Tag Archives: name history

Less Commonly Used Girls Names

03 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by in Name Themes and Lists

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

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

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

Adeline

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

Allegra

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

Bonnie

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

Cleopatra

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

Elif

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

Harlow

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

Pixie

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

Sippie

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

Torah

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

Zahlia

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

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

Famous Name: Winton

30 Wednesday May 2012

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The small town of Winton in outback Queensland has played a pivotal role in Australian literature and the development of an Australian legend, for it was at a cattle station named Dagworth Homestead, just to the north of the town, that A.B. “Banjo” Paterson wrote Waltzing Matilda, and it was set to music (based on a traditional tune) by Christina Macpherson in 1895.

Indeed, the very plot of the song is said to have been inspired by events which took place at Dagworth Homestead during the Great Shearer’s Strike of 1891, when three policemen gave chase to a swagman named Samuel Hoffmeister, who shot and killed himself at the waterhole rather than allow himself to be arrested. It is thought that Christina and her brother Bob told Banjo Paterson the story during his stay at the station.

The folklore of the song and its creation is the pride of Winton, which has its own museum, the Waltzing Matilda Centre. Waltzing Matilda received its first public performance in Winton’s North Gregory Hotel, on April 6 1895, and this year, the town of Winton held its inaugural Waltzing Matilda Day on April 6, to honour and celebrate our national song.

In fact, the town’s mayor, Ed Warren, has asked that Waltzing Matilda Day be declared a public holiday. A worthy notion, but even someone as keen on holidays as me cannot help noticing we already have Easter and Anzac Day that month, so April seems a little full up.

The town of Winton was named by postmaster Robert Allen, supposedly after his birthplace in England, a suburb of the seaside town of Bournemouth in Dorset. The suburb is named after Winton Castle in Scotland, home to the Earl of Winton, a relative of local Dorset family, the Talbots. Winton Castle is near Edinburgh, and was originally owned by one of the oldest families in Scotland, the Setons; it was built in 1480 on lands the family had acquired in 1150. It is now an award-winning hotel and conference centre.

However, as it turns out, Robert Allen was actually born in Winchester in Hampshire, which was also known as Winton. This lovely cathedral town’s name is a mixture of British-Roman and Anglo-Saxon, and means “market town”.

The surname Winton is famous in Australia as belonging to Western Australian novelist Tim Winton. He has won a swag of literary prizes, including the NBC Banjo Award for Cloudstreet. He has been named a Living Treasure by the National Trust, and awarded the Centenary Medal for services to literature and the community.

While writers who have found literary acclaim aren’t always popular with the ordinary reading public, nearly everyone I know who reads at all lists Tim Winton as one of their favourite authors. He manages to combine wonderful storytelling with a uniquely spare prose style

As well as writing and winning awards, Tim also finds time to support the environmental movement. As a patron of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, he has raised awareness about sustainable seafood consumption and campaigned against shark finning; he is also patron of Stop the Toad Foundation and has contributed to The Last Whale website. He has been prominent in the campaigns to save Moreton Bay and Ningaloo Reef.

Mr Winton writes novels for grown ups, and also children’s books, most notably the Lockie Leonard stories, about young surf rat Lockie who moves from the city to the coastal south-west of Western Australia (probably not coincidentally, this is exactly what Tim Winton did when he was twelve). The TV series based on the books is filmed in Albany, where Tim grew up, and has also won a stack of well-deserved awards.

The English surname Winton can come from Winton in Lancashire, whose name means “willow wood farm” – a place where willow trees were farmed for their extremely useful wood. Winton in Westmoreland, however, means “Wina’s pasture”. The name Wina meant “friend” in Old English. It is from this personal name that Winton Castle in Scotland is also named, which seems to have brought us full circle.

I saw the name Winton on a baby boy who competed in the Bonds Baby Search. It’s very similar to the aristocratic Winston, yet with its own connections to the world of Australian literature, the Australian coast and the Australian outback. It seems like an unusual yet stylish choice.

(Photo above shows the statue of the Jolly Swagman in Winton, sculpted by Daphne Mayo)

Famous Name: Lockyer

23 Wednesday May 2012

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Tonight is the first game in the best-of-three State of Origin Series for the National Rugby League, which pits traditional rival states, Queensland (the Maroons) and New South Wales (the Blues), against each other. Mention of the series tends to make people from New South Wales a little prickly and defensive, for they are all too conscious that for the past six years, they have been bested by a superior Queensland side.

Some may be hoping desperately for a reprieve this year, because Queensland’s former captain, Darren Lockyer, retired at the end of the 2011 season. Generally acknowledged as the greatest rugby league player in history, he has set the record for most number of games played during his seventeen season career, and his list of achievements rolls on and on like the credits at the end of a movie, including a slab of stats that reduces everyone to a sort of silent awe.

Amongst his many well deserved honours include being named in the Queensland Team of the Century, a 2 metre tall bronze statue of his likeness at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, and part of the Warrego Highway being re-named Darren Lockyer Way.

As well as his feats of athleticism and natural talent, his inner strength and personal courage, he was also a model of good sportsmanship, a consummate professional, a successful leader, and a gentleman of the game. He is a champion, a king, and a legend of rugby league, who has left behind a legacy of which to be proud.

Lockyer is an English surname which can either refer to someone who was a locksmith by trade, or who was a lock-keeper on a river or canal (or possibly even someone who lived near a lock on a river or canal). It’s pronounced very much as it looks: LOCK-yehr.

According to Ancestry.com, it is a name originating in Dorset, and if you check the British census records, there do seem to be many Lockyer families in the West Country of England compared to the rest of the nation. Although Lockyer is a fairly common name in England and Australia, it appears to be quite rare in the United States.

Apart from Darren Lockyer, the name is well known in Queensland, because the Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmland in the Brisbane region. It is named after Edmund Lockyer, who came to Australia in the early 19th century as captain of the 57th regiment (he was from Devon, so the West Country heritage theory is holding firm). One of his first tasks was to explore the Brisbane River area, which is why the valley bears his name.

I thought of adding the name Lockyer because I have already seen reports of parents choosing it for a baby name, and seen it on babies in birth announcements and baby contests. One man commented in a sports news forum that his neighbours had named their son Lockyer in honour of Darren Lockyer; his response was Why Lockyer for chrissake? What’s wrong with calling him Darren?

It’s pretty obvious – Darren is currently out of favour, in the low 400s and falling. Meanwhile, the enormous popularity of Lachlan has made similar-sounding names very usable. Australian babies named Loki, Loic and Link, although unusual, do not seem strange or out of place here.

Lockyer fits in perfectly with this trend, and seems like a name that would go down very well in Queensland, or anywhere which appreciates the greats of National Rugby League. The nickname Locky, shared with Darren Lockyer himself, almost makes it seem like a variant of Lachlan, which has the nicknames Lachie and Lockie.

Can You Suggest an Australian-Themed Name for the Third Triplet?

18 Friday May 2012

Posted by in Naming Assistance

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Gabbi is an ex-pat Aussie originally from Perth, in Western Australia; she lives in the United States with her husband and six children. The family will be welcoming children 7, 8 and 9 in a few months, because they are expecting fraternal triplets – two boys and a girl.

Now if Gabbi had been having boy-girl twins, there would be no naming problem, because they have already chosen gorgeous names for the girl and one boy baby: Clover and Jasper.

The names fit together perfectly, because both reference the number three (Jasper was one of the three wise men, and clovers usually have three leaves), and both are associated with luck or gifts. They both bring to mind particular colours as well, because jasper stones are red, and clover is of course green; furthermore, they are both connected to special days of the year (Epiphany on January 6, and St Patrick’s Day on March 17).

Gabbi is now very concerned that the third triplet receives a name which has a special meaning of its own: even if it doesn’t fit in exactly with Clover and Jasper, it needs to be meaningful and have its own significance, rather than just being an afterthought. She would love it if the third triplet receive a name which is connected to Australian culture and celebrates Gabbi’s heritage, without being anything too obvious, like Sydney or Jack.

Other name preferences

  • Nothing too popular – one of Gabbi’s sons has a name which became very popular, and she doesn’t want that to happen again. (Gabbi actually stipulated that the name had to be outside the 300s, but I thought that was too strict, especially considering Jasper is in the 200s, so I restricted myself to names outside the Top 250).
  • Nothing too unusual that will really stick out in America – no Bluegum or Gallipoli
  • Nothing too obviously political, he’s not a bumper sticker
  • The family has a long, complicated surname, so the name needs to be simple to spell and pronounce

Names that have already been considered and rejected

  • Alister (dislikes nn Al)
  • Archer (too trendy, dislikes nn Archie)
  • Asher (too popular)
  • Finn (too popular)
  • Flynn (too connected to its namesake, Erroll Flynn)
  • Jonah (too popular)
  • Micah (too popular)
  • Miller (loves the name, but not the beer connection in the US)
  • Sawyer (too popular, too often used as a girl’s name)
  • Sayer (worries it looks “made up”)
  • Zephyr (Gabbi’s husband has vetoed as “too weird”)

The other children in the family tend to have names which are fairly popular in Australia, but underused in the United States. They are quite “cute” sounding, and even if unisex, used far more by one gender than the other.

Although Gabbi is interested to see what names I come up with, she would also love blog-readers to contribute any thoughts or ideas they have.

MY SUGGESTIONS

Felix

I think this goes with Jasper and Clover rather nicely, and is by far my top choice for Triplet Number Three. Felix means “lucky”, and Australia Felix is the name given to lush pastureland; there’s also a Great Australian Novel called Australia Felix, by Henry Handel Richardson (like George Eliot, Henry was a woman). It also reminds me of Felix the Cat, which was an Australian-American creation, and in LA, Felix the Cat is used on a three-sided sign. Although Top 100 in Australia, Felix is only #311 in the US.

Phoenix

A similar sound to Felix, but it references the colour red, which fits with Jasper. In China, the phoenix is a symbol of luck, and has great significance in terms of immortality and resurrection. The Phoenix is one of the constellations of the Southern Hemisphere, and is most visible around Christmas time – I thought this fitted in rather nicely with Jasper’s Christmassy meaning. Although quite popular in Australia, it is only #388 in the United States. However, you may be bothered by the fact that it also charts for girls in America, and possibly Phoenix the city in Arizona is also an issue for you.

Orion

This is another constellation name, one which references the number 3, because Orion is famous for having three stars in his belt, and even the absolute beginner (or a small child) can locate them easily in the night sky. Like the Phoenix, Orion is another constellation which is most visible around Christmas time. The RAAF have a plane called the Orion, while in the USA, it is the name of a ship, and a rocket. Orion seemed like a name from Greek mythology which might be less “weird” than Zephyr. It is #471 in the US.

Finlay

This seemed like an obvious alternative to Flynn and Finn, with a similar sound and origin, yet not even on the Top 1000 in the US. Because Finlay is connected to the colour white, it also seems a nice match with Jasper and Clover. There’s a rather nice connection to Gabbi’s home state as well, because Garfield Finlay was a World War I flying ace who lived in Perth, Western Australia, before the war.

Rafael

Names starting with Raf- are very much on trend in Australia, yet not over-used in the United States. This is the Spanish form of Raphael, the name of a healing archangel, and seems just as special as Jasper and Clover to me. An Australian connection is that Raphael Aimbari was an Ori man who helped Australian soldiers on the Kokoda Campaign during World War II; there is a statue of him in Brisbane. I think Rafe makes a very dashing nickname. Rafael is #274 in the US, but has been stable for some time and isn’t climbing up the way Jasper is. Raphael is #668, but seems harder to spell than Rafael.

Lawson

There are said to be three great Australian poets – Banjo Paterson, C.J. Dennis, and Henry Lawson. Banjo seems too out-there for you, and Dennis is a bit old-fashioned, but Lawson seems like a nice Australian replacement for Sawyer (both surnames, similar vowel-sounds). The surname means “son of Laurence”, and the name Laurence is connected by meaning to the bay tree, a symbol of success. It’s a subtle nature-themed name which again makes me think of a colour. It’s #580 in the US.

Shepherd

Another surname; this one reminds me of the conservation organisation, Sea Shepherd, which operates in Australia and the US. Interestingly, Sea Shepherd has three ships in its main fleet. It is a subtle environmental name, reminding us that we are all guardians of life on earth. At the same time, it’s another “Christmas-themed” name to go with Jasper. This name hasn’t been on the US Top 1000 since the 19th century.

Franklin

Another environmental namesake, because the successful fight against the proposal to dam the Franklin River in the Tasmanian wilderness was a landmark in Australian environmental activism. Aptly, the surname Franklin means “free man”, and the call of the activists was to let the Franklin River run free. This has a wonderful American connection too, because of Benjamin Franklin. It also reminds me of the word frankincense, as brought by the Three Wise Men. The name is #504 in the US, but I somehow feel the nickname Frank isn’t going to appeal to you.

Ash

This is another nature name which references a colour, and seems like a replacement for Asher. In Australia, it reminds me of the Ash Wednesday bushfires, which like the Phoenix, became another symbol of resurrection, of rising from the ashes. It also reminds me of the mountain ash, the tallest of all eucalypt trees, and one of the tallest trees in the world. Ash isn’t on the US Top 1000, but may be too unisex for you. You might consider it for a middle name though.

Talon

This is another nature name which is on trend in Australia, but underused in the United States. The main reason it occurred to me is because an eagle’s claw has three talons which are used to hold prey (the fourth is used for balance). The Wedgetail Eagle is very important in Aboriginal mythology, as Bunjil the Wedgetail Eagle is a creator deity. Of course, the Bald Eagle is the national bird of the United States, making it an important symbol for both countries. Talon is #516 in the US.

Which of these names do you think is the best match with Jasper and Clover? Or maybe you have your own suggestion for Jasper and Clover’s brother. If so, let’s hear it! All ideas are welcome.

NOTE: The triplets’ names are Clover, Jasper and Ash!

Famous Name: Evelyn

16 Wednesday May 2012

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April 15 this year marked one hundred years since the sinking of the RMS Titanic. There were many exhibitions to mark the event, and James Cameron re-released his romantic film Titanic in 3-D form. As I read the many newspaper articles about  the centenary, and watched ceremonies being performed in various countries on television, I wondered whether there were any Australians aboard the ill-fated Titanic, and if so, had any of them survived?

It turned out that there were six Australians who travelled on the Titanic – four crew members, and two passengers. Crew members Donald Campbell, Alfred Nicols and Leonard White were drowned and their bodies never found, while second-class passenger Arthur McCrae also drowned, but his body was recovered and buried in Halifax, Canada. That left two survivors: third-class passenger Charles Dahl, and crew member Evelyn Marsden.

Although Charles had spent thirty years in Australia, he was born in Norway and was actually in the process of making his way back to his home country when he travelled on the Titanic (he eventually made it home and died in Norway many years later). This leaves Evelyn Marsden as the only female Australian survivor, the only surviving Australian crew member, and the only Australian-born survivor. That made me decide to choose Evelyn as my Famous Name to mark the centenary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

Evelyn was from country South Australia, and the daughter of a railway worker. As a young girl, she learned to row a boat on the Murray River while staying on a farm, and later trained as a nurse at Adelaide Hospital. She had previously worked on board the Titanic‘s sister-ship, the Olympic, and signed on to work as a stewardess on the Titanic on April 6 1912, aged 28. She also assisted as a nurse for the first class passengers.

During the sinking, Evelyn escaped on board Boat 16, which held about forty people. They were in the life boat all night, from about half past one in the morning until around seven in the morning, when they were picked up by the Carpathia. Evelyn’s rowing skills became necessary, because she helped row the boat, and also took care of a baby.

Shortly after the disaster, she married a doctor named Abel James who had also worked on board ocean liners, and they went to live in South Australia. Evelyn made a point of returning to the farm, and thanked them for teaching her to row. Evelyn and her husband ended up living in Bondi, Sydney, and when they both passed away in the late 1930s, they were buried in Waverley Cemetery. Their grave was unmarked until 2000.

Evelyn is an English surname derived from the female name Aveline. Aveline is the Norman French form of Germanic Avelina, a pet form of Avila. It’s not certain what Avila meant, but it’s generally thought (perhaps hopefully) that it meant “desired”, as in a child that was long hoped for. The name is possibly related to Ava.

Other theories I have heard are that the surname is derived from aveline, the Old French word for “hazelnut” (the word comes from the Italian city of Avella), or after a place in Shropshire, which the Normans are supposed to have named after a village in France, Ivelyn. In early records, the surname is found as both Ivelyn and Avelyn.

Evelyn was first given to boys in the 17th century, since Aveline was no longer in use as a woman’s name. In the 19th century it began to be bestowed on girls as well, quite possibly because Fanny Burney’s novel Evelina reminded everyone that the name had a possible feminine origin (Evelina is the Latinate form of Aveline). If you are a fan of the theory that the surname is after the hazelnut, then you may see the male name Evelyn and the female name Evelyn as having quite separate origins.

The most famous person with the surname Evelyn is probably 17th century English writer John Evelyn, best known for his diaries. He wrote on many other subjects as well, including gardening, and the Evelyn rose is named after him – a beautiful old-fashioned rose with clusters of large pinky-apricot blooms. There is currently a campaign to restore Evelyn’s own garden at Sayes Court, in east London.

Nearly everyone has heard of the male English novelist Evelyn Waugh (whose wife was famously also called Evelyn), and a famous Australian man named Evelyn is Evelyn Owen from Wollongong, who invented the Owen gun. Mr Owen was apparently known by the nickname Evo. A famous Australian woman named Evelyn was Evelyn Tazewell, a champion hockey player in South Australia for many decades. Miss Tazewell went by the nickname Taz.

Evelyn is a classic name which has never been out of the charts. It was Top 100 in the 1900s, and stayed there until the 1950s. It reached its lowest point in the 1980s, at #435, then began climbing again. Last year it joined the Top 100 for the first time since the 1940s, coming in at #67 (an impressive leap). It has never charted as a male name since Federation.

The pronunciation of Evelyn is up for discussion, because it can be said EEV-lin, EEV-uh-lin, EV-lin or EV-uh-lin. I have heard theories that EEV is the British way and EV the American way, but plenty of people in both places say it the other way around. Another theory is that EEV is the masculine pronunciation, and the girl’s name should be said with an EV. This advice sounds plausible to me, but surely rather outdated given that Evelyn hasn’t been a serious contender as a boy’s name for over 120 years?

Most people in Australia go with the EV-uh-lin pronunciation, although EV-lin gets used as well, because it’s a more “Irish” way of saying it (apparently). I must be very odd, because I naturally say EEV-uh-lin, as if the name was related to the name Eve. I don’t recommend following my (no doubt wrong) example, except that it does lead rather neatly into the popular nickname Evie. You could use Evvie for the other pronunciation, although to me that sounds as if you are saying heavy in a Cockney accent.

Classic Evelyn is very much back in fashion, and looks certain to soar. She fits right in with Ava, Eva, Eve, Evie, Eden, Eloise, Madeleine, Madison and Addison, yet has an elegant air all her own.

Waltzing With … Chrysanthe

13 Sunday May 2012

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This blog post was first published on May 13 2012, and revised and re-posted on March 23 2015

Today is Mother’s Day, which is a special day for anyone who is a mother, or has ever had a mother or mother figure to care for them – hopefully that’s all of us.

Celebrations of motherhood are not a new idea; the ancient Greeks and Romans had festivals in honour of the mother goddess Cybele, and the Christian Church commemorates Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday in Lent. Although the mother being honoured on this day is the Virgin Mary, traditionally it was a day for people to spend with their own mum, and bring her flowers and cake.

The Mother’s Day we celebrate in May was started in the United States, and came out of the women’s peace movement. In 1868, Ann Jarvis tried to promote a pacifist Mother’s Day, and when she died in 1904, her vision was still just a dream. Ann’s daughter Anna Jarvis was determined to continue her mother’s campaign, and by 1914, US Congress had passed a law proclaiming the second Sunday in May would be called Mother’s Day.

Unfortunately for Anna and all her hard work, she soon became horrified by the commercialisation of Mother’s Day; greeting cards and boxes of chocolates were not at all what she had had in mind. For the rest of her life, she protested against it, and in the process was arrested for disturbing the peace. Anna spent all her savings trying to stop what she had accomplished, and died in poverty in 1948.

The tradition of giving gifts on Mother’s Day was begun in Australia by a Sydney woman named Janet Heyden. In 1924, Mrs Heyden made a visit to someone in a state women’s home, and was saddened to find so many neglected mothers. To cheer them up, she organised schoolchildren to help bring them gifts donated by local businesses.

Janet was also disappointed by the commercialism of her idea, but sensible enough to realise that more good than harm would come of it. She continued visiting lonely mothers and cheering their days until she died in 1960.

Name Information
The traditional flower to give your mum for Mother’s Day in Australia is the chrysanthemum, because it is an autumn flower, suitable for the season, and ends in mum. The flowers originate in China, where they symbolise cleansing and health, and when they were introduced to Europe, they were named chrysanthemums, meaning “golden flower” in Greek. The Ancient Greeks also had this flower name, but they used it to refer to the daisy-like weed we call the corn marigold, which has been brought to Australia and grows wild here too.

Chrysanthos or Chrysanthus is an Ancient Greek name meaning “golden flower”. Saint Chrysanthus was an early Christian martyr, the husband of the supposed Vestal Virgin named Daria who converted to Christianity. That part of the legend can’t be true, but nonetheless Chrysanthus and Daria were very popular saints, and the name was well known. There was a Roman governor in Britain in the 4th century named Chrysanthus, and Chrysanthos has been used in modern Greece.

Chrysanthe is the feminine form of Chrysanthus, and can also be spelled Chrysanthi (the more obviously Greek spelling). The name is pronounced kri-ZAN-thee. Chrysanthe is also the French form of Chrysanthus, so has been used as a male name in French-speaking countries, including French Canada.

Chrysanthe is a rare name, and has mostly been used in Greece, and by those of Greek heritage. It doesn’t show up in the data in either the US or the UK. However I have seen it used in Australia, and not only on people from a Greek background. A famous contemporary namesake is American/Australian composer and violinist Chrysanthe Tan, who is of Greek heritage, and may be giving the name some publicity.

There’s something a little extravagant about Chrysanthe – it’s gilded, artistic and showy. Yet it doesn’t sound much different to the more familiar Christina, Anthea, and Xanthe. It is tied by sound and meaning to the chrysanthemum flower, which makes it an ideal name for a daughter born on, or near, Mother’s Day.The traditional nickname is Chryssa, but you could also use Chrys, Chryssie, Thea, or Zan.

POLL RESULT
Chrysanthe received an approval rating of 65%. Opinions on the name were fairly evenly divided – 25% of people thought it was an okay name, while 18% of people hated it.

Famous Names: Blake

09 Wednesday May 2012

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Comedian Hamish Blake has cropped up several times on the blog. His name was included in the post Boys Names That Only Chart in Australia, and we also took a look at how successful his name is. He’s had a dream run in the not-usually-lucrative field of comedy ever since he dropped out of a double degree in Science and Commerce to buddy up with Andy Lee as a comedic duo. Together they have had a ratings winning drivetime radio show filled with prank calls and the like, and several successful TV shows, most recently, Hamish and Andy’s Gap Year. Eventually it all paid off for at least one of them when Hamish won the Gold Logie for being the Most Popular Personality on Australian Television at this year’s Logie Awards.

Blake is an English surname which has two different origins of opposing meanings. Both of them began as nicknames. One is the Old English blæc, meaning “black”, referring to someone with black hair or a dark complexion. The other is from blāc, meaning “pale”, referring to someone with very blond hair or a fair complexion. One theory is that the two nicknames were ethnically based, with the first denoting the dark Celts, and the second denoting the fairer Jutes, who were from Jutland (today it’s Denmark, and the bits of Germany that join on to Denmark).

Although you’ve no doubt twigged that blæc became our English word black, it may not have immediately occurred to you that blāc is related to our English word bleak. Late in the Middle Ages, the two words were merged into blake, moving us closer toward the modern word black, but somehow immersing in it a word meaning the opposite. However, if you consider black and bleak together, they don’t seem quite so contradictory.

The Blakes are an Irish aristocratic family, dating back to the Norman Conquest of Ireland, so you could see the first name Blake as derived from this aristocratic surname. However, those of a literary bent are more likely to see it as honouring William Blake, the visionary English poet and painter who was a seminal influence on the Romantics. If you are something of a sci-fi fan, the name may remind you of Roj Blake, from the popular 1970s and ’80s TV series, Blake’s 7.

Blake reminds me of the much-loved illustrator Quentin Blake, as I was raised reading Roald Dahl‘s books, with the enchanting Mr Blake’s humorous drawings, which convey life and movement so effortlessly. My childish desire was to look as cheerfully plain and lank as the children that Quentin Blake drew; however to my disgust, my parents insisted on lots of fresh air, exercise and home grown produce, so that I remained obstinately tanned, rosy-cheeked and sturdy. Luckily I didn’t know enough about genetics to realise it was also their fault I wasn’t plain!

Another Blake from the era of the 1980s was Blake Carrington from American soap opera, Dynasty. This ruthlessly wealthy oil tycoon, whose life revolved around kidnappings, comas and the search for Nazi gold, seems to have given the name a rather “preppy” image in the United States. We don’t have the word preppy here, but as far as I can work out, it means “offensively middle-class”. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable can enlighten me on this one? I suspect that here its image is a bit more relaxed (although rebel Blake Dean from Home and Away managed to have a rather tortured time in Summer Bay, even without any Nazi gold).

Blake is often listed as a unisex name on international sites, although it is Top 100 for boys, and the only female Blake ever mentioned is actress Blake Lively from Gossip Girl. There is nothing especially boyish about the meaning of the name Blake, but its consonant-vowel-K sound has the same pattern as names such as Jack, Luke and Jake, giving it a masculine intonation (although it is a bit like Brooke, too). Although I could accept it as unisex, it’s seen as a male name in Australia, and you may get some resistance to using it for a girl. The similarity between Blake and the word bloke could well be keeping it in the boy’s club.

Blake first entered the charts in the 1950s, and took off in the 1970s (hmm, Blake’s 7, anyone?), so that it was Top 100 by the 1980s. It reached its peak in the 1990s, just outside the Top 20. Since then, it has fallen in popularity, although it is still in the Top 50 (and more popular in Australia than anywhere else in the world). Perhaps surprisingly, Hamish Blake doesn’t seem to have helped the popularity of the name, even though the name Hamish is doing pretty well for itself in the charts.

Although statistically Blake has passed its prime, to many it fits into that handy category of Popular But Not Too Popular Names, and has many namesakes from popular culture which have garnered it affection. It’s a nice, short, simple name which sounds sporty, surfer and skater, but still has some room for art and poetry. I tend to think its real strength is as a middle name, however.

Popular Names for Boys

06 Sunday May 2012

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Follows on from Popular Names for Girls.

William

William is a solidly classic name which has never left the Top 50. It was the #1 name of the 1900s, and gradually decreased in popularity, hitting its lowest point during the 1970s, at #48. However, its fortunes were soon to recover, because in 1982, heir to the British throne Prince Philip, and his then wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, welcomed their first child and eldest son, William Arthur Philip Louis. Prince William was named after his father’s cousin and personal hero, Prince William of Gloucester, who died in an air crash ten years earlier. Prince William made his first visit to Australia as a baby, and this was an immediate help to the name’s popularity. By the time Prince William began university in 2001, the name was already in the NSW Top 10. It reached #1 in 2009, the year after Catherine Middleton began accompanying Prince William to official functions, and there it has remained. In 2011, Prince William made a much-appreciated visit to flood-affected areas of Australia, and shortly afterwards treated the world to a slap-up royal wedding. It’s likely this princely name will remain at the top for at least another year.

Jack

Jack is a classic name which has never left the charts. Top 100 during the 1900s-30s, it sunk to its lowest point in the 1970s, at #269. However, so rapid was its growth that it joined the Top 100 again during the 1980s – the same decade that pop singer John Farnham released his Whispering Jack album. Whispering Jack went to #1, and is the highest-selling album ever in Australia, having gone platinum 24 times over. By the 1990s, Jack was already Top 10, a decade when Leonardo di Caprio played water-logged lover Jack Dawson in the romantic movie Titanic, and teen heartthrob Daniel Amalam played bad boy Jack Wilson in soapie Home and Away. By the start of the 2000s, Jack was #2. It made #1 by 2004, the year that the TV show LOST began, with its hero Dr. Jack Shephard, and the year after Johnny Depp played Captain Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film. Jack remained in first place until 2008, the year that AC/DC released their single Big Jack. Jack the Lad may have had his day, but won’t be going anywhere fast, and is still the #1 name in some states.

Ethan

Ethan is a name from Hebrew which means “solid, enduring”. In the Old Testament, Ethan is said to have been a very wise man who wrote Psalm 89. Ethan first entered the charts in the 1970s, and took off during the 1980s, as film-maker Ethan Coen began his career, working in tandem with his brother Joel. At the end of the 1980s, actor Ethan Hawke got his big break in Dead Poets’ Society. By the 1990s, Ethan was a Top 100 name, and it was in this decade that Tom Cruise first played Ethan Hunt, the hero of the Mission Impossible films, Ethan Philips joined the cast of TV show Star Trek, and Ethan Rayne was introduced as a character on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was also during the 1990s that surfing champ Wendy Botha welcomed a son named Ethan. In 2006, Ethan joined the Top 10 – the year after the Ethan Group, an Australian IT company, won the BRW Fast 100. Singer Dannii Minogue, Kylie’s sister, welcomed a son named Ethan in 2010, and that probably won’t hurt the chances of this strong yet gentle-sounding name going higher still.

Oliver

Oliver is the English form of French name Olivier, but it’s unclear whether it’s the Norman form of Germanic Alfher, meaning “elf warrior”, or Old Norse Aleifr, meaning “ancestor’s descendant” (related to Olaf). The spelling was altered to make it seem as if the name came from the Latin oliva, meaning “olive tree”. A classic which has never left the charts, Oliver was Top 100 in the 1900s, but then sank into rare use. It recovered during the 1970s, the decade after the release of Oliver!, the musical based on Dickens’ novel, Oliver Twist. In this decade, actress Goldie Hawn welcomed a son named Oliver. The name gained ground during the 1980s, and was Top 100 during the 1990s. Late in the ’90s, the first Harry Potter book was published, featuring Harry’s Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood. In the 2000s, the books were turned into films, with Oliver Phelps playing the role of George Weasley. By 2006, the debut of TV show Hannah Montana, where Oliver Oken is the best guy-friend of the heroine, it was Top 20, and by 2008 it was Top 10. By 2010 it was Top 5; Oliver may go higher if you want some more.

Lucas

Lucas is the Latin form of Greek Loukas, on which English Luke is based. Lucas first entered the charts in the 1950s. There was noticeable growth during the 1970s, the decade that George Lucas made the first Star Wars movie, and then it remained stable for several decades in the very low 100s. However, in the 2000s it made the Top 100, and at this point it fairly raced up the charts. A possible help to the name was the television drama series, One Tree Hill, in which Chad Michael Murray plays the main protagonist, Lucas Scott. This brooding, blue-eyed, sporty yet bookish hero proved something of a hit with the female demographic. Meanwhile, Lucas Holden on Australian soap Home and Away was also a literary teenager, who ended up having a controversially steamy scene with his onscreen girlfriend. By 2006, the year that soccer star Lucas Neill played for Australia in the World Cup, it was in the Top 50. By 2007 it was Top 20, and by 2010 it was Top 10. The 2000s were kind to Lucas, and at this point, lucky Lucas seems almost certain to go to #1.

Noah

Noah is derived from the Hebrew name Noach, meaning “rest, comfort”. Noah is well known from the Old Testament story, where he builds an ark which saves his family and the animals of all species to survive the Great Flood, sent by God as a one-off punishment to wicked humanity. The name Noah entered the charts in the 1980s, the decade when Noah Hathaway gave an award-winning performance as boy-warrior Atreyu, in the fantasy film, The Neverending Story. Also in the 1980s, Australian actor Noah Taylor made his film debut as the main character in the critically acclaimed The Year My Voice Broke. Noah climbed steadily, then suddenly shot up during the 1990s, the decade that Boris Becker welcomed a son named Noah, so that it was in the Top 50 by the 2000s. Noah joined the Top 20 in 20005, the year after Ryan Gosling played the young version of Noah Calhoun, the devoted lover from romantic film, The Notebook. In 2006, Noah was in the Top 10. However, Noah has remained reasonably stable, with no signs of moving significantly up or down, and we must wait to see whether it sinks or swims.

Lachlan

Lachlan is a Scottish name which began as a nickname for someone from Norway. In Scotland, Norway was known as the “the land of the lochs”, or Lochlann. Lachlan Macquarie was born in the Hebrides, and became Governor of New South Wales in 1809. To the British government of the time, Australia was a penal colony for offloading the dregs of their society; convicts must be treated cruelly, former convicts exploited, and little money spent. The government fretted as Macquarie pardoned convicts, employed freed convicts in important positions, put up beautiful Georgian buildings, and spent lavishly on public works. Eventually the British booted him, but for giving us a future and sticking up for us, he is considered the father of our nation. Lachlan has been almost continuously in the charts, only dropping out in the 1930s, but was in rare use until it began rising in the 1960s. In 1971, media magnate Rupert Murdoch chose this name for his eldest son, and the name rose significantly. It was Top 100 by the 1980s, Top 20 by the 1990s, and Top 5 by the early 2000s. The position of this patriotic favourite has been stable for more than a decade.

Cooper

Cooper is an English surname which means “barrel-maker”. One of the most famous rivers in Australia is Cooper Creek, where doomed explorers Burke and Wills met their end, and Australian racing car driver Jack Brabham drove for the Cooper Car Company. Cooper first entered the charts in the 1980s, and made good ground during the 1990s, a decade when Bill Murray and Hugh Hefner both welcomed sons named Cooper. By the 2001, the name was in the Top 50, and then it soared. It got some serious sporting muscle as Quade Cooper joined the national men’s rugby union team, the Wallabies, and Cooper Cronk joined the national rugby league team. Cronk was also part of the Melbourne Storm team which won five Premierships or Minor Premierships within four years. Originally from Brisbane, he plays for the Queensland state side, which insists on winning the State of Origin series every year. Handsome, athletic and an extremely talented player, Mr Cronk seems like a big part of the reason the name Cooper is #1 in Queensland. Cooper made the Top 10 in 2007, and the Top 5 the following year, but now seems to be falling without reaching the top spot.

Thomas

Thomas is from an Aramaic word meaning “twin”, and in the New Testament, Saint Thomas was one of the Twelve Apostles. Thomas was his nickname; his real name was Judas. Presumably he was the twin of someone in the Biblical stories, or just a lookalike or kindred soul, but frustratingly, the Bible neglects to explain whose “twin” he was. People who like logical explanations for things often cite Thomas as their favourite Apostle, because when he heard that Jesus had been resurrected, he refused to believe it until he could see and touch Jesus for himself – hence the phrase, Doubting Thomas for a sceptical person. Thomas is a classic which has never left the Top 100. In the Top 5 of the 1900s, it gradually declined, and reached its lowest point in the 1970s, at #68. It climbed smoothly through the 1980s, the decade that saw Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks become stars. By the 1990s, it was in the Top 5, and maintained position in the 2000s as Tom Felton played Draco in the Harry Potter films, making many a teen girl switch to Team Slytherin. However, it may be very gradually going down now.

James

James is the Latinised form of Jacob, and must be one of the most successful names from the New Testament. The name of two of the apostles, this doubly saintly name is also a royal one in Britain, where there have been seven Scottish kings called James. The King James Version of the Bible was commissioned by King James I of England (James VI of Scotland), giving it yet another tie to this sacred book. In Australia, the most famous James is Captain James Cook, the explorer who discovered our continent. A classic which has never left the Top 20, James reached its lowest point in the 1960s and ’70s at #19. Recovery was so swift that it was Top 10 in the 1980s, and Top 5 in the 1990s. Since the 1970s, there have been many Jameses in the public eye, real and fictional. Actors James Woods, James Spader, James Marsters, and James Phelps; singers James Blundell, James Morrison and James Blunt (not to mention the band James); Captain James Kirk from Star Trek; and the inimitable James Bond. James is the name of Harry Potter’s father – his mum’s name Lily is also Top 10. Cool James is falling again, at glacial speed.

(Picture shows Prince William as a baby with his parents, Prince Philip and Diana, Princess of Wales; image from Royal Wedding)

Famous Name: Molly

02 Wednesday May 2012

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Early in his career, music guru Ian Meldrum was dubbed “Molly” by a DJ who enjoyed giving men female nicknames. Oddly enough, Ian comes from the Mallee district of country Victoria, and his nickname at school had been Malleeroot (a malleeroot is the underground trunk of a mallee tree). He seems to have found the nickname familiar enough to keep, or been too good-natured to reject it.

Shortly before Christmas last year, Australia was shocked to learn that Molly Meldrum had fallen from a ladder while putting up decorations, and been found unconscious. He was taken to Alfred Hospital, where his life hung in the balance. He lay in an induced coma with serious head injuries, a broken shoulder, broken ribs, a punctured lung, and cracked vertebrae.

While Molly lay unconscious in intensive care, there was an outpouring of concern for him – not just from stars like Kylie Minogue, Elton John, Darren Hayes, Russell Morris, Michael Buble, Cher and Madonna, but from thousands of his fans in Australia.

For almost half a century, Molly has been a key figure in the Australian music industry, and for decades, the key figure in the industry. A music journalist, band manager and music producer, he went on to host a seminal and wildly popular music show called Countdown, which a generation grew up watching. He became instantly known for his cowboy hat, rambling discourse, and his catchphrase, “Do yourself a favour”. For viewers, he felt like one of the family – maybe a slightly eccentric uncle whose visits were always fun, if unpredictable.

The wonderful thing about Molly’s career is that he is the epitome of the passionate amateur, who started at the bottom as a roadie, and, being a natural networker, built up a worldwide list of contacts that saw him working at Abbey Road, becoming a media icon, making friends with some of the biggest pop stars in the world, and winning many awards, including an Order of Australia.

As I read through the tributes pouring in on Twitter or to the newspapers, it struck me that he is a person who had touched many people’s lives, and a person with a remarkable talent for engendering love and respect from others. People remembered him from years ago – some of them had only had a single telephone conversation with him, or once sat next to him on a plane, but he had won them over with his unpretentious friendliness. He treated everyone, not just as an equal, but as his best mate.

Others had worked with Molly decades earlier, and recalled with great fondness how kind he had been to them. For someone to charm the rich and famous is no great feat – I’m sure most of us could suck up to celebrities if our careers depended on it. But to consistently show courtesy to everyone, to chat for hours with an elderly lady he would never see again and who had no idea who he was, to be solicitous to people who could not possibly aid his rise to the top – that is something much rarer and more extraordinary.

Molly was moved to a rehabilitation centre just prior to Australia Day, and in March was allowed to go home, while continuing daily rehab as an outpatient. Not long before ANZAC Day, he felt well enough to give his first interview. He appeared hospital-pale, and had the slight slur in his voice common to the brain-injured, but strangely, intensive speech therapy had removed his characteristic umming and aahing in conversation! Thank goodness he still had the hat.

He expressed enormous surprise and gratitude that so many people, friends and strangers alike, had cared for his safety and well-being, and announced that he was giving up drinking. Molly is now convalescing in Thailand, where his partner is from, and hopefully going from strength to strength.

Molly is a pet form of the name Mary which developed from the medieval diminutives Malle and Molle. Molly seems to have existed as an independent name since the 16th century. People often think of it as a very Irish name, because of the folk song Molly Malone, where Molly is a fishmonger from “Dublin’s fair city”. Although Dublin does have a statue of a rather bosomy Molly Malone in honour of this mythical lady, the song seems to have been written in Scotland. Nonetheless, the name Molly is currently more popular in Ireland and Northern Ireland than anywhere else in the British Isles (although not as popular as in Sweden, for some reason).

Molly was in use in the 1900s, although it wasn’t a very common name, and only dropped off the charts completely during the 1960s. The name took off in popularity during the 1990s, and was Top 100 in the early 2000s. It’s currently #53 in New South Wales, and fairly stable.

I can’t help noticing that Molly only became a popular girl’s name once the TV show Countdown had finished, in 1987. Perhaps a weekly reminder that a man could be called Molly was not helpful to the parents of baby girls.

However, if you were going to name your little girl after an elderly gentleman, you really couldn’t find a nicer one than Molly.

Popular Names for Girls

29 Sunday Apr 2012

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In honour of the name data being released, I thought I’d do lists of the most popular names in Australia for last year. I admit this was something of a last-minute decision, but it seemed like a good opportunity to cover some of the best-loved names.

People often ask how popular names got to be popular. I’m not sure there’s really a good answer to that – clearly people like the sound of them, and they fit in with current trends. Yet there must be many names, equally as nice-sounding and trend-friendly, that lurk around the 200s and don’t seem as if they are going anywhere much.

Although I cannot tell you what events caused these names to become popular, I can tell you some of the events which accompanied their rise. I’m definitely not trying to say that they were the cause of a name’s popularity, just that they coincide with it (and really sometimes it seems more than merely coincidental). Feel free to add other events you can think of, or any theories of your own!

Note: I’ve used data from New South Wales, but it must be broadly accurate for the rest of the nation too.

Lily

Lily seems to have begun as a pet form of Lilian, but must soon have become thought of as a flower name. The lily is sacred to the Virgin Mary, and Jesus urged his followers to “consider the lilies of the field” as a model in trusting Divine Providence. Lily has been almost continuously in the charts, only dropping out during the 1960s. It began rising in the 1980s – a decade when Princess Lily was the main female character in fantasy film Legend, and when Phil Collins and Kevin Costner welcomed daughters named Lily. A Top 100 name in the 1990s, it continued climbing, as Kate Beckinsale welcomed a daughter named Lily, while Johnny Depp named his baby girl Lily-Rose. By the early 2000s, Lily was already a Top 20 name, and during this decade, Lilly was the main character’s best friend in The Princess Diaries movie, Lily Potter was Harry’s mum in the Harry Potter movies, and pop singer Lily Allen released her first hit. Last year Lily was the most popular name for girls, once combined with the spelling Lilly. Delicate and pure, yet with several spunky namesakes, pretty Lily became a favourite.

Ruby

Ruby is named after the precious gemstone, whose name from Latin simply means “red”. Retro Ruby was popular during the 1900s, then dropped out completely during the 1960s and ’70s, despite being a popular name in songs; notably Ruby Tuesday and Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town. It began rising in the 1980s, as comedienne Ruby Wax barged her way onto our TV screens, and singer Rod Stewart welcomed a daughter named Ruby. The name climbed steeply during the 1990s, and turned up in more songs: Ruby Soho by Rancid, Thru’ the Eyes of Ruby, by The Smashing Pumpkins, and Ruby Wednesday by Eskimo Joe. By the early 2000s, Ruby was a Top 50 name, and by the late 2000s, it was Top 20. During this decade, the song Ruby was a hit for The Kaiser Chiefs, Renee Zellweger played Ruby in the movie Cold Mountain, and Ruby Buckton was a free spirited teen on popular soap, Home and Away. Charlotte Church, Tobey Maguire, and Harry Kewell all welcomed daughters named Ruby. Last year it was #2 for girls, once combined with the spelling Rubi. Flaunting Ruby sparkles, and is a name worth singing about.

Chloe

Chloe means “young green shoot” in Greek, and was one of the epithets of the earth goddess Demeter. From early on, it was a favoured literary name; Chloe is the heroine of the pastoral romance Daphne and Chloe, by the Ancient Greek writer Longus. The name was also considered suitable for use by the Puritans, because Chloe is an early Christian mentioned in the New Testament. Chloe first appeared on the charts in the 1970s; a decade when an arty French film, re-titled Chloe in the Afternoon, was released to English-speaking audiences. Chloe stormed up the charts and was Top 100 by the 1980s. During this decade, actress Candice Bergen and singer Olivia Newton-John both welcomed daughters named Chloe, and Chloe Jones was one of the characters in long-running soap, A Country Practice. By the 1990s it was Top 20, and Logie-winning actress Kristy Wright played the tragically troubled Chloe Richards on popular soap, Home and Away. Chloe was Top 5 by the early 2000s; it reached #1 in 2006. Fresh and spring-like, Chloe has been recommended at Appellation Mountain, and Linda Rosenkrantz from Nameberry named her daughter Chloe – some serious name-guru approval.

Mia

Mia seems to have become popularly known through actress Mia Farrow, the daughter of Australian film director John Farrow, and Irish actress Maureen O’Sullivan. Mia is short for Ms Farrow’s real name, Maria. Mia first appeared on the charts in the 1960s, after Mia Farrow began her career, but rose in popularity very gradually. An interesting link with another name on the list is that Princess Lily in Legend was played by actress Mia Sara; is it a coincidence that both names began climbing at the same time? It started making significant gains in the 1990s, a decade when Uma Thurman played Mia Wallace in Pulp Fiction. Although not yet Top 100 in the 1990s, by the early 2000s it was already Top 20. In this decade, we met Amelia “Mia” Thermopolis, heroine of The Princess Diaries movie, and Mia Toretto from The Fast and the Furious films. It was chosen as the name for their daughter by actress Bec Cartwright and tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt. Top 10 by the late 2000s, it reached #1 in 2008. Simple and cute, Mia has another Australian connection – it is an acronym for Made in Australia.

Olivia

Olivia is a name invented by William Shakespeare for a character in Twelfth Night. Olivia is a beautiful noble lady in mourning for her brother; through an amusing misunderstanding, she falls in love with a woman named Viola disguised as a man. Through another amusing misunderstanding, she marries Viola’s twin brother Sebastian by mistake, but fortunately he is so much like his sister in looks and personality that she is happy with the outcome. Famous Olivias include actress Olivia de Havilland and Olivia Arias, the widow of Beatle George Harrison. Olivia first appeared on the charts in the 1960s, just as singer Olivia Newton-John began her career, and rose steadily. Her popularity took off in the 1980s (perhaps by coincidence, the era when Ms Newton-John enjoyed her greatest success), and by the 1990s she was already a Top 20 name. During the 1990s, Denzel Washington and Lance Armstrong welcomed daughters named Olivia. In the early 2000s, Mariska Hargitay was playing Olivia Benson on Law and Order: SVU, and by 2005 Olivia had reached #1. Shakespeare had a knack with names, and this one is elegant; I picked it to be the Jessica of our time, and equally resilient.

Isabella

Isabella is a Latinate form of the name Isabel; it was a favourite amongst European royalty from the Middle Ages onwards. Isabella is a stock character in the Italian commedia dell’arte, the flirtatious and alluring female lover that men make fools of themselves over. She is named in honour of the actress, playwright and poet Isabella Andreini, who became famous in the role. Isabella has been on the charts almost continuously, although her last time in the Top 100 was in the 1900s. She dropped out completely during the 1950s, and then again in the 1970s. She made a recovery in the 1980s just as Italian actress Isabella Rosselini became internationally known, and then skyrocketed. Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise adopted a daughter in the early 1990s and named her Isabella, and the name was comfortably Top 50 for that decade. When Stephenie Meyer’s novel Twilight was published in 2005, its heroine named Isabella “Bella” Swan, Isabella was already #7; Isabella reached #1 in 2009, the year after the Twilight film was released. Ornate and ultra-feminine, it is an Australian royal baby name, as Prince Frederik and Princess Mary of Denmark named their first daughter Isabella.

Charlotte

Charlotte is a French feminine form of Charles; a common name amongst European royalty, it was introduced to Britain in the 17th century by the Hanoverians. The Charlotte was one of the ships of the First Fleet, who reached Australia in 1788. Charlotte has been almost continuously on the charts, only disappearing in the 1950s. She began climbing gradually in the 1960s, a decade when English actress Charlotte Rampling’s film career began. The name grew steeply in the 1980s, a decade in which Charlotte “Charlie” Blackwood, played by Kelly McGillis, is the love interest to Tom Cruise’s Maverick in the movie Top Gun. It made the Top 100 by the 1990s, when actress Sigourney Weaver welcomed a daughter named Charlotte, and when the band Good Charlotte began their career. It was Top 20 in the early 2000s, while we got to know the romantically optimistic Charlotte York in Sex and the City, played by Kristin Davis; by the end of the decade it was Top 10, as as singer Charlotte Church progressed her career from classical to pop. Sophisticated yet sensible, with the option of a tomboy nickname, Charlotte has yet to make #1.

Sophie

Sophie is the French form of Sophia; the name was used in several European royal families. Sophie first entered the charts in the 1950s, and through steady growth, made the Top 100 by the 1980s. It was during this decade that William Styron’s Sophie’s Choice was made into a film; Meryl Streep won an Oscar for her performance as Zofia “Sophie” Zawistowski, the beautiful Polish immigrant with a tragic secret. The same year the film came out, Roald Dahl‘s book, The Big Friendly Giant was published; the heroine is called Sophie, named after Roald Dahl’s grand-daughter (later fashion model Sophie Dahl). During the 1990s Sophie took off, and was a Top 20 name during that decade. It was during the ’90s that the best-selling novel, Sophie’s World, was published, and actress Sophie Lee and singer-actress Sophie Monk both began their careers this decade. At the end of the 1990s, Sophie Rhys-Jones joined the British Royal Family when she married Prince Edward. Sophie was Top 10 by the early 2000s, and many are tipping sweet and simple Sophie to become the #1 name within the next few years.

Sienna

Sienna is the English name for the Italian city of Siena,in Tuscany. As a word, it refers to a type of clay used to make oil paints, and a shade of yellow-brown, after the hue of said clay. The city’s name comes from the Etruscan tribe who originally inhabited the area, the Saina, but the Romans derived it from the Latin for “old” (the same Latin root which gives us the word senile). Sienna first entered the charts in the 1980s, and climbed steeply during the ’90s. I think the name suited the aspirational nature of that era. Italy was very “big”; pizza was becoming a mainstream food, and the adults around me were guzzling Chianti and buying time-shares in Tuscan villas. British model-actress Sienna Miller is not responsible for the name’s popularity, because it had been climbing for some time, but can it be purely coincidental that it first joined the NSW Top 100 in 2002, the year after Ms Miller’s career began? From that point, its climb was so vertiginous that it was Top 10 by 2006. Smooth, modern Sienna seems certain to go higher still.

Ella

Ella is the Norman form of the Germanic name Alia, a short form of names with the element ali, meaning “other”. However, it can also be used as a short form for Eleanor, Ellen, Elizabeth or any name starting with El, and also the many names ending with -ella. It’s hard not to connect this name with jazz great, Ella Fitzgerald. Ella has been on the charts almost continuously, with her last time in the Top 100 in the 1900-10s. She was soon in rare use, although she only disappeared completely during the 1960s. She climbed slowly during the 1980s, and steeply during the 1990s. It was during the ’90s that Ella got a new singing namesake – Ella Hooper from rock band Killing Heidi. Ella was Top 20 by the early 2000s. She received several boosts around this time, for the movie Ella Enchanted was released, a re-telling of the Cinderella story. Warren Beatty, John Travolta, Mark Wahlberg and Ben Stiller all welcomed daughters named Ella, giving the name a distinct celebrity flavour. Top 5 in the second half of last decade, Ella feels as if she may have peaked, and is possibly on her way down again.

(Picture shows Princess Lily and unicorn, from Ridley Scott’s 1985 cult fantasy film Legend)