Parents Blogs In Name Only Cool Name of the Week: Stark

Posts Tagged ‘ baby name meaning ’

Cool Name of the Week: Stark

Sunday, June 2nd, 2013

I had to stay up extra late tonight, just so I could watch the penultimate episode of this third season of Game of Thrones one more time. And if this tasty little tidbit of TV is still sitting in your DVR, do not read any further.

(I’m totally serious! Stop reading now! SPOILER ALERT!)

In the tradition of the Game of Thrones, they’ve killed off some of the most loved characters in the most shocking way ever—as a bridal party (infamously called the “Red Wedding” in the novels the TV show is based upon) turned into a slaughter, resulting in the deaths of the heroic Robb Stark, his wife, Talisa and his mother, Catelyn. And in honor of the recently departed, I’ve selected their family name, Stark, as the baby name of the week.

Stark is a word name, which means spare and austere—but also can mean sharp and clear. It might make a too-bold choice for a first name, but feels fresh as a middle name—I’d love it paired with Gabriel, Wyatt, Leo, Ari, or, for the true-blue Game of Thrones fan, Robb or Eddard. Stark could also work for a girl—the nation’s hottest name, Arya, obviously goes with it. I also love it with Carolina, Adeline, Lillian and Dahlia.

What do you think of the name Stark? Too weird? Would you use it for your son or daughter? If you’re  a big Game of Thrones fan, don’t miss my selection of great baby names from Game of Thrones that you might want to consider for your own future Khaleesi!

Add a Comment
Back To In Name Only

Celebrity Baby Names: Chely Wright’s Two Sons

Monday, May 20th, 2013

It’s twins for country singer Chely Wright and her wife, Lauren Blitzer Wright, who welcomed a pair of sons over the weekend. The two boys were given names that had meaning for the couple—they’re the names of Chely and Lauren’s grandfathers: Everett Joseph and George Samuel.

Everett is a relatively popular name that means “brave,” and currently is on a major upswing toward the top 200 names. They paired it with the timeless Joseph, a top 20 Biblical name.

George is a Greek name that means farmer. It’s a name that’s on a very slow and steady decline, after decades in the top 20 names. (I still love it, though, for little boys!) It’s a name with a very long and illustrious past, including British royals, our first President, a slew of writers, and of course, a few modern Presidents, too. Samuel is an Old Testament name, which hasn’t been out of the top 100 for over a century. It’s a name that means “told by God,” and it’s currently in the top 25 in the U.S.

What do you think of Chely and Lauren’s choices? Are you planning on any of those names for your baby boy? (Don’t forget to check out our Name Game to tell us what other names you love—or love to hate!)

Photo: Chely Wright and Lauren Blitzer Wright by s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

 

Add a Comment
Back To In Name Only

Want to Avoid Giving Your Baby a Stripper Name? There’s an App for That.

Wednesday, January 30th, 2013

When you’re hunting for the perfect baby name, you’re probably checking for awful pop culture references and weird nicknames. But it’d probably help if you could find out, for instance, that your chosen baby name is peaking in popularity, is more popular amongst liberals or conservatives—or even what kind of careers previous Ambers and Alans had, so you can assess whether you’ve chosen your baby’s name wisely.

Enter the newly updated baby naming app called Nametrix, an app developed by a new dad during his paternity leave. He crunched the numbers from U.S. government data and Wikipedia biographies to build out his app, which can give you not only the current and past popularity of a particular name, but which region of the U.S. it’s most popular in, which party someone given that name is more likely to join, when the name’s popularity peaked, and the top profession for people with that name. (Turns out, I probably should have been a set designer—and my political affiliations and locale seem right in line with the rest of the Lisas referenced in the app.) Maybe you won’t want to pick Mason, after all, when you discover that men with that name are most often found working as X-rated performers.

But the coolest thing about the app is that you can also look at names in the other direction, and find out which names are more common among Democrats or doctors, if you’re hoping to raise yourself one of those. (Who knew that Elliot and Helene were such popular names among psychologists?)

It’d be great to get the baby name meaning into the app as well (though of course, Parents.com offers an app for that), but if nothing else, this adds a whole new level to your baby naming research. (As if you don’t already have a billion other things to research right now, right?) And of course, you can get a little more insight into the thousands of other folks in our country who bear the same name as you.

Image: Baby Names by Amir Ridhwan / Shutterstock.com

Add a Comment
Back To In Name Only

Did Adele Give Us a Clue About Her Baby’s Name?

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013

Singing phenom Adele has been famously tight-lipped about the name of her little boy, even telling reporters at the Golden Globes, “I am not sharing his name at the moment,” she said. “It is very personal to me. I am enjoying him on my own.”

But perhaps she gave away a little bit of her secret earlier this week. While on a shopping excursion, she was spotted wearing a name necklace with the name “Angelo” on it (and that’s not the name of her boyfriend, Simon Konecki).

Angelo is the Italian word for Angel. It’s a name that’s been pretty popular here in the U.S.—it’s been hovering around the top 300 boy’s names here for the past 80 years.

It’s a name that would be best with a shorter middle name—I like it with more offbeat names like, Zen, Fox, and King. Or perhaps she should pick something a little more music-oriented, like Jude, Jazz, or Reed, to fit her career.

Do you think Adele signaled her secret with her jewelry? And if so, what do you think of Adele’s baby name choice? What would you pick for a middle name with it?

Photo: Adele by Featureflash / Shutterstock.com

Add a Comment
Back To In Name Only

Celebrity Baby Names: Elton John’s New Son

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

Elton John has a brand new addition to his family—his new son, Elijah Joseph Daniel. Elijah’s the second son of Elton and his partner, David Furnish—he joins his big brother, Zachary Jackson Levon.

Elton and David stacked up a bunch of Biblical names for their new son. Elijah is a pretty popular name—currently #13 in popularity here in the U.S., and it’s a Biblical name that means “Jehovah is God.” Its most famous namesake, besides the Biblical reference, is actor Elijah Wood, who portrayed the Hobbit Frodo Baggins in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Joseph, currently #22 on the most popular names list, also has a God-like meaning—”Jehovah increases.” And the second middle name, Daniel, is currently in the top 10 names, and means “God is my judge.” There’s a whole slew of celebs with Joseph and Daniel as their names, including writer Joseph Heller and Vice President Joseph “Joe” Biden, and actors Daniel Craig, Daniel Day Lewis and Daniel Radcliffe.

Elton and David buck the celebrity trend of giving their sons out-there baby names—all of their sons’ names (with the exception of Levon) are in the top 100 baby names. But the second middle names, Levon and Daniel, actually have a special meaning for the parents—they’re the names of two of Elton’s top hits from the 70s. (I wonder if he sings them as lullabies to the boys!) Both names flow nicely, and share the same middle initial, J.

What do you think of Elton’s naming choices? Are you disappointed when stars pick standard names for their kids, or are you glad when they’re not saddled with monikers like Moxie Crimefighter or Pilot Inspektor?

Don’t forget to like In Name Only on Facebook, to keep up with the latest baby-naming dish!!!

Photo: Elton John by s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

 

Add a Comment
Back To In Name Only