Tag Archives: season names

Uncommon Vocabulary Names For Girls

06 Sunday Dec 2015

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Some vocabulary names are popular, like Poppy and Summer, while others are familiar, like Faith and Melody. Then there’s the vocabulary names which are more unexpected. These are ten names I have seen on Australian babies this year – but only once. They are real names, but comparative rarities.

Breeze
A breeze is a light gentle wind, pleasantly cooling and appreciated on a warm day. We say that anything easy or effortless is a breeze. The word came into use around the early 16th century, borrowed from the Dutch bries. By the following century it was in occasional use as a name. It has always been rare, and overall evenly given to both sexes, but in both the US and UK is more common now for girls. That might be because it’s similar to Bree, and sometimes girls with names like Brianna have Breeze or Breezy as their nickname. The name has a literary namesake, as H.E. Bates wrote a novella called Breeze Anstey; Breeze is a young woman and it’s a love triangle story. The name was chosen for the daughter of Levi Johnston, former fiance to Bristol Palin and father of her son Tripp, in 2012, and Vanilla Ice’s daughter has Breeze as her middle name. For a rare name, cool Breeze seems easy to wear.

Chilli
Chillies are spicy fruit from Central and South America, commonly used in cooking. The word comes from Nahuatl, the language spoken by the Aztecs, and doesn’t have any connection with the name of the country Chile, despite sounding exactly alike. Amusingly for Anglophones, a chilli is exactly the opposite of chilly! Chillies were introduced to Europe and Asia in the 15th century, but Chilli and Chili (the US spelling) have only been used very occasionally as names since the 19th century. It’s easier to find it as a nickname or stage name, such as vintage British actress Chili Bouchier (real name Dorothy). The name has gained some interest as a girl’s name since restaurateur Pete Evans, later TV host and cooking judge, and now Paleo Diet advocate, chose it for his eldest daughter around 2005. I see Chilli every now and again, and this hot name certainly packs a punch.

Halo
A halo is a ring of light; the word comes from the Greek, meaning “disc”. It can be used in science to refer to bands of coloured light around the sun or moon, and to clouds of gas surrounding galaxies. However, it’s probably best known from religious art, where saints and angels are depicted as having an aura of bright light around their heads, called a halo. It was a common artistic device in ancient Greece and Rome for heroes and rulers, and followed in religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam. The word has been used in English since the 16th century, and in the sacred sense since the 17th; it replaced glory, which was the older term for divine light. Being a modern word, it didn’t become used as a name until around the 19th century. Halo is now mostly given to girls, and has become more common since the Halo video game series was released in 2001. In the games, Halo rings are huge structures used as weapons, but do have a religious connection. A space age virtue name and possible honour name for Gloria.

Harvest
Harvest comes the Old English haerfest, which was used for the name of the month we call August, and referred to the season when harvesting took place, in late summer/early autumn. From the 18th century, people began calling the season autumn or fall, and then harvest specifically meant the process of gathering crops. However, if you come from a farming background, you will know that country people still often use the word harvest to mean the time of year when crops are gathered, as in “We can’t make any plans until after harvest”. Harvest has been occasionally used as a name since the 18th century, and shows up as originally evenly unisex. Overall Harvest has been mostly given to boys, but in the US data for last year, still looks fairly evenly unisex, given to 9 girls and 5 boys. It doesn’t appear in UK data at all. Harvest can be seen as pleasantly archaic, referring to the ancient cycles of rural life; it also has Christian and pagan connotations, celebrating harvest festivals of thanksgiving. Rich and ripe, Harvest fits in with popular names like Harper and Harvey, and is a fresh take on names like Autumn and August.

Ivory
Ivory is a costly substance made from the tusks and teeth of animals. The word comes from abu, the ancient Egyptian word for “elephant”, and although we usually think of ivory as coming from elephants, ivory has also been taken from animals such as hippopotamus, walrus, sperm whale, narwhal, elk, and warthog. Ivory has been used since ancient times to make expensive decorative objects, and at the height of its popularity in the 19th century, thousands of elephants were slaughtered every year for their tusks. Although the sale of ivory is now banned or restricted, poaching of elephants for their ivory is increasing, and wild elephant populations are threatened; in many Asian countries, they are almost extinct. That makes Ivory quite a controversial name, even though it’s been in use since the 17th century. Because it fits in with current name trends and is similar to popular Ivy, use of the name Ivory is increasing in both the US and UK (it was #753 in the US last year). Enjoying the name means forgetting what ivory actually is: something I am unable to do.

Magnolia
Magnolias are beautiful fragrant flowering trees native to south-east Asia and the Americas, with a strong association with the southern states of the US. Magnolias are ancient plants, and despite their rather delicate appearance are quite tough (Steel Magnolias was chosen to depict Southern women as both strong and beautiful, but they could have just gone with Magnolias!). They are named in honour of French botanist Pierre Magnol; his surname is most likely a pet form of the name Magne, French form of Magnus, meaning “great”. Magnolia has been used as a name since the 19th century, when flower names were fashionable, and was most common in the American south. The name Magnolia made the US Top 1000 until 1940, and returned in 2013, although almost unknown in the UK. A lovely exotic name with Maggie as the obvious short form.

Ochre
Ochre is a naturally coloured clay, ranging in tone through yellow, orange, red, purple, and brown; it is iron oxide in the clay which gives it its colour. The word ochre is from ancient Greek, and literally means “pale yellow”. Ochre has been used for art since prehistoric times, and Australian Aborigines have used ochre for painting and body decoration. The very earliest human remains in Australia, many tens of thousands of years old, were buried with ochre. Ochre is an exceedingly rare name, found only a few times since the 19th century, and not showing up in any current data. Yet it means much the same thing as popular Sienna (another clay coloured with iron oxide) and sounds similar to fashionable Oakley. A strong earthy nature name that is both unusual and evocative.

Temperance
Temperance is moderation and restraint; it comes from the Latin meaning “moderation, sobriety”. A temperate person avoids excess of negative emotion, such as anger or grief, and is prudent in their habits, never over-indulging. Temperance was one of the cardinal virtues of the Greek philosophers, and was adopted by Christian thinkers; it is also an essential element of the spiritual path in Buddhism and Hinduism. Modern psychology views the calmness and self-control of temperance as a hallmark of maturity and psychological health. The classic image for Temperance is a woman mixing water with wine, and this is the standard picture on the Temperance tarot card (number XIV). The word is often connected with the temperance movement, which advocated limiting alcohol consumption or abstaining from it altogether. Temperance has been used as a girl’s name since at least the 16th century, and was especially connected with the Puritans. Temperance joined the US Top 1000 in 2011, the name rising since comedy-drama crime show Bones, which stars Emily Deschanel as chic geek Dr Temperance “Bones” Brennan. It showed up in UK data after the TV series began in 2005, and is occasionally seen here too. Virtue names are back on trend, and this one is attracting many fans.

Vogue
Vogue means the fashion or style of the time, or of a particular era. The word came into use in the 16th century, from the French meaning “wave, course of success” – it’s from voguer, meaning “to travel through water, to swim, sail or row”. You can see how what’s in vogue is at the crest of the wave, and how those who follow it are in the swim of things. Ultimately it’s from ancient Germanic meaning “to sway, to fluctuate”, a reminder of fashion’s fickleness. It’s famous as the name of iconic fashion magazine Vogue, and the magazine has inspired a dance called the vogue, brought into the mainstream with Madonna’s song Vogue. Vogue has been in rare use as a personal name, mostly since the 20th century. It doesn’t show up in current US data, but has been rising in the UK since 2013. It’s influenced by Irish model Vogue Williams, briefly married to pop singer Brian McFadden, Australian popstar Delta Goodrem‘s ex-boyfriend: Vogue’s grandmother suggested her name after an encounter with someone named Vogue. I see this name occasionally (Vogue Williams lived here at one point), and vaguely wonder how for long it will be in vogue.

Zinnia
Zinnias are ornamental daisies related to the sunflower and native to the Americas; the best known species are from Mexico. Introduced to Europe at the end of the 18th century, they are named after German botanist Johann Zinn; his surname is an occupational one for someone who worked with pewter. Zinnia has been used as a girl’s name since the 19th century, favoured by that era’s trend for flower names, but has never been common. Nevertheless it has several fictional namesakes, including grieving Zinnia Taylor from young adult novel Chasing Redbird, mischievous Zinnia Larkin (twin sister to Petunia) from the Larkin family books by H.E. Bates, and neglectful mother Zinnia Wormwood from the film Matilda. It’s also a bit of a favourite for animal characters. Last year there were 89 girls in the US named Zinnia, and 12 in the UK, the name rising in both countries. A bright, quirky flower name that seems both aristocratic and exuberant.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite names were Magnolia, Zinnia and Temperance, and their least favourite were Ochre, Chilli and Vogue.

(Photo shows Emily Deschanel as Dr Temperance Brennan on Bones)

Waltzing With … Winter

22 Sunday Jun 2014

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Yesterday was the winter solstice, so we are now embarking on the coldest part of the year. In Hobart they celebrated the winter solstice with an icy nude swim at sunrise, and declared that being half frozen to death was quite exhilarating.

It’s been a fairly mild winter so far (hopefully in Hobart too), although winter still came as a shock to me as we’d had such a warm autumn. There’s lots to enjoy about winter: the grass which was dry and brown in summer is now a lush green; the sunshine is warm, but doesn’t burn; the clear blue skies of winter are more beautiful than in summer.

I look forward to making soup, walking for miles without getting hot and sweaty, footy season, weekends ski-ing, and cold nights at home by the fire. I love the eerie look of trees looming through fog, waking up to find a glitter of ice on the lawn, snow capping the mountains, or falling softly on the house like icing sugar.

Of course, I also hate going to work in the pitch dark, finding the frost has killed all the vegetables in the garden, everyone tracking mud and dead leaf mush into the house, and miserable grey days where the sun doesn’t appear until 3.30 pm, then sets at 4. But on a sunny winter Sunday, it’s easy to forget all that.

I planned to do the name Winter today back in January, but yesterday a blog reader considered the name Winter for one of her twin daughters, and on Friday there was a boy with Winter as one of his middle names, so what with the winter solstice, this does seem like the weekend for Winter.

Winter is an English word derived from Ancient Germanic. The original meaning is not known for sure: it may come from an ancient word for “water”, possibly to denote “wet season”.

The English surname Winter started out as a nickname for someone who was of a cold or miserable “wintry” temperament – not very flattering! As an Irish surname, Winter can be an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Giolla Gheimhridh, meaning “son of the servant of Gheimhridh”, with the personal name Gheimhridh meaning “winter”. Winter can also be a German-Jewish surname after the season. The surname is frequently spelled Wynter, making this a variant spelling with a long history.

Winter has been used as a first name since at least the 16th century, and according to early records, most people named Winter were born during the winter months. Later records don’t seem to show much correlation between the name Winter being chosen and the season of birth.

Winter is historically much more common as a male name, suggesting that the surname was more influential than the season. These days, Winter is more often thought of as a female name, and it charts in the United States as a girl’s name only, where it is rising. In the UK, Winter is more common for girls (more than three times as many Winters are girls), but is rising steeply for both sexes. Interestingly, the less common spelling Wynter has been much more evenly given to both sexes through history (although still more common for males).

Winter was in the 200s in Victoria in 2012 – there were almost as many baby girls named Winter just in this state as in the whole of the UK. I see Winter used mostly as a girl’s name in Australian birth notices, but it seems more common as a boy’s name in the middle position, showing its great versatility.

Even though Winter is currently more common as a girl’s name, it still seems very usable for boys. It sounds similar to Winston, is a surname, and the season of winter isn’t generally thought of as particularly feminine. It is sometimes personalised as Old Man Winter or Father Winter, and another “winter character” of folklore is Jack Frost. This always reminds me of the Australian bird, the Jacky Winter – another boyish-sounding winter connection.

I can think of two famous female characters connected to winter, and they are both from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson. One of them is the beautiful yet deadly Ice-Maiden, and the other is the Snow Queen. Although the Snow Queen is a seemingly malevolent character, she is an attractive one: beautiful, strong, and intelligent, she is a “queen bee”. Because of these two characters, we call an alluring yet frosty woman an “ice maiden” or “snow queen”, and rumour has it that Anderson based both these characters on the opera singer Jenny Lind, and her rejection of him.

The Snow Queen recently received a reboot in the Disney film Frozen, with a completely different plot and characters from Anderson’s fairy tale. The stranger-danger theme of a beautiful cold woman in a sleigh seducing, abducting, and imprisoning a little boy had already been co-opted by C.S. Lewis for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, so something different was necessary.

Frozen has been a huge hit, with its appealing characters, fun dialogue, heart-warming coming-of-age story, and catchy songs. As Ebony from Babynameobsessed has pointed out, that has had an effect on the naming world. The name Elsa is becoming more popular, Arendelle suddenly seems usable as a baby name, and perhaps we can expect more winter-inspired names such as Snow, Frost, Ivy, June … and Winter.

Winter is a clean-sounding name that conjures up the purity of virgin snow, mysterious fog descending on the earth like a white blanket, the crisp sparkle of morning frost. Or maybe it reminds you of invigorating hikes in the cold air, and the thrill of downhill ski-ing, or of hot cocoa drunk before a blazing fire, and snuggling under the quilts at night while listening to a storm roaring outside.

When I think of stories connected with winter, apart from ice maidens, snow queens, white witches and frost fairies, I think of the white bear in the tale East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon, of the frost giants of Norse legend, of William Shakespeare’s comedy The Winter’s Tale, with its frozen queen, and Mark Helprin’s New York fantasy, Winter’s Tale.

There are so many fantasy stories about winter, perfect for recounting before the fire on cold nights, that there seems something magical it. Anything is possible in a winter wonderland – it’s a season of miracles.

POLL RESULT
Winter received an extremely good approval rating of 78%. 28% of people loved the name, while a further 24% liked it. Less than 10% of people hated the name.

(Picture shows Craig’s Hut at Thredbo, New South Wales; photo from Red Bubble)

Australian Beaches That Could be Used as Girls Names

30 Sunday Dec 2012

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morningtideYou may have noticed that all the names that have been featured on the blog since the weather got warmer have had some connection with water or the sea. With summer holidays upon us, it is only fitting that the last Name List for the year is one of Australian beach names.

Airlie

The town of Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday region of north Queensland is a popular tourist destination and one of the departure points for the Great Barrier Reef. Because James Cook thought he arrived here on Whitsunday, every year there is a Blessing of the Fleet on Whitsunday (Pentecost) – although Cook almost certainly got the day wrong and it was really Whitmonday. The town’s beach is quite small, and infested by sea wasps, the most lethal jellyfish in the world. For the convenience of those wishing to avoid a painful death, a swimming lagoon has been built on the foreshore. The town is named after Airlie in Scotland, the seat of the Earl of Airlie. Airlie Castle is referenced in the ballad, The Bonnie House o’ Airlie, and mentioned in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, Kidnapped. The meaning is not known, although it’s possibly from the Gaelic for “edge of a ridge”. Airlie is a name reasonably well-known in Australia, although rare elsewhere; there’s ABC presenter Airlie Ward, hockey player Airlie Ogilvie, policy analyst Dr Airlie Worrall, and actress Airlie Dodds. This is a modern name with ties to Scottish history, and would be a great choice if Airlie Beach is meaningful to you.

Bondi

Bondi Beach is extremely popular with locals and tourists alike, one of Sydney’s iconic destinations, and heritage listed. In the fashionable eastern suburbs, it’s a place to see and be seen, lined with hotels, cafes and restaurants from where you can view the beach and beachgoers. Bondi has always had a reputation for showing a lot of flesh, and in stricter times the American actress Jean Parker was booted off it for wearing a bikini. These days topless bathing is common on Bondi. If almost-naked humans aren’t your thing, there is always the chance of seeing dolphins, fairy penguins, and in season, whales. Bondi Beach has many cultural events, including the annual City to Surf charity run, and it stars in TV shows such as Bondi Rescue and Bondi Vet. The name Bondi (said BON-dye) is said to be from boondi, a local Aboriginal word meaning “sound of water breaking over rocks”. The rare use of this name in records may be from the Italian surname Bondi (said bon-DEE), meaning “good day”. I saw a baby girl named Bondi in this year’s Bonds Baby Search. This is an unusual choice, but rather patriotic, and seems ideal for beach-loving Sydneysiders.

Etty

Etty Bay is a picturesque little bay in far north Queensland; the nearest town is Innisfail. Enclosed by rainforest filled with wildlife, it attracts bushwalkers, birdwatchers and picnickers, and is known as one of the best places to see endangered cassowary birds in the wild – cassowaries are large flightless birds around six feet tall. Etty Beach is considered safe for swimming, as long as you avoid saltwater crocodiles and deadly jellyfish. Etty is a pet form of names such as Esther, Ethel, Henrietta and Harriet, and was most common in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With Etta tipped as the next retro-chic name, and Arrietty from The Borrowers receiving notice, Etty seems not only cute and usable, but positively stylish. It fits in with other vintage nicknames such as Elsie, Hattie and Millie.

Miami

Miami is a suburb of the Gold Coast which was first developed in the 1920s to entice tourists, and is still a popular place for people to visit. Its clean sandy surf beach make it a favourite destination for family holidays. It is named after Miami in Florida, as being somewhere else that’s hot, humid and beachy – during the 1920s, Miami enjoyed such prosperity and growth that it was dubbed “The Magic City”. This success the Queensland developers no doubt hoped to emulate. The city of Miami was named after the Miami River, and this in turn was named for the Native American people called the Maiyami. They took their name from the lake they lived by (later known as Lake Okeechobee); the name simply means “big water”. Miami is a name I see sometimes on little girls, and its not only an American place name, but an Australian one as well. It fits in with popular names such as Mia, Maya and Amy.

Pippi

The town of Yamba in northern New South Wales lies at the mouth of the Clarence River, and boasts eleven beaches, including Pippi. It’s primarily known for surfing, and the Pippi Beach Classic is a surfing event held here each January. At one end of the beach is the enticingly-named Lovers Point, and from here is an easy walk up to a rock shelf which gives magnificent views of the sea. Dolphins are plentiful, and whales can be seen during winter and early spring. Pippi Beach is named after the pippis or pipis which can be found here – small edible clams which are often used for fish bait. You may recall that John Sutton, co-captain of the South Sydney Rabbitohs team in the NRL, welcomed a daughter named Pippi last year. As John is a keen surfer, I wondered if Pippi Sutton may have been named after this popular surf beach. You probably also know the name from the Pippi Longstocking books by Astrid Lindgren – the character’s name was invented by Mrs Lindgren’s nine-year-old daughter, Karin. You can see Pippi as short for Phillipa, and if Pippa or Piper delight you, yet seem too common, then sprightly Pippi may fit the bill.

Rainbow

Rainbow Beach is a small town in southern Queensland which was once a centre for sand-mining, but is now a popular tourist destination with an attractive beach and many bushwalking tracks. The town get its name from the brilliant coloured sand dunes which surround it. According to a local Aboriginal legend, the dunes received their colours when the spirit of the rainbow plunged into the cliffs after coming off second-best in battle. More prosaically, the colours stem from the sand’s rich mineral content. The evanescent beauty of rainbows have made them part of mythology for many thousands of years. Both Greek and Norse myth saw the rainbow as a path between heaven and earth; in Irish folklore there is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow; and in the familiar story of Noah and the Ark from the Old Testament, the rainbow is a sign of God’s promise to never destroy the earth again. In Australian Aboriginal mythology, the rainbow serpent is of great significance and power, creating and marking the earth’s territories, and controlling its water resources. The subject of artists, singers and poets, the stuff of hopes and dreams, the rainbow has long been used as a symbol of social change. The striking name Rainbow is not that rare in old records, and used for both sexes, but is most common as a middle name.

Trinity

Trinity Beach is a suburb of Cairns in far north Queensland; the city lies on Trinity Bay, which is where the suburb gets its name. Captain James Cook named it on his 1770 voyage, as he arrived there on Trinity Sunday, which is the first Sunday after Pentecost (hopefully he had his dates sorted out by this stage). It is a festival to celebrate the Holy Trinity of the three Persons of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Although the Holy Trinity is a Christian concept, the idea of a triple deity is found in several religions. The name Trinity was used from the 17th century, and was given to both sexes, in honour of the Holy Trinity. In recent years, it has gained a sci-fi image, for there has not only been a cult science-fiction film called Trinity, but Trinity is the love interest in The Matrix movie series, and Trinity Wells a newsreader in Doctor Who, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures. More ominously, the Trinity Test was the code name for the first detonation of a nuclear bomb in 1945, heralding the start of the Atomic Age.

Vera

Vera View Beach is just north of famous Cottlesloe Beach, in Perth, Western Australia. It isn’t one you will see promoted as a major tourist destination; not the most stunning beach in the world, it nonetheless makes a pleasant walk from the main beach, and is near the main cafe strip. It is also a good place to go snorkelling, as there a small reef nearby teeming with sea life. The beach’s name comes from the fact that it is near Vera View Parade in Cottlesloe. Vera is a Russian name which means “faith”; we tend to be struck by its similarity to the Latin for “truth”, while Albanians notice that it sounds like their word for “spring”. Vera was #15 in the 1900s, and by the 1940s was out of the Top 100. It ceased to chart in the 1980s, but has very recently made a comeback, and was #626 in 2011. Its image was severely dented by the sour-faced prison guard, Vera “Vinegar Tits” Bennett, in the 1970s-80s TV series, Prisoner (no wonder it disappeared from the charts then). However, with simple old names firmly back in fashion, and the V sound becoming increasingly popular, retro Vera could do very well.

Vivonne

Vivonne Bay is on Kangaroo Island in South Australia; the island is off the coast of Cape Jervis. The pristine beach at Vivonne Bay is several kilometres long, and popular for surfing and fishing. There is a tiny town of Vivonne beside the bay. Vivonne Bay was named by the French explorer Nicolas Baudin, who came here in 1803. He was the first to map the western and southern coasts of Australia, and his expedition was a great success, discovering more than 2500 new species and meeting the Indigenous people of Australia. Apparently his expedition harboured a spy – one of his men prepared a report for Napoleon on how to invade and capture the British colony in Sydney Cove, but recommended not to. Baudin died of TB in Mauritius on the way home. He named Vivonne Bay after the French town of Vivonne, near Poitiers (or the aristocratic surname which comes from the town – the town’s name comes from the nearby river Vonne). Readers of Marcel Proust will remember he used the name Vivonne for the river in Swann’s Way. I think this name is pretty, and seems like a cross between Vivienne and Yvonne. It’s different, but not too different.

Wanda

Wanda Beach lies on Bate Bay in the suburb of Cronulla; this is in Sutherland shire, in the southern districts of Sydney. Wanda has a dark past, because there were two murders here in 1965. Two teenage girls, Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock, best friends and neighbours, disappeared at Wanda Beach while on a picnic, and their bodies, partially covered in sand, were found the next day. The murder is still unsolved. Wanda Beach gets its name from an Aboriginal word, wanda, said to mean “beach” or “sand dunes”. Wanda is also a Polish name; there is a medieval Polish legend about a Princess Wanda, and the name was popularised in the English-speaking world by English author Ouida’s 1883 novel, Wanda. The name may come from the West Slavic people known as the Wends; their name possibly means “tribe, kinship, alliance”, ultimately from an ancient word for “love, desire”, and related to the name Venus.

(Photo shows the morning tide coming in at Etty Bay)

Only Natural – Nature Names from the Bonds Baby Search

22 Thursday Mar 2012

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GIRLS

Acacia

Anise

Autumn

Azalea

Berry

Briar

Cedar

Cherry

Clover

Crystal

Cypress

Dahlia

Dawn

Dusty

Ember

Emerald

Honey

Indigo

Ivory

Jacaranda (this South American tree is so popular, it is often assumed to be native)

Jewel

Juniper

Mallee (a native tree; name of Australian Aboriginal origin)

Magenta

Misty

Ocean

Opal

Peaches

Pearl

Pepper

Rain

Raven

Saffron

Sage

Sapphire

Scarlet

Season

Soleil (French word for the sun)

Star

Sunshine

Swai (Thai word for the iridescent shark)

Tigerlily

Tulip

Winter

 

BOYS

Ash

Aspen

Baye

Bear

Bryne

Clay

Cove

Fin

Flint

Fox

Heath

Jarrah (a very tall and strong native tree; name of Australian Aboriginal origin)

Layke

Onyx

Reed

Reef

River

Rock

Rowan

Rye

Silvan

Sky

Storm

Sunny

Talon

Teal

Tiger

Tyde

Wolf

(Photo of Mother Cummings Peak Track, Tasmania from There’s Nothing Like Australia website).

Waltzing With … Autumn

20 Sunday Mar 2011

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This post was originally published on March 20 2011, and almost entirely rewritten on March 26 2015.

Tomorrow is the Autumn Equinox, ushering in my favourite season of the year. The searing heat of summer finally retreats, leaving us with a long stretch of sunny days with blue skies, white fluffy clouds, and invigorating fresh breezes, coupled with cool nights where we can finally turn off the fan and pull the covers over us for a deep, refreshing sleep at last.

After a blazing heatwave or a devastating cyclone season, the cool air of autumn comes as a relief. Following a dry summer, autumn rain can be a blessing. I love watching the leaves of the deciduous trees turn red and gold, the clear blue skies and mellow warm days followed by crisp doona-snuggling nights. And then later, the thick grey mists, sparkling frosts, and drifts of brown leaves brought down by the cold wind.

Not all of Australia experiences autumn, with the tropics having just a Wet Season and a Dry, and only a small portion of south-eastern Australia having the classic picture postcard four seasons, crisply demarcated from each other.

Indigenous Australians had their own seasons, which differed from region to region, and which began and ended, not with a particular date on the calendar, but according to observations of the natural world. In the area which is now the Greater Sydney Basin, the Illawarra, and the Southern Highlands, the D’harawal people (who had seven seasons in all) marked the beginning of Marrai’gang around this time of year when the marrai’gang (quoll) began mating and the lilly-pilly fruit started to ripen on the trees.

Other countries may have more spectacular autumns than Australia, with more brilliant colours, but so often there is a melancholy that goes with it, a feeling that the natural world is winding down for the year, and corresponding brooding thoughts of our own mortality.

Here there is no tinge of sadness, and far from the woods bearing “bare ruined choirs”, our native trees almost never lose their leaves. Many native plants begin flowering in the autumn, so that the bush is filled with the bright colours of banksia, grevillea, and correa, as well as the purple lilly-pilly. Some species of bird migrate from the mountains to the coast during autumn, with flocks of thousands making an amazing sight. The loveliness of an Australian autumn is quiet and subtle.

While other seasons have their own beauty, they also seem to have their drawbacks. Winter – too cold! Summer – too hot! Spring – too changeable! Only autumn seems perfectly balanced, with the right amount of warm days and cool days, delightfully dry days and welcome wet days, each marching smoothly and evenly from the blues and golds of March, through the browns and yellows of April, to the greys and greens of May.

Name Information
The word autumn is from the French automne, taken from the Latin autumnus. This is derived from the Etruscan, relating to the passing of the year, ultimately from an ancient root meaning “cold”.

North Americans have two words for the season – autumn and fall. The reason is because the words autumn and fall both came into common use in the 16th and 17th centuries, and as English people began successfully migrating to North America in the early 17th century, they took both words with them. While the word fall for the season aptly fell out of use in Britain, it became the dominant word in the United States.

While autumn is from French, fall is from Old English, and refers to the falling of leaves, as well as the year falling away. It’s a word that makes a lot of linguistic sense, because it’s the exact opposite of spring in meaning (thus North Americans get the handy little mnemonic for the start and end of daylight saving time – spring forward and fall back an hour).

North Americans use autumn and fall interchangeably, and can do so even within the same sentence. However, although personal preference plays a part, in general they seem to use fall in a more practical way, while autumn is literary and formal. So children go back to school in the fall, but fashions come in autumn tones; TV networks bring out their fall schedules, but beloved grandfathers enter their autumn years. In other words, autumn is not just the word for the season, but a poetic or elegant description of the season.

The interesting thing is why there are two words for autumn anyway – it’s not as if winter and summer have other names. The truth is, autumn is a modern concept. In the medieval period, the year was divided into just two seasons, winter and summer. The time of year closest to what we call autumn was known as harvest, and it seems to have corresponded with late summer/early autumn.

By the 16th century, people had begun moving away from a rural way of life, and harvest was no longer an appropriate name for the time of year. I guess people felt awkward clattering up the cobbled streets of London, dodging carriages and chamber pots, telling each other that they would catch up next harvest. Both autumn and fall were tried out as descriptions of the transition from the heat of summer to the cold of winter, and by the 18th century they had both superseded the rustic word harvest. However, by the 19th, fall was no longer used in Britain, and it became seen as American usage only.

(This explains why fall never became part of the Australian vocabulary – as we weren’t settled by the British until the late 18th century, autumn was already the accepted word for the season. It would have been a very inappropriate name on this continent anyway, as there are few native trees here whose leaves fall in the autumn, or ever.)

So even though we might think of the season of autumn as ancient, timeless, and natural, it is in fact not just a modern construct, but a specifically urban one.

Knowing the history of the word autumn, it will not come as any surprise that use of Autumn as a personal name for girls is quite recent, dating back only to the 19th century. Nor will it seem at all strange that its use was in the beginning almost entirely North American, because on that continent autumn was not the standard word for the season, but one imbued with a certain archaic charm.

This trend continues, because in the US, Autumn has been in the Top 1000 since 1969, giving it a “hippie name” vibe. Currently it is in the Top 100 and gently rising, being #69 in 2011 and #65 in 2013. It is also a Top 100 name in some Canadian provinces.

In England/Wales, Autumn was in the 500s until Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips began dating a Canadian named Autumn Kelly in 2002, upon which the name Autumn began climbing in the UK, with a steeper ascent after Autumn and Peter’s wedding in 2008. After peaking at #179 in 2011, just after Autumn Phillips had given birth to her first child Savannah, the name has since levelled off and is now #197.

In Australia, the name Autumn is rarely found in historical records, and it has never charted here. In 2013, 3 baby girls were named Autumn in South Australia, in 2012, 9 baby girls were given the name Autumn in Victoria, and in Tasmania in 2010 there was only one baby called Autumn. The royal connection does not seem to have helped it here, as it has in the UK, and I only see it occasionally in Australian birth notices.

Autumn is a modern nature name for girls that is pretty without being frilly, and may appeal to some Australian parents by dint of being underused here. It celebrates a beautiful time of year, and could suit a child born in autumn, or with autumn-toned colouring. With Autumn, you get that attractive combination of a name that is completely “normal” and familiar, while not being at all common. That alone makes Autumn seem like a pretty awesome choice!

POLL RESULT
Autumn received an extraordinary approval rating of 92%, making it one of the highest rated names of the year. 38% of people loved the name Autumn, while not a single person hated it.

(Photo shows an autumn leaf in the Aurora Valley of Bangalow, New South Wales)