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Tag Archives: UK name trends

Interview with Brooke from Baby Name Pondering

12 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Blog Reviews

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cool-baby-thinkingBrooke is a fellow Aussie name blogger, and she has a fantastic name blog called Baby Name Pondering. Here she ponders all manner of baby names, and specialises in names that are a bit different. Brooke finds name inspiration all over the place, especially in popular culture, so she covers names from your favourite TV shows, such as Khaleesi, and favourite movies, such as Argo. However, there are also popular favourites, such as Charlotte and Hunter. There are also specifically Australian names, such as Tempany. I highly recommend this blog to name nerds and anyone drawn to imaginative baby names.

What is your name?

Brooke Olivia

Have you ever wished you had a different name?

When I was younger, I sometimes wished my first name was more “exotic”, which  simply meant more than one syllable! I remember thinking at one point I’d like to change my name to Bianca. Somehow I felt that if I had a different name it should still start with B :). I’m very happy with my name now though.

What was the inspiration behind your user name Blue Juniper?

I read a book in my early teens where the main character was named Juniper, and I fell in love with it. I’d often have it as a user name online, and one day when Juniper wasn’t available, I put my favourite colour in front and that wasn’t taken. It felt right so it kind of stuck. I used it on Nameberry, and when I started a name blog I figured that’s how other Nameberries would recognise me.

When did you first begin getting interested in names?

It was around the age of ten. I found a pull-out booklet of names in one of my Grandma’s Woman’s Day magazines. After years of not being able to find any personalised products with Brooke on it, this booklet had both Brooke and Olivia! It also had cool names I’d never heard before, like Xanthe. I was hooked.

What inspired you to begin a name blog?

I spent a fair bit of time on Nameberry forums and Yahoo Answers, but the nature of those is that you’re either giving a quick answer on a name someone else likes, or asking for feedback. And I like names – especially different ones – so much that I  I felt I had more to say. I was encouraged by some of the other great blogs out there and thought to myself I could do that. The blog name sums up what my blog is about – names that inspire me and get me pondering.

Do you have a favourite blog entry on Baby Name Pondering?

I really like the series of Halloween posts I did last October – I wanted to profile some names that hadn’t been included on other Halloween lists. I also like my recent post on ’80s fantasy movie names. I grew up with those movies and still think that a lot of those names are really cool.

What differences do you see between Australian name trends and those overseas?

When you look at the top ten in each country you can see some definite similarities, but also some differences. I think we’re probably a little closer to the UK in that our tastes are slightly more conservative than the US. In the US there are a lot more variations in names, which I think is due to their larger population. With more people, there is perhaps more of a need to differentiate your child’s name, to make it stand out or feel more individual. It’s easier to stand out here where there are fewer people and the population is more widely spread.

Do you have a pet naming peeve?

Mangling name spelling. I understand a small tweak to differentiate a name, or make it easier to spell or pronounce, but I hate it when a name is twisted so much that you have to stop and think before you can tell what it was originally meant to be. It just looks ugly and is unnecessary. Recent examples I’ve seen include Jayceon (Jason), Zy’Cari (Zachary), Khynedi (Kennedy), Mattelyn (Madeline), and Kharmyn (Carmen). Changes should enhance a name, not detract from it.

What are some of your favourite names?

If I had to name my style I’d say eccentric preppy. Some of my girl favourites include Saffron, Sage, Imogen, Sutton, Rissa, Bay, Petra, Adria and Tamsin. My boys list includes Bram, Lorcan, Caspian, Dresden, Zared and Theon.

What names do you dislike?

Nevaeh. I get it, but I’m not a fan of how it looks or sounds. And I feel like people use it because they think it makes them look clever, which is one of my problems with so-called “kre8tiv” names. I also have to admit that I don’t get Atticus, which is a name enthusiast favourite at the moment. But I suspect that’s because I haven’t read To Kill a Mockingbird yet. One of my goals this year is to read it so I can see what everyone else sees.

Are there any names you love, but could never use?

I recently fell in love with Cassia, but I have serious doubts it would work with our surname, which is very similar to Cousins.

One of my guilty pleasure names is Winchester because I’m a big fan of the TV show Supernatural and I think it sounds cool, but don’t think I can bring myself to give a child a name so closely associated with a type of gun.

I also love Eddard, but our best friend’s and one of my cousin’s sons are called Edward, so it’s too similar for my liking.

What are your favourite names in the Victorian Top 100?

Imogen (#48) and Declan (#74).

What are your favourite names that have never charted in Australia?

Rissa and Caspian.

Do you have names picked out for your future children?

No, but I have a nice long list of ideas!

If you found out you were pregnant right now, what names would you think about using for the baby?

I like the idea of using all nature related names, as my husband and I both have first and middle names with nature related meanings.

Have you and your husband ever disagreed over baby names?

We’re not too bad, although I did have a few ideas that he vetoed due to people he knew that he didn’t like. He also used to joke about wanting to name a boy Agamemnon, after the Greek Commander in the Trojan war, which I feel is a bit of a heavy name! If I ask him which names he likes, he’ll just pluck some random name out of the air that he knows I won’t like to tease me. But since I started the blog he’s noticing names more, so if he sees a name he likes enough to mention, and I like it too, I add it to the list. When the time comes I’ll probably just hand him the list and we’ll negotiate a top pick.

What is something we don’t know about you?

My latest decorating obsession has been wall clocks. I have a feature wall in our living room with just clocks. So far there’s only (?) seven of them, but I’m often looking for interesting ones to add to the collection. But no cuckoo clocks as I think that would drive me a little batty!

What advice would you give to someone who was choosing a baby name?

Remember that the most important people who have a stake in the name are the parents and the child. Sure, it can be a good idea to get feedback from friends or family, but ultimately as long as the parents like it, and they feel that it won’t be a burden on the child, it’s probably a good choice.

It’s a good idea to do some research. And if, after you’ve looked through multiple name books (or blogs), you still have your heart set on your childhood favourite, then that’s fine. It’s okay to take all nine months of the pregnancy to be sure it’s a name that will work for a lifetime. And if popularity matters to you, check the top name charts!

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MYTH: Australian Baby Names Follow English Trends More Closely Than American Ones

09 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by in Baby Name Mythbusters

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Last time we went mythbusting, we looked at whether Australian names are becoming increasingly Americanised, and didn’t find a lot of evidence. This is the flip side to that myth – the one that comforts us that we are essentially more British in our ways than American, and so are our baby names. That despite an increasing tendency to call our children Jett and Harlow, most of us will trustingly follow dear old Mother England, and choose something like Archie, Evie, Callum or Isla.

Again, this myth sounded quite plausible to me. But we have to look and make sure, so once more I prepared myself to examine the Top 100 from each nation. The first hurdle is that both of us are slightly data-challenged, so I was forced to rely on data from Victoria only (the only state with stats going back to 1929), while the data from the UK would include both England and Wales, but not Scotland or Northern Ireland. I did feel that already the waters were getting slightly muddied, only to find that England/Wales doesn’t publicise historical Top 100s.

I express my heartfelt gratitude to Elea at British Baby Names, who has provided on her blog, through her own labours, Top 100s for England/Wales for each decade from 1904 to 1984. Upon e-mailing her to enquire where I might find the one for 1994, she very kindly sent me a copy of her own personal spreadsheets so I could have that one as well.

Now I acknowledge this leaves me with some flaws in my methodology before even starting. I only had data from one state of Australia; furthermore this state has a reputation of being slightly more “English” than average. I only had data from England/Wales, and only had access to years ending in a 4. As I had already examined the earlier myth using data from the United States in years ending with a 0, it was possible I wasn’t going to be comparing apples to oranges so much as bananas to hedgehogs to timeshare villas in Spain.

However, we won’t get too gloomy, but show a bit of British pluck and press on. No, this won’t be the most statistically persuasive thing you’ll read all year, but we’re not doing a study, not trying to prove anything, just having a keen yet amateurish look around us to see if anything obvious shows up. And after all, if the myth is clearly and inarguably true, then broad trends should be pretty obvious even through a fog of slightly dodgy data.

1934

Boys – 82% the same (17% higher than US)

Girls – 69% the same (18% higher than US)

1954

Boys – 75% the same (16% higher than US) – down 7% overall, down 1% relative to US

Girls – 68% the same (21% higher than US) – down 1% overall, up 3% relative to US

1974

Boys – 72% the same (16% higher than US) – down 3% overall, no change relative to US

Girls – 62% the same (11% higher than US) – down 6% overall, down 10% relative to US

1994

Boys – 67% the same (11% higher than US) – down 10% overall, down 3% relative to US

Girls – 61% the same (5% higher than US) – down 1% overall, down 6% relative to US

2011

Boys – 63% the same (4% higher than US) – down 4% overall, down 7% relative to US

Girls – 63% the same (16% higher than US) – up 2% overall, up 11% relative to US

Based on these numbers, I would say that’s a MYTH CONFIRMED – at no time in history did the the amount of popular names shared with the US overtake the amount of popular names shared with England/Wales.

However, you can clearly see that while the number of shared girls names went down only very slightly between 1934 and 2011, the number of shared boys names sunk by almost 20%. In fact, yes, we still share more boys names with England/Wales than with the United States, but only by 4% – four names! Statistically, that’s what I call a big-whooping-deal difference, and if this trend continues, future Australian boy’s names are going to look much more like those in the US than the Top 100 for England/Wales.

Girl’s name did not show this steady decline, and in fact last year had a slight increase since the 1990s, while also showing a significant gain relative to the US data. This makes me think that when we say that our names are more English than American, we are primarily thinking of our names for girls.

GENTLE MUSINGS

Last time I ended the article with “conclusions”; this now seems far too definite and perhaps arrogant considering that we are left with far more questions than answers. So I will not reach any conclusions, but merely gently muse on some of the issues that have been raised.

Questions

  • Many names are shared by the Top 100s of all three countries. Therefore, can you really label names such as Olivia, Jacob, Ella and Liam as “English” or “American”, or are they more properly “international trends”?
  • If determined to designate a name as “English” or “American”, do you rely upon the place which provided the cultural impetus for the name, or the place where it became popular first, or the place where it reached the highest levels of popularity? If the first, then many popular names could be classed as American; if the second or third, a large number would be classed as Australian more than anything else.
  • I used the example of Scarlett as an “American-style” name in the preceding article (I admit without much forethought), and Sebastiane from Legitimate Baby Names quite correctly pointed out that Scarlett was more popular in England than in the United States. Now, it cannot be disputed that Scarlett hails from the United States, because the name became known through Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Gone with the Wind, and was popularised by American actress, Scarlett Johansson. However, the name is #19 in Victoria, #25 in England/Wales, and #80 in the USA. It reached the Top 100 of both Victoria and England/Wales in the same year, 2004, New South Wales in 2005, but only became Top 100 in the USA last year. So which country, if any, claims it?
  • Sometimes my blog entries end up being copied and discussed in some odd places, so my Referrer stats tell me; occasionally they end up somewhere rather disturbing. I found the Mythbuster on Australian and US trends on a not-very-nice forum (not baby name or parenting related), where the poster claimed that supposedly “trashy” American names that were popular in Australia but not the USA (eg Beau) were in fact, not American, but “Southern” names. Did the Civil War not end? I wondered. Is the lower portion of America not part of the United States, but a separate nation? It does raise the issue, what qualifies as an “American” name? Must it be in the Top 100 of every state in the USA to be called American? In which case, I have a feeling that “American” names would end up being those that are popular internationally, like Michael and Emily.

Observations

  • Immigration made a difference between the Top 100s of England/Wales and Victoria. Mohammed and Abdul have been popular names since the 1930s in the UK, while post-war immigration saw names such as Antonio and Ioannis reach the Top 100 in Victoria during the 1970s.
  • Although Australia has a history of being very keen on Welsh-inspired names such as Mervyn and Gweneth, I was amused to notice that not only were these not popular in England/Wales, but they had Welsh names, presumably used by actual Welsh people, which we didn’t, such as Ivor and Glynis.
  • While we all are influenced by each other’s name trends, each country had its names that the others were seemingly oblivious to. The name Gillian seems to be a quintessentially English name, appearing decade after decade on their Top 100, whilst never making the Top 100 in Australia, or the Top 1000 of the US. Meanwhile the US had quite a thing for Melvin – a name which still ranks on their Top 1000. In turn, we had a long-standing fascination with the name Bronwyn.
  • Each country also had their own favourite names. Adrian was a name we took to early – it was Top 100 by the 1930s and stayed there until quite recently. In England/Wales, it took a bit longer to reach the Top 100 and they tired of it sooner. In the US, Adrian only reached the Top 100 in 1989. England/Wales had an inordinate passion for the name Derek, which continued for decades – a name that has never been Top 100 in Australia, and only reached the Top 100 of the USA in 1970, a good half-century after England/Wales. In the US, Douglas seemed to enjoy favour much longer than elsewhere, being still Top 100 as late as the 1980s.
  • In other words, we might all be influenced by international trends, but we also have our own tastes in names, and don’t necessarily abandon a favoured name just because everyone else is doing so.
  • I have noticed that some people, amongst them many Australians I’m sorry to say, assume that a name which becomes popular in England/Wales is somehow more “classy” or “stylish” that one whose popularity originated in the United States or Australia. Granted, whether a name is stylish or not is completely subjective, but I did not feel that this assumption stood up to even casual investigation. From my perusal of popular names from three places across seven decades, it seemed to me that all were capable of being inspired by names that have been considered stylish, and its opposite.
  • For example, the name Isabella became popular in Australia much earlier than elsewhere, and I think most people would say Isabella is a pretty, stylish name. Yet we were also the first (by many years) to jump aboard the Hayden/Aidan/Jayden/Brayden craze. While I don’t consider this the black hole of name taste that others do, I acknowledge it’s not generally thought of as a stylish trend. While England has some lovely aristocratic names on its Top 100s, such as Constance and Daphne, can a land which adored the name Derek really take the title of Stylemeister? America has brought us no end of cool names, from glamourpuss Marilyn to zippy Jett. There’s a freshness and vigour to American name trends which I love, and a world without their names would be a far less interesting one. However, sometimes they’re a trifle overenthusiastic – and besides, Derek was on their Top 100 for 15 years, so they forfeit the style crown too.
  • Oh, and Barry and Sheila? Barry was Top 100 in England/Wales for longer than it was here, and Sheila, although popular in both England/Wales and the United States, didn’t show up in the Australian data, because by the 1930s it had already peaked and dropped off our Top 100. Who’d have thunk it?

The Top Ten Boys Names of 2028

27 Sunday May 2012

Posted by in Your Questions Answered

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This follows on from The Top Ten Girls Names of 2028, so if you want to know the methods used, and what this is all about, and whether it’s really the Top 10 of 2028, then go read that first. If you’ve read it, you’ll know I ran into a few frustrations doing the girls names, and if anything, the boys names ended up being even more of a headache.

Angie, the discerning blogger behind Upswing Baby Names, was kind enough to leave me a long and thoughtful comment, which in part wondered whether posting predictions itself could change the future.

For example, a parent worried about a name they like gaining popularity may avoid it, even if the name is currently under-used. Therefore, names tipped to become popular are less likely to actually become popular. (Hmm, if this is true, pick a name that is touted as being popular in the future, because that will scare everyone else off!)

Angie herself, in her article Warning: Your Baby’s Name Could Become #1, notes that the number of popular names is shrinking markedly each decade, and that in effect, the popularity of names is virtually meaningless today. Yet somehow, we worry about it more than ever. Pretty crazy, huh?

Now I didn’t fret myself too much over Angie’s concerns, because I didn’t really imagine many people would read my blog entry, and didn’t think those that did would pay any attention. So I was somewhat disconcerted to see that it had been posted on a parenting forum, in part as an alert that the name a woman had chosen for her daughter, Freya, had been pegged for potential eventual #1 status by yours truly.

Fortunately, at least one of my predictions was proved right, because nobody appeared to pay much attention to me, and several flat-out said I was wrong. (These tended to be the type of people who didn’t think Olivia was popular, because they hardly knew anyone of that name, so their views on name popularity may not be particularly au courant).

The overwhelming advice given was exactly what I would have said myself: Don’t worry about whether a name will be popular in the future, that isn’t something you are able to control, and it would be foolish to avoid using a name you love for fear of what may happen later.

Sage, sane and sensible advice. Follow it!

Current Top Ten

  • William #24 in ’95 and #37 for the 1980s (gradual rise up the Top 50)
  • Lucas #87 in ’95 and #105 for the 1980s (steady rise into the Top 100)
  • Lachlan #26 in ’95 and #75 for the 1980s (steady rise up the Top 100)
  • Ethan #61 in ’95 and #323 for the 1980s (precipitious rise into the Top 100)
  • Oliver #75 in ’95 and #140 for the 1980s (steep rise into the Top 100)
  • Jack #7 in ’95 and #91 for the 1980s (steady rise up the Top 100)
  • Noah #161 for the 1990s and in rare use for the 1980s (new name that skyrockets)
  • Thomas #6 in ’95 and #27 for the 1980s (gradual rise into the Top 10)
  • Joshua #1 in ’95 and #11 for the 1980s (gradual rise to #1)
  • Cooper #125 for the 1990s, in rare use in the 1980s (new name that skyrockets)

1. ISAAC

Isaac is currently #19, and in 2001 he was #40. This is pretty close to William’s stately progress through the Top 50, and as such, I am picking him as the #1 name of the future. It did come as a bit of surprise to me, but it’s the only name that even comes near to matching William’s pattern. When I checked the Top 100 for the US and England/Wales, both of them still have Isaac around where he was for us ten years ago, but making similar progress. The popularity of Isaac may become apparent here earlier due to our smaller population size.

2. KAI

Kai is #83 right now, and he was #105 for the early 2000s. This is an extremely good match with Lucas, almost perfect in fact. Now the question is, will Kai shoot up the Top 100 the way Lucas did? I’m a bit sceptical, because I can’t help feeling that Lucas got quite a big boost from popular culture. I think someone is going to have to produce a TV show with a likeable main character named Kai. Even without such a TV show, it’s clear that Kai is doing very well for himself.

3. LOGAN

Logan is currently #34, and in 2001 he was #78. That’s not quite a good enough match to please me, but it’s the best I could get. Although the two names sound a bit alike, I don’t think Logan is going to be the next Lachlan, because Logan simply doesn’t mean as much in Australia as Lachlan does; it doesn’t have the same history and resonance. As you can see, it hasn’t climbed as high in the same space of time either. However, Logan is a common place name in Australia, and I’m still tipping it to continue rising.

4. CHASE

Chase is currently #85, and he was #407 for the early 2000s. I couldn’t find a name which mimicked Ethan very closely, and Chase was the best I could do. As you can see, he has actually climbed faster than Ethan did, and Ethan was no slouch. If Chase continues at his current rate, he will be Top Ten sooner than 2028. We’ll have to wait and see.

5. HUGO

Hugo is currently #90, and he was #143 for the early 2000s. This is a similar pattern to Oliver, but Hugo hasn’t climbed quite as high as Oliver did in the same space of time. However, you can see that he is still making good progress, and looks set to continue. He also has the fashionable OH sound we saw on the girls’ list – although can anyone really believe in a Top Ten which contains both a Harlow for girls and a Hugo for boys? It boggles the mind.

6. LUCAS

Lucas is currently #2, and ten years ago he was #82. This looks quite similar to Jack’s climb from the bottom of the Top 100 into the Top 10. Jack has of course proved himself a real stayer, and we’ll have to see whether Lucas has similar powers of endurance. I was going to say I doubted it, and then I looked back through the blog and saw I had earlier tipped Lucas to be only just outside the Top 10 in thirty years, based on comparisons with the Top Ten of 1982. So for reasons of consistency, I now feel compelled to say that yes, Lucas will still be in the Top Ten seventeen years later.

7. BENTLEY OR GRAYSON (???)

I knew I was going to hit a horrible snag at some point, and this was the point where that occurred. I needed to find a name that, like Noah in 1995, is around #160 at the moment, but ten years ago, did not even chart. The trouble is, it’s not possible to find that on the present chart, because it’s too new to show up yet. Left struggling in the dark, all I could think of was that since Noah was a name that became popular in the United States before it did here, I would see where Noah was on the US charts in 1995. It had just scraped its way onto the very bottom of the Top 100, after climbing a very brisk 59 places. I had a look at the 2011 US chart to see if there were any names that looked similar to that, which might possibly be around #160 here, and drew a blank. The names on the US Top 100 which climbed the highest last year were Bentley and Grayson, but only 25 places – not even half what Noah managed. Are Bentley and Grayson in the mid-100s here at the moment? I have no idea. If I go down just outside the Top 100, Easton (#102) climbed 43 places, and Jace (#106) climbed 40 places, which comes closer to Noah, but I can’t really see either of them in the mid-100s. I don’t think there is an equivalent to Noah, but without any solid data to draw on, I’m left dangling. Your guess is very much as good (or bad) as mine – and that is all this is, complete guesswork.

8. ETHAN

Ethan is currently #4, and in 2001 he was #17. That isn’t a perfect match with Thomas, but it does show Ethan moving up the Top 50 into the Top 10, like Thomas. I could have chosen either Oliver or Noah, but the idea of having both Olive and Oliver in the Top 10 seemed ludicrous, and I was quite out of patience with poor Noah by this stage. I also saw that I had earlier tipped Ethan to be a real stayer, so once more felt that I had little choice but to choose him again.

9. WILLIAM

William is currently the #1 name, and in 2001 he was #10. This is virtually a perfect match with long-lasting Joshua, who was #1 in 1995, and #11 for the 1980s. Basically if trends in boys’ names continue as they have been, 30% of the Top 10 in seventeen years will consist of names that are in the present Top 10. I feel as if boys’ names are becoming less conservative and there will be greater change coming in the future, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part.

10. ARCHER

With finding an equivalent for Cooper, I was in a similar position to finding an equivalent to Noah (ie there would be no data available at this early stage). However, I felt I had more freedom to choose, because Cooper seems to be a name which is much more popular in Australia than anywhere else. Therefore, there was no need to look through overseas data, or do any number crunching – it was just a matter of thinking of a new name which has grown wildly in popularity over the past few years, yet isn’t in the Top 100 yet. I was also hoping it would be an English surname/vocabulary name like Cooper. It really didn’t take much thought to light upon Archer; after reading birth announcements for months, I can see Archer is a name taking off like wildfire, and anyone can see it will be in the Top 100 within a few years or so. Can I see it reaching the Top 10? Yes, easily. It has better nickname options than Cooper, and a more romantic meaning, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it does better than Cooper.

My Tips for Coming Trends

  • IE sounds, as in Isaac and Kai
  • OH sounds, as in Logan and Hugo
  • Hard K sounds, as in Isaac, Kai and Lucas
  • S-enders, like Chase and Lucas
  • The rise and rise of the surname name for boys
  • Stronger influence from the US than from the UK
  • The names that are popular now still hanging on and becoming standards

Brittania Rules at British Baby Names

05 Sunday Feb 2012

Posted by in Blog Reviews

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As the summer holidays wane and the new school year opens, it seems appropriate that I should be reviewing a blog written by a schoolteacher.

I “met” British Baby Names through Mer de Noms, which has it listed on its Blog Roll. I was impressed by the official-sounding title and the quiet confidence it denoted (I did consider calling my blog Australian Baby Names, but wasn’t sure I could live up to it). For some time I thought BBN was the net presence of a book, magazine, or a company of some kind. I kept waiting to be sold something, and although that hasn’t happened yet, it does make me secretly wonder if a book, magazine, company, or product are in the pipeline.

The subtitle to British Baby Names is Trends, Styles and Quirks, and the trend-analysing, stylish, and quirky blogger behind British Baby Names is Elea (a homophone of Ella). Elea is from Coventry, an English city you may connect with Lady Godiva; like her compatriot Lou at Mer de Noms, she comes from Britain’s heartland. This part of the world clearly breeds fabulous name bloggers.

What do you expect from a blog on British baby names? Perhaps you think of the elegant and slightly over-the-top names from the birth announcements in The Telegraph. Or maybe you think of medieval names, or glorious Victoriana. You might want to know which names are currently popular in England, Wales and Scotland, or seek name data from previous centuries. You could be interested in Celtic and Gaelic names, or drawn to names from English literature.

So often are our expectations disappointed, and yet at British Baby Names, you get all this, and more. Let’s run through some of the goodies on offer.

Name Lists

I urge you to check out Styles, which divides names into useful “style codes” that Elea has devised. Thus we have such intriguingly-named lists as Upright Elegance, Resonant Roman, and Funky Clunky. If you like a name on one of the lists, chances are you will find yourself approving several others in that style.

The Themes list allows Elea a chance to do some research, and use her imagination. Here you may find lists of Gods and Goddesses, Non-Floral Nature vocabulary names, and scientific Butterfly Names. I feel that some of the Meaning lists, which includes flowers, colours and birds, could sit comfortably under Themes as well.

British society embraces many cultures, and at Cultural Origins we have lists such as Cornish, Manx and Scottish Clan names, but also French and Arabic ones. Surely a list on Indian names is coming …

There are also lists of literary characters, and names of British and European royalty. Just started this year are names connected with each month – I’m looking forward to seeing this series unfold.

Names of the week

Elea adds a fresh name each Saturday, alternating between genders, and there are currently 36 names. Each listing gives the origin, usage, namesakes, variants and pronunciation. There are also middle name suggestions, sibset suggestions and nickname suggestions. Each name is placed in the context of different name style lists, and suggests names in similar styles. These appear accurate, judging by own reactions; however, I seem to like all the names and all the different name styles, so I may not be the best test candidate.

Name Data

A name nerd’s dream – lots and lots of lovely name data! You can see the Top 100 for each decade beginning in 1904 (I’m not sure it’s ever explained why it starts in 1904), comparing each name’s rank with that of 2009. So we can see that some of the “great grandparent” names are popular now, such as Ruby, Isabella, William and Matthew, but inexplicably, equally nice names like Sylvia, Audrey, Edmund and Harold don’t seem to be cutting it (especially odd as Audrey is Top 100 here and in North America).

There’s also the current Top 100 for both England/Wales and Scotland. Along the left hand side, you can go straight to the combined spellings for girls and boys, hyphenated names, and also name combinations from the century-ago 1911 census for more spiffing middle name ideas.

There are Categories to choose from down the right-hand side – one of the most interesting and useful is Sibling Names, which looks through the historical name data to see which sibling names were chosen to “go with” names as varied as Cinderella, Erastus and Ivanhoe.

Another of my favourites is the T’was Ever Thus series, in which we see that there is nothing new under the sun. I’m sure these cross old newspaper writers are the direct ancestors of people who peevishly air their pet name grievances on the Internet. Here we see one from 1900, bringing out that ancient chestnut, that children will be horribly bullied if called something outlandish, such as Angelina.

Elea has been blogging industriously for almost a year, passing her 200th blog post around last Christmas. British Baby Names is powered by Typepad, a platform which produces very sleek and professional-looking blogs. Leaving comments is easy, as there are so many different ways to sign in, and you don’t need to respond to a captcha each time you comment on a post. Elea is very good at answering her comments in timely fashion too.

If you would like to follow BBN on Twitter or Facebook, there are two easy-find buttons to press, and you’re there. These do seem to be used differently – Twitter is for receiving notice of blog updates, while Facebook is for chatting and getting interesting snippets of name information which don’t get blogged about. You can subscribe to the live feed by clicking on the tiny orange RSS symbol displayed when you open each Category.

Elea has recently had a change of image, giving BBN a classic monochrome background with discreet polka dots, and featuring an old-fashioned perambulator, such as a trim little nanny may have nimbled around a London park at the turn of the last century.

Everything is perfectly organised, beautifully presented, and meticulously researched. I have to restrain myself from picturing her classroom as pin-neat with clearly written charts on the walls, and children with very clean faces sitting at desks arranged in an orderly fashion. Her report card gets an A+ with lots of gold stars and elephant stamps.

There is a definite English “style” on British Baby Names that I think Anglophiles will find extremely charming. It’s everything we expect from “proper British names” – whether they be elegant as a white glove, wild as a moor in a Bronte novel, or eccentric as a Hyde park speaker.

A little known fact about Elea is that she has a romantic connection to Australia, and it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that this English lass with the love of field and coppice running in her veins will one day make her home in our wide brown land. Should this occur, I have no doubt that she will in short order produce a blog called Australian Baby Names as perfect, beautiful, and meticulous as BBN. I couldn’t hope to be put out of business by a better blogger.

Q & A with Elea

Name?: Eleanor Lauren Margaret. The first two were already on my parent’s short-list, when my great-grandmother, Margaret, died a few months before I was born. I was given Margaret to honour her.

Name you would like to have: I’ve always been happy with my first name as it is classic, hard to date, and has lots of nicknames. I considered having Lauren removed and just being Eleanor Margaret. My reasoning was that Margaret has family significance, while Lauren just felt like a run-of-the-mill 1980s name. Having three middle names never bothered me, but it used to annoy me when the last one would get chopped off on forms – leaving me with just Lauren, my least favourite middle. Being simply Eleanor Margaret, or Eleanor Margaret Lauren, would, I felt, have solved that problem. I once mentioned to my parents that I wished Lauren wasn’t one of my names and they looked rather shocked, replying, “But I love Lauren.” Seeing that they both genuinely loved the name restored my feeling of ownership for it.

What began your interest in names?: I remember choosing Barbie dolls and Polly Pockets based on their names alone, and looking avidly at the names on the Edwardian-style figurines in the Argos catalogues. Around the age of 8, I named an imaginary [future] daughter Aurora Ariel Belinda Liesl Fenella Esme Roberta – all names from favourite books and films. By the time I realised names had meanings, I was hooked.

How did you start blogging?: For many years I have enjoyed researching names in historical sources or picking through the official statistics. (I seem to have a thing for name related spreadsheets ). I used to post various findings on different forums, but then would spend ages trying to find them again when I needed to refer to them. Eventually, I started to catalogue some of the posts, and the idea of a blog really grew from there – mostly as a place to store my general musings (which probably explains why the content bounces all over the place with no real set theme). It staggers me that people actually read the posts, let alone make time to comment. For so long my name obsession has been my closeted secret.

Your favourite blog entry on British Baby Names: My posts tend to range from familiar subjects that I want to indulge in, to topics I have only just discovered and am desperate to explore. The post on Victorian floriography is a good example of the latter. It was something that I had only been vaguely aware of, but once I started researching I became fascinated. As far as serials go, I very much enjoy writing the Names of the Week, and researching the Finds from… entries.

Your pet naming peeve: I’m always saddened when people tell me that they were given their name/middle name because their parents “couldn’t think of anything else/couldn’t agree so they compromised on something they didn’t hate/didn’t bother to give a middle name because they ran out of ideas after naming the older ones.” I’ve heard all these before, and, sadly, it is usually these people who dislike their name. Mostly, because they feel the name was chosen with very little thought, sentiment, or care.

I also find it unsettling that Dylan for a girl is acceptable, but Evelyn for a boy is considered cruel. I have no problem with gender-bending, but I find it sad that our society only swings it one way.

Your favourite names: I have a particular passion for Celtic, Greek and medieval names. The favourites I’ve been nursing for the past few years are Endelyn and Merewen for girls, and Jago, Macsen and Aidric for boys.

Names you dislike:  The -son names (Madison, Addison, Emerson) for girls. I’m very visual with names so the “son” part always leaps out at me and looks incongruous.

Names you love but can’t use: Persephone was once my favourite guilty pleasure. These days I see it less as guilty, more as actually quite usable. There are certain names that I love but have been used by, or are too close to, family/friends names to use: Livia, Amelia, Charlotte, Sabina, Juliet.

Your future children’s names: There is only one name that I have had semi-set in my mind since I was a teenager – William Rhys. It honours several family members, and I still love how it looks and sounds.

The one piece of advice you would give to someone choosing a name for their baby: My overall advice would be that people choose a name that has some resonance or significance for them. Whether it honours a loved one, has a particularly apt meaning, is a much loved name, or just makes you happy every time you say it, if you love it and find it significant, chances are your child will too.

Boys Names from the Top 100 of the 1930s

26 Sunday Jun 2011

Posted by in Name Themes and Lists

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This post was first published on June 26 2011, and substantially revised and updated on June 25 2015.

Alfred
Anglo-Saxon name meaning “elf counsel”. The name became famous due to Alfred the Great, 9th century king of Wessex, who defended England against the Vikings, and was the first to call himself King of the Anglo-Saxons. Renowned for his love of learning, he encouraged education and reformed the legal system. Although not officially a saint, he is regarded as a Christian hero, and has a feast day in the Anglican Church. The name Alfred continued to be used even after the Norman Conquest, when many Anglo-Saxon names were discarded. It dwindled after the Middle Ages, but had a revival in the 19th century, and was chosen as the name of one of Queen Victoria’s sons – an earlier Prince Alfred was the son of King George III, and the current British family trace their ancestry back to Alfred the Great. Alfred is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #14 in the 1900s, and #50 by the 1930s. Alfred left the Top 100 in the 1950s, and is currently around the 300s, its position apparently fairly stable. Popular in Scandinavia, Alfie, Fred, and Freddie give this venerable classic several cute nickname options.

Brian
Irish name, possibly from the Celtic bre, meaning “hill”, to suggest “high, great, exalted”. In Irish mythology, Brian is one of three brothers who are sent on a worldwide magical quest. In some versions, Brian is the clever one of the three, while his brothers are bumbling and easily pushed around. A famous namesake is Brian Boru, the first High King of Ireland, and founder of the O’Brien dynasty; he made the name common in Ireland. The name Brian was also used in Brittany, and became quite popular in East Anglia, where it was spread by Breton immigrants, and in the north of England, brought over by Scandinavian settlers who had lived in Ireland. It experienced a revival in the early 20th century. Brian is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #169 in the 1900s, and joined the Top 100 in the 1920s. Peaking in the 1930s and ’40s at #7, Brian didn’t leave the Top 100 until the 1980s – Monty Python’s Life of Brian having turned it into a “joke name” didn’t help its fortunes. However, it’s been reasonably stable for about a decade, and is around the 300s. Brian remains a popular name in Ireland. This is a strong-sounding Irish classic still getting reasonable use.

Colin
Anglicised form of the Scottish name Cailean, meaning “whelp, pup, young dog” in Gaelic. It is also a medieval pet form of Col, short for Nicholas, so it’s an English name as well. Cuilén mac Ildulb was a 10th century King of the Scots, while Sir Colin Campbell (“Colin the Great”) was a 13th century cousin of Robert the Bruce, and one of the earliest known members of the Clan Campbell, ancestor of the Earls of Argyll. The name became traditional in the Campbell family because of him. Colin was #51 in the 1900s, and peaked in the 1930s at #14. It left the Top 100 in the 1980s, and although it stayed in use for many years afterwards, now seems to be quite rare. Colin is a traditional name which has a gentle and slightly poetic feel, and works well in the middle.

Edwin
Modern form of the Anglo-Saxon name Eadwine, meaning “rich friend”. The name was traditional amongst Anglo-Saxon royalty and nobility, with the most famous Edwin being a 7th century king of Northumbria who converted to Christianity; it was said that during his reign, the land was so peaceful that a woman with a new baby could walk across the country without being harmed (it tells you something that this was considered remarkable). He was canonised as a saint after his death. The name Edwin sunk in popularity after the Norman Conquest, but was revived in the 19th century during the Victorian enthusiasm for early English names. Edwin is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #52 in the 1900s, and #88 by the 1930s. It left the Top 100 in the 1940s, and is currently around the 400s. A good alternative to popular Edward, while still having Eddie, Ed, Ned, and Ted as nicknames.

Frederick
English form of the Germanic name Friduric, translated as “peaceful ruler”; the modern German version is Friedrich. A favourite amongst European royalty, the name was traditional amongst the Holy Roman Emperors, with Frederick I also known as Frederick Barbarossa, meaning “red bearded” in Italian. Descended from two of Germany’s leading royal houses, he is regarded as the greatest of the medieval Holy Roman Emperors. Handsome, charismatic, and courtly, he was ambitious and skilful, greatly increasing Germany’s power base, and bringing back the Roman rule of law. According to medieval legend, he is not dead, but sleeps in a cave, waiting to return Germany to its former greatness. There are also a couple of medieval German saints named Frederick. The name was brought to England by the Normans after the Conquest, but it didn’t catch on. It was revived in the 18th century when the German House of Hanover inherited the British throne; Prince Frederick was the eldest son of King George II. Frederick is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #8 in the 1900s, and #26 by the 1930s. It left the Top 100 in the 1960s, and sunk to its lowest level in the 1990s, at #459. Since then it has gradually increased in popularity, and is now around the low 200s. A distinguished name with friendly nicknames like Fred and Freddie, Frederick is already popular in the UK.

Ivan
Slavic form of John. A traditional Slavic name, there have been many famous Ivans in history, including six tsars of Russia, and many Croatian and Ukrainian leaders. St Ivan is a legendary hermit from Bohemia, while St Ivan of Rila is the patron saint of Bulgaria. Ivan continues to be a popular name in Eastern Europe, while the Spanish form Iván is popular in Spain and Latin America. Its long-term use in the English-speaking world may come from its similarity to the Welsh form of John, Ifan, so it can be seen as an Anglicised form of the Welsh name. Ivan is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #117 in the 1900s, peaked in the 1910s at #97, and was #100 in the 1930s. It left the Top 100 in the 1940s and is currently around the low 300s, having been reasonably stable since the 1990s. That makes it a great cross-cultural choice which has remained both familiar and underused.

Lawrence
Variant of Laurence, and the usual surname form of the name. St Lawrence of Rome was a 3rd century Spanish saint who was archdeacon of Rome during a time of Christian persecution. There are many stories and legends about him. One is that he spirited the Holy Grail to Spain, where it remains in Valencia. Another is that the Emperor demanded that Lawrence hand over all the church’s goods. Lawrence hastily distributed everything the poor, then presented the city’s suffering, saying that these were the true treasures of the church. For this act of defiance, he was supposedly martyred by being roasted over a gridiron; after hours of pain, he remarked cheerfully: I’m well done. Turn me over! He is one of the most widely venerated saints, and his tomb a favourite pilgrimage site since the 4th century. Lawrence is a classic name which has never left the charts. It was #67 in the 1900s, peaked at #55 in the 1910s and ’20s, and was #61 in the 1930s. It left the Top 100 in the 1960s, and reached its lowest point in 2010 at #466. Since then it has risen again, and is now in the 200s, outstripping Laurence in popularity. This rugged-sounding classic comes with the nicknames Lawrie and Larry.

Lionel
Medieval pet form of Leon, a Greek name meaning “lion”; it could also be directly from Lion, which was used as a nickname in the Middle Ages. According to Arthurian legend, Sir Lionel was a Breton king, and knight of the Round Table. He features in the Grail Quest, where he is shown to be unworthy of the Grail, and more interested in fighting than the spiritual life. Lionel of Antwerp was a son of King Edward III, and reputedly a giant of a man, almost seven feet tall and of athletic build. It is through him that the House of York claimed the throne of England, and the name was a common one amongst the aristocracy. Lionel was #68 in the 1900s, peaked in the 1910s at #66, and was #73 by the 1930s. It left the Top 100 in the 1950s, and hasn’t charted since the 1980s. The name is rising in both the the UK and US, fitting in well with both popular Leo, and the trend for animal names. Definitely a worthy choice that has too often been overlooked!

Rex
The Latin word for “king”, and the title of the ancient kings of Rome (“Rex Romae“) – according to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus. The Roman monarchs did not inherit kingship, but were elected to the role, and held absolute power. The word rex is ultimately from an ancient root meaning “to rule”, and it is related to the Sanskrit term Raja, the German word reich, and the English words rich, right, regal, royal, reign, and realm. Rex has been used as a personal name since the 17th century, but only came into common use in the 19th century. Rex was #138 in the 1900s, and entered the Top 100 in the 1920s. Peaking in the 1930s at #74, Rex left the Top 100 in the 1950s. It left the charts in the 1980s, but returned the following decade at #635. It has continued climbing, and is now around the 300s. No wonder Rex is making a comeback – it’s short and snappy, ends in the fashionable X (like Max), and sounds very masculine and confident.

Walter
English form of the ancient Germanic name Walthari, meaning “ruler of the army”. It was brought to England by the Normans and soon replaced its Old English version, Wealdhere. Mythologist Jacob Grimm theorised that the name may have originally been an epithet of one of the Germanic war gods, and be linked to the Norse god Tyr. The name was especially famous in the Middle Ages because of Walter of Aquitaine, a legendary king of the Visigoths; medieval poems tell of his military exploits, fighting one-handed against his foes. He may be based on a 5th century king of Aquitaine, Wallia – his name is probably from the Old Norse for “slaughter”. There is a 12th century English saint called Walter. Walter was #15 in the 1900s, and #46 by the 1930s. It left the Top 100 in the 1950s, and dropped off the charts in the 1990s. However, it made a comeback in 2011 after the hit TV show Breaking Bad aired in Australia, with ailing chemistry teacher turned criminal Walter White played by Bryan Cranston. His name was inspired by the American poet, Walt Whitman, and he is also often known as Walt. His teenage son is Walter White Jr, giving the name a younger image to match Walter Snr’s villainous smarts. Walter is currently around the 500s, and it is yet to be seen whether it continues rising now the show has finished. I hope so, because this retro name now seems fresh and unconventional.

POLL RESULTS
People’s favourite names were Walter, Frederick and Alfred, and their least favourites were Lionel, Ivan and Brian.

(Photo of men doing relief work during the Great Depression in 1933 from the National Library of Australia)