Names Of The Year 2011

December is already here, and another year is almost over. The SSA will be soon starting to count all the baby names around the country, a list that is published every year in May.

Seeing that there's still 5 months to go, we might as well talk amongst ourselves about our own predictions, and keep things rolling. What were the biggest names of the year? Who will be #1?

For boys:

- I think Jacob will remain #1 yet again, but stiff competition should be starting to form just below it. I think 2011 will be the year this name will start to decline in popularity, but since it's so ahead of the others, it should be safe at the top. Let's hope it loses it's crown soon...

Name In Trend: Jayden

The name Jayden is of hebrew origin and means "thankful". It can be a variant of the original hebrew name Jadon, or a varient of the american name Jaden. These days, I would think the latter is probably more likely, since parents never really warmed up to Jadon, but have been keen on Jaden for quite a while.

Jayden's performance in the boys chart definitely puts it on the "trendy" side of names, having climbed steadily ever since it's debut in 1994. At the time, Jaden was more popular, probably since it was used as a celebrity baby name by R&B superstar Will Smith for his son. Jayden soon followed as a variant spelling of that name, climbing every year, and would enjoy a boost of popularity when it was used for Britney Spears' son. It would eventually become the most popular spelling.

Here is a graph to make things clearer for you:

Name In Trend: Easton

The name Easton is of Old English origin, and means "east settlement". Other possible meanings are: "island of stones", "magical power", "noble power".

The name has been getting a lot of buzz lately, mostly due to country singer Easton Corbin, who has given the name a certain appeal to parents that are fans of the genre. Also, actress Jenna Elfman also welcomed a son named Easton Quinn Monroe in 2010, boosting the name's popularity across name blogs. The name can also have a religious connotation, for those parents that associate the name with Easter, and Christ.


So let's see how Easton has performed in the popularity ranking:

Names In Spotlight: Evil Girl Names

If there's one theme I prefer girl names over boy names, it's evil names. Not only in literature and mythology, but also in movies and TV series, girls just have the more interesting names. While a lot of them are pretty common names, such as Katherine [Vampire Diaries], Carrie [Carrie], Victoria [Twilight], Kali [Hinduism], Faith [Buffy The Vampire Slayer] or Regan [The Exorcist], there are some that are either really rare, or that have gone out of usage in many years.

Below are some uncommon evil names used in cinema and TV. Not necessarily evil in origin or meaning, but because they were used on evil characters.

Morticia [Addams Family]
Wednesday [Addams Family]

Everyone has seen or at least heard about "The Addams Family". They were at their most normal, an unconventional family, who reveled in anything evil or painful. Morticia, the mother, and Wednesday, the daughter, were both very elegant with a gothic appearance, and like the rest of the family had an obsession with the macabre. Morticia and Wednesday have never made the SSA ranking, and probably never will. The first one because it's a mouthful and heavily associated with the character, and the second one because days of the week as first names never caught on.

2011 List: Mathematical Prediction

This Summer, I had some extra time to spare, and I thought about comparing the popularity change of the boy names between 2009 and 2010, based on the number of babies born, and use those numbers to predict the 2011 ranking. I did round up the numbers to make things easier for me, otherwise it would've taken me way too many hours.
So this is how the 2011 list would look, if the names this year had the same change (whether positive or negative) as last year:

01 Jacob (=)
02 Mason (+10)
03 Jayden (+1)
04 Ethan (-2)
05 William (=)

Names In Trend: Ends In "O"

Fun. Youthful. Spunky. That's what I associate with most names that end in the "oh" sound. Parents also seem to agree, with several of these names climbing up the charts, and others becoming trendy in Hollywood. Most of the names that end in "o" are predominantely male, since a lot of them are from latin origin.

"Oh" ending names that are on the rise include:

Alejandro (#102) - Lady Gaga influence perhaps?
Santiago (#133)
Leo (#193)
Mateo (#221)

Name In Coffin: Madison

This name, like it's ending suggests, means "son of" - in this particular case, "son of Maud or son of Matthew". Any name that ends in "son" has a masculine meaning, but it seems these days that isn't important when naming a daughter. Madison has become the iconic "son" name for girls, and made the "son" ending a trend that seems to be getting more and more popular these days.

So what started this trend on girls? A movie. In 1984, a film starting Tom Hanks called "Splash" starred a mermaid who happened to adopt this name when walking through Madison Avenue in New York. It just goes to show you anything can change your perception on a name, and even make it skyrocket in popularity out of the blue. But sadly, just like with most male names that get adopted by girls, this name started to sink for boys and exited the chart soon after.

So let's see how Madison performed for boys:

Name In Trend: Nevaeh

Nevaeh is probably the most remarkable success of a made-up name, ever. This name was fabricated to intentionally spell "heaven" backwards. While I think the thought is kinda sweet, it does sound a bit too try-hard, and for me the opposite of heaven just reminds me of hell. It is pronounced like "nuh-vay-uh" or simply "nuh-vay", though it's pronounciation is up for debate, and I have heard it been said "nee-vay-uh".

The success of the name is mostly due to the show MTV Cribs, it seems that channel is always at the centre of a name phenomenon. In 2000, the lead singer of the american rock band P.O.D was in this show, in which they show the world their houses inside and out. He also introduced the world to his daughter, Nevaeh, and explained the meaning behind her unusual name. The name was an instant success with parents around the country, and debuted the following year.

Here is how it performed in the girls chart:

Update On Previous Names In Trend (1)

With the new list published this month, it's only fair that I keep an eye on all the "Names In Trend (N.I.T)" I posted in 2010. Which ones continued to be on trend? And which ones could have fizzled out?

First with the boys, I posted 3 N.I.T's last year: Ryder, Karter and Rhys.

Ryder

This name is still charming parents, and has climbed 11 spots to #135, inching closer to that ever-so-important top100. Ry- names seem to be a trendy for boys, so I'm gonna predict that it'll keep on climbing steadily each year.

Karter

I was spot on with this one, one of the fastest rising names for boys. It is now #444, up 123 spots from last year. Replacing C with K spellings have always been trendy, but it seems to be even more popular nowadays. I suspect it'll continue to rise, albeit not a huge jump like this every year.

Name In Trend: Bentley

In a blog about names that are in trend, you just have to talk about the trendiest boy name for the past 2 years: Bentley. It's popularity has risen because of MTV's show "Teen Mom", where one of the girls named Maci had a son and named him Bentley Cadence. But besides being a car name, does it actually have any roots as a proper human name?

Well apparently it does. It seems to be of Old English origin, used as a surname before becoming a first name, and it means "bent grass meadow". Nowadays though, most people will only associate it with the luxury car.

Here is how Bentley has performed in the boys chart:

Names In Trend: Fastest Climbers of 2010

Well the top 1000 list was just released, and as usual, us name lovers spend hours on it doing all kinds of lists and comparisons.

For this blog, I've decided to put the top50 rising boy names of 2010. And here they are, along with the amount of places they climbed:

1. Bentley +414
2. Kellan +260
3. Knox +246
4. Royce +191
5. Jean +165
6. Zaiden +149
7. Enzo +148
8. Clay +147
9. Jerimiah +131
10. Zavier +126

Names In Spotlight: The Phoenix Family

Out of inspiration? Well hopefully this will cheer you up and make you feel inspired by these quirky choices.

It all started when John-Lee Bottom and his wife Arlyn married in 1969. They changed their last names to Phoenix to symbolise a new beginning, rising from the ashes, after being disillusioned with a religious cult they were part of.

With their newly inspired last name Phoenix, they would give birth to five children, two of them who eventually get a lot of recognition in the acting world. They are:

son River
daughter Rain
son Joaquin (Leaf)
daughter Summer
daughter Liberty

River Phoenix and his brother Joaquin would be the ones getting attention from Hollywood, becoming the first brother duo to be nominated for an oscar.

Name In Coffin: Courtney

Courtney is a name of English origin meaning "domain of Curtis". However, it first came to England from France (Normandy), and was spelt Courtenay, back in the Middle Ages.

Courtney was of male origin, but has since several decade ago become unisex. Right now, with so many female celebrities named after it, like Courtney Thorne-Smith, Courteney Cox, Courtney Love and Kourtney Kardashian, it probably won't be turning blue anytime soon. The most popular male sponsor of the name might be artist Courtney Taylor-Taylor.


Here is how Courtney has performed for boys:

Name In Spotlight: Flynn

If there was ever a name that had an opportunity to make a big splash in the popularity charts, this would be in. The name has yet to crack the boys top1000, but after Disney using this name in their next movie, and celebrity superstars Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr naming their boy Flynn, I can see this name becoming the next big thing. Plus, it's always nice to have an alternative to the currently everywhere Finn.

Celebrity Baby Names of 2010 - Review

2010 was a great year for celebrity names, with a good balance of old fashioned and trendy modern names. Let's hope 2011 keeps us interested for another year of gossiping.

I'll post my opinion on several boy and girl names, and then give you my opinion on the best and worst of the year.


BOYS:

Theodore Hayes - I think Theodore is one old fashioned name that actually retains a natural spunk in it. It also helps that the nickname Theo is really adorable and fits right in with the -o ending names trend.

Crawford Marion - I have mixed feelings on this. Crawford I think sounds especially harsh, even on a boy, reminds me of crawling too. Marion is a name most people associate with old ladies, but it actually originated as a boys name first (quelle surprise!), and is one I can easily picture on a boy. Overall, decent choices.

Buddy Bear Maurice - Nah! Let's be serious, there are plenty of cute and soft boy names around, but Buddy is something I'd call a friend of mine, not my son. Bear, again, is an animal, not a name. Disappointed in the choices, but it could be a lot worse had they gone the "butch" way and tried to make it too masculine.