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Waltzing More Than Matilda

~ Names with an Australian Bias of Democratic Temper

Waltzing More Than Matilda

Tag Archives: Abby Sandel

Gemma and Jewel

06 Friday Jun 2014

Posted by A.O. in Birth Announcements

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Abby Sandel, Appellation Mountain, Facebook, name combinations, sibsets, twin sets, Twitter

WoodenFood_m

Twins
Luella Miette and Emmeline Maeve

Girls
Alina Dawn (Nicholas, Kiara)
Anika Josephine (Tane, Kieran)
Bonnie Lola
Camilla Elizabeth (Gus, Claudia)
Coco Zara
Doreen “Dora”
Eriana Jade
Essie Florence (Henry)
Gemma Catherine
Greta Geni
Halle Sofia (Rafael)
Isabelle Rosalie (Eva)
Ivy Meyer
Jewel Grace (Chanel)
Kora Mae
Luna Piper
Lydia Ashleigh (Kyra)
Matia Rose (Charli)
Orla McIntosh
Pia Joan (Lenny)

Boys
Ash Julian (Tori, Taj)
Axel William
Beau Francis
Billy McGuffie
Callan George (Hayden)
Chaz Isaac (Zoe, Ikaia, Levi)
Dominik Ivan (Abbey, Sammi, Luka, Hudson)
Ewan Jack (Milla)
Finnlay Karoly (Cailin, Riley)
Harry Lennox
Innes James (Leliyn, Maya)
Jack Dao (Frances)
Jase Leo (Thomas)
KC Robald
Kiah Aaron (Caitlin, Jacob, Sophia)
Kingsley Ryan
Miller Thomas (Charlotte)
Monty Carlin (Saylah, Maya, Elky)
Nash Kyle (Quinn, Archer)
Tanner Reid (Harry, Kaden, Jarran)

Note: Thank you to Abby Sandel from Appellation Mountain for contributing the twins’ names via Twitter.

(Photo of little girls having a tea party from Tiger Tribe toy company, from their Facebook page)

Famous Name: Winsome

30 Wednesday Oct 2013

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ Comments Off on Famous Name: Winsome

Tags

Abby Sandel, American names, english names, famous namesakes, historical records, locational names, modern names, name history, name meaning, Nameberry, Nameberry Nine, nicknames, rare names, surname names, virtue names, vocabulary names

giovanni_boccaccio_women_playing

If you were in Sydney in early October, you could have attended the Royal Australian Navy International Fleet Review, celebrating one hundred years of our navy. Or, if you were of a more musical bent, you could have been there for The Renaissance Player’s 35th Runnymede Pop Festival. Held at Sydney University in its Gothic-style Great Hall, this is a unique concert of music, mime and poetry from medieval Europe, performed in brightly-coloured costumes.

The Runnymede Pop Festival has been going since 1973, and from the beginning has featured early music specialist Winsome Evans. Winsome is the director of the Renaissance Players, Australia’s oldest early music ensemble, and she is a professional harpsichordist, composer, and arranger. She conducted the first Renaissance Players concert while still a student.

Winsome is a recipient of the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List, The Order of Australia, and a NSW Jaycees Award for services to music.

Winsome is an English word meaning “charming in an innocent manner”. A winsome person is cheerful and open-hearted, engaging, and perhaps slightly naive, in a completely delightful way. The word comes from the Old English for “joy”, and is ultimately from an ancient root meaning “wish, love”.

Winsome is also an English surname, coming from the village of Winchcombe in Gloucester, or from Winscomb in Somerset. In either case, the name is Old English, and means “remote valley”. However, in some cases, the surname may have come directly from the Old English word winsom, meaning “attractive, lovely”, used as a personal name. If so, it means that the first name Winsome could date back to medieval times.

The first name Winsome can be found in records from the middle of the 19th century in North America, and seems to have been especially associated with Ontario, Canada. The reason for this may be Winsome Lake, which is one of the many thousands of smaller lakes in the Great Lakes region of Ontario, but why it inspired baby names is something of a mystery to me. I have been unable to discover how Winsome Lake received its name, because it is relatively obscure.

There are over one hundred women named Winsome in Australian records, most of them born around the turn of the twentieth century. There is another famous Winsome in Australia – Winsome McCaughey, who was Lord Mayor of Melbourne in the late 1980s. And another Australian musical connection too – Peggy Winsome Glanville-Hicks was a Melbourne-born opera composer and music critic who flourished in the middle of the 20th century.

Other successful Winsomes include British playwright Winsome Pinnock, and US Republican politician Winsome Sears. Interestingly, Sears was born in Jamaica and Pinnock’s parents were Jamaican, so there seems to be a West Indian connection. There was a grassroots playwright in Jamaica who wrote under the code name “Winsome” about 20-30 years ago. You can still find the name Winsome in use in Jamaica today, including singer Winsome Benjamin, and prize-winning cook Winsome Murphy.

Although Winsome is a secular virtue name like Felicity or Honour, the word winsome has come to have a particular meaning for evangelical Christians. The book Winsome Christianity by Henry Durbanville was published in 1952, and Winsome Evangelism by Ponder W. Gilliland came out in 1973.

I can’t pretend to be an expert on the subject, but my understanding is that the general message is to be winsome in your Christianity in order to attract more converts, and that some evangelists even use the word winsome to mean “capable of winning souls to Christ”. Author Neil Gaiman is apparently a big fan of the meaning of language changing over time, so I expect this example would be of great pleasure to him. It does give the name Winsome a special meaning for some Christians, so that it could become a religious virtue name in this context.

Winsome is a name I find very intriguing – the meaning of the word winsome seems very feminine to me, and Winsome is overwhelmingly used as a female name. Yet the name itself isn’t frilly in the least, having a similar sound to the male name Winston (which also comes from the Old English for “joy”). It’s a strong-sounding name for a girl, but with a dainty meaning.

Winsome isn’t a name I’ve ever seen on a baby or a child, and its heyday (if it can ever be said to have had one) was over many years ago. However, Winnie is becoming hip once more, and Winsome would be a rare and unusual way to reach it.

POSTSCRIPT: Abby Sandel mentioned Winsome in her Nameberry Nine column, and I was surprised and pleased at how many Berries liked or even loved the name Winsome.

POLL RESULT: Winsome received an approval rating of 61%. 21% of people thought it was an interesting modern virtue name, while 19% loved the idea of Winnie as the short form. However, 18% were reminded too strongly of the phrase win some, lose some. Only one person thought the name Winsome was too cutesy.

Never Out of Season: Different Varieties of Classic Name

27 Sunday Oct 2013

Posted by A.O. in Your Questions Answered

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Abby Sandel, classic names, Laura Wattenberg, name popularity, Nameberry, Nameberry Nine, popular names, The Baby Name Wizard

roberts_springtime

Classic baby names are a perpetual subject for discussion. This week Abby Sandel wondered in her Nameberry Nine column what makes a classic name, and Laura Wattenberg at The Baby Name Wizard shared her “magic formula” for turning classic names into pure gold (unfortunately her mathematical formula doesn’t work in Australia – either we don’t have a big enough population, or enough data, or both).

“Classic baby names” are a popular search term too, but it didn’t seem helpful to just write down a list of classic names. I sorted them into categories, so you can see what kind of classic each classic name is.

I counted as a classic any name which had charted in Australia for a century, never disappeared from the charts for more than a decade at a time, and never did so more than twice. After some experimentation, I found this was the most generous definition I could work with that didn’t become meaningless.

Contemporary Classics

These classics have a very modern feel to them, because they are more popular now than they were a century ago, and didn’t experience a peak of popularity in the middle. Choose one of these, and you get a name that feels both traditional and up to date.

  • Amelia
  • Charlotte
  • Ella
  • Emily
  • Eva
  • Grace
  • Hope
  • Isabella
  • Lily
  • Lucy
  • Sophia
  • Stella
  • Alexander
  • Angus
  • Darcy
  • Harry
  • Jack
  • Lachlan
  • Leo
  • Lewis
  • Marcus
  • Max
  • Oliver
  • Samuel
  • William

Up and Coming Classics

These classics are currently rising in popularity. It’s hard for a classic name to seem surprising or original, but these mostly manage to feel quite fresh. I think these classic names would make stylish choices – they’re names that we’re subconsciously primed to want more of.

  • Adele
  • Alice
  • Amelia
  • Angela
  • Audrey
  • Daisy
  • Elaine
  • Eva
  • Evelyn
  • Gloria
  • Irene
  • Josephine
  • Leah
  • Lillian
  • Rosalie
  • Rose
  • Sophia
  • Stella
  • Victoria
  • Vivienne
  • Arthur
  • Frank
  • John
  • Lawrence
  • Leo
  • Leon
  • Lewis and Louis
  • Patrick
  • Theodore
  • Vincent

Ready Steady Classics

Name nerds often talk about “timeless classics”, and these classic names are truly timeless. Their position has remained relatively stable, and over the course of the last century, they haven’t risen or fallen more than 250 places. I call them the Ready Steady Classics because they are maintaining a steady course, and ready to be used at any time. You can’t go wrong with a Ready Steady – they’re a very safe choice.

  • Angela
  • Annie
  • Catherine and Katherine
  • Christina
  • Claire
  • Elizabeth
  • Esther
  • Georgina
  • Josephine
  • Julia
  • Katie
  • Laura
  • Maria
  • Mary
  • Naomi
  • Rachel
  • Rebecca
  • Rose
  • Sarah
  • Adrian
  • Alexander
  • Andrew
  • Angus
  • Anthony
  • Charles
  • Christopher
  • Daniel
  • David
  • Edward
  • Eric
  • Harry
  • Hugh
  • George
  • Kevin
  • James
  • John
  • Joseph
  • Leon
  • Louis
  • Marcus
  • Mark
  • Martin
  • Matthew
  • Michael
  • Nicholas
  • Patrick
  • Paul
  • Peter
  • Raymond
  • Richard
  • Robert
  • Samuel
  • Stephen
  • Thomas
  • Timothy
  • Vincent
  • William

Underused Classics

These classic names have remained in use, yet haven’t become popular during the past century (the highest any has been is the very bottom of the Top 100). Choose one of these and you get a name which seems “normal”, but also slightly “unusual”. It’s a very attractive quality.

  • Adele
  • Beth
  • Bridget
  • Christina
  • Cecilia
  • Erica
  • Estelle
  • Faith
  • Georgina
  • Greta
  • Helena
  • Hope
  • Leila
  • Louisa
  • Lydia
  • Martha
  • Miriam
  • Rosa
  • Rosalie
  • Teresa and Theresa
  • Vivian and Vivienne
  • Carl
  • Duncan
  • Ivan
  • Leon
  • Lewis and Louis
  • Theodore
  • Wesley

Faded Classics

The Faded Classics have fallen more than 250 places since they peaked in popularity, and are currently at their lowest ebb. Is that any reason to reject these names? Definitely not! A classic never goes out of style, and as many of these names have hit the bottom of their cycle, they may be about to turn things around, and begin climbing in popularity in a decade or two. Some of these classics manage to have a funky vintage feel.

  • Clare
  • Linda
  • Louise
  • Marie
  • Mona
  • Nancy
  • Patricia
  • Ruth
  • Veronica
  • Shirley
  • Susan
  • Albert
  • Brian
  • Dennis
  • Edwin
  • Geoffrey and Jeffrey
  • Keith
  • Laurence
  • Leonard
  • Malcolm
  • Murray
  • Philip and Phillip
  • Roger

Under the Radar Classics

These classic names are not peaking, or rising, or fading, or maintaining a steady course. As a result, they may have escaped your attention. You may even be surprised to find some of these are classics. Don’t overlook them – these are all good names, and one of them may be perfect for you.

  • Alison
  • Amanda
  • Anna
  • Anne
  • Beatrice
  • Caroline
  • Eleanor
  • Ellen
  • Emma
  • Frances
  • Hannah
  • Helen
  • Iris
  • Isabel
  • Jacqueline
  • Jane
  • Joy
  • Joyce
  • Madeline
  • Margaret
  • Monica
  • Natalie
  • Sylvia
  • Valerie
  • Alan and Allan
  • Alfred
  • Bruce
  • Douglas
  • Francis
  • Frederick
  • Henry
  • Ian
  • Kenneth
  • Maxwell
  • Neil
  • Rex
  • Roy
  • Stanley
  • Victor

TRIVIA

  • The most contemporary of the Contemporary Classics are Sophia and Lachlan, who have the largest gap between their current position and their position in the 1910s. Sophia is 315 places higher, while Lachlan has gained 188 places.
  • The most up and coming of the Up and Coming Classics are Rosalie and Frank, who have risen highest in the last few years. Rosalie has risen 638 places since the mid-2000s, while Frank has risen 170 places.
  • The steadiest of the Ready Steady Classics are Elizabeth and James. Elizabeth has remained within 32 places throughout the past century, while James has remained within just 15 places.
  • The most underused of the Underused Classics are Estelle and Wesley. The highest Estelle has ever been is #222, and the highest Wesley has ever been is #165 – both in the 1920s.
  • The most faded of the Faded Classics are Susan and Keith, who have fallen the most from their peak. Susan went from #1 in the 1950s to its current position of 0, while Keith went from #8 in the 1920s to its present position of 0.

NOTE: I can’t guarantee I have included every classic name. If you believe one is missing, let me know.

POLL RESULTS

Question: What type of classic name do you like best?
Underused classic – 31%
Up and coming classic – 18%
Under the radar classic – 13%
Contemporary classic – 5%
Ready steady classic – 5%
Faded classics – 3%
None (classics are boring) – 3%
I can’t decide (I love so many) – 22%

(Painting shown is Springtime by the Australian artist Charles Conder – 1888)

The Baby Name Stealing Olympics

05 Sunday Aug 2012

Posted by A.O. in Naming Issues

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Abby Sandel, baby name forums, Facebook, name combinations, name disagreements, name stealing, parenting forums, Pinterest, portmanteau names, PostSecret

As the Olympics are on, here is a light-hearted look at the competitive world of “name stealing”. Being a competition, I have sorted them into teams, and awarded each entrant a prize, which hopefully will fix their naming dilemmas.

These are not real situations or real people – and they are definitely not real names of real babies. I lurked in parenting forums and also quizzed people about baby name stealing they had witnessed or experienced (or even committed), and as themes came up repeatedly, made them into stock characters and plots. If you think you recognise someone you know (or yourself), it’s because these disagreements seem to repeat over and over again.

During my months of research, I noticed a few things about “name stealing”:

  • Younger parents seemed to be more concerned about name stealing than older ones (but possibly younger people are more likely to share their stories on the Internet).
  • People who appeared less educated seemed more concerned about name theft (but maybe educated people were less likely to speak openly about their personal affairs)
  • Parents-to-be who had chosen names that are fairly popular or well-known seemed to be most susceptible to fears about name theft, and the most upset about people stealing “their” name.
  • It was an almost entirely female preoccupation, with the few men involved usually being dragged into it by their partners, or stuck between two women. I did not find one example of two fathers fighting over names by their own initiative.
  • I didn’t notice any significant difference between the numbers of boys names and girls names that were believed to have been “stolen”, but my impression was that women were more likely to become attached to names they had chosen for a son, and more likely to become emotionally volatile if they felt the name was under threat. Perhaps coincidentally, the few times I saw men became involved in a baby name feud, it was over a daughter’s name.
  • The longer someone had liked a name, the more likely they were to feel ownership over it, and the more possessive they were in regards to it.
  • Family disagreements over baby names were more acrimonious than ones between friends – probably because it’s harder to escape from a family member than a friend. However, plenty of people became upset over a perceived name theft even from a distant acquaintance.
  • Disagreements in small communities were more heated than ones between people in big cities – again, probably because it’s harder to escape someone in a small town.
  • Feuds over baby names could be long-standing or even permanent, and in extreme cases, passed on to the next generation.
  • People who don’t believe that “name stealing” exists have almost zero sympathy for its “victims”. Astute Readers will be able to tell I belong to this sceptical group.

TEAM FACEBOOK FEUD

Claire and her partner Scott are expecting a baby boy, and after a lot of discussion, they eventually agree upon the name Zachariah. Claire wastes no time in announcing their decision on Facebook. To her surprise, she receives a hurt and angry message from one of her FB friends, Meagan. Meagan says that they all chose their favourite baby names back in high school, when they were 14, and Zachariah was her name! She demands that Claire change her choice of baby name, or she will de-friend her at once. Claire has no memory of any such discussion in high school, while Meagan doesn’t believe that Claire can have forgotten, and thinks she is a liar as well as a name-thief. Soon she decides that Claire has been plotting to steal the name Zachariah for the past eight years.

Awarded to Claire: First rights to the name Zachariah, and the suggestion to be more circumspect in her use of social media.

Awarded to Meagan: This Facebook page. Maybe it will help somehow.

TEAM “THE DOG STOLE MY BABY NAME”

Jo has let all her friends know that her expected baby boy will be named Oscar. To her indignation, next time she visits her pal Vanessa, she finds that she has named her new bulldog puppy Oscar. Vanessa says that it can’t be helped – her dog just looks like an Oscar. An enraged Jo is now looking for another baby name.

Awarded to Jo: A calculator, so she can subtract the length of a bulldog’s life from the length of a man’s, thus demonstrating her son would have 72 years where he wouldn’t be sharing his name with the dog.

Awarded to Vanessa: A box of puppy treats for Oscar.

TEAM NAME NAZI

Katrina spends a lot of time on baby name forums, and considers herself quite the expert. She often shares her 101 “name rules” with friends, and tries to impress upon them how much more knowledgeable she is about names, and how superior her tastes are. Katrina has over 400 baby name combinations collected in a Word file, which she likes to show friends, online and in real life. Of course, she cannot possibly use all of them, and she doesn’t have a partner or any plans to get pregnant as yet, but she is well and truly prepared for when it occurs. When her friend Gemma announces the name of her new baby girl, Katrina is shocked and angry to find that she has used Name Combination #219 without asking permission – Cleo Araminta Lilac. Apparently Gemma became so convinced that Katrina’s tastes were better than her own that using a name she had come up with seemed the only route possible.

Awarded to Katrina: The joy of seeing one of her name creations on a real live baby, and the suggestion that she get a blog so she can boss strangers around instead of her friends.

Awarded to Gemma: My congratulations on her new baby, and the suggestion that she try to develop her own own tastes, rather than allowing herself to be brainwashed.

TEAM FAMILY INTERFERENCE

David and his wife Karin are expecting a baby girl. At a family dinner party, David finds himself seated next to Karin’s formidable sister-in-law Felicia, who asks what names they have picked out. David explains they aren’t sharing them before the birth, to which SIL responds, “Well don’t even think about Scarlett – I’m using it if we ever have another girl, and you can’t have two Scarletts in one family”. David is disconcerted, because Scarlett is their first choice for their daughter. He now feels that if they go ahead and use it, they will be accused of name stealing the moment they announce the new baby’s name.

Awarded to David: First rights to the name Scarlett, and the spine to stand up to his wife’s relations.

Awarded to Felicia: The chance to discover whether the world really does explode if there are two girls named Scarlett in the same family.

TEAM RENESMEE

Chantelle is very proud of her new baby boy’s name, because she created it herself – it’s Kyden, which is a combination of her parent’s names, Kylie and Dennis. She is furious when she discovers that Becca from her gym also has a little boy about the same age named Kyden. Becca likewise created her baby name by combining two names – that of her brothers, Kye and Jayden. Chantelle and Becca are each absolutely certain that Kyden is a unique name, and therefore the other woman must have stolen it from them. They are both upset that their son’s name’s specialness has been tarnished.

Awarded to Chantelle and Becca: A copy of Breaking Dawn. That will explain everything. Also, different gym schedules.

TEAM CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

Alicia is terrified that her older sister Nicole will use all her favourite baby names before she gets a chance to. She throws a massive tantrum, and demands that Nicole sign a contract promising that she will never use Alicia’s favourite names. There are about twenty names on the list, and for some reason, Nicole agrees to this and willingly signs the contract. In due course, Alicia has three children – none of whom are given names from the dreaded “name contract”. Nicole is now rather annoyed, as there were two or three names on the list that she would have liked to use for herself.

Awarded to Alicia and Nicole: I think a time-travelling lawyer is the only thing that can fix this situation.

TEAM EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL

Alex and Sam are expecting a baby girl, and have already chosen the name Isabel for her. They have warned their family and friends that they have “reserved” the name in advance, and like a bunch of chumps, said family and friends agree. All goes merrily until a cousin announces that their new baby will be called Elizabeth. Alex and Sam immediately ask them to change it, as it is too close to Isabel. They intend to use the nickname Izzy, and this will clash with a potential Lizzie. Cousin protests they weren’t going to use Lizzie as a nickname, but Alex and Sam are very persuasive. Both gentle, charming people, they have had a difficult time with fertility which evokes much sympathy, and have a way of becoming tearful and pleading that others find difficult to resist. As time goes on, it becomes apparent that Isobel, Isabelle, Izabel, Ysabel, Isabella, Sabella, Isadora, Isabeau, Isolde, Bella, Belle, Ilse, Libby, Sybella, and in fact any name even remotely similar to Isabel is also forbidden.

Awarded to Alex and Sam: Aww, I can’t stay mad at you, with your big puppy dog eyes. Here, have some cake.

Awarded to Friends and Family: A really HUGE baby name book so they can all pick names that sound totally different to Isabel. Sympathies to anyone who marries (or partners) into this circle and wishes to name their daughter after great-grandmother Sybil.

TEAM “GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE”

For several years, Bree-Anne has had the perfect name combination selected for her son – Ryder Lucas. She decides never to share it with anyone so that it cannot be “stolen”, and, now that she’s six months pregnant, remains tight-lipped about the name she has picked out. To her absolute horror, her neighbours, Meikeyla and Dylan, welcome a baby boy named (you guessed it) Ryder. Middle name: Lucas. A distraught Bree-Anne is absolutely convinced that Meikeyla and Dylan, have stolen her baby name, even though she cannot explain how. “They just did!” she insists. To her, it is inconceivable that anyone else could have thought up the name Ryder Lucas, and she now considers her neighbours spies, thieves, and possibly mind-readers.

Awarded to Bree-Anne: A tin foil hat, to prevent anyone else picking up on her brain waves.

Awarded to Meikeyla and Dylan: A real estate guide. They may want to move house.

(In line with the theme of this article, the accompanying image was stolen from Abby Sandel’s Pinterest account – I think it’s originally from PostSecret).

Less Commonly Used Girls Names

03 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

Abby Sandel, alphanumeric names, Arabic names, Baby Name Wizard, Bonds Baby Search, celebrity baby names, Celtic names, created names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, French names, Greek names, hebrew names, Italian names, locational names, Mer de Noms, modern names, mythological names, name data, name history, name meaning, name popularity, Nameberry, Names from the Dustbin, nicknames, popular culture, pseudonyms, rare names, Scottish names, Semitic names, Shakespearean names, stage names, surname names, The Nameberry Nine, Turkish names, unisex names, vocabulary names

When all the name data for the most popular names was released, there were also several articles which looked at some of the names closer to the bottom of the popularity lists than the top. Dorcas at Names from the Dustbin calls these names Bottom of the Barrel – not meaning that they are necessarily of poor quality, but just low in the rankings.

Most names at the bottom of the lists are just re-spellings of common names, or short forms of names that are usually kept as nicknames rather than a full name. However, if you sift through these, there’s some interesting finds at the “bottom of the barrel”, and even some neglected gems.

These names are from the popularity charts of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania. Nearly all of them are taken from the very rarest names in their state.

Adeline

This is a pet form of the French name Adele; the French pronunciation is a-de-LEEN, but the English is AD-uh-line. The name is well known from the American ballad Sweet Adeline, which was a standard for Australian folk band, The Seekers. There’s also the piece, Ballade pour Adeline, written for the composer’s baby girl, which I had to thump out tunelessly with my chubby fingers during many a childhood music lesson. However, Adeline has got considerably cooler since then; Kasey Chambers has a song called Adeline, Green Day’s Adeline Records handles indie rock bands, and Elliot Smith released his own darker version of Sweet Adeline. I read at Abby’s Nameberry Nine that Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory welcomed a daughter named Adeline last month, making it an up-to-the minute celebrity baby name. Adeline has never been on the Top 100; it was #162 for the 1900s, and then sank until it was out of regular use by the 1940s. Today it fits in well with Adelaide, Addison, Madison and Madeline; however it may be difficult for short form Addie to stand out amongst the sea of Maddies and Abbies.

Allegra

Allegra means “cheerful, lively” in Italian, related to the musical term allegro, and has a long history as a celebrity baby name. Romantic poet Lord Byron re-named his illegitimate daughter Clara Allegra Byron (called by her middle name, and originally named Alba by her mother). Despite poor little Allegras’s life being brief and marked by neglect, the name seems to have been an apt one, because she was described as a vivacious child. Her story didn’t stop American poet Henry Longfellow from using it as his daughter’s middle name; in his poem The Children’s Hour, he describes her as “laughing Allegra”. The American inventor and designer, Buckminster Fuller, also gave this name to his daughter. Allegra Versace is the daughter of Italian designer Donatella Versace, and Allegra Kurer is the daughter of British radio host Vanessa Feltz. In Australia, news presenter Jessica Rowe chose it for her eldest daughter in 2007, and last year it was chosen for the daughter of Emmy Kubainski. Frothy and elegant, with a positive meaning, this fashionable favourite would also make a good Italian heritage choice.

Bonnie

Bonnie is taken from the Scottish word bonnie, meaning “pretty, beautiful”; it’s derived from the French bon, meaning “good”. Bonnie has been used as a personal name since the 19th century, and was even sometimes given to boys, but received a huge boost when it was used in Margaret Mitchell’s popular romance, Gone with the Wind. Bonnie Blue Butler is the daughter of Scarlett and Rhett, and receives her name because she has eyes the colour of the Bonnie Blue Flag – the banner of the Confederate States in the American Civil War. British rocker Billy Idol, who sang Rebel Yell, named his daughter Bonnie Blue, and we had a Bonnie Blue competing in the Bonds Baby Search. Another famous Bonnie is Bonnie Parker, one half of notorious crime duo Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie has been on the charts almost continuously, albeit in rare use in the 1950s and ’60s. It had a peak in the 1920s at #172, then peaked again in the 1990s at #157; it’s currently climbing in the mid-100s in New South Wales, but is obviously rarer in other states. It’s a sweet old-fashioned name which is also linked to rebellion, giving it a spunkier image.

Cleopatra

This Greek name means “glory of the father”, and is almost impossible for us to disassociate from the famous Queen of Egypt. From a dangerously inbred family of Macedonian Greek origin, she ruled Egypt alongside her father, and then her brothers (who were also her husbands), but then seized control and reigned alone for many years. She was able to align herself with Rome as both ally and lover to both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, but after Mark Antony’s death, is said to have poisoned herself before she could be captured and humiliated. According to tradition, she killed herself with an asp. Her story captured the imagination of William Shakespeare, who based his play Antony and Cleopatra on the last part of her life, and her story has been made into several films, including the lavishly dreadful one starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Cleopatra is always depicted as a woman of great beauty, although early traditions suggest her attractiveness was based more on enormous charm and sex appeal. This ancient, glamorous name carries a lot of weight, but with short form Cleo becoming fashionable, some parents may wish for a long form of the name.

Elif

This Turkish name is after Alif, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and has connotations of “tall and slender”, as if the person is shaped like the letter, which is a long vertical line. It is pronounced ay-LEEF. You probably recall that Natalie Portman had a son named Aleph last year; Aleph is the Hebrew form of the same letter. The meaning of the letter goes back to the West Semitic word for “ox”, as the cuneiform originally represented the shape of an ox’s head. In Arabic, the word is connected via folk etymology to the word for “coy, tamed”, giving it a subtly demure feeling. It’s a common girl’s name in Turkey, and there are several Turkish celebrities with this name. There’s also a town in Turkey called Elif. I’m not sure a non-Turkish person would ever use it, but it’s certainly an attractive name that is easy enough for an English-speaker to understand and pronounce, once they’ve learned how it’s said.

Harlow

This name is inspired by Jean Harlow, a Hollywood superstar of the 1930s. With her platinum hair and vampish image, she was the forerunner to many blonde bombshells of the movies. Despite her beauty and success, Harlow’s life contained much tragedy, and she died of kidney failure while only in her twenties. Harlow took her mother’s maiden name as her stage name; her birth name was Harlean Carpenter. The surname Harlow is from several places in England. Harlow in Yorkshire means “hill of rocks” in Old English, while the meaning of Harlow in Essex is disputed. One theory is that it means “army hill”, with the idea being that local landmark Mulberry Hill was a meeting place for the local people. Another is that it means “temple mound”, as there is an Iron Age burial mound in the area which later had a Roman temple built on the site. Harlow is a unisex name, but more common for girls; the name came to public attention when Nicole Richie named her daughter Harlow in 2008. There were 20 babies named Harlow in Queensland last year, up from 12 the year before. Although numbers are still low, that’s a significant jump.

Pixie

This name is after the small mythological being of English folklore, tales of which come from Cornwall and Devon. They are usually depicted as small sprites who could be mischievous, but were often helpful to humans. A famous Australian with this name was the prolific illustrator and artist Pixie O’Harris (aunt of singer-artist Rolf Harris). Her real name was Rhona Olive Harris, but when she migrated to Australia from Wales she changed her name to Pixie because she was nicknamed “the Welsh pixie” on the boat over. A printer’s error changed her name from Pixie O. Harris to Pixie O’Harris, and she stuck with it as her pseudonym. Last year, businesswoman Roxy Jacenko named her new baby Pixie-Rose. I think some people will find the name Pixie adorably cute, and others impossibly twee; it’s bound to get some interesting reactions, and does have the fashionable X in it.

Sippie

The only person I know of named Sippie is the blues singer Sippie Wallace, who was born Beulah Thomas. Her career spanned seven decades, and although she found fame as a young woman in the 1920s, she was rediscovered in the 1960s and ’70s and was a big influence on Bonnie Raitt, who went on tour with her. Her album Sippie won the Blues Album of the Year in 1983, so her comeback was a definite success. The name Sippie is one that she gained in childhood because the gap in her teeth meant that she had to “sip” all her food and drink. Coincidentally, there is a place on the Gold Coast called Sippy Downs; its name is a corruption of an Aboriginal word meaning “winged creatures”, and interpreted as meaning “birds”. As Sippie Wallace was billed as “The Texas Nightingale”, I find this juxtaposition very charming. Sippie is an unusual name, but what a wonderful namesake. This would be very suitable for a family who loves music, especially jazz and blues.

Torah

In Australia, this name is well known as belonging to snowboarder Torah Bright, who won gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Her parents named her after the Torah, which is the Jewish word for the first five books of the Old Testament. The word is from the Hebrew, meaning “teaching, instruction”, however, Torah Bright’s mother believed that it meant “bearer of a great message”. Torah Bright is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. There was slight disbelief at this name on The Baby Name Wizard, with a couple of people feeling that it seemed rather offensive, or at least strange. Torah’s name was reported on in Washington Jewish Week; there was no mention of it being offensive to Jews, but they did appear to find it slightly amusing. Like calling your child Bible or Gospel, many will find this name a head-scratcher. It would be given in honour of our Olympic champion, but the religious ramifications may be lost on some people. The fact that it sounds as if it could be short for Victoria is probably a help.

Zahlia

This name is pronounced ZAH-lee-uh, and as far as I’m aware, it’s a modern invention. It seems to be an elaboration of the name Zali; Zali Steggall is Australia’s most internationally successful alpine skier (now retired). Her name has proven a great success here, and spawned many variants, such as Zarly, Zahlee, Zalie etc. It’s unclear where the Stegalls got the name Zali from, and to the best of my knowledge, it’s made up. Zahlia does well in Australia, because it sounds rather exotic, while also being similar to popular names such as Zara and Tahlia (it even looks like a combination of those names). Despite being listed as a rare name, I have seen some parents dismiss Zahlia as being “too common”; perhaps it’s not rare enough to seem “unique”, or perhaps the many variants and sound-alike names make it appear to be one of the pack.

(Picture is from one of the posters for the 1963 movie Cleopatra)

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