Cool Name of the Week: Daisy

Sunday, May 12th, 2013

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!

Photo: Pregnant woman via Ronald Summers/Shutterstock.com

Celebrity Baby Names: Rosie O’Donnell’s Daughter Makes Five

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

Rosie O’Donnell and her wife Michelle Rounds welcomed a daughter, Dakota, earlier this week. This is Rosie’s fifth child, and the couple’s first together—baby Dakota joins siblings Parker, Chelsea, Blake, and Vivienne as part of the big O’Donnell clan.

The baby name Dakota is a Sioux name that means “friendly one,” a sweet choice for a little girl. It’s been in the top 500 baby names in the U.S. since the early 1990s, and is currently hovering around the 300 mark for both girls and boys. While in the past it’s been considered a unisex name, I’m feeling like this one is being taken over a bit by the girls. In addition to being the name of two U.S. states and tribes of Sioux Native Americans, it’s the name of actress Dakota Fanning (lately of the Twilight series), and infamously, the name of the building where John Lennon and Yoko Ono lived—and where he was shot to death in 1980.

Dakota fits in nicely with her siblings’ names, especially Parker and Blake, with that nice, hard “k” sound in the middle. In fact, I’m liking the whole set of baby names Rosie chose—beautiful names that are just offbeat enough to be interesting.

There’s no word from the O’Donnell-Rounds camp regarding a middle name, but I’d pair a name like Dakota with a nature-themed middle name. I’d try something like Lark, Winter, or Sky with it. (I’m kind of liking the repetition of the hard “k” sound, too.)

What do you think about Rosie’s baby name choices? Would you pick Dakota for either your girl—or your boy? And do you think Dakota’s now officially a girls’ name, or can it work for the guys, too?

Don’t forget to like In Name Only on Facebook—and send me your baby-name dilemmas at lamilbrand@gmail.com.

Image: Rosie O’Donnell, Michelle Rounds and baby Dakota, from @rosie/instagram.com

More Flowery Baby Names

Tuesday, August 21st, 2012

We’ve already covered a few favorite flower names that aren’t the ultra-hot Rose, Lily or Violet options. But it turns out, there’s a whole garden of possibilities beyond the ones I covered in the last installment. Here are a few to consider for your daughter.

Iris A flower that blooms (at least here in the Northeast) during the late spring and early summer. It usually comes in bright shades of purple and gold.

Magnolia A flower that signifies the South—grandly showy, white blooms with a beautiful fragrance. It’s a name comes with a built-in nickname, Maggie.

Calla This form of lily has a shapely, graceful shape, and has been a wedding bouquet staple for the past couple of decades. Calla is a Greek name that means “beautiful.”

Fleur The French word for “flower” makes a beautiful name choice. (It was also the name of one of Harry Potter’s Goblet of Fire competitors—and future sister-in-law—in the Harry Potter series.

Azalea These bright pink blooms are a springtime staple—and a showy choice for a beautiful girl.

Zinnia The zinnia is a native of the southwest, a showy, colorful bloom that’s a summery garden staple throughout the U.S.

Daffodil These yellow flowers have a distinctive, cup-shaped blossom and symbolize spring. Keep in mind, though, that the logical nicknames from this name, Daffy or Dilly, might not be your cup of tea.

Jasmine Yeah, it’s a princess name, but this fragrant bloom has an exotic history that makes it a sweet choice for your baby girl.

Leilani It’s a popular name in Hawaii, where it means lovely flower—and it’s in the top 300 girls’ names in the country.

Hyacinth It’s another spring bloom, with large cones of tiny purple or pink flowers.

Would you pick a floral name for your daughter? What do you think of these options?

Photo: Baby in a Bed of Flowers by Heather LaVelle / Shutterstock

Cool Name of the Week: Willow

Monday, July 2nd, 2012

It’s been nearly a decade since one of my all-time favorite shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, had its final TV episode. But creator Joss Whedon has kept the world of vamps, witches and superhero slayers alive in graphic novel form, so people can continue to follow the adventures of Buffy and her gang of Scoobies (as her close circle of evil-fighting pals was called).

While the series had a ton of amazing characters, my favorite by far was Willow, played on the series by How I Met Your Mother’s Alyson Hannigan. Over the course of the series, she slowly morphed from Buffy’s brilliant and nerdy best pal to the world’s most formidable witch (with a totally cool new look to go with her newly discovered confidence).

It felt authentic to me, as someone who followed the same path from awkward teen years to a semi-cool young adulthood. Minus the whole witch thing, of course.

I think Willow makes a beautiful name for a little girl. It’s an English word name, after the graceful, water-loving tree, and currently hits near the top 200 names, making it popular enough to not seem weird, but not so popular that you risk having several other Willows in your child’s class. (Keep in mind that if you run in very conservative naming circles, this may still seem a little out there compared with Emily and Ava.)

I’d pair it with a middle name that had a natural element to it as well: Names like Rose, Jade, Skye and Spring would be beautiful paired with Willow. If you wanted to go with a more traditional middle name, give Juliet, Jane or Anne a whirl. And I would definitely introduce her, when she’s in her early teens, to one of the coolest characters ever to grace the small screen.

Photo: Pregnant woman via Ronald Summers/Shutterstock.com