Category Archives: Famous Names

Famous Name: Jessica

14 Wednesday May 2014

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The final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest took place on May 10, with Austria’s Conchita Wurst winning with the Bondesque power ballad Rise Like a Phoenix – the first time Austria has won since 1966.

Australia has a peculiar fascination with and affection for Eurovision, which began with Swedish band ABBA, who won in 1974 with Waterloo, as we were the first country outside Sweden to really appreciate them. European migration to Australia also played a big role, as did the gay community, and there is something about the kitschy campiness of Eurovision which appeals to the Australian sense of humour. Either way, it’s time to get yourself to Eurovision party dressed as a Swiss yodeller, eat spanakopita, and play overly ironic drinking games.

Not content with this vicarious enjoyment, for many years now Australia has been demanding to take part in Eurovision as well – hopefully as contestants, but failing that, maybe some sort of guest hosting gig. Australia being in Eurovision isn’t a practical idea: we’re not members of the European Broadcasting Union but only Associate Members, and we’re thousands of miles away in a completely different time zone. Nonetheless, we haven’t given up hope.

Sick of our constant nagging, host country Denmark, probably feeling some sense of obligation since Crown Princess Mary is from Australia, gave us a chance to perform an interval act as a tribute to our love of Eurovision. So we sent pop star Jessica Mauboy (who starred in The Sapphires) over to sing her anthem Sea of Flags to millions of viewers – she did a great job, and sent ratings for Eurovision in Australia soaring. Jessica has sung for Oprah and President Barack Obama, but Eurovision was a thrill on a whole other level, and she is using this as an opportunity to launch a European tour.

Jessica is a name created by William Shakespeare for his play, The Merchant of Venice. In the play, Jessica is the daughter of the Jewish moneylender Shylock, who demands a pound of flesh from his rival Antonio, who has insulted and spat upon him. Jessica, who describes life with her father as hell, falls in love with Antonio’s friend Lorenzo and becomes a Christian, further enraging Shylock.

It is thought that Shakespeare based the name on Iscah, meaning “foresight”. In the Bible, Iscah is a niece of the prophet Abraham who is mentioned only briefly in the book of Genesis. In Shakespeare’s time, the name would have been written Jescha, and pronounced like Jesca. As Jessica is a Jewish girl from Venice, Shakespare might have been trying to make her name look like an Italian form of a Hebrew name.

The Merchant of Venice was written around 1596, and by 1600 had been performed many times. Yet the name Jessica only appears in the records in the mid-18th century, when The Merchant of Venice had become a popular stage play. It also post-dates the Jews’ return to England in the 17th century, after being banished during the Middle Ages (Shakespeare’s play about a vengeful Jewish moneylender was written in an England without a Jewish community). One of the reasons why Jessica probably seemed like a usable English name is because Jessie was already a pet form of Jane and Jean.

Jessica first ranked in the 1960s at #437. Why the 1960s? My guess is because Jennifer had peaked in the 1950s at #1 in Victoria and #2 in New South Wales, and by the 1960s had only fallen one place in each state. The raging success of Jennifer paved the way for Jessica the successor.

Jessica joined the Top 100 in 1976 at #97, and by 1979 was in the Top 50, at #34. By 1981 it was in the Top 20 at #18, and by 1982 had joined the Top 10 at #7. The following year it was Top 5, at #3, and by 1984 was the #1 name; a position it maintained until 1998.

Jessica is currently #35 nationally (410 babies named Jessica in 2013), #40 in New South Wales, #39 in Victoria, #41 in Queensland, #24 in Western Australia, #92 in Tasmania, and #39 in the Australian Capital Territory. In mainland Australia, Jessica is on a slow descent, and still a Top 50 name.

Jessica is now in its fifth decade of popularity, and still in the top half of the Top 100 – if its staying power mirrors Jennifer, it would have another thirty years of popularity left. You can understand why, because Jessica is a pretty modern classic whose literary origins help make it seem traditional rather than trendy. After all these years, Jessica cannot be seen as a fresh or original choice, but it is still a very good one.

POLL RESULT
Jessica received an approval rating of 35%. People thought the name Jessica was too common and boring (19%), and already seeming dated (16%). However, 12% saw it as a pretty or beautiful modern classic.

(Photo shows Jessica performing at Eurovision)

 

Famous Names: Barry and Gladys

07 Wednesday May 2014

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Last month, New South Wales Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell resigned from his position during a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption investigation into Australian Water Holdings. Barry denied receiving a $3000 bottle of Grange Hermitage from a AWH executive and failing to declare it, but a thank you note in his handwriting, even mentioning the 1959 vintage of wine (the year of Barry’s birth), was presented to ICAC as evidence.

Minister for Transport Gladys Berejiklian was Barry O’Farrell’s choice for his successor, but in the end she settled for Deputy to Premier Mike Baird, and was rewarded by being made Minister for the Hunter region.

New South Wales is not unaccustomed to these political scandals. The former Labor Premier resigned from his shadow ministry roles due to a personal affair, and a former Liberal Party leader resigned in tragic circumstances several years ago. The new Premier is now watching his ministry become engulfed in a cash-for favours scandal which has also damaged the NSW Labor Party, and is creating anxiety for the Federal government as well. Expect more scalps.

Barry can be seen as an Anglicised form of the Irish name Bairre, a short form of Finnbarr or Barrfind, meaning “fair hair”. It can also be an Anglicised form of the Irish name Berach, derived from a Gaelic word meaning “sharp”, and often glossed as “spear”.

There are five Irish saints named Finnbarr, with the best known being a 6th century monk who created a centre of learning in the city of Cork. Saint Barrfind (known by a confusing variety of spellings of his name) is a 6th century Irish saint who legend says was a disciple of Saint Columba, and said to have voyaged to North America, serving as an inspiration for Saint Brendan the Navigator. Saint Berach was a 6th century Irish saint who was a disciple of Saint Kevin.

The Barry surname can be derived from these names, such as O’Baire, meaning “son of the fair haired one”. But most Irish Barry families got their surname from the Normans, because de Barri was a knight who came over during the Norman Conquest of Ireland. The name comes from the village of LaBarre in Normandy, whose name may mean “gateway, barrier”.

However, the aristocratic de Barry family, Normans settled in Wales, received their name from ownership of Barry Island, whose name seems to come from the Welsh for “hill”, although it’s often said to be named after Saint Baroc, a British saint who had a chapel on the island. The Scottish Barrys take their name from a place name in Angus which also means “hill”.

Barry has been used as a first name in Ireland and England (and more rarely, Wales and Scotland) since at least the 18th century, and due to immigration from Ireland, became known in the Americas and Australia as well.

A famous Australian namesake is comedian Barry Humphries, who created the character of naively ocker Barry McKenzie for a Private Eye comic strip in the 1960s. In the 1970s films, Barry McKenzie is the nephew of Humphries creation Edna Everage, and played by Australian singer Barry Crocker. Perhaps due to this trio of Barrys, and Barry McKenzie’s rich Australian slang (mostly made up), Barry is often perceived as a very Aussie name. This does have some validity, because Barry peaked higher in popularity here than elsewhere.

Barry was #121 in the 1910s, and joined the Top 100 in the 1920s at #84. It peaked in the 1940s at #10, and left the Top 100 in the 1970s – perhaps the Barry Mackenzie films weren’t a help to it? Barry last ranked in the 1990s, but just two years ago I saw a birth notice for a baby Barry, so it is still in occasional use. Bazza or Baz are the traditional nicknames, although Baz Luhrman is not a Barry.

Gladys is a modern form of the medieval Welsh name Gwladus, traditionally identified as a Welsh form of Claudia, although it may come from the Old Welsh word for “country, nation, realm”, with connotations of sovereignty and rulership over the land.

The name Gwladus was used amongst royalty and nobility in medieval Wales, and Saint Gwladys (often called Saint Gladys) was the beautiful daughter of a legendary Welsh king who married another king, also a saint (somehow he managed to fit raiding and robbery onto his CV). The saintly couple had a number of children who were saints as well. According to legend, Gwladys and her family knew King Arthur, and lived in the woods as hermits, with a strict regimen of vegetarianism, cold baths, and chastity.

The name Gladys became well known outside Wales in the 19th century, when English author Ouida used it for a character in her novel Puck. In the book, Gladys is a farm girl who becomes a gifted actress; angelically beautiful, she manages to be both pure and passionate. Apart from this attractive namesake, the nickname Glad seems cheerful, and Gladys may have reminded some parents of gladiolus flowers (the familiar “gladdies” so beloved of Dame Edna Everage).

Gladys was #8 in the 1900s, left the Top 100 in the 1940s, and hasn’t ranked since the 1950s. There was a very famous Australian singer named Gladys Moncrieff, an absolute superstar for decades, known as “Australia’s Queen of Song”, and “Our Glad”. She started her career as “Gladys the Wonder Child” in the 1900s, and was still holding farewell concerts in the 1960s, laden with awards and honours on every side. The name Gladys disappeared from the charts around the same time she retired, but must have remained in some use, for Gladys Berejiklian was born in 1970.

Gladys was very popular once – as popular as Ava is now. In its day it was fashionable, and must have been seen as fresh, pretty, and charming. It is now generally viewed as an “ugly old lady name”, and often cited as an example of a name that can never be brought back, like an unlovely corpse with DO NOT REVIVE scrawled across its chest.

I think most of us are realistic enough to know that our daughters’ names – so popular, fashionable, fresh, pretty, and charming at present – will probably become “old lady names”, given enough time. We know there will be wrinkled Madisons, widows-humped Khaleesis, Willows with hip replacements, and Arias doting over their great-grandchildren, and their names’ image will change to match their senior status.

But names like Gladys are a looming spectre – what if our daughters’ names don’t just become old lady names, but ugly old lady names? Names that people hate, shudder with horror to think they were ever used, and vow will never be used again? And what popular names of today will be the “ugly old lady names” of the next century, I wonder?

POLL RESULT
Barry received an approval rating of 17%, making it the lowest-rated boys’ name of 2014, and the lowest-rated name overall. 45% of people thought that Barry was a terrible name, and only one person loved it. Gladys did slightly better, with an approval rating of 25%, but 46% of people hated the name.

(Photo of Barry O’Farrell and Gladys Berejiklian from The Sydney Morning Herald)

 

Famous Name: Digger

30 Wednesday Apr 2014

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4120733_origLast Friday it was Anzac Day, marking 99 years since the landing at Anzac Cove for the Gallipoli Campaign. One of the enduring military terms from the conflict, still very much in use today, is Digger, to refer to an Australian soldier who has seen active service. More than that, the word is patriotic, symbolising a particular type of Australian-ness that is rugged, resilient, and resourceful.

The word Digger has a relatively long history in Australia, dating to the goldfields of the 1850s to refer to miners. Already it had an aura to it, for the Diggers of the Eureka Stockade were a powerful symbol of grass-roots democracy. A Digger was not only tough enough to thrive in the harsh conditions of the goldfields, he was ready to stand up for his mates and resist oppressive authority. Furthermore, the blue work clothes of the miners which were used to make the Eureka Flag were part of the inspiration for the phrase “true blue Australian” – the working man who fought for his rights.

How the word became used for the Anzacs is a matter of some debate. It is documented that British commander General Ian Hamilton urged the Anzac leader William Birdwood, You have got through the difficult business [of landing], now you have only to dig, dig, dig until you are safe. This advice was handed down through the ranks, and official war historian Charles Bean believed that it was the troop’s dry sense of humour which led them to refer to themselves as Diggers.

Another view is that the word came into use even before Australians reached Gallipoli. A former soldier recalled an occasion when Birdwood addressed the men of the 11th Battalion near Cairo, in preparation for the landings on Gallipoli. Birdwood warned the troops that they had to be good diggers and good soldiers. The soldier insisted that the term caught on from that point, and it seems likely that the impetus to dig and tunnel at Gallipoli made the term more widespread.

Australians must have gained a reputation for their digging, because in 1915 it was reported of Australian soldiers in Gallipoli, They are the best trench diggers in the [British] Army. They work like bullocks, fight like tigers … yet are so cheerful and work together like old pals.

Although Digger may have originated as a military term at Gallipoli, it first came into prominence in 1916 on the Western Front, possibly following a speech by Brigadier James Cannan, commander of the 11th Brigade, about the digging prowess of the 44th Battalion in the trenches of northern France, who were then derisively labelled the diggers. Many of these men had been miners in the Western Australian goldfields before enlisting, so these miners-turned-soldiers may be a direct connection between the use of Digger for miners, and for soldiers.

By mid-1917, Digger was in wide use amongst Australian soldiers, and became the accepted mode of address for the Anzacs. While Australian and New Zealand soldiers called each other Digger, the British called only the Australians Diggers, and the New Zealanders Kiwis. (One soldier wrote home from France: … the name Digger came from the Tommies [British], who think we Australians are all miners or cowboys.)

Digger was already recognised in Australia as a term for miners, and already part of the Australian image. This might explain why Australians so warmly embraced the word, and why it became such a vital part of the Anzac identity.

After the war, the word Digger became part of the Anzac legend, embodying the qualities of endurance, courage, ingenuity, good humour, and mateship. Many Australians who had served in the war were nicknamed Digger, and Prime Minister Billy Hughes was proud that he had been called “The Little Digger” by the troops. There was an entertainment troupe of Australian and New Zealander World War I veterans called The Diggers. They went on to make several “Digger” films, which received poor reviews from the critics, but were popular with audiences, especially in rural areas. It was even suggested in Parliament that that the rank of Private in the Australian Army should be re-named Digger.

Digger can often be found as a name in Australian records, yet rarely as an official baby name. Digger has been commonly used as a nickname, not only by returned servicemen, but on children as well. Despite this, I could only find Digger on a very few birth records, and each time only as a middle name. (There was a baby in the Birth Announcements with Digger as his middle name too).

It’s interesting that while we are apparently very happy to call men and boys Digger, there doesn’t seem much evidence of us putting it down on the birth certificate as a first name. I wonder if parents worry it will seem disrespectful to Australian soldiers or the Anzacs, or if they have even been dissuaded at the birth registry. A little while ago, I received an e-mail from someone who was considering the name Digger for her baby – did they choose the name in the end?

I think Digger seems cute yet masculine as a name, and it shouldn’t be forgotten that it can be used as an endearment, like mate or cobber – nor that the word was in use even before World War I. Some may find the name quite heavily value-laden in Australian society, perhaps too heavily.

I have read this definition of the Digger: “A man for whom freedom, comradeship, a wide tolerance, and a strong sense of the innate worth of man, count for more than all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory in them.” That’s quite a big meaning for a name to carry, but what a magnificent meaning for your son’s name to hold.

POLL RESULT
Digger received an approval rating of 35%. 28% of people thought it was only suitable as a nickname, but 21% saw it as uniquely Australian.

(Photo shows Western Australian miners who enlisted in 1916).

Famous Names: Gatsby and Catherine

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

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Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby won Best Film at this year’s Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, and scooped the pool with thirteen AACTA Awards. It was slightly controversial, because the AACTAs are for Australian films, and The Great Gatsby is an adapation of an American novel financed by Warner Brothers. It does call into question what makes a film “Australian”, but if Cate Blanchett can win an Oscar, surely Leo DiCaprio can win an AACTA?

The Great Gatsby is based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel of the Roaring Twenties, with the mysteriously wealthy Jay Gatsby at its centre. Gatsby is famous for his lavish parties and grand mansion, yet this decadence is only to attract the woman he yearns for. The Greek tragedy of their summer romance provides an opportunity for lyrical musings on the illusory nature of the Great American Dream.

It was probably always going to be controversial to have an Australian direct a movie based on a classic of American literature. Furthermore, while Fitzgerald’s novel is spare and subtle, Baz Luhrman’s films are about as spare and subtle as the Sydney Mardi Gras. However, while critics were underwhelmed, audiences were more receptive to its ornateness and fidelity to the text; the film is Baz Luhrman’s highest-grossing to date, at more than $350 million.

The Great Gatsby won Best Production Design and Best Costume Design at the Oscars, both awards going to Baz Luhrman’s wife, Catherine Martin, who also won two Academy Awards for Moulin Rouge! in 2002. Having now won four Oscars, this makes her Australia’s greatest Academy Award winner of all time, taking the top spot from costume designer Orry-Kelly.

The English surname Gatsby is after the village of Gaddesby in Leicestershire, which comes from the Old Norse personal name Gaddr, meaning “spike, sting, goad”. It therefore means “Gaddr’s homestead”, and from the name we can tell it dates from the Danish Occupation of the 9th and 10th centuries. Gaddr is the basis for the word gadfly, which refers to any biting fly, and gaddr was also used to refer to hard packed snow.

Jay Gatsby’s name is a self-chosen one: he was born James “Jimmy” Gatz. In fiction, it seems whenever a character goes by a different name, they are not all that they seem. Whether it is Strider from Lord of the Rings travelling under a nom de guerre, or James Bond villain Le Chiffre going by a criminal alias, some deception is taking place, whether it be gold not glistering or something more sinister. In the case of Jay Gatsby, his name change seems like that of Cate Blanchett’s character in Blue Jasmine – an attempt to escape the past.

In real life, it’s quite normal for people to change their names, for all kinds of reasons. Baz Luhrman was named Mark by his parents, and legally changed his name to his childhood nickname (technically his “tease name”, as his schoolmates said his hair looked like vulpine puppet Basil Brush).

Gatsby has had rare use in the United States as a first name for both sexes, well before Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel. There was a small spike after the 1974 movie starring Robert Redford as Gatsby, and these were boys. Likewise, a few boys have been named Gatsby recently. Although Gatsby as a baby name seems problematic (Nancy from Nancy’s Baby Names specifically warns against it), it’s the name of an iconic Great American Dreamer who now has an Australian connection too.

Catherine is a variant of the name Katherine, from the Old French Caterine. Katherine comes from the Greek name Aikaterine, of debated meaning. The name became well known due to Saint Catherine of Alexandria, a legendary saint whose tradition states she was a 4th century princess and scholar of exceptional beauty and intelligence who converted to Christianity as a young teenager, and refused to marry. She was tortured on a spiked wheel (the “Catherine wheel”) and martyred for her faith by beheading. There is no evidence she ever existed, and most likely is a composite figure of several women martyred in Alexandria at the time, with a few romantic touches added.

Christian writers connected her name with the Greek katharos, meaning “pure”, to reflect the saint’s virgin status, and the spelling of the Latin name was changed from Katerina to Katharina because of this false etymology. It’s not clear to me whether the original Greek Aikaterine was a name already in use, or made up by Christian authors. If invented, you would expect it to have Christian significance, but if so its origin has been lost.

Saint Catherine was one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages. There were shrines to her throughout France and England, and Saint Catharine’s College at Cambridge may have been founded in her honour as a patron of learning. She was especially venerated by young girls, who prayed for good husbands on her feast day of November 25. In France, women who hadn’t married by age twenty-five were called Catherinettes, and in English an unmarried woman was called a spinster, because Saint Catherine is a patron of spinners.

There have been several Queen Catherines in English history. One of the most popular was Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of King Henry VIII. This Spanish-born queen was descended from an English royal house and named after her English great-grandmother; Catherine was considered very beautiful, with fair skin, blue eyes and reddish hair. She was learned, with a love of literature, and because of her, it became fashionable for women to gain an education. She was also pious, and won widespread admiration for her efforts to assist the poor.

There was great public sympathy for Queen Catherine; first for not being able to provide an heir, then because she was put aside by her husband (who went on to have five more wives). Catherine of Aragon sounds like a Saint Catherine come to life – paintings of the saint often depict her with red hair, and rich clothing suitable for royalty. The queen and the saint seem to have become entwined in the popular imagination, because some of Queen Catherine’s charitable works were attributed to Saint Catherine.

There could well be another Queen Catherine one day, because the Duchess of Cambridge will become queen consort when Prince William becomes king. As the Duke and Duchess are about to visit Australia, her name has been constantly in the news.

Catherine is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #25 in the 1900s, and peaked in the 1960s at #12. It left the Top 100 in the early 2000s, and reached its lowest point in 2010 at #268. It received a small boost in 2011 when William and Catherine were married, and in Victoria it is not far out of Top 100.

Catherine is a pretty, feminine name whose peak in the 1960s probably make it seem slightly dated, when in fact it is a timeless classic steeped in history, and still getting plenty of use without being popular. There’s something refined and regal about Catherine, yet it is unpretentious enough to sound like the girl next door. Catherine looks smart and professional on a CV, but has lots of cute nicknames, including Cathy, Cat, Catie and Cate.

POLL RESULT
Gatsby received an approval rating of 35%, while Catherine received a far warmer reception with a 74% approval rating.

Famous Name: Clarice

26 Wednesday Mar 2014

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As we move into misty autumn, we will look at an Australian artist who worked in obscurity, and whose 127th birthday was on this year’s Equinox, March 21. Clarice Beckett was born into a comfortably-off Victorian family – her grandfather was the master builder who designed and built Como House.

Her father’s only ambition for his daughter seems to have been that she would marry into wealth, but her mother, a hobbyist painter, encouraged her artistic talents. Clarice studied art in Melbourne, including three years under Frederick McCubbin, and was a student of the controversial artist Max Meldrum, who argued that painting was a pure science, most reliant on tone, and with colour the least important component.

In 1918, Clarice’s father retired, moving his family to the Melbourne bayside suburb of Beaumaris. Her parents were ill and demanding, so that Clarice took responsibility for most of the household chores. Mr Beckett seems to have been disappointed in his career, and to have been a very difficult man. He wouldn’t allow Clarice to have a studio, telling her that the kitchen table was good enough.

Clarice built herself a little cart filled with painting equipment, which she used as a portable studio. She tended to go out very early and late, the only times she was free from domestic duties, to paint scenes from her local area, finding endless inspiration in the sea, beaches and suburban streets, bathed in the soft light of dawn and dusk. Her style was simple and original, and her paintings strongly atmospheric, often set on misty days.

Clarice was never taken seriously as an artist in her lifetime, with critics occasionally sneering at her “continual state of fog”, but most ignoring her completely. Sales of her work were pitifully small. Even her mentor Max Meldrum, who was supportive of her work, made it known that there would never be a great female artist, as women lacked the necessary capacity to be alone. Yet he praised Clarice for “working like a man”, and defended her fiercely. Her artist friends saw her as beautiful, unassuming and intelligent; sharply witty, but with the aloofness of extreme shyness.

In 1934, Mrs Beckett died from a stroke, and Clarice was severely affected by her mother’s death. The two had become very close, and Clarice was left alone with her invalid father, who became jealous of anything which might take his daughter away from him. She stopped attending art classes or social events, and when friends came to the house, Mr Beckett ordered them to leave. Clarice was now completely isolated, and she admitted to feeling a failure.

Clarice still painted whenever she could and one night, a year after her mother’s death, she continued working outdoors even though a storm had set in. She caught a chill which developed into pneumonia; her heart was already weak, and she died five days later, aged 48. The doctor believed that she might have survived, had her will to live been stronger.

It was not until 1971 that an exhibition of Clarice Beckett’s paintings were held, after more than 2000 of her canvases were found rotting away in a country barn. A leading critic hailed her as “a remarkable modernist”, and the Australian National Gallery purchased 14 of her paintings. The public were so enthusiastic that viewing hours were extended and the exhibition sold out. Since then, there have been several more public exhibitions of her work; she is regarded as one of Australia’s finest artists, and it is promised that she will never be forgotten again.

Clarice is a medieval form of the name Clara, a Roman name which comes from the Latin meaning “clear, bright”. Clarice is thought to be based on the Old French form, Claritia – just as the medieval name Lettice was based on Letitia. It was brought over by the Norman aristocracy, who were big fans of “Clare” names, and it can be found by the early 12th century, sometimes spelled Claris. Clara itself doesn’t seem to have been used in Britain until slightly later.

The name Clarice became well known in 1991 with the release of the Oscar-winning movie, The Silence of the Lambs, whose heroine is the beautifully named Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee on the trail of a serial killer. Clarice Starling was listed by the American Film Institute as one of the Top 100 movie heroes, and is the highest female on the list.

A rather different fictional Clarice is the equally delightfully named Clarice Bean Tuesday, from the children’s books by English author Lauren Child, who also penned the popular Charlie and Lola series. Clarice Bean is the middle child in her family, who longs for space and privacy, but instead finds herself in all kinds of amusingly chaotic situations.

If you like a name that has a song attached to it, you can sing along to Clarice, by Transatlantic folk-rockers, America. Like all songs by this band, I find it pleasant enough, but have little idea what it is about, although the lyrics don’t seem negative at all.

There are two pronunciations of Clarice. It can be said KLA-ris, to rhyme with Paris, which is a more British pronunciation, or it can be said kluh-REES, to rhyme with Denise, which is far more common in the United States. You’re welcome to choose either pronunciation, but to my mind, the first one sounds far more stylish and contemporary, while the second one reminds me of those pseudo-French names like Shanice and Fonice, which seem a bit daggy and dated.

Clarice is a strong yet elegant name which seems intelligent and dignified. It’s a very old name, but to me doesn’t seem “old-fashioned”. I can imagine it sounding adorable on a little girl, like Clarice Bean, but also perfect for an adult, like Clarice Beckett. It would make a great alternative to popular-yet-falling Claire, or fashionable-and-rising Clara for anyone who would like a traditional name which is still a little out of the ordinary.

POLL RESULT
Clarice received an approval rating of 54%. The name reminded 23% of people too strongly of Silence of the Lambs, but 15% thought the name was pretty and feminine. Nobody thought the name Clarice was tacky and tasteless.

(Picture is Punt Road Bridge, Yarra River by Clarice Beckett)

Famous Name: Harmony

19 Wednesday Mar 2014

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harmony-day

This Friday, March 21, it will be Harmony Day. Harmony Day is a government initiative which began in 1999, inspired by the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which takes place every March 21 around the world. It is a public holiday in South Africa, commemorating those who lost their lives in the struggle against apartheid.

On Harmony Day, primary schools, workplaces and communities come together to celebrate diversity and learn respect for each other. The message of Harmony Day is Everyone Belongs, and people are encouraged to dress in orange or wear orange ribbons to show their support. Harmony Day is managed by the Department of Social Services, and is part of Diversity Week.

Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world, with people from more than 200 countries and more than 150 languages represented. More than a quarter of the population are migrants, and clearly we all need to learn to get along. Although studies find that Australia is a generally tolerant society, and most migrants feel that they are accepted as part of the community, that isn’t the same as a society where diversity is welcomed, and more needs to be done.

The English word harmony can mean either “agreement, accord” (as Our views on child rearing were in complete harmony), or “a pleasing combination of elements” (as in The harmony of colours in her decorating scheme gave the house a relaxed feel). It is especially connected with music, where harmony is the use of simultaneous notes or chords.

The word is from Old French harmonie, from the Latin harmonia, based on the Ancient Greek harmozo, meaning “to fit together, to join”. In former times, the word harmony was used to mean music itself.

Harmonia was the Greek goddess of harmony and concord. She was seen as the personification of harmonious love between all people, of social order and civic unity. She was married to the Phoenician prince Cadmus, the founder of the city Thebes, and is famous because of a magic gold necklace she received as a wedding present, in the shape of two serpents. Although the necklace made any woman who wore it eternally beautiful and youthful, it had the unpleasant feature of bringing grave misfortune to its owners.

The necklace was wrought by Hephaestus, the god of metalwork, who became enraged when he discovered his wife Aphrodite having an affair with Ares, the god of war. He vowed to wreak revenge by cursing the lineage of any children arising from the affair: Harmonia was the result, and so she was given the jewellery of doom. Harmonia and Cadmus were transformed into dragons as part of the curse, and all Harmonia’s female descendants had horrible times because of the necklace. One of her descendants was Queen Jocasta, the mother of Oedipus – a famous example of family life going terribly wrong.

Eventually, after generations of misery, someone stole the necklace to give to his mistress, upon which her son went mad and set fire to her house, killing her and mercifully burning all that she had possessed, including the necklace. Why no one thought to destroy the thing earlier is a mystery – I suppose looking eternally young and beautiful was too hard to give up.

Harmony has been used as a girls name since the 18th century; although originating in England, it quickly gained more use in the American colonies, and to this day is more popular in the United States than elsewhere. An American connection to the name is the Harmony Society, an esoteric Christian sect which came to the United States from Germany in the early 19th century, named their first commune Harmonie, and built several towns with the name Harmony.

A statue of the goddess Harmonia is in the Harmony Society Gardens in the Old Economy Village in Pennsylvania, showing the high esteem they held for the virtue of harmony – as I think all communes must do, otherwise communal life would soon become intolerable. However, when they built New Harmony in Indiana, they included a shrubbery maze, to indicate that the path to harmony was not easy.

Harmony is a misunderstood virtue: it is perhaps too easy to dismiss those aiming for harmony as submissive, or passive-aggressive, or to see harmony as stifling, controlling, dull, or even totalitarian. Maybe when we think of harmony, we imagine everyone repressing their individuality to conform, being insincerely “nice” to each other, and minimising differences between people.

But in a truly harmonious society, people would recognise and value each other’s individuality, taking pleasure in their differences. Harmony isn’t about us all shutting up so we can fit in, but allowing each other to express ourselves, so that the entire range of the notes of the human chord can be heard together.

In music, harmony occurs when there is a balance between tense moments and relaxed moments – and that’s good in harmonious relationships too. Harmony doesn’t mean that things are always mild, pleasant and bland: it means that there is a healthy balance between dissonance and concurrence, between conflict and peace. Of course, harmony is very subjective, with each of us having our own idea of what this healthy balance looks like: no wonder harmony is so difficult to attain!

Harmony is a pretty name, and extols an unusual virtue, which is secular rather than spiritual, and communal rather than personal in nature. It’s also a musical name, more fashionable than Melody, but less trendy than Cadence, and so a nice harmonious balance between them. It fits in with choices such as Harper and Harlow, and in Victoria is a similar popularity to Harlow, in the 200s.

POLL RESULT
Harmony received an excellent approval rating of 75%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2014. People saw the name Harmony as pretty and sweet (29%), and a beautiful musical name (25%). However, 16% thought the name seemed unprofessional or lower class.

Famous Name: Samuel

12 Wednesday Mar 2014

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Last month, on Valentine’s Day, actor Samuel Johnson broke a world record by riding a unicycle more than 15 000 km on a zig-zagging route across Australia for 364 days. How did it all start? His sister Constance set him the toughest challenge she could think of. It started as a joke, and turned into a promise.

You see, Sam’s beloved sister Connie has cancer. She has fought it three times in her life, beginning from the age of 11, but now she is dying, and doesn’t have much time left. So Samuel promised he would raise a million dollars towards breast cancer, with his unicycle challenge dubbed Love Your Sister.

So far he has raised almost 1.5 million dollars for breast cancer research through the Garvan Institute, and plans to work full time for the charity. Even better, Connie’s cancer is stable, and her oncology team are surprised and very pleased with how well her treatment is going. They say there is a good chance she still has a year left, maybe more.

The reason I chose to cover this story, apart from the chance to record a key moment in unicycling history, and because I had been looking for an opportunity to feature the name Samuel, is because of the wonderful sibsets involved. Connie has two small boys named Willoughby “Wib” and Hamilton. Samuel’s two sisters are Constance and Hilde.

Samuel is a character from the Bible whose story starts before he is even conceived. His mother Hannah was barren, and prayed for a baby in the doorway of a religious shrine, vowing that if her prayer was answered, she would dedicate the child to God. A priest of the shrine named Eli heard her, and offered a blessing, suggesting that her prayer would be answered. Hannah gave birth to a son that she named Samuel; in fulfilment of her promise, she gave Samuel to Eli once the child was weaned (about the age of three).

Eli brought Samuel up to work in the shrine, where he proved a devoted and highly intelligent assistant. While still a child, Samuel woke up in the night to hear a voice calling his name. Thinking it was Eli calling him, he went to ask him what he wanted. After this happened a few times, Eli realised that it was God calling Samuel, and instructed him in how to respond, so he could hear the word of God.

God’s first message turned out to be a piece of unwelcome news for Samuel’s mentor Eli, because it was foretold that both his sons, who were corrupt priests, would come to a bad end. During Samuel’s youth, the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines, who took control of the land and ransacked the shrine. During the conflict, both of Eli’s sons were killed, and the old man, now blind and about ninety, died of shock when he heard the report.

Samuel became publicly recognised as a great prophet and seer, and after twenty years of oppression, he organised the Israelites into an army and led them in battle against the Philistines. There was a decisive victory for the Israelites, and for many years afterwards there was peace in the land. Samuel became a judge of the Israelites, and all went well for ten years, until the people demanded a king to rule over them instead. Samuel (after warning everyone what a terrible idea having a king was) anointed both Saul and David as the first and second kings of Israel.

Samuel was the last judge and the first prophet of the Hebrews, and the founder of a kingdom. He is revered in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and regarded as a saint in the Catholic and Orthodox faiths.

Samuel is the English form of the Hebrew name Shemu’el. The Bible tells us that the name Samuel means “asked of God”, which Hannah chose to indicate that Samuel was an answer to her prayer. However, this is not correct, and is rather the meaning of the name Saul. It would seem that the names of the first prophet and first king have got confused, and perhaps even their narratives have too.

Samuel can be translated as either “heard by God”, or “hearer of God” – the first one to suggest that Hannah’s prayers were heard and answered by God; the last one to signify his role as prophet. It can also be understood as “son of God”, which makes sense as Samuel was raised from early childhood in God’s shrine.

Although in some use in Britain in the late Middle Ages, Samuel became far more common after the Protestant Reformation. Famous English Samuels include lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson, satirical poet Samuel Butler, and diarist Samuel Pepys. Samuel was one of the very earliest English names to travel to the American colonies, and famous American Samuels include Samuel Adams, one of the founding fathers of the United States, Samuel Morse, the inventor of Morse code, and Samuel Langhorne Clemens, otherwise known as the beloved author Mark Twain. The United States itself even became personified as a Samuel – Uncle Sam.

Samuel is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #46 for the 1900s, and dropped out of the Top 100 during the 1930s. It reached its lowest level in the 1960s at #164, but was back in the Top 100 by the 1970s. It was #14 for the 1990s, and since then has remained extremely stable, hovering around that position.

Currently it is #12 nationally, #20 in New South Wales, #15 in Victoria, #12 in Queensland, #18 in Western Australia, #11 in Tasmania, #16 in the Northern Territory, and #14 in the Australian Capital Territory. It is of similar popularity in the UK and the US, and is a Top 100 name in many countries, making this a very international name.

Samuel is a handsome name which has strength, but also softness. A timeless classic, it is currently at its historic height of popularity, and has been stable for decades, making it a very safe choice. It is so commonly used around the world that it has no particular image attached to it. That means that when it comes to picturing a Samuel, he could be any age, of any appearance, and be anything; an athlete, writer, doctor, traveller, builder, or prime minister. The short form Sam is commonly used as a full name for boys, and is currently only just outside the Top 100.

POLL RESULT
Samuel received an outstanding approval rating of 88%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2014, and the highest-rated boys name of the year. People saw the name Samuel as handsome and classic (27%), strong yet gentle (17%), ageing well (16%), a “nice guy” name (15%), and suiting a variety of people (13%). However, 6% thought it was too common and boring. Nobody thought that the name Samuel wasn’t masculine enough.

Famous Name: Henrietta

05 Wednesday Mar 2014

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henrietta_dugdale-australian-feminist-suffrageThis Saturday, March 8, marks International Women’s Day. I haven’t covered a name specifically for Women’s Day before, but thought it would be a good opportunity to look at one of Australia’s early feminists.

Henrietta Dugdale was originally from London, and arrived in Melbourne in the early 1850s, becoming a pioneer of the women’s movement in Victoria in 1869, after separating from her second husband. She formed the Victorian Suffrage Society in 1884, and became its president; this was the first Australian organisation to work towards voting equality for women. By this time, women could vote on Norfolk Island, and South Australia had brought in limited female suffrage.

(It should be remembered that male suffrage was only introduced during the 1850s, so women weren’t so far behind, although obviously they didn’t want to be behind at all).

Henrietta was confident, passionate and quick-witted in her quest for an equal society, and believed in the possibility of a Utopian future which could be achieved through the use of reason, and co-operation between the sexes. She fought for female suffrage as an essential step towards female emancipation, and bitterly spoke against the Victorian courts, and their failure to protect women from violent crimes. She noted that women’s anger was compounded by the fact that those who inflicted violence on women had a share in making the laws, while their victims did not.

Henrietta believed that women’s lives could be improved through gaining access to the professions, sensible clothing, birth control, and harsh penalties for sexual assault. She was a proponent of temperance, universal education, a more equal distribution of wealth, and the eight hour day as means towards improving the lives of the working class. A member of the Secular Association, she saw Christianity as an oppressive force in women’s lives, and also opposed monarchy and imperialism.

In her private life, she was a wife, and mother to three sons. She made her own clothes, grew her own vegetables, was a skilled carpenter, and an excellent chess player. She outlived three husbands and was over 90 when she died – a good advertisement for teetotalism and fresh vegetables!

Henrietta was recognised as a pioneer of female suffrage when the Commonwealth gave women the vote in 1902, shortly after Federation. Australia was the second country in the world to grant women equal voting rights, after New Zealand, in 1893; however we were the first in the world to allow women to stand for parliament. Henrietta’s own state of Victoria was the last to grant women the vote, in 1908.

When you look at modern Australian society, there must be much of which Henrietta Dugdale would approve. Women can vote, and be elected to power; they can enter the professions, have access to birth control, and don’t have to wear corsets. Presumably she would give the thumbs up to state school education, Dry July, Family Planning clinics, the fall of the Empire, and the rise of secularism.

However, the fight against violence towards women still has a long way to go. 57% of Australian women have experienced physical or sexual violence. One in three will suffer violence in an intimate relationship. The incidence of sexual violence against women in this country is more than double the global average. In Victoria, domestic violence is the leading contributor of death, injury and illness amongst women aged 15-44. Almost every week, a woman will die at the hands of her spouse or partner.

The Dugdale Trust for Women & Girls in Victoria was set up last year to to reduce violence against women and girls, with women and men working to address the root causes of violence. It is proudly named in honour of Henrietta Dugdale, and I am sure she would applaud this initiative.

Henrietta is a feminine form of the Germanic Henry. Although a traditional name amongst European royalty, the name only became widely used in England after the marriage of Charles I to Henriette-Marie of France, the youngest sister of the future King Louis XIII. In England, her name was Anglicised to Henrietta Maria; the king called her Maria, and the English public thought of her as Queen Mary.

Henriette-Marie wasn’t a popular queen, due to her Frenchness, which included staunch Catholicism, and failure to learn English very well. Nonetheless her name made an impact, and she bestowed it on her daughter Princess Henrietta of England, who married the son of Louis XIII, Phillipe I, Duke of Orleans. Unlike her mother, Henrietta seemed popular in her adopted country, although she died young, possibly from poisoning.

Another (semi) royal Henrietta was the illegitimate daughter of King James II, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales, and her sons William and Henry (Harry). The name Henrietta became commonly used amongst the English nobility, and still has a rather aristocratic air. It isn’t particularly common in English-speaking countries, and has been less popular in Australia than in either the United States, where it left the charts in the 1960s, or in England/Wales, where it has remained fairly stable since the 1990s, and is currently in the 500s.

In New South Wales, Henrietta was #158 in the 1900s, and fell in popularity so that it had left the charts altogether by the 1930s. You could call it a dated name, as it hasn’t charted for more than 80 years, but as it was never popular, I prefer to think of it as a vintage name. In Victoria, there were 7 babies named Henrietta in 2012.

Although Henrietta could never be accused of trendiness, it feels like a great time to give your daughter this name. Vintage and retro names are in style, four-syllable names for girls are popular, and there is a fresh appreciation for names associated with royalty. Princess Mary of Denmark has a daughter whose second name is Henrietta: not named for a queen or princess, but for Mary’s mother, Henrietta Donaldson.

This is a lovely dignified vintage name with a royal history and the attraction of never having become popular. The short form Etta is very fashionable (Henrietta Donaldson’s nickname), Hettie would be adorable, Hennie is sweet, and I have even seen a little girl named Henri in a birth notice.

POLL RESULT
Henrietta received an excellent approval rating of 77%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2014. People saw the name Henrietta as strong and intelligent (21%), classy and dignified (17%), beautiful and charming (16%), and a vintage name ready for revival (16%). However, 7% of people thought it was ugly and frumpish.

Famous Name: Lincoln

26 Wednesday Feb 2014

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Today is the 210th anniversary of the naming of Port Lincoln, on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, on the shores of Boston Bay, which opens out into the Spencer Gulf. Port Lincoln is a regional city of around 15 000 people, and about 7% of the population are Indigenous, from the Nauo, Barngala, Wirangu, and Mirning peoples.

Two of Port Lincoln’s claims to fame are that it is said to have more millionaires per capita than any other place in Australia, and boasts the title of Seafood Capital of Australia, as it has the largest commercial fishing fleet in the country, which catch tuna and sardines, and a thriving aquaculture industry which farms tuna, yellowtail kingfish, abalone, mussels, oysters, seahorses, and lobsters.

Port Lincoln has produced more than its fair share of athletes and sportspeople, with many AFL footballers originally hailing from Port Lincoln. Netballer Lauren Nourse began her career in Port Lincoln, and Paralympic cyclist Kieran Modra was born there. Weightlifter Dean Lukin, who won gold at the 1984 Olympics, was a tuna fisherman, and upon his retirement returned to manage the family fishing business. Another with a connection to the fish industry is tuna farmer Tony Santic, the owner of Makybe Diva, the only horse to win the Melbourne Cup three times. There is a life-sized bronze statue of Makybe Diva on the town’s foreshore.

The scenic beauty of Port Lincoln attracts many tourists, who come here for yachting, scuba diving, and game fishing. The novel Blue Fin by Colin Thiele is set in Port Lincoln and revolves around the fishing industry; the movie was filmed in nearby Streaky Bay. Some of the scenes from Jaws and Gallipoli were filmed in Port Lincoln, and the reality television show Australian Survivor was filmed nearby.

British naval explorer Matthew Flinders discovered Boston Bay on February 26 1802, and named the body of water Port Lincoln, after his birthplace of Lincoln in England. Lincoln is believed to mean “settlement by the pool” in a blend of the British and Latin languages, with “the pool” referring to Brayford Pool, a natural lake in the city’s centre. The city of Lincoln is twinned with Port Lincoln in South Australia.

The surname Lincoln comes from the city of Lincoln, and the most famous bearer must surely be Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States. He led his nation through the American Civil War, and his Gettysburg Address became an iconic statement of American belief in the principles of liberty and democracy. His assassination in the final weeks of the Civil War made him a national martyr, and he is consistently ranked as one of the greatest US Presidents – often, the very greatest.

Lincoln has been used as a first name for boys since the 18th century, with most early bearers of the name born in Lincolnshire and surrounding districts. Although Lincoln was used as a name in the United States before Abraham Lincoln, its use soared during the years of the Civil War and just after it, and must often have been given in honour of the president.

A famous Australian with this name is actor Lincoln Lewis, the son of rugby league legend Wally Lewis. He has appeared in several television series, such as Home and Away and Neighbours, and had roles in films such as Tomorrow, When the War Began and After Earth. Lincoln is the brother of sportcaster Mitch Lewis, a celebrity dad on the blog in 2012.

The name Lincoln first charted in Australia in the 1960s, and first ranked in the 1970s, débuting at #207. It remained comfortably in the 200s for decades, then suddenly climbed at a dizzying speed during the latter half of the 2000s, and was in the Top 100 by 2009. The instigator of this surge of popularity was probably US television drama series Prison Break, starring Dominic Purcell as Lincoln Burrows. Dominic moved to Sydney from Britain as a baby, and studied acting at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. He won an Australian Film Institute Award for his role in Prison Break.

Currently Lincoln is #67 nationally, #76 in New South Wales, #66 in Victoria, #40 in Queensland, #38 in Western Australia, #37 in Tasmania, and #66 in the Australian Capital Territory. Lincoln was one of the fastest-rising boys names of 2012 – the same year that the movies Lincoln, and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter were released. From the data that’s come in so far, Lincoln looks set to continue his ascent as one of the fastest-rising names of 2013.

Lincoln is a handsome, clean-sounding modern classic that may be more Aussie than you expected. It has certainly been warmly embraced in Australia, and is more popular here than in either the US or UK, where it isn’t even in the Top 100 (its similarity in sound to popular Lachlan can’t have hurt). Lincoln’s star is on the rise, and looks set to join the national Top 50 fairly soon: it’s already in my personal Top 50 for 2013.

Linc is the obvious nickname, with an attractive similarity to the word link, suggesting your little Linc could join the family together. I am spotting the short form more and more often in birth notices – perhaps because some parents are becoming reluctant to choose the popular Lincoln.

POLL RESULT
Lincoln received a respectable approval rating of 64%. People saw the name Lincoln as stylish and cool (16%), handsome and distinguished (15%), and strong and masculine (15%). However, 14% thought it was too trendy. Only one person thought the name Lincoln was too popular.

(Photo shows fishing boats in the marina at Port Lincoln)

Famous Name: Tigerlily

19 Wednesday Feb 2014

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Last week we looked at the name of actor Orpheus Pledger, who was in the Channel Nine telemovie, Schapelle. As it turned out, ratings for it were only average, with almost twice as many people tuning in to watch Channel Seven’s mini-series, INXS: Never Tears Us Apart. In fact, since the screening, an INXS album has reached #1 in the charts for the first time since 1990.

Watching the mini-series reminded me of Michael Hutchence’s daughter Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, who was given one of the “crazy celebrity baby names” of the 1990s. It’s interesting how much less “crazy” crazy celebrity baby names seem as the years go by: once Cruz, Maddox, River, Rocco, Banjo, Jett, Sunday and Coco were considered outrageous, but now they’re mainstream. I have to admit that the Heavenly Hiraani part still seems offbeat 17 years later, but Tiger Lily is pretty rocking – a spunky nature name combining flora and fauna.

The Tiger Lily (Lilium lancifolium) is native to China, Korea and Japan, and its common name came about because its flowers are large and bright orange with black markings – although they don’t literally have tigerish stripes, but spots. Introduced to England in the early 19th century, it became naturalised in some parts of the United States (just to confuse things, Americans refer to some native lilies as “Tiger Lilies”).

Easy to grow, the Tiger Lily is edible, and the roots used in Chinese cooking. There is a legend that a Korean hermit took an arrow from the foot of a wounded tiger, and after its death, the tiger transformed into the Tiger Lily, so that he could remain with his human friend. When the hermit died, the flower spread widely, searching for the hermit. The Tiger Lily is said to symbolise wealth, perhaps because its spots reminded people of coins. A funny superstition related to these spots is that if you smell a Tiger Lily, you will end up with freckles!

There is a graceful tiger-lily in Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, a passionate and rather bossy bloom which tries to keep all the flowers in line (with the ferocity of a tiger). When Alice wishes to herself that the flowers could talk, the tiger-lily is the first to respond, with “We can talk, when there’s anybody worth talking to”.

The first human character in fiction named Tiger Lily I can think of is the “redskin princess” of the Piccaninny tribe in J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Beautiful and brave, Tiger Lily’s life was saved by Peter Pan, so that her tribe became his allies. As a result, the flirtatious yet aloof Tiger Lily harbours (futile) romantic feelings for Peter, and refuses to marry. Barrie gives her cringe-inducing dialogue, such as “Me Tiger Lily. Peter Pan save me, me his velly nice friend”, and her tribe call Peter The Great White Father – Barrie’s preference for the book’s title, which his publishers’ fortunately didn’t think was a good idea.

In the 1953 Disney film of Peter Pan, this dialogue is embarrassing enough that Tiger Lily doesn’t speak at all, and her role was eliminated in later films, lest the stereotypes of Native Americans should give offence. Because of this, she has never become a Disney princess (in fact, calling her a “princess” would be a whole other cultural controversy).

Another exotic Tiger Lily from children’s fiction is a little girl of Chinese heritage in the Rupert Bear comic strips and television show. A rather mysterious figure of royal blood, her father is a Conjurer, and she has quite a bit of magical knowledge herself, which helps Rupert in several adventures. Not nearly as controversial as Barrie’s Tiger Lily, her role was nonetheless phased out in the 1990s, presumably for similar reasons.

In Australia, Tigerlily is a swimwear fashion label started by designer Jodhi Meares, which gives the name an expensively casual, beachy feel. If you look at the models used by Tigerlily, and at its Facebook page, the ideal “Tigerlily girl” is not some blonde beach bunny with a banging bod, but sophisticated and well-travelled, yet relaxed and confident enough to be in search of the perfect bikini.

Tigerlily is a rare name, but there is something rather magnificent about it. We usually think of lilies as pale and demure, yet here are these flamboyant tiger-cat lilies – big, bright, and bold, growing wild and untamed, or bringing a garden to life with glorious colour. Tigerlily sounds gorgeous and fierce, exotic and feminine, freckled and free-spirited, full of passion and vivacity. It could be seen as whimsical and hippie, but because of the expensive fashion label, also seems quite posh.

Worried that Tigerlily is too big a name for a little girl? Miss Hutchence Geldof goes by Tiger, but you could also use Ty, Tige, Tig, Tiggy, Tilly, Iggy, Lily, Lil, and TL.

POLL RESULT
Tigerlily received an approval rating of 56%. People saw it as a beautiful, whimsical nature name (26%), and wild and bold (19%). However, 13% believed it was still a wacky celebrity baby name, and 12% saw it as too hippy-dippy.