Shortened Names for Boys

30 Sunday Jun 2013

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African names, Arthurian names, birth notices, celebrity baby names, Chinese names, classic names, English idioms, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, Finnish names, Frisian names, German names, Greek names, Irish names, Japanese names, Latin names, locational names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from movies, names from songs, names from television, nicknames, Old Norse names, polynesian names, popular names, scandinavian names, Shakespearean names, Swahili names, Swedish names, unisex names, US name popularity, vintage names, vocabulary words

Alfie

Alfie is a nickname for Alfred. It is most famous from the award-winning (and still emotionally shocking) 1966 movie Alfie, starring Michael Caine as the predatory Alfred “Alfie” Elkins. The theme song was sung by Cilla Black, who objected that Alfie sounded like a “dog name”, and suggested Tarquin instead. As it was too late to remake the entire movie, her views were dismissed. Alfred Elkins was the grandfather of the British “Lad”, and until recently, Alfie was a name we thought of as one that could stay on grandfather. It has been Top 100 in the UK since the late 1990s, one of the old geezer names rehabilitated as cute and cool. The insipid 2004 remake of Alfie, starring handsome Jude Law as the charming Cockney, gave Alfie a new image, and Alfie Allen plays cocky Theon in Game of Thrones (big sis Lily Allen wrote a song about him). Alfie follows on the heels of popular Archie, and is #201 in Victoria.

Bastian

Bastian is a German short form of Sebastian. The name became well known from Bastian Balthazar Bux, the main character in the fantasy novel, The Neverending Story, by Michael Ende. Translated into English in the 1980s, it has been adapted into several films. In the story, Bastian is a lonely, neglected little boy who loves reading; he steals a book called The Neverending Story, and is gradually drawn into a world where make-believe becomes reality. Along the way, he not only has many adventures, but learns valuable lessons about life and love, and manages to rewrite his own story. Although he is the protagonist, he isn’t exactly its hero, which might explain why this name hasn’t taken off. It’s not only handsome, but sounds like the English word bastion – part of a castle’s defence structure, and figuratively, a person who defends a particular position.

Gus

Gus can be used as a short form of Augustus, August, Angus, Fergus, and even the Greek name Kostas, although in practice it often seems to be a nickname based on a person’s surname. The name might remind you of film director Gus Van Sant (who was named after his dad), or astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, the second American in space, or of NRL expert Phil “Gus” Gould. You might think of Gus as a cowboy name, due to Texas Ranger Augustus “Gus” McCrae from Lonesome Dove, or as slightly geeky, due to Burton “Gus” Guster in Psych. The name seems to be often used for fictional animals, such as Walt Disney’s Gus Goose, and the mouse Octavius “Gus” in Cinderella (both these Guses are fat). Gus the Theatre Cat is a character from T.S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats; he is frail and elderly, and his nickname is short for Asparagus. This vintage nickname is now very fashionable, and is #241 in Victoria.

Jonty

Jonty is a nickname for Jonathan, which seems to have originated as a full name in the United States during the 19th century, but is now more common in Britain and some Commonwealth countries. You may know the name from retired South African Test cricketer Jonathan “Jonty” Rhodes. Oddly enough, Jonty does not appear in the US data at all now, so if any babies were named Jonty last year, there were less than five of them. Jonty is #315 for boys in Victoria. Although Jonathan is a boy’s name without a feminine form, girls are sometimes called Jonty too, but not enough to show up in the data.

Kai

Kai is Scandinavian name which may be a Frisian short form of Gerhard, Nikolaus or Cornelius. It could also be a short form of the Frisian name Kaimbe, meaning “warrior”. Another possibility is that it could be short for the Latin name Caius, a variant of Gaius, whose meaning is not known. If so, it would be the Scandinavian equivalent of the English male name Kay, as in Sir Kay, who was the foster-brother of King Arthur. Or it could be a variant of the Frisian male name Kaye, which is said to come from the Old Norse word for “hen, chicken”. Or perhaps it is short for Kajetan, which comes from the Latin name Caietanus, meaning “from the town of Gaeta” (Gaeta is in central Italy). Kai can also be a girl’s name in Scandinavia, and this case it is a variant of Kaj, which is a Swedish pet form of Karin (short for either Katrina or Karolina) – to complicate things, Kaj is also a Finnish form of male Kai. That’s a lot of names Kai can be short for! Kai can be a full name in its own right, because it is also a unisex Polynesian name meaning “ocean”, and Kai has the same meaning in Japanese. Kai is a Chinese boy’s name which means “victory” in Mandarin, and in Swahili, it is a girl’s name meaning “loveable”, but this is pronounced KY-yee, and not the more familiar KY. Kai first joined the charts in the 1970s, debuting at #498. It has climbed steeply and fairly steadily, and is currently #61 nationally, #60 in New South Wales, #78 in Victoria, #64 in Queensland, #35 in Western Australia and #62 in the Australian Capital Territory. This is a fantastic little cross-cultural name which can be used for either sex, although it has only ever charted for boys in Australia.

Liam

Liam is short for Uilliam, the Irish form of William. Famous people named Liam include Irish actor Liam Neeson, actor Liam Hemsworth, brother to Chris, musician Liam Finn, son of Neil, journalist Liam Bartlett, AFL footballer Liam Picken, and Liam Payne from One Direction, credited with much of the name’s international success last year. Liam first charted in the 1950s, and first ranks in the 1960s, when it debuted at #318. I don’t know if this was a factor, but it was in the 1950s that popular Irish folk band the Clancy Brothers began their career, with Liam Clancy their best singer. By the 1980s, Liam was in the Top 100, making #82 for that decade. Liam really took off in the 1990s, when Liam Gallagher kept grabbing headlines for controversial reasons, and was #26 for the decade. Stable for years, it is currently #11 nationally, #13 in New South Wales, #15 in Victoria, #9 in Queensland, #15 in South Australia, #8 in Western Australia, #24 in Tasmania, #14 in the Northern Territory and #8 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Max

Max can be short for Maxmilian, Maximus, Maxwell, Malcolm, or any name starting with Max-. Although we think of Max as a male name, it could also be short for female names such as Maxine or Maximilienne, and just this year Perth businessman Zhenya Tsvetnenko welcomed a daughter named Max Alice. It is perhaps best known from the Mad Max films, where Mel Gibson originally played Max Rockatansky, a vigilante in a dystopian Australian future. One of Australia’s most successful movie franchises, it kick-started a national film industry and created an enduring Australian icon. Max is a classic name in Australia which has never left the charts. It was #188 in the 1900s, and arrived in the Top 100 in the 1930s, before promptly leaving it again the following decade. It reached its lowest point in the 1970s, at #411, and then skyrocketed during the 1980s – this was the period when the Mad Max films were released. Max made the Top 100 in the 1990s. By 2003 it was in the Top 50 at #24, and by 2008 it was in the Top 20, where it has stabilised. It is #16 nationally, #18 in New South Wales, #14 in Victoria, #22 in Queensland, #18 in South Australia, #15 in Western Australia, #4 in Tasmania, and #46 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Ted

Ted can either be short for Theodore, or for Edward and other Ed- names. Teds seem to be very popular in comedy, including Father Ted Crilly from Father Ted, Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother, Ted from the Bill and Ted movies, Ted Bullpit in Kingswood Country, and the eponymous bear from the movie Ted. Ted became a celebrity baby name last year, when Leila McKinnon welcomed her son Edmund “Ted” Gyngell, and this year Livinia Nixon called her son Ted as his full name. Ted is #282 in Victoria, so it’s unclear whether Leila started a name trend, or simply joined one. I do see a fair amount of Teds in birth notices though.

Toby

Toby is a medieval contracted form of Tobias; you can see it as either a nickname for Tobias, or the English form of it. The name Toby is one prominent in traditional British popular culture, because of the Toby jug, originally a Staffordshire pottery jug in the shape of a stout seated man, drinking and smoking, dating to the 18^th century. There are at least two theories as why it has been given the name Toby. One is that it is after Sir Toby Belch, from William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, a suitably jovial and carousing namesake. Another is that after Henry Elwes, a famous drinker from the 18^th century who was nicknamed Toby Philpot, after a character in the drinking song, The Brown Jug. Another British Toby is Mr Punch’s dog in Punch and Judy puppet shows, traditionally a bull terrier; often in the past, Toby would be a a real trained dog, not just a puppet. Interestingly, The Brown Jug mentions Toby Philpot as enjoying a drink in “the dog days (of high summer)” – maybe one reason why the puppeteer’s dog was named Toby. Toby has charted since the 1960s, when it debuted at #427, and has been in the Top 100 since 2001. It is #78 nationally, #71 in New South Wales, #94 in Victoria, #85 in Queensland, #50 in Tasmania, and #46 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Xander

Xander is short for Alexander. Xander seems to have become common as a full name in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavian before it caught on in the English-speaking world, and as a nickname was used more in Britain than other Anglophone countries. Xander became popularised by the character of Alexander “Xander” Harris in the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the alter ego of his creator, Joss Whedon. It may not be a coincidence that Whedon attended school in England for a couple of years. Xander is Buffy’s best male friend, and gradually matures from geeky, insecure sidekick into a smart, effective warrior, who makes a place for himself in the “real world” and is quite successful with the ladies. It was only after the show began in the late 1990s that Xander joined the US Top 1000, or charted at all in the UK. Xander is #159 in Victoria.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names were Gus, Toby, and Ted, and their least favourite were Bastian, Xander, and Jonty.

(Picture shows a movie poster for Mad Max)

Diminutive Names for Girls

23 Sunday Jun 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 14 Comments

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Australian Aboriginal names, Babyology, birth notices, english names, epithets and titles, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, French names, German names, historical records, Indian names, locational names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from songs, names from television, names of animals, names of comics, names of lions, nicknames, popular names, retro names, Scottish names, slang terms, Spanish names, Swedish names, underused names, unisex names, vintage names

These short days of winter seem like the perfect time to cover names which are diminutives, nicknames, pet names, and short forms of names, but can also be used as full names.

Annika

Annika is a Swedish diminutive of the name Anna, so it’s one of those cases where the pet form of the name is longer than the name itself. The name became well known in the English-speaking world through Astrid Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking books, because Annika is the little girl who lives next door to Pippi and is one of her friends. There are several variants of the name, such as Anneka and Anika, although while Anneka is said exactly the same way as Annika (AN-ih-ka), Anika is pronounced a-NEE-ka, and is also an Indian name. Annika has charted since the 1970s, and peaked in 2010 at #165; it’s now #196. Although in regular use, it’s never become popular. I think it’s pretty; in fact I wish this had been used as my own nickname!

Elsa

Elsa is a short form of the name Elisabeth. This name reminds me of the 1930s, as there were several prominent Elsas active during those years. One was stylish Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, who was Coco Chanel’s greatest rival in pre-war Paris. Another was bohemian actress Elsa Lanchester, who studied under Isadora Duncan and played the “Bride of Frankenstein” on film. American hostess Elsa Maxwell threw lavish parties for the rich, including a scavenger hunt in Paris which disrupted the entire city. In fiction, Elsa is the heroine of Wagner’s opera, Lohengrin, and the pretty and fashionable young mistress in Françoise Sagan’s Bonjour Tristesse. The name may also remind you of Elsa the lioness, from the non-fiction books and movies, Born Free and Living Free. Similar to fashionable Elsie, but with a sophisticated European twist, this name has gained more attention since Chris Hemsworth married lovely Spanish actress Elsa Pataky. Elsa is #297 in Victoria.

Heidi

Heidi is a short form of the name Adelheid, the German form of Adelaide. This name became well known in the English-speaking world due to the best-selling children’s book, Heidi, by Johanna Spyri; the story of a curly-haired young orphan girl growing up in the Swiss Alps with a gruff, hermit-like grandfather. Although it was translated into English in the late 19^th century, the name Heidi only became famous after the 1937 movie was released, starring Shirley Temple. Heidi first charts in Australia in the 1940s, and ranks in the 1950s, debuting at #527. The name skyrocketed to peak in the 1970s at #74. Heidi dropped out of the Top 100 in the 1980s and sunk to #213 in the 1990s – the band Killing Heidi probably didn’t help. It climbed again, and was Top 100 in 2010, then fell the next year. Last year it was one of the fastest-rising names for girls, rising to #76 nationally. It is currently #87 in New South Wales, #85 in Victoria, #72 in Queensland, #57 in Tasmania and #55 in the Australian Capital Territory. This is a spunky little name which just won’t give up – it keeps climbing up and down the charts as if they’re the Alps, but like little orphan Heidi, our hearts can’t let it go.

Jinty

Jinty is a Scottish pet form of Janet, a variation of French Jeanette. One prominent person with this name is British historian Dame Janet “Jinty” Nelson. You may also have heard of the Scottish-born Australian artist and designer, Jinty Stockings. There used to be a British girl’s comic called Jinty, much loved by readers for its bizarre storylines which dealt with dystopian futures, school bullies with mind control, mermaid mothers and the like. There is also a steam locomotive named Jinty in The Railway Series on which the kid’s TV show Thomas and Friends is based; small tank engines were once nicknamed “jinties” by railwaymen. I saw this name in a birth notice a while ago, and was charmed by its jauntiness. Although it’s not a common name in Australia (I found only one woman named Jinty in Australian historical records and that may have been a nickname), there’s something vaguely Australian-sounding about it. Perhaps it’s partly because it sounds like Jindy, the affectionate name for the town of Jindabyne, which comes from an Aboriginal word for “valley”.

Lola

Lola is a short form of the name Dolores, taken from a Spanish title of the Virgin Mary, Maria de los Dolores, meaning “Mary of Sorrows”. The title refers to the Catholic devotion, the Seven Sorrows of Mary, reflecting on sad events during Mary’s life as the mother of Jesus. Despite this serious meaning, Lola is usually thought of a fun and even sexy name, and this can be attributed to Lola Montez. Born Eliza Gilbert in Ireland, she was beautiful and exotic-looking, and billed herself as a “Spanish” dancer. Her routines were considered salacious, and she was even more famous as a courtesan, being the mistress of Ludwig I of Bavaria. Lola toured Australia in 1855 where she enraptured audiences but attracted controversy; her beauty manual is illustrated by Australian cartoonist Kaz Cooke. After Ms Montez, Lola was a bad girl name, inspiring songs about showgirls, girls from bars in SoHo, and girls who get what they want. Lola was #203 in the 1900s, and peaked in the 1930s at #74, leaving the Top 100 the following decade. It was off the charts between the 1960s and 1990s, returning in the 2000s at #393, coinciding with the publication of the Charlie and Lola book/TV series, where the name got a new image as that of a lively little girl. Lola has been Top 100 since 2010, when it debuted at #97. It is currently #75 nationally, #86 in New South Wales, #59 in Victoria, #61 in Tasmania, #92 in Queensland, and #62 in the Australian Capital Territory. Cute yet alluring, it’s hard to resist the charms of this retro name.

Mimi

Mimi is a short form of all the Mary names – Mary, Marie, Maria, Miriam, and so on, although in practice it is used as a nickname for almost any name with an M sound in it. Some famous Mimis include Miriam “Mimi” Macpherson, actress Miriam “Mimi” Rogers, singer Mei “Mimi” Choo, and children’s author Mimi King. Mariah Carey is called Mimi by her family and close friends. Sometimes it is used as a pet form of certain male names; an example of this is Mislav “Mimi” Saric, who plays soccer for the Adelaide Raiders. The most famous fictional person of this name is Mimi from Puccini’s opera, La bohème; Mimi’s real name is Lucia, so Mimi can be used as a generic “cute” nickname. Mimi has an Australian connection, because in the Indigenous folklore of Arnhem Land, the Mimi are a race of spiritual beings who are often referred to as “Australian fairies”. Mimis are extraordinarily long and thin, and live in rock crevices. They taught humans how to hunt, cook and paint, and are usually harmless, but can be mischievous. The name Mimi is pronounced mee-mee, and seems to be rarely chosen as the name on the birth certificate. That seems unfair, when many brief, and perhaps insubstantial, names are highly popular for girls.

Nellie

Nellie is a pet form of Nell, a medieval short form of names such as Helen, Ellen and Eleanor. Australia has had two famous performers with this name. One of them is Dame Helen “Nellie” Melba, the charismatic operatic prima donna who reigned at London’s Covent Garden during its golden age. During her career, she was invited to sing for many of the royal heads of Europe, and was mobbed by fans, just like pop singers are today. The other is Eleanor “Nellie” Stewart, a beautiful singer and actress who made her name playing Nell Gwynn in Sweet Nell of Old Drury; after that she was always known as “Sweet Nell”. She starred in Sweet Nell, one of Australia’s earliest films. Nellie was #31 in the 1900s, and left the Top 100 in the 1930s. It hasn’t charted since the 1950s – coincidentally or not, that was the decade the enduring children’s song Nellie the Elephant was released. This vintage name is now a very hip choice, and I’m sure we will see more of it. It is currently #494 in Victoria.

Pippa

Pippa is a short form of the name Phillipa. It gained fame in 1841 when Robert Browning published his play-poem, Pippa Passes, which has the famous lines, God’s in His heaven/All’s right with the world! The Pippa of the poem is an innocent young silk-winder named Felippa, nicknamed Pippa. Pippa seems to be more readily accepted as a full name in Britain and Australia than elsewhere, and I used to think of it as a “soap opera” name, because there were two Pippas in Home and Away, and actress Pippa Black had a leading role on Neighbours. However, since 2011 we’ve all connected the name to Phillipa “Pippa” Middleton, who became an immediate sensation after appearing at her sister Catherine’s wedding to Prince William. The name is already Top 100 in Victoria, where it is #73, Queensland, where it is #84, and Tasmania, where it is #93. Other states to follow? Probably.

Romy

Romy is a German short form of Rosemarie, although it can also be used as a male name, possibly short for Romeo or Roman. The most famous person with this name is probably German-Austrian actress Rosemarie “Romy” Schneider, who gained fame in France during the 1960s and ’70s. In the 1990s, the name got some publicity with the release of ditzy gal-pal comedy, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, with the role of Romy played by Mira Sorvino. The name has been picked up by several celebrities, including cricketer Ed Cowan and his wife Virginia Lette, who welcomed their daughter Romy last year. Suzi Catchpole from Australian website Babyology lists Romy as a name with “swagger and sass” – it’s certainly very hip at the moment, a cool twist on popular Ruby and Rose. The name is pronounced RO-mee, like the first two words in the sentence, Row me to the shore.

Willa

Although Willa can be used as a short form of Wilhelmina and other names, it is actually a full name in its own right (so it’s slightly cheating to include it). It is the English form of the medieval French name Guilla, a feminine form of Guillaume – the French form of William. Famous people named Willa include novelist Wilella “Willa” Cather, New Zealand actress Willa O’Neill, and singer Willa Ford, whose real name is Amanda Modana – her stage name comes from her original surname, Williford. Another Willa is young actress Willa Holland, who has starred in The OC and Gossip Girl TV series. The Alternative Guide to Baby Names lists Willa as an Aboriginal name meaning “wife”, but the author doesn’t say which language it is from; in a language from the Melbourne region, willa means “possum”. There are so many place names here that begin with or contain Willa-, such as Willa-Willa Ridge near Adelaide, and Willa Willyong Creek near Broken Hill, that the name does have a rather Australian feel to it. Willa has been gaining in popularity, not only riding the success of its brother name, William, but providing a hip alternative to popular Willow. It is #468 in Victoria.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names were Elsa, Pippa, and Willa, and their least favourite were Heidi, Mimi, and Jinty.

(Picture of silver coin in commemoration of Dame Melba from Perth Mint)

Famous Names: Ellen and Portia

28 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 1 Comment

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Arthurian names, car names, changing names, classic names, english names, fairytale names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, German names, Latin names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, nicknames, Roman names, Shakespearean names, surname names, William Shakespeare

American chat show host, Ellen DeGeneres, was in Australia this week. She follows in the footsteps of Oprah Winfrey, another American chat show host who brought her show to Australia, in 2010. However, while Oprah managed to get around quite a bit, Ellen (who was recovering from ‘flu), just popped in to Sydney and Melbourne.

She did seem to take a bit of a shine to Melbourne, saying it reminded her of Boston and New Orleans, and even said that it was possible she and Portia would live there one day. Ellen is practically an Australian-in-law, because her wife, model and actress Portia de Rossi, is from Australia.

Portia was born Amanda Lee Rogers in Geelong. She changed her name as a teenager to sound more exotic and interesting – Portia is after the heroine of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and de Rossi is an Italian surname, which probably means “red” (like Russell).

Portia de Rossi is the name of the mother of famous Italian poet Torquato Tasso, but I’m not sure whether the young Amanda Rogers was aware of that. Since her marriage, Portia has legally changed her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres. I don’t know where the James comes from.

The name Ellen is a medieval form of Helen, making it the English equivalent of Elaine. Ellen was a fairly common name in the Middle Ages, and features in the English fairy tale Childe Rowland, where Burd Ellen is Rowland’s sister, who must be rescued from Elfland. Childe and Burd don’t mean how they sound – childe was a title given to the eldest son in a noble family, while burd means “lady, maiden”. In some versions of the tale, they are the children of Queen Guinevere, and Merlin also plays a significant role in the story.

Ellen is a classic name in Australia, which was at its most popular in the 1900s, when it was #20. It remained on the Top 100 until the 1950s, and made its way back there in the 1990s, when it reached #92. It’s been fairly stable for a few years now, and in 2011 rose slightly from #517 to #470. Although this looks like quite a jump, it represents just two more babies named Ellen.

With Ella and Ellie in the Top 100, and Elle, Eleanor and Elena rapidly gaining in popularity, and retro Nelly, Nellie, Nella and Nelle becoming increasingly hip name choices, Ellen seems extremely usable, with a host of cute and fashionable nicknames. Simple, pretty and unpretentious, I feel that we will see more of this name in years to come.

Portia is a variant of Porcia, the feminine form of the Roman family name Porcius, from the Latin for “pig”. A lot of people have problems with this name meaning, but the Fabii were named after the broad bean, and perhaps the Porcii gained their name from pig farming.

Another possibility is that in many parts of the ancient world, pigs were sacred animals of the Underworld, fertility and the moon, and there may have been some religious connotations to the name (and in fact pig farming itself had a distinctly religious side, as the Romans were very fond of sacrificing pigs to the gods). Many ancient gods and goddesses were connected with swine, such as Osiris, Adonis, Attis, Demeter, Persephone, Freya and Ceridwen. They were beasts of a mysterious and ancient power, and held in awe.

The most illustrious branch of the Porcius family were the Catones, which included Cato the Elder and his great-grandson, Cato the Younger. Cato the Younger had a beautiful, intelligent daughter named Porcia, and she married her cousin, Marcus Junius Brutus – famous for being one of the key people in the assassination plot against Julius Caesar. Porcia was the only woman who knew of the conspiracy, and as such she plays a role in William Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar.

However, when we think of Portia, we automatically think of Portia from Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, a beautiful and brilliantly intelligent lady who manages to get her own way while still showing obedience. She steals the show and saves the day in a gripping cross-dressing courtroom drama as her fine legal mind swoops in on a loophole in the law. Even now we sometimes call a gifted female lawyer a Portia. The role of Portia was once famously played by actress Ellen Terry.

Portia is an elegant literary name, with historical and fictional namesakes who have both beauty and brains. People seem to either love it, or find it pretentious. Another issue is that it sounds like the name of the car company, Porsche. (Porsche is a German surname derived from the name Boris). Because some people do use Porsche as a girl’s name, a certain type of parent does worry that a daughter named Portia will have her name confused with little girls named Porsche.

So Portia is not without her issues as a baby name, but still a very lovely one nonetheless.

POLL RESULT: Ellen received an approval rating of 46%, and Portia a rating of 31%.

(Photo shows Ellen and Portia on Sydney Harbour)

Names Spotted at Home and Abroad (Summer Edition)

25 Monday Mar 2013

Posted by A.O. in Names Spotted at Home and Abroad

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animal names, Australian Aboriginal names, changing names, culinary names, english names, ethnonyms, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, fish names, floral emblems, flower names, food names, French names, German names, honouring, initials, Japanese names, Latin names, locational names, makes of cars, name combinations, name meaning, names of horses, names of spices, names of weapons, Native American names, nature names, nicknames, Persian names, plant names, rare names, rose varities, sibsets, surname names, types of boats, unisex names, vocabulary names

The first baby born in Wollongong for 2013 was Rumi Vassilakoglou; he is named after the medieval mystical Persian poet, whose moniker means “from Rome” (this name for him is not used in Muslim countries, by the way). Rumi’s mum is named Leila, and his younger sibling is Mahli.

Your baby disappearing is every parent’s worst nightmare, but little Minowa Worthington’s story ended happily. Minowa is the name of a Japanese town, and a Japanese surname, but baby name books tell me it also Native American for “one with a moving voice”. They don’t say which language it is from, but I have seen Native Americans online with Minowa as their surname.

A Gold Coast baby born in the Queensland floods was named Sabre Smith. Although his name can be after the sword, putting it in the same genre as Blade or Steel, a sabre is also a class of racing boats – which seems apt for a baby born surrounded by water.

Another water baby is Dwight Anderson, who was born in the bath. I was a tiny bit surprised to see such an old-fashioned name in use … much more surprised to see that Dwight is a girl. Dwight’s sister is named Billie-Jo.

Allegra Bluebelle from Canberra, born in the city’s centenary year, has a middle name after its floral emblem, the royal bluebell. A little girl born on the city’s birthday seven years ago has the same initials as the Australian Capital Territory – Aisha Caitlyn Truselsen. A fisherman has a daughter named Makaira Indica, which is the scientific name for the black marlin (this isn’t connected to Canberra, so not sure why they mentioned it, but there you go).

The Hallett family changed their name by deed poll to Holden, in honour of the make of car. Not content with that, they have given their children Holden-related names too. Their son is named Toree, after the Torana, and his little sister is named Elcee – after the LC generation of Toranas.

An article about “unique” names quoted brothers named Mac and Fonzii. I have no idea why Mac is supposed to be unique, but Fonzii does seem slightly out of the ordinary. He’s not named about Fonzie from Happy Days, which reminds me of the baby named Tinkabell not named after the fairy. Other unusual names of real babies mentioned were Dragon, Justus, Porch, Ever, Notorious, Cash, Lychee and Bandit.

Another article on the same subject, with much the same information, featured a baby boy named Ace Bear Johnson, which strikes me as both cute and sporty (Ace’s sister is named Esmee). There was also a baby girl named Annecy Belle Easton [pictured], named after a French town that her parents fell in love with after they stayed there. She is called Annie for short, and Annecy’s mum also has the name of a French town – Nancy. Article also mentions real babies named Batman, Blaze and Charisma.

Darwin schoolteacher Wendy Green named her racehorse Rogan Josh, after the Indian spice mix, which she saw at the supermarket. She claims that in Tennant Creek, she was asked to baptise a baby, which she did using champagne, and named the baby Rogan Josh as well. You may take this story with as many grains of salt as you wish – but Rogan Josh really isn’t too bad a name. It literally means “boiling oil” in Persian.

Friday’s birth notices included a new baby named Passion Brinessa Ajayla Quinatee Martin, who is the 12^th child in her family. The rest of the family are Samantha Jayne (18), twins Shantelle Victoria and Stephanie Catherine (15), Jenaya Lee (11), Shania Kay (10), Brandon Bradley (7), Brandi Shyla Molly Robyn (6), Cruz Richard (5), Clayton Adam Logan (4) and Diammond Sparckle Zedekeyah Lilly Ann (3). Mum is named Brinessa, which is a variety of rose, and quite an unusual name too. She admits she did find it difficult to come up with original names, and turned to an iPhone application for inspiration.

Names of Adults

Lyra Benbow is a primary schoolteacher in the Melbourne suburb of Digger’s Rest who is just about to spend her Easter break doing volunteer work in Uganda. Is anyone else just loving her name? It sounds like something out of a fantasy novel.

Another awesome name from the papers: Eugenie Pepper, who runs a children’s fashion business named Plum. I feel like ringing her number to hear if she answers, “Hello, this is Pepper of Plum”.

Last year, Cressida Moneypenny attended the Anzac Day commemorations in Turkey. Originally from the Gold Coast, Ms Moneypenny was drawn to her name’s spiritual home, and moved to London. Ian Fleming never gave his Miss Moneypenny a name, but I feel sure it should have been Cressida …

The Melbourne Comedy Festival will feature eight comedians named Dave. Why so many funny guys named Dave? Dave O’Neil was a David until he started in comedy – then he became Dave, which seemed more man of the people. Dave Hughes also began as a David, but said he couldn’t make it stick – people just expect a comedian of a certain age to be a Dave, apparently. All the Daves agreed they had been stuck with an uncool name – while a David can be hip or sexy, a Dave is always daggy.

Names From Real Life

A pair of sisters named Ilse and Matine, which I thought went together really well without being in the least matchy. Ilse is a German nickname for Elizabeth, while Matine is based on the French word for “morning”.

Another cute sibset, this time a little hippyish – Lotus, Jewel and Sunny (two girls and a boy). They are names which just make you smile.

Someone I know told me they have a new niece named Berrilee, which is the name of a suburb of Sydney (and one I missed!). It is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning perhaps “mouth” or “food”, and far from being a modern innovation, baby Berrilee is named after an ancestor.

A name I saw on a class list at the start of the school year – Phonique. It’s French for “phonic”, as pertaining to sound, and is used by a (male) DJ in Europe. To me it almost seems like a portmanteau of phony and unique …. and quite technological.

In spring it was Aryan … here’s another name I saw some people find controversial – Gypsy. This is a name more common in Australia than it is in the UK and other European countries, which have significant populations of Romanis or Travellers (who sometimes refer to themselves as gypsies). Romanis are not in fact from Egypt, which is what Gypsy literally means – their origins are from the Indian subcontinent.

Names of Babies Born to People I Know or Know Of:

Girls: Florence, Harriet, Lola, Marina

Boys: Arlo, Gus, Huxley

Underused Names for Boys

10 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

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This follows on from last week’s Underused Names for Girls; to briefly recap, they are names which aren’t common here (used less than six times in the 2012 Victorian data, have never charted in Australia), but still have a history of use in Australia (can be found in historical records).

Alaric

Alaric is from the Gothic name Alareiks, meaning “ruler over all”. Alaric I was the king of the Visigoths who sacked Rome in 410, and his great-grandson, Alaric II, was ruler of the Visigothic kingdom, covering most of Spain and the south of France. Another Alaric was a legendary king of Sweden, skilled in battle and sport, and a masterful horseman. He had a brother Eric, and for some unknown reason, the pair of them killed each other with their horses’ bridles, which seems an awfully strange choice of weapon. The name Alaric is far commoner in fiction than in real life, where it tends to be either chosen for comedies, in the belief that the name Alaric sounds amusingly high-faluting, or science-fiction/fantasy, in the belief that it sounds geekily exotic. In the TV series, The Vampire Diaries, there is a character named Alaric; he says his name uh-LAHR-ik, although most sources say the name is pronounced AL-uh-rik. Powerful and commanding, this is unusual, but sounds similar to familiar names like Alan and Eric.

Blaise

In Arthurian legend, Blaise was the priest who baptised the wizard Merlin, became his tutor and friend, then took the trouble to write down all Merlin’s deeds for posterity. There is a Saint Blaise, who is a saint of healing, as he cures sore throats (the saint was a doctor as well as a bishop). He seems to have been quite popular in England, perhaps because his feast day of February 3 is right after the Celtic festival of Imbolc and the Christian feast of Candlemas, and often marked by bonfires. Blaise sounds like the word blaze, so a pleasing coincidence for fire-lovers. The most famous namesake is Blaise Pascal, the French theologian and philosopher. The meaning could be from either Latin or Greek. If Latin, it means “stuttering, lisping”; if Greek it means “bow-legged”, so either way it’s not flattering. Saint Blaise was Greek, but the Blaise of Arthurian legend is probably meant to be Roman or Romanised, so you can take your pick. It’s a name loved for its sound, namesakes and associations rather than its meaning.

Corin

Corin is a French surname derived from Quirinus; Saint Quirinus was part of a Roman missionary group sent to convert Gaul, and legend has attached to this popular saint all the standard saintly stories, such as killing a dragon and going for a stroll after getting his head chopped off. The original Quirinus was an early Roman god, probably a Sabine war deity. The Sabines had an altar to Quirinus on the Quirinal Hill, one of the Seven Hills of Rome. The Romans considered him to be a deified Romulus, and in the early days he was a major god, although they gradually lost interest in worshipping him. However, even after the fall of Rome, the Quirinal Hill remained a place of power, so that it was chosen as the seat of royalty, and later the residence of the Presidents of the Italian Republic. The name is linked to the name of the Sabine town Cures, and may come from the Sabine word for “spear”. There is a shepherd named Corin in Shakespeare’s As You Like It, and a Prince Corin in C.S. Lewis’ The Horse and His Boy. You can also see this name from another perspective, for in British legend, Corineus was a great warrior and giant-killer who founded Cornwall; his name may be an echo of Cernunnos, the Celtic god, whose name is usually translated as “horn”, or “horned one”. There are several place names in Cornwall apparently derived from Cernunnos (including Cornwall itself), and the name Corin enjoyed early popularity in Cornwall and Devon – so you can see this as a British name just as much as a French one. This packs a double mythological punch, and doesn’t seem much different than names such as Corey or Colin.

Edgar

Edgar is an Old English name meaning “rich spear”. Saint Edgar the Peaceful was a king of England; a Scottish King Edgar was a son of Saint Margaret. The name became rare after the Norman Conquest, but had a revival in the 19t^h century, after Sir Walter Scott’s historical novel, The Bride of Lammermoor, told the story of tragic lovers Lucy and Edgar – a tale which ends in madness, murder and quicksand. Edgar is also a character in William Shakespeare’s King Lear; disinherited by his father, he wanders the heath disguised as a babbling madman. Noble and clever, he is also enigmatic with a touch of darkness; he enjoys playing the crazy beggar just a little too much. The most famous person named Edgar is probably the American writer, Edgar Allen Poe, said to have been named after Shakespeare’s character. Poe’s works are also quite dark and enigmatic, dealing with topics such as grief, guilt, mystery, murder, madness, doom, death, drugs, and being buried alive. Edgar is related to the other Ed- names, such as Edward and Edwin, but seems more vintage, a bit edgier, and a touch more Gothic. This name might be uncommon, but it’s also traditional and comes with all the usual Ed and Eddie nicknames.

Giles

This is based on the Latin name Aegidius, derived from the Greek for “young goat”. Aegidius was a 7^th century hermit from Athens who lived in the south of France with a tame deer; in Old French his name became Gidie, then Gide, and finally Gilles; when the Normans took his name to Britain, it became Giles. A noted miracle worker, Saint Giles was very popular in the Middle Ages, and his name became common; it was also given quietly but steadily to girls (even into the 20^th century). Although we often think of Giles as a terribly “English” name, Saint Giles is the patron saint of Edinburgh, and the name Giles is traditional in Scotland; many Gileses in Australian records have Scottish surnames. The English haven’t done this name many favours, as it’s a favourite in English books and TV shows for good-natured upper class twits. However, this doesn’t reflect the reality of the name, or the Australian experience of it, and I think it’s possible to see Giles in quite a different light. I can see Giles as a solid country-style name, a brother to Archie and Will, or slightly hipster, a brother to Hugo and Barnaby. If you crossed Gus with Miles, you might end up with something that looks a little like Giles …

Huxley

Huxley is an English surname. The Huxley family were Normans who came to Britain after the Conquest and settled in Cheshire, taking their name from a village near Chester, which was originally named Holdesieia, and corrupted into Huxley. The original name may be from the Anglo-Saxon for “sloping land”, and Huxley is believed to mean’s “Hucc’s wood”, with Hucc being an Anglo-Saxon nickname meaning “insult, taunt”. Huxley has been used as a personal name since the 18^th century, and early examples are from the Cheshire area, suggesting they may have been named directly after the village. The Huxley family have produced an astonishing number of brilliant thinkers, from the biologist T.H. Huxley, supporter of Charles Darwin, to the author Aldous Huxley, who wrote Brave New World. T.H. Huxley came to Australia as a young man, and did such excellent work in natural history that he was made an immediate Fellow of the Royal Society on his return (Mount Huxley in Tasmania is named in his honour). T.H. Huxley’s distant cousin, Sir Leonard Huxley, migrated to Australia in childhood, and became one of our most distinguished physicists. With its fashionable X and intellectual pedigree, this name seems very hip, and comes with the nicknames Huck or Hux.

Jethro

Jethro is translated as “excellence, abundance” in Hebrew, and in the Old Testament, Jethro is the father-in-law of Moses, and a priest (it is never made clear in what religion he was a priest, but by the end he accepted Yahweh as his God). Jethro is revered as a prophet in Islam, and is held in the highest regard by the Druzes. The most famous person with this name is Jethro Tull, an English agricultural pioneer who helped bring about the British Agricultural Revolution which formed the basis of modern farming practices. The rock band Jethro Tull is named after him. You may also remember the dull-witted Jethro Bodine from The Beverly Hillbillies. Jethro is a little bit hick and a whole lot hip – it’s hickster.

Rufus

Rufus started life as a Roman nickname, but afterwards became a family name; it’s from the Latin for “red haired”. There are many famous men with the surname Rufus, including the Stoic philosopher Gaius Musonius Rufus. His views on philosophy were moderate and practical, encouraging all men and women to follow a philosophical life, and giving advice on all manner of topics, including diet (vegetarian, raw) and hairstyles (long, beardy). He was so highly-regarded that when all other philosophers were expelled from Rome by the Emperor Vespasian, Rufus was allowed to stay. There are at least ten saints named Rufus, one of whom is mentioned in the New Testament as a disciple of St. Paul; his father was the man who carried the cross for Jesus on the way to Calvary. There is also the Gaelic saint Mael Ruba, whose name is Anglicised as either Maree or Rufus. King William II of England was nicknamed “Rufus” for his ruddy complexion. Famous people named Rufus include the Canadian-American singer Rufus Wainwright, and the British actor Rufus Sewell; Roger Taylor from Queen has a son named Rufus Tiger. With names ending in -us becoming fashionable, Rufus looks set to become the new Atticus.

Wolfgang

Wolfgang is a German name meaning “wolf path, wolf journey”, and interpreted by folklorist Jakob Grimm as being the name of a hero who follows in the wake of the “wolf of victory”. It has two heavy-duty namesakes: composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe; there is also a Saint Wolfgang, one of the patrons of Germany. Eddie Van Halen chose this name for his son. Nearly all Wolfgangs in Australian records have German surnames, and although this would make a striking heritage choice, it could work even if you don’t have a scrap of German ancestry. Wolfgang is one of those names that people seem to either love or loathe, so it attracts some extreme reactions. The usual nicknames are Wolf or Wolfie.

Zebedee

In the New Testament, Zebedee was a fisherman, and the father of the Apostles John and James. He is mentioned as being left behind in the boat when Jesus called the brothers to “become fishers of men”; we never learn whether he was supportive of his sons’ career change, or thought they should have remained fishers of fish. Zebedee’s wife was one of the women present at the crucifixion. The name Zebedee is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Zebadiah, meaning “Yahweh has bestowed”, and nearly always interpreted as “gift of God”. There is an English painter named Zebedee Jones and an English newsreader named Zebedee Soanes; both these Zebedees were born in the 1970s, when the cult children’s show, The Magic Roundabout, was first on television. In the show, Zebedee was a jack-in-the-box who is popularly recalled as ended the show by bouncing down out of nowhere and intoning, “Time for bed, children” (although I’m not sure how often this occurred). With Old Testament names for boys becoming a bit old hat, it could be time to consider some of the more unusual New Testament names. This one is full of zest, and the nickname Zeb is as cowboy cool as Zeke and Jed.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names were Huxley, Alaric, and Corin, and their least favourite were Wolfgang, Zebedee, and Giles.

(Picture shows Zebedee from The Magic Roundabout)

Underused Names for Girls

03 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

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Last week we had names from Victoria which were used less than ten times in 2012. Those names are uncommon – but what if you wanted something even rarer? These are names which don’t appear even once in the Victorian data from last year, and have never charted in Australia. However, they are not strange or obscure, and all of them can be found in Australian historical records.

Angharad

Angharad is an Old Welsh name meaning “greatly loved”. It was reasonably common in medieval times, and there are several Angharads in Welsh history. In Welsh mythology, Angharad Golden-Hand is the lover of Peredur, one of King Arthur’s knights. Angharad Morgan is a main character in How Green Was My Valley, and in the film version was played by Maureen O’Hara. Actress Angharad Rees became well known in the 1970s for playing the role of Demelza in the TV series Poldark. Lots of famous Angharads, yet I could find only one woman named Angharad in Australian records. The pronunciation, ang-HAH-rad, may have caused some concern. This is a strong and unusual name with a lovely meaning. It would definitely stand out.

Beatrix

Beatrix is based on the name Viatrix, the feminine form of the Latin name Viator, meaning “voyager, traveller”. Early on, the spelling was altered to associate it with the Latin word beatus, meaning “blessed”, and it was common amongst early Christians. Some baby name books sandwich these two meanings together and interpret it as “blessed traveller”. Saint Beatrix was an early Roman martyr; according to legend, she was strangled by her servants. The name became less common in England after the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19^th century. One of the most famous people with this name is Beatrix Potter, the children’s writer and illustrator, who gave us such delightful characters as Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, Squirrel Nutkin and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. As well as these talents, she was also a scientific researcher, conservationist, farmer, and sheep breeder. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands helps give this name a royal touch, and a famous literary character is Beatrix “Trixie” Belden, girl detective. To me, this charming name seems spunkier and more eccentric than her sister Beatrice.

Cressida

In Greek mythology, Chryseis was the daughter of a Trojan priest named Chryses, and she was captured by the Greek champion Agamemnon as part of the spoils of war; he refused to give her back even after being asked nicely. Chryseis’ dad prayed like blazes to the god Apollo, who obligingly sent a plague through the Greek soldiers until Chryseis was returned. A later legend says that she bore Agamemnon a son. Her name given in the Iliad simply means “daughter of Chryses”; appropriately for a priest of Apollo, Chryses’ name means “golden”, perhaps in reference to sunlight. Some writers say Chryseis’ real name was Astynome, meaning “possessor of the city”. When medieval authors retold the tale of the Trojan War, this story had a complete rewrite. Chryseis became Cressida (KRES-ih-duh), and one corner of a tragic love triangle; she is made the epitome of the false woman and the whore. Some authors were sympathetic to Cressida’s plight, and in Shakespeare’s version, Cressida is complex, highly intelligent and witty. A famous Australian with this name is the artist Cressida Campbell. I find this literary name quite bewitching.

Emmeline

Emmeline is the Old French form of the Germanic name Amelina, based on the word for “work”; it is therefore related to the name Amelia, and not to Emily. The name was introduced to Britain by the Normans, and many people prefer to give it a slightly French pronunciation as EM-uh-leen, while others seek to Anglicise the way it is said as EM-uh-line (like Caroline). My experience is that the British tend to say leen, Americans tend to say line, and Australians have a bob each way and can usually cope with either. There were several prominent suffragists named Emmeline, including Emmeline Pankhurst, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and Emmeline Wells. Australia mountaineer Emmeline Du Faur was the first woman to climb Mount Cook (in record time), and the first person to climb several peaks – always dressed in a skirt. Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence was a keen hiker and woodcrafter, and to me the name Emmeline sounds vigorous, healthy, and practical. Emmeline has a solid history of use in Australia, being commonly found in old records, and today its nickname Emmie means it fits in with popular names such as Emily, Emma and Emmerson.

Isadora

Isadora is a variant of the name Isidora, the feminine form of Isidore, from the Greek for “gift of Isis”; the Egyptian goddess Isis was worshipped widely in the ancient world, and she was also important to the Greeks and Romans. Saint Isidora was a 4^th century Egyptian nun, considered to be a “holy fool”, and treated with contempt by the other nuns for her eccentric ways, such as wearing a dirty dishrag on her head instead of a veil, and eating only leftovers instead of proper meals. When a visiting saint came to the nunnery, he immediately picked out Isidora as the only person holier than himself; upset by the praise and attention, Isidora ran away into the desert to be a hermit, and nothing more is known of her. The most famous Isadora is the American dancer Isadora Duncan, who developed her own unique style of dance, based on the natural movements of the human body. Like the saint, she was considered eccentric and radical, and danced to the beat of her own drum. Isadora is a beautiful, glamorous and individualistic name!

Lavender

Lavender has been used as a personal name since the 17^th century, and was given to both sexes. It may have originally been derived from the surname, which is Norman-French and based on the word lavandier, referring to a worker in the wool industry who washed the raw wool (this is an occupation that both men and women had). Even in the middle of the 20^th century, you can still find boys named Lavender. By now, however, it is almost entirely thought of as a girl’s name, and considered to be from the flower. The flower name comes from the Old French lavendre, possibly from the Latin for “blue-coloured”, lividius, but also influenced by lavare, meaning “wash”, because lavender was used in washing clothes. Lavender is often used to scent soaps and beauty products, and has been used as a relaxation aid for thousands of years. The colour lavender is associated with sensuality and decadence, and at one time, was considered symbolic of homosexuality. Like Rose, this is a pretty old-fashioned flower name that is more complex that it first appears.

Sabine

Sabine is a French and German form of Sabina, the feminine form of the Latin name Sabinus, meaning “Sabine”. The Sabines were an Italian tribe who inhabited the region where the city of Rome stands today, and some of them fought against Rome for their independence. According to legend, the Romans abducted Sabine women to populate the city of Rome; the war between the Romans and Sabines ended when the women threw themselves and their children between the armies of their fathers and those of their husbands. The history behind the legend is that the conquered Sabines assimilated with the Romans, beginning a new line of inheritance. Many of the noble Roman families traced their ancestry to Sabine origins, and at least some of the deities and rituals of Rome came from the Sabines. The Sabines were said to have taken their name from the hero Sabus, who was worshipped as a deity. Although it is too long ago to be sure, one theory is that the tribal name Sabine meant “us, ourselves, our own people”. You can either say this name the French way, sa-BEEN, or the German way, za-BEE-nuh; most English-speakers use the French pronunciation. There is at least one famous man named Sabine – the writer Sabine Baring-Gould, whose name was after the surname (derived from the personal name). You can find both men and women named Sabine in Australian records. Sabine is smooth and sophisticated, but comes with a cute nickname – Bean.

Theodora

Theodora is the feminine form of the Greek name Theodoros, meaning “gift of God”. The name pre-dates Christianity, but its meaning appealed to early Christians, and there are a few saints with this name. One of them was Saint Theodora, who as punishment for her pious celibacy, was dragged into a brothel. Her first “customer” was a Christian man, who had came to save her; they were both martyred, but their virtue remained intact. This story is probably fictional, and may have been inspired by sacred prostitution, of which Christians obviously disapproved. An Eastern Orthodox Saint Theodora disguised herself as a man and joined a monastery. Her identity as a woman was only discovered after her death. The name was a very popular one for Byzantine empresses, and Theodora I is also regarded as a saint. A Roman Theodora was a senator, and supposedly the lover of one of the early popes. She was harshly condemned for daring to “exercise power like a man”. The hussy! The image you get from these historical Theodoras is of very strong, independent, determined women – which might explain why Disney has chosen this name for the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz: The Great and Powerful. Pop star Robbie William welcomed a daughter named Theodora Rose last year, called Teddy; he wanted a dignified full name for the cuddly nickname, and Theodora fit the bill perfectly.

Verity

Verity is an English word meaning “truth”, especially in regard to religious truth or doctrine. It has been used as a personal name since the 17^th century, and would have been given as a virtue name by the Puritans. However, it was most likely also given in honour of the surname, for births of Veritys in Yorkshire are suggestive, given that the Verity family is a prominent one in that county. The surname is Anglo-Norman, and has the same meaning as the personal name. Originally, Verity was a unisex name, and in early records is given equally to boys and girls. The first Verity I can find born in the United States was a boy, and his family were Puritans in Massachusetts. You can find the name Verity given to both sexes in Australian records, but only as a middle name for boys, and it has never been very common here. Famous Australian women named Verity include the politicians Verity Barton and Verity Firth, the ABC presenter Verity James, and the actress Verity Hunt-Ballard, who played Mary Poppins in the Australian version of the musical. This is a crisp, clean name which sounds intelligent and upper-class to me.

Zia

Zia is a variant of the Arabic name Ziya, meaning “light, shine, splendour” – more specifically, it refers to light which shines by its own illumination, and is connected to the sun and sunlight. Traditionally, Zia is a male name, but Arabic baby name sites usually list it as female, and the name charts in France only for girls. There are quite a few people called Zia in Australian records, and they are not all Arabic men. There are women called Zia from different cultures, including Italian, where Zia may be short for a name such as Annunzia (zia means “aunt” in Italian, but this doesn’t seem to have been a hindrance to its use by Italians). Most women called Zia in the records seem to be of British descent, and I’m guessing either it was seen as a short form of other names, or parents just liked the sound of it. I can imagine parents today also liking the sound of it, because it is so similar to popular names such as Zara and Mia – indeed, it almost seems like a cross between these names. This is a zippy name which sounds a bit different, but won’t seem out of place in the playground.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names were Beatrix, Emmeline, and Isadora, and their least favourite were Lavender, Zia, and Angharad.

(Picture shows a detail from The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799) by Jacques-Louis David)

Famous Name: Greta

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

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famous namesakes, German names, Hungarian name popularity, Italian name popularity, Latinate names, literary names, locational names, name popularity, nicknames, Old Norse names, Sir Walter Scott, Swedish name popularity, UK name popularity, US name popularity

On January 20 this year, the story of bushranger Ned Kelly reached a conclusion, with his dying wish fulfilled, and his remains buried in the cemetery at Greta, in Victoria’s north-east. As a convicted murderer, Kelly was denied burial in consecrated ground after his execution in November 1880. His headless body was dumped in a pit and covered in lime.

A Requiem Mass was held at St Patrick’s in Wangaratta the preceding Friday; there are about 450 descendants of Ned Kelly, and many of them attended the church. During the homily, Monsignor John White said that some people had written to object to Ned Kelly receiving a public liturgy, but that the service was not to make judgement, but to bring closure. The service ended with In the Sweet By-and-By, the hymn Kelly is said to have sung in his cell the night before he was hanged.

Under a marquee, Ned Kelly was privately buried next to the unmarked gravesite of his mother Ellen; his brother Dan, and Steve Hart, one of his gang-members, also lie in unmarked graves in Greta cemetery. Ned’s coffin was adorned with a wreath of native Australian flowers and the green sash he was awarded in his youth for saving a boy from drowning. The coffin was buried deep, and surrounded by concrete to prevent looting. There are also five mounds of earth instead of one, to deter grave robbers.

The district of Greta is deep in “Kelly country“, the region of rural Victoria where Ned Kelly was born, grew up, and fought. His famous last stand at Glenrowan was less than 10 miles from Greta. Many of the Kelly family still live in the area, and the Ned Kelly legend remains compelling, with almost every local having their own Kelly-related tale to tell.

The district is thought to be named after the River Greta in Cumbria, England, part of the background to Rokeby, a poem by Sir Walter Scott which was popular at the time. The river’s name is Old Norse, and means “rocky river”. It is pronounced GREE-ta.

This is somewhat embarrassing to admit, but for a long time I thought the girl’s name Greta was also said GREE-ta. I knew it was short for the German name Margareta, and assumed it was said to rhyme with Rita, which is short for the Latinate name Margarita (both names of course are relatives of the name Margaret).

I was in my early twenties before I met someone named Greta, and discovered the name is (as I’m sure you all know) said GRET-uh. As the Greta I met happened to be in the public eye, the fact that I was ignorant how her name was pronounced seemed even more embarrassing.

One of the most famous women with this name was the Swedish-born Hollywood star Greta Garbo, famed for her austere beauty and luminous screen presence. Mysterious and reclusive, she shunned publicity and lived a very private life. Here we also know the Italian-born Australian actress Greta Scacchi, who grew up in Perth, but has lived and worked in England for many years – although she visits Australia from time to time.

As you see, this is a name at home in several countries, and Greta is a Top 100 name in Sweden, Hungary and Italy. In the United States it is #684 and fairly stable, and in the UK it is #586 and climbing.

In Australia, Greta was in rare use in the 1900s, and has enjoyed a very uneven career. The highest it ever got was #206 in the 1930s (at the apex of Ms Garbo’s success), and it disappeared altogether in the 1950s and 1960s. It has also hit lesser peaks in the 1910s, the 1970s and the 1990s. The name hasn’t charted since 2009 – but given the way it has jumped up and down the charts, you can expect to see it again before too long (but not too much of it).

In other words, this is a name with plenty of history in Australia, but not tons of use, and has never come anywhere close to being popular. As such, it retains something of the mystique that Greta Garbo radiated – cool, reserved, exclusive; a name selected by discerning parents. Make no mistake, Greta is a very hip choice.

Greta is the cosseted darling of name nerds, who believe it to be beautiful, dignified and sadly neglected by those who fail to appreciate her (these are the same name nerds who would drop Greta like a hot potato if masses of parents actually took their advice and called their daughters Greta, so it became Top Ten. Then Greta would be “Such a nice name – but simply ruined by everyone using it”).

So here’s another embarrassing admission. I’m not a huge fan of the name Greta, which to me has a rather harsh sound, reminding me of words such as grim, grisly, groan, gritty, grizzle, gross, grotty, granite, grumpy, grouch, grate, grasp, growl, grovel, grubby, gruff, gruesome, grumble, grump, grunt and regret. Somehow it never seems to remind me of graceful, gratitude, greetings, grand, great, groovy and egret! Which is manifestly unfair.

Perhaps if I could play psychoanalyst to myself, I might theorise that the real reason I don’t care for Greta is that it is inextricably linked in my subconscious to the embarrassment of not knowing how to pronounce a celebrity’s name when meeting them – and that even the Greta I met being very beautiful and extremely charming could not wipe out my feelings of shame. Indeed, perhaps that made them worse.

In other words, don’t pay any attention to my opinions about this name. It’s not Greta, it’s me.

POLL RESULT: Greta received a very creditable 76% approval rating. The name Greta was seen as beautiful and dignified (32%), and cool and European (18%), although 16% thought it was frumpy and harsh. 8% thought the name Greta was neglected and needed to be used more, while 6% noted that if it was used more, it would no longer be hip. A besotted 3% insisted they would still use Greta even if it was the #1 name. Only one person preferred the pronunciation GREE-ta.

(Picture shows Greta cemetery in Victoria)

Famous Name: Poppy

14 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

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english names, famous namesakes, flower names, German names, name history, name image, name meaning, name popularity, nature names, nicknames, plant names, popular names, Remembrance Day, surname names, The Wizard of Oz, UK name popularity, unisex names, US name popularity, vocabulary names

Last week I covered the name Bede for Remembrance Day, partly with the idea that it had “been in my Request file for ages”. When I went to cross if off the list, I found it wasn’t there at all – it seems I imagined it. So today I’m going to make up for it by covering a Remembrance Day name that really has been in my Request file for ages (I double checked!).

It has long been tradition to associate November 11 with poppy flowers. During the First World War, red corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas) were among the first plants to spring up on the battlefields of northern France and Belgium, blooming between the trenches and no man’s lands on the Western Front. In soldier’s folklore, the red of the poppies came from the blood of their fallen comrades soaking the ground, and were perhaps a poignant reminder that life went on regardless.

The sight of poppies on the battlefield at Ypres in 1915 inspired Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, of Canada, to write the poem In Flanders Fields. An American woman named Moina Michael, who worked for the YMCA, read McCrae’s poem just before the Armistice, and was so moved that she wrote a poem in response, and promised to wear a red poppy as a way of keeping faith.

At an international YMCA conference in 1918, Moina spoke about the poem and the poppies, and Anna Guérin, the French YMCA secretary, took the idea further by selling poppies to raise money for widows, orphans, and needy veterans and their families.

The poppy soon became widely accepted throughout the allied nations as the flower of remembrance to be worn on Armistice Day, and the Australian Returned Soldiers and Sailors Imperial League (the forerunner to the RSL) first sold poppies for Armistice Day in 1921, with the money going to children’s charities and the League’s own welfare work. Today you can still buy a poppy pin from the RSL to help veterans of war.

At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, it is customary on Remembrance Day to place a poppy on the Roll of Honour, as a small personal tribute to the memory of a particular person. Another ritual is to lay a single poppy flower on the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier at the Memorial.

Even before World War I, poppies had a long history as symbols of sleep and death – sleep because poppy seeds have since ancient times been used as sedatives, and death because the colour of poppies reminds people of blood, or possibly because if over-prescribed, a poppy-induced sleep may become permanent. Today, poppies are still grown to obtain opium, morphine and codeine for medicinal use, with Australia being one of the major producers of poppy crops.

In Greek myths, poppies were given as offerings for the dead, with the suggestion that they were also a promise of resurrection in the life to come. The symbol of the mother goddess Demeter, she is depicted carrying both sheaves of wheat and poppies, and it has been theorised that the taking of opium was part of her worship in the sacred Mysteries.

These twin symbols of sleep and death were put to good effect in what must be one of the most famous images of poppies in literature and cinema – the field of scarlet poppies in The Wizard of Oz, the poison scent of which sends Dorothy into such a deep sleep that she is in danger of dying from it.

The English word poppy is ultimately derived from Latin, but the meaning is not known for sure; it may be from the word for “to feed”, because as anyone who has munched a poppy seed muffin or a bread roll topped with poppy seeds can tell you, poppies are yummy.

Poppy can be found as an English name as early as the 18^th century, and the first examples are male, taken from the surname. This is derived from a German name Poppo or Boppo, used as a pet form of the name Bodebert, meaning “bright messenger”. However, by the 19^th century, it was firmly established as a female name and associated with the flower, coming into common use along with other floral names.

Poppy only entered the Australian popularity charts in the 1980s, and in the 1990s was #602. It skyrocketed during the 2000s to reach the Top 100 by 2009, debuting at #69. Last year it was #79, and with such a brief history behind it, it is far too soon to make any predictions about its future.

Poppy is even more popular in the UK, where it has been Top 100 since the 1990s, and is currently in the Top 20. However, it has never been in the US Top 1000 at all. Last year 130 baby girls were named Poppy in the United States.

I think one of my first clues to how differently names are seen in other countries is that I kept reading in name forums from American contributors advising that Poppy might sound adorable on a little girl, but can you imagine a woman in her thirties named Poppy? Um yes, easily – Australian actress Poppy Montgomery must be in her mid-thirties by now. Poppy seems to suit her equally well as it does a toddler.

Another popular Poppy putdown is The name doesn’t sound serious enough, your daughter will never become a businesswoman, doctor or lawyer if you name her Poppy. Oh really? Then how did Poppy King manage to start her own cosmetics company? How did Doctor Poppy Sindhusake become senior lecturer in the school of medicine at the University of Western Sydney? And how did Poppy Matters start her practice in family law? By what occult means did they crash through this poppy-red ceiling to make the grade? Unless such a ceiling does not exist …

Some complain that the name, with its cheeky sound and link to a flaunting red colour, sounds too cute and flippant for a woman’s name – how will she ever be taken seriously, they fret? My own thought is that with its associations to such a solemn day, its death symbolism, and connection to drugs, it’s a jolly good thing that Poppy sounds so cheerful and light-hearted in order to offset what could otherwise seem rather gloomy.

Poppies are colourful, sturdy little flowers that bloom and blow easily in our gardens and the “pop” sound in their name makes us think of pop music, pop art and pop-up books – things that seem bright and lively and youthful. But beneath it is something dark and ancient and powerful. It stands for death, and life rising again, and the blood of heroes, and eternal flame, and rows of crosses in northern France, and keeping the faith. It is a memory in honour of those who died in foreign fields.

Do not underestimate Poppy. She is spunky and sprightly, but also strong and deep and enigmatic. She can survive almost anywhere, and, not content in being merely decorative, is useful too. She can feed the hungry, she can allay pain, she can understand sacred mysteries. Sometimes she can even be dangerous.

She can run her own business, or become a doctor, or lawyer, or politician, or anything else she wants to be. And she will sound fabulous when she is forty!

(Picture is of poppies growing in the Somme, northern France; photo from Keynsham People)

Meanings of Names

07 Sunday Oct 2012

Posted by A.O. in Your Questions Answered

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There’s many different ways to choose baby names. Some people pick out a name they like, and perhaps quickly check to make sure it doesn’t mean something horrible, like “he who has the face of a deranged warthog”, or maybe not even care what it means. Others think of a meaning they would like to associate with their baby, and then hunt around for a name that fits that meaning.

These are all the web searches people used to get to the blog this year, looking for names with particular meanings. I don’t know if I’ve always come up with a name they wanted to know about, and I’m not even completely sure that I’m correct on each one, but I did my best.

NAMES WITH MEANINGS RELATED TO STARS

Boys name that means “star”

The English word Sterling, referring to sterling silver, is said to most likely mean “little star”, as some early Norman pennies were imprinted with a small star. The Old French word for the pennies is Esterlin. We also use the word sterling to mean “excellent, of high quality”, so you get another layer of meaning from it.

Latin boy’s name meaning “star”

The Latin for star is Astrum. Astro is a Latin prefix meaning “pertaining to the stars”, as in the word astronomy. I have seen this used as a name.

Swedish girl’s name that means “star”

Stjarna.

A boy’s name that means “bright star”

Nayyar is an Arabic boy’s name which is understood as meaning “bright star”. It also refers to the sun, which of course is our nearest, and thus brightest, star.

Male name meaning “bright star in the southern hemisphere”

There’s isn’t a star name which means that, but Sirius is the brightest star in the sky, and is visible in both hemispheres. However, Canopus, the second brightest, is more often connected with the southern hemisphere; it is always visible from some parts of Australia. It is occasionally called Soheil in English, and the Maori name for it is Atuatahi, meaning “stand alone”.

Spanish girls name that means “constellation”

I’m not sure there is one, but the Spanish for constellation is Constelación. I haven’t heard of it being used as a person’s name, but Constelacia might look a bit more name-like. I don’t speak Spanish, so apologies if this looks absurd to Hispanophones.

Boy name that means “many constellations”

The Japanese name Ikuto has this meaning, although I’ve only seen it used as a fictional surname.

A constellation name which means “small”

All the constellations have names which are nouns or “things”, not adjectives, so there isn’t one. A few have Minor as part of their name, to indicate they are the smaller of two eg Ursa Minor. The closest I could find was Equuleus, meaning “little horse, foal”.

Name meaning “starry sky”

In Japanese, Hoshizora means “starry sky”. It’s used as a surname in the Japanese anime Smile Pretty Cure!

Boys name that means “galaxy”

I have seen Galaxos as a character name in online games, and Galaxian would mean “of the galaxy” or “from the galaxy”.

NATURE NAMES

Boys name that means “beach”

Beach, Bay or Cove.

Names that mean “songbird”

Hebrew has both a male and female name with this meaning. Efrona for a girl (meaning “lark”), and Zalmir for a boy.

Flower name that means “peaceful”

There’s a native plant from Western Australia called the Gunniopsis pax – it’s a succulent, and it does have small flowers. There is also the Peace Lily, and the Peace Rose, and a type of guzmania (a bromeliad) called Pax. The White Poppy, the Lotus and the Daisy have all been used as symbols of peace.

Boy name meaning “otter”

In Japanese, Rakko means “sea otter”. That seemed to be the most usable word for otter in another language I could find.

POSITIVE MEANINGS

Indian boy’s name meaning “one who cannot be defeated”

It seems to be a popular meaning for boy’s names in India, for there are several. I managed to find Adityendra, Ajay, Ajeenkya, Ajeesh, Ajit, Aparajita, and Durjaya. Take your pick!

Viking name meaning “prince”

Balder is translated as meaning “lord, prince, king”, and it was used as an epithet for heroes. In Norse mythology, Balder was the son of Odin and Frigg.

Girl name that means “independence”

Liberty or Freedom.

Sanskrit girl’s name meaning “bright, happy”

Nandita.

Girl’s name that means “beautiful”

There’s a lot. A few you may not be familiar with are Mei (Chinese), Shayna (Yiddish) and Ziba (Persian).

Name that means “bewitching”

Mohana is an Indian unisex name which means “bewitching, infatuating, charming” in Sanskrit. It is used as an epithet of several gods and goddesses.

The word for “lovely” in some other language

Delightfully vague! I pick French – Jolie.

NEGATIVE MEANINGS

Baby name that means “spiteful”

I hope this is for a story and not a real baby! The German surname Sauer means “spiteful” (related to the word sour, acid), and it can be Anglicised as either of the unrelated names Sawyer or Sayer, so I guess those are possible options.

Hindi word for “proud”

Ooh there’s quite a few. Garvi, Garvit and Nidar look the most like names, to me.

DOESN’T EXIST

Name that means “daughter of a princess”

Hmm, seems a bit narcissistic as a baby name, somehow! Anyway, there’s no term for a princess’ daughter, and the daughter of a princess doesn’t necessarily have any special status – Princess Anne’s daughter Zara is just Mrs Tindall. I would choose a name that simply means “princess” or is royal-related. However, the Indonesian name Putri means both “daughter” and “princess”.

Norse name which means “female knight”

Vikings didn’t generally fight with a cavalry, and although there were some female warriors, it’s very unlikely they would have ridden horses, as this was usually reserved for leaders of a warband. It does make me think of the Valkyries, who were mythological women of the afterlife, always depicted on horseback. Valkyrie means “chooser of the slain”.

Norse name meaning “hunter”

There isn’t one. The Old Norse word for hunter is Veiðimaður, and some think this word is the basis of the English surname Waitman. This is occasionally used as a first name.

Name for a girl that means something

More specific, please!

NAMES FOR SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES

Name that means “perfect time”

I know it’s not quite right, but I keep thinking Serendipity. Also Season, because of the saying that “For everything there is a season, and a time for everything under heaven”. The Japanese girl’s name Aya means “design”, suggesting a planned pregnancy. Musical names like Rhythm or Cadence come to mind, as music must be perfectly timed. Ogechukwukama is an Igbo girl’s name meaning “God’s time is the best” – good for a surprise, but very welcome, baby.

Name that means “beating the odds”

Lucky or Chance.

Boy’s name that means “when two souls join”

I’d probably be thinking of names that mean “bliss, joy”. Anand is a Sanskrit name meaning “bliss”, while Anglo-Saxon has Wynn, meaning “joy, bliss”. The word Bliss itself can be used for both sexes. The Chinese unisex name Zheng or Zeng means “harmony, union”, which seems to describe the state of soul togetherness.

Zulu name for boys that gives hope for the future

Mduduzi is a Zulu boy’s name that means “bringer of hope”.

Boy’s name meaning “not meant to be”

Oh how sad, and what a sad meaning. I’m so sorry. I thought long and hard about this one, and it seems to me that the concept behind “meant to be” and “not meant to be” is the same, that is, some idea of Fate, Fortune or Destiny. We usually think of it as feminine (“Dame Fortune” etc), but the Ancient Egyptians had a god of fate, named Shai or Shay, meaning “that which is ordained”. I think that’s a nice name for a boy, and has the sense of the meaning you’re looking for.

(Picture shows the Milky Way above Lake Moogerah in south-east Queensland; photo from Perth Now)

Famous Name: Abel Tasman

19 Wednesday Sep 2012

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 6 Comments

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Last Wednesday, September 12, commemorated the founding of the colony of Tasmania. Although it doesn’t seem to be celebrated in Tasmania, I thought we’d look at the man who gave his name to the state. I chose this topic several months ago, but unfortunately this recent story in the news is giving Abel Tasman a somewhat controversial image at present.

I feel like a mother who has just sent out 300 cards announcing her new daughter’s name as Sahara, then opens the paper to read with horror the headline: Murder at Sahara strip club provides clue to cocaine ring: our paper investigates the seedy underworld of the Sahara, knowing that for months the name Sahara is going to be associated with some very shady dealings. This happens to the best of parents, and possibly even the best of bloggers. However, let us continue.

Abel Tasman was the first known European to reach Tasmania and New Zealand. A Dutch seafarer, he undertook his voyages as an employee of the United East India Company (VOC) – the first multinational corporation in the world, and the first to issue stock. They were based in Batavia, now known as Jakarta, in Indonesia. This company despatched Tasman on a mission to obtain knowledge of “all the totally unknown provinces of Beach”.

That was his first problem: Beach didn’t exist. It was supposedly the northernmost part of Terra Australis, and that didn’t exist either. In fact, they had misread Marco Polo’s handwriting, which said Lohach, and referred to south Thailand, which Polo had assured all and sundry was a kingdom rich with gold. Sent off to find a non-existent kingdom of gold on an imaginary continent with faulty maps based on a vital error, Abel Tasman did the best he could under the circumstances.

On December 3 1642, he formally claimed Tasmania, which he dutifully named Van Diemen’s Land, after Anthonie Van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, and Tasman’s patron (Diemen is a homophone of demon). Battling against very rough seas, he managed to reach New Zealand ten days later, which he thought was connected to Argentina (the map’s fault again). A second voyage gave him the chance to map the north coast of Australia, which he called New Holland, and make observations of the land and its people.

From the point of view of the VOC, Tasman’s voyages were a failure. He hadn’t found Beach, located tons of gold, met anyone to trade with, or discovered new shipping routes. Although the Dutch had discovered Australia in 1606, they weren’t sufficiently impressed to follow it up, and so it was free for the British to claim many years later.

Abel Tasman did manage to make it to Thailand a few years later, although I’m sure he never realised he’d arrived in “Beach” after all. The lack of gold, it’s being called Siam, the way he was only there as a courier to deliver letters to the king – all these things helped disguise the fact he had reached his dream destination after all.

Abel was the second son of Adam and Eve in the Old Testament, and described as a shepherd, while his older brother Cain was a crop farmer. Famously, Abel is the first person in the Bible to die, while his brother Cain becomes the first murderer. The Bible doesn’t provide a motive for Cain’s actions, but it is usually assumed to be jealousy, since God was pleased by Abel’s offering from his flock, while not having a high regard for Cain’s produce. This story tends to irk vegetarians, and does make God seem rather like a capricious judge on Masterchef, but there is more to the story than meets the eye.

The archetypal simplicity of this tale of brother against brother has made an enormous impact, and been dramatised in modern stories, such as John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. Something in it speaks straight to our bones – primal emotions of rage, envy and betrayal; a deep sense of the fundamental injustice of the universe; the uneasy knowledge that those closest to us are the ones most likely to hurt us, even harm us.

Scholars believe the tale represents conflict between nomadic shepherds and settled farmers in the Middle East, at a time when agriculture was beginning to take over from hunter-gathering (this probably did sometimes end in bloodshed). Sadly, the story also serves as a commentary on the violence and hatred that has existed between religions who worship the same God, as Cain and Abel did (this still ends in bloodshed).

The name Abel is derived from the Hebrew name Hevel, often translated as “breath, vapour”, with connotations of “waste”, to indicate the transient nature of Abel’s existence. However, the name may simply mean “herdsman” to indicate his role in the story; a similar word still exists in modern Arabic. Another theory is that is based on the Akkadian word for “son”, which seems more likely as a person’s name, and fits in with modern scholarship identifying the story as based on a Sumerian myth.

Back in June, I mentioned Abel as a name I had encountered on a baby during the autumn, and considered it a rare sighting. Well, I have to eat my words, because over winter I met or heard of three new babies named Abel, and have seen a few more in birth notices. Clearly it’s a name on the rise, and in the US Abel is #237, jumping 56 places last year. With Old Testament names for boys growing in popularity, Abel is a solid, underused choice, and one that connects directly to early Australian history.

Tasman is a Dutch form of the German surname Tessmann, derived from both Slavic and German. Slavonic personal names such as Techmir, meaning “consolation”, become Tess in German. The -mann part of the name usually means “servant of”. So Tasman means “servant of Techmir”. English forms include Tesmond or Tessyman.

In Australia, Abel Tasman has given his name to the state of Tasmania, and also the Tasman Sea, which is the stretch of ocean between the east coast of Australia and the west coast of New Zealand (affectionately known as “The Ditch“). The Maori name for it is Te Tai-o-Rehua, which means “the sea of Antares”, the star Antares being associated with the height of summer, and considered a god of kindness and enjoyment. Many more places bear Abel Tasman’s name in New Zealand.

The name Tasman has a long history of use in Australia, and is most common in the state of Tasmania, which naturally feels a strong connection to it. It is turning up regularly in birth notices at the moment, and may be receiving more attention because there is currently a TV advertisement for Uncle Toby’s instant oats, with the little blond boy in the commercial being named Tasman.

This makes a fantastic name for a family which has one side from Australia and the other from New Zealand, with a baby Tasman joining both sides. The name is considered masculine in Australia, but feminised forms such as Tasmyn are thought suitable for girls. Usual nicknames are Tas, Taz or Tazzy.
UPDATE: I’ve just been informed that the reason the name Abel is skyrocketing is because of the TV show, Sons of Anarchy, where someone has a baby named Abel – thank you Twitter.

UPDATE: Thank you to blog reader Madelyn, who tells me that American actress Amy Poehler has a son named Abel.

(The picture shows a view of the Tasman Sea from Tasman National Park in southern Tasmania, on the other side of the bay where Abel Tasman claimed Tasmania; photo from There’s Nothing Like Australia)

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Famous Name: Abel Tasman