baby names 2013!
Baby names that are towards the top of my list, in rough order of how they appeal to me currently:
BOYS:
Tobit/Tobias - nn: Toby. I favor Tobias (the traditional English transliteration, and the more common name), Gordon favors Tobit (the current English transliteration). We both like the book of the Bible and the two characters of that name within it. And I think the nickname Toby is super cute.
Benedict - nn: Ben. I had always planned to hold this name in reserve in the event of having male/female twins whom I would name Benedict Damian and Cosima Scholastica, but the Holy Father's abdication has me wanting to honor him.
Rhys - The big drawback to this name is that there's no saint Rhys. However, you could say that it's a virtue name--it means "passion, enthusiasm" in Welsh originally. There's no St. Mercy as an example of another virtue name without a saint. And of course we'd make sure the middle name was a saint.
Bede - I don't know what it is about this name, it just draws me. The Venerable Bede is an awesome namesake. Especially because any children of ours have a higher than usual chance of being "bookish".
Leo(pold) - These names are not actually related to each other; Leo comes from Latin "lion" and Leopold from a Germanic root meaning "brave people". Both have been names of multiple saints. Leo is currently an international smash hit, rock
Thaddeus - nn Thad. Inevitably gonna call him Tadpole as an endearment. Inevitably. I think tadpoles are awesome. Froggy themed stuff for little boys in general is too cute.
Lionel - Except I would cheat and use Leo as a nickname for this one too because why not. I'm not calling him Nelly.
Xavier - My issue with Xavier is that I like almost every pronunciation of it EXCEPT the correct English pronunciation. I even prefer the incorrect neo-pronunciation "ex-zay-vee-er" to the traditional one. The French pronunciation? Awesome. The Basque? Super. The Portuguese? Wonderful. "ZAY-vyer"? It's not that it's bad, it's just the least good. (The Italian Saverio is also nice but you lose the cool X effect.)
Oscar - I like Oscar and Ozzy, and I like SOG Oscar Romero. I'm not sure why this isn't higher. I feel like I should like it more.
GIRLS:
Mary Alice -My grandmother's name, but it's more like she's an inspiration rather than me naming the child specifically in her honor, if that distinction makes sense. I was never especially close to this grandmother, who died when I was pretty young, and whose personality was very old school Scottish Presbyterian regarding children being seen and not heard--not something that tends to endear your average modern six year old. In fact my strongest memory of her, and this is kind of sad, is when she forced me (via my father, but I knew it was really her and my dad would never have done it otherwise) to finish a bowl of mushy cereal. (I had been called away from the table for some reason and when I returned the remnants of the cereal were mush.) But, I also remember how when we'd visit her she'd get certain special treats and keep them in the kitchen, especially White Castle cheeseburgers in the freezer. She was not directly affectionate, but she loved. I understand her better as an adult. Anyway, I really like her name.
My other grandmother was a much more affectionate and directly loving personality, the kind that a child will understand and adore, but her name was Doris. I hate the name Doris. Plus whenever I read it I hear it in the exasperated voice of my grandfather. "Doris, are you paying attention to this soup?" Etc.
Josephine - NN: Josie or Posy. Joseph is Gordon's baptismal name so you could say this will be in honor of him partially.
Genevieve - nn: Viv or Vivi. I don't mind Gen(ny), but I have heard from other Genevieves that if you go by Gen-based nicknames people automatically assume you're a Jennifer. The French pronunciation of this name is particularly pretty but I like the English too.
Honora - nn: Nora. I love Nora, but the usual Eleanor route to the nickname is supersaturated among the under 5 set, especially locally. You can't throw a rock at a playground in Vancouver without hitting an Eleanor. (Don't throw rocks in playgrounds.)
Susan(nah) - nn: Suzy. There would be something wonderfully daring I think about naming a child Susan in 2013. So anti-style it's stylish.
Iona - Patron, the Martyrs of Iona. Iona is a Scottish island.
Leonie - With or without the accent. It's a female form of Leo and I love it similarly. It's pronounced basically the same in French and German, so I'm not especially concerned about pronunciation confusion, more about paperwork. In the US (and the baby will be a dual citizen) accent marks, hyphens etc are stripped from official names, in Canada they are not. However in Canada people will probably be more likely to assume it's a French name? IDK. I like the name, and I think it sounds nice with our surname.
Mary Beatrice/Beatrix - I am kind of in love with Bee as a middle name, but it's pretty cutesy. Mary Bee! SO CUTE. I thought that Mary Beatrice would be an easy route to this nickname. Plus both halves are great names with great nicknames, so lots of options.
Beatrice/Beatrix - Talked about this before. Bee, Betty, Trixie, all awesome. This was an also-ran for Pip, but I'm finally far enough out from the naming process that I can see it again in its own right rather than "the name that wasn't right for Pippa".
Mary Rose/Marie-Rose - Ditto Marie-Rose. But I'm putting both at the bottom of the list for now because they've been put in the "not right names" box in my brain for a while and it'll take a while for that dust to come off, and it might not entirely before August.
Leo and Josephine are in the top 200 for the US; Rhys, Tobias, and Genevieve are top 600; Lionel, Beatrice, and Thaddeus are top 1000; Iona, Honora, Leopold, and Benedict have charted in the past but are not currently top 1000; Bede, Tobit, and Beatrix have never charted. Mary+ names are all counted under Mary, which is still top 200 after all this time but a long way away from its former perennial #1 status.
It's worth remembering that popularity rankings ain't what they used to be. Two of my friends' babies have names that illustrate this nicely. Christine has a baby Stella, which is currently #73. Its previous peak in the 1880s and 90s was just a tad higher, about #67 or so. However, in terms of numbers of babies named Stella per 1 million, well, check it out:
Half as many Stellas per million now compared to then.
Michael is even more dramatic, it's still a top ten name, yet check it out compared to its peak in the 1960s:
Four times the Michaels in the 50s-70s compared to now.
I'm not going to show the picture, but there are less Jacobs born now, when the name is #1, than in the 1990s, when it was #5. The trend away from the common, which has been going on for about a century, is accelerating, I think.
What most people are looking for now, is something that "stands out but fits in", something that "everyone loves but no one is using"--paradox!
BOYS:
Tobit/Tobias - nn: Toby. I favor Tobias (the traditional English transliteration, and the more common name), Gordon favors Tobit (the current English transliteration). We both like the book of the Bible and the two characters of that name within it. And I think the nickname Toby is super cute.
Benedict - nn: Ben. I had always planned to hold this name in reserve in the event of having male/female twins whom I would name Benedict Damian and Cosima Scholastica, but the Holy Father's abdication has me wanting to honor him.
Rhys - The big drawback to this name is that there's no saint Rhys. However, you could say that it's a virtue name--it means "passion, enthusiasm" in Welsh originally. There's no St. Mercy as an example of another virtue name without a saint. And of course we'd make sure the middle name was a saint.
Bede - I don't know what it is about this name, it just draws me. The Venerable Bede is an awesome namesake. Especially because any children of ours have a higher than usual chance of being "bookish".
Leo(pold) - These names are not actually related to each other; Leo comes from Latin "lion" and Leopold from a Germanic root meaning "brave people". Both have been names of multiple saints. Leo is currently an international smash hit, rock
Thaddeus - nn Thad. Inevitably gonna call him Tadpole as an endearment. Inevitably. I think tadpoles are awesome. Froggy themed stuff for little boys in general is too cute.
Lionel - Except I would cheat and use Leo as a nickname for this one too because why not. I'm not calling him Nelly.
Xavier - My issue with Xavier is that I like almost every pronunciation of it EXCEPT the correct English pronunciation. I even prefer the incorrect neo-pronunciation "ex-zay-vee-er" to the traditional one. The French pronunciation? Awesome. The Basque? Super. The Portuguese? Wonderful. "ZAY-vyer"? It's not that it's bad, it's just the least good. (The Italian Saverio is also nice but you lose the cool X effect.)
Oscar - I like Oscar and Ozzy, and I like SOG Oscar Romero. I'm not sure why this isn't higher. I feel like I should like it more.
GIRLS:
Mary Alice -My grandmother's name, but it's more like she's an inspiration rather than me naming the child specifically in her honor, if that distinction makes sense. I was never especially close to this grandmother, who died when I was pretty young, and whose personality was very old school Scottish Presbyterian regarding children being seen and not heard--not something that tends to endear your average modern six year old. In fact my strongest memory of her, and this is kind of sad, is when she forced me (via my father, but I knew it was really her and my dad would never have done it otherwise) to finish a bowl of mushy cereal. (I had been called away from the table for some reason and when I returned the remnants of the cereal were mush.) But, I also remember how when we'd visit her she'd get certain special treats and keep them in the kitchen, especially White Castle cheeseburgers in the freezer. She was not directly affectionate, but she loved. I understand her better as an adult. Anyway, I really like her name.
My other grandmother was a much more affectionate and directly loving personality, the kind that a child will understand and adore, but her name was Doris. I hate the name Doris. Plus whenever I read it I hear it in the exasperated voice of my grandfather. "Doris, are you paying attention to this soup?" Etc.
Josephine - NN: Josie or Posy. Joseph is Gordon's baptismal name so you could say this will be in honor of him partially.
Genevieve - nn: Viv or Vivi. I don't mind Gen(ny), but I have heard from other Genevieves that if you go by Gen-based nicknames people automatically assume you're a Jennifer. The French pronunciation of this name is particularly pretty but I like the English too.
Honora - nn: Nora. I love Nora, but the usual Eleanor route to the nickname is supersaturated among the under 5 set, especially locally. You can't throw a rock at a playground in Vancouver without hitting an Eleanor. (Don't throw rocks in playgrounds.)
Susan(nah) - nn: Suzy. There would be something wonderfully daring I think about naming a child Susan in 2013. So anti-style it's stylish.
Iona - Patron, the Martyrs of Iona. Iona is a Scottish island.
Leonie - With or without the accent. It's a female form of Leo and I love it similarly. It's pronounced basically the same in French and German, so I'm not especially concerned about pronunciation confusion, more about paperwork. In the US (and the baby will be a dual citizen) accent marks, hyphens etc are stripped from official names, in Canada they are not. However in Canada people will probably be more likely to assume it's a French name? IDK. I like the name, and I think it sounds nice with our surname.
Mary Beatrice/Beatrix - I am kind of in love with Bee as a middle name, but it's pretty cutesy. Mary Bee! SO CUTE. I thought that Mary Beatrice would be an easy route to this nickname. Plus both halves are great names with great nicknames, so lots of options.
Beatrice/Beatrix - Talked about this before. Bee, Betty, Trixie, all awesome. This was an also-ran for Pip, but I'm finally far enough out from the naming process that I can see it again in its own right rather than "the name that wasn't right for Pippa".
Mary Rose/Marie-Rose - Ditto Marie-Rose. But I'm putting both at the bottom of the list for now because they've been put in the "not right names" box in my brain for a while and it'll take a while for that dust to come off, and it might not entirely before August.
Leo and Josephine are in the top 200 for the US; Rhys, Tobias, and Genevieve are top 600; Lionel, Beatrice, and Thaddeus are top 1000; Iona, Honora, Leopold, and Benedict have charted in the past but are not currently top 1000; Bede, Tobit, and Beatrix have never charted. Mary+ names are all counted under Mary, which is still top 200 after all this time but a long way away from its former perennial #1 status.
It's worth remembering that popularity rankings ain't what they used to be. Two of my friends' babies have names that illustrate this nicely. Christine has a baby Stella, which is currently #73. Its previous peak in the 1880s and 90s was just a tad higher, about #67 or so. However, in terms of numbers of babies named Stella per 1 million, well, check it out:
Half as many Stellas per million now compared to then.
Michael is even more dramatic, it's still a top ten name, yet check it out compared to its peak in the 1960s:
Four times the Michaels in the 50s-70s compared to now.
I'm not going to show the picture, but there are less Jacobs born now, when the name is #1, than in the 1990s, when it was #5. The trend away from the common, which has been going on for about a century, is accelerating, I think.
What most people are looking for now, is something that "stands out but fits in", something that "everyone loves but no one is using"--paradox!