Celebrity Baby News: Patrick Keating and Penny Hunt

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139204-patrick-keatingPatrick Keating and his girlfriend Penny Hunt welcomed their first child together at the end of March, and have named their son Jax. Jax has older siblings named Avalon and Slade, who are the children of Patrick and his ex-wife, Amber McDonald.

Patrick is the eldest son of former Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating, who was in office 1991-1996. Patrick has a background in private banking, and is now said to be pursuing a new career with the support of his father.

Penny is a fashion stylist who has worked with stars such as Asher Keddie, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Jennifer Hawkins, Mischa Barton, Dominic Monaghan and Evangeline Lilly. She is the former Beauty Editor of Vogue Australia, and the current Fashion and Beauty Editor at Mindfood. Patrick and Penny have been together for about a year.

Celebrity Baby News: Nick Vujicic and Kanae Miyahara

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nick-vujicic-kanae-miyahara-HONEYMOONMotivational speaker Nick Vujicic, and his wife Kanae Miyahara, welcomed their first child on February 13, and have named their son Kiyoshi James.

Nick was born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a rare disorder where the person is missing all four limbs. While still in high school, he worked on fundraising for charities and disability campaigns, and began giving talks at his prayer group. Later he founded his own charity, Life Without Limbs. Since graduating from university, he has become a motivational speaker, travelling all over the world and speaking to schools, churches, and corporations. He wrote his first book in 2010, and markets his own DVDs. In 2009, he starred in the short film The Butterfly Circus, which has won several prizes, and gained Nick a Best Actor award.

Nick met Kanae after moving to the United States in 2007, and the couple were married last year, followed by a honeymoon in Hawaii. The family live in California.

Kiyoshi is a Japanese name meaning “pure”, and James is Nick’s middle name too.

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(Upper photo shows Nick and Kanae on honeymoon; lower photo shows Nick with Kiyoshi)

Celebrity Baby News: Sheyne Rowley

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sheyneBaby whisperer Sheyne Rowley welcomed her daughter Dasha Sofia in April last year. Even baby experts can have their own issues to work through, and Dasha was born prematurely, so that Sheyne was constantly worried whenever she stopped breathing.

Sheyne has worked with children for 16 years and runs her own consulting business which focuses on getting babies into a good sleep routine. She trained in London, and regularly appears on radio and TV with parenting tips.

The name Dasha is a Russian pet form of Daria; it is pronounced DAH-sha.

 

Celebrity Baby News: Robbie and Trudie Colville

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698549-robbie-colvilleLocal Adelaide cricketer Robbie Colville, and his wife Trudie, welcomed their daughter Sophie on March 24. Sophie Colville was born at 8 pm at Flinders Medical Centre, weighing 4 kg (9 lb). She joins big sister Claire, aged 3.

Robbie plays for Reynella, who won their grand final match against St Peter’s Old Collegians on the same day Sophie was born.

Celebrity Baby News: Cycling Babies

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864327-rory-sutherlandRory Sutherland and his wife Cheynna welcomed their daughter Aurelia on March 13. Aurelia Sutherland joins big brother Eston.

Rory is originally from Canberra, and has been racing competitively since the age of 14. He has won many international races, and currently rides for Team Saxo-Tinkoff. At one point, Rory lived in Colorado in the United States, which is where he met his wife Cheynna. The family are now based in Girona, Spain. Although the name Aurelia is a little dated in Spain, here it is becoming very fashionable.

Matt Wilson and his wife Meg welcomed their son Hugo on March 21. Matt was a member of the national team, and after surviving cancer took up professional cycling. He came first in the National Road Race Championships in 2004, and the Herald Sun Tour in 2007. He retired last year.

(Photo shows Rory winning the first stage of the Tour of Utah last year)

Celebrity Baby News: AFL Babies

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NickMalceskiLauraNick Malceski and his wife Laura welcomed their first child early this year, and have named their son Harrison. Nick plays for the Sydney Swans, who won the Grand Final last year. He and Laura (nee Smyth) were married in 2011, and spent their honeymoon in Bali.

Mark LeCras and his wife Emily welcomed their first child in February, and have named their daughter Molly. Mark plays for the West Coast Eagles, and he and Emily (nee Marshall) were married in 2011.

(Photo shows Nick and Laura)

Article in New Issue of Matilda Magazine

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Cover of Matilda Magazine 2nd IssueKate and Sarah have a new issue of Matilda magazine out. They are having a few problems with their website at present, but the second issue of Matilda looks great. There’s sage advice from Abby at Appellation Mountain, some wonderful surname names from Brooke at Baby Name Pondering, name interviews, names from Jane Austen from Kelli at The Name Freak, Easter ideas, and more.

I have an article in it titled Beyond Liv and Zeke: One Syllable Names. It looks at some of the one syllable names that don’t make the Top 1000 in the United States, such as Bo, Nox, Haze and Jinx. I had a lot of fun scouring the US data to find some gems … and some curiosities.

Thanks Kate and Sarah for another fantastic issue!

The Top 40 Names at Baby Center Australia for 2012

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Now that all the official data is out, here are the most popular names from parenting website Baby Center Australia, which has expanded their list from a Top 20 to a Top 40. It counts up the birth announcements from the site’s members, so although it is a national list, it only gives you an idea of name trends amongst the type of parents who join parenting websites (which is really helpful if you happen to fit that demographic yourself). Unlike the data from states and territories, Baby Center combines spellings, so that Isabelle, Isabel, Isobel and Izobelle etc all count as one name

GIRLS

  1. Amelia
  2. Lily
  3. Isabella
  4. Emily
  5. Chloe
  6. Charlotte
  7. Zoe
  8. Isabelle
  9. Olivia
  10. Sophie
  11. Madison
  12. Ruby
  13. Ella
  14. Sienna
  15. Isla
  16. Scarlett
  17. Sophia
  18. Mia
  19. Grace
  20. Ava
  21. Emma
  22. Matilda
  23. Lucy
  24. Hannah
  25. Zara
  26. Abby
  27. Jasmine
  28. Mackenzie
  29. Hayley
  30. Mila
  31. Annabelle
  32. Chelsea
  33. Abigail
  34. Addison
  35. Eva
  36. Evie
  37. Savannah
  38. Layla
  39. Molly
  40. Sarah

BOYS

  1. Oliver
  2. Lucas
  3. Ethan
  4. Thomas
  5. Noah
  6. Cooper
  7. James
  8. Jackson
  9. Liam
  10. Xavier
  11. Lachlan
  12. William
  13. Joshua
  14. Jack
  15. Benjamin
  16. Max
  17. Jacob
  18. Samuel
  19. Charlie
  20. Mason
  21. Daniel
  22. Aiden
  23. Ryan
  24. Harrison
  25. Oscar
  26. Alexander
  27. Isaac
  28. Harry
  29. Henry
  30. Jake
  31. Luka
  32. Eli
  33. Flynn
  34. Jayden
  35. Hunter
  36. Lincoln
  37. Riley
  38. Mitchell
  39. Blake
  40. Connor

Name Trends from Baby Center Australia – Girls

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Biggest Movers Up

  1. Amelia +11
  2. Isabella +10
  3. Isabelle +9
  4. Zoe +8
  5. Madison/Maddison +7

Also Up

Isla, Scarlett, Emily, Sophia, Lily

Amelia gained the most popularity, going up 11 places to make #1. This does remind me of an article from last year, which said that Amelia proved an across-the-board favourite in Sydney. This name is increasingly rapidly in popularity in the US, and is already #1 in the UK, so it doesn’t seem outrageous to predict it reaching that position here too. Isabella and Isabelle also did very well, after Isabella had a fall last year (said to be because Twilight came to an end; no word on what has made it more popular again). New to the Top 20 – Isla, Scarlett and Sophia.

Biggest Movers Down

  1. Charlie -21 at least
  2. Ava -13
  3. Lucy -9
  4. Ruby -9
  5. Mia and Sophie -8

Also Down

Ella, Chloe, Hannah, Olivia, Grace, Sienna, Charlotte, Emma

Charlie has fallen dramatically, not just off the Top 20, but right off the Top 40. Interestingly, Charlotte fell slightly too. Lucy, Emma and Hannah also left the Top 20. Ava dropped more than 10 places; maybe Eva is rising to take its place?

New to the Top 20

  • Isla #15
  • Scarlett #16
  • Sophia #17

Gone from the Top 20

  • Lucy #14
  • Emma #19
  • Charlie #20
  • Hannah #20

Name Trends from Baby Center Australia – Boys

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Biggest Movers Up

  1. James +14 at least
  2. Cooper +11
  3. Xavier +9
  4. Jackson +8
  5. Liam and Thomas +6

Also Up

Benjamin, Lucas, Samuel, Ethan, Mason

James returned to the Top 20 after dropping off it in 2011 – Baby Center suggests the 50th anniversary of James Bond films may be a factor, which doesn’t seem too implausible. Samuel is also back on the list, no theories as to why. Xavier was new to the list last year, and continues his ascent; Benjamin was new too, and went up slightly. Baby Center believes this because of model Gisele Bundchen’s son Benjamin, born in 2009. Cooper and Jackson are two surname names doing well, with Mason new to the Top 20. Liam made modest gains, which Baby Center attributes to the success of One Direction. As Harry is suddenly doing really well in the official data, this seems fairly convincing.

Biggest Movers Down

  1. Riley -25
  2. Charlie -11
  3. William -9
  4. Aiden -8
  5. Alexander and Jack -8

Also Down

Lachlan, Max, Jacob, Joshua, Noah

Riley really stood out, diving 25 places right off the Top 20, and Charlie also fell more than 10 places, so it became less popular for both sexes. Old favourites William and Jack took a bit of a tumble, while Alexander, new to the Top 20 last year, left it this year. Oliver was the only name to stay at the same position, maintaining his presence as the #1 name. Baby Center noted that there were fewer alternative spellings for boys’ names in 2012, suggesting a shift back to basics.

New or Returned to the Top 20

  • Samuel #18
  • Mason #20

Gone from the Top 20

  • Riley #12
  • Alexander #18

No Change in Position

  • Oliver #1