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Category Archives: Names in the News

Names at Work: Name News From the World of Business and Employment

28 Wednesday Sep 2016

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ Comments Off on Names at Work: Name News From the World of Business and Employment

Tags

name studies

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Name Blind CVs
Numerous studies demonstrate that certain names are more likely to be chosen for a job than others. Not only is it harder to get a job if your name isn’t Anglo-Saxon, but there is a preference for names that are common and easy to pronounce.

Because of this unconscious name bias, several major public and private employers in the UK signed a pledge last year to remove applicants’ names from CVs, and this applies to universities as well. This year, the scheme is being trialled in Victoria, which may also remove gender, age, and location from applications. Taking part is voluntary, and so far WorkSafe, Victoria Police, and Westpac are among those who have signed up for it.

Big Earning Names
Employment company LiveHire looked through its data set of 70 000 profiles to see which names made the most money. The top male earners were Stuart, Donald, Gregory, William, and Kenneth, while women named Heather, Joan, Carolyn, Kerry and Megan earned the most. Meanwhile, names that were struggling financially were Ethan, Francis, Lucas, Samuel, Joshua, Beverley, Amelia, Ruby, Isabella, and Dianne.

LiveHire says these results are for fun, and don’t have any scientific basis. In most cases the high earners have names that peaked in popularity several decades ago, while the Joshuas and Rubys are still young and have not had time to establish themselves in their careers. Older struggling names are possibly more common amongst those from a lower socioeconomic background. LiveHire says there is no need to change your name in order to earn more.

The Smartest Names
Genealogy website Moose Roots collected almost 15 000 names of great philosophers, writers, mathematicians, scientists, inventors, artists, and composers to identify their most common first names.

The top names of genius men were John, Robert, William, Charles, David, James, Richard, Johann, George, Paul, Thomas, Peter, and Joseph (the Beatles all had four fab genius names!). The smartest women were Mary, Elizabeth, Maria, Anne, Margaret, Susan, Ruth, Anna, Alice, Dorothy, Jane, Helen, and Charlotte.

Far from demonstrating that these names are necessary for genius, they just show the most common names over time, with names such as John, William, Mary, and Elizabeth being highly popular for centuries. I fully endorse naming your child after a wonderful namesake if you want to, but think choosing one with a more unusual name, such as Linus or Octavia, would be a lot more distinctive.

The Most Successful Names
Professor Albert Mehrabian from the University of California, has written a book called The Baby Name Report Card, based on extensive surveys of how people perceive names (or how they perceived them in 2002 anyway).

People thought the most successful-sounding women’s names were Jacqueline, Morgan, Elizabeth, Katherine, Victoria, Lauraine, Susan, Catherine, Kate, and Madeleine, and the most successful men’s names were Steven, Ross, Christopher, James, Robert, David, Kenneth, Parker, Thomas, and Madison. Who were these people who thought Madison seemed like a successful man, rather than a 10-year-old girl?

Names that people thought were bound for failure were Wilma, Weeza, Virgie, Trixie, Tina, Swoosie, Suzee, Soosie, Sissy, and Mush for women, and Rufus, Rude, Butch, Alfie, Gary, Normee, Bud, Petie, and Phonso. A definite prejudice against short forms and names nobody has ever heard of can be detected.

There’s nothing wrong with choosing a baby name that a lot of other people like, but the crowd tends to be very conservative, and somewhat behind the trends.

Brand Names – in Line with Baby Names?
Research on brand names showed that in the 1970s and ’80s the letter K was a favourite for leading brand names, such as Kellogs, Kit-Kat, Kodak, Kmart, and Kentucky Fried Chicken. K stood out as memorable, because it is a plosive sound (like B, hard C, D, G, P, and T), and looks distinctive. However, it turns out that there are trends in brand names as well.

New research shows that the most common letters for the top companies in the Fortune 500 begin with A (such as Apple and American Express) and J (such as JP Morgan and Johnson & Johnson). This correlates with the most popular baby names of a few years ago, where names such as Alexander, Amelia, James, and Jasmine were the most common.

If brand names and baby names do come into fashion at the same time, not only does it explain why Kevin and Kristen flourished at the same time as Kodak and Kmart, but it suggests that leading brands in the near future will begin with A, E, J, K, and L – the most common initials of popular baby names last year.

POLL RESULTS
77% of people were broadly in favour of names being removed from the CV of job applicants, with 23% thinking it was a great idea, and 26% thinking it didn’t go far enough, and that all identifying information should be removed as well. 28% were in favour theoretically, but thought it would be impractical to implement. 18% didn’t think such measures were necessary, and 5% weren’t sure what to think.

A Selection of Candidate Names in the 2016 Federal Election

28 Sunday Aug 2016

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

political candidates

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There were 1625 candidates in this year’s Federal Election, held on July 2. Here are one hundred names from the election ballots that I found especially pleasant, interesting, or amusing. The Green Party (social justice environmentalists) and Rise Up Australia (far-right fringe) seemed to be over-represented among the interesting names

1. Kristin Bacon (Animal Justice Party) – can an animal really trust someone whose name sounds suspiciously like crisping bacon?
2. Alice Barnes (Green Party)
3. Sandy Caddy (Rise Up Australia)
4. Shea Caplice (Arts Party)
5. Marylou Carter (Family First Party)
6. Aoife Champion-Fashoyin (Labor Party)
7. Lalitha Chelliah (Socialist Alliance)
8. Bridget Clinch (Veterans Party)
9. Rosalie Crestani (Rise Up Australia)
10. Ioanna Culleton (One Nation)
11. Sylvie Ellsmore (Green Party)
12. Kamala Emanuel (Socialist Alliance)
13. Amanda Excell (Christian Democratic Party)
14. Ula Falanga (Christian Democratic Party)
15. Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (Liberal Party) – elected to the Senate in NSW
16. Emma Flowerdew (Liberal Party)
17. Yvonne Gentle (Rise Up Australia)
18. Viv Glance (Green Party)
19. Rose Godde (Arts Party)
20. Zarina Greenberg (Animal Justice Party)
21. Jananie Janarthana (Green Party)
22. Pierrette Kelly (Liberal Party)
23. Kirsten Lovejoy (Green Party)
24. Emma McBride (Labor Party) – my huband’s choice of “most electable name”; elected as MP for Dobell, NSW
25. Malarndirri McCarthy (Labor Party) – elected to the Senate in NT
26. Tasma Minifie (Green Party)
27. Neroli Mooney (Rise Up Australia)
28. Silvana Nero-Nile (Christian Democratic Party)
29. Jane Oakley (Green Party)
30. Freya Ostapovich (Liberal National Party)
31. Patchouli Paterson (Green Party)
32. Elena Quirk (Green Party)
33. Rose Read (Green Party)
34. Bibe Roadley (Liberal National Party)
35. Jenalie Salt (Christian Democratic Party)
36. Taffy Samuriwo-Vuntarde (Rise Up Australia)
37. Myfanwy Schenk (Family First Party)
38. Shelley Shay (Australian Recreational Fishers Party)
39. Delanie Skye (Green Party)
40. Marnie Southward (Marriage Equality Party)
41. Sally Spain (Green Party)
42. Santa Spruce-Peet-Boyd (Independent)
43. Fern Summer (Independent)
44. Camille Sydow (Animal Justice Party)
45. Catriona Cecilia Thoolen (Palmer United Party)
46. Cordelia Troy (Independent)
47. Tula Tzoras (Online Direct Democracy – Empowering the People!)
48. Suzan Virago (Green Party)
49. Dawn Walker (Green Party)
50. Gabriela Zabala (Socialist Equality Party)

1. Zane Alcorn (Socialist Alliance)
2. Fraser Anning (One Nation)
3. John Peter August (Pirate Party)
4. Marc Aussie-Stone (Independent)
5. Avtar Singh Billu (Independent)
6. Sundance Bilson-Thompson (Cyclists Party) – in everyday life, a distinguished physicist
7. Ash Blackwell (Drug Law Reform)
8. Arthur Chesterfield-Evans (Green Party)
9. Marty Corboy (National Party)
10. Berge Anthony Der Sarkissian (Online Direct Democracy – Empowering the People!)
11. Damian Drum (National Party) – elected as MP for Murray, Vic
12. Wes Fang (National Party)
13. Mike Freelander (Labor Party) – elected as MP for Macarthur, NSW
14. Ned Kelly Gebadi (Family First Party)
15. Jimmy Gimini (Rise Up Australia)
16. Mercurius Goldstein (Green Party)
17. Ian Goodenough (Liberal Party) – elected as MP for Moore, WA (so he was good enough)
18. Ray Goodlass (Green Party)
19. Gary Gray (Labor Party) – his first and last names are anagrams of each other
20. Oscar Grenfell (Socialist Equality Party)
21. Stirling Griff (Nick Xenophon Party) – elected to the Senate in SA
22. Florian Heise (Family First)
23. Thor Kerr (Green Party)
24. Phil Larkin (Country Party) – not the poet
25. Glenn Lazarus (Glenn Lazarus Team)
26. David Littleproud (National Party) – elected as MP for Maranoa, Qld
27. Richard Love (Katter’s Australian Party)
28. Milan Maksimovic (Christian Democratic Party)
29. Hovig Melkonian (Labor Party)
30. Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow (Science Party) – Political Name of the Year, hands down
31. Methuen Morgan (Countryminded)
32. Kado Muir (National Party)
33. Sang Ok (Liberal Party)
34. Bruce Poon (Animal Justice Party)
35. Thor Prohaska (Independent)
36. Isaac Pursehouse (Pirate Party) – actually sounds like an 18th century pirate
37. Rowan Ramsey (Liberal Party) – elected as MP for Grey, SA
38. Ash Rose (Australian Progressives)
39. Warnar Spyker (Australian Christians)
40. Nick Steel (Rise Up Australia)
41. Sonny Susilo (Christian Democratic Party)
42. Ludy Charles Sweeris-Sigrist (Christian Democratic Party)
43. Beresford Thomas (Christian Democratic Party)
44. Francesco Timpano (Independent)
45. Rasmus Torkel (Independent)
46. Tran Tran (Rise Up Australia)
47. Phil Twiss (Australian Christians)
48. Quentin Van Stieglitz (Palmer United Party)
49. Zhenya Dio Wang (Palmer United Party)
50. Nick Xenophon (Nick Xenophon Party) – elected to the Senate in SA

POLL RESULTS
Most people would prefer to vote for a name that was solid and corporate rather than one which was ordinary and everyman, with more than two thirds choosing this option.
Most people would prefer to vote for a name that was down to earth and unpretentious rather than one which was flamboyant and aristocratic, with more than two thirds choosing this option.
More than half liked the idea of a candidate with a friendly, cheerful name, but many preferred one who sounded serious and no-nonsense, so this ballot was fairly even.
A clear majority (86%) were in favour of a name which sounded pretty and poetic rather than one which sounded tough and cool.
70% preferred a very short name to a very long name.
And finally, most people would prefer to vote for a name that was highly patriotic rather than one which was interesting and eccentric, with more than two thirds choosing this option.

(Photo shows Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow from the Science Party)

Popular Names in Different Regions for 2015

28 Saturday May 2016

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ Comments Off on Popular Names in Different Regions for 2015

Tags

birth notices, Facebook, popular names

hang-gliding-stanwell-park-view_0NEW SOUTH WALES

Sydney – Northern Beaches
The affluent Northern Beaches published Top 20 lists for individual suburbs – luxury! Names which were higher in the northern suburbs than in NSW overall were Arlo, Harvey, Archie, Beau, Billy, Harley, Theodore, Hugo, Louie, Sonny, Toby, Ashton, Florence, Poppy, Piper, Billie, Millie, Mila, Amelie, Ayla, Savannah, Skye, Jasmine, and Imogen. The overall Top 10:

GIRLS

  1. Charlotte
  2. Grace
  3. Olivia
  4. Emily
  5. Sophia
  6. Chloe
  7. Isabella
  8. Lucy
  9. Sophie
  10. Matilda
BOYS

  1. Oliver
  2. Thomas
  3. William
  4. Jack
  5. Lachlan
  6. Henry
  7. Leo
  8. Benjamin
  9. Max
  10. Ethan

Sydney – Western Suburbs
Most popular names for boys in the west were Jacob, Joshua, William, Noah, James, Muhammad, Hunter and Jackson, while for girls it was Charlotte, Mia, Amelia, Olivia, Sophie, Jessica, Mackenzie, Isabella, Evie, Sienna, Peyton, Tahlia, and Aliza.

The article noted some more unusual names that scored quite highly in the west, such as Zion and Harleen.

Wollongong
The Illawarra region has published a Top 40. Top 40 names include Arlo, Jax and Spencer for boys, and Alyssa, Olive and Ariana for girls. The Top 10:

GIRLS

  1. Charlotte
  2. Ruby
  3. Evie
  4. Mia
  5. Ava
  6. Olivia
  7. Evelyn
  8. Ivy
  9. Ella
  10. Harper
BOYS

  1. Oliver
  2. William
  3. Max
  4. Harrison
  5. Jack
  6. Lachlan
  7. Noah
  8. Levi
  9. Lucas
  10. Elijah

The South Coast
The towns between Berry and Eden published their Top 40 for boys and girls. Arlo, Jasper, Aria and Pippa are Top 40 names on the south coast. The Top 10:

GIRLS

  1. Charlotte
  2. Mia
  3. Ava
  4. Ruby
  5. Olivia
  6. Ivy
  7. Evie
  8. Ella
  9. Chloe
  10. Amelia
BOYS

  1. Oliver
  2. William
  3. Lucas
  4. Jack
  5. Noah
  6. Hunter
  7. Logan
  8. Jackson
  9. Elijah
  10. Max

Wagga Wagga
The most popular names for boys in the Riverina were Oliver, William and Jack, and for girls they were Olivia, Charlotte and Mia.

Broken Hill
The most popular boy’s name was Archie, and the most popular girl’s name was Brooklyn. It intrigues me that Brooklyn not only only sounds like Broken, but has the same meaning – a case of geographic determinism?

Albury and Wodonga
In the border towns, Jack was #1 name for boys, with Archie at #2. The #1 spot for girls was shared between Ava and Sophie, and Ella was #2.

VICTORIA

Ballarat
The #1 name for boys was Jack, followed by Jackson and Thomas. The #1 girl’s name was Olivia, with Ruby and Sophie tying for #2.

On a sad note Mrs Ruth Matthews, who has been recording baby names from The Ballarat Courier for fifty years, has decided to call it a day. So many people are announcing their baby’s birth on Facebook that there been a sharp decline in the number of birth notices. Mrs Matthews said the most popular boy’s name overall was Andrew, and for girls it was Jessica.

Warrnambool
In the south-west of Victoria the most popular names for boys were Angus, William, and Harry, while in second place were Archer/Archie and Jack. For girls, the top names were Lucy and Emma/Emmy, while Charlotte, Ruby, and Mia all came in second place.

The paper noted that Sophie had declined while Fletcher had risen, and that names beginning with H for boys and E for girls were much in evidence.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Thanks to Ebony at babynameobsessed for these summaries of regional names from WA.

South West and Great Southern
The most popular boy’s names were Noah at #1, Jack at #2 and Oliver at #3. For girls it was Charlotte #1, Sophie #2, and Amelia, Ava and Matilda at #3.

Jake, Connor, Lincoln, Oscar, Evie, Alexis, Isabelle and Georgia were much higher in the south than in the state overall.

Goldfields and Esperance
Jack was the #1 name for boys, and Olivia # for girls.

Beau, Hudson, Jake, Lincoln, Oscar, Jayden, Max, and Sienna were higher on the Goldfields than in the state overall.

Wheatbelt and Midwest
Jack was the #1 boy’s name, followed by Hudson and James at #2. For girls, Isabelle was #1, with Ella, Sophie, Ava, Matilda, and Mackenzie at #2.

Hudson, Logan, Jaxon, Nathan, Benjamin, Luke, Matthew, Isabelle, Ella, Matilda and Mackenzie were higher in the Wheatbelt region than the state overall.

Kimberley, Pilbara and Gascoyne
In the north of the state, the #1 boy’s name was William, with James at #2 and Samuel, Cooper and Harrison at #3. For girls, Charlotte was #1, Isabella, Amelia and Layla were #2 and Sophia, Isla and Chloe were #3.

Jett, Kevin, Jesse and Cameron were popular names in the state’s north, while Tyler, Luke, Dylan, Archer, Archie, Isabella, Layla and Sophia were higher in popularity than in WA overall.

(Photo shows hang glider over Stanwell Tops in Wollongong, NSW)

Baby, Where Did You Get That Name?

31 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

choosing baby names, Disney princesses, famous namesakes, French names, German names, honouring, Latin American names, middle names, name meanings, name trends, names of bands, nicknames, rare names, scandinavian names, sibsets, surname names, triplet sets

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On January 6 Selene Garton and Brendan Winter, from southern Queensland, welcomed their son in alarming circumstances. He arrived unexpectedly at home with no time to get to a hospital, and was a breech birth, being born feet first. They rang 000, and during a 17 minute phone call, the emergency medical dispatcher gave them soothing instructions on how to deliver the baby until the paramedics arrived. Selene and Brendan have named their son Izaya Gnarly to indicate the “gnarly” start he had in life, but he will be called Gnarly. I think if you want to give your child a very unusual name, that’s a good way to do it – put it in the middle, and then call them by their middle name.

When Kylee and Robbie Wieczorek from central Queensland knew that they were expecting a baby boy, they involved their seven-year-old son Owen in the name choosing process. Owen suggested the fairly awesome Thor Captain America Ironman, but his parents just laughed in a “kids say the darnedest things” sort of way. However, the name stuck, and once the baby arrived, Thor seemed both strong and different, so Owen’s choice prevailed. They dispensed with the suggested middle names, and Thor’s middle name is Cecil, after his great-grandfather. Owen may not mind that his middle name suggestions were ignored, as he is adoring having a baby brother.

Parker Bowman, aged 4, also loves being a big brother to his baby sister, Lennon Adelaide [pictured]. Their mum Marette Kiernan heard someone call out to their child Lennon on a beach in Florida, and decided she liked the name, while Adelaide is after Marette’s grandmother (dad Andrew hated the name Lennon at first, but seems to have come around). Parker has given his sister a cute nickname: Lemonade.

Natalie and Samuel from Terrigal have a baby boy named Iver, named after their favourite band, Bon Iver. They looked the name up and read it was a Scandinavian boy’s name meaning “archer” (which is said AYV-er). However, the American band’s name is French for “good winter”, and the Iver (winter) part is said ee-VAIR. I’m not sure whether Iver’s name is said the Scandinavian way, the French way, or like Ivor.

More unexpected honouring: Sarah and Jarrad Cook from Geelong wanted to name their son after their favourite AFL footballer, Daniel Menzel. Daniel wasn’t distinctive enough, so their baby son is named Menzel, and he has already met his famous namesake. Menzel is a German surname which is a pet form of Menz, short for names such as Herman and Clemens. You might recall the difficulties John Travolta had with the name of the actress Idina Menzel, from Frozen. Let’s hope no one similarly mangles Menzel’s name.

And another name honouring a sporting hero: Cassie and Kris Pyper from Kurnell in Sydney named their son Maximus John John, after the Hawaiian surfer John John Florence, because Kris is a keen surfer himself. Florence’s name is actually just John, but his mother called him John John after John F. Kennedy Jr, the son of JFK. Aptly, John John Florence is renowned for surfing the huge waves of the Banzai Pipeline often just called the Pipe), so there’s a connection with the Pyper surname.

Dimity and Michael Hand from Sydney’s northern beaches have a baby girl named Zaelia. Dimity picked out the name Zaelia when she was a little girl, because her childhood best friend had a wonderful grandmother named Zaelia. Dimity thinks that Zaelia is derived from Azalea and means “little flower”, but it’s actually a Latin American pet form of Rosalia. However, that still gives it a flowery meaning. Dimity also believes Zaelia isn’t influenced by trends, although it’s right on trend because of Zali and Zalia.

Ina and Dave Mills from the Northern Beaches welcomed their third child late last year. They already had a daughter named Ruby and a son named Roki, and hadn’t picked out a name before the birth. However, there was a painting of a caravan called Ruby and Rosie just outside the delivery room, and they took that as a sign, so their daughter is named Rosie Bea. Why Bea? Because she was meant to be, of course!

Carmen and Adrian Longmuir from Gladstone welcomed their sixth child last year and named him Tyz, said to rhyme with rise. Adrian chose the name because Tyz will be their last child, and he “ties up” the family nicely. The meaning has special poignancy because Tyz’s brother Kash passed away a year before.

Quinn and Ivy Palmer from Adelaide may look like twins, but these baby girls are actually triplets – their sister, the smallest triplet, died while still in the womb. Parents Emma-May and Jim named the third triplet Aurora, because she is their “Sleeping Beauty”.

Save Our Susans and Protect The Peter: The Ridiculous World of “Endangered” Names

17 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Baby Name Explorer, classic names, middle names, name data, name popularity, Nancy's Baby Names, popular names, retro names, Sydney Morning Herald

Susan SocietyA wave of articles on “endangered” names has been flooding my inbox since last year, and eventually some poor sap from the Sydney Morning Herald with minimal interest in names got roped into providing some scary statistics for New South Wales, so now I have to cover it too.

(I know they’re not interested in names because they think Jessica is a Hebrew name meaning “rich” – it isn’t Hebrew, and doesn’t mean anything of the sort).

By accessing the Baby Name Explorer database of names in NSW from 1900 to 2011, they found that the names that were fast disappearing were John, Robert, Peter, and David for boys, and Mary, Margaret, Susan, and Karen for girls.

In the world of manufactured name problems, this is surely one of the daftest. Here is why the sudden concern over endangered names is nonsensical.

The Statistics are Wrong
John and David are still in the Top 100, which they have never left after more than a century, and the Baby Name Explorer actually shows them increasing in usage in 2011. This is surely the exact OPPOSITE of disappearing or endangered.

Mary, Peter and Robert were only just outside the Top 100 in 2011 (Mary was #101), and the graph shows that both Mary and Robert had increased usage in 2011, while Peter’s position had remained extremely stable for some time.

Margaret increased in usage in 2011, and even Karen had an uptick which brought into back onto the charts that year. Susan was the only name on the list which had actually dropped off the charts by 2011.

How did they get it so wrong? By selecting names that had been #1 for a particular decade, so that their drop in popularity would look alarmingly steep, and then completely ignoring the names’ ranking and usage.

Mary was #1 in 1900 and had dropped to #101 in 2011 – in other words it only went down 100 places in 111 years! That’s very stable: the kind of stability that made Mary the overall #1 girl’s name of the twentieth century.

The “resurrected” names were equally silly, with William, Jack, Ruby, and Grace cited as names which had made brave comebacks against the odds. William has never been out of the Top 50, so it can hardly be said to have ever gone away, while Jack and Grace are classics which have never been lower than #400. Retro Ruby is the only name which has ever been off the charts and returned.

Why couldn’t the article identify any names which actually were still in use yet fast disappearing? Because the Baby Name Explorer only covers the 1200 most popular names of the century, so that any name still on the charts by 2011 was getting reasonable, and often increasing, usage. You can’t make useful statistics out of insufficient data.

The Data Doesn’t Include Middle Names
Margaret may only be around the 400s as a first name, but it’s a fairly common middle name for girls – probably in the Top 100 of middle names. Dorothy may not chart any more, but it’s not unusual in the middle. It doesn’t really matter whether a name is in the first or middle position: if it’s in use either way, you can hardly claim it as disappearing or long gone.

It’s Misleading to Apply Scientific Terms to Names
Terms like endangered or extinct, taken from environmental science, don’t make any sense when applied to names.

If a plant or animal is endangered, it is very difficult to ensure its survival, and will require specialised breeding programs or seed collecting initiatives, all of which depend on funding. Losing some species may have dire consequences for the planet; for example, we need bees and beetles to pollinate our crops and plants. Worst of all, once they are all gone, we cannot bring them back – no matter how much we long for the dodo, it is done for, and nothing will return it to us.

If a name isn’t used much any more, no great calamity will result. Brangien and Althalos have been rarely used since the Middle Ages, but nobody has suffered as a result of Brangien deficiency, and no awful disaster has ensued from the loss of Althalos.

Furthermore, if we decided we’d like to see more of a particular name which has gone out of use, it costs no money or effort to bring it back. You simply slap the name onto your child’s birth certificate, and hey presto – you’ve got yourself a rare and beautiful specimen of an Althalos.

As long as we still know of a name’s existence from books and records, it is a potential baby name, no matter how many centuries or even millennia since it was last used. (Thank you Nancy from Nancy’s Baby Names for pointing out this absurdity).

I hope you can all sleep more soundly now, knowing that herds of Johns and Davids wander at will, the Mary and the Peter are gambolling freely, and numbers of Margarets and Roberts are secure for the foreseeable future. We even have high hopes for the diminished Susan, which may yet return to a sustainable population as 1950s names prepare to come back into fashion.

I do wonder what effect these kinds of articles have on people though. Does it make them more likely to “save” the “endangered” names, knowing that not as many people are using them now, or does it put people off the names even more, in the belief that they would be choosing a baby name heading for the scrapheap?

POLL RESULTS
74% of people said being told a name was in danger of disappearing didn’t make any difference as to whether they would use it or not. 21% said they would be more likely to use the name, knowing it was a normal name that was currently underused. 5% would be less likely to use the name, knowing it had gone out of fashion and may be disliked by others.

39% of people thought we should save the name Susan, while 61% believed we shouldn’t bother.

 

Name News: Baby Name Predictions, “Banned” Baby Names, and Grandparents Weigh In

21 Saturday Nov 2015

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Arabic names, banned names, family interference, name trends, rare names

081015_woman_with_baby-649x337

Name Trend Predictions for 2016
Social researcher Mark McCrindle, whose company collates the national Top 100 each year, has made his annual predictions on what name trends we will witness for next year.

1. Currently popular names will lose popularity
McCrindle says that names have about “a decade of popularity”. I’m guessing he’s referring to the Top 10 as “popular”, because it’s not uncommon for names to spend half a century or more in the Top 100. As such, Charlotte and Emily are slated to go down in popularity (these seem like VERY safe bets, as Charlotte has already gone down, while Emily has been decreasing in popularity since the late 2000s). Likewise, it’s bye-bye to Noah and Cooper.

2. Short names
Long names are generally declining, while short names are holding steady. He’s predicting more Eve, Gia, and Ivy for the girls, while Ash, Ed, and Max seem like reasonable bets for the boys.

3. The 1950s are back in style
Our grandparents names are now starting to seem a lot cooler, while still having that reassuring feel of familiarity. Why not Judith, Robyn, and Heather for girls, and Bernard, Stephen, and Andrew for boys?

4. Names with staying power
The babies being born now are predicted to have longer lifespans and continue working for longer than ever before. Solid names that sound equally good on a baby and an elderly person are advised for this generation. He thinks Audrey, Olivia, and Violet fit the bill for girls, while Daniel, Edward, and William are names for boys that will withstand the test of time.

5. Uncommon names will become more common
The number of babies with a Top 10 name shrinks each year, which means we’re selecting from an ever-wider pool of names. He suggests Olive and Sage for girls, Orson and Sawyer for boys (Olive is already in the Top 100, so not actually all that uncommon – could the pool be smaller than reported?). Also it looks like it’s nature names for girls, surname names for boys.

Predictions for 2016 from the Northern Territory
A rather confusingly-written article from the Northern Territory News says that it has a list of 60 “predictions” for next year’s popular baby names in the Territory. Where this list comes from they do not say – it may be a list of names actually registered this year, or perhaps a psychic vision from a local swami able to penetrate the birth registry through the Veil of Illusion with their Third Eye.

Some of the names on the list are Aspen, Cairo, Cleo, Darwin, Devon, Herbert, Khaleesi, Lawson, Miller, Monroe, Niles, Presley, Virginia, and Ziggy. Rather depressingly, the Arabic name Safiyaa is considered to be “made up”.

In any case, these sixty names will not all be on the popular list for next year, as the Northern Territory only has a Top 20.

Grandparents Naming Rights – Should They Have Any?
Seniors website Starts at Sixty discusses a naming trend they read about in the New York Times – rich people bribing their children with hefty financial incentives for the right to name their grandchildren. One reason for the trend is said to be the shift away from traditional naming practices towards choosing something more unusual.

The SAS writers have a bob each way by both condemning the practice, and saying that if their children were going to pick something outlandish like Apple, they’d be reaching for the chequebook quick smart. They suggest a compromise: grandparents can’t choose a name, but they get free right of veto.

Well sorry grandparents but I don’t even support a free veto, and if you read this article, you will see why! Some people would veto even common names.

I’m happy to say that most of the seniors who commented said that it was the parents’ right to name their own children, and reminded the website that they had already got to choose their own childrens’ names.

They also reminded us that this is hardly a new trend – one had a grandmother whose mother paid her to name her son Owen. Grandparent disapproval is nothing new either, as others reported that their own choice of baby name was greeted coldly by their parents. Others did report some success at suggesting baby names without resorting to bribery, so no need for grandparents to give up in despair either.

Banned Baby Names
There’s a list of banned baby names in Australia doing the rounds, copied from Scoopla. Supposedly these names were all banned in 2015, which is nonsense – I have seen these names before on lists going back for years. Some of them may be urban myths, as there is no source given for this (mis)information, while others may be simply hypothetical examples given by birth registries, and not actual names submitted for registration.

Read for fun, but with so many grains of salt that you will need to drink copious amounts of water for the rest of the day.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite baby name trend trend for 2016 was names that sound equally good on babies and the elderly, gaining 43% of the vote. Their least favourite was 1950s names, which 11% of people voted for.

Most people (62%) thought that grandparents should be free to make baby name suggestions, but with no expectation that they would be followed. However, a significant minority (36%) felt that they should stay out of the baby naming process altogether. 1% thought that grandparents should be allowed to veto a name they hated if it was very strange, and one person thought that if grandparents wanted to choose the baby name, they could pay for the privilege. Nobody was in favour of grandparents being allowed significant input into the baby naming process otherwise.

Name News: Rebels, Angels, Stars, Storms, Struggles, and Flawed Heroes

29 Saturday Aug 2015

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

baby name apps, baby name disagreements, celebrity baby names, celebrity sibsets, choosing baby names, controversial names, cyclone names, fictional namesakes, honouring, legal issues, nicknames, screen names, surnames, twin sets

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Picken Out Baby Names
A couple of years ago the blog featured celebrity parents Liam Picken, an AFL footballer, and his partner Annie Nolan, who had just had twin girls, Delphi and Cheska, sisters to Malachy. Annie has her own blog called Uncanny Annie, and recently posted an interesting article on how she and Liam named their children. Just for starters, I discovered that Delphi’s name is actually Delphine, but she is only ever called Delphi. You can also read how the surname Picken helped shorten their name list: Banjo Picken was never going to happen, nor was Cherry Picken!

Claire’s Controversial Name List
Journalist Claire Harvey, who has also been featured on the blog as a celebrity mum with her son Reg, has written a piece about names that she thinks are now too closely associated with a particular person. Intriguingly, they’re all female names. (Is Claire musing over her future girl’s list?).

She does note the recent fuss over Atticus Finch, who’s gone from first-rate father to flawed figure with the publication of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. However, Claire likes the name Atticus, and can’t see any reason to get in a flap over a fictional character who lived in a time and place where holding segregationist views and being racially bigoted was normal.

I have been waiting to see if there have been any stories in the Australian press about parents anguished over the name Atticus, but so far I haven’t found any – all the angsty Atticus stories I’ve read have been from the US. I do note that so far this year I have seen four new babies named Atticus, but none since Go Set a Watchman came out last month. It will be interesting to see how many I see in the rest of the year.

She’s Not a Rebel … No, No, No
And more celebrity names: the name Rebel was featured on the blog in 2013 because of the fame of Australian comic actress Rebel Wilson. However, a few months ago there was a big expose of Wilson when it was discovered that her name wasn’t Rebel Wilson at all, but Melanie Bownds. There’s nothing unusual about having a screen name, but apparently it’s an issue if you pretend that it’s your real name.

Plus there was a kerfuffle about her age (she shaved about seven years off it), and her background, which was much more boring and upper middle class than she claimed. For some reason, one magazine took issue with the fact that she wasn’t a class clown at school, but instead rather a high achiever who was deputy head girl, basketball captain, and on the debating team. They almost seemed to imply her comedic gifts must be spurious as well.

Oddly enough, Rebel’s siblings really are named Ryot, Liberty (Libby), and Annachi (Anna), which makes me wonder if there is some information missing here – especially as several of the key points of Rebel’s life story have been confirmed.

Stormy Weather
After Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu in March, the names Pam and Pamela became more common, especially for baby girls born during the cyclone itself. This story looks at babies named Pamela and Pam, while another baby was named Charlotte Pamela after Australian volunteer paramedic Charlotte Gillon, who helped deliver her during the cyclone. A great honour for Charlotte, and what a pretty name. Meanwhile, another story reports that nine months after Cyclone Rusty hit Port Hedland, the Pilbara town had many babies with the name Rusty.

Unregistered Baby Name Heads to Court
Sometimes it’s hard for partners to compromise on choosing a child’s name together. Two years ago Ms Reynolds and Mr Sherman had a son after a brief relationship, and ever since they’ve been arguing over what his surname should be. Ms Reynolds says it should be Reynolds, while Mr Sherman prefers Reynolds-Sherman. In the meantime, the baby’s name has not been registered.

In cases where parents can’t agree on a child’s name, the law will step in, and a judge has sided with Mr Sherman, insisting that the boy be registered as Reynolds-Sherman, and referred to as such at all times. The judge says that it would be beneficial for the child’s welfare to have an identity reflecting both sides of his family.

However, Ms Reynolds is not satisfied with this decision. Apart from worries about how she’s going to fit his surname on his lunchbox, she’s concerned that if Mr Sherman ever abandons his son, the boy will be stuck with the surname of the man who deserted him. She appealed the decision, and the appeal was upheld by the Family Court of Australia. The case will now go back to court for a re-hearing.

The relevant justices wrote in their submission: a dispute about the name by which a child will be known perhaps for his entire life is a matter of real importance. Ever thought choosing baby names was a frivolous pursuit? The law disagrees! It’s a matter of real importance.

Like a Baby Name? Swipe It!
Hopefully you and your partner won’t argue about baby names to the extent that Ms Reynolds and Mr Sherman have. But to help you reach consensus, there’s a free baby name app that works like Tinder. You and your partner both download it, and connect with each other’s profile. After that, you are sent scads of baby names, which you can each swipe to like or dislike. If you both like the same name – it’s a match, and sent to your shared favourites list. It sounds like a fun way to get a baby name list together.

Holy Names in the News
It’s rare that a person’s name becomes a major part of a news story. But last month in Sydney, Steven Jesus was accused of stabbing fellow boarding house resident Christopher Angel; luckily Mr Angel was out of the intensive care unit in less than a week. The newspaper headline read: Jesus charged with stabbing Angel in a Sydney boarding house after a brawl of biblical proportions before victim’s Lazarus-like recovery.

It seems that even Mr Angel has had a bit of a giggle about the conjunction of names. The lawyer for Mr Jesus supposedly kept trying to say his surname the Spanish way, but Mr Jesus is adamant his name is pronounced JEE-suz.

Jesus is now in gaol awaiting trial, and has had an AVO taken out against him. And that’s a sentence you don’t read every day.

POLL RESULTS
Most people (73%) didn’t think Go Set a Watchman would affect the popularity of the name Atticus. 49% of people thought the name Atticus would become less popular for a while, but popularity would recover once the fuss over the book died down. 24% didn’t think it would make any difference, and Atticus would continue growing in popularity at the same rate. Of the 27% of people who thought its popularity would be affected, 23% thought it would steadily become less popular, while 4% believed it would become totally unusable.

Wintery Name News: From Frozen to Ice

25 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Arabic names, changing names, choosing baby names, cultural issues, Disney names, drug names, name trends, names from movies, Victoria name data

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Baby It’s Cold
It’s official – the name Elsa has become more popular since the movie Frozen came out in late 2013. In Victoria, the number of babies named Elsa doubled in the year following the film’s release, from 19 babies named Elsa in 2013 to 38 in 2014. However, the numbers were increasing even before the film, with 11 in 2011 and 22 in 2012, so it seems as if the movie was jumping on a trend (or else pre-publicity for the movie doubled numbers too). So far in 2015, there have been 6 babies named Elsa.

The article goes on to say that the number of babies named Anna has held steady in Victoria. Anna has returned to the Top 100 in Tasmania and was one of Queensland’s biggest risers in 2014, going up 19 places, and also in Victoria, where it went up 25 places. So although overall numbers haven’t changed much, the name Anna had a definite boost in the rankings after the film, which is significant for a name that peaked in the 1980s, and which you would expect to be on a slow decline.

The Victorian birth registry cannot reveal how many babies have been named Kristoff, Olaf or Sven, because if less than 5 babies have a name, the information must remain confidential.

Naming Babies in the Lebanese Community
Journalist Antoinette Latouff had an entertaining article at the start of the year on being pregnant with her second child as part of the Lebanese community. Bad bits: lots of pressure to have a boy (Antoinette was pregnant with another girl), tons of interference. Good bits: oceans of love, support, and practical help.

It’s the norm for grandparents to expect to name the baby (one mother-in-law just started calling the pregnant belly John), while in some cases the eldest son is expected to name his children after his parents – which might mean Osama is your child’s default name. Antoinette says sometimes it can be a challenge finding a name which sounds good with your exotic surname, and name sharing is very common in extended families.

The Trouble with Amelia
Yusuf Omar, a Muslim poet from Somalia, wrote about when he and his wife Khadijo were expecting a baby girl. On the advice of a young Western-educated Somali friend, they considered the name Amelia, as being beautiful, easy to pronounce, and fitting in well with Australian society. Unfortunately, the older generation amongst the Somali-Australian community felt hurt and betrayed by their choice: it was especially shocking as Muslim poets are supposed to be cultural custodians.

They were told that the name Amelia was “non-Muslim”, but Yusuf protested that there is no such thing as a “Muslim name”, and that names are neutral. He came to realise there is no such thing as a culturally neutral name, especially after meeting a Mohammad who goes by Moe in order to find employment.

He also notes the number of converts to Islam who change their names, even though this isn’t called for by Islamic teaching. The prophet Muhammad never asked that his followers change their names, unless the meaning of it was offensive to Muslim belief. In fact Muhammad himself kept his original name, which was a traditional pagan name. Yusuf notes that whenever someone changes their name they risk obliterating their own history and culture.

In the end, Yusuf and his wife named their daughter Eemaann, meaning “faith”, on the advice of his mother-in-law. However, the young people call her Amelia.

Legal and Illegal Name Changes in the News
Dorothy Barnett was recently sentenced to prison in the US after kidnapping her baby daughter Savanna from her home in South Carolina in 1994, and eventually bringing her up in Australia. Savanna Todd, now aged 21, grew up believing her name was Samantha Geldenhuys, and that another man was her father. It’s been a very high-profile case of changing a child’s name by illegal means, but Savanna still goes by Samantha, and has been supportive of her mother. She says that a name change does not change who you are, even though this is a case where a name change did indeed obliterate her history and culture. Dorothy’s most common alias was Alexandra or Alexandria.

Gable Tostee, who was accused of murdering Warriena Wright after a Tinder date, and in an unrelated matter gaoled for traffic offences, has changed his name to the more generic Eric Thomas. Police are baffled as to why someone would change their name while legal proceedings are still underway, rather than at their completion in order to start a new life. However, they stress there is nothing illegal or sinister about it.

Choosing a Baby Name on Struggle Street
Did you watch the confronting series Struggle Street on SBS? Before it had even appeared on television it was condemned as exploitative “poverty porn“, but by the time the first episode aired, it had been hailed as a powerful, poignant, complex, thought-provoking insight into the lives of those affected by terrible hardship.

Probably one of the most difficult things to watch was young mother Billie Jo Wilkie, who had a horrific start to life herself, giving birth at home with the aid of illegal drugs, and the assistance of her mother Carlene, who was also on drugs.

At one point, they discussed possible baby names and liked the idea of the name Crystal – after crystal meth. This shows context is everything, because Crystal is a perfectly nice, normal name, but what an appalling reason to choose it.

I don’t know what name they eventually chose, but Billie Jo’s child, her third, was taken into care soon after birth. And in what seems to be something of a pattern for this Name News, Billie Jo shortly afterwards ended up in a women’s prison, on remand for traffic offences.

POLL RESULTS
Nearly everyone (91%) thought that Elsa would keep becoming more popular. 54% thought it would probably become more popular, while 37% were absolutely sure that it would. 9% thought it probably wouldn’t become more popular, and nobody was definite that it wouldn’t.

Name News – Name Stories Edition

03 Wednesday Jun 2015

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ Comments Off on Name News – Name Stories Edition

Tags

animal names, Biblical names, choosing baby names, flower names, honouring, Italian names, middle names, name meanings, names of streets, nature names, nicknames, popular names, Sanskrit names, Spanish names

 

894442-3f7723a6-e3f6-11e4-a3c3-bea7019da5adLin Zhang and her husband Cheng-Hung Tsai met each other in Darwin, and bought their first house there. The house was on Charlotte Street, so they named their daughter Charlotte. They loved the old-fashioned feel of the name, and liked the idea of a link between the first house and the first baby. Charlotte was the most popular girl’s name in the Northern Territory the year Charlotte Tsai was born, and it’s a nice reminder that even the #1 name can have a good story behind it.

A baby boy born in Cairns was delivered at home with the help of paramedics named Jeremy Lawrance and Alex May [pictured]. His parents Kurt Caulton and Georgina Saltmere had a very easy decision to make choosing a baby name – his name is Jeremy Alexander after the paramedics who were there to bring him into the world.

Sydney barrister Julie Taylor was 19 weeks pregnant when she was taken hostage in the siege at the Lindt Cafe last December. Although she managed to escape minutes before police stormed into the building, her best friend Katrina Dawson lost her life during the exchange of gunfire. Julie’s daughter was born last month, and she is named Emily Katrina in honour of Ms Dawson.

Journalist Josephine Cafagna had a rotten time in 2014, losing five loved ones. But there was a beautiful ending to the year, when she welcomed a grandnephew named Alessio Luke, the first person of the new generation born in their family. Josephine’s mum, now a great-grandmother, showed Alessio’s parents a piece of paper where she’d written down her three favourite names for the expected baby. Being a good grandmother and not wanting to impose, she kept her thoughts to herself, but one of the names was Elisio, which she found in the Bible (it’s the Italian form of Elisha). The middle name Luke is after an uncle who died as a teenager in a terrible accident, and is still deeply missed.

Earlier this year I wrote about New South Wales tightening up their birth registry legislation after a couple of tragic events involving newborn babies. One of them was a baby girl whose remains were found buried on Maroubra Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and her parents never located. Maroubra local Bill Green, and his wife Filomena d’Alessandro, read that the baby girl would receive a destitute burial, and were determined that not happen. They officially “adopted” the baby, and arranged a memorial service in her honour, giving her the name Lily Grace. Every year there will be a ceremony for Lily, and children like her, who have died without a known family.

This year is the centenary of Anzac, and it will also be the 100th birthday of Anzac Dowker in November. Her mother Elizabeth had six children, with Anzac being the second-last born, and she was having trouble thinking of names for the baby. The man at the registry office suggested Anzac as a name they might like, so she was named Bessie Anzac. However, she didn’t like her first name, and has always gone by her middle name, Anzac. Anzac is very proud of her patriotic name.

Names from The Best Gift of Life

Yolanda Lionheart “Yoli“: Parents Lena and Carlo picked Yolanda because it is a Spanish name; they met in Spain, and Yolanda was conceived there. The middle name came about because when Yolanda was a newborn, she made squeaky little roaring noises like a lion cub. It’s a name that melts Lena’s heart every time she says it, but unfortunately the name didn’t get approval from the grandparents. Yolanda has a big sister named Francesca.

Ace: Ace’s dad is named Radley, nicknamed “Rad”, and mum Jess felt sure that someone named Rad needed a son named Ace! Luckily Rad agreed.

Narayan: Narayan’s dad James belongs to the Hare Krishna movement, and he is named in honour of his father’s personal guru. Narayan is a Sanskrit name for Vishnu (God), meaning “the essence of all”. Narayan’s mum is named Krystal.

Sisters Taleah and Emmi-Belle: Mum Nikki had picked out the names Sofia and Daisy for her daughters, but dad Chris insisted that they were Taleah and Emmi-Belle. Dad won both times, and luckily Nikki agrees he made the right decisions.

Henley Violet: Mum Emma had her heart set on a flower name, because floristry and gardening is something she loved sharing with her mother. The names Dahlia, Rose and Ivy were all considered, but didn’t seem right. So it was decided the middle name would be a flower instead. Dad Tim had fallen in love with the name Henley after watching a movie (maybe Now You See Me, with Isla Fisher in the role of Henley Reeves), and started calling his daughter Henley before she was even born. Emma was worried about the possibility of “Hen” as the nickname, but she now often calls her daughter “little Hen”.

Shayla Tigerlily: Mum Tegan was going to be called Shayden if she was a boy, and had always wanted to call her son Shayden. She had a girl instead, but considers Shayla a feminine form of Shayden. Tigerlily was chosen as a middle name because Tegan loves nature and flowers.

Theodore Luca: Dad Oliver liked the name Ted and mum Charlotte loved the name Theodore, so the name worked for both of them. They like that it means “God’s gift”, and they believe that Luca means “light”.

Name News: Bagging Out Bad Baby Names, Baby Boomers Bite the Dust, and Branding Your Baby

22 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

acronym names, Baby Center, baby name businesses, baby name etiquette, choosing baby names, dated names, Facebook, Instagram, rare names, Vimeo

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Lara Bingle and Sam Worthington’s son Rocket Zot recently got his name hammered in the press. Celebrity mum Chrissie Swan wouldn’t have approved of that, because she believes that nobody deserves to have their baby name rubbished. She had her children’s’ names, Kit and Peggy, criticised, so she knows how horrible it feels. However, even Chrissie draws the line somewhere, and for her it is demonic names. I’ve noticed nobody seems able to say, “All baby names are great”; everyone has a clause in fine print that says, “Except for these obviously terrible names that nobody in their right mind would consider”.

However, while Alissa Warren from Mamamia agrees that bagging out someone’s baby name after the baby is born is not on, she thinks it’s fine to do it before the baby is born (as a warning, I guess). Chrissie would not be on board with that, because her son’s name was called “a nothing name” before his birth, which has damaged her relationship with the friend who shared this pre-natal opinion. Lots of comments on the article, with nearly all of them saying that you can’t be rude about someone’s baby name before the baby is born either, or even if the name hasn’t been decided yet.

They weren’t quite criticised, but certain rare names chosen by Australian parents at Baby Center this year were mentioned on Scoopla. Boys names included Anthem, Basil, Denim, Falcon, Finnick, Guru, Judge, Patch, Ranger, Tiger, Viggo, Zealand, and Zeppelin, while unusual names for girls were Agape, Chia, Elowen, Holiday, Hyacinth, Lark, Neo, Nivea, Posey, Sparrow, Tempest, and Violina. Members voted Moody for boys and Yolo for girls (an acronym for You Only Live Once) as the most unusual names they had heard of.

Of course, people are always fiddling the numbers to “prove” how rare or how common a name is, sometimes with unconvincing results. The Daily Telegraph looked through the data, and found that names like Arya are more often used than “common” Australian names like Kylie and Sharon. Sharon is a common name for women in their fifties – not at all common for newborn babies. Surely no one is surprised to hear there are more new babies named Arya than Sharon?

Same with this article on baby boomer names which are supposedly “dying out”. There’s not many Bruces around, but the numbers have remained pretty stable for the past 15 years, which doesn’t spell death to me. Neil is holding its own, and Ian is a classic which is still in the 200s – not even close to needing palliative care. Sandra hasn’t disappeared from the charts just yet, and classic Helen has been stable for a decade and may even be on the rise. The article is quite right though that even the “dead” names could very well come back one day – one day people will be naming their babies after Great-Grandmother Judith, the same way Elsie and Ruby have been rediscovered.

If you yearn for your own unique baby name, and are dismayed to find that Finnick and Elowen aren’t as one-off as you’d hoped, a Swiss company will custom design you one, for a measly $40 000. They have 14 naming experts, 4 historians, 12 translators, and two trademark attorneys who will work for 100 hours to create a baby name list for you. All elements of the name will have a positive meaning, and they often combine words in a new order, or use vocabulary words that haven’t been used as names before. The trouble is that the company is called Erfolgswelle (it means “wave of success” in German), which doesn’t inspire confidence in their naming abilities.

You can also go the cheapie option, and crowd source your baby name, like north-coast NSW inventor Cedar and his partner Kylie did. Their baby came early, and he was a boy when they were expecting a girl, so they didn’t have any baby names planned. Cedar and his dad had already used crowd funding for their innovative bee hive, so naturally saw crowd sourcing the baby name as an extension. So far, the most popular baby name is Buzz.

And why does your baby need a unique baby name? So they can start building their personal brand, for we are assured that in the future there will be no such things as a CV, and employers will instead be making hiring decisions based on your personal website (preferably with its own .com) and social media strategies. Already nine year-old surfer Winter Vincent has his own Instagram, Facebook and Vimeo, and has attracted sponsors through his charity work and his “amazing name”. And Millie-Belle Diamond is only 14-months old but already earns up to $250 a post on Instagram flogging teeny-size fashion brands. Don’t Winter Vincent and Millie-Belle Diamond already sound like brand names? And they didn’t cost $40 000 or require a crowd to pitch in, so if you want an amazing name to brand your baby, you can do it yourself quite successfully.

(Photo of Millie-Belle Diamond from Instagram)

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