of the girls’ names are on top of the current charts. I think this hundred year retrospective illustrates that while some names maintain a timeless charm – Elizabeth and Sarah – other names lose that sense of cool and now sound unfashionable – Patricia and Carol.

How can you predict which names will stay fashionable and which names will lose their cool?

Fashion can be unpredictable. For example, I have no clue why skinny jeans are still popular when so few people can actually pull them off. Luckily, I have a better handle on name fashions. One thing you’ll notice about the timeless classics – Elizabeth, Sarah, James and Michael – is that most have a Biblical connection. These names have been around for millennia and haven’t had their popularity tied to a trend or fad. Names that become popular quickly or are related to a celebrity tend to fall out of favor before too long.

Translation: In the years to come, watch for trendy names like Miley and Jayden to fall onto the unfashionable list, while names like Elizabeth hold their ground.

Name to watch: BETTY. I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about this name lately. I’ve even heard of a handful of babies bestowed with the name Betty (some as a middle name). I also know of a cat named Betty, but I’m not sure that counts. And don’t underestimate the resurgence of love we’re all feeling for Betty White these days. As mentioned, celebrity has a huge influence on baby naming.

On to the boys:

BOYS’ BABY NAMES

JAMES

JOHN

ROBERT

MICHAEL

WILLIAM

DAVID

RICHARD

JOSEPH

CHARLES

THOMAS

CHRISTOPHER

DANIEL

MATTHEW

DONALD

PAUL

MARK

ANTHONY

GEORGE

STEVEN

KENNETH

SOURCE: Social Security

THE BREAKDOWN: Boys

Boys’ names don’t change in style as dramatically as girls’ names do. That’s why the boy’s list still looks fairly current, with a few exceptions like Donald and Kenneth. Nearly half of the boys’ names are still in the Top 20 today. That’s pretty remarkable! What it tells us is that quite a few parents still gravitate toward traditional, classic boys’ names.

The 100 year’s list and today’s Top 20 both include: MICHAEL, WILLIAM, DANIEL, ANTHONY, CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW, DAVID, JOSEPH and JAMES.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Why does the popularity of girls’ names change more than boys’ names? Tell me why you chose a traditional name (or why you didn’t!). You can email me or leave a comment and share your thoughts about this list. When you leave your first comment, you’ll need to take a couple seconds to “register.” It’s a way to prevent spammers from clogging up comment sections with off-topic advertisements. Once you do register though, you won’t have to worry about it again and can leave all the comments you want.

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

Birth Announcements

Published

Amanda Barden

on July 26, 2010

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists

. 0 Comments

People often ask me what parents are naming kids today, so I thought I’d share some of my research on that. I love to scan birth announcements. The glamorous life of a name-nerd…

Here are some of the names I’ve collected from birth announcements lately:

VINTAGE NAMES

CAMILA SOFIA

CONSTANCE CHRISTINE

EVA MARIE

GUINEVERE ELAINE

ISABEL NOEMI

PHOEBE MICHELLE

CALEB MICHAEL

CURTIS GRAY

ELSWORTH LEVI

ISAIAH SCOTT-RAY

ISAIAH ZERIC

JEREMIAH ELI

NICKNAME NAMES

ABBEY GRACE

ALLIE ELIZABETH

ALLIE JORDAN

CHARLIE SHAY

MADDI CAROLINE

JAMEY MACK

WILLIE HARVEY

WILLIE O’NEIL

ONE-OF-A-KIND NAMES

ANIYAH MALEAH

AZAELIA BLAIRE

GREENLY MAE

HAYLEN GRACE

JADALYNN ARIEL

JAZLYNN JAKARI

KANIYA RI’ANNA KENTRICE

MAKIYAN STARR

MAYLEE BROOKE

MIRACLE ELIZABETH LUCILLE

MUA ELYSE

SICA MAE

YASLYNN ADELINE MARIN

YOSELIN

BENTLEY

CANNON SCOTT

JAKEL BRENNON

KIAN MICHAEL

LUC

MERRITT LEWIS

NEKHI TAURICUS

STORMY WAUNYEAH

ZARREL CLIFTON

APOSTROPHE NAMES – there were a lot more of these than I expected…

BRIELLE NI’DORA

DA’ZENA NIGERIA

HA’SHARIA NICOLE

JA’MYA NICOLE

KANIYA RI’ANNA KENTRICE

TY’YANNA KAMARI

J’VIER AKEEM

NA’SIR KE’MON

CLASSIC FAVORITES NAMES

AMY

GABRIELLA RHYAN

JASMINE DENISE

KIMBERLY ALEXANDRA

OLIVIA GLAZE

RACHEL CAROLINE

ADAM DAVIS

CHRISTOPHER RYAN

DANIEL ALEXANDER

DANIEL JOSEPH

EDWARD ROMEO

GABRIEL ANDREW

JACOB ANDREW

JONATHAN MATTHEW

JONATHAN RYAN

KEVIN DANIEL

LUCAS JAMES

NICHOLAS JOSEPH

NOAH ANDERSON

ROBERT LOUIS – any relationship to Robert Louis Stevenson?

SAMUEL HENRY

STEPHEN WILLIAM

CREATIVE SPELLINGS

ADDISYN PAIGE

ALEYNA SUE

ASHLYNNE ELISABETH

JAIDEN IMONI

KAYLIEGH JEAN

KYLEE HARPER

LINSAY YUNZA

PEIGHTYN MAE

KAYDEN CARTER

KAYDEN MICHAEL

TRISTEN ANDREW

GEOGRAPHY NAMES

ALEXANDRIA ELIZABETH

BROOKLYN ELIZABETH JESS

BROOKLYN SKYE

CHEYENNE PARKER

DA’ZENA NIGERIA

SHILOH LIYANA

LONDON ISAAC

TRENDY NAMES

ADDISON GRACE KRISTIN JANELLE

AINSLEY CAROLINE

BREANNA FAITH

BRIELLE NI’DORA

ISABELLA LIN

KINLEY FAITH

PRESLEY DORA

ZOE VIRGINIA

AIDEN WILLIAM

BRENNAN GROVER

BRODY CREED

CASON JACOB

ETHAN HOYT

JACKSON ALEXANDER

JAYDEN RASHAD

KAYDEN CARTER

KAYDEN MICHAEL

TRISTAN AIDEN

TRISTEN ANDREW

TYLER TJ JOHN

WYATT JUSTIN

UNISEX NAMES

CHANDLER ALEXANDRIA

JAIDEN IMONI

JORDIN RENAE

RILEY PAIGE

RILEY ROSE

TAYLOR NIJAE

JAYDEN RASHAD

LONDON ISAAC

THE LILYS

LILIAN MARIE

LILIANA VALENCIANO

LILY MARIE

LILY MORGAN

CELEBRITY-INSPIRED NAMES

BROOKLYN ELIZABETH JESS

BROOKLYN SKYE

CHANDLER ALEXANDRIA

JORDIN RENAE

KINLEY FAITH

PRESLEY DORA

SHILOH LIYANA

CRUZ KIRBY

DAWSON STEVEN

EDWARD ROMEO

SAWYER LANDEN

UP-AND-COMING NAMES

AMIRA FAE

CARMEN ANN

CORA ROSE

ELLE-GRIER

LACEY MARIE

LAYLA SKYE

MACY GRIER

CLAYTON WAYLAND

JUDAH MATTHEW

JUDE ELLIS

LOGAN ERIK

WESTON AVERY

SURNAME NAMES

CHANDLER ALEXANDRIA

KENNEDY JANE

PRESLEY DORA

DIAZ BRYCE

SAWYER LANDEN

What trends do you love? Which ones do you hate?

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

Girls’ Names to Watch: 2010 Women’s US Open

Published

Amanda Barden

on July 5, 2010

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

. 0 Comments

Michelle Wie (Photo: Keith Allison)

Most major sporting events are full of boy’s names. Finally, here’s one that’s packed with girls’ names and only girls’ names! If you’re hoping to inspire golf talents in your daughter, maybe a talented namesake would help her along.

Here’s a sampling of interesting names from the 2010 Women’s US Open:

CLASSIC NAMES

ANNA Nordqvist

CHARLOTTE Mayorkas

ELIZABETH Janangelo

HELEN Alfredsson

KATHERINE Hull

LAURA Diaz

SARAH Kemp

VERONICA Felibert

VICTORIA Tanco

VINTAGE NAMES

CATRIONA Matthew

ESTHER Choe

JULIANA Murcia Ortiz

LOUISE Friberg

LUCY Nunn

MARIANNE Skapnord

MARTHA Nause

MEREDITH Duncan

SOFIE Andersson

UNISEX NAMES

MORGAN Pressel

TAYLOR Leon

DOUBLE NAMES

JAYE MARIE Green

INTERNATIONAL NAMES

AIKO Ueno

ALENA Sharp

BELEN Mozo

CHIE Arimura

GIULIA Sergas

JOOMI Kim

JULIETA Granada

KARINE Icher

MIKA Miyazato

UNIQUE SPELLINGS

ASHLI Bunch

CHRISTI Cano

GWLADYS Nocera

JULI Inkster

KARRIE Webb

KELLI Shean

MEAGHAN Francella

SUZANN Pettersen

ONE-OF-A-KIND NAMES

CHELLA Choi

LIZETTE Salas

SHASTA Averyhardt

NICKNAME NAMES

CANDIE Kung

JILL McGill

LIBBY Smith

MEG Mallon

MINA Harigae

M.J. Hur

SALLY Watson

TRENDY NAMES

ALLISON Fouch

AMY Yang

BRITTANY Lincicome

CHRISTINA Kim

DANIELLE Kang

GABRIELLA Then

HEATHER Young

JENNIFER Gleason

JESSICA Korda

KAITLIN Drolson

LINDSEY Wright

MICHELLE Wie

NATALIE Gulbis

NICOLE Jeray

PAIGE Mackenzie

SAMANTHA Richale

TIFFANY Joh

WENDY Ward

SOURCE: http://2010uswomensopen.com/player-list.php

What are you favorites? I really like CATRIONA and LIZETTE. They’re pretty and unique. I’m torn on the name SHASTA. It has a beautiful sound and calls to mind the lovely Mt. Shasta. Then I’m reminded of Shasta soda. What do you think?

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

The World Cup of Names: International Options for Baby Namers

Published

Amanda Barden

on June 27, 2010

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Newsworthy Names

. 2 Comments

More and more parents are choosing International names for their children. Sporting events like the World Cup give us an opportunity to see a bunch of those names in action.

Here’s a sampler of some of the names you might want to consider (and a few you probably shouldn’t) along with the county the player represents:

COOL NAMES

DARIO Vidosic (Australia)

SERGIO Romero (Argentina)

GUY Ndy (Cameroon)

RODRIGO Millar (Chile)

KOLO Toure (Ivory Coast)

HUGO Lloris (France)

NIKOS Spiropoulos (Greece)

KEIJI Tamada (Japan)

RAFAEL Marquez (Mexico)

DIRK Kuyt (Netherlands)

DEMY de Zeeuw (Netherlands)

TAYE Taiwo (Nigeria)

ROQUE Santa Cruz (Paraguay)

BRUNO Alves (Portugal)

ERIK Jendrisek (Slovakia)

MARKO Suler (Slovenia)

VINTAGE NAMES

LIONEL Messi (Argentina)

SEBASTIAN Bassong (Cameroon)

ISMAEL Fuentes (Chile)

HUMBERTO Suazo (Chile)

FABIAN Orellana (Chile)

EMMANUEL Eboue (Ivory Coast)

JESPER Christiansen (Denmark)

EMILE Heskey (England)

GARETH Barry (England)

FLORENT Malouda (France)

CEDRIC Carasso (France)

JEROME Boateng (Germany)

IBRAHIM Ayew (Ghana)

OSCAR Garcia (Honduras)

EDGAR Alvarez (Honduras)

DOMENICO Criscito (Italy)

EFRAIN Juarez (Mexico)

ISRAEL Castro (Mexico)

NIGEL de Jong (Netherlands)

RODOLFO Gamarra (Paraguay)

GERARD Pique (Spain)

IGNACIO Gonzalez (Uruguay)

TRADITIONAL NAMES

MICHAEL Beauchamp (Australia)

MARTIN Jorgensen (Denmark)

JAMES Milner (England)

ROBERT Green (England)

PHILIPP Lahm (Germany)

JONATHAN Mensah (Ghana)

ALBERTO Gilardino (Italy)

GREGORY van der Wiel (Netherlands)

VLADIMIR Stojkovic (Serbia)

BERNARD Parker (South Africa)

STEVEN Pienaar (South Africa)

FERNANDO Llorente (Spain)

BENJAMIN Huggel (Switzerland)

WALTER Gargano (Uruguay)

STUART Holden (USA)

CLARENCE Goodson (USA)

HARD TO PRONOUNCE NAMES

DIDIER Zokora (Ivory Coast)

DJIBRIL Cisse (France)

MESUT Oezil (France)

PIOTR Trochowski (Germany)

KWADWO Asamoah (Ghana)

GIOURKAS Seitaridis (Greece)

CUAUHTEMOC Blanco (Mexico)

ZDRAVKO Kuzmanovic (Serbia)

NEJC Pecnik (Slovenia)

SIPHIWE Tshabalala (South Africa)

CESC Fabregas (Spain)

UNISEX NAMES

ARIEL Garce (Argentina)

JEAN Beausejour (Chile)

ASHLEY Cole (England)

SIDNEY Govou (France)

PATRICE Evra (France)

MORGAN de Sanctis (Italy)

SIMONE Pepe (Italy)

ROBIN van Persie (Netherlands)

JASMIN Handanovic (Slovenia)

JOAN Capdevila (Spain)

NICKNAME NAMES

MAXI Rodriquez (Argentina)

TONI Kroos (Germany)

SAMI Khedira (Germany)

SULLEY Muntari (Ghana)

GEORGIE Welcome (Honduras)

JONNY Magallon (Mexico)

TIAGO (Portugal)

PEPE Reina (Spain)

JOZY Altidore (USA)

ROBBIE Findlay (USA)

UNIQUE NAMES

GONZALO Higuain (Argentina)

THIAGO Silva (Brazil)

AURELIEN Chedjou (Cameroon)

GAETAN Bong (Cameroon)

YAYA Toure (Ivory Coast)

LEDLEY King (England)

ARNE Friedrich (Germany)

HOLGER Badstuber (Germany)

ASAMOAH Gyan (Ghana)

PRINCE Tagoe (Ghana)

VANGELIS Moras (Greece)

ATHANASIOS Prittas (Greece)

GIANLUIGI Buffon (Italy)

JUSTO Villar (Paraguay)

DRAGAN Mrdja (Serbia)

KORNEL Salata (Slovakia)

ELVEDIN Dzinic (Slovenia)

BRANKO Ilic (Slovenia)

SURPRISE Moriri (South Africa)

TRANQUILLO Barnetta (Switzerland)

EDINSON Cavani (Uruguay)

DaMARCUS Beasley (USA)

HERCULEZ Gomez (USA)

STYLISH NAMES

MIKKEL Beckmann (Denmark)

BASTIAN Schweinsteiger (Germany)

CHRISTOS Patsatzoglou (Greece)

LEONARDO Bonucci (Italy)

CRISTIANO Ronaldo (Portugal)

NIKOLA Zigic (Serbia)

MAXIMILIANO Pereira (Uruguay)

DOUBLE NAMES

ANDRE PIERRE Gignac (France)

JULIO CESAR Caceres (Paraguay)

JUAN MANUEL Mata (Spain)

MODERN NAMES

LANDRY Nguemo (Cameroon)

LEE Addy (Ghana)

HENDRY Thomas (Honduras)

WESLEY Sneijder (Netherlands)

RORY Fallon (New Zealand)

CLINT Dempsey (USA)

POPULAR NAMES

NICKLAS Bendtner (Denmark)

LUKAS Podolski (Germany)

ISAAC Vorsah (Ghana)

DOMINIC Adiyiah (Ghana)

GIOVANI dos Santos (Mexico)

RYAN Babel (Netherlands)

LEO Bertos (New Zealand)

AUSTIN Eijde (Nigeria)

LANDON Donovan (USA)

SURNAME NAMES

WILSON Palacios (Honduras)

WINSTON (New Zealand)

DICKSON Etuhu (Nigeria)

BROWN Ideye (Nigeria)

NELSON Valdez (Paraguay)

MacBETH Sibaya (South Africa)

GELSON Fernandes (Switzerland)

SOURCE: www.fifa.com

The most surprising name? Obviously Surprise Moriri. My favorite name though is MacBeth Sibaya. I’m not sure why, but I think it’s quite cool. I’m not recommending it for your baby, but as a name nerd, I love it.

What are your favorites?

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

Names to Watch from the NFL Draft

Published

Amanda Barden

on April 25, 2010

in Celebrity Names and Newsworthy Names

. 0 Comments

j0387199 For some, the NFL draft was the start of a season full of football fun. Not me. The NFL draft was all about the interesting names. And there are some great names on the list. There are surname names, there are unique spellings, there are initial names, there are nickname names and so much more.

Here is my list of some of the most interesting names:

COOL NAMES

Brody Eldridge

Clay Harbor

Cody Grimm

Cole Pemberton

Devin McCourty

Dexter McCluster

Donovan Warren

Kyle Jolly

Levi Brown

Lorenzo Washington

Nolan Carroll

Riley Cooper

Sam Young

Sergio Render

Tyson Alualu

Zane Beadles

VINTAGE NAMES

Boris Lee

Charles Scott

Clifton Geathers

Cornelius Brown

Dorian Brooks

Earl Mitchell

Emmanuel Sanders

Lucien Antoine

Malcolm Sheppard

Marshall Newhouse

Nathaniel Allen

Perry Riley

Roddrick Muckelroy

Thaddeus Gibson

UNISEX NAMES

Blair White

Corey Wootton

Dominique Franks

Jordan Shipley

Kerry Meier

Leigh Tiffin

Lindsey Witten

Morgan Burnett

Shay Hodge

Shelley Smith

Taylor Price

SURNAME NAMES

Austen Lane

Everson Griffen

Hall Davis

Jacoby Ford

Keaton Kristick

O’Brien Schofield

Stevenson Sylvester

UNIQUE SPELLINGS

Arrelious Benn

Dekoda Watson

Dezmon Briscoe

Jammie Kirlew

Perrish Cox

Stafon Johnson

ONE-OF-A-KIND NAMES

Chastin West

Ciron Black

Colt McCoy

Crezdon Butler

Dace Richardson

Dez Bryant

Golden Tate (my favorite name on the list!)

Joique Bell

Juamorris Stewart

Koa Misi

LeGarrette Blount

Linval Joseph

Major Wright

Montario Hardesty

Selvish Capers

Shawnbrey McNeal

Sherrick McManis

Syd’quan Thompson

Trindon Holliday

Zoltan Mesko

INITIAL NAMES

A. J. Edds

A. J. Jefferson

C. J. Spiller

C. J. Wilson

J. D. Walton

T. J. Ward

NICKNAME NAMES

Cam Thomas

Geno Atkins

Jimmy Graham

Junior Galette

Mardy Gilyard

Mickey Shuler

Rennie Curran

Ricky Sapp

FAMOUS NAMES

Bruce Campbell – name of an actor

Charles Brown – like Charlie Brown from The Peanuts

What are your favorite names on the list? Mine is definitely GOLDEN TATE. Golden is an awesome name – especially for a football star.

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

ASK AMANDA: A Vintage Name with a Good Meaning

Published

Amanda Barden

on November 30, 2009

in Ask Amanda, Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Baby Naming Tips

. 1 Comment

Beverly & Pack

Welcome to another edition of ASK AMANDA. Today I’m helping parents with a very common question — and one of my favorites.

Ask Amanda

Q: We are having our third child in February, a baby girl. My husband and I love vintage names with great meanings. This time, we are struggling a bit. The baby’s middle name will be Constance. We do not want to pick a name that is too popular.

Any ideas? DANA, Austin, Texas

A: So, you’re looking for a vintage name that’s not too popular, has a good meaning and goes with the middle name Constance. I’m so glad you wrote to me!

Here are some suggestions:

ALTHEA: “healthy, healing power”

AUDREY: “noble strength”

CORDELIA: “heart”

DAPHNE: “laurel”

ELIZA: “God is my oath”

FELICITY: “happy, fortunate”

MARGOT: “pearl”

NORA: “honor”

ORLA: “golden lady, princess”

In case it factors into your decision, the name CONSTANCE is Latin for “loyal.” Sometimes people like to coordinate meanings.

I hope you find something you like on this list. If not, there are thousands of options in my book!

For everyone out there looking for names with specific meanings, you should pick up a copy of BABY NAMES MADE EASY. It’s the only baby name book that’s organized by the meaning of the names. That makes it really easy for you to find names with meanings you like. J

Good luck and let me know what you pick!

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

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!

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

The (Unofficial) Twilight Guide to Naming Babies

Published

Amanda Barden

on November 19, 2009

in Baby Names in the News and Celebrity Baby Names

. 3 Comments

fdecomite

No matter whether you’re on Team Edward or Team Jacob, we can all agree that Stephenie Meyer knows how to name a character. Wow! The character name list from her Twilight series is full of everything from traditional and classic names to inventive names to stylish International names. There’s a little something for everyone.

On her website, Meyer explains how she came up with the names for her lead characters Edward and Bella. Meyer chose Edward because Edward was the name of Mr. Rochester in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Mr. Ferrars in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. She thought the name Edward was “romantic” and, presumably, because it was no longer popular, it worked for a character who had been “dead” for many years. Meyer says that naming Bella was much harder. She ended up using the name she had picked out for a daughter if she ever had one. Risky!

She named other characters by looking through census records and choosing names that were popular in the years the characters were born.

She also revealed some Twilight Name Trivia:

 Rosalie was originally named Carol and Jasper was originally named Ronald. I’m so glad she made the changes! Rosalie and Jasper are so much more memorable and stylish than Carol and Ronald. Don’t you think?

Read what Meyer had to say about character names for yourself: http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/twilight.html

Here’s the list of characters from the Twilight series: Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn. I love the fans over at Wikipedia for being so helpful!

Enjoy and let me know your favorites!

FEMALE CHARACTER NAMES

ANGELA Weber

ATHENODORA

CARMEN

CHARLOTTE

CHELSEA

DIDYME

EMILY Young

ESME Cullen

GIANNA

HEIDI

IRINA

ISABELLA “BELLA” MARIE Swan

JANE

JESSICA Stanley

KACHIRI

KATE

KEBI

LAUREN Mallory

LEAH Clearwater

MAGGIE

MAKENNA

MARY

MARY ALICE “ALICE” Cullen

RENATA

RENÉE Dwyer

RENESMEE “NESSIE” CARLIE Cullen

ROSALIE Hale

SENNA

SIOBHAN

SUE Clearwater

SULPICIA

TANYA

TIA

VICTORIA

ZAFRINA

MALE CHARACTER NAMES

ALEC

ALISTAIR

AMUN

ARO

BENJAMIN

BILLY Black

CAIUS

CARLISLE Cullen

CHARLES

CHARLIE Swan

COLLIN

DEMETRI

EDWARD ANTHONY Cullen

ELEAZAR

EMBRY Call

EMMETT Cullen

EPHRAIM Black

ERIC Yorkie

FELIX

HARRY Clearwater

JACOB Black

JAMES

JARED

JASON Jenks

JASPER Hale

LAURENT

LIAM

MARCUS

MIKE Newton

PAUL

PETER

QUIL Ateara

RANDALL

RILEY

SAM Uley

SETH Clearwater

STEFAN

TYLER Crowley

VLADIMIR

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

I especially like the name SENNA from the girl’s list. It’s very pretty and unique, without being too unusual. That’s a fine line to walk and many parents are looking for names that fall into this category. Other favorites are CARMEN, ESME, ROSALIE, CARLISLE and LIAM.

You can bet that some of these character names will have an impact on baby name popularity. For example, lately I’ve heard a lot of people mention ALICE and JASPER as possible baby names. Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams also named their new son Jasper earlier this year, giving it an extra boost of star-appeal. It will be interesting to see if the names transition from being talked about to actually being used – only time will tell (they’ve seen modest bumps already). What do you think will happen? Will the Twilight frenzy translate into baby names?

Do you have any favorite names from this list? Post a comment and let me know.

Also, let me know what you think of New Moon – I can’t wait to see it!

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

Bram Stoker’s Guide to Baby Naming (just in time for Halloween!)

Published

Amanda Barden

on October 31, 2009

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Holiday Baby Names

. 0 Comments

j0436292

I remember being in high school and not being able to put Dracula down. I took it everywhere I went and stayed up late until I’d finished it…and was very sad when I came to the end. You know that feeling when a book is so good that you just don’t want it to be over? That’s how Dracula was for me.

Halloween seems like a good time to dust off this classic vampire tale and get some name inspiration.

Dracula debuted in 1897. So those of you interested in turn-of-the-century names should enjoy this list. It should also appeal to people interested in Irish names because Bram Stoker was born and raised in Dublin.

Here you go:

FEMALE CHARACTER NAMES

LUCY Westenra

WILHELMINA “MINA” (Murray) Harker

MALE CHARACTER NAMES

ABRAHAM Van Helsing

ARTHUR Holmwood

JOHN Seward

JONATHAN Harker

PETER Hawkins

QUINCEY Morris

LUCY and MINA would be quite stylish names today. Even WILHELMINA has an antique charm to it. It makes sense that these names sound interesting to our ears right now because names take a few generations to sound fresh again after a period of popularity. You can see a pretty steady cycle for the name LUCY here in the US. In 1897 it was the 61^st most popular name for girls. It dropped in popularity a little bit each year until the 1970s where it hit a low of 588. Then LUCY started climbing again. In 2008, it was at 112. I suspect it will continue growing in popularity over the next few years and then start to decline again.

WILHELMINA was most popular in the US in the 1880s — peaking at 215 in 1884. It actually hasn’t been in the Top 1000 since 1954. Talk about a name ready for a comeback! I remember a Days of Our Lives storyline in the 1990s with a character named WILHELMINA played by Lisa Rinna. The character went by the name Billie. There was also a storyline about a cosmetics company called Princess Wilhelmina. WILHELMINA is a bit of a mouthful, but there are a lot of cute nickname potential here — Billie, Mina, Minnie, Willa, Willie.

MINA was popular in the 1880s and stayed on the charts until 1944. Then it dropped off entirely until 2002. I can see MINA continuing to increase in popularity because it is short and sweet, has a very feminine ring to it and has that nickname quality that is popular with some parents.

The boys’ names are fairly traditional. None of them would sound especially out of place on a playground today. Nor would they have sounded out of place 50 or 100 years ago. QUINCEY is the most unusual of the names (more commonly spelled “Quincy” here in the US). It has never been a “popular” name, but it has also never been so uncommon that it would surprise someone to hear it.

What do you think of these names? Any fellow Dracula fans out there? Write and let me know.

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