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Subscribe to RSSWhen it comes to the name game, there’s always a pressure for parents to find the perfect fit for their child and make it original and creative, and choose something that will last the test of time.
Nameberry presents its list of 12 popular name trends for 2012, which includes everything from heroes to uniquely-spelled traditionals, to vintage standbys.
Of course we all can’t wait to see what Beyonce and Jay-Z go with (perhaps Bey-Z? Or Jayonce?), but here’s some of the hot categories they may be inspired by.
Modern heroes
Mariah Carey did it perfectly when she named her daughter Monroe, a name that honored her heroine Marilyn Monroe in a distinctly modern, non-Blonde Bombshell way. Such surname names may honor heroes real or fictional, contemporary or historic, from the arts, sports, or the world stage, and work for girls as well as boys. Other choices we’ve been hearing: Landry (as in football coach Tom), Gatsby (as in fictional hero The Great), and Palin (yes, as in her).
Fresh Air Fund / WireImage
Mariah Carey was ahead of the curve with her twins, with the heroes trend (for daughter Monroe) and the "M" trend for son Moroccan.
Same but different
Popular names get popular for a reason: They capture the style of the times and they’re well-liked by a wide range of parents. Yet as the horror of choosing a too-popular name grows, parents search for ways to create names that are similar to the top choices yet different, a trend we see expanding in several directions. So Number 1 girls’ name Isabella gives rise to stylistically-related choices Arabella and Annabelle; Olivia, the top name in Britain, spawns spelling variation Alivia; Emma and Emily promote brother name Emmett.
Keep it fierce
Our frightening times seem to have inspired many parents to give their sons names that make them seem equally fearsome. There are fierce animal names such as Bear, Fox, Wolf, Lynx and a range of names from Leo to Lionel that mean lion, and then there are the perhaps-even-fiercer names like Breaker, Ranger, and Wilder.
Go West, young man
It’s the hottest direction, with names such as West and Weston and Wesley, along withWestern-sounding names fit for a new generation of ‘lil cowboys: Boone and Bo, Wyatt and Wylie, Cole and Colt, Zane and Shane, and even Maverick. East works too; try Easton.
Straight As
A names have been trending upward for several years now, withmore babies receiving A names than those of any other letter. What makes A names new are the adventurous choices parents are making these days in order to use a name with this primary letter: Fresh A names attracting attention on Nameberry include for girls, Acacia, Ada, Anais, Annelise, Anouk, Aria, Athena, Aurelia, and Azalea, and for boys, Alistair, Ambrose, Aragon, Archer, Arthur, Augustus, and Axel.
M has its moment
Over the past few decades, we’ve had J, K, and L names in the forefront, and with Baby Names 2012 it’s M’s moment. M names making their move include for girls, Maeve, Magdalena, Maisie, Marguerite, Marlo/Marlowe, May, Mila, Millie, and Minnie, and for boys, Magnus, Micah, Miller, Milo, and Montgomery.
Strong and brave
Word names are taking a new turn away from nouns and toward adjectives. Or are now embracing adjectives as well as nouns Choices we have been hearing: True, Noble, Brave, Strong, Loyal, Loving, Sunny, Golden, Royal, Happy. One UK soccer star and his fashionista wife tried to beat this trend by naming their son Trendy.
Making a comeback
Betty was so hot for so long that it felt like one of those names that might never come back. But stylish mommy blogger Gabrielle Blair has a Betty (and a Ralph and a June) and stunning Mad Men actress January Jones did much to heat up the image of this old standard. Move over, Veronica: There’s a new glamour girl in town.
In the middle
Gone are the old one-syllable connective-tissue middle names like Ann and Lee and Lynn, and in their place are….new one-syllable connective-tissue middle names such as May and Wren and Bee. Tied to this trend is that of choosing family middle names that are the nicknames of the person being honored, as in Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber’s Alexander Pete and Sara Gilbert’s Levi Hank.
Grandpa’s namesake
When we first saw the name Arlo popping on the back end of Nameberry, we thought maybe folksinger Arlo Guthrie was having a resurgence. But no, today’s Arlo inspiration is more contemporary but even more unlikely: The gun-toting, pot-dealing grandpa Arlo Givens on television’s Justified.
Endings…that can stay
Nicknames that end in ie – Lottieand Hattie, Addie and Nellie – were all the rage at the end of the 19thcentury but then gave way to “modern” y endings, which in the 1960s became cute "i" endings, which in the yooneek era morphed into –ee and –eigh and –ea etceteraendings. But now we’re back where we started from, with sweet vintage nicknames for girls spelled the authentic vintage way, with ie at the end.
Endings…that need to end
We liked Hadley, name of Hemingway’s sympathetic first wife. And Huxley, Ridley, and Radley, as in Aldous, Scott, and Boo, were all intriguing. But the trend toward tacking an -ley onto the end of a wide range of first syllables and calling it a name -- Brinley, Kinley, Finley, endlessly -- became so pandemic so quickly that we are ready to declare it over, already.
Nameberry is the baby name website based on ten bestselling books about names coauthored by Pamela Redmond Satran and Linda Rosenkrantz, including "Cool Names" and "The Baby Name Bible".
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Wow! My wife and I must be ahead of the times...we named our daughter Athena. That was twenty six years ago! We were looking for something not too common but not made up either. I wanted "Guinevere". But the other half being a teacher, well...Let's just say "Guin" (which you KNOW she would have been called) had some bad connotations.
I think we should name all our children DebtInheritor.
It's very appropriate.
Guin's not so bad, my parents were going to name me after my grandpa - Guitano (feminine counterpart Guitana), so I'd have been a girl named Guy. I personally find the 'yooneek' spellings of common names annoying - Raychelle or Karrlah
But you know what I can't understand? Why is the name Stephen pronounced Steven when it's a 'ph' ? Do you talk on the televone? PHonics people. (Yes, PH(f)onics, not vonics). My son's name is Stephen w/ an 'f' (ph = f).
We stuck with our Russian background, our first was named Nicholas and second Drago. The meaning was in Nicholas's case victory for the people, and with Drago, the dragon warrior; defender of the people. But they do go by their American calling; we call Nicholas, Nico and Drago, Drake.
so you mean, latisha, cabisha, danisha....sha sha sha is gone?
Sorry, no La-squisha on the horizon. I know you must be crushed.
I sure hope so, those were all terrible to begin with and they will remain terrible for eternity
Some people are waiting to say something racist all the time huh?
Ah, the internet: home of the invisible racist behind a keyboard...
You do know where names like Shanita came from right? Back in the 50's, 60's and early 70's black women usually lived and raised children down the street from older generations of their families. Cousins played together, while grandmas and aunts had a lot of input in the younger generations. The names like Shanita came from mixing the Grandmas and Aunties names, for example : Sharon and Anita become Shanita....... BUT OF COURSE YOU KNEW THAT!
Kallie, it does not matter what the reasoning is for the names that will hurt your child in the professional world and cause them ridicule. The fact of the matter is, naming your child with an absurd name is selfish, and could and probably will hurt them in the future unless they are athletes. Look at athletes of the past versus now with regard to their names..Best basketball players used to be Michael and Isiah and Larry with a few weird ones like Magic-although that was just his nickname. Now we have LeBron, Dwayne, Kobe, and Carmello. Dwayne and Kobe are alright, but the other two are absurd in any setting outside of sport. D'Brickashaw Ferguson, DeSean Jackson, Kamerion Wimbley, Rolando McClain and many others have unique names in the NFL, but those names only help people in a position where name recognition helps: athletes, actors, and politicians. No one is being "racists", this is just a good discussion about names and the oddities among them, and how those oddities may be beneficial in some walks of life- LeBron, Barack, Spike Lee, and how they can be detrimental in others, mostly a professional, corporate or office setting.
Um, Brinley is a real name. And an old family name, too. My older son's last name is Brinlee. I guess people who write articles about names should maybe Google the name they plan to make fun of just to make sure the name they think is a "made-up name" really is made-up?
Oh, come on, don't be so fragile. They're just saying that names ending in -ley are too widespread to still be considered novelties. Duh.
Where I live the new thing for boys names is mixing the two grandfathers names, such as bruce+max = Brax Some are a bit silly, but some turn out nice.
Just like mixing grand mothers names, like Renesmee aka "Nessie"...Renee + Esme. :P
(Being sarcastic here, Renesmee/Nessie is a bad name IMO, worse than Albus Severus Potter.)
When we had our Daughter we wanted something out of the normal but beautiful, we named her Nevah aka Neva. it means snow. Then we came to realize that it hasn't been popular since the 1930s. Then we also found out that there happens to be a lake and straights in Alaska named the same, funny we live in Alaska hahaha.
A friend named her girls Adessa and Avalynn. My daugher is Rebecka... old name - different spelling. Wanted to name her Karsyn (combo of mom and dads name). Was told it sounded like a boys name so I couldn't use it... :o(
With girls it doesn't really matter if the name "sounds" male...I think Karsyn would have been a beautiful and unique name for a daughter.
Masculine names like "Karsyn" can be feminized with vowel endings, like "Karsynne"...I think Karsyn is a lovely name no matter what.
Over 50 years ago my parents gave me a name that can be spelled several ways and given to either gender. Sean, Shaun and Shawn(which is how I spell it) Plus, no one bothered to assign a spelling to a gender. All through my life, people feel the need to inform me that I have a boys name(do I look like a boy!) In grade school I was assigned to an "all boys classroom." I was confused. In my first year of high school I followed my schedule to find I was assigned to the boys gym class. Hitting the showers could have been awkward. To this day, my mail comes in daily to MR. Shawn.... Anyway, my point, on behalf of all the babies to be born, is for mom and dad to think about "THAT" name. Are you doing it for the right reason-or do you just want to look cool and clever?
I had a similar problem with mine. My given name is Jamie, which has multiple spellings. While it's now more unisex, two decades ago it wasn't so much. I get mail addressed to Mr. Jamie all the time. While I was in school, I had to go down to the Financial Aid office on more than one occasion due to my gender mix-up. To get FAFSA funds, a male has to be registered with the Selective Service, and they thought I was a guy that hadn't registered. So I had to go the FA office to sign a piece of paper that basically said I was a woman and didn't have to register.
There's nothing wrong with a strong, unique name that a child can grow into.
Parents who think they are being clever when they give a unique spelling to a child's normal-sounding name are really just setting them up for a lifetime of having their name spelled and pronounced incorrectly.
Sorry, hit "reply" when I just wanted to up-arrow.
I work at a childrens' hospital and trust me, what you think is unique is setting your child up for a lifetime of torment and prospective employers looking right over your child's resume
Susie, you are so right! My wife is a high school teacher sees some doozies. My fav story of her's is the girl with the name spelled "Shari." Like Sherry, Sheri, etc she wrongly assumed. The girl told her "It is pronounced 'Sha-ree.' It's French you know. Like the song."
The song? You mean Stevie Wonders mon cherie amor? She still didn't sell it right. These crazy spellings are just ridiculous. You know what I can't understand? Why is the name Stephen pronounced Steven when it's a 'ph' ? Do you talk on the televone? PHonics people. (Yes, PH(f)onics, not vonics). My son's name is Stephen w/ an 'f' (ph = f).
I was scolded by an tax man for the spelling my parents chose for my name..Jacalyn..he just had trouble getting past the no q. I like it though.
Ah, the poor kids who have to bear heavy names like "Marguerite" and "Montgomery." But then, a 65-year-old with the name "Amy" (Grandma Amy) seems just as weird.
Hey now! Grandma Amy sounds great to me.... except for me I can wait about 10 or so more years until I hear it (my oldest is only 16). My mother's favorite book is "Little Women" so that is where she found my name; however Amy is an older name and is also a surname. This doesn't say I won't be considered "weird" at 65 years of age for other reasons besides my name!
Don't worry, Amy. I'm 62 and still go by "Barby". In 1949, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I was named Barbara for my mom, and everyone soon realized that "Big Barbara" (my mom) and "Little Barbara" was stupid-sounding. So, as a baby my parents rather quickly began calling me "Barbie". Ten years later, the Barbie dolls were "born". To this day, I still have people say to me, when we're introduced, "Barbie? Hey, where's Ken? Ha! Ha!" Yeah, ha ha...what a riot (sarcasm). Anyway, I have always gone by "Barbie", and changed the spelling while I was in college. I even used "Barby", rather than "Barbara" when saying my wedding vows. (I married a man whose nickname is "Lindy", but that's another story!) When my dear mom passed away 4 years ago, my friends asked me if I would finally go by the name Barbara. No way: I've been Barby my entire life. People can laugh at it, or think what they want. As Popeye said, I yam what I yam," and that's Barby.
LOL, I have a great grandmother Amy (she was born in the late-ish 1800s) and my grandmother's middle name was Amy. I have half a dozen cousins named Amy. It's a popular namesake in my family. In fact, almost all the the girls in my family are named after a namesake. We have lots of Amy's, Elizabeth's, Rose's, Lillian's, Grace's, Kate's, Helena's, Lydia's, Jo's, and Louise's. I personally love the tradition of familiy names, especially for girls who often end up taking a new last name when they get married. Being honored with a passed down first name is a special gesture I think. And well.. .my family has a nice long history of lovely simple girls names. As far as boy names go? What VERY few boys we've managed to produce LOL, have also had simple passed down names like Robert, William, and Joseph and the less common Merrill.
i needed to delete this comment and I cant
We named our daughter Ameliana after my husbands great grandmother. We went through the family tree to pick out all our name choices. If we have another girl we're thinking Priscilla or Cecilia.
People are idiots. These children have to go through life with this name. That name is not something to prop up the parents. How about instead of calling your kid a type of animal, pick a real name?
Want an animal name for your boy just go with the germanic names. Wolf names Adolph, Randolph, Rudolph. Bear name Bernard. Eagle name Arnold.
I can't stand trendy names and unusual spellings. These children are going to have an uphill battle in life. Studies have shown that these children have low self-esteem and don't do as well in school. Parents don't think. My kids are named David, Charlotte (a family name) and Martin. All distinguished and strong.
I agree, mposler. I have a 'David' and a 'Lisa' and hopefully they have it a bit easier because of their names.
42 years ago when I named my daughter Tiffanie no one was using that name. 15 years later everybody was. You never know what is going to become the next #1 name of the year!
Very true. My mother named me Jessica in 1967, which at the time no one had heard of. Then, Jessica Savitch was on TV so the name gained some popularity, but I recall being 13 years old when I met another with my name. Well, by the early 1980's Jessica topped the charts as the #1 name and remained in the top 3, 5, or 10 for girls more than 10 years (maybe still?) with the variations on the spelling of the name (which I am not particularly in favor of) being interesting to downright silly. I do agree that an overly made up name just makes it tough when establishing a career.
Helloooo. Marilyn Monroe was a tramp that committed suicide.
Blah Blah Blah dont be so bitter
Don't dis Marilyn!
Great comment, exactly what I was thinking. Why do people glorify her, especially Elton John in "Candle in the Wind" which is such a great song, but it glorifies her.
I'm waiting for "Bertha" to make a comeback.
Or "Clopha", for boys. My great-great grandfather was named Leroy Clopha. I admit, that one's a long shot.
My first job out of college, I worked for a man who's good friend and colleague was named "Murdo"....as in "Murdo Newman". I can't imagine cuddling and rocking a little baby Murdo!
Awwww........little Murdy......
People actually name a child Palin? I hope they give the poor girl Kardashian for a middle name.
That would be child abuse.
Thank God these are the names that are trending, shows hope, because there are certain names that if they show up mean that America may be shifting toward religious and/ or ethnic groups not part of traditional American culture.
Parents, while trying to show how clever or hip they are, spend hours trying to come up with something so-called "cute" or unusual. I can just hear them thinking to themselves, "Aren't we clever, aren't we hip", "how lucky our kid is to have such clever parents". The poor, poor kid spends their entire life explaining, spelling, pronouncing this unique name. Why would parents do such a horribe thing" There's a boy high school here named Krymsyn!! Imagine going through life with than name? Also, a friend of mine gave all their kids the exact same initials, oh so clever! So when mail comes for J.J. Smith, who's going to open it. Parents can be so silly. My children, all adults, have good solid names, 3 of which are in the Bible and the other is for a very good friend of their father. Everyone can spell, pronounce and accept the names as good, solid names, nothing boring or plain, either. They all say they are happy with the names we chose for them..
When we had our last child, my husband and I were both special education teachers, we had a long list of "we would never name a baby that" names because we had nightmare students' with those names....We wanted unique, strong, but not off the wall...So she is Alondra. A spanish version of Alexandra.
Great job. Now people will call her A Laundromat.
Fun name
I'm just jerkin your chain. Alondra sounds good. Pretty name.
That's still better than Upton Charles. Commonly known as Upchuck
Alondra, nice name..I really like that. Unusual, and easy to spell.
Think about your kids instead of yourselves. How could you lay such a huge burden on your children? Yes it's huge. Every time she/he has to say their name there'll be some hangup, whether it's spelling, shock, humor, repeating, etc. When you consider an entire human lifespan, that's a huge burden.
Even I complain about the spelling of my name. Instead of spelling it Eric (like everybody else), I have to say "with a K" or "no just a K not CK" or E.R.I.K. All the time! Why? Just to be unique and stand out. Eff you Mom and Dad!
Here are some rules:
1. Spell the name as usual.
2. Don't give a name that can be pronounced in more than one way.
"Is it Eva or Ava?"
"Eva"
3. The fewer syllables the better. One is great, especially if the last name is long.
"My name is Veronica Vandermieden"
That's eight syllables. Sounds cool, but it's a mouth full.
4. Save them from a unisex name.
You're only asking for trouble.
5. Don't give a name that you'll abbreviate.
"Let's name him Bartholomew and call him Bart."
Just name him Bart! He'll have to clarify in situations when the full name is necessary.
It's just one less thing they'll need to do. Be considerate.
We totally get to give them any burden of whatever name I choose...I bore them for 7-9+ months, We will pay for their college, their weddings, down payments on their houses probably...It's the last bit of something for me...of course it's selfish! It's not like I can ask a newborn what they would LIKE to be called! :)
I think it is hipocritical that some of the complainers on here about unusual names have a weird screen name that can't even be pronounced or makes no sense. Many today use their screen names more than their given name. BTW I have a son with the middle name Jathayus...Like mathayus but with a "j" so is he scarred for the rest of his life?
I can't see ANY child scarred by a name given m=by a loving parent..at the very most I only see annoyed...my own name is so terribly common, first, middle and last, that I'm sure your child will appreciate "jathayus"
Nicknames are fine, but dear God, people spell your child's name at least somewhat close to the correct spelling! If you want to give them something unique, then do it for their middle name, unless it is genuinely a family name, and is relatively easy to pronounce. I have a family friend who named her son Keiluhn (pronounced Kylin). He is now in high school, and every year, has to correct someone's pronunciation of his name. If she had just spelled it Kylin, or even Kilon, it would be pronounced correctly. Personally, I gave all three of my children classic names, named after my favorite authors and family members.
Naming takes a second. A ridiculous name lasts their whole lives.
If I have to meet one more person whose kid's name is Olivia, Sophia, or Aidan, I shall surely vomit. How about this: stop having children and start adopting for goodness sakes. Then the name has already been decided for you. Your child shouldn't be a "hip" and "cool" extension of yourself anyway.
You think thats bad when I taught Karate a class of 14 had 7 kids with duplicated names 3 with one name and 4 with the other.
People are sheep-always have been.
Yes, I had a class of 15 students and 5 were named "Sarah." (Four in the class were males.) I know it's hard to predict what will happen in future years, but surely people can avoid the names that are topping the lists.
Studies show, it is a well known fact that when parents name their kid's names that are hard to pronouce and the child has to constantly tell teachers, and people over and over how to say it, it DOES IN FACT diminish their self esteem. DUH? How would you like to say your name over and over again, and correct people? Even reading some of the names in this article, I thought Poor babies! We sure have some dumb parents out there trying to be creative at names and hurt their child in the long run.
Have you read a book called Freakonomics? It has a chapter dealing w/ just that very subject.
Personally I like a long name. As a child i hated it but as a adult I have been told what a beatiful name, so I dont think it really matters what you name your kids.