This weekend, Great Gatsby ruled the box office—and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic love triangle, set against the roaring 20s backdrop, is once again in the limelight. While some daring folks may decide to choose Gatsby as an offbeat first name in homage to the tale, Daisy seems to be the more popular choice for fans of the book—or the movie.
This garden flower has been steadily in the top 200 names since the 1990s, a fresh choice like Violet, Lily and Rose. Daisy is considered a nickname for Margaret, which makes it a nice choice in homage to a relative who bears the name. Daisy has a few other pop culture associations, beyond the Gatsby heroine. There’s Daisy Duke (of Dukes of Hazzard fame), Daisy Duck (Donald’s girlfriend), and Daisy Miller, from Henry James’ novel.
The name’s been relatively popular with celebrities—actors Jon Cryer, Lucy Lawless and Anthony Stewart Head all picked it for their daughters. Often, it’s paired with wordy middle names: Meg Ryan’s daughter is Daisy True, and chef Jamie Oliver named his daughter Daisy Boo. I like it with Bell, Claire, Kate and June.
And it’s a perfect choice for a baby born this time of year, when gardens begin to bloom. What do you think of Daisy? Is it a name you’d want to use for your daughter?
Check back later this week for more analysis of the top baby names of the year!
My daughters have inherited my passion for food and cooking—and there’s nothing they love better than spending an afternoon in the kitchen helping me bake up a few cookies or put together a great dinner. Unless, of course, it’s the opportunity to watch cooking shows on TV—especially the contest type shows, like Cupcake Wars and Chopped. (We even spent an evening playing Chopped, where I bested my husband with a killer lemon-crusted plum tart for the grand finale.) So when ABC ran The Taste, a cooking contest which featured blind taste testing and some of their favorite chefs, that became must-see TV for us.
My girls and I were rooting for Nigella Lawson’s team. We’ve loved watching her other cooking shows, I love her outlook on food (excellent, decadent food—but in moderation) and we loved her all-girl team—especially the super-sweet Lauren.
Ultimately, Nigella’s team wasn’t the big winner, but I think Nigella could be a winning name for a little girl. It’s the feminized version of Nigel. Nigel means “dark-haired,” and Nigella is another name for the bloom called “love in a mist,” a beautiful blossom that has delicate, branched leaves around the bloom. The seeds of the Nigella plant are often roasted and ground and used in curries—and it seems pretty apropos that Nigella the chef was given the name of such an exotic spice.
It’d make a lovely, unique choice for someone who loves the -ella names: Ella, Isabella, Annabel, etc. And it goes beautifully with some of the cool short middle names. I’d pair Nigella with Jade, Pearl, True, Gray or even Clove—adding an extra bit of spice to the baby name.
What do you think of the name Nigella? Do you think it’ll ride along with the other -ella names into the limelight, or will it remain a slightly offbeat option?
Anyone else catch last night’s premiere of Game of Thrones? I’ll have a full writeup tomorrow of my favorite names from this crazy fantasy series, but my cool name of the week comes from the new princess-in-training.
Margaery proved herself in yesterday’s episode to be the Princess Diana of the Seven Kingdoms, stopping off at an orphanage in a decrepit neighborhood to provide toys and aid. Though she seemed to provoke the current queen, Cersei, with her behavior, she wouldn’t back down (perhaps another nod to recent English royal history).
I like the distinctive spelling used on Game of Thrones and in its source material, A Song of Fire and Ice. But the source of the name is clearly Margery, a variant of Margaret, which means “pearl.” Margery is sometimes given the meaning “child of light.” It’s a lesser-used variant, which hasn’t been in the top 1000 names since the late 1950s. Perhaps this unique spelling, Margaery, will help bring it back to the forefront.
It comes with most of the same nicknames as Margaret—Meg and Maggie, Marge and May. It should be paired with a short and sweet middle name—something like Belle, Anne, or Jane would be perfect.
What do you think of Margaery (or Margery)? Would it be a name you’d pick? Don’t forget to stop back tomorrow for my full Game of Thrones name recap.
It’s a girl for Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard—and with an offbeat name that tends more toward dad Dax (a French place name that’s near the bottom of the top 1000 for boys) than mom’s conventional Kristen (currently number 661, after a long run in the top 10 baby names for girls). Their new daughter? Welcome LincolnBell Shepard.
Lincoln has Presidential links, thanks to the Great Emancipator himself (perhaps the couple loved the recent flick). But it’s a name that’s almost always been used for boys—and I’ve never seen it mentioned for a girl. It’s currently on an upswing for boys, in the top 200 baby names, and given the recent movie, I don’t expect to see it take a downturn any time soon. Which means that this girly Lincoln may just have a boyfriend with the same name one day.
Lincoln is usually shortened to “Linc,” but for a girl, I’d go with Lin or Callie as a nickname. Or perhaps even Libby—Kristen appears to go by “KB” with her friends, as evidenced by the recent Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign. Maybe they planned the name so little Lincoln can go by her initials as well.
Bell is obviously her mom’s surname, but it’s also been relatively popular for girls—especially in that middle spot.
I love the name if they’d have a son, but I’m not so convinced that Lincoln works for a girl. (Of course, that all depends on what kind of girl she is—and if she’s as funny and sassy as her mom, perhaps it really will work for her.) Still I expected something offbeat and cool from this duo, and they definitely delivered.
What do you think? Does Lincoln work for the ladies? Or is it a boys’ only name? Don’t forget to like In Name Only on Facebook to keep up with the latest in baby names.
Anyone else excited by the news that there’s a new Veronica Mars movie in the works? Apparently, quite a few people are—producer Rob Thomas went on Kickstarter earlier this week to try to raise the funds to bring the whip-smart girl detective to the big screen—and managed to score the full $2 mil he needed within a few hours. (Check out the very funny video they created to sell you on their idea.)
I adored the show, which ran from 2004-2007—it was a smart, funny and very modern take on a Nancy Drew type, and featured future stars galore—most notably one of our current favorite pregnant ladies, Kristen Bell, and Amanda Seyfried. (If you haven’t caught it, check it out on theWB.com, which is showing the entire series for free.)
But I also like some of the naming choices that Rob Thomas made when he created his characters—and apparently, so did a lot of other people, as many of these names have hit the big time over the past few years. Check out the cast of characters for a few options for your son or daughter.
Veronica is one of the few from the cast that actually dropped lower after its run. It means true, and currently sits at #284 on the list, after reaching the top 100 in the 1970s and 1980s. It comes with nicknames like Ronnie, but I like that she always used her name in full.
Logan is her on-again, off-again bad-boy boyfriend’s name, which means “small hollow.” It hit the top 20 in 2006, right as the show was ending. It’s still a huge hit, and a nice alternative to some of the other -an names out there.
Duncan is her other on-again, off-again boyfriend, who has a few dark secrets of his own. The name, which means dark warrior, is currently sitting right around the top 800 names.
Wallace, Veronica’s right hand man and best bud, hasn’t had his name in the top 1000 U.S. names since 1990. Maybe the Veronica Mars resurgence will bring it back around?
Lilly, Veronica’s former best bud and Duncan’s sister, was already dead when the series premiered, but Amanda Seyfried popped up to play her in flashbacks and visions well into season two. The more common Lily spelling was already near the top when the show hit the air, and it’s #15 on the list now.
Bad boy biker Eli had a name that’s seen the biggest upswing since the show began—it’s currently #58 on the list, and it means uplifted.
Let me know if you’ve put some money into the Kickstarter campaign—and if you’d consider any of these names for your child.
This weekend, Great Gatsby ruled the box office—and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic love triangle, set against the roaring 20s backdrop, is once again in the limelight. While some daring folks may decide to choose Gatsby as an offbeat first name in homage to the tale, Daisy seems to be the more popular choice for fans of the book—or the movie.
It’s a girl for Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard—and with an offbeat name that tends more toward dad 