Getting Into the Name Game

May 23, 2012 at 11:41 am , by lmilbrand

My name is Lisa, and sometimes, I wish it wasn’t.

 

No offense to my parents, who fell in love with the name Lisa Anne after touring a local builder’s model home by the same name (no lie). After all, Lisa wasn’t the kind of name that would scar me for life. No one ever mispronounced or misspelled it. No one mocked me or seemed confused as to whether I was a boy or a girl. And when I went shopping for personalized gold-plated necklaces or mini license plates, the stores always had my name emblazoned on the merchandise.

 

But there were a few downsides to Lisa. Since my parents helped skyrocket that name to #3 in the year I was born, there was always another Lisa in my class. And since the nickname possibilities were limited, my name became “Lisa M.” through much of my school career. The only song with Lisa in it was “Mona Lisa,” and it always creeped me out when people (by and large older men) crooned it to me.

 

But the biggest issue, in my book, was that the name Lisa was just a little too plain Jane for my taste. It wasn’t the kind of name that’d set the world on fire. When I played make believe, I chose long, flowery names, the kinds that came with nicknames and a little more pizzazz. Names like Anastasia or Alexandra, or even Melissa. (To my six-year-old mind, that extra “Me” and the double s made it just a little bit fancier.)

 

I’ve grown to love my name, but there were times there where I really wished I’d been given a different one.  So obviously, naming your baby can kind of be a big deal. Especially these days, when all the Lisas and Michaels and Jennifers and Jessicas and Jasons from my generation are going to great lengths to ensure our children’s names are as unique as possible. We’re dreaming up new names or new spellings, or dusting off old standards—and with so many options out there, it can be a big challenge to narrow it down to the perfect one for your little babe.

 

I’m here to help guide you through, to help you find that dream name for your child. Hopefully a name that your kid thinks is just as perfect for him or her as you do.

Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelly Name Daughter Adalaide Marie Hope

May 16, 2012 at 10:16 am , by Linda Rosenkrantz

Last month actress Katherine Heigl and her husband Josh Kelly announced that they’ve adopted their second daughter, Adalaide Marie Hope, though domestic adoption. (Their first child, Nancy Leigh “Naleigh,” was adopted from South Korea in September 2009.) Get the story behind Adalaide‘s name from Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond  of Nameberry.

Adalaide is a distinctive spelling of the place name Adelaide, which has made a resurgence in 2005 after Rachel Griffiths picked it for her daughter. It currently ranks number 407 on the year’s 1,000 most popular names list,  the highest it’s been since 1925.  Adelaide is rising in tandem with Adeline (nickname Addie), which now ranks at Number 288, and was chosen just last week by The Big Bang Theory star Simon Helberg.

Marie was once almost as common as Ann and Lynn for middle names—it’s Katherine Heigl’s own middle moniker—then fell out of favor and is now making a comeback, often having some family connection. Other celebs who have a child with the middle name Marie include Jessica Alba and Cash Warren for daughter Honor, Thomas Gibson for Agatha, Kevin James for Sienna, Giada De Laurentiis for Jade, and Lance Armstrong for Olivia. The biblical name Hope was first used by the Puritans. The use of two middle names is becoming increasingly common.

Adalaide’s big sister was named Nancy Leigh in honor of her grandmother Nancy, and Heigl’s sister Margaret Leigh.

Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran are the creators of the baby name site Nameberry and the authors of ten bestselling books about names, including Cool Names for Babies and The Baby Name Bible.

Photo: Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelly at the CMA Awards via s_buckley/Shutterstock.com

The Most Popular Baby Names of 2011

May 14, 2012 at 11:07 am , by Linda Rosenkrantz

In May, the Social Security Administration (SAA) reveals the previous year’s top names. This morning the most popular monikers of 2011 were announced, with Sophia and Jacob earning the top slots. Get the full list, as well as what the names mean, from Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond  of Nameberry.

Sophia captures the top spot for girl names, unseating Isabella, while Jacob has held onto first place for boy names for the last 13 years. The only newcomer to the Top Ten for both sexes is Mason, up from #12 last year to second place on the boys’ list this year. Anthony fell off the Top Ten.

The full Top Ten lists for both sexes are:

Girls

1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Ava
6. Emily
7. Abigail
8. Madison
9. Mia
10. Chloe

Boys

1. Jacob
2. Mason
3. William
4. Jayden
5. Noah
6. Michael
7. Ethan
8. Alexander
9. Aiden
10. Daniel

The celebrity influence remains strong, with Mason, the name of Kourtney Kardashian’s little boy, and Harper, the well-publicized name of the Beckhams’ daughter, among the fastest rising popular names.

Other names leaping up the list thanks to celebrity influence are Briella from the Style Network’s reality show Glam Fairy and Brantley inspired by the country singer Brantley Gilbert, along with Angelique, from Dark Shadows, and the unlikely Iker, name of Spanish soccer star Iker Casillas Fernandez.

Sophia is a Greek Name meaning “wisdom” while Jacob is an Old Testament name that means “supplanter.” Variations Sofia, Sophie, Jake, and Jacoby, along with cousin name James, are also popular, though the SSA counts all spellings and variations separately. Aiden and Jayden, if all spellings were taken together, would be the Number 1 and 2 boys’ names, according to the SSA. (See all of the top names for 2011.)

Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran are the creators of the baby name site Nameberry and the authors of ten bestselling books about names, including Cool Names for Babies and The Baby Name Bible.

Photo: Baby via Lev Dolgachov/Shutterstock.com

Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson Name Daughter Maxwell Drew

May 1, 2012 at 1:45 pm , by Linda Rosenkrantz

Fashion mogul Jessica Simpson and her fiancé Eric Johnson welcomed their first child together, a daughter, in Los Angeles on May 1. The couple named their baby girl Maxwell Drew Johnson. Get the story behind this celebrity baby name from Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond  of Nameberry.

Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson are the latest celebrity parents to pull a gender switch by naming their new daughter Maxwell Drew. But, surprisingly enough, this isn’t the first female Maxwell born to a celebrity this year: actress Lindsay Sloane dubbed her daughter Maxwell Lue in January.

This Scottish Gaelic surname has been exclusively male in the past, with playwright Maxwell Anderson and actor Maxwell Caulfield being the most well-known people with the moniker. It’s one of a whole constellation of Max-names popular with parents—Max itself, the imaginative Maxx (used by Scott Hamilton), and Maximilian (Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony). Other celeb parents of boy Maxwells include Brad Garrett, Kerry Katona, and Lance Armstrong.

Gender bending has been a growing trend in the celebrisphere, with Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon’s daughter Monroe (granted, that was inspired by a very female Marilyn), Brendan Fehr’s James, Ziggy Marley’s Judah, James Barbour’s Hudson, Soleil Moon Fry’s Jagger, and Johnny Knoxville’s Arlo, to name a few. Sometimes a celebrity switch is enough to permanently tint a name pink; recent examples include Avery, Emerson, Harper and Finley. It’s hard to say whether this will happen with Maxwell, but we can picture Max taking off as a nickname for girls, a la Sam and Charlie.

Maxwell  Johnson’s middle name, Drew, is Jessica Simpson’s mother’s maiden name, a nice way of incorporating family history.

Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran are the creators of the baby name site Nameberry and the authors of ten bestselling books about names, including Cool Names for Babies and The Baby Name Bible.

Photo: Jessica Simpson in Los Angeles via Helga Esteb/Shutterstock.com

A Trip Through Elementary-School Names

April 13, 2012 at 3:50 pm , by Paula Kashtan

I’m currently visiting my aunt, uncle and three young cousins. Of course, the most interesting thing to me in their house is the elementary-school phone directory for grades K through 5. It represents actual proof of baby-naming trends — not just expert testimony about new name fads.

Below, some of the more interesting findings from my read:

Harry and Roxane (one n) in the same kindergarten class, Joanne in the first grade and Judith (hi Mom!) in the fifth grade. Proof that ’40s and ’50s names are not dead.

Jocopo and Kalena. Sorry, no idea about pronunciation or ethnicity.

The androgynous Tinley, Sami, Wells, Tyto, Cary, Ramsey, Reece, Kazio, Savi, Finian (2x), Sormeh, Kildee, Ailish, Joavan and Behrad.

Only two -aden/-ayson names: Aidan and Grayson.

Zaida and Ziza.

Unique spellings Pearse, Deniz, Rebekka, Clio (a little too close to an anatomical word for my tastes…), Caleigh, Calli and Lukas.

Indianola and Nola in the same first-grade class and Maya and Maia in the same second-grade class.

Victoria nicknamed Wren, Penelope nicknamed Nellie, Erik nicknamed Doc, Addison nicknamed Satchel, Isabella nicknamed Zara, Julia nicknamed Julia Belle, Thomas nicknamed Chandler and William nicknamed Frere.

…along with lots more fun. What about you? What’s interesting in your kid’s group?