Archive for the ‘
In Name Only ’ Category
Monday, June 17th, 2013
Have you gone to see the new Superman movie? It’s definitely on my husband’s to-do list, and since it stars the yummy Henry Cavill (who I absolutely adored as Henry VIII right-hand man on The Tudors), I wouldn’t mind tagging along. It looks like plenty of you have seen it, since it scored a record-breaking, $125 million debut at the box office.
While Superman may be into weird-celebrity-name territory—and Kal-el, his Kryptonian name, definitely is (Nicholas Cage chose it for his son)—his Clark Kent alter ego provides us with two cool, under-the-radar choices.
Clark definitely has some measure of old-Hollywood cool, thanks both to the Man of Steel and Gone With the Wind romantic lead Clark Gable, I think Kent is a fresher choice. It’s an English name that means “edge,” and it’s been out of the top 1,000 baby names for nearly a decade now. (It hit its prime in the 1940s-1960s.)
Kent is also the name of a county in southeastern England, making it a cool place name. It has the cowboy cool of names like Clint and Colt, but with just a touch of British panache. It’s also a nice way to honor a Kenneth in your family’s history, while still picking something fresher.
Kent works well with longer middle names, like Alexander, Jonathan and Weston. And since I have seen it used a few times for girls, I’d pair it with Adeline, Clementine or Martina.
What do you think of the baby name Kent? Would you take it or leave it—and does it seem like it’s a girls’ name or a boys’?
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baby names, boys' names, clark kent, cool name of the week, girls' names, henry cavill, man of steel, superhero names, superman, unisex names | Categories:
In Name Only, Must Read
Wednesday, June 12th, 2013
Just in time for the True Blood season premiere this weekend, the show’s stars, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer, finally spilled the beans on the names of their adorable boy-girl twins. (I was worried they’d be sent off to college before we found out what they’re called!) And the names are: Poppy and Charlie—two names I just happen to adore.
Poppy is obviously a floral name, a bright, cheerful bloom with a name that’s just as joyful. Unlike fellow floral names Lily and Violet, Poppy still hasn’t cracked the top 1000, but it’s been a relatively popular name with the celebrity set. (Anthony Edwards, Jamie Oliver and Jessica Capshaw all picked the name for their daughters.) It fits beautifully with the name Stephen chose for his daughter from a previous relationship—Lilac.
And Charlie’s name goes hand-in-hand with the name of Stephen’s older son—Billy. It has the same casual take on a traditional name that we all know and love. No word on whether they went for the official Charles (which currently ranks #62 in baby names in the U.S.), or straight for the nickname (Charlie ranks #233 for boys). Either way, the name means “free man.”
We don’t have their middle names, but I’d probably pair Poppy with something longer—like Caroline, Clementine or Josephine. I like Charlie with something short and sweet, like James, Brooks or Bennett.
What do you think of Poppy and Charlie as a twin set? What middle names would you pick for them? And if you’re as stoked as I am for the season premiere of True Blood this weekend, check out my list of True Blood names that might just be perfect for you.
And don’t forget to like In Name Only on Facebook to keep up with the very latest in baby names!
Image: Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer by Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com
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Sunday, June 9th, 2013
Anyone else catch the Tonys tonight? (Or were you all watching Game of Thrones? I admit I had to switch off Neil Patrick Harris and crew for an hour or so to see how this horrific—yet awesome—season came to a close!) This is the one awards show where I generally catch at least a few of the nominees—and as it turns out, the list of nominated plays and musicals is chock full of name options—on the musical side, there’s Annie, Matilda, Pippin, Edwin and Ella (minus the Cinder for a better baby name option). On the play side of the column, there’s Ann, Mary, Virginia and Cyrano. And of course, the Tony Award-winning play that’s a mashup of intriguing names—Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.
Of the names from the Tony Award winner, Sonia seems like the most likely to make an impact. After all, it’s actually a Russian/Scandinavian variant on the top girls’ baby name in the country, Sophia. Depending on the source, the name either means wisdom or love—both fabulous meanings for a baby’s name, don’t you think? The name hasn’t left the top 1000 baby names since before 1900—though it is on a bit of a downturn right now. Maybe the play will help bring it back into the limelight—if Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor doesn’t already give it that extra oomph.
If you love the name Sonia, you need to go either short and sweet or much longer with your middle name. It pairs well with middle names like Rose, Marin, Hope or Catherine.
So what do you think of Sonia? Or is there another Tony Award-nominated name you’ve got your eye on? (P.S. Anyone else out there totally geek out over the fact that Cyndi Lauper scored a Tony?)
Photo: Pregnant woman via Ronald Summers/Shutterstock.com
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Saturday, June 8th, 2013
Apparently, now that Jersey Shore is cancelled and she already has experience naming one baby of her own, Snooki has gone into the baby-naming biz—and she’s offering her unsolicited baby name advice to celebs like Kim Kardashian and Fergie.
For Fergie’s soon-to-come baby, she offers Casper for a boy, “because Fergie is funky and fun, so Casper’s a fun name.” For a girl, Violet’s her choice, “because Violet is pretty just like Fergie.”
For the offspring of the K-centric couple, Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Snooki picked Kougar or Kat “so they could still fit in the family business.” (I’m intrigued as to what business the Kardashians are in, other than allowing their lives to be filmed for prime-time TV and coming up with trendy names like Khloe and Mason.)
Overall, the choices are about 50-50 in my book. I like the girls’ names. Violet’s always been a big favorite of mine (I’m using it for the heroine of a novel I’m working on), and I like Kat as a nickname for something longer, like Katharine or Katrina. But Casper has the connection with the “friendly ghost” of old-school cartoon fame (maybe Snooki’s too young to remember the cartoons?), and Kougar—well, you know my thoughts about creative spellings. Plus, Cougar has those semi-creepy connotations of middle-aged women prowling for young handsome men. I also find it interesting that she went for mostly offbeat, daring choices for others, when her own baby was given a very old-school Italian name (Lorenzo).
What do you think of Snooki’s baby name choices? Would any of them make your short list? (Shout out to Appellation Mountain for the heads up on this interesting news!)
Don’t forget to like In Name Only on Facebook to keep up with the latest in baby names—and try out our Baby Name Game to tell us what YOU think of a few choice baby names.
Image: Brad Camembert / Shutterstock.com
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boys' baby names, celebrities, celebrity baby names, fergie, girls baby names, jersey shore, kanye west, kim kardashian, snooki | Categories:
Celebrity Baby Names, In Name Only, Must Read
Tuesday, June 4th, 2013
It’s a girl for heartthrob Channing Tatum and wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum. And though initially, the couple were hush-hush about the baby name, it’s finally been announced: Everly.
Everly sounds like it should mean something along the lines of “forever,” but it actually means wild boar (maybe not the meaning you were seeking for your baby girl!). It’s an English name that began its life as a boys’ name (Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman Anthony Kiedis picked it for his son). But lately, parents have started to consider it for their girls. (Twilight actor Cam Gigandet picked an alternative spelling, Everleigh, for his daughter.) And in fact, it charted in the top 1000 for the first time last year, as a girls’ name. And it’s also associated with the pop greats, who were noted for the song “Bye, Bye Love.”
I actually wondered if they were going to pick a name with a double-n in it, to work well with their names—a name like Annabel, Hannah, Quinn or Sienna would have been my choices if they’d gone in that direction.
No word on a middle name for Everly, but I would pick something short and sweet—Rose, James (the current vogue celeb middle name for girls) or Maeve.
What do you think of the name Everly? Is it one you’d pick for your daughter—or your son? And what middle name do you think Channing and Jenna picked for their baby?
Photo: Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan-Tatum by Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
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