Tag Archives: colour names

Names Spotted at Home and Abroad (Summer 2013/14)

15 Saturday Mar 2014

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Stories in the papers on the most popular names often have a look at the other end, and tell us which names were least common in 2013. Some of them included:

BOYS: Clinchy, Jetta, Kayos, Magick, Rampage, Shanakee, Xenophon

GIRLS: Asterix, Blendin, Bonniebell, Euphemia, Lingo, Passion, Shiny, Tiger Lily, Vogue, Zipporah

A story from Ballarat focused on mothers who had “bonus babies” long after they thought their families were complete. One of the mums was named Peace, which I thought was a lovely serene virtue name. Another was parenting author Pinky McKay, who has a very colourful name (her hair matches).

‘Tis the Season

The first baby born in Wollongong Hospital on Christmas Day was Fenix Cooper Brudenell. Fenix has a very pop culture name: his first name is after Marcus Fenix from the Gears of War video games, while his second is after Sheldon Cooper, from The Big Bang Theory. Fenix’s siblings are Megan and Austin.

Jonathan Butler and Tahani Curtis, from the Tweed Heads region of New South Wales, were expecting a child on Christmas Day, and seriously considered calling him Jesus if they had a boy. Is this the ultimate Christmas name? They had a girl instead, and named her Matilda.

Saint James the Great church in Melbourne invited people to bring their pets to celebrate Christmas Mass, because baby Jesus was born in a stable amongst animals. Nick Haines and Michelle Nichol brought their three poodles, because as Nick says, “these are our children”. The poodles are named George, Poppy and Lilly – surely some are giving their “fur babies” the names they would have given human children, as this sounds like an adorable sibset … er, pupset.

Fighting Fit Families

Bec Hyatt from Brisbane took up cage fighting in order to lose 80 kg of baby weight. She is now set to become the first Australian woman in the UFC, earning more than $100 000 per fight. Bec’s two sons are Enson and Zake – Enson may be named after American MMA champ Enson Inoue, while Zake is a variant of the Arabic name Zaki, meaning “pure”. It sounds like a cousin of Jake, Zac and Zeke.

Still on the subject of competitive fighting: the children of the Metcalf family from Sutherland Shire are all boxers. Raised by a single dad, and with their trainer as a second father, three of them have fought their way to champion status, with the youngest a promising up-and-comer. Their names are Marizza, aged 18, Axx, aged 16, Lolli, aged 14, and Electra-Shenika, aged 11. If you’ve ever wondered what a sibset that can beat your kids up would sound like, this is it.

Expat Americana

Adam Preston lived in New York City for seven years, with his first apartment over a hot dog joint called Crif Dogs in the East Village [pictured], which calls itself “NYC’s  #1 Weiner”. When he married his Canadian wife Jessica two years ago, they eloped to New York, which has so many memories for Adam. Of course he took her to Crif Dogs, and when they had a baby boy soon after, they named him Crif Benjamin Klaver Preston. The name Crif Dogs came about when owner Brian Shebairo tried to say Chris, his former business partner’s name, while chewing a hot dog. Crif sounds more up-to-date as a baby name than Chris, and even a hot dog place can evoke sentimental memories to be commemorated as a baby name.

Yvette Aubusson-Foley, a former journalist from Dubbo, has been living in the US for more than 18 months, and uneasily watching her three children adapt to local conditions in Tucson, Arizona. They dress up as little pilgrims, develop a slight American accent, and (to Yvette’s horror) happily recite the Pledge of Allegiance – although one defiantly wears an Australian flag for Spirit of America Day. Yvette’s children are daughter Jett, and her sons Phoenix and Dash; names which somehow seem ready to assimilate. Would an Indi, Banjo and Taj remain more stubbornly Aussie, I wonder?

Television

Have you ever watched an episode of Australian reality television show Real Housewives of Melbourne? It tends to get people a little excitable, mostly because the women taking part in the show aren’t actually housewives, don’t have much left of themselves that’s real, and only live in a very limited part of Melbourne. One of the women, Andrea, who runs a plastic surgery clinic and is originally from New York, has three children named Budd, Kiff and Buster (who somehow require five nannies). Their names have caused predictable Internet outrage – especially Kiff, with many demanding to know “what culture” Kiff is from: it’s a short form of Christopher, and therefore a linguistic relation to Crif.

Children’s quiz show Pyramid featured a team consisting of two girls named Eugenie and Prudence. Isn’t that a fantastic pairing of gal-pal names?

True Blue Names for Boys

26 Sunday Jan 2014

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Happy Australia Day! Here are ten names for boys which are associated with the colour blue, in honour of the saying, a true blue Aussie.

Bay

A bay is a scoop in the shoreline, much prized for providing safe anchorage and opportunities for fishing. Having a long coastline, Australia has many bays, including the Great Australian Bight which forms the southern edge of the continent, and Botany Bay in Sydney – there is even a Blue Bay on the Central Coast of New South Wales. Although bay also describes the colour of a horse’s coat (coppery brown with black markings), and bay tree is another word for a laurel bush, I tend to think of the name Bay as being influenced more by the geographic term, at least in Australia. Bay can also be from the surname – the first English people with the surname Bay took their name from baille, an enclosed courtyard as part of a Norman castle’s fortifications. Although Bay can be used for both sexes, I have only ever seen it on boys, perhaps because it sounds as if could be short for Bailey.

Blue

Blue is a colour of the spectrum, and a primary colour. Because it is the colour of the sky, it has often been seen as representing heaven and divinity. It has been connected to the “blue collar” working class, but also with the wealthy, and “blue blooded” nobility. Blue is a popular colour for uniforms, and the navy, air force, and police traditionally wear blue. Blue can also mean “sad, melancholy”; hence blues music, which arose out of suffering. The Australian flag and Eureka flag are both blue, blue heelers are tough, loyal Australian cattle dogs, and it is an Australian irony that a red-headed man is called Blue or Bluey – some say because of the redhead’s reputation for temper, as a blue is Australian slang for a fight. Since World War II, blue has been seen as the colour for boys (with pink for girls), giving the name Blue a boyish feel – although celebrity baby Blue Carter shows it works well for girls too.

Dean

The Blue Mountains are to the west of Sydney, part of the Great Dividing Range down the eastern side of Australia. Their name comes from the blue-grey haze which can be seen when the mountains are viewed from a distance, believed to be caused by the diffusion of eucalyptus oils from the trees. One of the most prominent is the Mountain Blue Gum (Eucalptus deanei), a tall forest tree. Its scientific name comes from Henry Deane, an Australian engineer who first collected specimens in the late 19th century. The English surname Dean or Deane comes from dene, meaning “valley” – the Mountain Blue Gum grows in sheltered valleys. Dean has been used as a boys name since the 17th century, and seems to have been initially most popular amongst non-Anglican Protestants. Dean first ranked in Australia in the 1950s, probably because of Hollywood star James Dean; it debuted at #134. By the following decade it had reached the Top 50, and peaked in the 1970s at #34. It didn’t leave the Top 100 until the early 2000s, and since then has gently declined into the mid-100s. It has recently got some exposure via Dean Winchester from the television show Supernatural, played by Jensen Ackles; the character is named after Dean Moriarty, from Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. A simple, clean modern classic, this still has a touch of Hollywood.

Drake

Drake has been used as a boys name since the late 16th history in honour of the heroic sea captain, Sir Francis Drake – the first babies with this name were born around the time of Sir Francis’ death. His surname is from the Old English nickname Draca, meaning “dragon, serpent, sea serpent”, coming from the Latin draco. The word goes back to an ancient root meaning “to see” – perhaps suggesting that dragons had a mesmerising gaze. In European mythology, dragons are serpentine rather than lizard-like, so the word drake covers a range of creatures. The name would have been given to someone who was very bold and fierce, for dragons were generally viewed as evil. They were often shown guarding a hoard of treasure with avaricious ferocity. In the post-Christian era, they became associated with Satan, but in modern fantasy stories, dragons nearly always seem to be noble and friendly. Although dragons are cool, this name reminds me of the watery Rainbow Serpent of Indigenous cultures, depicted as a blue serpent on Sydney’s coat of arms.

Levi

Levi Strauss was the German-American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue denim jeans, which gain their colour from indigo dye. Originally sturdy workwear for labourers, jeans became iconic fashion items, and are now essential clothing for almost everyone. In the Old Testament, Levi was the son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Tribe of Levi. The Levites became the priestly caste of the Hebrews – perhaps the most famous members of the Tribe of Levi are Moses, and his siblings Aaron and Miriam. The name Levi is traditionally understood as “he will join”, because Jacob joined with Leah to produce Levi, but Biblical scholars believe it simply means “priest”, and comes from Arabic. Levi has charted in Australia since the 1970s – this was the decade that Levi jeans were first manufactured in Australia, and the brand name probably had more impact than the Biblical figure. Levi was #243 for the 1980s, and climbed steeply to make the Top 100 by the early 2000s, where it remains stable. It is #26 nationally, #31 in New South Wales, #30 in Victoria, #24 in Queensland, #40 in South Australia, #22 in Western Australia, #23 in Tasmania, #13 in the Northern Territory, and #53 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Marlin

Blue marlin are one of the world’s largest fish, blue-black with a silvery white underside, and an elongated upper jaw. They can reach more than 500 kg in weight, and have few predators, apart from humans. Because of their size, power, and elusiveness, they are considered to be one of the most highly prized targets for sports fishing. Found in many oceans of the world, blue marlin have been captured as far south as Tasmania. However, the greatest numbers have been caught off the Gold Coast in Queensland, and the largest ones in Bateman’s Bay, on the south coast of New South Wales. Blue marlin are considered be a threatened species, due to overfishing, and most anglers in Australia use the tag and release method. If you would like to use Marlin as a boy’s name, it doesn’t seem too different from Marlon in sound. The word marlin is short for marlinspike fish, as a marlinspike is a pointed tool used by sailors to separate strands of rope; it comes from the Dutch for “fasten, secure”. Like to use this as a girl’s name? What about Makaira, the Latin name for marlin?

Ocean

Australia is entirely surrounded by ocean, and more than 80% of our population live near the sea. 71% of the planet is covered by ocean, which holds most of Earth’s water. Integral to life on the planet, it is believed that life first arose in its waters. It is not known where all the water on our planet came from, but it must have played a major role in cooling it and making it possible for anything to live here. It still continues to moderate our climate and weather patterns, so we can keep living here. From space, Earth appears to be a marbled blue colour, earning it the moniker The Blue Planet. The word ocean comes from Oceanus, which the ancient Greeks and Romans believed was an enormous river encircling the world. In Greek mythology, this world-ocean was personified as a Titan, depicted as a large, muscular man with a long beard and horns, having a serpent for his lower body. He is the father of the ocean nymphs, and all the rivers, fountains and lakes of the world. Despite these masculine origins, the name Ocean is given to both boys and girls.

River

Although it has around a hundred of them, Australia cannot be said to be a land of great rivers – river beds are often dry, and even our largest rivers tend to be on the thin side. Of course, this means that every single one of them is especially precious. It seems slightly cheating to include them on a list of Blue Names, as every river I have seen here was brown or green in colour. However, rivers are marked in blue on maps, and if you saw one from a distance with a quantity of blue sky reflected in it, from the right angle it would probably look blue-ish. The word river is Anglo-Norman, from the Latin for “riverbank, shore”; it is ultimately from an ancient root meaning “scratch, tear, cut”. River has been used as a first name since the 17th century, and from the beginning seems to have been used with the geographic term in mind, since people named River Banks and River Jordan turn up quite early in the records. The name is unisex, but historically much more common for boys – in Australia, it seems to be more than twice as common for boys as for girls.

Steel

Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. Steel production began on an experimental basis in Australia in the 19th century, but didn’t really get going until World War I, when BHP opened the first steelworks in Newcastle. Its boom years were after World War II, but since the 1980s our steel production has decreased significantly due to global competition. During its heyday, steelworks provided mass employment and were a source of great pride for workers; it was from the steelworkers that the modern working class emerged. Blue steel is steel that has been given a dark finish, in order to increase toughness. Although we often connect blue steel with guns and other weapons, it is used in many useful capacities, such as on the steel-capped toes of work boots. It gives its name to a colour – steel blue, a shade of blue-grey. Last year I saw several boys named Steel or Steele in birth notices, after the release of the Superman movie, Man of Steel.

Suede

Suede is a soft napped leather, popular for making accessories such as shoes and handbags. It was originally used for women’s gloves, and the word comes from the French gants de Suède, meaning “gloves from Sweden”, since this is where the gloves were imported from. Suede features in the Carl Perkins song, Blue Suede Shoes, considered one of the first rockabilly records, and the first million-selling country song to hit the R&B charts. Perkins wrote the song based on a suggestion from Johnny Cash, and a real life encounter with a man who didn’t want anyone stepping on his blue suede shoes. It was soon afterwards recorded by Elvis Presley, who made it a hit all over again, and the song has gone on to become a rock and roll classic. I have met a little boy named Suede, and once I got used to it, found it rather cool and rockabilly. Suede was named in honour of the song, as his parents are Elvis fans. They probably attended the recent Elvis Presley Festival in Parkes.

POLL RESULTS
The public’s favourite names were Levi, River and Bay, and their least favourite were Ocean, Steel and Suede.

True Blue Names for Girls

19 Sunday Jan 2014

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It will be Australia Day in a week’s time, and rather than cover just one name, I am suggesting names with a “blue” theme, in honour of Australia, where the phrase “true blue” has taken on its own patriotic meaning.

Azura

The name Azura is an elaboration of the colour name Azure. Azure is an intense light blue, the colour of a clear sky on a hot summer’s day. In the patriotic Song of Australia, the lyrics describe how all about is azure bright, and the bird called the azure kingfisher is native to Australia. The English word azure comes from French azur, and is taken from the blue mineral lapis lazuli – lapis means “stone” in Latin, while lazuli is from lāžaward: the Persian name for the mineral, derived from Lazhward, a place where it was mined. According to Jewish tradition, Azura was one of the daughters of Adam and Eve, and the wife of her brother Seth. Azura is a popular name in science fiction and fantasy, most notably in Skyrim, where Azura is the Lady of Twilight who rules over the realm of Moonshadow. Last year, NRL star Anthony Minichiello, and designer Terry Biviano, welcomed their daughter Azura. This is pretty and exotic while still similar to names like Arya and Zara.

Bluebell

The bluebell is a type of hyacinth; a spring bulb which grows wild in the woodlands of Europe and is also a popular garden plant. Its name comes from its violet-blue colour, and mass of bell-like petals. Several other unrelated flowers around the world are named bluebell, and in Australia we have the Royal Bluebell (Wahlenbergia gloriosa). This deep violet wildflower grows abundantly in the Australian Alps, and is the floral emblem of the Australian Capital Territory. Summer flowering, it is hardy and easily grown in the garden; however, it is protected in the wild, and cannot be picked or collected. Bluebell came into use as a girls name during the 19th century, along with other flower names, but doesn’t have a Victorian vintage vibe – it seems hip and funky. I have seen this a few times as a middle name, but would love to see it boldly upfront.

Delphine

Delphine is the French form of Delphina, which can be understood as meaning “from Delphi”. However, the name reminds me of dolphins, whose scientific family name is Delphinidae, from the Greek delphus, meaning “womb”, to indicate that although they look fish-like, as mammals, they bear live young. The Greek town of Delphi, the home of the famous Delphic Oracle in ancient times, is also said to mean “womb”, as it was meant to be the navel of the earth goddess Gaia. The grey-blue colouring of the dolphin suggested this name to me, and there are several species of dolphin which live in, or migrate to, the waters surrounding Australia. Since ancient times, people have been fascinated by dolphins, and there are many stories of wild dolphins rescuing people, helping surfers and swimmers in trouble, or even protecting humans from shark attacks. Their high intelligence and playful behaviour make them appealing companions, and there are several places in Australia where you can swim with and interact with wild dolphins. Delphine is a pretty dolphin-related name for anyone who loves these free-spirited sea creatures, and has Dell and Fifi as potential nicknames.

Indigo

Indigo is one of the seven colours of the rainbow, a dark shade of blue. It was Sir Isaac Newton who introduced indigo as one of the colours of the spectrum, because in the mid-17th century, when he began his work with prisms, the East India Company had begun importing indigo dye to Britain, where it was used to colour clothing a deep blue. Indigo dye comes from the plant Indigofera tinctoria, native to tropical Asia, and the word indigo comes from the Greek, meaning “Indian dye”. Indigo is a rather controversial colour, because Sir Isaac Newton decided there had to be seven colours to match the seven notes of a scale and seven days of the week, and scientists question whether indigo is really a colour of the spectrum, or just the point where blue deepens. Even more confusingly, Sir Isaac Newton seems to have used the word indigo to mean the colour we call blue. Indigo has strong New Age associations, because it is seen as a particularly spiritual colour connected to psychic power. Indigo is a rather trendy girls name in Australia, a favourite choice of celebrities; rising with other Ind- names, it is #137 in Victoria.

Jasmine

I would not have considered this for a list of Blue Names, except that while writing it, Australian actress Cate Blanchett won a Golden Globe for her role in the film Blue Jasmine. There are about twelve species of jasmine native to Australia; these climbing vines come from tropical and subtropical areas of Queensland and northern New South Wales. The flowers are delicate and white, and have a sweet, intoxicating scent; they are both fragile and strong. The word jasmine comes from the Latinised Persian yasamen, meaning “gift from God” – there really is something quite heavenly about jasmine. The name Jasmine is a modern classic which has charted here since the 1960s, and soared during the 1970s to make the Top 100 for the 1980s. It peaked in the early 2000s at #14, and is still stable in the Top 100. It is #36 nationally, #33 in New South Wales, #28 in Victoria, #41 in Queensland, #31 in South Australia, #24 in Western Australia, #59 in Tasmania, #15 in the Northern Territory and #20 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Sailor

This name occurred to me because the Royal Australian Navy winter uniform is dark blue (and the summer uniform has dark blue trim); Sailor could be used as a name to honour a family naval tradition. Sailor has been used as a first name since at least the 19th century, and was used for both sexes, although more common for boys. It received greater recognition in the 1990s, when American model Christie Brinkley gave the name to her daughter, and since then has been overwhelmingly seen as a girls name – perhaps partly because it fits in so well with the trend for names such as Kayla, Layla and Tayla. Weatherman Grant Denyer named his daughter Sailor in 2011, his wife Cheryl a fan of the name ever since Christie Brinkley’s choice. The name Sailor probably came originally from the occupational surname, in which case it can be from the German seiler, and mean “ropemaker”, or English, where it means “dancer, acrobat”, from the Norman French sailleor, meaning “dancer, leaper”. The German origin seems to be more common, and as sailors once worked with ropes, still seems to fit as a sailing name.

Sapphira

A Greek name meaning “sapphire”, which simply means “blue stone”. However, it is likely that the ancient Greeks were referring to lapis lazuli when they used the word – it comes from the Hebrew sappir, meaning “lapis lazuli”. In the New Testament, Sapphira was an early Christian who, along with her husband, was struck dead for concealing money from the church and lying about it. It’s hard not to think that they were executed, although the Biblical account is vague on the details. It’s one of the creepier and more troubling parts of the Bible, and doesn’t really show the early church in a good light. A more pleasant connection is the intelligent and loyal blue dragon named Saphira in Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance series of fantasy novels. Crime novelist Tara Moss chose the name Sapphira for her baby daughter in 2011, apparently because she had blue eyes. Sapphira is an exceptionally beautiful and elegant name which can also reference the sapphire mining trade in Australia.

Sky

The atmosphere as it appears from Earth; the word comes from the Norse word for “cloud” (you can see our ancestors came from a place where skies tended to be cloudy!). On a clear day the sky appears blue because air scatters blue sunlight more than it scatters red. Because of this, we give as a truism that the sky is blue, even though it appears in a range of colours depending on the conditions, and there is a colour named sky blue because of that. Blue skies are symbolic of happiness and good times ahead, and blue skying is to think creatively – to think that the sky is the limit, to reach for the sky. Although there are blue skies all over the world, in Australia the strong sunlight and lack of cloudiness mean we see a lot of blue sky, and intensely blue skies – the patriotic song Awake! Awake, Australia! mentions our “bright blue skies”. Sky is a unisex name which has never charted in Australia, but its similarity to Skye and Skyla will make it seem feminine here.

True

An English word which can be understood as meaning “genuine, trusty, faithful”, ultimately from an ancient root meaning “steady, firm”. A common saying in Australia is to describe someone as a true blue Aussie, as featured in the John Williamson song, True Blue. The phrase true blue goes back to medieval times, when the colour blue symbolised faith and constancy. Although theories abound as why this was so, the most likely explanation is that it’s from the blue-dyed cloth produced in the town of Coventry, famous for not fading with washing, and thus remaining “true”. Later on, the phrase became associated with the Presybterian Church, and later still, the Tory Party, and their “true blue supporters”. In Australia, far from “true blue” having these conservative associations, in the 19th century it was used to describe those working class men who remained true to their labour principles, and was thus a left-wing term. Gradually, true blue came to mean anyone loyal to Australia and its values. True can be used as a name for either sex; on a girl, it seems as if it could be short for Trudy and similar names.

Wren

Australian wrens are similar in appearance, but unrelated to the wrens of Europe and the Americas. In some species, such as the Superb Fairywren and Splendid Fairywren, the breeding male has a very distinctive and beautiful blue plumage in contrast to the grey-brown tones of the females and juniors. In other species and subspecies, both males and females are bright blue, or have blue patches. Because they are tiny, pretty, and have an attractive range of birdsongs, we love it when fairywrens visit our gardens. Seeing a group of colourful wrens flutter through the bushes is the closest thing to having fairies in the garden that most people will experience. Another charming fairywren fact is that the male will present brightly coloured flower petals when courting a female, which to human eyes looks like bringing a bouquet of flowers. Wren has been used as a first name since the 17th century, and from the beginning was unisex, given roughly equally to both sexes, and possibly influenced by the surname, which comes directly from the bird. Today it is usually thought of a girls name, and although I can see it on a boy, the fairywren seems to render it more feminine than masculine. Elsewhere Wren might seem a humble choice as a name, while here I think it’s much brighter and more cheerful.

POLL RESULTS
The public’s favourite names were Wren, Indigo and Delphine, and their least favourite were Sailor, True and Sky.

Celebrity Baby News: Anthony Minichiello and Terry Biviano

16 Thursday Jan 2014

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NRL star Anthony Minichiello, and his wife, designer Terry Biviano, welcomed their first child on December 2 last year, and have named their daughter Azura Trésor.

A former gymnast, Anthony has played his entire career in the NRL with the Sydney Roosters, making his debut in 2000. He is the team’s captain, and led them to victory in last year’s grand final. He has also been a long-term member, and captain, of the Italian national team, and has played for City, the New South Wales state team, and for Australia. In 2005, he won the Golden Boot Award for best international rugby league player. He is the older brother of Mark Minichiello, who plays for the Gold Coast Titans. His nicknames are “Mini”, and “The Count”, because of a perceived resemblance he has with the Muppet, Count von Count.

Terry is one of Australia’s most successful high-end shoe designers, and has her own label, which she launched in 2002. She starred in the reality televison programme, WAG Nation, and is a regular fixture on the A-List circuit. Terry and Anthony were married in 2012.

Azura is based on the word “azure”, and Trésor is French for “treasure”, so the baby’s name can be understood as “blue treasure”. The main colour on the Sydney Roosters’ jersey is dark blue, but I don’t know if there’s any connection. Azure is also the national colour of Italy.

Interestingly, we were told in a recent news story that accent marks are forbidden when registering baby names in New South Wales, yet Azura Trésor does have the accent over her name. Maybe the rules have changed, or are more flexible than was reported.

Famous Names: Henry and Navy

23 Wednesday Oct 2013

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Early in October, the Royal Australian Navy International Fleet Review was held, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet in Sydney Harbour, on October 4 1913. Around 40 warships from twenty countries, and 16 tall ships took part, with seven RAN ships symbolising the 1913 entry itself. A stunning fireworks display on the Harbour used huge projections on the Sydney Opera House to tell the story of our century-old navy.

Although the Governor General Quentin Bryce reviewed the Fleet as the Queen’s Representative, it is traditional to have a member of the royal family in attendance for the Review, and Prince Henry of England, otherwise known as Captain Wales, or Prince Harry, got the gig. It was his first official visit to Australia, and although only here for 36 hours, he made himself immensely popular.

The famous names this week are in honour of the Royal Australian Navy, and our royal visitor.

Henry is from the Germanic name Heimrich, meaning “home ruler”. It has been commonly used amongst European royalty, and there are many rulers of Germany, France, Spain and Portugal named Henry, or one of its equivalents. There have also been six Holy Roman Emperors named Henry, one of them a saint. Other saints named Henry include a legendary bishop of Sweden, and Henry of Coquet, a Danish hermit who lived on an island off the coast of Northumberland.

Henry is a traditional name in the British royal family, and there have been eight English kings named Henry. Henry I was the son of William the Conqueror, and probably named after his great-uncle, King Henry I of France. The last king named Henry was Henry VIII, who is best remembered for his six wives, and for the English Reformation, which saw the Church of England break away from the Roman Catholic Church and the pope’s authority. In his prime handsome and powerful, he is considered to be one of the most charismatic of English rulers.

There have been a few British princes named Henry, and Prince Harry may have been named after his great-uncle Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, who was Governor-General of Australia, and married to Princess Alice, whose middle name was covered in Rare Royal Names for Girls.

Some people find it hard to understand why Harry is a short form of Henry. In the Middle Ages, Herry or Harry was how the name Henry was pronounced in England, so anyone named Henry was automatically a Harry once their name was said aloud. Today the medieval Harry is used as a pet form of Henry.

It is sometimes forgotten that Prince Harry’s official name is Henry, so that when he was introduced as an ambassador of the 2012 Olympic Games, some viewers wondered who this “Prince Henry” chap was. Bizarrely, one online news source (now removed) even reported that Prince Harry and Prince Henry of England attended the closing ceremony together (well, I guess they did, in a way).

Henry is a classic name in Australia which has never left the charts. It was #11 in the 1900s, and gradually fell until the left the Top 100 in the 1950s, hitting its lowest point in the 1970s at #265. Since then, it has gradually climbed, and was back on the Top 100 by the 1990s, where it has continued to increase in popularity. It isn’t shooting up dramatically, but making steady gains.

Currently it is #33 nationally, #27 in New South Wales, #23 in Victoria, #35 in Queensland, #17 in South Australia, #33 in Western Australia, #15 in Tasmania, #19 in the Northern Territory, and #10 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Henry is a handsome classic that seems intelligent and solidly unpretentious. It’s a popular name, and rising in popularity, but in a sensible, steady way. It seems unlikely at this point to match Prince Harry’s brother’s name, William, in the popularity stakes, and get to #1.

Navy is an English vocabulary name; the word navy refers to a fleet of military watercraft. Although navies have been used since ancient Greek and Roman times, navy is quite a modern word in English, dating back to around the 17th century, it is from the Old French meaning “fleet of ships” – ultimately from the ancient Greek for “ship”.

You can also see Navy as a colour name, since navy blue or navy is the very dark blue named after the traditional colour of naval uniforms.

Navy has been used as a personal name since the very late 18th century, and is first found in the United States, more specifically New England. The births of the first babies named Navy coincide with the establishment of the US Navy in 1794, so it seems to be a very patriotic name, and likely to be given to children of people connected with the navy itself.

Navy is much more common in the US than anywhere else, although rare in America too, and overall it has been given to boys and girls in fairly equal numbers. It is an extremely rare name in Australian historical records, and seems to be slightly more common as a girls name here; I have only ever seen Navy on girls, but so infrequently that it seems an entirely unisex name.

Rare, unisex, and rather modern, the name Navy would honour a naval connection in the family, or a family naval tradition.

POLL RESULTS: Henry received an astonishing approval rating of 95%. Navy received a more modest approval rating of 25%.

Boys Names of Australian Aboriginal Origin – Part 2

04 Sunday Aug 2013

Posted by in Name Themes and Lists

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mh1

Bambam

Bambam as a person’s name might seem like an oddball suggestion, but although it would definitely be an unusual choice, I don’t think it’s an unfamiliar one either. For a start, there is Bamm Bamm Rubble from The Flintstones, first introduced as a cute blonde baby with superhuman strength. His name came from the fact that he would say Bamm bamm, and swing his club, to the general destruction of everything around him. Bam Bam is used as a man’s nickname, from American wrestler Bam Bam Bigelow to British DJ Bam Bam. There’s also skater Bam Margera, who gained his nickname from constantly running into walls as a toddler. I have seen a baby boy called Bambam – although that may have been a nickname. In English, bam bam is an onomatopoeic interjection, suggesting one thing repeatedly hitting or banging into another. In much the same way, in Nyungar (from south-west Western Australia), bam means “to hit”, and in Bundjalung (from northern New South Wales), bambam means “bruise, swelling”. However, in the Meriam language from the eastern Torres Strait Islands, bambam means “yellow”; in Indigenous art, yellow ochre is often used to represent the earth. It’s quirky, but Bambam is a rather lovable name.

Daku

Daku means “sand hill” in the extinct Diyari language; the Diyari people are from the South Australian desert, and thus very familiar with sand. Despite being generally used as a boys name in Australia, Daku is also a unisex name in India, and in Hindi it means “bandit”. Someone wrote in to the blog considering the name Daku for their son, but they never got back to me, so I don’t know whether they overcame family opposition to the name or not. This name reminds me a bit of Dakota, and it has the fashionable OO sound, such as Reuben and Jude; the name is pronounced (I think) DAK-oo. It would be a bold choice though, and I haven’t seen many boys with this name, although it can be found a few times in historical records.

Jardi

Jardi means “front” in the Ngadjumaja language; the Ngadjumaja people are from the Nullarbor Coast area of south-east Western Australia. I remember reading in the papers last year about a baby boy from Mudgee who has named Jardii, and his mother explained that his name was from the Wiradjuri language and means “first born son”. I wasn’t able to find that information for myself, but it occurred to me that “front” and “first” are similar in meaning, so Jardi also seemed like a good name for an eldest son. In the Jaminjung language from the Victoria River region of the Northern Territory, jardi means “to keep”, which also seems very positive. I found quite a few Indigenous boys and young men named either Jardi or Jardii, and I think it’s really attractive, with a similar sound to Jordie, the short form of Jordan.

Jiemba

Jiemba means “laughing star” in the language of the Wiradjuri people of central New South Wales. It refers to the morning star, or the planet Venus. (In some other Aboriginal languages, djimba simply means “star”). Astronomy was very important to the Wiradjuri, as with other Aboriginal societies, because stars and planets were used to tell the times and seasons, and this information was first given in early childhood. It is recorded that in the Wiradjuri in the 19th century, the elders would teach the children the stories behind the stars (the constellations), while the old women would teach children to count stars, which they could do into the thousands using a particular system. This information comes from radical poet and journalist Mary Gilmore, who grew up in Wagga Wagga, and was given the name Jiemba by the Wiradjuri people. Despite it being given to a little girl, I have only seen Jiemba given to boys – most likely because it is said JIM-ba, and thus shortens to Jim or Jimmy. One of the Aboriginal men from the Sydney area first encountered by Europeans was named Jimbah, so it sounds quite masculine (this Jimbah may also have been Colebee).

Lue

Lue is a small village in the Central Tablelands region of New South Wales. Its name means “chain of waterholes” in the local Dabee language – the Dabee are part of the Wiradjuri group. The village’s name is pronounced LOO-wee, which makes me think that this could be an Australian alternative to Louis or Louie. There are quite a number of people named Lue in Australian historical records – many of them are of Chinese ancestry, but there are some from the Lue area, suggesting that at least a few of them were named after the village.

Nullah

A nulla nulla, also known as a nullah or waddy, is an Aboriginal war club or hunting stick; the word comes from the extinct Darug language from the Port Jackson area of Sydney. A nullah is a heavy club which could be used in hand to hand combat, or used to stun prey; sometimes they were used to punish lawbreakers. In addition, these useful tools could be used to make fires, and grind ochre. This name is frequently Googled, because Nullah is the name of the young Aboriginal boy in Baz Luhrman’s 2008 epic, Australia, played by Brandon Walters. The film is set in the Northern territory, so the choice of Nullah for the character’s name is not meant to be authentic; I wonder if they chose it partly because it suggests the name of the Nullarbor Plain (Latin for “no trees”). Nullah is also a Hindi word for a narrow, steep-sided valley; in dry countries like Australia, these nullahs are commonly filled with brushwood, and when it rains heavily, they temporarily become streams. This could be another inspiration for the character’s name.

Omeo

Omeo is a town in Victoria which is in the East Gippsland, set high in the Great Dividing Range. Its name means “mountains, hills” in the local Gunaikurnai language, or one of its dialects, because it is set on a treeless plain on the fringes of the Snowy Mountains. There is evidence of human occupation of this region dating back around 20 000 years, and the first reported sighting by a European of Omeo was in 1832, by a naturalist on the slopes of the southern alps. It was his reports of fine grazing land which soon attracted pastoralists and squatters to the region. Gold was discovered in the 1850s, but Omeo’s isolation meant that it did not experience the massive boom of many goldfields towns – it did however, have the dubious distinction of being the roughest and most unruly place on the goldfields. Its first magistrate was Judge Browne, better known as author Rolf Boldrewood, who wrote of the area’s lawlessness in his novel, Robbery Under Arms. This name looks and sounds like Romeo without the R, which gives it recognisability as a name, although it also reminds me of Omo washing powder. Its goldfields history gives it a bit of a “wild west” feel; it seems a bit more bad boy than romantic Romeo. Omeo has had some use as a boy’s name in Australia, especially amongst people from Omeo itself, and was more often found in the middle.

Tanami

The Tanami Desert is in the Northern Territory, and is Australia’s most northerly desert. In the wet season, it rains heavily and even floods, but the high temperatures mean that most of it evaporates. Some parts of the Tanami do have wetlands though, and there is even a lake which has permanent water in it, so as deserts go, it’s on the slightly moist side. It is a refuge for several rare and endangered species of flora and fauna, making it a biologically important area. You can cross the desert on the Tanami Track, which is more than 1000 km long, and goes from Alice Springs to Halls Creek, in the Kimberly region of Western Australia. Tanami is a corruption of the local Walpiri name for the area, Chanamee, meaning “never die”, because the rock holes in a particular gully were said to never run dry of water, even in drought. When white people came here in the early twentieth century, they found to their dismay that this was not the case, so either the name was optimistic in nature, or the Indigenous people had a superior knowledge of obtaining water from the rock holes. I have seen Tanami occasionally on girls, but after seeing it given to a boy, I really like it as a male name. The pronunciation is TAN-uh-my, but the Aboriginal pronunciation would be more like TAN-uh-mee, so you could take your pick on how to say it.

Woden

Woden Valley is a district of the capital city of Canberra. The area is named after a homestead owned by Dr James Murray, which was built in 1837. In Aboriginal Place Names, Harold Koch suggests that the name of Dr Murray’s homestead may have been influenced by the word wadyan or wadhan, which means “possum” in several Indigenous languages, in an area stretching from the Monaro region right down to Omeo in Victoria. If so, then the spelling was altered to make it look like the name of the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic god Woden, whose name means “inspiration”; Dr Murray saw him as a god of wisdom. Woden was the chief god of the Germanic peoples, and is their equivalent of Odin. Anglo-Saxon royalty claimed that Woden was their ancestor, and he survives in English folklore as leader of the Wild Hunt, and perhaps even as Father Christmas. Of course, we unconsciously celebrate his special day once a week, on Wednesday (Woden’s day). With Odin being a rather hip name at present, Woden really doesn’t seem too strange, and this could be a way of celebrating Australian and English heritage together. There are a couple of men named Woden in Australian historical records, although it is more common as a middle name.

Yarramundi

Yarramundi is an outer suburb of Sydney which is a semi-rural area in the City of Hawkesbury. It is named after a famous Indigenous leader who was a member of the Boorooberongal clan of the Darug people, and a garadyi, or shaman – a healer, a man of great spiritual knowledge and power, and an enforcer of tribal law. Yarramundi’s son Colebee was the first Aboriginal person to receive a land grant, and his daughter Maria was the first Aboriginal child to be enrolled in a school for the education of Indigenous children; her marriage in 1824 was the first legally recognised union between an Aboriginal woman and a convict. Maria ended up being a successful land owner in Liverpool and Blacktown, and dozens of families in the area trace their ancestry back to Yarramundi. Yarramundi means “deep water”, and I saw a newspaper story about a baby boy named Yarramundi after this inspiring namesake.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names were Jardi, Lue, and Nullah, and their least favourite were Yarramundi, Omeo, and Bambam.

(Picture shows the Tanami Desert in northern Australia)

Interview with Brooke from Baby Name Pondering

12 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Blog Reviews

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cool-baby-thinkingBrooke is a fellow Aussie name blogger, and she has a fantastic name blog called Baby Name Pondering. Here she ponders all manner of baby names, and specialises in names that are a bit different. Brooke finds name inspiration all over the place, especially in popular culture, so she covers names from your favourite TV shows, such as Khaleesi, and favourite movies, such as Argo. However, there are also popular favourites, such as Charlotte and Hunter. There are also specifically Australian names, such as Tempany. I highly recommend this blog to name nerds and anyone drawn to imaginative baby names.

What is your name?

Brooke Olivia

Have you ever wished you had a different name?

When I was younger, I sometimes wished my first name was more “exotic”, which  simply meant more than one syllable! I remember thinking at one point I’d like to change my name to Bianca. Somehow I felt that if I had a different name it should still start with B :). I’m very happy with my name now though.

What was the inspiration behind your user name Blue Juniper?

I read a book in my early teens where the main character was named Juniper, and I fell in love with it. I’d often have it as a user name online, and one day when Juniper wasn’t available, I put my favourite colour in front and that wasn’t taken. It felt right so it kind of stuck. I used it on Nameberry, and when I started a name blog I figured that’s how other Nameberries would recognise me.

When did you first begin getting interested in names?

It was around the age of ten. I found a pull-out booklet of names in one of my Grandma’s Woman’s Day magazines. After years of not being able to find any personalised products with Brooke on it, this booklet had both Brooke and Olivia! It also had cool names I’d never heard before, like Xanthe. I was hooked.

What inspired you to begin a name blog?

I spent a fair bit of time on Nameberry forums and Yahoo Answers, but the nature of those is that you’re either giving a quick answer on a name someone else likes, or asking for feedback. And I like names – especially different ones – so much that I  I felt I had more to say. I was encouraged by some of the other great blogs out there and thought to myself I could do that. The blog name sums up what my blog is about – names that inspire me and get me pondering.

Do you have a favourite blog entry on Baby Name Pondering?

I really like the series of Halloween posts I did last October – I wanted to profile some names that hadn’t been included on other Halloween lists. I also like my recent post on ’80s fantasy movie names. I grew up with those movies and still think that a lot of those names are really cool.

What differences do you see between Australian name trends and those overseas?

When you look at the top ten in each country you can see some definite similarities, but also some differences. I think we’re probably a little closer to the UK in that our tastes are slightly more conservative than the US. In the US there are a lot more variations in names, which I think is due to their larger population. With more people, there is perhaps more of a need to differentiate your child’s name, to make it stand out or feel more individual. It’s easier to stand out here where there are fewer people and the population is more widely spread.

Do you have a pet naming peeve?

Mangling name spelling. I understand a small tweak to differentiate a name, or make it easier to spell or pronounce, but I hate it when a name is twisted so much that you have to stop and think before you can tell what it was originally meant to be. It just looks ugly and is unnecessary. Recent examples I’ve seen include Jayceon (Jason), Zy’Cari (Zachary), Khynedi (Kennedy), Mattelyn (Madeline), and Kharmyn (Carmen). Changes should enhance a name, not detract from it.

What are some of your favourite names?

If I had to name my style I’d say eccentric preppy. Some of my girl favourites include Saffron, Sage, Imogen, Sutton, Rissa, Bay, Petra, Adria and Tamsin. My boys list includes Bram, Lorcan, Caspian, Dresden, Zared and Theon.

What names do you dislike?

Nevaeh. I get it, but I’m not a fan of how it looks or sounds. And I feel like people use it because they think it makes them look clever, which is one of my problems with so-called “kre8tiv” names. I also have to admit that I don’t get Atticus, which is a name enthusiast favourite at the moment. But I suspect that’s because I haven’t read To Kill a Mockingbird yet. One of my goals this year is to read it so I can see what everyone else sees.

Are there any names you love, but could never use?

I recently fell in love with Cassia, but I have serious doubts it would work with our surname, which is very similar to Cousins.

One of my guilty pleasure names is Winchester because I’m a big fan of the TV show Supernatural and I think it sounds cool, but don’t think I can bring myself to give a child a name so closely associated with a type of gun.

I also love Eddard, but our best friend’s and one of my cousin’s sons are called Edward, so it’s too similar for my liking.

What are your favourite names in the Victorian Top 100?

Imogen (#48) and Declan (#74).

What are your favourite names that have never charted in Australia?

Rissa and Caspian.

Do you have names picked out for your future children?

No, but I have a nice long list of ideas!

If you found out you were pregnant right now, what names would you think about using for the baby?

I like the idea of using all nature related names, as my husband and I both have first and middle names with nature related meanings.

Have you and your husband ever disagreed over baby names?

We’re not too bad, although I did have a few ideas that he vetoed due to people he knew that he didn’t like. He also used to joke about wanting to name a boy Agamemnon, after the Greek Commander in the Trojan war, which I feel is a bit of a heavy name! If I ask him which names he likes, he’ll just pluck some random name out of the air that he knows I won’t like to tease me. But since I started the blog he’s noticing names more, so if he sees a name he likes enough to mention, and I like it too, I add it to the list. When the time comes I’ll probably just hand him the list and we’ll negotiate a top pick.

What is something we don’t know about you?

My latest decorating obsession has been wall clocks. I have a feature wall in our living room with just clocks. So far there’s only (?) seven of them, but I’m often looking for interesting ones to add to the collection. But no cuckoo clocks as I think that would drive me a little batty!

What advice would you give to someone who was choosing a baby name?

Remember that the most important people who have a stake in the name are the parents and the child. Sure, it can be a good idea to get feedback from friends or family, but ultimately as long as the parents like it, and they feel that it won’t be a burden on the child, it’s probably a good choice.

It’s a good idea to do some research. And if, after you’ve looked through multiple name books (or blogs), you still have your heart set on your childhood favourite, then that’s fine. It’s okay to take all nine months of the pregnancy to be sure it’s a name that will work for a lifetime. And if popularity matters to you, check the top name charts!

Finding Baby Names to Match Your Surname

05 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Your Questions Answered

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wordlesqThis is a question frequently Googled: how to match baby names with your surname. After reading birth notices every week for more than a year, I’ve seen thousands of names, and often thought how nicely, or how awkwardly, their first and last names matched, so I feel reasonably well-qualified to share my views.

Although there’s many ways to approach this, I decided the best place to start is to work out what kind of surname you have, and then go on from there.

The Common Surname

If your surname is one of the most common, you have quite a bit of choice, since almost any type of first name will match it. Yearning for something slightly unusual? Amarantha Gray sounds just fine. Want something classic for a seamless match? George Anderson is perfect. Love contemporary popular names? Paige Hamilton is for you. Charmed by vintage style? Maybe you will like Harold Price.

Should you go down the common first name + common last name route, remember to whack in a rare middle name somewhere. This isn’t just so your child doesn’t end up with something that looks like the placeholder name on credit card brochures – it’s to help with identification. Otherwise Thomas James Martin could be in for a lifetime of proving who he is.

The Rare Yet Regular-Sounding Surname

There are some British surnames which sound ordinary but are extremely rare – even unique. The identity issue with these names is that it can be hard to maintain privacy, especially when matched with a rare first name. My preference for a rare surname is a first name which is normal-sounding, and neither obscure nor super common. As rare surnames are often of great antiquity, I like old-fashioned and retro names to match them, and family trees can be a great source of inspiration.

The Long Surname

For reasons of practicality, lengthy surnames tend to go best with shorter first names, if only so they can fit on government forms. Sure, you can always ask for extra paper, but do you really trust bureaucrats not to lose half your application? Extremely long names can even be rejected by Births, Deaths and Marriages.

The Short Surname

The general advice is that if you have a one-syllable surname, you need a longer first name to balance it. This seems to be thought especially necessary for girls, who apparently need something elegant and flowing in order to offset their petite surname.

I don’t think that’s obligatory, as I can’t see a problem with being called Jack Black, Claire Holt, Glenn Ford, Grace Wong, Charles Wood or Rose Byrne (yep these are all famous people). Two short names together can seem blunt, punchy and memorable, so if that’s your style, then go for it. If you want something longer, then that’s excellent too.

The Heavy, Ponderous Surname

If your surname is quite stodgy or cumbersome, like Trenchard or Blenkinsopp, don’t attempt to balance it with something fluffy, or double the problem by adding an equally heavy first name. Seek to soften the sound, rather than lighten it. I think these surnames go well with something plain, classic and elegant, when they can end up sounding very dignified.

The Cute Surname

With a surname that’s on the whimsical side, such as Pook or Dingle, a rare, eccentric, or very cute name can wind up sounding like something out of Charles Dickens or Enid Blyton. Be careful with alliteration or assonance, because Rupert Pook or Dorothy Dingle is hitting the Whimsy-o-Meter a little hard. Modern classics and popular names can act as ballast with these surnames.

The Surname Which is Commonly Known as a First Name

I think if you have a surname which is well known as a first name, you should avoid first names which were originally surnames. Cooper Henry seems certain to get his name muddled on a regular basis.

The Difficult to Spell or Pronounce Surname

There are two schools of thought on this one. One states that if your surname always needs to be spelled out, then the first name should be something very plain and simple so only one name needs explanation. The other says that since the person is going to be spelling their name out anyway, they might as well cover two names as one. As someone with a married surname that needs spelling out, I lean towards the first theory, as I’m glad of a simple first name in these situations.

The Common Surname with a Variant Spelling

Following this line of thought, if you are a Smyth or a Johnstone, I would avoid a first name that has multiple accepted ways of spelling it, such as Isobel or Kayden. Pick something that is nearly always spelled one way, such as Alice or William.

The Surname Which is Also a Word

Many English surnames are also words, and you have to be careful that you don’t accidentally turn your child’s name into a sentence or a description. Olive Carter is a job title, Isabella Plum a question which can only be answered with No, and Daisy Knight seems like an oxymoron.

If your surname is Woods, Forrest, Bush, Orchard, Garden or Gardener, that rules out flower and tree names. Body part names like Head, Neck and Legg can’t have colour names in front of them. We’ve all heard about Lee King and Joe King – but Milla King doesn’t sound too good either. Check the nickname as well, as there must be many parents who brought home a Robert Banks from the hospital, only to realise their mistake later.

Having Fun with a Word Surname (Enter At Your Child’s Risk)

Some people with word-name surnames are tempted to do something playful with it. Sometimes this can be cute but cheesy, as with Ruby Swann or Isla Fairweather. Other times it sounds lame, like Sonny Day or Will Power. Skye Light is just silly, and Honey Pye slightly cruel.

Before you turn your child’s name into a permanent joke, think carefully before going with Penny Lane, Forrest Greene, Strawberry Fields, or River Jordan. To be honest though, I think most people with these kind of names actually love them (or come to love them). Just make sure it’s a fun joke name, not a bad joke name – Mary Christmas is nicer than Candy Kane, Rusty Carr or Rainbow Trout.

The Surname Which Sounds Like a Word

Some surnames aren’t words, but they sound like words, and especially once said aloud, can fulfil the same function. For example, Clementine Daley sounds like a method of obtaining more Vitamin C. There is no connection between the surname Hoare and the word whore, and when I meet someone named Hoare, I don’t think of the word whore. Unless their name is Scarlett. And what were Misty Hyman‘s parents thinking?

The Problematic Surname

I’m not going to sugarcoat it, some surnames are going to attract attention, no matter what name is in front of them. Apart from making sure you aren’t falling into any of the usual “word name traps” (such as Adam Bastard, Blake Death or Mae Freak), I think if you have one of these slightly difficult surnames, you should choose something inconspicuous for the first name. James Glasscock is probably easier to live with than the more flamboyant Aloysius Glasscock.

The Non-Anglo Surname

Some people believe that if you have an Italian surname (for example), only an Italian first name sounds right with it. Others say that if you live in an English-speaking country but have a non-English name, your child’s first name needs to be English so they can fit in more easily.

I don’t really agree with either of these notions, as I think both can work, depending on what suits you. I think I have seen almost every combination of names by ethnic origin, and I’ve never once though, Oh no, Finnish and Fijian don’t go together, or You can’t have a Chinese surname with a Spanish first name! Your surname, no matter what country it originates from, doesn’t have to lock you into a box.

If you’ve read through this and realised that your surname is neither very common nor very rare, of moderate length, neither ponderous nor whimsical, not commonly used as a first name, easy to spell and pronounce, not a vocabulary word or otherwise problematic, and not from a different cultural background … well, you shouldn’t really have any major problems!

Name Trends in the Northern Territory – Girls

27 Wednesday Mar 2013

Posted by in Name Data

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Biggest Movers Up

  1. Sophia +13 at least
  2. Charlotte +10
  3. Olivia +8
  4. Ava +7
  5. Jasmine +6 at least

Also Up

Isabella, Matilda, Layla, Zoe, Maddison, Alice

Up Slightly

Sophie, Chloe, Ruby

Several new names on the Top 20, and Sophia has risen the most, moving up at least 13 places and probably more to make #8. More evidence that Maddison has overtaken Madison as preferred spelling, as this too joins the Top 20. Alice is a newbie on the Top 12, and as this was the fastest-rising name in South Australia, seems to be a real favourite in central Australia.

Biggest Movers Down

  1. Lily -14 at least
  2. Hayley -8 at least
  3. Sienna -7 at least
  4. Amelia -7
  5. Hannah -7

Also Down

Emily, Grace, Scarlett, Bella

Down Slightly

Ella, Mia

Lily and Hayley have left the Top 20, with Layla apparently replacing both their sounds. Bella is another short form to suffer, while formal Isabella improved her position. Colourful Sienna and Scarlett have faded away.

New or Returned to the List

  • Sophia #8
  • Jasmine #15
  • Layla #18
  • Maddison #19
  • Alice #20

Gone from the List

  • Lily #14
  • Hayley #13
  • Sienna #14
  • Bella #15
  • Scarlett #18

Colourful Names of Real Australians

23 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Historical Records

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colourful-paints-colors-24236829-1920-1312I love poring over names in historical records, and I even made a Category for historical records, without ever adding much to it. It’s time this was remedied, and here is the first list I have drawn up for the series. Last Sunday I covered the fascinating name Orange, and here are some more interesting colour names from the records.

Black, White and Grey

  • Taupe Amon (emigrated 1883 to Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Brunette Black (resided 1903 in Brisbane, Queensland)
  • Doris Jet Black (born 1900 in Maclean, New South Wales)
  • Brighty Sable Bowden (born 1883 in Clarence, Tasmania)
  • Ivory Rose Fitzgerald (died 1903 in Queensland)
  • Prosper Ivory Gough (born 1878 in Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Victor Grey Green (born 1905 in Mersey, Tasmania)
  • Blanche Blonde Officer (born 1881 in Tower Hill, Victoria)

Blue and Green

  • Robert William True Blue Ainsworth (born 1884 in Will, Victoria)
  • Blue Fish (cited as the father on a gravestone dated 1939 in Sydney, NSW)
  • Olive Green (born 1878 in Adelaide, South Australia)
  • Verdant Green (born 1861 in Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Cyan Hook (migrated 1924 to Melbourne, Victoria)
  • Azure Josephine Marguerite McCasker (born 1927 in Queensland)
  • Emily Aqua Sparrow (born 1902, Mount Torrens, South Australia)
  • Blue Stockings (died 1875 in Queensland)
  • Teal Wang (died 1953 in Perth, Western Australia)

Purple

  • Laura Lavender Blue Boyce (died 1937 in Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Theodore Lavender Bunting (died 1942 in Geelong, Victoria)
  • Maroon Day (born 1893 in Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Mauve Dulaghan (emigrated 1958 to Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Tyrian Gibbon – married name (resided 1954 in Brisbane, Queensland)
  • Clethra Erubescent Lavender Nicholls (born 1891 in Redhill, South Australia)
  • Puce Pavell (emigrated 1875 to Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Lilac Pearl Luxford Virgo (born 1895 in Balaclava, South Australia)

Red and Pink

  • Ruby Coral Bandt (born about 1907 in South Australia)
  • Coral Ivy Pearl Blizzard (born about 1894, died in Wynard, Tasmania)
  • Miri Red Summerson Crossley (born 1887 in Melbourne, Victoria)
  • Frederick Red Rover Hardy (born 1866 in Queensland)
  • Magenta Chiffon Hensley (born 1904)
  • Percival Red Hood (born 1891 in Victoria)
  • Valentine Cerise Marsh (born 1910 in Queensland)
  • Red Archibald Jerome Ohea (born 1896 in Briton, Victoria)
  • Pink Penny (born 1896 in Warracknabeal, Victoria)
  • Carmine Rose (born 1889 in Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Burgundy Severance (emigrated 1912 to Fremantle, Western Australia)
  • Joseph Pink Starr (born 1872 in Athelstone, South Australia)
  • John Red Honeysuckle Yorkie Wilks (born 1885 in East Wellington, South Australia)

Yellow and Orange

  • “Yellow Dick” – criminal alias (born about 1812, arrested in New South Wales)
  • Saffron Gay (no date given, Western Australia)
  • Loyal Orange Hore (born 1897 in Zeehan, Tasmania)
  • “Ginger” Lawless – real name Ray Lawless (born 1949, died in Kingsborough, Tasmania)

Brown

  • Auburn Brown (born 1885 in Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Auburn Hair (born 1895 in Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Chocolate Lilywhite (resided 1930 in Sydney, New South Wales)
  • Caramel Sultana (migrated 1952 to Adelaide, South Australia)
  • Rust Wake (born about 1907, died in Northampton, Western Australia)

Gold and Silver

  • Hurtle Milford Gold Biggs (died 1966 in South Australia)
  • Daniel Gold Boon (born about 1895, died in Melbourne, Victoria)
  • Adelaide Gold Burner (born 1886 in Unley, South Australia)
  • Silver Bell Eddy (born 1899 in Zeehan, Tasmania)
  • May Silver Thorne Flower (born 1896 in Melbourne, Victoria)
  • Rose Ann Silver Fox (married 1911 in Queensland)
  • John Gold Hunter (died 1894)
  • Silver Price (born 1886 in Dubbo, New South Wales)
  • William Alexander Gold Steel (died 1928 in Queensland)
  • Silver Hope Tonks (born about 1903 in Hobart, Tasmania)
  • Ellen Silver Virtue (born about 1904, died in Longford, Tasmania)
  • Argent Wing (born about 1916, died in Ulverstone, Tasmania)