Sound Off: Baby Names
Aside from chocolate, there's almost nothing women like to talk about more than baby names. Don't believe me? Check out these blogs tracking celebrity baby names. They're pretty stalkerish, but a great resource for facts like Soleil Moon Frye has a baby named Poet Sienna Rose.
When thinking about this Sound Off today, I was able to come up with two famous TV episodes about baby names off the top of my head. Both of them feature another woman stealing or taking "a secret baby name" from a single girl.
The first was when Rachel gets pregnant with Ross's baby. Once she finally has it, she doesn't know what to name her, so Monica lets her use Emma, her secret baby name. The other is from Sex and the City. The girls go to a baby shower for their previously wild friend Laney. At the shower, Laney reveals that the baby's name will be Shayla and Charlotte freaks out. This was Charlotte's secret baby name, and she told it to Laney, who stole it.
TV writers of the world, paranoid much? But that being said, I have always had a few secret baby names stored in my head. I think when I was really young, I favored the name Aurora. During college I wanted three boys named Abraham, Moses, and Noah, and in grad school I was just sure I want a boy named Oren and a girl named Harper (after Harper Lee, of course).
Now I like to talk about my secret baby names with my fiance, who will play along for awhile, but will eventually start pretending that he can't hear me or he's getting one of those mysterious migraines again.
And so, I want to know, what are you secret baby names? Or your real babies' names?
--May
PS Here's the baby name wizard again. You have to have java on your computer...and about three hours to burn.
22 comments:
I'm not sure I want kids, but I've been thinking about what I would name them since I was about, oh, 12? I haven't thought about them for a while, but I have a list somewhere...yes, I know I'm crazy!
In high school, I decided I would name my kids Inertia, Subpoena, and Latrine, because they're pretty words as long as you don't know what they mean, which delighted me.
These days Wayne and I are more thinking along the lines of unpronounceable symbols, which proves we are not ready to have kids yet. I think when you move from the territory of "how can I make a joke out of my kid's name?" to "what names do I like?" you might be on the right path.
In our more serious moments (they do happen occasionally) we favor names from older generations in our families.
Can someone explain to me the phenomenon of naming your child after yourself, though? I don't get it.
Sundae Marie (oldest, is 20), Brittany Ann (18), Kristav Isaac (15), and Jhenna Lynne (14).
I had 2 others picked out (because, insane person I was, I wanted 5 kids--a boy with autism cured that REAL quick), 1 of r a girl and 1 for a boy, but I can't remember what they were now. I think the boy was Nathan, but I can't be sure.
When I was 19, I wanted twins – a boy named Willow and a girl named Aspen. Or was it a girl named Willow and a boy named Aspen? I can't remember now.
I am so glad I didn't have twins when I was 19.
This is a funny topic. I don't think I want kids, but I still think of names. And we have a great last name to make totally awful first names.
But when I make up pretend names for my never existant babies, I like Ezekiel for a boy or Kincaid for a boy or girl (I've been obsessed with the name Kincaid ever since The Brothers K became my favorite book).
I don't know about naming your child after yourself (or your parents or whatnot). My husband is the 5th James in his family (his father, his grandfather, etc) and when three generations of Jameses were alive, everyone had nicknames anyway to avoid confusion. Can you imagine going to a family reunion? Jim! No, other Jim. No, other other Jim. Yes, you.
We use our first names as middle names for our kids...that tradition started in my husband's family. Here are my kids' names:
Jesse Daniel (6)
Claire Felicity (almost 5)
Ellery Blythe (our Glory Baby already in Heaven)
Ada Jewel (3)
Macy Cheri (4 months)
One more TV show with a stolen baby name plot: George Costanza and the name Seven on Seinfeld.
I have a 2-year old daughter - Delaney Anne.
I'm also expecting...we don't know yet if we're having a boy or girl, and we don't know yet what the name will be. My husband likes the name Blaise for a boy, but I'm not going for it. :)
sbaar--THE BROTHERS K, THE BROTHERS K. This is my favorite book in the whole wide world and almost no one knows about it. I love that you love the name Kincaid.
This is such a fun post. My two favorites names at the moment are Georgia and Walker (as in Percy, of course!). My sister wants to name a little girl Tuesday, which I also love.
What I find funny is that it's so much harder to think of boy names. At least for me.
Anne - hello! This is Anna (used to be Hudson, but it's now Springer) from FPCM...you were friends with my older sister Sarah...
Anyway...on topic:
My husband & I like the name Timothy so that we can call him "Timmay!" (as in the retarded kid on SouthPark)...possibly indicating the "not ready to have kids yet" thing, too.
Although, i do like the naming kids after older generations from the family thing...my sister named her daughter "Stella" - how cool is that? I've been thinking lately it would be fun to have a daughter named Elizabeth, but we could call her "Betty" like my grandmother. That could either be retro-cool or weird-old, not sure yet.
My kids names are Abigail Grace, Lydia Faith, and Joel Andrew.
My husband was adamant about Bible names and I happen to be fine with it. I really wanted to use the name Hannah because I like her story but my husband wasn't going for it.
I don't think I want children either, but if I do, I would use very traditional (aka boring)names - Elizabeth and Luke.
Isn't it funny how people not only plan out the names for their children, but also what they'll call their child too - "I'll name her Elizabeth, but she'll go by Izzie" etc. Funny.
On a side note, isn't Suri Cruise the most adorable child ever? I don't have kids (just my dog daughter) so I can say she is the cutest kid ever.
May - I think we should start a crusade to get every American to read The Brothers K. It is that good. :)
Everett would be a fine name too, but I couldn't name a child Irwin. I would be prone to calling the kid Winnie and bringing me back to The Wonder Years.
Sarah
Anne... some older gen names from my family, just for you:
Guy, Dora Latimer {first, middle}, Oliver Scott, Effie Ellen, Frances Lillian, Louis, James Ernest {Ernie!} and Edgar.
My brand new nephew is Isaac Edgar...
And Boyfriend's last name is Marchese {pro. Mar.que.zee} but people pronounce Mar.cheese.y. So we are partial to M'Vella Marcheesy.
Like a few of you, I don't think I want kids but I have thought of names. For a girl I love the name Elizabeth Margaret (after Beth and Meg from Little Women, my favorite book of all time. Margaret is also my grandma's name). I also love the name Autumn. For a boy, I like the name Jacob... I'm not sure why, I've just always liked it.
I love names that have a story behind them. My nephew was adopted from Russia, and his name there was Misha, which is like Mike over here. My sister and her husband decided that his middle name should be Michael, after his Russian name. I love that his history is part of his name!
I love talking about names. Most of my names are on this post, which was written a while back:
http://deuxbijoux.blogspot.com/2007/01/name-diaries.html
My daughters names are Madeline Kate and Anna Claire. I never wanted to shorten Madeline's name to the nickname "Maddie." Now, I think Maddie is kind of cute, but she has always been called Madeline. I insisted that Anna Claire would be called by both names at first(I chose this name with this in mind), but now, we mostly call her Anna. Funny how things change.
Other favorite names right now are very similar to the ones mentioned on the post: For girls, I like Ellie, Lydia, Leah, Lilly. I like Benjamin for a boy.
I love reading other people's name choices. What a fun post!
High School Baby Names:
Boys: (I tend to like those that end with a "K")
Bucky (yeah, baby. I'm from Louisiana)
Brock
Myrick
Girls: (I lean more towards those ending with an "A".)
Katia
Shawna
Mia
Rachelle
Okay, it's been so long, I have forgotten all 12 that I had picked out for the 12 kids I dreamed of having with Mister Right.
I know, I know. Teen estrogen on overdrive.
Now, I know better, and I don't have any picked out for the kids I never had with Mr. Right who has yet to come along.
And so it goes...
Since you mention the Name Voyager which only covers US name statistics, I thought I'd mention the Baby Name Map which includes popular names from around the world including the US. It's probably more useful for your readers from other countries.
ANNA! It's so good to hear from you! Email me and let's catch up! How/where are you these days!?
I really love hearing what people name their kids. Thanks to everyone who shared their own kid's names. It says a lot about a person, and I pretty love every name you've all shared. Either you have great taste in names or we have great taste in readers.
What name could possibly sound good with Peevyhouse? It's a conundrum.
If I have a little girl, I want to name her Mae. A boy, Tobin.
Isabella and Archie for me. Although I like Rufus for a boy as well. And Gabriel. And Paddy. And Rory.
Let's hope I don't have more than one girl, though, because I haven't got further than Isabella on that. Although I do know that her middle name will be Elisabeth, after my grandmother, and I'll call her Issie. (Yup, spelled like that. Which I've just realized is one letter away from "issue." Which is what she'll probably have with her name.)
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