Posts Tagged ‘
baby name ’
Monday, March 18th, 2013
If you’re as big a fan of The Walking Dead as I am, last night’s ending was a big shocker. I won’t give too much away, in case it’s still stored in your DVR, but Andrea, one of the longest running characters on the show, ends up in a bit of a predicament—to put it mildly.
It’s been interesting to watch the metamorphosis of her character. She started out as a relatively weak person, one who nearly decided to simply give up and commit suicide early on. But through all the trials and dangers wrought by living through a zombie apocalypse, Andrea has become one tough chick—a sharpshooter and skilled zombie hunter, who still lives by a strong moral code. She is willing to put herself in harm’s way to save the lives of her friends—as she did in yesterday’s episode. I’m hoping she will live to fight on another season (only two episodes left to find out!).
Her name, Andrea, was originally the Italian take on Andrew, and was a boy’s name. It actually means strong and manly (actually not a bad choice for the bold and a bit tomboyish character), and has been a top 100 baby name for girls in the country for the past 40 years.
It’s still used for boys in Europe (think of amazing opera singer Andrea Bocelli), but here in the U.S., it’s for the girls, despite its manly meaning. (Besides Walking Dead‘s badass Andrea, it was also the name chosen for the adorably geeky original 90210 character, and the heroine of chick-lit classic The Devil Wears Prada.)
As for middle names to pair it with, I’d choose something with some interesting consonants to break up the vowel-heavy first name. I like it with Zoe, Beatrice, Pearl and Jade.
What do you think of the name Andrea? Too manly or too well loved for your taste? Or just the right choice for your daughter…or even your son?
Don’t forget to like In Name Only on Facebook to keep up with the latest in baby names.
Photo: Pregnant woman via Ronald Summers/Shutterstock.com
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Thursday, March 14th, 2013
There are a lot of loose lips in the royal inner circle. After the Duchess of Cambridge (AKA the former Kate Middleton) accidentally let slip a “d” that led many to believe that the royal family will be adding a new princess, now there are rumblings that someone has leaked the baby name the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have chosen for the future ruler of England: Elizabeth Diana Carole.
Not a bad choice—in fact, I speculated back when the royal couple announced their pregnancy that both Elizabeth and Diana would be among the names given to a future queen.
Elizabeth is obviously in homage to the current and past grand dames of England—and a nice way to pay tribute to William’s grandmother. Diana honors William’s mother, while Carole is Kate’s mother’s name.
I had picked Eleanor Diana Victoria Elizabeth—do I get points for being half right?
What do you think? Is this leak the real deal? And is it what you expected?
Image: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Featureflash / Shutterstock.com
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Wednesday, March 6th, 2013
We all have big dreams for our children – success at work, wonderful friendships, a loving relationship and family. But could our name choices impact our children’s futures negatively, even if we don’t pick an out-there name like Facebook or Moon Unit? Especially if our dreams for our children involve a fancy degree from an Ivy League school?
Well, if you believe Gawker, having the most popular name from the year you were born may make it more likely that you don’t get that slot at Harvard. They compared the list of most popular names from 1994 with the current roster of Yale undergrads, and discovered that there wasn’t a whole lot of overlap. Many of the top baby names, including Ashley, Amber, and Morgan for girls, and Anthony, Brandon, and Kyle, didn’t appear on Yale’s list. But Yale’s list included a bunch of names that are on the current popularity list. We see Sophia, Abigail, and Emma for girls – and Samuel, Benjamin and Charles for boys. (I have to say, I was heartened by the fact that my daughters names, Katharine and Margaret, were both on the Ivy League list.)
Which falls in line with the research showcased in Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. they showed that there is a definite baby naming trend – the upper classes (those more likely to be able to foot the bill for a Yale education) choose the up-and-coming names. Those names soon start to catch on, and as they reach the peak of popularity, the upper classes move on to a new name.
So if you want to know what could be the next new and up-and-coming names, simply start checking out the rosters of swanky preschools in your area – then place your bets as to what’s on the baby-name horizon.
Image: Graduation cap by Amir Ridhwan/Shutterstock.com
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Monday, March 4th, 2013
We’ve been had! Last week, Belly Ballot announced that mom to be Natasha Hill won a contest – she would get $5000 in exchange for letting Belly Ballot users choose the name of her new baby. And news organizations far and wide, including this blog, gave them a ton of publicity as we debated whether $5000 was payment enough for giving up the rights to name your own child. But as it turns out, there was no contest, no baby, and no Natasha Hill – Belly Ballot had paid actress Natasha Lloyd to play struggling art teacher and expectant mom Natasha Hill.
Someone had ratted out the company and the actress, and the Today Show reported today that Belly Ballot CEO Lacey Moler had hired Lloyd in a bid for better publicity. They wanted to run a similar contest, apparently, but wanted to make sure they had control of the winner. Guess they figured if the winner was a plant, and there was no real baby’s name at stake, they wouldn’t have to worry about it.
Of course with all this new publicity, they could probably afford to run the real contest, and get a ton of entries. (In fact, the site has already been bombarded with requests to enter the next contest.) Which just goes to show you, there are plenty of people out there who would rather have cash in pocket rather than control over their child’s name! What’s your take on the whole Belly Ballot hullabaloo? Why do you think they went with the ringer? And would you trust Belly Ballot to help you pick the name of your child?
Don’t forget to like In Name Only On Facebook, to keep up with the latest in baby naming news!
Image: Baby names by Amir Ridhwan/Shutterstock.com
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Sunday, March 3rd, 2013
I’ve been clocking a lot of couch time this week, thanks to my bum arm, so I indulged in a little bit of “comfort viewing” – and that meant re-watching one of my teenage favorites, Pretty in Pink. While I still think Andy should’ve ended up with Ducky, who doesn’t love this tale of class warfare and romance with a killer soundtrack?
While John Hughes picked some awesome names for his characters (I’m thinking of Iona), I’m loving the name of Andy’s one-percenter boyfriend, Blane. (And I always did have a thing for Andrew McCarthy!) Blane is a Scottish name that means yellow, making it an interesting and unique way to follow the color name trend. Even more popular, though, is the spelling Blaine, which means slender, and is currently in the top 600 baby names in the US. And you can expect it to go even higher, as its the name of one of Glee’s most popular characters, Kurt’s handsome beau, Blaine Anderson. (In fact, the name jumped over 100 spaces on the top list in one year.)
Blaine is a great name to pair with a longer surname, and works beautifully with longer middle names. I like it with Alexander, Maxwell, Harrison, or Donovan.
What do you think of Blane/Blaine? Is it a name you would pick for your son? Or do you agree, in the immortal words of Pretty in Pink’s Ducky Dale, that “His name is Blane? Oh! That’s a major appliance, that’s not a name!”
Photo: Pregnant woman via Ronald Summers/Shutterstock.com
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