Do You Have Baby Names You Love That You Won’t Get to Use?

Friday, May 3rd, 2013

Don’t tell my husband, but I have a slight case of baby fever. My kiddos are becoming big way too fast. My youngest just lost her first tooth, and my oldest is rolling her eyes and campaigning for a cell phone. Couple that with a teary post I read about how one mom suddenly realized she’d carried her kids for the last time without ever noting that milestone, and a chance to hold my friend’s delicious, chubby baby boy, and I’m thinking it might be nice to have one last baby around the house. I know it’s not going to happen (there’s no such thing as a “surprise adoption”), and I know that realistically, two girls are more than enough for us to manage at this point. And it’s nice to have kids who are old enough to fix themselves breakfast, tie their own shoes and brush their own hair. But babies are just heavenly, aren’t they?

Plus, I have so many baby names I love, that I won’t ever get to use—unless it’s for a future kitten or puppy. If I had another daughter, she’d be Adeline Mary, after two of my great-grandmothers. (After our daughters each got family names, we can’t just go with something we happened to see in a baby naming book, can we?)  Boys are a little trickier. We’d probably give a son the middle name Kenneth, after my dad. But I’m not sure about the family name options. I never met my great-grandfathers, so I don’t have much attachment to their names. There’s a Walter, and I think a Louis and a Charles—both names that were given to my grandfathers. I still love Alexander and Nicholas, which were the two names my husband and I were hashing out before we found out our second child was a girl. And of course, now that I’m deeply immersed in baby names on a daily basis, I’ve found new ones to love: names like Dixon, James and Nolan. And I can’t forget Luke.

Do you have a baby name you love that you’ll never get to use? Share it here!

Baby Name Dilemma – Solved!

Thursday, February 28th, 2013

A couple of weeks ago, we featured Connie and her search for a short but sweet boys’ name. In addition to my suggestions, you guys came out in full force, with tons of potential baby names. So Connie and her fiancé, Travis, had plenty to work with when choosing the perfect baby name. Here’s what she had to say:

I made a list of 107 names consisting of your suggestions, the reader suggestions, and other names I came across, and Travis crossed off all but 7…it was a start.  Last Wednesday morning I had to have an emergency c-section, and 48 hours later we finally picked a name. Wade Lee!! Short and sweet, not too common and not too weird.

I think Connie and Travis made a fantastic choice! Wade is an English name that means river crossing (it’s also a word that means walking out into water). It reached its peak in popularity in the 1960s, but is still reasonably popular now – it’s currently in the top 500 baby names for boys. It’s a short one-syllable name that has no nickname, which was one of Travis’s deal breakers for baby names. It looks like one of our readers, Suzanne, came closest  to picking the perfect name for Connie and Travis’s son– she suggested the more modern cousin of Wade, Cade.

Lee is also an English name, and it means meadow. It’s less popular than Wade as a first name, but Lee is one of the most popular middle names around.

What do you think of Connie and Travis’s choice? Is it a baby name you would pick for your child? And how concerned are you about nicknames when you’re picking your child’s baby name?

Don’t forget: if you have a baby naming question, send it to me at LAMilbrand@Gmail.com.

Photo: Question mark by PZ Designs / Shutterstock.com

Celebrity Baby Names: Matthew McConaughey’s New Son

Sunday, December 30th, 2012

“Livingstone, I presume.” That’s the joke the son of Matthew McConaughey and his wife, Camila, will hear about a hundred billion times throughout his life, as he received a triple surname name: Livingston Alves McConaughey.

Livingston is an English surname that means “dear friend’s place.” It needs a good nickname, being so long. I’m voting for Ving (as in actor Ving Rhames), but could also see Liv used as its nickname. I’m sure that the once-lost and famous 19th-century explorer, Dr. David Livingstone (the inspiration for the famous “Livingstone, I presume” quote) would approve of this adventurous first name. The middle name is his mother’s maiden name, Alves—giving him a connection to his model mom’s past.

Livingston’s name fits in well (perhaps a bit too well) with his siblings. There’s big brother Levi Alves (Levi could be a nickname for Livingston as well), and big sister Vida Alves. With all those Vs and Ls in their crew, my guess is that Levi and Livingston are going to often be called by their siblings’ names. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

What do you think of Matthew and Camila’s baby naming prowess? Would you pick any of their names for your child?

Don’t forget to like In Name Only on Facebook, so you can keep up with the latest in baby names.

s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

Different Baby Names, Same Cool Nickname

Wednesday, December 12th, 2012

I just wrote an article about the most popular nicknames around—you’ll hear nicknames like Kate, Abby and Maddie around the playground for girls, and Charlie, Max and Ben for boys. In fact, many of the most popular names in the country—including names like Jack and Liam for boys, and Bella and Ellie for girls—are actually nicknames that were given as official names, in lieu of the more formal versions. And even looking through the top names, you can see where some names were given to arrive at a certain nickname—like Madeline for Maddie, or Elijah for Eli.

But you don’t always have to go for the popular choice to get to the same nickname destination. Here are a few options for some of the more popular nicknames:

If you love Ellie—try Elizabeth, Eliana, Emmanuelle, Noelle or Estella

If you love Ben—try Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett or Bentley

If you love Addie—try Adele, Addison, Adeline, Adelaide or Adina

If you love Max—try Maxim, Maximilian or Maxwell

If you love Millie—try Millicent, Amelia, Camilla or Milena

If you love Eli—try Elijah, Elias or Elliot

If you love Fi—try Delphine, Fiorella, Fiona, Felicia, Fidelity or Josephine

Girls’ names tend to have more nickname possibilities—if you really want to give your daughters the ultimate in flexibility with their names, consider one of the names that allows a ton of nicknames. There’s Elizabeth (Eliza, Elise, Lisa, Liza, Liz, Beth, Bess, Betsy, Ellie, Ells, Ella), Margaret (Maggie, Mags, Maisie, Daisy, Margie, Greta, Margo, Madge, Gretchen, Peggy), Katherine (Kathy, Kath, Kate, Katie, Kat, Rina) and Evangeline (Angel, Eva, Eve, Evie, Angela, Angeline, Van, Lina, Angie) for starters. With that many choices, you’re sure to find the right nickname to suit your daughter’s personality. But there’s always William (Will, Willy, Bill, Billy and Liam) and Nicholas (Nico, Nick, Nicky, Cole) for the boys.

So, what nicknames are you loving right now? And did you pick your kids’ names just for the nicknames?

Photo: Cute baby by postolit /Shutterstock.com

Star Wars Baby Names

Sunday, November 11th, 2012

The news that George Lucas had sold Disney the rights to the Star Wars saga was met with a little trepidation and much jubilation in my family. We’re excited about new Star Wars attractions next time we head to Disney World, and most of all, my daughters are thrilled at the idea of brand-spanking-new Star Wars movies, set to debut in a few years.

If your family’s just as thrilled with the idea of new Star Wars films, perhaps a name inspired by Lucas’ opus could be a good fit for your family. While names like Yoda and Anakin aren’t completely real-world friendly, I’ve picked a few here that could work in real life. Check them out:

Padme Mom of twins Luke and Leia, and Anakin Skywalker’s one true love, Padme is an alternative spelling for Padma, a Sanskrit name that means lotus flower.

Ben Fan favorite Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi goes “undercover” as Ben when the Jedi are exiled. It’s a simple name that means “son.”

Luke I’ve already written about my love of this name, for the hero of the first (and my favorite) Star Wars trilogy.

Landon I think Lando might be a tough sell, but this variant on the name of Han Solo’s  fast-talking Cloud City compadre Lando Calrissian has become a red-hot name (it’s currently #34 here in the U.S.).

Leia Carrie Fisher’s gun-toting, imperious princess was the forerunner of today’s tough-as-nails, rescue-themselves Disney princesses (like Merida, Mulan, and Rapunzel). Leia is a variant spelling of Leah, which means weary.

Cody Commander Cody is a Clone Wars hero (and a clone)—and a name that’s currently in the top 200 for boys.

Owen Luke’s uncle, who cared for him after Anakin became Darth Vader, has a name that’s currently in vogue—it means “warrior,” and it’s in the top 50 names in the country.

Mace This name has strong roots, as a type of weapon—and as one of the toughest Jedi out there, Mace Windu (played by one of the toughest actors out there, Samuel L. Jackson).

Rex Another top Clone leader from the animated series The Clone Wars, Rex is a Latin name that means king.

Luminara Luminara Unduli is one of my daughter’s favorite Jedi—a strong warrior dressed in black, whose name is a variant on the Latin word for light.

Shelly Wall / Shutterstock.com