Name In Spotlight: Reign

After several days of speculation on what Kourtney Kardashian would name her second son, from Jeffrey, to something related to that name, it turns out we were all way off. She picked Reign. A lot of people were not pleased with this outlandish choice, but I dont think its as bad as North (West), or at least that name combo. And here's why: this name may seem crazy to us born in the 20th century, but for a newborn baby these days? It fits right in with other popular choices such as King or Major.

"The Vampire Diaries" Names

I was questioning whether I should include the names of characters that have migrated to the spinoff show The Originals, and I decided I should leave those aside. Don't fret, I should be doing a post dedicated to The Originals too, as that show has plenty of interesting names to go about. But for now, I'm gonna focus on the mother show The Vampire Diaries, which has been going on for 6 seasons now, and has given us some curious monikers over the years.

Names of the main cast:

Elena - She is the protagonist of the show, and her name is a more modern variant of the dusty Helen, however it is being plagued by useless alternative spellings such as Alaina and Alayna. Personally, I'd stick with Elena which is simple, elegant and international.

Damon - Some may be put off because it is just a letter away from "demon", but I think most people wouldn't make that connection. If you like Damien, but want something less common, this is a good option.

Katerina - This is the character's real name, however she mostly went by Katherine. While I do enjoy Katherine, I think Katerina is a wonderful alternative, and you still get the royal chic nickname Kate.

Stefan - If the name Stephen feels dated to you, then why not pick up on Stefan? I actually like it better too.

Name In Trend: Annabelle

Quite an appropriate choice for this week, don't you agree? I really had to stop myself from using a picture of that scary doll, as tempting as it was - but I wouldnt want to deter any of you from checking this post haha. Instead, you get a photo of the beautiful british actress Annabelle Wallis - you may recognize her from the tv series Pan AM, and if you don't, well she's the main actress on the movie Annabelle.

Annabelle is a name that has a few possible origins. For most parents these days, and even 100 years ago, it is probably just a combination of the names Anna and Belle. As a hebrew name, it means "favor" or "grace". However, if we dig deeper, we also find it most likely came into usage as an alternative spelling of Annabel, which in itself is a variant of Amabel. Amabel is of old french origin and it means "loveable", which I guess is quite straightforward if you think of the word "amiable". I suppose Annabel became more prevalent over Amabel because of the power of Anna, and later on Annabelle likely took over from Annabel because modern french spellings were all the rage. Personally, I find Annabelle the frilliest of the 3 variants, but its easy to see why it's so loved and preferred over the others. It also has something the other spellings don't have - it's the name of a type of wild hydrangea, making it a nature name.

Let's just see how it has performed in the SSA chart:

Name In Coffin: Gertrude

Gertrude is a female name of old german origin that means "strength of a spear". Gertrude is the name of a saint, Saint Gertrude The Great, who is pictured above - she wrote a book called The Revelations of Saint Gertrude, which talked about the revelations she received from Jesus. Obviously it has some more modern bearers, actress Gertrude Lawrence and writer Gertrude Stein for example. In literature, we have Queen Gertrude from Hamlet, who was Hamlet's mother and also the queen of Denmark.

Gertrude is a name that a lot of us have on our family tree, as it was extremely common 100 years ago or so. These days, it would be an odd experience to meet a toddler carrying this name. Let's see the SSA graph:

Names In Spotlight: The "No Doubt" Family

Pretty much everyone who is at least 15 years old has heard of the band No Doubt. Formed in the late 80s, they've had a remarkable career selling millions of albums and releasing iconic hit songs such as "Don't Speak", "Just A Girl" or "Hey Baby". Not only that, but lead singer Gwen Stefani also went on to have a successful solo career in the mid 2000s, as I'm sure you all remember hearing "Hollaback Girl" on the radio, or at least hear your kids playing the song out loud.

No Doubt is formed by frontwoman Gwen Stefani, drummer Adrian Young, guitarist Tom Dumont, and bassist Tony Kanal. All of them have went on to have families of their own, and I'm here to break it down for you. Most of these names are quite unique, so if this is your scene, I'm sure you're gonna love this post.

Name In Trend: Luna

Luna is a name of latin origin that means "moon". In Roman mythology, Luna was the goddess of the moon, and is frequently depicted driving a white chariot through the sky. A lot of people ask, why doesn't the moon have a name? Well, she does. It's Luna. This is why we say "lunar eclipse" or "lunar effect" for example.

It is well known that the moon isn't just a randon satellite sitting in our sky. As well as being the only satellite orbiting our planet, it has quite an effect over certain things that happen here. The sea tides are strongly associated with the position of the moon, and even fertility and reproductive behavior have been connected to it. There are scientific studies that link a woman's menstrual period of 28 days to the lunar cycle, and some species like the California Grunion fish lay their eggs on the first full moon.

Name In Trend: Jace

Jace is a male name of english origin that means "the lord is my salvation". It is a diminutive of Jason, but like the name Jack departed from John as it's own name, Jace is heading that way it seems. If I had to pick a name that defined trendy as of right now, Jace would be it. This name, plus all of its spelling variants, are zooming up the charts at the speed of light. It is a Teen Mom baby name, a character name from the book series The Mortal Instrument, and also the name of one the guys on Duck Dynasty (who spells his name Jase).

But enough of me telling you how trendy it is, let me prove it:

2014 List: Mathematical Prediction: Boy Edition

So here it is, the mathematically accurate predictions of what the 2014 boy ranking may look like. Remember, these aren't to be taken too seriously, as I've explained to you before. If last years increases and decreases remained the same this year, this is how the 2014 rank would look like:

01 Liam (+1)
02 Noah (-1)
03 Jacob (=)
04 William (+1)
05 Mason (-1)

Happy Birthday to XXNamesInTrendXY! We're 4!

Today is a party day! Can't believe this blog is already 4 years old, it feels like yesterday really when I was deciding whether I should share my thoughts on baby names with you all. I wanna thank everyone who keeps viewing and commenting on my posts, you are very much appreciated and I enjoy your thoughts a lot.

We won't receive any presents, but you guys are. I've decided to share with you something that is only available to me as the administrator of this blog, and that is, to show you which posts have had the most views since its debut back in August 2010.

And the leaders are:

Name In Spotlight: Ophelia

 
Ophelia is a female name of greek origin that means "help". Dave Grohl, front member of the band Foo Fighters, recently bestowed this name on her daughter, and I really like it. It might seem a bit out there, but if you think about, it isn't worlds away from some of the most common names of today, such as Olivia or Sophia.

 Ophelia has a pretty nice meaning, who doesn't need some help in their lives right? But in literary terms, she has a somber past.

Name In Coffin: Adolph

The name Adolph is of old german origin, and it means "noble wolf" or "majestic wolf". It is the name of a saint, and also a german and swedish royal name. A famous bearer is filmmaker Adolph Zukor, pictured above, who founded Paramount Pictures back in 1912.

Contrary to popular belief, the name had been downtrending long before World War II first started. Although that war may be to blame for the name's terrible numbers today, with a very low chance of making a comeback. Adolf Hitler is still well known man today, and since WWII is a prominent subject in every history class (and will most likely remain one), his name is certainly going to stick around. Yes, he spells it differently, but Adolf is just a variant spelling of Adolph, and pronounced the exact same way.

Name In Trend: Sawyer

Sawyer is a name of english origin that means "wood worker", therefore making it an occupational name. However, thanks to Mark Twain naming his hero Tom Sawyer in the novel "The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer", it also has a literary connection that most people are aware of.

Sawyer is a name that has been embraced by parents and celebrities alike. The Early Show presenter Erica Hill used it for her son back in 2010. Even though surnames have been adopted as first names for boys since the dawn of time, it wasn't always the case with Sawyer, who is relatively new to the "scene". Let's see how this name has performed on the SSA chart:

2014 List: Mathematical Prediction: Girl Edition

Hello readers! I apologize for the long absence, but I had some personal issues that kept me from updating this blog for a while. I will try to be back more often, however I can't promise anything yet.
Over the last few weeks I have managed to do my mathematical predictions for both genders, the boy edition should be out in the next few days. This time, we start with the girl edition, so let's see how the 2014 list could look like next May:

01 Emma (+1)
02 Sophia (-1)
03 Olivia (=)
04 Isabella (=)
05 Ava (=)

Update On Previous Names In Trend (4)

So it's that time of the year where I take a look back at all those names that featured in my Name In Trend segment, and see if they are still trending. If they fall in the rankings for 2 consecutive years, or if I feel they have been stalling for several years, I drop them from this update.

Declan

Climbed over 20 places in the last year, and its very close to entering the top 100 for the first time. It'll get the for sure, as this name seems to be loved by everyone right now.

Hudson

It's now up to #87, it's highest peak yet. I don't think this is the last time we'll see this name climbing, it's very on trend.

Ryder

Dropped 3 places to #103, so its stay in the top 100 was very brief, only a year. Are people moving on to Ryker instead?

2013 Most Popular Baby Names

So the new list is out, and Jacob is finally off the top spot after a 15 year reign. Thank god for that. However, that is pretty much the only great news I have, at least from my perspective. Most of my favorite names aren't taking off, and the "same old same old" names are still hogging pretty much most of the boys rank.

The top 10:

BOYS

1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Jacob
4. Mason
5. William
6. Ethan
7. Michael
8. Alexander
9. Jayden
10. Daniel

Name In Trend: Paisley

The unisex name Paisley is of scottish origin and it means "church". Paisley is actually a place name, of a scottish town near Glasgow. The paisley pattern, which involves a persian inspired design, originated in that town, famous for its weaving industry in the 19th century. Now of course everyone will immediately think of the fabric, rather than the town, but I guess it's not a terrible association. The name in recent years has been embraced by parents of little girls, maybe because the design is quite girly, and it has even been used by celebs like Jennie Finch.

Names In Spotlight: Space Names

Don't you just love to gaze into space, or look at some of it's beautiful pictures? Well, space also possesses some incredible names, that could perfectly be used on a child. A lot of space names are inspired by mythology, so they are old names that were then applied on space objects. A few are just modern space names and terms that have some serious potential as baby names, and a few have space related meanings. Overall, there are hundreds of them, so I had to pick and choose and select some that I think are ready to use, and some that I feel are too interesting to go unnoticed. So sit back, and enjoy the ride, because it's a long one!

GIRLS

Andromeda - Surely you've heard this one before. Andromeda is of course, our nearest galaxy, it is of greek origin, and means "leader of man". It's quite a grand name for a little girl, but if you want a strong legit girl name, this one is perfect.

Astrid - This was the name used by two swedish microsatellites to study some space features. Astrid is of scandinavian origin and means "beautiful goddess". I adore this name, there aren't many female names ending with the letter "d", and I feel this is one of the most usable ones.

Aurora - Some of the most beautiful space pictures feature the aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere, with its sci-fi green lights, truly magical. Aurora of course means "dawn", and is the name of the roman goddess of sunrise. This name has a lot going for it, from its roman roots, to its nature and space meanings, to its Disney connection, to its many possible nicknames. You really can't go wrong.

Name In Trend: Declan

Declan is an irish names that means "full of goodness". It is the name of a saint, and it's the birth name of singer Elvis Costello.

America has always been a country that loves to import exotic names from other countries, especially Irish names. Could the rising star Declan be the latest irish import to make a big impression for the next couple of decades? Perhaps. Let's see how it's been performing so far in the SSA ranking:

Names Of The Year 2013

This year my predictions for the 2013 list is a little late, but as long as it's before the list is out, it still counts, right? Anyway, the year 2013 has brought us some interesting and buzzworthy celeb baby names, but little (as far as I can see) in terms of new character names on tv shows - the same old same old are being used instead. But enough about my disappointment in tv names, let's go to the predictions.

For boys:

- I think this will definitely be the year Jacob finally loses its crown after a long and snoozeworthy 14 year reign. The battle will be between Mason, who lost out by a tiny margin last year, and the new "hear it everywhere" name Liam. I wouldn't be surprised if Liam leapfrogged Mason and ended up at #1, but I'm still sticking with Mason being at the top, at least for a year.

Name In Spotlight: Bodhi

Bodhi is a sanskrit name that means "to awaken or become enlightened". It is also a nature name, thanks to the Bodhi tree, which has a spiritual connection to Buddhism - it is believed that the Buddha sat under this tree to reach enlightenment, where you obtain full comprehension of life, especially your own.

It has a very mystical feeling, one of those religious names that sounds very intriguing, but modern and appealing at the same time. This week, Bodhi has been on the spotlight alot - two celeb baby boys were given this name, and both children had some unusual middle names too: Rain and Ransom.

Celebrity Baby Names of 2013 - Review

Another new year rolls in, and as usual, I start off with my review of the celeb baby names from the previous year. 2013 did brought an interesting mix of names, some trendy choices, some unexpected ones too, as well as the obligatory boy names on girls. Overall, I did like them more than the 2012 choices.

BOYS

Ellis James - Like I always say, if you have two names you wanna use, one of them is part of the unexpected underrated category, and one is part of the overused classics category, and you're unsure in which order to put each name, I'll tell you: keep the most interesting name first, the more common one second. It's such a waste when great underused names are wasted in the middle. I do love Ellis.

Milan - Often thought of as a place name, which it can be, but it is also a hebrew name, with a different pronunciation than that italian city: MEE-lan. I didn't know what to expect from Shakira, but I do approve of this choice.

Greyson James - Greyson seems to be the new rising star over the past years, and one I like quite a bit (preferably spelled Grayson). James is the typical filler middle (and first) name, so don't really care for it.

Knox Addison - Ever since the Jolie's used Knox, the name has spread like wildfire, but yet is not at a point where your hear it everywhere everytime. It's that familiar face you don't see too often, one that you enjoy encountering. Addison is a male name that has made a switch to the female side, so I'm always surprised yet thankful when they make the reswitch, even if it's as a middle name. I love the flow of the name too.