Tag Archives: celebrity baby names

An Interview with Linda Rosenkrantz from Nameberry

25 Sunday Aug 2013

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The baby name world changed forever when Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz penned their seminal work, Beyond Jennifer & Jason, back in the 1980s. Many more books were to follow, and along the way they educated a generation of parents on naming babies, and made it possible to admit to being interested in names – even obsessed with them. Now they have the Nameberry website, which provides a massive amount of information and opinion on names, creates a space for name nerds everywhere to meet up with other devotees, and inspires many a name blogger. Pam and Linda are the fairy godmothers of the baby name community, and you can link with them on Facebook and Twitter too.

Linda has been kind enough to take some time from her busy schedule to be interviewed on names, writing Jennifer & Jason, creating Nameberry, and how their love of names changed all our lives.

What is your name? 

Linda Rosenkrantz aka Linda Ruth Rosenkrantz Finch.

Have you ever changed your name?

This is a story that I’ve told in a Nameberry blog. It’s about how I was give a name at birth, but never called by that name. I was so traumatised when I began kindergarten and was called by that unfamiliar name that my wise mother allowed me to pick a new one for myself at the age of 5 or 6.

When did you first become interested in baby names?

I would say names in general rather than just baby names have always been a passion of mine from a very early age – a shrink might say it dates back to that kindergarten experience. And being a compulsive list-maker, I was constantly making lists of names, including names for fictional characters, names of prospective husbands, and of course, future children.

How did you and Pam meet?

A mutual friend brought her over for dinner to where I was then living, in Greenwich Village [in New York City], and we hit it off immediately – bonding, in part, over our mutual love for and attitudes towards names. Strangely enough, that was one of the few times we lived in the same city – she later moved to England, then the Bay area [of San Francisco], and then New Jersey. I settled in Los Angeles.

What made you decide to write Beyond Jennifer & Jason together, and how did the process of writing and publishing go?

Pam had been frustrated at the fact that there were no good name books around when she was naming her first child, Rory, and I had the idea of writing an article about the subject for Glamour magazine where Pam was an editor. We both realized that this had the makings of a book that would be a perfect project for a collaboration.

We wrote a very short outline of Beyond Jennifer & Jason and brought it to an agent, who thought it was so original – no one had ever looked at names this way, taking in their contemporary social context and categorising them – that he was sure he could sell it. It was bought by St. Martin’s Press, who published all ten of our name books, all edited by the excellent Hope Dellon.

Over the years, we have gone from communicating via thermal faxes to the internet – I’d say we email an average of 25 times a day, plus phone confabs and New York meeting several times a year. Responsibilities have been divided along the lines of our various strengths. But when it comes to working on some large project, we might split the boys and girls, then switch and edit each others’ efforts. It’s been a remarkably congenial, long-term marriage.

How did the success of your first book change your lives? Did you wake up one morning and discover you were now international baby name gurus?

First of all, here’s Pam’s answer to this question:

The first book changed my life in that it allowed me to quit my full-time job as an editor at “Glamour”, work at home as a writer full-time, and spend more time with my children – at that time, my oldest was only three years old. Although “Beyond Jennifer & Jason” was a big hit, we didn’t feel like international baby name gurus. Just writing books, you have so much less relationship with your readers, and it was difficult for us to tell how much influence our work really had. Our books were not published outside the US until the early 2000s, so we certainly didn’t feel like we were having an international impact overnight … or for a really long time.

Yes, it was a gradual process – and, although our books were successful in the UK, it wasn’t until the internet hit that we expanded into international “gurus”. Cumulatively, it has changed my life completely – widening my world in all sorts of ways, providing immense gratification. And it’s also been VERY HARD WORK.

When did you and Pam start the Nameberry website?

We started off with a smaller site, based on our book The Baby Name Bible. (We were fortunate enough to retain the digital rights to all our books – which is a very unusual situation). Nameberry began in 2008; we were excited to expand the word to a larger audience. We had no idea at the time that such a huge community of name lovers would form around the forums and blogs – an incredible group of informed, helpful people – now reaching two million people a month!

Do you have a favourite blog post that you have written for Nameberry?

Hard to come up with one post, but I especially enjoy those that require a lot of research, and feel good when I can come up with a topic that hasn’t been touched on before. (Which gets harder and harder with all the input we’re now getting from our great Berry Juice bloggers.)

There’s been some new developments on the site recently – what else is in the pipeline?

We are working on some new features, but we’re most excited about two new e-books – best girls’ names and best boys’ names.

What are some of your favourite names?

Pam and I did a slideshow of our faves on Nameberry, which includes several names I never tire of – Barnaby, Mirabella, Dinah, Duncan, and Araminta.

What names do you dislike?

Herman and Sherman.

Are there any names you love that don’t seem practical in real life?

That area is definitely narrowing. Some of the multi-syllabic and exotic names that once seemed too heavy for a baby to carry now seem perfectly wearable – like Persephone, Peregrine, Zinnia, Amaryllis and Peridot. The baby-naming climate is so much more “anything goes” than it was when Pam and I started.

What are your favourite names in the US Top 100?

Girls: Amelia, Lydia and Violet. Boys: Josiah, Julian and Lucas.

What are your favourite names in the rest of the US Top 1000?

Girls: Ivy, Maeve, Paloma and Arabella. Boys: Declan, Edison, Finnegan and Jedidiah.

What are your favourite names that have never been in the US 1000?

Verity, Boaz and Barnaby.

What is your child’s name?

Chloe Samantha (the Samantha was for my father, Samuel, who had recently died).

Did you and your husband agree easily on a baby name together?

Since my husband is British, we had some varying perceptions of names, especially boys names – and in fact never did find a boy’s name we both really loved. But when we hit on Chloe, there was instant agreement.

What is something that we may not know about you?

That I’ve written books on subjects ranging from Old Hollywood to collectibles to the history of telegrams to animation art to memoir to fiction. And Pam is a New York Times best-selling writer of fiction and humorous books.

(Photo of Linda and Pam from Nameberry; Linda is on the left)

Royal Baby News: Lord Frederick Windsor and Sophie Winkleman

19 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by in Celebrity Baby News

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Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor welcomed their first child on August 15, and have named their daughter Maud Elizabeth Daphne Marina. Maud Windsor was born at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, and weighed 7 lb (3.2 kg). The baby is 42nd in line to the throne.

Lord Frederick is the only son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent. Prince Michael is a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, so Lord Frederick is a first cousin once removed to the queen. Through his maternal grandmother, he is a first cousin twice removed to Prince Philip. Lord Frederick is a financial analyst at JP Morgan bank in Los Angeles.

Lady Frederick Windsor is an English actress known professionally as Sophie Winkleman; she is the daughter of children’s author Cindy Black. Her career includes work on stage, television, film and radio, and she has had a recurring role on US sit-com Two and a Half Men. Lord and Lady Windsor were married in Hampton Court Palace in 2009.

Maud is a traditional name in the royal family, with the most recent being Princess Maud of Fife (Countess of Southesk upon her marriage), a grand-daughter of Edward VII, niece of George V and cousin of George VI. She was named after Princess Maud of Wales, the youngest daughter of Edward VII, who later became the Queen of Norway, through her marriage to Haakon VII.

Elizabeth is in honour of Queen Elizabeth II.

Daphne is in honour of Lady Frederick’s grandmother, who she was very close to.

Marina is in honour of Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, the mother of Prince Michael of Kent, and the baby’s great-grandmother. Princess Marina, who was born Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, was the most recent foreign-born princess to marry into the British royal family, which occurred in 1934. She was known for her great sense of fashion and style.

Celebrity Sibset: Wendy Harmer

17 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by in Sibsets in the News

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Wendy Harmer is a highly successful comedian, who for many years has entertained on stage, television and radio. She was the first woman in Australia to host her own comedy show, The Big Gig, in 1989, and for more than a decade she was co-host of a top-rating breakfast show on 2-Day FM, when she became one of the nation’s highest paid entertainers.

Wendy is a prolific and successful author, having written humour for adults, chick lit novels, teen fiction, kid’s books, two plays, and the libretto for an opera. Her best-selling children’s series, Pearlie the Fairy, has been turned into an animated TV show. She is also editor of The Hoopla, a women’s news and opinion site.

Wendy is married to Brendan Donohoe, and has two children. Her son is named Marley (aged about 15), and her daughter is named Maeve (aged about 13).

Wendy appears to be yet another star of radio with a bee-lined bonnet in regard to baby names, because she has written an article about them for The Hoopla. It’s one of those “names not to call your baby” lists, which I must admit I don’t usually care for, because they don’t seem to really be helpful to parents so much as bullying anyone who happens to have different tastes and opinions from yourself.

Interestingly, Rule Number 2 on the list states that you shouldn’t use a famous person’s surname as your child’s name. Her son is named after Bob Marley. Okaaaay. Number 4 is that you musn’t name all your children with same letter. Mmmmm.

This article is an “update” of an earlier one, where one of the pieces of advice was that the pronunciation of your child’s name should be clear from the way it is spelled. Even now, when the name is quite well-known, some people don’t know how to pronounce Maeve from its spelling, and think that it must be MAY-vee or mah-EEV.

I do notice that so often when parents criticise baby names, the same criticisms could be levelled at their own children’s names. The most obvious example is that rather ghastly woman who said that place names as baby names were lower-class, when her own daughter was named after a country in Asia. I guess we all have mother-blindness about our baby names, and I have been guilty of the same thing myself – it’s an easy trap to fall into, but luckily I didn’t do it on TV or anything.

When we come up with rules on naming babies which we ourselves cannot stick to, it may be a sign that the rules aren’t all that useful. Just a thought!

Wendy doesn’t like her own name, which peaked at #15 in the 1950s, when Wendy was born. Part of her disappointment is that her mother chose the name out of a knitting pattern book, when the layette she was knitting was called the “Wendy”. She imagined that she had been named after Wendy Darling from Peter Pan, so being named after a knitting pattern didn’t seem so special.

Wendy much prefers her father’s choice for her name, which was Claire, the name of her beloved great-aunt. In the 1950s, Claire was #224; it rose steeply in popularity during the 1960s and ’70s, and has been in the Top 100 since the 1980s.

Now I think that’s really useful naming advice taken from real life. It may not be the best idea to choose a baby name peaking in popularity and about to fall and become dated, or select one virtually at random.

A better choice could be a classic which is lower in popularity and about to start rising, to become very popular in the long-term future. And it’s probably preferable to honour a beloved family member than to name your baby after a product – it’s nice to have a name which has some significance.

Think about the name story you are going to pass on to your child – a knitting pattern clearly doesn’t cut it. And sometimes dad knows best.

PS Wendy did manage to give the name Claire to one of her characters, the heroine of her novel, Farewell My Ovaries.

(Picture of Wendy and her family taken some years ago at Uluru; photo from Body + Soul)

Famous Names: Aria and Delta

14 Wednesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Famous Names

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thumbThe Australian music industry celebrated an important birthday a month ago, because July 10 this year marked thirty years since the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) began collating sales information from music stores. The ARIA charts developed from the Kent Music Report, and the first Australian charts began in the 1960s, collated by Go-Set magazine, the music “bible” of its time which later spawned Australian Rolling Stone, and whose weekly music columnist Ian “Molly” Meldrum would go on to host seminal music show Countdown.

The first single to top the ARIA charts way back in 1983 was Total Eclipse of the Heart by Bonnie Tyler, the first #1 album was Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and the most consistently popular performer over the many years of her career has been Madonna. However, Kylie Minogue equalled Madonna for the most #1 singles (10), and was equal second with the Black Eyed Peas for most weeks (30) spent at #1 in the singles charts.

Pop singer Delta Goodrem’s debut album, Innocent Eyes, spent longer at #1 than any other Australian album at 29 weeks, and she is the first ever music artist to have five #1 singles from a debut album. Innocent Eyes went on to be the best-selling album of the 2000s. Delta played aspiring singer Nina Tucker on soapie Neighbours, where she sang Born to Try, scoring Delta her first #1 spot on the ARIA charts. She has won ten ARIA Awards, and all her albums have gone to #1, making her one of Australia’s best-selling female artists. Delta is currently a judge, coach and mentor on The Voice.

In music, an aria is a vocal piece performed by a singer, usually as part of a larger work. We often connect arias to opera, although they can be part of classical concert music too, and usually think of them as very beautiful and elaborate pieces of music that only an expert singer can do justice to.

Some famous arias are Ave Maria, O Sole Mio, La Donne e Mobile from Rigoletto, and Nessun Dorma from Turandot (if you think you don’t know them, click on the links to listen, and you’ll probably find that you have heard them before). In Italian, aria means “air”, and is from the Latin word for “atmosphere”.

As a girl’s name, Aria is usually said to be a modern English name. It’s hard to track it through historical records, as any Arias you find could easily be a misprint for Maria, so while there are hundreds of Arias in Australian records, with both English and Italian surnames, your guess is as good as mine whether they were really named Aria.

There is a Saint Aria, an obscure early Christian who was martyred in Rome, but her name seems to have been short for Ariadne.

Aria catapulted into the national Top 100 last year, debuting at #83, the second-highest rising name for girls in Australia, and possibly the highest, if we had access to all the data. The name has been popularised by the character of Aria Montgomery, from the Pretty Little Liars books and TV series, and young singer and actress Aria Wallace; it’s also been boosted by its similarity to other fashionable names, like Arya, Arianna, Ariel, Allira and Allegra. Musician Ash Grunwald welcomed a daughter named Aria earlier this year.

Delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet; it’s based on a letter in several Semitic alphabets which is supposed to represent a door. The Greek letter is shaped like a triangle when capitalised, and it is for this reason that the landmass at the mouth of river became known as a “delta”. If you want to get geographically technical, it is wave-dominated deltas which tend to have this triangular form; the most obvious example is that of the River Nile, and it is the Nile Delta which was first given the name, and is the “original” delta.

The Mississippi Delta region is the area which lies between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers, and includes parts of the states of Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas. Here’s another geographical technicality – the Mississippi Delta isn’t actually a delta – it’s an alluvial plain. The Mississippi River Delta is 300 miles to the south, in Louisiana, where the river meets the Gulf of Mexico. Just in case you have, in this short space of time, due to my scintillating prose style, become obsessed with river deltas, the Mississippi River has a bird-foot delta, where long finger-like projections reach out into the sea, and isn’t actually delta-shaped in the least.

The Mississippi Delta (the region, not the actual river delta in Louisiana – gosh I hope all this geography isn’t getting too confusing) is associated with the very beginning of several genres of popular music, such as Delta blues and rock and roll. You can no doubt get yourself into some very stimulating arguments over whether Delta blues is significantly different to any other kind of blues, or just how rock and roll got started anyway, but the Mississippi Delta would be crazy not to cash in with tons of music festivals, and they’re not, so they do.

Rita Coolidge is an American singer who inspired the song Delta Lady, by her one-time boyfriend, singer-songwriter Leon Russell. I always assumed that the name came about because Ms Coolidge is from the Mississippi Delta, but – more geographical technicalities – she’s from Macon county in Tennessee, which isn’t in the Delta region. So we may be talking poetic license here rather than geographical technicalities, although from the song’s lyrics, Russell seems to be using delta as a metaphor for ladyparts (as in the erotica collection, Delta of Venus, by Anais Nin).

(Just as an aside, the faded southern belle of unsound mind in the song Delta Dawn, which became Helen Reddy’s first #1 hit, was from Brownsville in Tennessee, which prides itself on being the “heart of the Tennessee Delta”. Dawn was a real Delta Lady.)

It was the song Delta Lady which inspired Delta Goodrem’s parents to name their daughter Delta, so that is one possible source of the name, but you could see it as a geographic name, a nature name or an alphanumeric name as well. You can also see it as a musical name, because a major 7th chord is sometimes called a Delta Chord.

There are many, many women named Delta in Australian historical records, dating back to the 19th century, and it is currently #412 in Victoria.

So here’s two pretty, modern-sounding musical names for girls, both with an Australian focus. Cross-cultural Aria is much more on trend that Delta, and consequently more popular, yet Delta has a more solid history of use as a personal name. Which one do you like better?

POLL RESULTS: Aria received an approval rating of 78%, and Delta of 33%.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOz6Mt2t084

Is August a Boy’s Name, or the Name of a Month?

10 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by in Naming Assistance

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Olivia and Dale are from New Zealand, and they are expecting their third child towards the end of the year. Their son is named Innes, and their daughter is Abigail, and they have a fairly common surname beginning with C and ending with N eg Charlton.

Olivia likes male names which are generally softer in sound, such as Henry, Abel, Arlo, Eli, Miller and Soren, but Dale has vetoed all these ideas.

Dale, who is of Swedish heritage, would prefer a Scandinavian-style name, and only likes three names for a boy: Lachlan, Stellan, and August. Although Olivia likes Lachlan, she feels that it is too popular for their common surname, and Stellan is the cat’s name.

By elimination, that leaves August as their front-runner, but they have had mixed reactions when they have asked for people’s opinions. Some love it, while to others, August is a month, not a boy’s name. The Charltons live in an area where boys tend to have unspectacular names, and Olivia wonders whether August is too far out.

The middle names they are thinking of using are Leander and James. Leander has special significance for them, because Olivia and Dale were both in the navy, and met on a Leander class frigate. Olivia suggested Leander as the first name, but Dale vetoed it. James is a family name, but it was mostly chosen because it flows well with Leander.

Olivia wants to know whether August Leander James C_____n works as a name, and if there are any other soft-sounding Scandinavian-style boy’s names they might like.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You’ve already discovered that some people love the name August, and I guess you can add one more, because I adore August. I think it’s handsome and stylish, and it seems perfect for you. It honours Dale’s Swedish heritage, it’s a softer boy’s name, and you get fashionable nicknames from it like Gus and Augie. It sounds fantastic with the middle names you’ve chosen, and I would count August Leander James as one of the nicest boy’s names I’ve heard recently.

It may not sound like the boy’s names in your area, but our childrens’ names don’t have to fit in with the neighbours. It would be foolish to make them so when you could relocate later, new people could move to your area, and your son is unlikely to live in the same place for his entire life – and even if he did, the demographics of the area would change over time.

I suspect this isn’t really a huge concern for you, since Innes isn’t exactly a run of the mill name either, and I’m sure everyone around you has coped with it. I think Innes and August are really well-suited as brothers, by the way.

You’ve had some mixed reactions to the name August, but it doesn’t sound as if the mixture is people who love it and people who hate it – it seems more as if people either love it, or it confuses them. They hear August, and think, But August is a month … I know you can call girls April or May, but can you call boys after a month? And why is his name going to be August when he’s due late in the year?

If people seem a bit taken aback or confused when you tell them your son is named August, I would just briefly explain that it is the Scandinavian form of Augustus, and that Dale has Swedish heritage. And if they still seem a bit hesitant, maybe you could mention a famous August, so they have something concrete to attach to the name.

I would pick whatever August you think people you know would most readily connect to. So – August, like the Swedish playwright August Strindberg, or August, like Nicolas Cage’s dad, or August, like in that film “August Rush”, or August, like August Booth from “Once Upon a Time”. Or you could mention some celebrities who have sons named August, like Mariska Hargitay and Jeanne Tripplehorn.

I think that explanation would satisfy 95% of people, and the other 5% either need more time to get used to it, or they are just stuck on August being a month, and can’t, or won’t, get past it.

Other Softish-Sounding Boys Names

  • Ari
  • Bo
  • Elias
  • Hugo
  • Lars
  • Magnus
  • Matthias
  • Oscar
  • Theo
  • Tobias

These names either have a Scandinavian origin, or are currently popular in Sweden (like August), or have a history of use there. However, I honestly prefer August to any of these names.

Olivia and Dale, you’ve plenty of time to change your minds if you come up with a name you like better, but I’m kind of hoping you don’t, because I think August is a brilliant choice. Please let us know what you decided on once your little boy arrives!

NAME UPDATE: The baby’s name is August Leander James!

POLL RESULTS: Most people (69%) said they wouldn’t assume the name August was after the month, with 22% assuming August was derived from the name Augustus, and 47% refusing to make any assumptions at all. 16% of people said they would assume August was after the month, but nearly all of them thought that would be cool. Only one person (less than 1%) thought August was an odd name because of the month.

The name August Leander James received an overwhelmingly positive response, with 81% of people giving it a thumbs up. 55% thought it was a fantastic choice, while 26% said it was nicely put together. Not one person thought there was something seriously wrong with it.

Celebrity Baby News: Liam Picken and Annie Nolan

06 Tuesday Aug 2013

Posted by in Celebrity Baby News

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AFL footballer Liam Picken, and his partner Annie Nolan, welcomed twin girls in the autumn and have named their daughters Delphi and Cheska. The twins have only recently left hospital, as they were born premature. Delphi and Cheska are baby sisters to Malachy, aged 2 – Malachy’s birth was announced on the blog.

Liam has been playing Australian rules football professionally since 2009, and has always been with the Western Bulldogs. He is the son of Billy Picken, who played for Sydney and Collingwood in the 1970s and ’80s, and the cousin of Jonathan Brown, who is captain of the Brisbane Lions. Liam recently played his 100th game for the Western Bulldogs, and walked out through the banner with Malachy.

Delphi is a Greek place name, the ancient site of the Delphic Oracle to Apollo; its name means “womb”, and it may have begun as a worship site to the Earth Goddess. Later it was connected to “dolphin”.

Cheska is short for Francesca. It is perhaps best known from blogger and PR rep Cheska Hull, who starred on reality TV series, Made in Chelsea.

(Photo shows Liam and Annie with Malachy)

Celebrity Baby News: Round-Up

27 Saturday Jul 2013

Posted by in Celebrity Baby News

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NRL player Josh Dugan, and his ex-girlfriend Amanda Palmer, welcomed their son Jackson on July 25. Josh began playing for the Canberra Raiders in 2009, and was soon recognised as a very promising young fullback during his impressive debut season. He moved to the St George Illawarra Dragons this year, in controversial circumstances. Josh has been selected for the Prime Minister’s XIII, Country Origin, the NRL All Stars, and for New South Wales in State of Origin.

The Block co-creator Julian Cress, and his wife Sarah Armstrong, welcomed their first child on July 19 and have named their son Max Dargin. The Block is a successful renovation reality television series which has been running since 2003. Sarah is a publicist.

Sprint canoer Ken Wallace, and his partner Naomi Shears, welcomed their first child on July 12 and have named their son Nixon. Ken won two medals at the 2008 Olympics, including a gold. Naomi is a schoolteacher.

NRL player Beau Scott, and his wife Amelia, welcomed their son Noah John on July 6. Noah Scott joins big sister Ava. Beau has been playing rugby league professionally since 2005, and signed with the Newcastle Knights for the 2013 season. He has been selected for Country Origin, for New South Wales, and for the national squad.

NRL player Keith Lulia, and his wife Kelly, welcomed their first child in early July, and have named their son Koa. Keith has been playing rugby league professionally since 2007, has played for the Cook Islands national team, and in 2012 he signed with the Bradford Bulls in the English Super League. Next season he will play for the Wests Tigers, as they want to raise Koa closer to family in Keith’s home town of Wollongong.

Professional surfer Andre Teixeira, and his wife Anagdr Carvalho, became Australian citizens this month [pictured]. They have a baby son Josh, who was born in Australia. Andre is originally from Brazil, and is now a member of the Kirra Surfriders Club.

Brisbane Town Councillor Shayne Sutton, and her husband Stephen Beckett, welcomed their son Riley on June 29. Riley made a dramatic entrance, being born in the car on the way to hospital, and delivered by his father. Shayne and Stephen received a congratulatory phone call from the prime minister in hospital. Riley Beckett joins big sister Sarah, aged 4.

Columnist Clare Evans, and her partner, known only as Modern Dad, welcomed their daughter Harper Mae in late June. Harper joins big sisters D’Arcy, aged 16, and Mackenzie, aged 6, and big brother Cai, aged 7. Clare writes the “Modern Mum” column for Ipswich’s Queensland Times, and describes her children as “free range” and her parenting style as “fun”.

Middle-distance runner Eloise Wellings, and her husband Johnny Wellings, welcomed their daughter India Rose on May 17. Eloise competed at the 2012 London Olympics, where she represented Australia in the 5000 m and 10 000 m track events. She is the founding director of the Love Mercy Foundation, a human rights organisation working in Uganda.

Dancer Kate Wormald, and her husband Michael, welcomed their daughter Kylah nearly two years ago, but it has only recently been announced in the press. Kate has been a professional dancer since she was 15, performing in musicals, films and concerts; she just finished a three-month dance role in the opera Carmen. Many people will remember Kate for gaining third place in the first season of So You Think You Can Dance.

Royal Baby News: Prince William and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge

25 Thursday Jul 2013

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Prince William, the Duke of Cambridge, and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, welcomed their first child on July 22, and have named their son George Alexander Louis, Prince of Cambridge.

Prince George was born at 4.24 pm, weighing 8 lb 6 oz (3.8 kg) in the Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in London – the same hospital where Prince William and his brother Prince Harry were born. His birth was celebrated with illuminations of blue light, gun salutes, and the ringing of the bells of Westminster Abbey, where his parents were married on April 29 2011.

Prince George is the grandson of Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, and the great-grandson of Queen Elizabeth II, and he is third in line to the throne after his father and grandfather. We now have three generations of direct royal heirs living at the same time, which last occurred at the end of the 19th century, in the last years of Queen Victoria’s reign.

Prince George’s name was revealed on the evening of July 24 – a mercifully brief wait, because it took a week to announce Prince Wiliam’s name, and a month to announce Prince Charles. Although all three of his names are traditionally royal ones, the Duke and Duchess have confirmed that they chose the names because they liked them.

George is a traditional name in the British royal family. There have been six kings of Britain named George, and, if you count middle names as well, it is the most commonly used name in the royal family. George was the regnal name of Queen Elizabeth’s father (born Albert), and it is thought that the choice of name must please Her Majesty greatly.

George also comes from William’s mother’s side of the family, because one of his cousins from the Spencer family is named George. In addition, Saint George is the patron saint of England and the city of London, and also a classic name, very popular in Britain, where it is currently #12 – and probably destined to climb higher still. Prince George will share his name with many of his subjects, making it an “everyman” name, free of snobbery.

Little wonder that George was the name which everyone had picked out for the prince!

Alexander is another family name from the Spencer side, because Prince William has a cousin named Alexander Fellowes, reportedly a close friend. In addition, it is an appropriately Scottish choice, because Alexander was a traditional royal name in the Scottish royal family. The British monarchy has close ties to Scotland, and Prince William and Catherine met while studying at St Andrews, in Scotland. Many royal watchers had tipped a Scottish name to be chosen for a middle name for this reason.

Louis is one of William’s own middle names, and may be a tribute to Lord Louis Mountbatten, uncle of Prince Philip, and close friend and mentor to Prince Charles. Lord Mountbatten was assassinated in 1979. Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, is a cousin of William, so whether by chance or design, all three of the prince’s names are those of cousins on the Spencer side of the family.

All three names were my first three suggestions that I speculated could be used for the prince, based on royal naming patterns.

(Photo shows Prince George leaving hospital with his parents, wrapped in a shawl made from Australian merino wool. The Prince was swaddled in a blanket from aden + anais, designed by Australian-born founder, Raegan Moya-Jones).

Names in the News

17 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Names in the News

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We’re all getting royal baby name fever, and Nameberry are currently running a “Guess the Royal Baby Name” Competition. You have to pick the full name, with all middle names in their correct order, for ONE GENDER ONLY and you can only guess ONCE. More than 200 people have already entered, so don’t forget to check that someone hasn’t already made your suggestion. The first correct entry wins a $100 gift voucher from the Nameberry store – what a fantastic prize! Be in it to win it.

The Maitland Mercury is also running a royal baby name contest, and you only have to get the first two names right. So if you guess Victoria Alice Mary Rose, and the baby is named Victoria Alice Elizabeth Diana – that’s good enough. To give you some ideas, the most common names in both family trees are Elizabeth and John, but more unusual names from the baby’s ancestry include Boniface, Lancelot, Cyrian, Marmaduke, Sylvanus, Garin, Theophilus, Elie, Eusebia, Honor, Thomasin, Ursula, Permelia, Albina, Grissel, and Hyacinth. To enter, get your hands on a copy of the July 8 edition of the Mercury, and fill in the enclosed coupon. The prize will be a piece of royal memorabilia.

The Gold Coast Bulletin ran a royal baby name contest of their own, and some of the suggestions were Hashtag, Betty, Frank and Cody. Favourite names chosen for the future prince or princess by Gold Coasters included Jack or Juliette, Nicholas or Sally, Cyril or Charlotte, Jacinta and Isabel. The most commonly suggested names were Elizabeth or Diana for a girl, and George for a boy. A local royal watcher is hoping for a Victoria or an Edward.

Meanwhile, an Australian relative of Kate Middleton’s mother from Gilgandra predicts that the royal baby will be a girl named Elizabeth. She will be born between 2 pm and midnight, and weigh less than 2.26 kg (5 lb). She also predicted the baby would be born “within a few days” on July 5, so I think that one at least has got away from her.

Is your son named Jack, Joshua or Thomas? If so, you’ve gone with a safe bet, as these are the only names to have appeared on every Top 10 names list in New South Wales since 1995, with powerhouse Joshua the number one name from 1995 to 2003. No girls names have managed to withstand the test of time like this.

Perhaps you went with something less popular – if so, you don’t need to worry. Journalist Fallon Hudson admits that she hated her unusual name growing up, and thought about changing it to Sarah or Jessica. Her name was confused with Falcon and Felon, and sometimes it just plain confused people. But she’s learned to appreciate her name, even embraced it. So if your children aren’t too enthusiastic about their names, just wait a while. They might come around.

Have you ever bought a dining table named Ashton or a flower arrangement called Ava, and wondered how businesses pick out human names for their products? Hat designer Brenda Lui, who has headwear named Gretel, Celeste, Jacinta and Kiama, explains that she picks her feminine hat names out of a baby name book in alphabetical order. I would love to know how she selects a name from within each letter of the alphabet. Brenda, if you ever read this, please get in contact!

The rugby league columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald wonders when the birth of a footballer’s baby became news. I don’t know, but I feel I’m not helping the matter … On June 10, the columnist fretted as to why Jonathan Thurston’s baby hadn’t been announced in a press release (I feel his pain), and said sarcastically that if anyone could publish the baby’s name it would be as big as Watergate. If you check my blog, June 10 was when I announced Frankie Louise Thurston’s name, which the Cowboys had announced through their Twitter account. Now I feel like Woodward and Bernstein … which makes Twitter Deep Throat.

Questions About Names

14 Sunday Jul 2013

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This is a sample of the many random questions about names which get searched to reach the blog. I do try to answer them in posts if I can, but these are ones which I can’t see any way of subtly working into blog posts at this time.

Is it illegal to call your daughter Talula?

This gets Googled several times a month. I guess it’s because of the little girl from New Zealand called Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii whose name was changed by the courts. The Talula part wasn’t the problem, and it’s perfectly legal as a name.

Are girls named Georgia successful?

I’m sure any successful Georgia would be insulted by the suggestion that their name was entirely responsible for their achievements.

Are there any queens named Nyree?

Not any that rule as monarchs in an official capacity.

Why hasn’t there been an English king named after Alfred the Great?

Maybe because he was a king of Wessex, and not of England. Or because they didn’t want the obvious comparison to be made, in case the other King Alfred was nicknamed Not-So-Great.

What is the queen’s second name?

Ooh, I bet you were doing some royal baby name sleuthing. It’s Alexandra.

Ned Kelly‘s middle name?

He didn’t have one – he was just Edward Kelly.

What does Ballarat mean in Aboriginal language?

It’s thought to come from the local Wathaurong name for the area, balla arat, translated as “resting place”.

What other names were considered instead of Victoria for [the state of] Victoria in Australia?

I don’t think any other names were considered – it was named in honour of Queen Victoria because it was she who signed the Act of Parliament separating it from New South Wales in 1850.

What was the first name for South Australia?

The first Europeans to give it a name were the Dutch in 1627; they called it Pieter Nuyts Land after the chief explorer on their expedition.

What other things is Antarctica called?

The Antarctic, The South Pole (informal), The White Continent (poetic), The Ice (slang).

What is the name of the last [known] planet [in our solar system]?

Neptune, and if you count dwarf plants, Eris.

What was [notorious bank robber] Darcy Dugan’s gang’s name?

They sarcastically called themselves The Lavender Hill Mob or The Lavenders, after the 1951 movie starring Alec Guiness.

Abby, Abbie or Abbey – which is the correct spelling?

As far as I know, there isn’t a “correct” spelling, and these are all accepted short forms of Abigail.

What is the Australian spelling of the name Milly?

There isn’t a specifically Australian spelling, but Millie is more common here, as elsewhere.

How do you pronounce Mila in Australia?

MEE-lah or MEE-luh.

How do you pronounce the name Atticus?

AT-ih-kus.

How is Sadie a nickname for Sarah?

It doesn’t really make sense to me, either!

What name is more modern – Poppy, Sienna or Darcy?

Sienna.

Is Riley a classic name or a modern name?

As a boy’s name, it’s a modern classic.

What’s a girl name that starts with Fin-?

Finola.

Is there a flower named Maude?

There’s a variety of wisteria named Aunt Maude; it’s from the American south.

Is there a rose named Imogen?

Rosa indica v. Imogen was one of the first Australian-bred China tea roses, dating from the 1840s and created by John Bidwill, a friend of John Macarthur’s who was the first person to breed different varieties of plants in Australia. The “Imogen” rose was pure white, with clustered blooms. It doesn’t seem to exist any more.

Baby names that rhyme with Archie

Chachi, and the Japanese name Hachi – but it’s not an exact rhyme, because the stress is on the second syllable, not the first.

Will the name Beatrix become popular because of Fifi Box?

Probably not, but it’s so rare it would be significant if it even began charting.

Will Isabella become dated?

Chances are that it will, eventually. It’s never been this popular before, so I couldn’t put a timeline on it.

What is the name day for Azaria?

December 16.

Is the christening name commonly used in Australia?

If you mean, do most people who are christened in Australia use the name they were christened by as their everyday name, then I’m pretty sure the answer is yes. But if you mean, are most Australian babies christened, and therefore have a christening name to use, then I’m not sure. It’s certainly normal to be christened here, but also normal not to be.

Songs [for the] name Sophie

One is Song for Sophie by the Danish singer Aura Dione, who has spent some time in Australia.

Is the name Reginald used in Russia?

Not usually, but they have their own version of the name, Rengold.

Why do so many boys names become girls names?

I don’t think it’s the case that many boys names become used for girls (I can really only think of a handful of cases where that’s happened). However, unisex names do seem to become more often used by girls than by boys, and that’s because parents of boys have a tendency to stop using them once they become “too girly”. Having said that, there are several formerly unisex names that have become almost entirely masculine, such as Clarence and Elvis, so parents of girls must also sometimes decide that a name has become “too boyish” to use.

Do boys dislike having a unisex name?

I know quite a few boys under 15 that have a unisex name (including one of my nephews), and they are all fine with it. To be fair though, their names are ones which are mostly male, although considered acceptable to give to girls (eg Darcy), almost equally male and female (eg Remy), or so rare that they aren’t strongly associated with any particular gender (eg Bay).

Names of everyone who died in World War I

More than 37 million people (including civilians) died as a result of World War I – that’s a lot of names! I suggest you start at the Australian War Memorial, which has a roll of honour for all Australians killed in service, then ask the staff for help in accessing international war records.

Was there anyone named Mikayla on the First Fleet?

No.