Girls Names of the Roaring 20's!

You know how you keep seeing flapper dresses in the shops now? Well they're coming back! And guess what. Baby Names from the 20s are too. They have been for a while and will undoubtely keep coming back.

Need Proof?

Olive is back in the top 1000. Julia Roberts named her starbaby Hazel and SJP just had Marion Loretta. And speaking of starbabies lets not forget about the growing popularity of Violet. Rose has become a staple middle name next to Grace who has also hit the popularity stakes for first names. Lillian and Evelyn are now American favourites with their fellow top 100 members Audrey and Charlotte. And Ruby is close on their tails sitting just outside the top 100.

All of these names are 1920's favourites.

Though you may be a little too late to use these if your are looking to stand out of the crowd we have plenty of other 20s favourites for you to choose from that are equally dazzling and are destined for a comeback. As a sucker for vintage names (I did name my son Edward) Ithem (just perhaps not Fannie, Dorcas or Fairy). My faves are the red.

Agnes

Barbara

Beatrice

Belinda*

Bess

Betsy

Betty

Billie

Clementine

Delores

Donna

Dorothea**

Dorothy

Eleanor

Eulalia

Flora

Florence

Gwendolyn

Harriet

Helen

Henrietta

Louise

Lucy

Mabel

Margaret

Mary

Maudie

Mavis

Mildred

Millicent

Minnie

Nancy

Opal

Pansy

Regina

Roberta

Rosemary

Thelma

Theodora**

Wilhelmina

Wilma

Winifred

*I love this with the darling little nickname Bindi

** It is my ULTIMATE fantasy to have twin girls called Dorothea and Theodora!

Up-to-Date Royal Names

My mum loves reading all the Hello's which have the Royal on the front with titles like "Is William engaged to Kate" etc etc. There are always stories about monarchs from across the globe and some of the names are quite all right! Princess Beatrice is even popular. So here's a taste of what the rich and traditional call their children with some cute nicknames. Tell me what you think!

England:
-Elizabeth and Phillip (Lizzie, Liz, Phil)
-Charles and Camilla (Charlie, Milly)
-William (Wills, Bill)
-Henry (Harry as he is commonly called)
-Andrew (Andy)
-Beatrice (Trixie, Trix, Bea)
-Eugenie

Spain:
-Juan Carlos and Sofia (Sofie)
-Filipe and Litizia (Fil, Lettie
-Leonor (Nora)
-Sofia (Sofie)
-Elena (El, Ellen)

Monaco:
-Albert II (Al, Bert)
-Caroline (Carol, Carry, Car)
-Andrea (Andy)
-Pierre
-Charlotte (Lottie)

Denmark:
-Margrethe (Marg, Margery, Maggie)
-Frederik and Mary (Fred, Freddie)
-Christian (Chris)
-Isabella (Bella, Issy, Belle)
-Joachim

SJP twin girls

(SJP and James)

Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick twin girls have arrive and their names are as sweet as ever!

Her first child names James Wilkie now has twin sisters Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge. Elwell and Hodge are family names.

Marion is of English origin, a variant of Mary and meaning 'star of the sea'. And of course is well known because of Maid Marion of Robin Hood.

Tabitha is of Aramaic origin and means 'gazelle'. I of course have always loved this name from the show Bewitched, Samantha's daughters name.

I think overall James, Marion and Tabitha goes well together.

Congratulations and all the best to them!

Another Name Crush

Its 13 weeks to go! And we thought it was about time to stop making the decision harder for ourselves by continuously adding names to our lists and sit down and nut out our top 10 girls and boys.

I don't know if you have ever tried to choose you favourite name in the world out of I don't a Billion. Its harder than you might think - but we did it. It took the better part of our Sunday but we did it. We now have a top 10 (well 11 for girls) and I think we might be a the right track - no more names that are unusable (like September with Edward for example) and no more names we can't both agree on.

All was well until we turned on the TV. Some renovation competition was on. Just as well we couldn't find the remote (we are so sick of renovations) because one of the judges names caught our attention.

Isn't it a lovely name! It is a variant of Sybil which I'm not too keen on for my own use but don't mind at all. It means 'prophetess, oracle' and is from Greek origins.

What do you think?

Is it worth it spending hours convincing Nathan to get her on the list?

Or do you think that perhaps she is middle name material?

I would LOVE to know.

A Late Helping Hand

Many moons ago we received a question by a reader to help us name her 4th child. And I'm so sorry it has taken so long to get back to Marilyn. You see, we are renovating at the moment to make way for our new baby and it is all a bit stressful.

My first instinct when I got this question was to get my baby name books and have a flick through but this does leave me a limited supply. I think my second instinct might have been a bit more on the money. I don't like to poach ideas from other blogs for originality's sake but my fellow blogger Lola from Lola's Onomastic Fits seems to have quite similar tastes to this reader. So I requested her help to answer this question. Please welcome her as our guest blogger and please visit her blog! This will be a very long and concentrated post!
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I've been asking this question to all the great name-people I can find, so hopefully you have some ideas for me! We're expecting our fourth baby in August and not finding out the gender. I'm looking for girl and boy name ideas that fit well with our current three boys: Abraham Thomas (Abe), Sebastian Dane (Sebby or Seb), and Malachi Norris (Ky). I like names that can be dignified but I also like nicknames that allow a little flexibility/casualness.For girls names, I love nature names like Violet (Lettie)---but is that getting too popular? I also love Daisy but wish I could use it as a nickname for a longer name (Marguerite is one idea, but I think it would confuse people). I like Indigo, Juniper, Calla, and others---but don't know if they fit with my boys' names? I'm not set on a nature name; I also like Jemima and Josephine and many others.So---any ideas?? I would appreciate any feedback you or your readers have. :) Thanks!!
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Lola writes:
Marilyn,
This is indeed a challenge; your boys have fabulous names, one & all, and I'm sure we'll find something equally fabulous for their sibling!

Firstly, I'm not entirely sold on Marguerite, nickname Daisy being confusing. I mean, the French word for Daisy is Marguerite! And while it may confuse a few, I'd consider it a learning experience for those few. Hey, give them a chance to learn something new, right? :) Marguerite is elegant enough to sit well with your boys. And It is sprightly and feminine, to stand apart well. There are also plenty of other nickname options for Marguerite, if she so chose, too. Maggie, Meggie, Maya, Rita. But daisy is my favorite nickname option too.

Now, you also mentioned Violet (Lettie) and wondered if that was getting popular. I'm a Yank and Violet here is leaping up the charts. Violet now stands at 184 of 1000 and that's pretty spectacular to me. Violet didn't chart but sporadically between 1971 & 1998! Spectacular rise here. Makes me wary of it myself.

Now, you also mentioned Jemima & Josephine which completely makes me smile. Josephine is my 5 year old and Jemima is my #3 name for a potential sister. Jemima in particular would be spectacular with your boys. Biblical, naturey (Jemima means Dove) and absolutely beautifully feminine, Jemima would easily be *my* choice if I had your boys.

Indigo is a bit out of step with Abe, Seb & Ky and Indy is quite masculine a nickname to me (I think Jones & 500 right off the bat).

Juniper feels a bit off too, more naturey, not as elegant, and June is a lovely nickname option (as is Juno) but I'd rather see Juno right off with June as a possible nickname. Juno's awesome and feels far more elegant alone than Juniper or June. How awesome is the queen of heaven (according to Roman Mythology), the protectress of women & marriage and the goddess of finance too. Really, just all around strong & elegant!

Calla works too, tiny, elegant and naturey but in a line, Abraham, Sebastian, Malachi & Calla? I want to sing "One of these things is not like the other ones, one of these things just doesn't belong..." like on Sesame Street.

But some other random thoughts:
Oliver - Ol, Ollie
Gabriel - Gabe
Henry - Harry
Raphael - Rafe, Rafa, Ralph
Simeon/Simon - I have one, he goes by Sim fairly often. I still wish I'd gone with Simeon. So much snappier! He could also go by Sy.
Atticus
Dominic - Dom
Phineas - Finn, Finny
Edward - Ed
Demetrius
Jasper
Absalom
Julian/Julius - With your boys, I think Julius fits better but you may prefer the more modern feeling Julian.
Gideon
Barnabas - Barnaby
Edgar
Ephraim (ef-ram)
Moses
Linus
Adrian
Solomon - I've been thinking "Sol is pretty neat" myself.
Samson - Sam

Jemima - Jemma, Jem, Mimi, Mim
Sarai
Josephine - my daughter's name, she goes by Josie, Posy, Poppy, Fifi Effie & Jo. Talk about options!
Solange - Ange, Sol
Chaya
Lillian - Lilly
Miriam - Miri
Zipporah - means "dove" just like Jemima.
Angelina - Ange
Valentina - Val, Tina
Lucia - Lucy
Noemi
Magdalena - Maggie, Lena
Salome
Cecelia - Cecily
Audrey
Phoebe
Susannah - Susie, Sukie, Lily, Rose (Susannah means rose but earlier, meant lily)
Genevieve - Gen, Evie, Eve
Dinah
Esther
Beatrix - Bea, Bee, Trix, Trixie
Elspeth
Amira

But my top 3 for each (for you): Josephine, Jemima & Susanna/h (I prefer Susanna, most people prefer Susannah) with Marguerite a runner up. Raphael, Simeon/Simon & Solomon (with Phineas a runner up).

I hope that at least gives you a starting place, Marilyn (I LOVE your name, too!) and if you need any other thoughts, ideas or just general feedback, feel free to ask, I'd love to help some more!
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NFATE writes:
We are very sorry it as taken this long to get a reply out of us but hopefully the what we lack in punctuality we make up for in quality of our responses.

I really like the names you mentioned. Calla is 100% divine! I think as you have only had boys so far I think you could probably get away with just about anything if its a girl, especially considering the difference in styles of Sebastian, Malachi and Abraham. If I were you I would be considering something quite long though. Perhaps Calla could be used as a nickname for Calliope (Cal-Eee-Oh-Pee) or Calantha?

Violet too is wonderful. I don't think she is getting too popular either. As you might have seen I did a post on her popularity in Australia. Even if she is 'too popular' I think that if you truly love it then you should just go ahead and use her. If your a yank your more likely to run into a little Karen, Jacqueline, Jillian or Angel, and how many of those do you know?

So here are my suggestions. Instead of doing things in the way we usually do them round here (a name then a little bit of information about it) I think for consistencys sake I might just do a big list with nicknames like Lola.

The boys:
Kenneth - Ken
Wesely -Wes
Theodore - Theo, Teddy, Ted
Phillip - Philo, Phil,
Graham - Grey
Declan -Dec
Arthur - Art, Artie
Everett - Rhett
Walter - Walt
Russel - Russ
Ernest - Ernie (Oh I just adore this name! I have been dying to sugest him for ages!)
Gilbert - Gil
Augustus - Gus
Angus - Gus
Callum - Cal
Alistair/Alasdair - Ali
Clifford - Cliff (One of my favourite books of all time is Lady Chatterly's Lover)

The Girls:
Persephone (per-sef-uh-nee)
Anais (ahn-na-ees) - Annie
Matilda - Mattie, Tilly, Tilda
Rhiannon - Rhi
Constance - Connie
Viola - Vie (just incase you want an alternative to Violet)
Giselle - Elle
Aurora - Rory (Laura's beautiful little girl)
Georgia - Gia, George, Georgie
Gwendolyn - Lyn, Gwen, Wendy
Sylvia - Sylvie, Via (on my list)
Ayelet (eye-let or ah-yeh-let) so its like Violet with out the V
Seraphina - Sera, Fifi
Iolanthe - Io
Diana-Di
Ophelia-Fifi
Alice -Ali, Al

Pretty Petrova

I came accross the other day the name Petrova and have decided that I really like it. Though I love (and many names on my lists are flowery, girl names) girly names I like this name because it is strong dignified and very classy in my opinion.

Pronounced Peh-tro-va This name is derived from the name Petra- A greek name meaning stone or rock.(I said it was strong :D).

Petrova is also a Russian name however. In Russia it is a last name and therefore culturally it cannot be used as a first name (only in Russia though). Celebrities with this last name include russian tennis player Nadia Petrova. Petrova or Petrovna is also a feminie Russia name in relation to the Apostle Peter.

Anyone who loves quaint, cute literature perhaps you have read "Ballet Shoes" by Noel Streatfeild- a classic childrens book. (Adapted recently into a movie)

Petrova in this book is one of the adopted Sisters (The Fossils). Her sisters being Posy and Pauline. Using all 'P's' I like Posy but am not sold on Pauline.

But I'm loving Petrova so stop by and tell us what you think :D

A Violet Opportunity

Violet Affleck out with Mom and Dad

I was talking to one of the moms from Edward's kindy the other day who has 3 kids and is expecting again. After general chitchat about both our pregnancys I asked her about names. She said "We are looking for something quite uncommon, just like our other kids names". And what are her other kids names? Harrison, India and Summer.

I told her that Edward might have indeed been a Harrison if it had been solely up to me but that Nathan thought it was just too popular. He was in the top 50 names for the year Edward was born (I checked now and he was ranked 24th) so we opted for the unranked Edward. She didn't seem to know that Harrison was such a high flyer.

I also mentioned that Summer and Sienna are amoung our (evergrowing) favourites when she asked. Her response was "I loved Sienna for Summer but we just couldn't have an India and then a Sienna." I checked the stats for my state for the year her little daughter was born abdSummer ranked 23rd, Sienna 8th. What!?!?!?! Since when did 15 places count for all that much? Summer even outranked Sarah at 29, Sophia at 30, Elizabeth at 33, Kate at 47 and ALL the variants of Caitlin! So much for unpopular.

Even the least common of her kids names, India, bears great correlation to the very popular Indiana, who now sits at 47 for us West Aussies.

Tut, Tut, Tut. Why won't people do proper research? If your looking for an uncommon name I would very strongly suggest having a long hard look at the trends and stats. Otherwise you just might find your 'rare' choice isn't rare at all.

So I had a good look at all the names on my list. The habit we have been getting into recently will either be our making or our breaking. We write any names that take our fancy on a white board I put in the lounge, next to the TV, so we have too look at it every day when we flick on the news. Its great! It gives me something to look at during the add breaks plus, we have a big pool to pick from. But anyways, I picked my favourites and had a look at their rankings. It was the best thing I could have possibly done to educate myself. I got some pleasant and some not so pleasant suprises.

For the Boys:

• Did you know that Christopher didn't rank at all in West Aus. !? And his name-cousin Christian ranked 76. I think its safe to use him don't you?
• Oliver was ranked 4th which is sad because he was a big favourite of mine though Olivia was 11th so that might be usable with the nickname Olive.
• Not many more surprises with my boy favourites except for Alexander. He ranked 26th. Yes! I'm happy about this one - just when he cracked it into the top 10 in the States!

For the Girls:

• Madeline didn't rank (but they do only do top 50 occurances). And even if she did,most people pronounce her like mad-e-lin, whereas I prefer mad-e-lie-n (rhyming with crime).
• His favourite girl, Phoebe, ranked 49th.
• My beautiful Imogen is 24th. I shed a tear or two over this one.
• No Isabel's Isabelle's Isabell's or Isabele's appeared anywhere! Which is fantastic because I am just enamoured with scottish Isobel (with a definate 'Oh' sound) and fellow -bel ender Claribel. Though, predictably, Isabella its hot stuff at rank 8.
• One of our strongest honarary middle name possibilites, dissapointingly, was 10th on the charts, Matilda.

And one last one that really took me by surprise:

• Sweet little Violet didn't chart in the top 50 occurances in West Aus. nor in the national statistics. This was quite a shock for me. I always thought, perhaps a little biasedly, that Australia usually, was a bit ahead on the baby name trend front. I did a post a couple of weeks back detailing all the little darling names Aus. has in our top 100 that have escaped popularity in the US. Well since that post, it appears that the US had taken our lead and added a couple of those Australian Favourites to their top 1000, like Gemma and Callum for example. Well it looks like you Yanks have beaten us to this one. I think I might bump Miss. Violet up my list after this discovery.

Shows the importance of doing research, I guess. But I know all you reading this all ready know that. That's why your reading this of course.