Uncommon Vocabulary Names For Girls

06 Sunday Dec 2015

Tags

controversial names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, food names, French names, honouring, middle name, name history, name meaning, name trends, names from television, names from video games, names of dances, names of magazines, nature names, nicknames, plant names, rare names, screen names, season names, spice names, tree names, UK name popularity, unisex names, US name popularity, virtue names, vocabulary names, weather names

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)

Suburbs of Adelaide and Hobart Which Could Be Used as Boys Names

26 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Anglo-Saxon names, aristocratic names, aristocratic surnames, astronomical names, car names, colour names, dated names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, gemstone names, germanic names, honouring, locational names, middle names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from movies, names of animals, names of ships, nature names, nicknames, Old French names, plant names, popular names, rare names, retro names, Roman names, royal names, saints names, Scottish names, surname names, tree names, unisex names, vocabulary names

Austin
Austins Ferry is a suburb of Hobart, named after convict James Austin. Austin and his cousin was transported to Australia in 1803, and after their sentences expired, were given small land grants on the River Derwent near Hobart. In 1818 they established a ferry service across the river, and became very wealthy. You can still visit James Austin’s original cottage. Austin is an Old French shortening of the name Agustin, the equivalent of the English Augustine, and the surname Austin has the same source. Austin was #108 in the 1900s, and left the charts in the 1950s. It returned in the 1990s at #196, the decade of the Austin Powers spy comedies with Mike Myers in the title role. Groovy, baby! It climbed steeply and joined the Top 100 in 2011. It is currently #61, and was the fastest-rising name in Queensland and a fast-rising name in South Australia last year. It was a fast-rising name in New South Wales in 2013 too, so this retro name is doing very well for itself, and is now more popular than it has ever been before.

Cornelian
Cornelian Bay is a suburb of Hobart, whose bay on the River Derwent provides anchorage for yachts; there are boathouses and a waterside restaurant along its foreshore. The first English navigator to explore the Derwent was Lieutenant John Hayes; he came ashore here in 1793, and named the bay after the semi-precious cornelian stones which he found on the beach. Cornelian (also known as carnelian) is a dark red mineral whose name is from the Latin for the cornel cherry, a flowering dogwood tree which has small dark red fruit just the colour of the gemstone. Cornelian was used in Roman times for signet rings used to seal important documents, as hot wax doesn’t stick to it. It was a gemstone often associated with courage and good luck. Cornelian has been in very rare use as a personal name since the 17th century, and overall has been given fairly evenly to both boys and girls. Not many gemstones work well as boys’ names, but this sounds very similar to Cornelius, yet seems much more up-to-date. This would also make a great middle name, and is suitable for both sexes.

Fitzroy
Fitzroy is an inner-city suburb of Adelaide, and an exclusive area overlooking the North Adelaide Parklands. The houses are mostly 19th century mansions along a few tree-lined streets, as this is where the upper class settlers lived in the city’s early days. It may have been named after Fitzroy in Melbourne, which is named after Sir Charles FitzRoy, the governor of New South Wales in the mid 19th century. Another suggestion is that it was named for historic Fitzroy Square in London, whose name comes from Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, an 18th century politician who was a distant ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales. The English surname Fitzroy (or FitzRoy) comes from the Old French for “son of the king”, and was traditionally given to illegitimate sons and daughters of a monarch, and could be inherited as a surname by their descendants. For example, the father of the 2nd Duke of Grafton was an illegitimate son of King Charles II by his mistress Barbara Villiers. Fitzroy has been used as a personal name since the 18th century, and was sometimes used to indicate a family relationship with illegitimate royalty. Roy- (and royal) names are on trend, and this is one you could consider that has Fitz or Fitzy as the nickname.

Hobart
Hobart is the capital of Tasmania; it is Australia’s second-oldest capital city after Sydney, and is our most southern capital city, serving as a hub for Australian and French Antarctic operations. It is located on an estuary of the Derwent River at the foot of Mount Wellington, and more than half of the city is taken up with bushland, so it contains much natural beauty. A small city with many historical buildings from its colonial past, Hobart has a great deal of charm. Hobart was named after Robert Hobart, 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire: Lord Hobart was the Colonial Secretary at the beginning of the 19th century. The surname Hobart is derived from the personal name Hubert, meaning “bright mind”. Hobart has long use as a personal name, and can be found often in historical records, with it being a bit of a favourite in Tasmania – indeed one example I found was Tasman Hobart. The Ho- at the beginning is rousing yet problematic, but you could use Bart or Barty as a nickname. A patriotic choice that may work better as a middle name.

Holden
Holden Hill is an inner-city suburb of Adelaide. It was named after a road extension called Halden’s Hill in the mid 19th century, as the land the road ran through was owned by a Mr Halden. The name was corrupted into Holden Hill. Holden is an English surname after a small village in Lancashire; it comes from the Anglo-Saxon meaning “deep valley”. Its most famous literary namesake is Holden Caulfield from J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. It’s quite likely that Salinger named the character after a friend called Holden Bowler he met while they were both working on a ship. Mr Bowler went on to run his own advertising business and was godfather to singer Judy Collins. In Australia Holden will remind people of the car company, its name coming from South Australian manufacturer Sir Edward Holden (although it is owned by General Motors). Sadly, Holden will cease production in Australia in 2017. A very uncommon name in Australia because of the car.

Jupiter
Jupiter Creek is a semi-rural suburb of Adelaide which was once part of a gold-mining area, and still a place to go fossicking. Its name was given by gold-miners, possibly after a bull named Jupiter who was fond of running away to graze there. In Roman mythology, Jupiter is king of the gods, and the god of the sky and thunder, the equivalent of the Greek god Zeus. Ruler of the heavens, he was a divine witness to oaths and the protector of the state and justice; his symbols were the oak tree, the eagle, and the thunder bolt. His name is from an ancient root meaning “O Father Sky-god”, so his name is an invocation: to speak the name of Jupiter aloud is to call upon the god. The Romans named the largest planet in the solar system after Jupiter, and believed those born under its influence to be especially fortunate. As Juno is a hip name for girls, and so is Juniper, Jupiter for boys doesn’t seem too strange. A possible issue is the movie Jupiter Ascending, which has Mila Kunis as a heroine named Jupiter.

Linden
Linden Park is an affluent suburb of Adelaide. It was named after a house and estate which was built by Sir Alexander Hay in 1861. Linden trees (Tilia) are also called lime trees, although they are not closely related to the tree which produces lime fruit. They are tall, shady trees that have great significance in Germany and Eastern Europe, where they were seen as sacred; in German folklore, the linden is said to be the tree of lovers. Lindens have often featured in stories and poems, often as a symbol of love, protection, or resurrection. In Marcel Proust’s Swann’s Way, the narrator dips his madeleine cake into a cup of lime-flower tea, which opens up a flood of memories. The word linden is from an ancient Germanic root which may mean “mild, soft”: the timber of the linden tree is soft and easily worked, making it ideal for carving. Linden has been used as a name since the 18th century, overwhelmingly for boys, and is found in Australian records quite often, mostly from around the late 19th and early 20th centuries, although I know a few men around my age named Linden. I haven’t seen it on a young child, but this is a handsome, soft-sounding tree name, not so different in sound from popular Lincoln.

Montrose
Montrose is a northern suburb of Hobart. It is named after Montrose House which was built in 1813 by a Scottish settler named Robert Littlejohn, a renowned painter, botanist and teacher. It is the third oldest house in the state, and is named after Montrose, on Scotland’s east coast. A picturesque resort town, it is regarded as a cultural centre, and known for its sculpture. The town’s name is usually thought to be from the Gaelic monadh, meaning “moor”, and ros, meaning “peninsula”. Folk etymology understands it as “mount of roses”, and the town’s Latin motto is Mare Didat, Rosa Decorat, meaning “the sea enriches, the rose adorns”. Montrose is also a surname, and the Duke of Montrose is a title in the Scottish peerage, held by the Graham family. Montrose has been used as personal name since the 18th century, and first used by the Grahams. It has been used for both sexes, but is more common as a male name. Scottish and aristocratic, this is like a cross between Montgomery and Ambrose, and has Monty as the obvious nickname.

Sorell
Sorell is a historic market town north-east of Hobart, now a dormitory suburb of the city. It is named after William Sorell, the state’s third Lieutenant-Governor. William Sorell did a good job of cleaning up the colony, which he had found in a fairly lawless and untidy position. The English surname Sorell is from the Old French nickname Sorel, meaning “chestnut”, and given to someone with reddish-brown hair. It has been in rare use since the 19th century, and is given to both sexes, although more common overall as a male name. It may be known from Sir Julian Sorell Huxley, biologist and brother of Aldous Huxley. An interesting, intelligent name that may sound too close to the word sorrow for some parents.

Stuart
Mount Stuart is a suburb of Hobart on a ridge with the wonderful name of Knocklofty. The suburb is named because of Mountstuart Elphinstone, a Scottish statesman and historian who was Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai). A ship named in the governor’s honour as the Mountstuart Elphinstone visited Hobart in 1836, bringing the welcome news that the cruel and unpopular Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur was ordered to return to London. In celebration of getting rid of him, two roads were named Mount Stuart Road and Elphinstone Road, and eventually the area became known as Mount Stuart. Mountstuart Elphinstone was probably named after Mount Stuart House on the Isle of Bute in Scotland, the seat of the Stuarts of Bute. They are descended from Robert II of Scotland, the first of the Stuart kings (the Elphinstones are related to the Stuarts). The name of the Stuart dynasty comes from Stewart, the Scottish form of steward, meaning a governor. The first of this surname was Walter Stewart of Dundonald, High Steward of Scotland. The Stuart dynasty ended up ruling Great Britain for more than a century, and it’s because of them that Stuart was used as a personal name. Stuart was #135 in the 1900s, joined the Top 100 in the 1940s and peaked in 1969 at #31. It left the Top 100 in the 1990s and hasn’t charted since 2010. Stewart was less popular, never reached the Top 100, and hasn’t charted since the early 2000s.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite names were Linden, Austin and Holden, and their least favourite were Montrose, Jupiter and Hobart.

(Photo shows Hobart)

Suburbs of Adelaide and Hobart Which Could Be Used as Girls Names

19 Sunday Jul 2015

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

American names, Anglo-Saxon names, aristocratic surnames, Australian Aboriginal names, Biblical names, celebrity baby names, Cornish names, Dutch names, english names, famous namesakes, Finnish names, food names, French names, fruit names, hebrew names, Italian names, Latin names, locational names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from songs, names from television, names of ships, names of sporting teams, nature names, nicknames, plant names, popular names, surname names, tree names, unisex names, vintage names

Beulah
Beulah Park is an affluent suburb of Adelaide, named after a village in Wales. The name Beulah is from a Hebrew word translated as “married (woman)”. In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah prophesies that the land of Israel shall be known as Beulah, because it shall be as if “married” to God, to indicate an especially close and loving relationship. Because of this, Beulah was used by John Bunyan and William Blake to mean a mystical place from which Heaven can be seen; it’s also used this way in the hymn Beulah Land. Beulah has been used as an English name since at least the 17th century, and was taken up by the Puritans. It has been much more popular in the United States, and was Top 100 in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; however it hasn’t charted there since the 1950s. Poor Beulah has come to exemplify the “ugly old lady” name, even though it doesn’t sound much different to Bella or Ruby (put the OO sound from Ruby into Bella, and you’ve got Beulah!). Can vintage Beulah ever be pretty again?

Brooklyn
Brooklyn Park is in Adelaide’s western suburbs, and was probably named after the borough of New York City. Brooklyn was settled by the Dutch, and originally called Breukelen, after a town in the Netherlands, whose name means “broken land”. Apparently this is because both the Breukelens were built on marshes, where the land is broken up with little streams, and I have also seen Brooklyn translated as “marshland”. Brooklyn has been used as a personal name since the 19th century, and originated in the United States. It was at first more common as a male name, but today Brooklyn only charts as a girls name in the US. In the UK it is more common for boys, thanks to David Beckham’s son Brooklyn – the name has charted for boys in the UK since 1999, when Brooklyn Beckham was born. In Australia, the name Brooklyn is fairly evenly used for both genders, although not very common for either. An attractive underused modern name suitable for either sex, although international trends suggest it is turning pink again.

Cherry
Cherry Gardens is a semi-rural suburb of Adelaide named for the native cherry trees which once grew there in profusion. The name Cherry can be from the cherry tree, or its delicious red fruit, although I think many people would be reminded of cherry blossom, which is enchantingly pink and lovely. In Australia, cherries are especially connected with the town of Young in New South Wales, which promotes itself as the Cherry Capital of of Australia, and holds a Cherry Festival every year. It also recalls the popular Cherry Ripe, which is Australia’s oldest chocolate bar. Cherry can be given as a nickname for names such as Charity, and can also be from the surname Cherry, which might refer to someone who grew or sold cherries: this probably explains boys given the name Cherry. Cherry has been used as a name since the 17th century (perhaps influenced by the popular poem and song Cherry Ripe), but it only became common in the 19th. It has a 1950s vibe, and seems “ripe” for teasing, but also bright and irrepressibly cheery. It’s a name that makes you smile when you say it aloud.

Eden
Eden Hills is a suburb of Adelaide, and well suits its name, as it in the city’s foot hills, and contains bushland, parks, and a botanic garden. The first landowner in the area was William Cook, who settled here in 1839. He was the master of a vessel called the Eden, and it is believed that’s where the suburb got its name. The name Eden is usually given in reference to the Garden of Eden in the Bible. The name has been translated as if derived from the Akkadian edinnu, meaning “steppe, plain”. It’s now thought to be related to an Aramaic root meaning “fruitful, well-watered” – this fits in better with the biblical description, as the Garden of Eden was said to be irrigated by rivers and filled with fruit trees (of course fruit was to prove a real problem). In Hebrew, the word is understood as meaning “pleasure”, and Eden is recorded in the Old Testament as a personal name. It has been used as an English name since the Middle Ages as a variant or pet form of the Anglo-Saxon Ed- names, such as Eadhun, meaning “rich bear cub” (the source of the aristocratic Eden surname). The biblical meaning came into use around the 16th century, and the name has always been given to both sexes, but is more common as a feminine one. Eden has charted since the 1980s at #757 (the decade of popular TV drama series, Return to Eden – in this case, Eden was the name of an estate in the Northern Territory). It joined the Top 100 in 2011 and is now #68. Although it has only ever charted as a girl’s name, it is quietly but steadily given to boys too, and seems rather distinguished as a male name. A clean attractive name suitable for both sexes.

Fern
Fern Tree is an outer suburb of Hobart, named so because of the Tasmanian Tree Ferns which grow abundantly in the area. It’s a popular place for bushwalking. Ferns are ancient plants which have remained unchanged for more than a hundred million years, and are extremely hardy and easy to grow. Because ferns don’t have flowers or seeds, people didn’t know how they reproduced for a long time (now we know – it’s from spores). This enigma gave it a magical air, and it has long been associated with fairies and spells. Ferns have a special connection with New Zealand, used as an emblem by sporting teams, especially the netball team, the Silver Ferns. Fern has been used as a person’s name since at least the 17th century, but it became quite popular in the 19th century. Not only were plant names very fashionable then, but the Victorians went fern-crazy, and there was a real fad for collecting the plants. This is a vintage nature name which doesn’t seem old-fashioned in the least, but rather off-beat and artistic.

Lenah
Lenah Valley is in the foothills of Mount Wellington in Hobart, and was settled in the 19th century. There are several bushland reserves here, and it is the home of the Lady Franklin Museum, a classical temple built by pioneer Jane Franklin, wife of the explorer John Franklin; it now houses the Art Society of Tasmania. Lenah is the local Aboriginal word for “kangaroo”. It looks like the name Lena, but is said LEN-uh, not LEEN-uh. This would work well cross-culturally, while having a very Australian meaning.

Lutana
Lutana in Hobart’s north was originally built by the Electrolytic Zinc company as housing for its workers. A competition was held to name it in the 1920s, and the name Lutana was selected; it’s the local Aboriginal word for “moon”. A famous namesake is Lutana Spotswood, an Indigenous language worker who gave a eulogy in the Palawa language at the funeral of Tasmanian premier Jim Bacon. Lutana is pronounced loo-TAN-uh. This is quite similar to the familiar Luna in sound and meaning, but is purely Australian and avoids any concern over loony or lunatic. Not only can you use Lulu as a nickname, but I have seen quite a few baby girls lately named Tanna, so the sound must appeal to Australian parents.

Marion
Marion is in Adelaide’s south-west, and was named after a young daughter of James Fisher, the Resident Commissioner in the 1830s, who was responsible for disposing of public land. Miss Fisher’s name was actually Marianne, not Marion, and she lived to be one hundred years old. Marion is a medieval French pet form of the name Marie. During the Middle Ages, one of the most popular type of French folk song revolved around a shepherdess named Marion, and her lover, a knight named Robin. This all sounds very familiar, but strangely enough there doesn’t seem to be any proven link between these songs and the English tales of Robin Hood and Maid Marian. There is also a surname Marion, taken directly from the woman’s name, and this has been quite often been given as a boy’s name – most famously to the actor John Wayne, born Marion Morrison. Perhaps people thought it was the masculine form of Mary. In the US, Marion has charted as a unisex name fairly evenly given to both sexes, but it has only charted as a female name in Australia. Marion was #89 in the 1900s, and peaked in the 1930s at #47. It left the Top 100 in the 1960s, and hasn’t charted since the 1980s. Although this name is dated, there is something rather glamorous about it, thanks to French actress and singer Marion Cotillard. If you’re worried about Margot becoming too popular, why not consider this other French charmer?

Penna
Penna is in the outer suburbs of Hobart, and is sometimes listed as a village or a commuter town. It’s name is most likely from the Cornish surname Penna, meaning “headland”, as it is faces onto a peninsula. Penna as a personal name can be from the Latin word penna, meaning “feather, wing”. This is where our word pen comes from, as we once wrote with feathered quills, but even in English, the word penna means a contour feather on a bird. There’s also the Italian surname Penna, which comes from the Latin pinnus, meaning “pointed”, and refers to someone who lived on a hill. In Finland, Penna can be given to boys as a variant of the name Ben. Penna has been used as a personal name since the 18th century, and when you look through the records, it’s clear that it is a multicultural choice, used all over the world, including Hungary, Italy, Greece, Norway, Persia and Brazil, as well as English-speaking countries. Recently it was chosen by actor Ian Ziering for his daughter, giving this rare name some much needed publicity. The rise of Penelope makes Penna seem more usable.

Rosetta
Rosetta is a small suburb of Hobart thought to be named after Rosetta Cottage. This was built in the early 19th century by John Beresford, who came to Australia as a convict on the First Fleet, and took up land in Tasmania to become a prosperous farmer. Rosetta Cottage later became a private girls’ school, and then the Undine Hotel – it is now a B&B. It seems likely the cottage was named after the Rosetta Stone, a 2nd century BC stone slab discovered in Egypt in 1799 which had the text in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian script, and ancient Greek. This allowed Egyptian hieroglyphics to be translated for the first time, and even now, Rosetta Stone is used to mean a crucial key in decoding information. The Rosetta Stone is so named because it was found in the Egyptian town of Rosetta. Rosetta, meaning “little rose”, is the western version of the town’s Arabic name Rashid, meaning “guide” – both are corruptions of the Coptic name Trashit, which I think just describes it as a mouth of the Nile. This is a pretty vintage name, very much on trend, which has a wealth of meaning and history behind it. Rosie or Etta could be used as the nickname.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite names were Fern, Eden and Lenah, and their least favourite were Lutana, Brooklyn and Beulah.

(Photo shows Wittunga Botanic Garden in Eden Hills, Adelaide)

Boys Names From Native Australian Flowers

02 Sunday Nov 2014

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Australian slang terms, birth notices, celebrity baby names, classic names, controversial names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, flower names, Gaelic names, Greek names, honouring, Irish names, Latin names, locational names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name trends, names from songs, names from television, nature names, nicknames, patriotic names, plant names, popular names, rare names, scandinavian names, scientific names, Scottish names, sibsets, surname names, tree names, underused classics, unique names, unisex names, Welsh names

This follows on from Girls Names From Native Australian Flowers. If you thought it would be hard for me to find floral boys’ names, you were right, and many hours were spent poring over gardening books and field guides. I did notice that several of the names come from plants that are traditionally used as female names, so this might be a way to find a boy’s name which honours a Daisy, Iris, or Lily, for example.

Bailey
Acacia baileyana is the scientific name for Cootamundra Wattle, a small tree with silvery-green leaves and masses of golden blossom in the spring. It is native to New South Wales around the town of Cootamundra, which holds a Wattle Time Festival every year when the wattle blooms. However, it is extremely adaptable, and will grow almost everywhere – if anything it grows a little too well, and can escape into the bush and become an invasive weed. Its scientific name honours Frederick Manson Bailey, a colonial botanist in Queensland. Bailey is an occupational surname originally designating someone who was a bailiff, the officer executing the decisions of a lower legal court (these days such duties are usually carried out by local councils). It has been used as a personal name since at least the 18th century, and Bailey has charted in Australia since the 1990s, when it was catapulted straight into the Top 50 from almost nowhere, debuting at #32 in 1997. It peaked in 2004-2005 at #27, and is currently #77. Although only popular for boys, Bailey is sometimes used for girls. Bailey provides a way for boys as well as girls to be named after the patriotic acacia tree.

Carex
Carex is the scientific name for grass-like plants commonly known as true sedges. Sedges are common all over the world, and nearly always found in wetlands; if you’ve ever walked around a swamp or lake, sedge is the dense stiff grassy stuff along the edge which might cut your hands if you try to gather it. Although sedges are not usually thought of as terrifically exciting – hardly anyone hopes for a bouquet of sedges on Valentine’s Day – they are vitally important to the ecology of our wetlands. Anyone working on a project to save a wetlands area will need native sedges to plant along lakes and riverbanks to stabilise the soil, and they are also around dams and garden ponds. They bloom in spring; the flowers are tiny, and appear on short spikes. I have seen a boy named Carex in a birth notice, and this is a daring and environmentally aware choice that is on trend for boy’s names ending in -x, like Felix and Max.

Eric
Banksia ericifolia is the scientific name for Heath Banksia, a medium to large shrub with eye-catching orange or red flowers which bloom in autumn or winter. Banksias are famous for their flower spikes; each spike can have hundreds or even thousands of individual flowers, looking overall like a large brush. Banksia ericifolia was one of the original banksia species collected by botanist Sir Joseph Banks around Botany Bay, and the subspecies ericifolia is native to the area around Sydney. It has been adopted as the city’s official plant, and can be seen in parks and public spaces. Heath Banksia is reasonably easy to grow; if your garden is too small for a regular Heath Banskia, there is a dwarf cultivar called “Little Eric”. The eric in ericifolia comes from Ericaceae, the family of heath and heather. The name Eric is an English form of the Scandinavian name Erik, usually translated as “eternal ruler”. Although known in England since the Middle Ages, it didn’t become popular until the 19th century, after the publication of a moralising children’s book called Eric, or Little by Little. Eric is a classic which has never left the charts. It was #21 in the 1900s, and peaked in the 1910s at #19. It didn’t leave the Top 100 until th 1970s, when it hit its lowest point of #149. Since then, Eric has improved slightly in popularity, and remains stable in the 100s – an extremely safe choice.

Evan
The Hawkesbury Daisy (Brachyscome multifida) grows on the east coast; it has matted foliage with the daisy flowers rising above it in mauve, pink, or white, blooming in autumn and winter. They are very popular garden plants, as they are are quite hardy and look great in borders and mass plantings. One of its cultivars is “Evan”, which was named after the son of the founder of the Australian Daisy Study Group. “Evan” is mauve with small flowers and compact foliage, easy to grow, and perfect for rockeries and hanging baskets. The name Evan is the Anglicised form of Iefan, a Welsh form of John. Evan is an underused classic in Australia – it has never left the charts, but never reached the Top 100 either. The highest it has ever been is #103 in the 1980s, and it’s never been lower than it was in the 1900s at #194, making it a handsome, solid choice which hasn’t been out of the 100s for well over a century. Evan is the poster boy for “normal but not overused” names.

Heath
Common Heath (Epacris impressa) is a small shrub native to south-east Australia; it has red, pink, or white tubular flowers which bloom from late autumn to early spring. A pink-flowered form called “pink heath” is the floral emblem for the state of Victoria. Common Heath is tricky to grow in the garden, and perhaps best enjoyed in its natural setting. Heath is an English surname which can refer to someone who lived on or near a heath, or was from one of the many English towns called Heath. Heath is an underused modern classic which has charted consistently since the 1960s without ever becoming popular. It peaked in the 1970s at #101, possibly because of Heathcliff from Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, serialised on television that decade, and a hit song by Kate Bush in 1978. Actor Heath Ledger, born in 1979, was named after Heathcliff, with his sister Kate named after Catherine from the novel. Heath dropped to its lowest level in the 1990s at #279, but picked up the next decade when Heath Ledger’s film career took off, and gained momentum from Dan Ewing‘s performance as Heath Braxton in Home and Away. Heath is a strong, simple nature name which has long been associated with intense, hunky guys.

Orestes
Caladenia orestes is the scientific name for the Burrinjuck Spider-orchid, native to New South Wales. These small, delicate flowers with dark red colouring are listed as vulnerable, so count yourself lucky if you ever find one in the bush. In Greek mythology, Orestes was the son of Agamemnon Greek commander during the Trojan War. Their family had been placed under a curse, so that their line was a rich source of Greek tragedy. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to obtain fair winds to Troy; when he got home from the Trojan War, Agamemnon’s wife Clytemestra murdered him in retribution. When Orestes grew into a young man, he murdered his mother to avenge his father’s death. According to legend, Orestes was pursued by the Furies in punishment for his crime, but he got a good lawyer in the goddess Athena, who put his case before the gods and got him acquitted (slightly rigged, as Athena was one of the judges). He was often seen by Greek writers as a dutiful son to his father, and an example of someone forced by circumstances to commit a terrible act. The name Orestes means “of the mountains”, which is the reason for the orchid’s name. An unusual and possibly controversial choice.

Paterson
Patersonia is the scientific name for the Australasian flower commonly called Native Iris. It was named in honour of William Paterson, the first Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales, and most species are from Western Australia. Patersonia has small flowers that are usually mauve, and can look very attractive in the garden. Paterson is a common Scottish surname which means “son of the follower of Saint Patrick“, and the Clan Paterson is from Lowland Scotland. Sir William Paterson founded the Bank of England, but perhaps the most famous episode in the Clan’s history is when Sir Hugh Paterson entertained Bonnie Prince Charlie, and his niece nursed the prince through a bad cold, becoming his mistress and bearing him an illegitimate daughter. The name Paterson could honour our national poet Banjo Paterson, and would naturally shorten to Paddy. A possible issue is another flower, the attractive but toxic purple weed commonly known as Paterson’s Curse.

Smith
Syzygium smithiim is the scientific name for the Lilly Pilly, an ornamental tree which is a member of the myrtle family; its name honours botanist Sir James Edward Smith. Lilly Pilly is native to the east coast of Australia, and has glossy leaves and cream or pink flowers which bloom in spring and summer. However, it is best known for the fruit which follows the flower – attractive edible berries with a deep pink colour. Smith is the most common English surname, and originated in northern England and Scotland. Although it later came to specifically refer to a blacksmith, the word means any craftsman in metal, hence goldsmith or swordsmith, and more generally, any creator, hence wordsmith. Metalworkers have historically been seen as magical in their skill to transform through fire, and there are several smith gods and heroes, such as Vulcan and Wayland; Cain is said to have been the father of metalsmiths. The name always reminds me of J.R.R. Tolkien’s bittersweet fairy tale, Smith of Wooton Major. Smith has often been thought too common a surname to be used as a personal name, but gained recent familiarity through Sex and the City’s handsome Smith Jerrod (real name Jerry Jerrod). Hawthorn’s Sam Mitchell has a son named Smith.

Sturt
Sturt’s Desert Pea (Swainsona formosa) is native to the deserts of inland Australia, and highly recognisable from its striking deep red pea flowers. According to an Aboriginal legend, the flowers sprang from the blood of two murdered lovers and their child. Sturt’s Desert Pea is the floral emblem of South Australia, and is a popular subject for arts, crafts, and decorative motifs. Although it grows in such profusion in the harsh desert, Sturt’s Desert Pea is difficult to establish in the garden. It is named after the explorer Captain Charles Sturt, who recorded seeing masses of the flower during his explorations. The surname Sturt comes from the Old English for a promontory – a raised mass of land with a sharp slope on one side – and this could be given to someone who lived near such a landmark, or from a town named after one. Similar to Stuart, this is a lesser-used surname which is given meaning by the flower.

Tucker
Tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anacardioides) is an Australasian flowering tree in the soapberry family. It has greenish-yellow flowers which bloom in winter, followed by orange berries in the spring and summer which are a source of food for native birds. Tuckeroo is a popular ornamental tree for gardens which gives good shade and looks attractive all year round, and is often grown along streets in coastal towns of New South Wales and Queensland. The English surname Tucker is an occupational one referring to someone who softened cloth for the wool industry by tramping on it in water; the word comes from the Old English for “to torment (the cloth)”. As an Irish derivation, Tucker comes from the Gaelic O’ Tuachair, meaning “son of the brave one”. Tucker seems problematic as a first name, breaking the rule of “no names that rhyme with rude words”, but it does have a very Australian meaning, as it is slang for “food”, derived from “to tuck in”. Some people might think that’s another problem with the name in Australia. I’m not sure … any takers for Tucker?

POLL RESULTS
The public’s favourite names were Heath, Evan and Tucker, and their least favourite were Carex, Orestes and Sturt.

(Picture shows Sturt’s Desert Pea; photo from Our Naked Australia)

Famous Name: Dorrigo

29 Wednesday Oct 2014

Posted by A.O. in Famous Names

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Australian Aboriginal names, fictional namesakes, locational names, name history, name meaning, name trends, nature names, nicknames, plant names, tree names, unique names

Earlier this month, Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan was named the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2014 for his novel, The Narrow Road to the Deep North. The Man Booker Prize is a prestigious literary award open to all books published in English in the UK that year; until this year, it was only open to authors from Britain or the Commonwealth, but the rules have now been changed so that authors may be from any country. Other Australian authors who have won the Man Booker are Thomas Keneally, for Schindler’s Ark, Peter Carey, for Oscar and Lucinda, and The True Story of the Kelly Gang, and DCB Pierre, for Vernon God Little.

The Long Road to the Deep North is Richard Flanagan’s sixth novel, and an epic work of historical fiction. At its heart is the story of the Burma Railway during World War II, and the prisoners of war who suffered as forced labour to build it. The novel’s protagonist is a Tasmanian medical officer, very loosely modelled on military surgeon Colonel “Weary” Dunlop, who becomes a celebrated war hero, but feels doubtful and ambivalent about his fame; he is also haunted by a wartime love affair which he believes ended in tragedy. The novel’s title is taken from a famous 17th century haibun (journal in prose and haiku) by Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō.

Richard Flanagan’s father Arch was a Japanese prisoner of war, one of the legendary group led by Weary Dunlop who lived and died on the Burma Railway (he has written his own book on the subject called The Line, with another of his sons, sports journalist Martin Flanagan). For more than a decade, Richard felt that The Narrow Road to the Deep North was the novel he needed to write if he was going to continue writing. He wrote five different versions, until he realised that Arch, now in his nineties, was growing frail, and determined to complete the novel before his father died.

Richard drew on many of his father’s memories and experiences, and just before Anzac Day was able to tell his father that he had finished writing the book; that night Arch passed away. The Narrow Road to the Deep North is dedicated to “prisoner san byaku san ju go” – Arch Flanagan’s Japanese prison number, 335.

Winning the Man Booker has made a big difference for Richard Flanagan. Despite reviews describing it as “haunting and evocative“, and imbued with “extraordinary power“, the week before the Man Booker Prize the novel sold just over 300 copies in the UK. The week after winning it, The Narrow Road to the Deep North sold more than 10 000 copies. The £50,000 prize money will allow Richard to keep writing, because before the book was published, he was considering going to work in the mines up north to earn money to live on.

The central character of The Narrow Road to the Deep North is named Dorrigo Evans (christened Alvyn). Many of the novel’s characters have unusual names: Sheephead Morton, Chum Fagan, Yabby Burrows, Gallipoli von Kessler “Kes”. Richard Flanagan says simply that he “made them up“, and that the characters just didn’t work until he got the names right. He also uses a line from Tennyson’s Ulysses: “I am become a name”.

The name Dorrigo barely stands out in such company, and these are colourful Australian war era nicknames, with the reasoning behind them not always immediately obvious. Weary Dunlop himself had such a moniker, gained while at medical school. His first name was Ernest, and he went by his middle name of Edward – so why was he “Weary”? Because of his surname Dunlop, and Dunlop tyres: he was a Dunlop, so he must always be “tired”.

Dorrigo (pronounced DOR-ih-go) is in northern New South Wales. It’s an attractive small country town in an exceptionally beautiful natural setting; the heritage-listed Dorrigo National Park is right near the town with rainforest, waterfalls, stunning views,and a host of bird-life. Dorrigo has a thriving community, and a few years ago the townspeople showed they had a generous spirit in welcoming refugees, helping them to adjust to life in Australia.

Dorrigo was first settled by timber cutters; one of its early farming pioneers was Major Edward Parke. The town’s name was originally Don Dorrigo, and for many years it was fondly imagined that it was named after a Spanish general whom Major Parke fought alongside during the Peninsula War, which had Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom fighting against the French Empire and Napoleonic Spain. However, subsequent research at the Spanish War Museum has revealed there is no record of any Don Dorrigo.

I have seen two closely related explanations for the name Don Dorrigo. One is that it is a corruption of the Gumbaynggirr word Dunn Dorriga, meaning “tallowwood tree”. Tallowwood (Eucalyptus microcorys) is a common tree in New South Wales and Queensland which grows in forests near coastal areas, so named because its bark has a slightly greasy feel. It is one of the trees on which koalas feed, and its nectar is prized for making honey. More commonly it is said that the word dundorrigo meant “stringybark tree”; stringybark is the generic name for any eucalyptus tree which has thick fibrous bark.

There are more woodsy associations for Dorrigo. The Dorrigo Plum (Endiandra introrsa) is a rare rainforest tree whose dark fruit resembles a plum, hence its name – it is in fact a member of the laurel family. The Dorrigo Pepper (Tasmannia stipitata) is a rainforest shrub which has fragrant leaves and dark blue berries; both leaves and fruit have a hot peppery flavour, and they are harvested as a seasoning.

I have not been able to find any examples of Dorrigo in use as a person’s name, making this a genuinely unique choice. It is a “real name” because of the New South Wales town, and it is from the local Aboriginal language with connections to our native trees, and timber industry.

Richard Flanagan’s award-winning novel gives it a distinguished literary history, and as other Australian Man Booker Prize winners have had their books turned into films, may become more accessible as a movie character’s name in the future. A possible issue with the character of Dorrigo Evans is that although he is a hero, he also has very human failings, and is a philanderer. I don’t know whether that would put people off using the name or not.

Although Dorrigo would be very unusual, I have seen Australian boys called Django and Diego, which don’t sound too much different. Dorrigo is a way to get a fashionable -o ending, and even a slightly exotic feel, while still being familiar and distinctively Australian.

POLL RESULTS
Dorrigo received a respectable approval rating of 60%. 25% of people thought it was cool and different, but 15% saw it as ugly or unattractive. Nobody thought it was too much like Dorothy for a boy’s name.

Waltzing With … Acacia

31 Sunday Aug 2014

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

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

english names, flower names, Greek names, historical records, name history, name meaning, name popularity, nature names, patriotic names, plant names, saints names, tree names

Tomorrow is the official first day of spring, which means it is also Wattle Day. The Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is Australia’s official national flower, proclaimed as our floral emblem on September 1 1988, and marked by planting a Golden Wattle in the National Botanic Gardens by then Prime Minister’s wife, Hazel Hawke. Four years later, September 1 was officially declared National Wattle Day, and it is traditional to celebrate by wearing a sprig of wattle (any type of wattle; it doesn’t have to be Golden Wattle).

Long before that date, wattle had been an unofficial national flower by popular choice. A wreath or sprig of wattle appears on many official government documents, including the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, the Order of Australia, and the Governor-General’s crest. Our national colours of green and gold (so difficult to co-ordinate on sporting uniforms) are inspired by the green leaves and golden bloom of the wattle.

Wattle is a symbol of remembrance for us too. During World War I, mothers sent their sons sprigs of wattle as a reminder of all they were fighting for back home, and has been used to mourn and remember loss of Australian life, such as in ceremonies for the victims of the Bali bombings. You may have noticed that when the first victims of MH17 were brought to the Netherlands, the Australian Governor-General’s wife wore a sprig of wattle.

As early as 1838, Tasmania encouraged wearing Silver Wattle (Acacia dealbata) sprigs to celebrate the discovery of its island. In the nationalistic fervour which preceded Federation, a Wattle Club was founded by naturalist Archibald Campbell, promoting a Wattle Day demonstration each September 1. Outings into the bush to revel in the glories of an Australian spring were part of his plan, and patriotic Wattle Days continued to be celebrated until World War II.

Australian love of wattle has been satirised in Monty Python’s Flying Circus, with the immortal lines of the Australian philosopher Bruce: “This here’s the Wattle, the emblem of our land. You can stick it in a bottle, you can hold it in your hand.” These words have been used to promote a Wattle Day Festival in Victoria this year!

Acacia is the genus which contains wattle trees and shrubs. Its name, pronounced uh-KAY-shuh, comes from the Greek akis, “thorn”, because most acacia species outside Australia are thorny, although nearly all Australian acacias don’t have thorns. There are around 1300 species of acacia, and almost a thousand of them are native to Australia, with over 98% of these unique to Australia. The others can be found in all continents except Europe and Antarctica; they are particularly widespread in Africa, and were first observed by Europeans along the Nile River.

Acacia is not just an important symbol to Australia. According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, acacia may have been the “burning bush” Moses encountered in the wilderness, and a table of acacia wood was part of the Tabernacle he built for the Ark of the Covenant. In Egyptian mythology, acacia is the Tree of Life, and in Christian tradition, the crown of thorns worn by Jesus Christ were made from acacia. Freemasonry uses acacia as a symbol of resurrection and immortality, while in Asia, acacia incense is believed to drive away ghosts and demons.

It’s powerful stuff. In fact, it is said that the first plant to bloom in Hiroshima after its bombing in 1945 was a wattle tree. Resurrection indeed! Every Wattle Day, Hiroshima’s Acacia Appreciation Society sends hundreds of yellow ribbons to the Australian National Botanic Gardens as a gesture of friendship and appreciation.

The name wattle comes from Old English, the word Anglo-Saxons gave to interlaced branches and twigs used to form fences, walls, and roofs. Wattle and daub is a construction technique, used since prehistoric times, for filling the spaces between the wattle with a combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung, and straw, which is then allowed to dry until it hardens.

When British settlers to Sydney made their own wattle and daub buildings, they used acacia trees as the wattle, so gave the name to the plants. (I remember reading about wattle and daub houses in Neolithic Britain when I was in primary school history class, and wondering where they got the wattle trees from!). The uses of acacia are too many to list, but one worth mentioning is that Australian Aborigines often make boomerangs from its wood.

Wattles grow all over Australia, and are numerous in the desert, although uncommon in dense rainforest and alpine regions. In southern Australia, wattles tend to flower in springtime, while in the north, many species come into bloom in the autumn and winter. Because of this, it is said that on any given day in Australia, there will be a wattle blossoming somewhere.

Acacia has a long history as a personal name, for it is the feminine form of the Greek name Acacius. This comes from a different Greek derivation – akakia, meaning “without guile, innocent”. Byzantine emperors held a purple silk roll filled with dust called the akakia: it symbolised human mortality. There are several saints named Acacius, and quite a number of other notables from the early Christian era. Acacia has been a particular favourite amongst Spanish-speaking people, who bestowed it as a saint’s name.

Acacia came into use as an English name in the 19th century, when flower and plant names were the fashion. Golden and Silver Wattle was introduced to Europe in the mid-19th century; Silver Wattle became a great favourite in the south of France, where it blooms around Candlemas and is a harbinger of spring and golden sunshine. Outside Australia, wattle is often known as mimosa.

There are several people named Acacia in Australian records, going back to the mid-19th century, and it is almost certain their names were given patriotically – one is even named Acacia Golden, as if to signify Golden Wattle. Another is named Marginata Acacia; marginata is a species of eucalyptus tree. That reminds me that I saw a woman named Acacia Silver on the news, which reminded me of Silver Wattle: as she was an environmentalist, her name was so appropriate that I wondered if she’d chosen it herself.

In Australia, the name Acacia is around the 300-400s, while in England/Wales it is #1639 (18 babies last year), and in the US, 80 baby girls were named Acacia, the same number as ones called Adah, Jazlene, Legacy, Saoirse, Story, and Zarah. While Acacia isn’t a bizarre name in other English-speaking countries, it’s definitely far better known and higher-charting in Australia, which makes perfect sense. As with the trees, Acacia isn’t uniquely Australian, but is more widely found here, and has a particular meaning to us.

Wattles are perhaps not the most beautiful of trees – rather than being slender and elegant, or solid and imposing, most of them are short and scrubby. And yet when they come into bloom, there is no more cheering sight on a grey late winter’s day than their riotous mass of bright yellow fuzzy blossom. I cannot help but smile when I see a wattle tree in full fragrant bloom abuzz with bees, a promise of the sunshine that is soon to come. That’s why I have Golden Wattle as my avatar, and Silver Wattle decorating my blog: to keep me smiling every day.

Familiar without being common, the name Acacia has a rich and interesting history, and is a very patriotic choice. It evokes the beauty of spring and the Australian bush, it’s a remembrance for those we mourn, and rises from the ashes of death with new life and hope. Pretty and floral, bright and burning, silver and golden – could this sunshiney name hit your personal sweet spot?

POLL RESULT
Acacia received an excellent approval rating of 84%. 34% of people loved the name Acacia, and 30% liked it. Only 2% of people hated the name.

Boys Names From Australian Children’s Literature

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

aristocratic names, aristocratic surnames, Australian slang terms, Biblical names, classic names, colour names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, Gaelic names, German names, germanic names, Greek names, hebrew names, Irish names, Latin names, locational names, modern classics, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from songs, names from television, names of businesses, nature names, nicknames, Old Gaelic names, Persian names, plant names, popular names, retro names, royal names, saints names, Scottish names, surname names, tree names, underused classics, unisex names

Darius
Odo Hirsch’s Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool (2009) tells the story of the Bells, a proud family fallen on hard times; plucky youngest son Darius must save the family’s estate. (Name nerd bonus info: Odo is the older form of the German name Otto). Darius is the Latin form of Dareios, the Greek form of the Persian name Dārayavahush, meaning “holding on to goodness”. This name was traditional amongst the Persian kings, and Darius I was known as Darius the Great, as he ruled over the Achaemenid Empire at the height of its power. Darius III was defeated by Alexander the Great, and there are a number of minor princes with the name. Darius is mentioned several times in the Old Testament, so it is a Biblical name as well (nobody is sure which historical Darius it means). Although rare, this name is known in Australia from NRL star Darius Boyd, while there is also a Darius in The Hunger Games trilogy. Darius is a cool-sounding name that might appeal to a broad range of people.

Felix
Terry Denton’s first picture book was Felix and Alexander (1985), about a little boy named Alexander who gets lost, and his toy dog Felix must find him. Felix is a Latin name meaning “fortunate”. It was first given as a nickname to the Roman general and statesman Lucius Cornelius Sulla, a free translation of the Greek nickname he acquired during his military campaigns – Epaphroditos, meaning “beloved of Aphrodite”. The Roman procurator Felix is mentioned in the New Testament, although not in a positive way – he imprisoned St Paul. Felix was a favourite name amongst early Christians, and there are heaps of saints named Felix, including the 7th century Felix of Burgundy, who introduced Christianity to East Anglia, and three popes. Two Australian connections are Felix the Cat, and Australia Felix, the name given to the lush farmland of western Victoria by explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell. Felix was #172 in the 1900s, and left the charts in the 1920s. It returned in the 1980s at #396 and climbed steadily; it’s been on and off the Top 100 since 2011. It’s now #86, and was one of the fastest-rising names last year. A hip retro favourite growing in recognition.

Harley
Sleepy Harley (2011), written by Karen Treanor and illustrated by Kelly Iveson, is a picture book about a cat named Harley who tries to find a place to nap in a Perth suburb. Harley is a surname which comes from a place name meaning “hare meadow” in Old English. The de Harley family were nobles whose history can be traced before the Conquest, and Sir Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford, was from a prominent political family. One of them, William Cavendish-Bentinck, became British Prime Minister in the 18th and 19th centuries; he was the maternal great-great-great grandfather of Queen Elizabeth. The name will remind many of Harley-Davidson motorycles, giving Harley a pretty cool image. Harley was #212 in the 1900s, and went up and down before dropping off the charts in the 1950s. It returned in the 1970s at #462, and rose before peaking at #70 in 1992. It dropped again before starting to rise in the early 2000s, and is not far out of the Top 100. You could see Harley as an underused classic – in use for many years, but never very popular. I have occasionally seen Harley on girls as well.

Jude
Me and Jeshua (1984) by award-winning author Eleanor Spence is a historical novel about the childhood of Jesus of Nazareth, as seen through the eyes of his cousin Jude. Jude is a variant of the name Judas, Greek form of the Hebrew name Judah, meaning “praised”. In the New Testament, Jude is used for the Apostle whose name was Judas, to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot. Jude is also listed in the New Testament as one of the brothers of Jesus (Eleanor Spence follows a tradition they were cousins), but it is not clear if Jude the Apostle was Jesus’ brother. The Apostle Jude is usually connected with the Apostle Simon the Zealot, and according to tradition they were both martyred in Beirut. Jude is well known as the patron saint of lost causes, and this has made him one of the most venerated saints. Contemporary associations are the actor Jude Law, and the Beatles song Hey Jude. Jude can also be used as a girl’s name, short for Judith, as in the YA novel by Maureen McCarthy, Queen Kat, Carmel, and St. Jude Get a Life (1995). This attractive name has quietly been gaining in popularity, and last year joined the Top 100 in Victoria.

Leonard
The Lockie Leonard series by Tim Winton (1990-97) stars a surf rat named Lachlan “Lockie” Leonard who moves to the Western Australian town of Angelus (based on Albany). Leonard is a Germanic name which can be translated as “brave lion” or “brave as a lion”. St Leonard is a legendary 6th century saint, a Frankish nobleman at the court of Clovis I who could liberate prisoners from their chains when invoked. The Normans brought the name to England, although it didn’t become particularly common until the 19th century. Famous Australians with the name include distinguished chemist Leonard Lindoy, and hard-hitting post-war cricketer Leonard “Jock” Livingston, also a talented rugby league footballer. Leonard has been a popular name amongst Jews in the past, including Jock Livingston: other examples are Canadian folk singer Leonard Cohen and actor Leonard Nimoy. Leonard was #39 in the 1900s, and peaked in the 1910s at #35. It didn’t leave the Top 100 until the 1960s, and remained in steady but low use until getting a little boost after The Big Bang Theory, with main character Leonard Hofstadter, began airing in the late 2000s. Clunky cool, this underused classic provides a way to get the popular nickname Lenny.

Nathaniel
In Isobelle Carmody’s YA novel The Gathering (1993), Nathaniel Delaney is a teenager who moves to a grim seaside town and finds himself locked in a battle between the forces of Light and Dark. Nathaniel is a variant of Nathanael, the Greek form of Hebrew Netan’el, meaning “God has given”, nearly always understood as “gift of God”. In the Bible, Nathaniel is usually identified with the Apostle Bartholomew; as Bartholomew means “son of Talmai”, it is taken to be Nathaniel’s surname. Nathaniel was in use as an English name by the 16th century, and became more common after the Protestant Reformation. It was used amongst the aristocracy, and also became a favourite in America, with author Nathaniel Hawthorne a notable bearer. Nathaniel was #179 in the 1900s, and left the charts the following decade. It returned in the 1970s at #296, and climbed steadily until it reached the Top 100 last year at #79, making it one of the fastest-rising names of 2013. A handsome retro name that gives the popular nickname Nate, it’s well known from Australian actor Nathaniel Buzolic, from The Vampire Diaries, and Australian singer-songwriter Nathaniel Willemse, who was on The X-Factor.

Rafferty
The Rafferty series by Joan Woodberry (1959-62) are the adventures of an English boy named Rafferty who moves to a fishing village on the Queensland coast. Rafferty is a common Irish surname, an Anglicised form of O’Raithbheartaigh, meaning “son of Rabhartach”. The Old Gaelic personal name Rabhartach means “wielder of prosperity”. The name has a particular Australian resonance, due to iconic Australian actor John “Chips” Rafferty. He was seen as the quintessential Australian, and took part in a marketing campaign convincing British people to migrate to Australia in the 1950s – this might explain the choice of Rafferty’s name in Woodberry’s books. Another Australian reference is the slang term Rafferty’s rules, meaning “no rules at all”. It gives the name Rafferty a pleasantly raffish, lawless feel. This name is around the 200s in Australia, and although it is rising in the UK, is more popular here than anywher else. I have also begun to see a few girls named Rafferty.

Rowan
The Rowan of Rin fantasy series by Emily Rodda (1993-2003) takes place in a fictional world. Rowan is the unlikely hero, considered a bit of a wimpy weakling by the sturdy villagers of Rin, but when danger strikes, his resourcefulness and courage saves the day. Rowan is a Scottish name that’s an Anglicised form of Ruadhán, a pet form of Ruadh, Gaelic for “red”, often given as a nickname to a man with red hair. You may remember that the red-headed Scottish outlaw Raibeart “Ruadh” MacGregor is known as Rob Roy by the English. Rowan can also be unisex when named after the rowan tree; its English name comes from the Germanic for “to redden”, because of the tree’s red berries, so either way the meaning has a connection with the colour. A pleasant association with the tree is that according to folklore it has the power to ward off evil. The name Rowan has charted for boys since the 1940s, debuting at #205, and climbing until it peaked in the 1980s at #164. It’s now around the 300s-400s. Rowan is an underused modern classic which alludes to a vibrant colour, and a magical tree.

Silvander
Norman Lindsay is famous for writing and illustrating The Magic Pudding (1918), a comic fantasy deservedly recognised as a classic. For some reason, his other children’s book, The Flyaway Highway (1936), is neglected, even though it’s just as funny and fantastical. I loved this story, which relates how Egbert and Muriel Jane meet a “bloke with horns and cows’ hooves” named Silvander Dan, who take them on a journey down the Flyaway Highway. As a child, I thought that the name Silvander was made up for the book (although I’m afraid I was already junior name nerd enough to know what it meant). However, I’ve since found that Silvander was a literary name in the 18th century, and in most of the sources I’ve read, characters named Silvander are untrustworthy bounders! The name is derived from Silvanus, the Roman god of woods and fields, from the Latin silva, meaning “wood, forest”. Although an extremely rare name, it is just enough like Silas and Alexander to not be completely outrageous, and has an agreeably silvery sound. For those who like Leander and Evander, here is another to consider.

Theodore
I told myself I would not choose more than one book from a single author, but was forced to make an exception for Odo Hirsch, from whose oeuvre I could happily fill two lists. Antonio S and the Mystery of Theodore Guzman (1997) is his first novel, a charming story about a boy who lives in a grand old house, and is fascinated by a reclusive actor. (Name nerd bonus info: Odo Hirsch is the pen name of Dr David Kausman). Theodore is from the Greek name Theodorus, meaning “God’s gift”. Theodorus wasn’t uncommon in ancient times; ironically one of its famous bearers was the 4th century BC philosopher Theodorus the Atheist. Because of its meaning, the name was a popular choice for early Christians, and saints named Theodore are numerous, including a 7th century Archbishop of Canterbury and two popes. Theodore was also traditional mongst the Byzantine Emperors, and the Russian Tsars. Theodore was #116 in the 1900s, and reached its lowest point in the 1970s at #383. It began rising steeply in the 1990s, and last year joined the Queensland Top 100 at #79, making it one of the state’s highest-rising names. A sophisticated classic name which comes with cool short forms Theo and Ted, I’d call this underused except I’m not sure how long it will stay that way.

POLL RESULTS
The public’s favourite names were Theodore, Jude and Felix, and their least favourite were Leonard, Darius and Harley.

(Picture shows cover of Lockie Leonard – Human Torpedo by Tim Winton)

True Blue Names for Boys

26 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

animal names, Arabic names, Australian idioms, Biblical names, celebrity baby names, colour names, english names, fabric names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, fish names, geographic names, Greek names, hebrew names, historical records, metal names, modern classic names, mythological names, name history, name meaning, name popularity, names from movies, names from television, nature names, popular names, Roman names, surname names, tree names, unisex names, vocabulary names

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

Bay

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

Blue

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

Dean

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

Drake

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

Levi

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

Marlin

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

Ocean

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

River

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

Steel

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

Suede

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

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

Finding Baby Names to Match Your Surname

05 Sunday May 2013

Posted by A.O. in Your Questions Answered

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

birth notices, birth registries, Charles Dickens, choosing baby names, classic names, colour names, Enid Blyton, flower names, Google, middle names, modern classics, nature names, nicknames, plant names, popular names, rare names, retro names, surname names, surnames, tree names, vintage names

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

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

The Common Surname

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

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

The Rare Yet Regular-Sounding Surname

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

The Long Surname

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

The Short Surname

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

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

The Heavy, Ponderous Surname

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

The Cute Surname

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

The Surname Which is Commonly Known as a First Name

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

The Difficult to Spell or Pronounce Surname

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

The Common Surname with a Variant Spelling

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

The Surname Which is Also a Word

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

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

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

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

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

The Surname Which Sounds Like a Word

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

The Problematic Surname

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

The Non-Anglo Surname

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

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

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

Waltzing with … Orange

17 Sunday Feb 2013

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

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Banjo Paterson, Celtic names, colour names, Devon names, english names, famous namesakes, French names, fruit names, historical records, locational names, middle names, mythological names, name combinations, name history, name meaning, name trends, nature names, patriotic names, plant names, rare names, royal names, Sanskrit names, sibsets, surname names, tree names, unisex names, vocabulary names

Today is Banjo Paterson’s birthday, and as we have already covered his name, I thought it would be interesting to look at the name of his birthplace.

At the time of Paterson’s birth, his parents were living at Buckinbah Station, near the town of Yeoval (then known as Buckinbah). Because of the station’s isolation, Banjo’s mother Rose went to stay with her aunt and uncle, Rose and John Templer, at their homestead Narrambla, and it was here that she gave birth to her son. Narrambla is about 2 miles from the centre of Orange, and today lies on the city’s outskirts. Rose herself was born on a homestead near Orange, so it was rather a family tradition.

Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales. It was founded in the early 1820s as a convict settlement, and farmers began settling in the area in 1829. The first discovery of gold in Australia was made in 1851 near Orange, leading to the gold rush. Orange became a trading centre for gold, and continued growing due to its good position for agriculture. It was declared a city in 1946. Orange is known for its fruit growing, especially apples, pears and stone fruits; ironically it is too cool to grow oranges in Orange. It is also a thriving wine making area, and has both gold and copper mining. It is a sister city to Orange in California.

Orange was first called Blackman’s Swamp, after John Blackman, the guide who brought the first explorers there. The name was changed to Orange by the Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell, in honour of William, Prince of Orange. Mitchell and the Prince had both been aides-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington during the Peninsular War in Spain in the early 19^th century. The Prince of Orange later became the first King of the Netherlands.

The Prince’s title originally came from the Principality of Orange in the south of France. It began life as a settlement called Arausio, named after a local Celtic water god; the god’s name is said to mean “temple”, meaning the temples that are on the forehead, not a temple as in a building for worship.

The town’s name was corrupted into Orange, and by the Middle Ages, conflated with the word orange, which comes from the Sanskrit for “orange tree”, naranga. The colour was named after the fruit, and first used this way in the 16^th century.

As a personal name, Orange has a longer history than you might imagine, for the girl’s names Orenge and Orengia are found in the 13^th century. As this predates the name for the fruit, their etymology is extremely uncertain, and possibly has the same source as the French town, which first became a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in the 12^th century.

The surname Orange is either from the place name, or derived from the female name, and when the English name Orange appears in the early 17^th century, it may have been after the surname. The name first arises in Devon, and in the beginning was exclusively given to girls, although the name became unisex after William III of England, or William of Orange, gave it a masculine feel.

As a first name, Orange is extremely rare in Australian records, and given to only a few girls, but as a middle name is much more common, and given to boys in almost equal numbers as girls (the middle name Orange was sometimes combined with William in the case of boys, showing that William of Orange still had some naming clout).

Colour names for girls are popular at the moment, with many little girls named Scarlet or Jade; tree names such as Olive and Willow are in the girls’ Top 100, surnames such as Marlowe and Quinn are fashionable for girls, and it’s not unusual to see baby girls named after European cities, such as London or Vienna. Orange seems a more vibrant continuation of these trends. Indeed, you could see it as a hyper juiced-up Clementine.

Orange is such a bright, outgoing, fun colour that it seems very cheerful as a person’s name, but it also has a more serious side, because orange is connected to religion and spirituality. There’s a real yin/yang, East/West dichotomy with the name Orange. Is it as crazy as a clown’s wig? Or as serene as a meditating Buddhist monk?

Orange fruit gains its colour from carotenes, the same thing which makes deciduous leaves turn orange. By chance, the city of Orange is known for its spectacular displays of autumn leaves, and it is therefore known as “The Colour City” (also a play on its name). You might see Orange as a name that evokes the changing of the seasons, and the turn of the year.

Although Orange started life as a girl’s name, it did become unisex, and is so rare that it could be worn by either boys or girls. If you are shy about using this vivid name, it would make an eye-catching middle.

Orange is a bold choice as a baby name, though not without shades of subtlety, and it celebrates Australian geography and history. I think Orange is one of the more distinctive of the patriotic names, and has a real tang to it.

Name Combinations for Orange

Orange Beatrice, Orange Eliza, Orange Lily, Orange May, Orange Ruby, Orange Victoria

Brothers for Orange

Eden, Hartley, Fitzroy, Paterson, Sunny, Tennyson

Sisters for Orange

Audley, Breeza, Corindi, Junee, Kendall, Marinna

Note: Name combinations from historical documents; just for fun, sibsets include names of other towns in New South Wales

POLL RESULT: Orange received an approval rating of only 27% – the lowest-rated featured name of 2013, and the only one to score less than 50%. 40% of people hated the name Orange, and nobody loved it.

(Picture shows a postcard from the city of Orange)

	waltzingmorethanmati… on Zarah Zaynab and Wolfgang…
	Madelyn on Zarah Zaynab and Wolfgang…
	drperegrine on Can Phoebe Complete This …
	waltzingmorethanmati… on Rua and Rhoa
	redrover23 on Rua and Rhoa

Waltzing More Than Matilda

~ Names with an Australian Bias of Democratic Temper

Tag Archives: tree names

Uncommon Vocabulary Names For Girls

Suburbs of Adelaide and Hobart Which Could Be Used as Boys Names

Suburbs of Adelaide and Hobart Which Could Be Used as Girls Names

Boys Names From Native Australian Flowers

Famous Name: Dorrigo

Waltzing With … Acacia

Boys Names From Australian Children’s Literature

True Blue Names for Boys

Finding Baby Names to Match Your Surname

Waltzing with … Orange