Girls Names from the Top 100 of the 1950s

01 Sunday May 2016

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aristocratic names, Biblical names, celebrity baby names, english names, European name popularity, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, flower names, French names, germanic names, hebrew names, Irish names, Latin names, locational names, middle names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, names from movies, names from television, names from video games, nature names, nicknames, plant names, royal names, saints names, screen names, Spanish names, surname names

Annette
French pet form of Anne. It was in common use by the 18th century, not only in France and French-speaking countries, but in the English-speaking world, Central Europe, and Scandinavia. Annette sprang straight into the Top 100 in the 1930s; a famous namesake from this era was singer Annette Hanshaw, one of the most popular radio stars of the decade. The name peaked in the 1950s and ’60s at #41, perhaps inspired by 1950s Mousketeer Annette Funicello, who starred in teen beach movies in the 1960s. Two famous Australian namesakes are feminist and political activist Annette Cameron, and early 20th century swimming star Annette Kellermann. It would be easy to dismiss Annette as a tired 1950s name, but there’s still something sweet and elegant about it, and it doesn’t seem strange next to popular names like Annabelle, especially as French names like Estelle are gaining in favour. Annie and Nettie are the standard nicknames.

Beverley
English surname from the town of Beverley in Yorkshire; in the Middle Ages one of the wealthiest towns in England, and a centre for pilgrimage with its own patron saint, John of Beverley. The town’s name is from the Old English for “beaver lake” or “beaver clearing”, as there were once beaver colonies in the nearby River Hull. Beverley has been used as a personal name since at least the 18th century, and from the beginning was given to both sexes, but mostly to boys. One of the reasons it became more common for girls in the 20th century could be silent film star Beverly Bayne (born Pearl, she used her middle name). Beverley has charted in Australia since the 1910s, the beginning of Beverly Bayne’s career, debuting at #321. It rocketed into the Top 100 in the 1930s, peaking in the 1940s at #13. By the 1950s it was #56, and it left the Top 100 in the 1960s, falling off the charts in the 1980s. Unisex-style surname names for girls are on trend, and Beverley is just Everley with a B, yet a comeback seems unlikely.

Heather
The common name for the widespread hardy shrubs; the plant name was later influenced by the word heath, as they grow on heathlands and moors. Heather is one of the symbols of Scotland, as it grows abundantly in the Highland hills. White heather is supposed to lucky, probably because it’s rare. Heather has been used as a girl’s name since at least the 17th century, but did not come into common use until the 19th, when flower names became fashionable. Heather was #128 in the 1900s and joined the Top 100 in the 1910s, peaking in the 1930s at #30. By the 1950s it was #47, and it left the Top 100 in the 1970s, leaving the charts altogether in 2010. The film Heathers gives it a dark edge, but the lovely Heather Jelly, played by Kerry Armstrong in SeaChange, brings a touch of suburban fantasy to it. It’s a flower name that’s strong and sensible rather than feminine and frilly, and might well appeal to a future generation.

Jill
Variant of Gill, short for Gillian, an English feminine form of Julian which dates to the Middle Ages. It’s perhaps most famous as the heroine of the old nursery rhyme, the girl who comes tumbling down the hill after Jack. At one time, Jill was used to mean any young girl or sweetheart (just as Jack meant any lad). It didn’t become common as an independent name until the 19th century – I wonder if that’s because it’s when Jack and Jill became widely published? Attractive fictional Jills include brave Jill Pole in the Narnia novels by C.S. Lewis, and P.G. Wodehouse’s flapper-era Jill the Reckless. A more modern example is tough heroine Jill Valentine from the Resident Evil game franchise. Jill entered the charts in the 1920s at #171, and was in the Top 100 by the 1930s at #45, which was also its peak. It was #73 by the 1950s, and left the Top 100 in the 1960s, leaving the charts in the 1990s. Vintage short forms like Tess, Nell and Mae are in vogue, and there seems no convincing reason why spunky Jill could not be used.

Judith
In the Old Testament, Judith is a beautiful widow who saved her people by seducing an enemy general of the Assyrians and decapitating him while he was drunk. The Book of Judith doesn’t fit any historical facts, and so is accepted as a parable or religious fiction; however, it has been a popular subject in literature, art, and music. There’s another Judith in the Bible – one of the wives of Esau, Jacob’s twin brother. Judith is the feminine form of the Hebrew name Judah, meaning “praise”. It has been in use since the Middle Ages and was traditional among European nobility and royalty. An early celebrity baby was Judith Shakespeare, the Bard’s daughter, and twin sister of Hamnet. Famous Australian namesakes include actress Dame Judith Anderson, poet Judith Wright, singer Judith Durham, and comedian Judith Lucy. Judith entered the charts in the 1910s at #248, and was in the Top 100 by the 1920s. It peaked in the 1940s at #3, and by the 1950s was #8; it left the Top 100 in the 1970s, and the charts in the 1990s. Mature and substantial, Judith seems almost ready for a comeback, and the nickname Jude is positively cool.

Leonie
From the French name Léonie, feminine form of the Latin name Leonius. It can be seen as a feminine form of Leo, with the same meaning of “lion”. In use since at least the 18th century, it soon spread to the English-speaking world as well as Central Europe; it is still popular in France, Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Famous Australian namesakes include distinguished academic Dame Leonie Kramer, senior journalist Leonie Wood, and actress Leonie “Noni” Hazlehurst; it’s also the name of Chris Hemsworth’s mother. Leonie entered the charts in the 1910s at #338 and was in the Top 100 by the 1940s. It peaked in the 1950s at #55, left the Top 100 in the 1970s, and was off the charts by the early 2000s. This is a 1950s name that still sounds pretty and elegant, fits in with the trend for animal names, and has the advantage of never being highly popular.

Linda
Originally a Latinised short form of medieval Germanic names such as Sieglinde, or short for names such as Irmilinda; in these cases, the -linde or -linda meant “soft, tender”. However in the modern era, Linda is given because of the Spanish word linda, meaning “pretty”. Linda has been used as a personal name in Spain since perhaps the 17th century, and spread to other countries. The 19th century opera Linda di Chamounix by Donizetti helped popularise it in the English-speaking world, and Nancy Mitford’s novel The Pursuit of Love, with beautiful Linda Radlett as its focus, has some plot elements in common with the romantic opera. Linda was #53 in the 1900s, and left the Top 100 in the 1920, sinking to #189 in the 1930s. It returned in the 1940s and was #24 in the 1950s, peaking at #12 in 1963. Linda left the Top 100 in the early 1980s, falling after Alice Lynn “Lindy” Chamberlain was falsely convicted of her daughter’s death, and hasn’t charted since 2009. Linda is a classic with a lovely sound and meaning which now feels dated, along with its ‘sixties sisters Melinda and Belinda. Although it does not sound that odd next to today’s Lilys and Laylas, most will probably believe it needs a rest before rediscovery.

Maureen
Anglicised form of the Irish name Máirín, a pet form of Máire, the Irish form of Mary. A modern name, Maureen came into common use in the 19th century, with significant use in Ireland. Maureen joined the charts in the 1910s at #271, and was in the Top 100 by the 1930s, when Irish-American film star Maureen O’Sullivan, who played Jane in several Tarzan films, married Australian-born film director John Farrow. The name peaked in the 1940s at #18, when gorgeous Irish-American actress Maureen O’Hara was starring in such films as How Green Was My Valley and Miracle on 34th Street. By the 1950s it was #42, and by the 1960s had left the Top 100; it hasn’t charted since the 1980s. It may not be currently fashionable, but Maureen does not seem horribly old-fashioned, as there are so many contemporary and even rather hip namesakes. Who could forget Maureen “Mo” Tucker from The Velvet Underground, or writer and activist Maureen Duffy? Bisexual performance artist Maureen Robinson from the musical Rent shares her name with a time-evading mama in the sci-fi Future History series by Robert Heinlein. Another generation might find Maureen strong and attractive, and even now it could appear clunky and cool.

Susan
English form of the Hebrew name Susanna, meaning “lily”; it has been in use since the Middle Ages. Famous Australian namesakes include Justice of the High Court Susan Kiefer; socialite Lady Susan Renouf; long distance swimmer Susan “Susie” Maroney; and Susan Cullen-Ward, who became Queen Susan of Albania. Susan was #149 in the 1900s, and was in the Top 100 by the 1940s, peaking as the #1 name of the 1950s; the name’s popularity was influenced by Hollywood star Susan Hayward. It left the Top 100 in the 1980s, and last charted in 2010. Susan was a favourite name in children’s fiction, so you might have grown up with Susan Pevensie in the Chronicles of Narnia, Susan Walker in Swallows and Amazons, Susan Garland from The Country Child, Little Friend Susan from Milly-Molly-Mandy, Susan from The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, or Susan from Worzel Gummidge. This is a charming classic which has suffered from being a mid-century #1 now at the ebb of its cycle, leading to much hand-wringing. Depending on your point of view, you will either think it’s too dated and needs more time before it feels fresh again, or can see that choosing Susan will put you way ahead of the curve when ‘fifties names make a comeback.

Yvonne
Ultimately the feminine form of the medieval Germanic name Ivo, thought to be a short form of names beginning with Iv-, meaning “yew”. Because yew wood is used to make bows, the name can be glossed as “bowman, archer”. In French, the name became Yves, hence Yvonne. Although introduced to England by the Normans, the name died out and only became common again in the 19th century. Famous Australian namesakes include opera singers Yvonne Minton and Yvonne Kenny, and rugby league commentator Yvonne Sampson, but the most famous is tennis champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley, one of the great players of the 1970s and ’80s. Yvonne joined the charts in the 1910s at #165 and was in the Top 100 by the following decade. It peaked in the 1930s at #26 and by the 1950s by #68. It left the Top 100 in the 1970s and hasn’t charted since the early 2000s. Yvonne seems dated, except that the strong V sound is still on trend, and popular Evie could be used as the nickname. I see baby girls with names like Evanne, Yvanna and Yvaine, so it feels more like a name that has evolved rather than simply gone out of use.

POLL RESULTS

The public’s favourite 1950s names were Leonie, Annette and Heather, and their least favourites were Linda, Maureen and Beverley.

(Picture of 1950s model from an exhibition of Melbourne fashion photography by Athol Shmith held at the National Gallery of Victoria).

Famous Name: Patrick

16 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

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British names, classic names, english names, Irish names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, popular names, Roman names, saints names, Scots Gaelic names, UK name popularity, US name popularity, Welsh names

Tomorrow is St Patrick’s Day, a worldwide celebration of Irish culture. With such a strong Irish heritage in Australia, you would think that St Patrick’s Day would be special here, and you would be right. As early as 1795, Irish convicts were celebrating March 17 in raucous fashion, and these later became more respectable dinners held by colonials of Irish descent. Parades began to be organised in the 1800s, and had become established institutions by the 1920s.

St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and people are sometimes surprised to learn he wasn’t Irish; he was a 5th century Romanised Briton from an aristocratic family on the west coast of Britain. Although his father was a deacon and his grandfather a priest in the Christian church, as a youngster Patrick wasn’t very interested in religion.

According to his own testimony, when he was a teenager he was kidnapped by pirates and taken as a slave to Ireland, where he worked taking care of farm animals in what he describes as a very cold and wet climate. During this time he learned the Irish language and converted to Christianity; after six years he managed to escape and return to his family.

Patrick wrote that a few years after his return, he had a vision of the Irish people begging him to help them. After training as a priest, he went as a missionary to Ireland and became a bishop. Here he converted many people, not only slaves and the poor, but also noblemen and women who became monks and nuns (this may not seem very liberating to us, but the church provided an attractive career path for educated medieval women).

Very little is actually known about Patrick’s life and work, and doubt has even been cast upon his claim of enslavement in Ireland. He wasn’t the first missionary to Ireland – that was St Palladius. Some of the details of Palladius’ Irish mission seem to have got mixed up with Patrick’s story, and Palladius’ role in Ireland may have been minimised to give Patrick the spotlight.

However where facts are thin on the ground, myths and legends flourish. A favourite is that St Patrick used the three-leafed shamrock to illustrate the Trinity, so that the shamrock is a popular symbol on St Patrick’s Day. Another is that St Patrick banished all the snakes from Ireland – an incredibly easy miracle to perform, as they were never there. It is even said that he introduced whiskey to Ireland, and used the drink as a teaching aid: thus drinking alcohol is traditional on St Patrick’s Day.

St Patrick overcame his slightly boring saintliness to become a colourful figure of folklore, and over the centuries a symbol of Irish identity and culture that transcends Catholicism, and even Christianity. And that’s why we all feel just a little bit Irish on St Patrick’s Day!

Name Information
In his autobiography, St Patrick always refers to himself as Patricius, a Roman name meaning “nobleman” (it is the source of the word patrician). It is possible that he chose this himself, because the name is linked with the Latin for “father” – pater – to suggest he was the father of his people. However, Patricius was in regular use among the Romans, and in fact the name of St Augustine’s dad.

It is often said that Patrick’s birth name was Maewyn Succat, a British translation of the Roman name Magonus Succetus, and translated with great optimism as “famous war god”. (Succetus was supposedly a Celtic god of war, although nobody seems to have heard of him, which doesn’t help the translation overmuch).

This already seems like something his followers might have invented, and looks even less convincing as it appears that the name comes from British and means “servant swine-herd” – a clear reference to Patrick’s period of slavery. If St Patrick had another name as a child, we do not know it.

Patrick is the Anglicised form of Patricius, with the Irish form being Pádraig, the Scots Gaelic Phádraig, and the Welsh Padrig. Due to the fame of St Patrick, Patrick was used in Britain by the Middle Ages (sometimes with Patricius as the official name), where it was especially popular in the north of England. It was also taken up with enthusiasm in the west of Scotland, where it was seen as a form of Peter.

Although we think of Patrick as a typically Irish name, it did not come into common use in Ireland until the 17th or perhaps even 18th century, when it was introduced by Scots immigrants to northern Ireland. Before this, the Irish felt that the name of their national saint was far too sacred to be given as a baby name, although they did use names such as Gilla Pátraic, meaning “servant of St Patrick”.

However, once the Irish gave in to peer pressure and decided Patrick was okay to use, it became a great favourite. Patrick was so popular as a boy’s name in Ireland by the 19th century that the nickname Paddy became a (rather disparaging) term for an Irishman.

With strong Irish immigration to Australia, there have been many Australian Patricks. Some examples include the Nobel Prize-winning author Patrick White; pioneering farmer Patrick Durack, who founded the famous Durack dynasty; Patrick Hannan, whose discovery of gold sparked the gold rush in Western Australia; Presbyterian minister Patrick Murdoch, progenitor of the famous Murdoch dynasty; and Patrick Sullivan, creator of Felix the cartoon cat.

It thus comes as little surprise that the name Patrick is a solid classic in Australia, never out of the Top 100, and rarely out of the Top 50. It was #36 in the 1900s, and reached its lowest point in 1978 at #71. Its peak was in 1994, when it reached #30. It is now stable around the lower end of the Top 50.

Currently it is #40 nationally, #51 in New South Wales, #26 in Victoria, #46 in Queensland, #36 in South Australia, #46 in Western Australia, #46 in Tasmania, and #29 in the Australian Capital Territory. In 2014 it was the fastest-rising name in Tasmania, and one of the fastest-rising in South Australia.

In the US, Patrick has constantly charted on the Top 1000, and never been lower than #166, which it reached in 1919. It was a Top 100 name at the turn of the 20th century, and again from 1936 to 2003, peaking at #30 in the 1960s. Currently it is #153 and fairly stable.

In the UK, Patrick has likewise been a long-time favourite. It was in the Top 100 from the mid-19th century until 2006, and is now #115 and stable. Patrick is a Top 100 name in New Zealand, and in Northern Ireland, where its popularity is similar to Australia’s. It is most popular in Ireland, where it is in the Top 20, and very stable.

Patrick is a strong, handsome name that is a timeless classic while remaining stylish. It’s popular, but has always been so, and its position on the charts is is extremely stable. It’s a traditional name with ties to Irish history and culture, and in Australia often considered a rather upper class choice. Traditional nicknames like Pat, Patsy and Patty are out of favour, but Paddy is still going strong, and Patch perhaps deserving of a mention.

POLL RESULTS

Patrick received an approval rating of 79%, making it one of the highest-rated names of 2016. People saw the name as handsome and charming (24%), a stylish classic (21%), and a name which ages well (17%). However 9% thought it was too common and boring. Only 1 person thought Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants made the name too embarrassing to use.

Cyclone Names for Boys

06 Sunday Mar 2016

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 3 Comments

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Anglo-Saxon names, Arabic names, Biblical names, classic names, cyclone names, Egyptian names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, germanic names, hebrew names, Irish names, Latin names, locational names, modern classics, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, nicknames, Old English names, pen names, popular names, rare names, Roman names, royal names, saints names, Slavic names, stage names, surname names, underused modern classics, unisex names, vintage names

Dominic
There was a Cyclone Dominic in 1982 and another in 2009; both were quite severe and did significant damage. Dominic is from the Latin name Dominicus, meaning “of the Lord”, and often translated as “belonging to God”. It began as a specifically Christian name, and there are several saints named Dominic. The most famous is the medieval Spanish priest who founded the Dominican Order; he was named after St Dominic of Silos, who answered the prayer of the second St Dominic’s mother that she might become pregnant. As part of that joking folk etymology that religion is so fond of, the Dominicans are said to be named from the Latin for “dog of God” (Domini canis), as a sign of St Dominic’s dogged faithfulness. Dominic has charted since the 1950s, when it debuted at #236. It reached the Top 100 in the 1990s, and has mostly stayed around the bottom quarter of the Top 100, or fallen just below it. Currently it is #88. This is a sleekly handsome modern classic that’s never been highly popular, and comes with the nicknames Dom, Nic, or Nico.

Iggy
Cyclone Iggy was off the coast of Western Australia in 2012: grave fears were held as its power intensified, but by the time it made landfall it had waned considerably. Iggy is traditionally used as a short form of Ignatius, but rocker Iggy Pop (born James Osterberg) took his stage name from his high school band, The Iguanas. Another musical Iggy is Australian rapper Iggy Azalea (born Amethyst Kelly): her stage name Iggy is from her childhood dog, possibly named after Mr Pop. In the Maximum Ride YA series by James Patterson, Iggy is an extremely handsome blind boy whose real name is James Griffiths. This name might feel like “nickname only” territory, but a few people have Iggy as their full legal name. While Ignatius is elegant, Iggy is in-your-face cyberpunk nuttiness, and will appeal to parents wanting something fun and different.

Marcus
Marcus is on the current list of cyclone names. Marcus is a Roman name believed to be derived from Mars, the Roman god of war, and was one of the most popular names in ancient Rome. Famous Romans with the name include the general Marcus Antonius, otherwise known as Mark Antony; the emperor Marcus Aurelius; Marcus Junius Brutus, usually known to us as Brutus, the assassin of Julius Caesar; and the philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. Marcus has been used as an English name since the Middle Ages, but widely used on the Continent and in Latin America as well. It’s currently popular in Scandinavia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Marcus is a classic name which has been almost continuously on the charts. It was #190 in the 1900s, and fell to nothing during the 1930s. After that it continued growing and made the Top 100 by the 1970s. Popularity dipped, but it was back again in the 1990s, and peaked at #51 in 2003. It is currently #82. A popular classic never higher than the bottom half of the Top 100, Marcus combines historical gravitas with European style.

Miles
Cyclone Miles was off the coast of Queensland in 1977. Miles is the English form of the Germanic name Milo, whose meaning is unclear. It may be from an ancient Germanic word meaning “mild”, but it has been argued that it is related to those Slavic names meaning “dear, gracious”, such as Mila and Milan. From early on, folk etymology connected it to the Latin word miles, meaning soldier – in Roman comedies, a foolish stock character was Miles Gloriosus, meaning “bragging soldier”. The name has been in use since the Middle Ages, introduced by the Normans, and is often thought of as rather aristocratic. A famous namesake is Miles Coverdale, who was the first person to translate the Bible into English in 1535. Miles has charted since the 1950s, when jazz legend Miles Davis gave the name an injection of cool; it debuted at #323. Since then, the name has increased in popularity, but never become popular, so this is an underused modern classic. It’s around the 100s currently. Rising in both the US and UK, this is a hip choice with a smooth sound.

Oswald
Cyclone Oswald hit Queensland and New South Wales in 2013, causing widespread storms and floods. A natural disaster was declared, and due to the severity of the cyclone, the name Oswald has now been retired. Oswald is an Old English name meaning “godly ruler, divine ruler”. There are two English saints named Oswald; Oswald of Northumbria was an Anglo-Saxon king, and the most powerful ruler in Britain during his time. The name Oswald became less common after the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19th century as part of the Victorian fascination with ancient British names. Oswald was #75 in the 1900s and left the Top 100 in the 1920s. It left the charts in the 1940s and had unfortunate wartime namesakes – Nazi officer Oswald Pohl, who oversaw the concentration camps, and British Fascist, Sir Oswald Moseley, a friend of Adolf Hitler. In fiction, Oswalds are usually villains or comic characters, but Oswald Bastable from the Treasure Seeker series by E. Nesbit has been claimed as a revolutionary hero name in the Nomad of Time Streams works of Michael Moorcock, and the name is sometimes used in sci fi. A bold vintage choice with a steam punk vibe.

Paddy
Cyclone Paddy was near Cocos Island in May 1981, extremely late in the season. Paddy is an Irish nickname for the name Patrick, or its Irish forms Padraig and Padraic. It was once so commonly used that Paddy became a derogatory term for any Irishman. With such strong immigration from Ireland, the name has a long history in Australia with several famous namesakes, with Paddy either short for Patrick, their full name, or a nickname unrelated to their name. Some examples are: Paddy Hannan, the gold prospector who set off the gold rush in Kalgoorlie; Indigenous artist Paddy Bedford; colourful politician Paddy Crick; Aboriginal elder Paddy Roe; and pioneering bushwalker Paddy Pallin, who founded the chain of outdoor equipment stores. Paddy is also occasionally used as a girl’s name, a variant of Patty; an example is Australian author Paddy O’Reilly. Paddy is around the 500s in Australia, and fits in with the trend for nicknames as full name. Great Irish heritage choice with an Australian flavour.

Rusty
Cyclone Rusty hit the coast of northern Western Australia in 2013. Hurricane-force winds and heavy rain caused flooding and significant damage. Due to the severity of the cyclone, the name Rusty has now been retired. Rusty can be a nickname for either the first name or surname Russell, or a nickname given to someone with red or reddish-brown hair. It is not commonly given as a full name, but after Cyclone Rusty there was a reported increase in the number of baby boys named Rusty, so this is one cyclone at least which influenced local name trends. A rough-and-tumble boyish name in the style of Buster and Sunny: not recommended if your surname is Naylor, Bucket or Lidd.

Seth
Seth is on the current list of cyclone names. In the Old Testament, Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve, born after Abel was murdered by Cain. According to the Bible, Seth was the progenitor of the human race as it exists today, as only his descendants survived the Great Flood. The Bible is coy as to how Seth had children for us to be descended from, but the Apocrypha provides the obvious solution by having him marry his sister. Although the Bible tells us nothing more about Seth, according to tradition he was virtuous and wise; he is regarded as a saint in Christianity, and revered as a prophet in Islam. The name doesn’t seem to have been common for Jews, although in the New Testament the High Priest is said to be the son of a Seth. According to the Bible, the name Seth means “appointed”, to suggest that God appointed Seth as a replacement for Abel. Seth is also the Greek form of the Egyptian god Set, deity of storms and chaos, and murderer of his brother Osiris. The name has a strong New Age resonance due to the supposed chanelled messages of a being named Seth, highly influential to later writers. Seth has been used as an English name at least since the 16th century, and became more common during the 18th. Seth has charted since the 1970s, debuting at #539, and joined the Top 100 in the 2000s. It left the Top 100 in 2014, but cannot be far below it. An Old Testament name that women in particular seem to love as both soft and gentle, and dangerously sexy.

Vance
Cyclone Vance hit Western Australia in 1999, bringing gale-force winds and severe storms, and causing significant damage, particularly in Exmouth. Vance is an English surname that comes from the Old English for “fen”, describing someone who lived near a flat wetlands area or marsh. The surname has a particular association with Scotland, and the Scottish Vances believe their name is Norman, from Vaux in France, meaning “valley”. Vance has been used as a personal name since the 18th century, and was strongly connected with Scotland and Ireland. Vance Drummond was a New Zealand-born officer in the RAAF, much decorated for his gallantry in the Vietnam War. The famous writer Vance Palmer was born Edward, with Vance short for his middle name, Vivian. Not only a great contributor to Australian literature, he and his wife Nettie were part of the social movement that promoted Australian egalitarianism. The indie pop singer Vance Joy’s real name is James Keogh – he took his stage name from a minor character in Peter Carey’s novel Bliss. A vintage name ripe for revival with a strong connection to Australian culture.

Zane
Cyclone Zane was off the coast of Queensland in 2013, but by the time it made landfall it had dissipated to almost nothing. The name Zane was popularised by the American western novelist Zane Grey: he was born Pearl Grey (apparently in tribute to Queen Victoria’s mourning dress, which seems a strange way to name a child, especially a boy). Grey used his middle name Zane for his pen name; it was his mother’s maiden name. The Zanes were a famous American pioneering family, and Zane Grey himself was born in Zanesville, Ohio, named after his ancestor, Ebenezer Zane. The Zanes were descended from Devon Quakers, but the name’s origin is a mystery. It has been claimed that the family had either Danish or Italian ancestry, but neither theory has been proven. Sometimes presumed to be a form of John, as Zane is an unusual short form of Giovanni; it can also be a female name, short for Suzannah or Zuzannah. Zane has charted since the 1970s, debuting at #397 – Zane Grey was still a bestseller then, and another namesake for the era was bodybuilder Frank Zane, multiple Mr Olympia winner. It was in the Top 100 during the 2000s, peaking at #83 in 2005, and is probably around the 100s now. Not at all zany, Zane has become a modern standard conflated with the Arabic name Zain or Zayn, meaning “beauty, grace”.

POLL RESULTS

The public’s favourite names were Dominic, Miles and Seth, while their least favourites were Oswald, Paddy and Rusty.

(Photo is of Australian literary powerhouse, Vance Palmer)

Urgent Name Help Needed: Baby is Due Soon, and They Only Have ONE Name For Each Sex – Are They the Right Ones?

05 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by A.O. in Naming Assistance

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

choosing baby names, Irish names, name popularity, sibsets

Jane and Dylan are expecting their second child in less than a fortnight, a sibling for their daughter Lila. They don’t know the sex, and Jane is especially nervous about boys’ names.

They would both like a name that is short, strong, easy to spell and pronounce, not in the Top 30, not made up, not too unusual, with a clean, classic feel that doesn’t seem either too feminine, or too stuffy and pompous. Jane and Dylan’s surname is vaguely similar to Bolter.

For a boy’s name, they are considering Irish or Italian style names as a nod to their respective heritages, but that isn’t essential.

Even though Jane and Dylan are fully in agreement on all these criteria, so far they have only managed to agree on one name: Finn. Jane likes the name Finn, but worries that it’s not classic enough, doesn’t go with Lila, or will become too popular in the future.

Jane loves Ronan, Roy, Angus, Dean, and Leo, but Dylan doesn’t like any of these. He prefers Lachlan, Callum, and Nate, which Jane dislikes.

Both Jane and Dylan love boyish nicknames such as Jack, Tom, and Charlie, but have ruled them out as being too common. They can’t use the names Michael, Dominic, Paul, Mark, Ryan, or Sean.

For girls, Jane loves the names Ruby and Nina, but thinks Ruby is too popular, while Nina seem too similar to Lila. Jane loves the name Alice, but Dylan doesn’t like it. Jane thinks that they have agreed on the name Eve for a girl.

So it’s Finn for a boy and Eve for a girl – or is it? Jane just doesn’t feel 100% confident that these are the right names. She wonders if anyone can reassure them they have made the correct choices, or give them ideas for different names.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

It’s not at all uncommon for parents (perhaps especially mothers) to experience last minute worry about their chosen baby names, so your situation seems very normal, Jane.

You’ve only managed to agree on one name for each gender, and I can see that might feel less comfortable than having a short list to choose from when the baby arrives. However, one name is all you need, and you might have hit on the perfect ones.

For what’s it’s worth, I can’t see a single thing wrong with either Finn or Eve, which seem to tick absolutely every one of your boxes.

Finn isn’t exactly a classic name, but you don’t really want a classic – what you want is something that feels classic. Now that’s very subjective, but I do think that Finn is clean and stylish, and feels like a modern classic in the making.

I think Lila and Finn sound wonderful together – they seem like a great match. I really wouldn’t worry too much about what popularity does in the future, as none of us have crystal balls to tell us what will happen. But I can’t see any immediate reason to panic about Finn.

Its popularity seems to have stabilised in the bottom half of the Top 50, and there are no signs of it going up and up in an alarming way. Similar names such as Flynn, Finlay, and Finnian have probably helped to slow its progress somewhat.

I can’t see any reason to go searching for another name, unless you can agree on something else that you both like more. With less than two weeks to go, that doesn’t seem very likely, but isn’t impossible either.

I’m intrigued that both of you absolutely love boyish nickname names, but have rejected them as too common – even Tom, which isn’t at all common as a full name, although all the uncounted Thomases called Tom would make a difference.

This style of boy’s name is very fashionable at the moment, thanks to British name trends, and there are a number of names like this gaining in popularity. Could you consider something less popular, such as Sam, Will, Billy, Ned, Mac, Alfie, Jimmy, Jake, Alby, Gus, Ted, Teddy, Freddie, Paddy, Johnny, Joe, Tommy, Bobby, or Dan?

Other names that occur to me that seem to fit your criteria are Jude, Miles, Rowan, Arlo, Rory, Ari, Owen, Caleb, Jasper, Toby, Rhys, Wyatt, and Declan.

I know you are much less nervous about girl’s name, but I probably feel a little more nervous about them, as you say you only think you have both agreed on Eve. That doesn’t seem quite definite enough, and I hope by now you have become firmer on it, because Eve also seems to be exactly what you are looking for.

It’s a clean, stylish, short, and simple modern classic which isn’t highly popular, and makes a great match with Lila. It isn’t Irish or Italian, but doesn’t seem out of place either, because Eva is used in both Ireland and Italy (and Eve is a popular name in Ireland).

It’s hard to think of other names you might like, because there appears to be so few names you have considered – Dylan doesn’t seem to have suggested even one girl’s name!

Other simple names I think sound nice with Lila are Violet, Audrey, Maisie, Maeve, Mae, Niamh/Neve, Claire, Daisy, Evelyn, Hope, Tess, Eden, Daphne, Phoebe, Sylvie, and Rose.

Luckily, I think you have chosen two fantastic names that work perfectly for you, so even if you do nothing at all, your baby will still have a name when it arrives.

UPDATE: The baby was a girl, and her name is Eve!

POLL RESULTS: Nearly everyone thought that Finn and Eve were good choices for the baby’s name. 99% of people approved the choice of the name Finn, with more than half saying it was the perfect name which sounded fantastic with Lila. 98% of people approved the choice of the name Eve, with almost 40% saying it was the perfect name which sounded fantastic with Lila.

Cyclone Names for Girls

28 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

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Arabic names, aristocratic names, Biblical names, celebrity baby names, Christmas names, classic names, created names, cyclone names, epithets, European name popularity, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, French names, germanic names, Greek names, hebrew names, Italian names, literary names, modern classics, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, names from television, names of bears, names of mountains, nicknames, retro names, Roman names, royal names, saints names, Scottish names, Spanish names, underused classics

Summer is cyclone season, and here are ten girls’ names from the official list used to name Australian cyclones. Information on cyclones from the Bureau of Meteorology.

Adele
Cyclone Adele was off the east coast of Australia in 1969. Adele is the Anglicised form of Adèle, the French form of the Germanic name Adela, meaning “noble”, and the basis for familiar English names such as Adelaide, Adeline, and Alice. Adèle has been in use since the Middle Ages, and as with its related names, was a favourite with the nobility; it is still a popular name in France. Adele has been used all over the world, and has recently been placed in the spotlight by the popular British singer. In fact there’s quite a few singers called Adele so it’s a good name for songbirds – there is also an Adele in Johann Strauss II’s operetta Die Fledermaus. Adele was #272 in the 1900s and peaked in the 1940s at #198; it’s never been off the charts, yet never been popular. It’s risen sharply since 2011, when Adele’s second album went to #1, and is probably somewhere in the 100s. Pretty and substantial with a high-profile namesake, there is much to recommend this underused classic, and it might be right for someone like you!

Clara
There have been several cyclones named Clara in the north of Australia. Clara is the feminine form of the Roman name Clarus, meaning “bright, clear, famous”. It was used in ancient Rome, but became well known in the Middle Ages due to St Clare of Assisi, one of the first followers of St Francis of Assisi. She was born Chiara Offreduccio to a noble family, and her Italian name can be translated as Clara or Clare. Clara is familiar throughout the world, and a popular name in Europe. You might think of this as a Christmas name because Clara is the little girl in Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker. A more contemporary fictional namesake is Clara Oswald, companion to Dr Who, played by Jenna Coleman; she also has a Christmas connection. Clara was #57 in the 1900s and left the Top 100 the following decade; it was off the charts by the 1950s. It made a comeback in the 1980s, perhaps because of friend Clara in the Heidi movies and TV shows. Since then it has been climbing steadily, and is probably not far outside the Top 100. A stylish retro name rapidly recapturing its former heights.

Cynthia
Cyclone Cynthia hit the Gulf of Carpentaria in 1967, bringing strong winds and heavy rain. Cynthia is a Greek name meaning “from Mount Cynthus”. Mount Cynthus is in the middle of the island of Delos, and according to Greek mythology the twin deities Apollo and Artemis were born on the mountain. Because of this, Cynthia was an epithet of Artemis, goddess of the moon and hunting. In modern times, Mount Cynthus is a popular tourist destination, offering superb views. Cynthia has been used as an English name since around the 16th century, but was better known in literature. Richard Barnfield wrote a series of sonnets to Cynthia, while Ben Jonson wrote a comedy called Cynthia’s Revels, where the goddess Artemis represents Elizabeth I. The name became much more common in the 18th century, with usage concentrated in America. Cynthia has been almost continually on the charts, making #284 in the 1910s and peaking in the 1940s at #133. It may be around the 500s now; I am seeing more of this underused classic. An elegant literary name from the mountain of the moon goddess: its short form Cindy is coming back into fashion, with Thia another possibility.

Delilah
There was a Cyclone Delilah in 1966 and another in 1988. In the Old Testament, Delilah is the lover of Samson; the Bible implies she is a prostitute or courtesan. Delilah was heavily bribed to discover the source of Samson’s supernatural strength, and through nagging/emotional blackmail, eventually brought him down and betrayed him. Unusually, the Bible never punishes Delilah, but her name became synonomous with treachery and feminine wiles. The name Delilah is said to be from the Hebrew for “poor, weak”, perhaps with connotations of “she who makes weak”, as Delilah sapped Samson’s strength. It can also be translated as “flowering or fruitful vine or branch”, which Bible commentators have tended to associate with sexual availability. However, the name is written to connect it with the word for “night” – layela; Bible writers probably wanted to give the name a feeling of dangerous sensuality. The name was in common use by the 18th century, particularly in the American South, so parents weren’t put off by the Bible story. Its use is rapidly growing in the English-speaking world, and is probably around the 100s, thanks to its similarity to popular Lila. Delightfully pretty and wickedly sexy, it’s a bad girl name celebrated in a slew of popular songs.

Elise
There was a Cyclone Elise in 1966 and another in 1986. Elise is a short form of Elisabeth which has been in use as an independent name since at least the 16th century, and is popular in Europe. A favourite musical association is Beethoven’s Für Elise (“For Elise”), not published until many years after the composer’s death. Who Elise was remains a mystery – there are several possibilities of the time known by this name. One of them was a teenage musical prodigy, and it’s nice to think of this piece being dedicated to a young girl. Elise has charted since the 1960s, debuting at #634, and although it has hovered just below the Top 100 a few times, it’s only once been on it: in 2014, when it made #97. This is an underused modern classic that’s been overtaken by more fashionable names such as Eloise and Elsie. Its spelling variants tend to be confused with those for Alice, making it harder for sweet Elise to be noticed in the data. A good choice for those wanting something contemporary but not trendy.

Ines
Ines was a severe cyclone affecting the north coast of Australia in November 1973, bringing heavy rains and gale force winds; so far, this is the earliest in the season a cyclone has ever hit. Ines is based on Inés, the Spanish form of Agnes, originally used in honour of Saint Agnes. It gained a romantic medieval namesake in Inês de Castro, a noblewoman who had a secret relationship with Peter I of Portugal with tragic results – this story of forbidden love has often been turned into operas and ballets. The name Ines has a long history in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, and spread early to the English-speaking world. It’s popular in many European countries, including in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, and is most popular in France. This stylish name is being used more often in Australia, where it is known from the daughter of chef Bill Granger. Pronunciations vary, but it’s usually said ee-NEZ or ee-NESS – gentle correction is probably necessary. Sometimes confused with Scottish Innes, but familiarity will make things easier as the number of girls named Ines grows.

Selma
Cyclone Selma hovered around Darwin in December 1974, then changed course and disappeared – a harbinger of rampaging Tracy who would infamously do all the damage later that month. The origin of Selma is unsure. It may be a short form of Anselma, a Germanic name meaning “helmet of God, protection of God”. However, it only came into common use in the 18th century, after the publication of the Ossian poems by James McPherson, where Selma is a royal castle. McPherson created the name from the Scottish Gaelic for “good view”, translated as “beautiful to behold”. Just to confuse things, the name Selima also became known in 18th century Britain, thanks to a mock elegy by Thomas Gray about a cat called Selima who accidentally drowned. It was based on a real life incident: Selima was the pet of Gray’s friend, the writer Horace Walpole. The name – an apparent variant of the Arabic name Salima, meaning “peace” – took off, and Selma may be a variant. Currently popular in Norway and Sweden, this name has gained publicity from actress Selma Blair, and the film Selma, about the Civil Rights marches in Selma, Alabama. Rising in both the US and UK, this would have a real chance if people could forget about Selma Bouvier from The Simpsons.

Vida
Cyclone Vida was off the south west coast of Western Australia in 1975, bringing gale force winds and strong squalls which did about a million dollars worth of damage. The name Vida has several possible origins. It can be a feminine form of the Germanic name Wido, meaning “wood”, or of the Roman name Vitus, meaning “life” (a variant of Vita). In Portuguese and Spanish-speaking countries, it can be understood as a vocabulary name meaning “life”, from the Latin vita. It can also be used as a short form of Davida, a feminine form of David particularly associated with Scotland. In Australia, the name may be known from feminist Vida Goldstein, who campaigned for female suffrage in the late 19th and early 20th century; she was the first woman in the British Empire to stand for election in a national parliament. Her left-wing pacifist views made it almost impossible for her to be elected during World War I, but she was an extremely popular speaker. Vida was #129 in the 1900s, and off the charts by the 1940s. Little seen today, vivacious vintage Vida fits in well with popular names like Olivia and Ava, and seems very usable.

Winnie
Winnie was a severe cyclone that hit the north-west of Australia in 1975, with powerful winds. Winnie is traditionally used as a short form of Winifred, but in practice can be a nickname for anything that sounds similar, such as Wynne, Wilhelmina, Winter, Winsome, Gwendolyn, Guinevere, or Edwina (Appellation Mountain has an article on long forms for Winnie). Jimmy Fallon’s daughter Winnie was named in honour of Lake Winnipesaukee, a favourite holiday spot. A famous male with the name is Winston Churchill, known affectionately by the public as Winnie. Another is Winnie-the-Pooh, from the books by A.A. Milne. Winnie-the-Pooh was a real life teddy, and the first part of his name was after a Canadian bear at London Zoo, named Winnipeg. Of course, Winnie is fabulous as a name all on its own, and has been in common use as an independent name since the 18th century: it was especially associated with Ireland. This sweet and spunky short form is very fashionable, and rising in popularity in both the UK and US.

Zoe
Cyclone Zoe hit the coast at Coolangatta in 1974, causing extensive flooding in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. Zoe is a Greek name meaning “life”. Early Christians chose the name in allusion to life everlasting, and there are two saints and martyrs named Zoe. The name was also traditional for Byzantine Empresses. Greek-speaking Jews used the name to Hellenise the Hebrew name Chava, which also means “life” (its English form is Eve). Zoe came into use in modern times in the 19th century, and was especially associated with France. Zoe had a flurry of activity in the 1920s, when it reached #305; a famous namesake of this era was silent film star Zoe Palmer. It returned in the 1960s at #499; a possible inspiration is Australian actress Zoe Caldwell, who made several international TV appearances in this decade. It was in the Top 100 by the 1980s, and is currently #18 and stable (it is among the most popular names for Jewish baby girls in Australia, so remains a Jewish favourite). Zoe is popular in Europe and the English-speaking world, and this retro name will appeal to parents wanting something long-familiar, yet still faintly exotic.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite names were Clara, Zoe and Elise, while their least favourites were Ines, Vida and Selma.

(Painting is Delilah, by Australian artist Henry Clive, 1948; the model is Broadway beauty Beryl Wallace)

Waltzing With … Sydney

07 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by A.O. in Waltzing with ...

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aristocratic surnames, aristocratic titles, celebrity baby names, english names, famous namesakes, honouring, locational names, name history, name meanings, name popularity, patriotic names, surname names, UK name popularity, unisex names, vintage names

Famous City
On Australia Day, January 26, we celebrate the start of European settlement in Australia, when the First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove in 1788. Not much was actually done on this day – the ships landed, they ran up a flag, and drank a toast to the king. Few people went onshore, and convicts did not begin disembarking until the following day.

It was on February 7 1788, 228 years ago today, that the colony was proclaimed by Governor Arthur Phillip. Everyone gathered for a ceremony where possession was formally taken of the east coast of Australia by Britain – although the description of offshore territories was left sufficiently vague that it’s possible they also took New Zealand at the same time.

They did not acknowledge the Indigenous population as owners of the land, but Governor Phillip did intend to treat them humanely and kindly. Unfortunately these good intentions didn’t work out that well in the long term, mostly due to cultural ignorance and the fact they were about to unknowingly decimate the local population with a bunch of diseases.

People love to make myths about the founding of nations and cities, and in the case of Sydney, it has a strange and salacious foundation myth. It states that when the convict women were finally allowed off the boat on February 6, there was such a burst of pent-up sexual excitement that the day ended with a drunken orgy. How an orgy works when there are many more men than women is left to our imaginations.

Male historians and writers seemed to be especially fond of this urban legend, apparently loving the idea that Sydney was founded on a hotbed of drunken gang rape. They helped spread it even when they knew it wasn’t true, because there is barely a shred of evidence to support it. The soldiers’ wives were allowed off the ships not long after their husbands, and a few hand-picked convict women on February 5.

The next day, the rest of the convict women disembarked in small groups, surprising one commentator who found them cleaner and better-dressed than expected. There were no drunken convicts, because they weren’t given any alcohol. The big event was the weather, alarming to the British but entirely normal for a Sydney summer – a hot, muggy day ended with a spectacular thunderstorm, including a massive lightning strike which killed a handful of sheep. Thankfully the sheep have been left out of the orgy legend.

There was certainly plenty of sex in early Sydney, but probably most of it was between people who were already in partnerships, or at least knew each other previously. Instead of a mass orgy, there was a burst of weddings which took place in the new colony, as people settled down together and raised families – these came quickly, as everyone appeared to get pregnant easily in Sydney, even those considered barren, so that the land seemed healthy and fertile.

That was the start of Sydney as we know it – not the boozy party town you might have thought, but still a place of love and hope, new life and fresh beginnings, myths and legends, sunshine and storms, and minor miracles. Not to mention the occasional lightning-struck sheep: surely the progenitor of the traditional lamb chop on the barbie.

Name Information
Captain Arthur Phillip’s first idea for the city’s name was New Albion, a poetic way to refer to England. However, he soon changed his mind, and named it Sydney after Thomas Townshend, Baron Sydney, who was the Home Secretary. This wasn’t a first – Sydney in Nova Scotia had been named after Townshend three years earlier.

The choice of Sydney made a lot of sense, because Thomas Townshend was recognised as the originator of the plan to colonise New South Wales (at that time, the whole eastern seaboard of Australia).

He also gave the colony its first constitution and judicial system – a sign that he did not want New South Wales to be a mere penal settlement, but a colony of free citizens under English law. Although his ideals may not have always worked out in the reality of colonisation, his determination that slavery be illegal here was at least a promising start.

Townshend had originally wanted his title to be Baron Sidney, after his ancestor Sir Algernon Sidney, the famous republican, patriot and martyr, whose revolutionary ideas would help bring about the founding of the United States.

However, Townshend worried that other family members might stake a claim to it (even barons have to worry about name stealing!), so he thought about making his title Sydenham, the name of a village near his home in Kent which is now a suburb of London.

Sydnenham may mean “Cippa’s village”, which is sometimes translated as “drunkard’s village” (there are many places in England derived from Cippa, so that adds up to a lot of drunk Anglo-Saxons!). Others prefer the less controversial “market village”.

Eventually, Thomas Townshend managed to find a compromise with Sydney. To make it clear he wasn’t trying to steal Algernon Sidney off any relatives, he said it was in honour of his ancestor Sir Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester, the brother of the poet Sir Philip Sidney, who brought us the name Stella. Sir Robert was a poet as well, a diplomat and patron of the arts in Elizabethan and Jacobean times.

In the days when people were more relaxed about spelling, the Sidney family often spelled their name Sydney. The aristocratic surname Sidney is from a place name meaning “wide island” – in this case, island refers to a dry patch in a wetland. It can also be loosely translated as “at the watermeadow”. Folk etymology connects it with the suburb of St. Denis in Paris, named after the city’s patron saint. The surname originates from Kent, where the Sidney family had a seat at Tunbridge Wells.

Sydney has been used as a personal name since at least the 16th century, and was in use by the Townshend family. The name was originally given to both sexes fairly evenly, and then gradually became more common as a girl’s name, although still given to boys. By the 19th century, the situation reversed and it became much more common for boys – a variant of Sidney, rather than a feminised form of it.

Famous people named Sydney include Sydney Smirke, the architect who designed the famous Carlton Club in London; witty author Sydney Smith, whom Henry Tilney in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey is said to be based; actor Sydney Greenstreet; Sydney Silverman, the British MP whose efforts helped bring about the abolition of the death penalty in that country; American astrologer Sydney Omarr; and Hollywood director and producer Sydney Pollack.

Two famous actors named one of their children Sydney. Comic genius Sir Charles “Charlie” Chaplin had a son named Sydney, named in honour of Chaplin’s brother, actor Sydney Chaplin. Distinguished Hollywood star Sir Sidney Poitier has a daughter named Sydney, apparently named after himself. Both Sidney Earle Chaplin and Sydney Poitier entered the acting profession.

The most famous Sydney in fiction is Sydney Carton, from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Although a flawed character, he redeems himself through an act of heroism, and Dickens gives him some farewell lines that are among the most quoted in English literature.

In Australia, Sydney charted as a unisex name from 1900 to the 1960s. It peaked in the 1910s at 222 births per year, but by the 1950s registered only 4 births per year. Although recent data is hard to come by, it would seem that Sydney is still given to both sexes, with perhaps more girls with the name overall. It is in steady but unobtrusive use.

In the UK, Sydney was a popular name for boys from the 19th century until the 1940s. Since the mid-1990s, it hasn’t been popular for either sex, and consistently charts higher for girls. Currently it is in the 300s for girls, and the 800s for boys. The name peaked for both sexes in 2001, the year after the Sydney Olympics, when it was #206 for girls and #805 for boys.

In the US Sydney charted for boys steadily from the 19th century until the 1950s, after which use became sporadic. It was last on the Top 1000 as a boy’s name in 1996, and has never charted higher than the 300s.

As a girl’s name, Sydney had a burst of use from the 1930s to the 1960s, but at lower levels of use than for boys named Sydney. After coming back in the early 1980s, the name was been consistently on the Top 1000 as a girl’s name, and was a Top 100 name from 1994 to 2013. it peaked in the early 2000s at #23 (around the time of the Sydney Olympics) and is currently just outside the Top 100.

It’s interesting that even though the name Sydney came well before the city of Sydney, the city inspired the name to peak at the time of the Summer Olympics in 2000.

Sydney may have passed its Olympian peak, but this is an appealing vintage unisex name that could honour someone named Sidney, or the city of Sydney. Despite being an “American-style” name, it will always have an undeniable Australian connection.

POLL RESULTS

As a girl’s name, Sydney received an approval rating of 78%, making it one of the top-rated names of 2016. 35% of people thought it was a good name, but 9% hated it. It was less valued as a boy’s name, although still gaining a reasonable approval rating of 67%. 26% of people thought it was a good name, and 12% hated it.

(Picture shows Circular Quay in Sydney, the area where the First Fleet landed at Sydney Cove in 1788)

Save Our Susans and Protect The Peter: The Ridiculous World of “Endangered” Names

17 Sunday Jan 2016

Posted by A.O. in Names in the News

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Tags

Baby Name Explorer, classic names, middle names, name data, name popularity, Nancy's Baby Names, popular names, retro names, Sydney Morning Herald

A wave of articles on “endangered” names has been flooding my inbox since last year, and eventually some poor sap from the Sydney Morning Herald with minimal interest in names got roped into providing some scary statistics for New South Wales, so now I have to cover it too.

(I know they’re not interested in names because they think Jessica is a Hebrew name meaning “rich” – it isn’t Hebrew, and doesn’t mean anything of the sort).

By accessing the Baby Name Explorer database of names in NSW from 1900 to 2011, they found that the names that were fast disappearing were John, Robert, Peter, and David for boys, and Mary, Margaret, Susan, and Karen for girls.

In the world of manufactured name problems, this is surely one of the daftest. Here is why the sudden concern over endangered names is nonsensical.

The Statistics are Wrong
John and David are still in the Top 100, which they have never left after more than a century, and the Baby Name Explorer actually shows them increasing in usage in 2011. This is surely the exact OPPOSITE of disappearing or endangered.

Mary, Peter and Robert were only just outside the Top 100 in 2011 (Mary was #101), and the graph shows that both Mary and Robert had increased usage in 2011, while Peter’s position had remained extremely stable for some time.

Margaret increased in usage in 2011, and even Karen had an uptick which brought into back onto the charts that year. Susan was the only name on the list which had actually dropped off the charts by 2011.

How did they get it so wrong? By selecting names that had been #1 for a particular decade, so that their drop in popularity would look alarmingly steep, and then completely ignoring the names’ ranking and usage.

Mary was #1 in 1900 and had dropped to #101 in 2011 – in other words it only went down 100 places in 111 years! That’s very stable: the kind of stability that made Mary the overall #1 girl’s name of the twentieth century.

The “resurrected” names were equally silly, with William, Jack, Ruby, and Grace cited as names which had made brave comebacks against the odds. William has never been out of the Top 50, so it can hardly be said to have ever gone away, while Jack and Grace are classics which have never been lower than #400. Retro Ruby is the only name which has ever been off the charts and returned.

Why couldn’t the article identify any names which actually were still in use yet fast disappearing? Because the Baby Name Explorer only covers the 1200 most popular names of the century, so that any name still on the charts by 2011 was getting reasonable, and often increasing, usage. You can’t make useful statistics out of insufficient data.

The Data Doesn’t Include Middle Names
Margaret may only be around the 400s as a first name, but it’s a fairly common middle name for girls – probably in the Top 100 of middle names. Dorothy may not chart any more, but it’s not unusual in the middle. It doesn’t really matter whether a name is in the first or middle position: if it’s in use either way, you can hardly claim it as disappearing or long gone.

It’s Misleading to Apply Scientific Terms to Names
Terms like endangered or extinct, taken from environmental science, don’t make any sense when applied to names.

If a plant or animal is endangered, it is very difficult to ensure its survival, and will require specialised breeding programs or seed collecting initiatives, all of which depend on funding. Losing some species may have dire consequences for the planet; for example, we need bees and beetles to pollinate our crops and plants. Worst of all, once they are all gone, we cannot bring them back – no matter how much we long for the dodo, it is done for, and nothing will return it to us.

If a name isn’t used much any more, no great calamity will result. Brangien and Althalos have been rarely used since the Middle Ages, but nobody has suffered as a result of Brangien deficiency, and no awful disaster has ensued from the loss of Althalos.

Furthermore, if we decided we’d like to see more of a particular name which has gone out of use, it costs no money or effort to bring it back. You simply slap the name onto your child’s birth certificate, and hey presto – you’ve got yourself a rare and beautiful specimen of an Althalos.

As long as we still know of a name’s existence from books and records, it is a potential baby name, no matter how many centuries or even millennia since it was last used. (Thank you Nancy from Nancy’s Baby Names for pointing out this absurdity).

I hope you can all sleep more soundly now, knowing that herds of Johns and Davids wander at will, the Mary and the Peter are gambolling freely, and numbers of Margarets and Roberts are secure for the foreseeable future. We even have high hopes for the diminished Susan, which may yet return to a sustainable population as 1950s names prepare to come back into fashion.

I do wonder what effect these kinds of articles have on people though. Does it make them more likely to “save” the “endangered” names, knowing that not as many people are using them now, or does it put people off the names even more, in the belief that they would be choosing a baby name heading for the scrapheap?

POLL RESULTS
74% of people said being told a name was in danger of disappearing didn’t make any difference as to whether they would use it or not. 21% said they would be more likely to use the name, knowing it was a normal name that was currently underused. 5% would be less likely to use the name, knowing it had gone out of fashion and may be disliked by others.

39% of people thought we should save the name Susan, while 61% believed we shouldn’t bother.

Requested Name: Jacob

02 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by A.O. in Requested Names

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baby name book, Biblical names, brand names, European name popularity, famous namesakes, hebrew names, Julia Cresswell, locational names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, nicknames, saints names, UK name popularity, US name popularity

Biblical Namesake
In the Old Testament, Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham and Sarah. He had a twin brother named Esau, and it was said that the two of them fought for supremacy even in the womb. Esau was born first, with Jacob following so close behind he was holding his brother’s heel.

As they grew older, the twins developed very different personalities and even appearances – Esau was a hunter and exceptionally hairy, while Jacob was smooth-skinned and home-loving. Esau was Isaac’s favourite son, while Rebecca preferred Jacob.

While he was literally as hungry as a hunter, Esau was convinced by his younger brother to sell him his birthright as eldest for a bowl of red lentil stew. By disguising himself as Esau by covering himself in animal hair, Jacob also obtained a blessing from their blind father Isaac; the blessing made him ruler over his older brother Esau.

To get him away from his now murderously angry brother, Jacob was sent to work for his uncle. On the way, he had a dream or vision of a ladder or staircase reaching into heaven, with angels ascending and descending, while the voice of God blessed and encouraged him.

Jacob worked for his uncle as a shepherd, and married his cousins Leah and Rachel (he just wanted Rachel, but there was a two-for-one offer and he was only allowed Rachel if he took her sister as well). With these two wives, and two concubines, he eventually had twelve sons and at least one daughter.

On the way back home with his family, Jacob had a mysterious encounter with a divine being, who wrestled with him all night, until his hip was dislocated. Jacob demanded a blessing from the being, who did so, and gave him the new name of Israel. It is traditionally said that the being was an angel, although Genesis suggests that Jacob wrestled with God. Jacob always walked with a limp because of the injury to his hip.

Jacob and Esau reconciled with one another, and had an emotional reunion, showing that both had matured over the years. Despite missing out on his birthright and blessing, Esau had become rich and successful, and had a large family of his own; this probably made it easier for him to forgive his twin.

Jacob is regarded as the father of the Israelites, and his twelve sons as the progenitors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. He is venerated in Judaism as one of the great patriachs, while in Islam Yaqub is one of the prophets, upheld as an example of someone who trusted God completely. In Christianity, Jacob is revered because Jesus spoke of him, and his visions are believed to refer to the coming of Christ. He is regarded as a saint in Catholic tradition.

Name Information
The name Jacob is derived from Iacobus, a Latin form of the Hebrew Ya’akov. The Bible explains the name as meaning “holder of the heel”, as Jacob was born holding his twin brother’s heel, from the Hebrew word aqab, meaning “restrain”, a play on words with the similar iqqbah, “heel”.

The name is often translated as “supplanter”, because Jacob supplanted his older brother in gaining his inheritance. You could take holding a heel as a metaphor for supplanting someone, which is the only way this particular meaning makes even vague sense.

Neither of these is very convincing – the Bible is good at coming up with clever joke explanations of what names mean, but isn’t strong on etymology.

It has been suggested that the name could be short for a hypothetical longer name, such as Ya’aqov’el, meaning “may God protect”. In a baby name book I owned by Oxford philologist Julia Cresswell (now sadly fallen to unrecognisable pieces), she offers the theory that Jacob may ultimately be from Babylonian and mean “God rewards”. Unfortunately, I don’t remember her giving a source for this information.

So we know that Jacob is a name with very old roots, but the exact meaning of it cannot be recovered. It seems more likely to me that the meaning has something to do with God rather than feet, but all theories are only speculative.

Jacob has been used as an English name since the Middle Ages, although not as common as its New Testament form, James. It has often been thought of as being a particularly Jewish choice, although the sheer numbers of Jacobs through history in comparison to the Jewish population make this idea untenable. There is a Saint Jacob, an early Christian martyr from Syria, and the name became rather a favourite in the Eastern church. In the form Jakob, it was commonly used in Central and Eastern Europe, and there are quite a number of medieval saints named Jakob or Jakov.

Famous men from Australian history named Jacob include Jacob Pitman, a South Australian builder and architect who was responsible for spreading the work of his brother Isaac Pitman, the creator of a common form of shorthand. Jacob Nagle was an American-born sailor who arrived here on the First Fleet and left a lively account of early Sydney, while Jacob Mountgarrett was an Irish surgeon to the early colony. Jacob Garrard was a prominent trade unionist, and Jacob Oberdoo an Aboriginal leader.

Notable Jewish Jacobs in Australia include Jacob Montfiore, a highly successful businessman, politician, magistrate, bank director, and community leader – he also wrote plays and an opera. Rabbi Jacob Danglow was senior Jewish chaplain to the army during World War II, and Jacob Bloch was the premier maker of ballet shoes in the mid 20th century (not much of a businessman, but fun-loving and popular). Jacob Goldstein was a Christian charity worker of Jewish heritage.

Jacobs Creek in South Australia’s Barossa Valley is named after an assistant surveyor called William Jacob who settled here in the 1840s. Its main claim to fame is that it has given its name to the Jacobs Creek wine brand.

The name Jacob first charted in Australia in the 1970s, debuting at #163 – part of the trend towards fresh Biblical names for boys, and perhaps influenced by popular Jason. It joined the Top 100 in 1982 at #72, and was in the Top 50 by 1985. In the Top 20 by 1993, Jacob peaked in 2001 at #11, never reaching the Top 10. During the last few years its position has stabilised in the Top 20.

It is #18 nationally, #12 in New South Wales, #25 in Victoria, #26 in Queensland, #16 in South Australia, #10 in Western Australia, #11 in Tasmania, #20 in the Northern Territory, and #32 in the Australian Capital Territory.

In the US Jacob has been constantly on the Top 1000 since the late 19th century, and has never been lower than #368 in 1962. It was popular in the 19th century, and rejoined the Top 100 in the mid 1970s. It reached #1 in 1999 and remained there until 2013; it is now #4.

In the UK, Jacob was a popular name during the 19th century and was in the Top 40 by the mid 1990s. It has been climbing since 2008, and is currently #4. Jacob is most popular in the US and UK, but is popular in all English-speaking countries, and also in Scandinavia. The Jakob spelling is most popular in Slovenia, but also charts in Austria and Scandinavia. (Most countries pronounce the name differently to how we say it).

Jacob is a strong, handsome traditional name on its way to becoming a modern classic. The stability of its popularity makes it a very safe choice, yet it is still quite distinctive. The most common nickname is Jake, but in times past Jack was used, and more recently Coby and Jay.

Thank you to Susan for suggesting the name Jacob be featured on Waltzing More Than Matilda.

POLL RESULTS
Jacob received an approval rating of 58%. 17% of people thought Jacob was a safe choice that was still interesting, but 16% saw it as boring and common, and 15% as too popular. 10% of people loved the nickname Jake, while 5% hated it.

(Painting is of Jacob’s Ladder by William Blake, 1805)

Famous Name: Martin

11 Wednesday Nov 2015

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

classic names, European name popularity, famous nameksakes, French names, honouring, international name popularity, locational names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, Roman names, saints names, surname names, UK name popularity, US name popularity

Famous Location
Today is Remembrance Day, when we remember all those in the armed forces who have laid down their lives in the line of duty. It marks the end of hostilities of World War I, when by the terms of an armistice, fighting formally ceased at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Remembrance Day takes place on same day as the feast of Saint Martin, a patron of soldiers, so it seemed like a good opportunity to look at the name connected with this day.

If you would like to see the Anzac Cenotaph in Sydney honouring those who fell in World War I, you must go to Martin Place in the heart of the city, named for three-times New South Wales Premier and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Sir James Martin. It is here that Anzac Day parades and commemorations are traditionally held in Sydney.

The reason this spot was chosen for the Cenotaph was because conscription rallies were held here during World War I, and it was at the old General Post Office across from the Cenotaph that so many soldiers enlisted. As the GPO’s telegraph office was where important news first arrived, people gathered here to learn of significant events, and where the Cenotaph now stands, crowds formed waiting for the end of World War I to be announced.

The General Post Office was really the beginning of Martin Place, its Victorian-era neo-classical grandeur making it the largest building in Sydney when it was first built, and its granite and sandstone arcade providing a link between George and Pitt Streets. It demanded a public space around it, and by the 1970s Martin Place had become a major pedestrian mall.

Martin Place is the centre of the city’s business and finance sector, with the head offices of major banks and insurance corporations, and the Reserve Bank. Still a centre for news distribution, it is where Channel Seven’s Sydney news station is located.

Crowds continue to gather in Martin Place, for the annual Christmas tree concert, for festivals and performances, for major sporting events shown on huge screens, for political protests such as the Occupy Sydney movement, and as a backdrop in television programs and films, including The Matrix series.

Its very centrality and importance made it a target for violence during the hostage siege crisis last year, and a focus for remembrance and healing afterwards when Martin Place was transformed into a “field of flowers”. Martin Place is a place to remember, to celebrate, to mourn, and to heal.

Name Information
Martin is from the Roman name Martinus, derived from Martis, which means “belonging to Mars”. In Roman mythology Mars was the god of war, and etymologists dispute the origin of his name. It must come from some older god, but quite who it was, whether they were Oscan or Etruscan, and what their name signified, is something lost in the mists of time.

The name Martin has become well known to us because of Saint Martin of Tours, a Christian soldier conscripted into the Roman army who felt that a military life was incompatible with his faith and turned conscientious objector. He became a disciple of St Hilary in France, and then a hermit before he was elected bishop of Tours by popular acclaim.

There are many stories about Saint Martin. One is that he was so reluctant to become bishop that he hid in a barn full of geese, but their cackling gave him away (this legend shows that the mythology of the god Mars may have got involved here, because geese were sacred to Mars in pagan Gaul). Another famous story is while still a soldier he used his military sword to cut his cloak in half to give to a ragged beggar shivering in the depths of winter. That night he dreamed of Jesus wearing the half cloak, which convinced him he was on the right path by following the Christian faith.

Saint Martin was enormously popular in France during the Middle Ages, and was adopted by the royal houses of France. Saint Martin is not only a patron of soldiers, but of France itself, and Martin is the most common French surname. Saint Martin has been called upon during many modern conflicts in France, including World War I, and when his feast day of November 11 was chosen as the day to sign the Armistice, the French saw it as a sign of his intercession.

Saint Martin’s Day was widely celebrated in Europe, and in Britain was known as Martinmas. Occuring at the beginning of the coldest months, it was the traditional day to slaughter animals for the winter, with a feast naturally following – goose was often served, and wine drunk liberally, as Saint Martin is also the patron of the grape harvest and winemaking. Martinmas was a Christian successor to the pagan feast of Samhain, which took place on October 31/November 1. It was formerly seen as the beginning of the lead-up to Christmas.

There are several other saints named Martin in his honour, and popes as well. The famous theologian Martin Luther was named after the saint, and he was baptised on November 11, Saint Martin’s Day. The great Civil Rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King Jr gained his name from Martin Luther – his father had been a pastor named Michael King, but changed his name to Martin Luther King after becoming inspired by the life of Martin Luther on a trip to Germany. One way or another, the name wields a powerful spiritual clout.

Martin is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #93 in the 1900s, and left the Top 100 the following decade. It began climbing during the 1940s (perhaps the war brought this military name to the fore). By the 1950s Martin was in the Top 100 again, peaking in 1967 at #41 (around the time of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr’s greatest publicity). It left the Top 100 in the 1900s, and is now around the 200s.

In the US, Martin was a Top 100 name from the late 19th century until 1970, and reached its peak in 1880 at #44. Its highest point in the twentieth century was #63 in 1964, the year after Martin Luther King’s famous I Have a Dream speech. It is now #261 and very stable, even rising slightly last year – in 2014 the film Selma was released, with David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr.

In the UK, Martin was in the Top 100 from the mid 19th century until the 1990s, peaking in the 1960s at #18. It is now #247 and stable, and as in the US, numbers went up last year. Martin is still a popular name in Europe, including Ireland, and is a particular favourite in Spain and Latin America. It is rising in Spain, where it is #8, and in France, where it is #46, so the French are still backing their patron saint.

With Martin you get a classic name seems both strong and gentle – a warrior under Mars, and a man of firm principles and the power of his convictions, like Saint Martin, Martin Luther and Martin Luther King Jr. It’s a traditional name that isn’t common, and yet isn’t disappearing into obscurity either: it’s stable and even had a small boost. A surprisingly safe choice that’s possibly just a little cooler than you might think.

POLL RESULTS
Martin received an approval rating of 57%. 21% of people believed it was old-fashioned and dated, while 16% saw it as geeky or dorky. However, 13% thought it was a strong yet gentle name for a boy. The tease names of Martian or Fartin’ Martin each bothered 2% of people, while only one person thought it was too closely connected to alcohol because of Remy Martin cognac or the martini cocktail.

(Photo shows the GPO at 1 Martin Place)

Fresh Surname Names For Boys

08 Sunday Nov 2015

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Anglo-Saxon names, celebrity baby names, Dutch names, European name popularity, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, French names, Gaelic names, Harry Potter names, honouring, locational names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, name trends, names from comics, names from movies, nicknames, Old English names, Old Norse names, saints names, Scottish names, surname names, UK name popularity, unisex names, US name popularity

Surname names for boys that aren’t popular in Australia and have never charted here, yet are rising internationally. These names only chart for boys at present, giving them a solidly masculine feel.

Beckett
English surname with several possible origins. It could be after a place name – Beckett in Berkshire means “bee cottage” in Old English, while Beckett in Devonshire means “Bicca’s cottage”; the Anglo-Saxon name Bicca means “pick axe”. It could also refer to someone who lived near a stream, because the word beck means stream. Finally, it could be derived from the surname Beake, a nickname for someone with a big nose. Beckett has been used as a first name since at least the 16th century, and may have been inspired by St Thomas Becket (also known as Thomas à Becket), the famous medieval archbishop murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by supporters of Henry II. You can find it in early records as a middle name for people called Thomas A. Beckett and so on. In the Artemis Fowl books, Beckett is the younger brother of Artemis, blessed with strength and dexterity. Although rare in Australia, Beckett is storming up the charts in both the US and the UK. The obvious nickname is Beck.

Calvin
From the French surname Cauvin, derived from chauve, French for “bald”. It has been in use as a first name since the late 16th century, inspired by the French theologian Jehan Cauvin, known as John Calvin by English-speakers (Calvin is the Latinised form of his name, from calvus, “bald”). He was a leader of the Protestant Reformation, and his thoughts on the value of hard work as part of a pious Christian life one of the factors in the rise of capitalism. Famous namesakes include former US president (John) Calvin Coolidge, fashion designer Calvin Klein, and rapper Calvin Broadus Jr, otherwise known as Snoop Dogg. However, many will be reminded of the mischievous little boy in the Calvin and Hobbes comic books, who lives in a fantasy world with his imaginary friend Hobbes, a tiger – both Calvin and Hobbes are named after famous philosophers. Around the 300s in Australia, Calvin is fairly stable in the US, UK, and France, and rose in all three countries last year, while Top 100 in Scotland. Similar in sound to familiar Callum, this also has the nickname Cal.

Emmett
May be derived from Emmot, a medieval pet form of the name Emma. There are several surnames derived from male names that we think suitable for girls (eg Addison, Mackenzie) so it makes sense that a surname derived from a female name is suitable for boys! It could also be a variant of Emmott, a place name in Lancashire meaning “junction of streams”. Emmett was originally a name for girls, but by the 19th century had become overwhelmingly a boy’s name, and much more common in the United States. The name Emmett was already rising in the US when Twilight was published in 2005, but had a definite surge after the release of the movie, with Kellan Lutz in the role of strong-man vampire Emmett Cullen. Still rising, it is now in the mid 100s in the US, while rising steeply in the UK since 2005. It’s around the 200s in Australia. Famous namesakes include outlaw Emmett Dalton, clown Emmett Kelly, and teenager Emmett Till, whose murder helped inspire the Civil Rights movement. And who could forget Dr Emmet Brown from Back to the Future?

Grayson
When Scottish, a corruption of Grierson, meaning “son of Grier”, with Grier a pet form of Gregory. When English, it might be from “son of the greyve” – greyve was the medieval word for “a steward”. The Scottish usage is supposedly older. Any connection with the word grey is apparently a coincidence, although Grayson might almost be considered a colour name. Grayson has been used as a boy’s name since the 18th century, and originates from the north of England on the border with Scotland, possibly lending some weight to the Scottish theory. Grayson has been in the US Top 1000 since 1984, a sound-alike successor to Jason. The name is now Top 100 in the US, and still climbing. In the UK, Grayson has charted since 2005 and is now in the 200s and climbing steeply. Although Grayson doesn’t chart here, the name is being seen more often, and is already popular in New Zealand. International trends suggest that Grayson is climbing in Australia too. A famous namesake is Dick Grayson, otherwise known as Batman’s junior sidekick, Robin.

Hendrix
Variant of the Dutch surname Hendriks, derived from Hendrik, a form of Henry. Although Hendrix has been used as a personal name since the 17th century, originating in The Netherlands, its current inspiration is 1960s rock star Jimi Hendrix, considered one of the greatest electric guitarists of all time. A pioneer and innovator of psychedelic rock, he is a guitar legend who has influenced many since. The name Hendrix joined the US 1000 in 2011, the year after Hendrix’s album Valleys of Neptune was posthumously released, reaching #1 on the US charts; Hendrix is now in the 500s in the US. In the UK, Hendrix has charted since 2004, and has been climbing steeply since 2011; it’s now in the 700s. Hendrix is around the 500s in Australia, and has been chosen for their sons’ names by Madeleine West and Natalie Bassingthwaighte. A musical name that’s a cool spin on popular Henry.

Jamison
Variant of Jameson, a Scottish surname meaning “son of James”. There is a famous father and son with this surname in Australian history. Thomas Jamison came here as a naval surgeon on the First Fleet; he was an Irishman of Scottish descent. He was surgeon to the Norfolk Island colony who published Australia’s first medical paper. Granted land, he became wealthy but got mixed up in the Rum Rebellion and returned to Britain. His son Sir John Jamison was also a naval surgeon appointed to Norfolk Island, and became Surgeon-General. As the first titled free settler, he immediately became the head of Australian society. There are a number of places named after one or other of these Jamisons. In use as a personal name since the 18th century, Jamison has a particular connection to Scotland. Jamison is around the 400s in Australia, and is in the 400s and climbing in the US, although in rare use in the UK. A possible way to honour a James, with a wealth of potential nicknames, including Jay and Jamie.

Kingsley
English surname from the village of Kingsley in Cheshire, whose name means “king’s meadow”. Famous people with the surname include novelist Charles Kingsley, and actor Sir Ben Kingsley (born Krishna Bhanji). Kingsley has been used as a personal name since the 18th century, and was a particular favourite in America. Famous namesakes include the satirical novelist Sir Kingsley Amis, and the YouTube comedy star Kingsley, whose real name is King. A famous fictional namesake is the cool, powerful wizard Kingsley Shacklebolt from the Harry Potter series, played by George Harris in the films. The name Kingsley has been on the US Top 1000 since 2010, the year after Kingsley first went viral on YouTube. It climbed last year and is now in the 700s. In the UK, Kingsley is in the 500s and climbing, while in Australia it is around the 300s. King- names are on trend, along with other nods towards royalty.

Knox
Scottish surname, perhaps after the place name Knock, which comes from the Gaelic An Cnoc, meaning “the hillock”; there is a village named Knock on the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides of Scotland. It could also be given to someone who lived near a small hill. One of its most famous namesakes is 16th century theologian John Knox, who led the Protestant Reformation in Scotland; posh private schools are sometimes named after him. Another notable namesake is Henry Knox, who was the first US Secretary of War in the late 18th century – the famous Fort Knox in Kentucky is named in his honour, along with many other places. Knox has been used as a personal name since the 18th century. Knox rejoined the US Top 1000 in 2009, a year after Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie named their son Knox (twin to Vivienne) – Knox was the middle name of Pitt’s grandfather. Since then it has screamed up the charts and is now in the 200s. Although rare in the UK, it has appeared on the England/Wales charts since 2009. In Australia, it is around the 600s. Apart from the Hollywood star factor, this is a smart name ending with a fashionable X, in line with names such as Max and Fox.

Marshall
An occupational surname. The English word marshal comes from the Old French word mareschal, which literally means “horse servant”, and originally referred someone who was in charge of taking care of horses. Later it came to mean both a blacksmith, and a high-ranking officer who was in charge of a medieval prince or lord’s cavalry, and later still, of his military forces – what we might call a general or field marshal. This duality in the name’s meaning meant that some Marshalls were of the nobility, especially in Scotland, and others had a more humble origin. Marshall has been used as a personal name since at least the 16th century, and even from its earliest days was sometimes given to girls, although it is now overwhelmingly considered male (perhaps partly because it sounds like the word martial, meaning “war-like, warrior-like”). Marshall Amplication is a famous English music company, while Marshall and Sons was a pioneering music retailer in Adelaide. Marshall was Jimi Hendrix’s middle name, and there’s also Marshall Mathers III, otherwise known as Eminem. Marshall is around the 300s in Australia, similar to its position in the US and UK: the name rose in both countries last year.

Tate
Derived from the Old English name Tata, of obscure meaning. There were a number of Anglo-Saxon kings called Tata as a nickname – just to make it slightly more confusing, Tate seems to be the feminine form, which was what a Queen Ethelburga was known as. It is conjectured that it might come from the Old English toetan, meaning “to caress”, so it could be an affectionate nickname like Sweetie or Cuddles. There is an identical sounding Scottish surname Tait, and this comes from the Old Norse name Teitr, meaning “glad” – it is not impossible that the Old English nickname Tata came from the same source, so might be a nickname along the lines of Happy or Merry. The two different surnames have probably become meshed, in any case. Tate is around the 200s in Australia, and in the 300s in the US and UK. In the US it has been generally on the rise since around the time of the 1991 film Little Man Tate (about a child genius named Fred Tate), and in the UK has been rising steeply since 2012 – the year after former Spice Girl Emma Bunton welcomed a son named Tate.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite names were Emmett, Beckett and Calvin, and their least favourite were Jamison, Knox and Kingsley.

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