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.

Name In Spotlight: Egypt

There are many country/state/city names that have become popular over time: Israel, Zaire, Jordan, Dakota, Montana, Paris, London, Milan... however never has the country Egypt become a popular choice for baby boys.

This might be about to change: the newest celebrity baby out there has been named Egypt Daoud, the son of superstar singer Alicia Keys and her husband Swizz Beatz, a well known music producer. Now a first look at the name Egypt is bound to make question it. It looks funny, it's very uncommon, doesn't really remind you of a kid. However the more I looked at it, the more I liked it, and I began to imagine it on a boy. There's always the advantage that everyone knows how to pronounce it, and spell it (hopefully!).

Egypt has never dented the top1000 before, but there have been testimonials by other people that have met other kids named Egypt over the years. If there was any moment it could finally break through: this is it! I give Egypt my blessing! Plus it's one of my favourite countries, I'd say Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz have good taste in their travelling preferences.

So You Think You Can Dance in Canada - Boys' names

The 3rd installment of So You Think You Can Dance - Canada started a few weeks ago, and one thing that captivated were some of the guy's names on there. The girls names weren't particularly interesting for the most part, so I chose to talk about the boys instead.

So these are the names of the male contestants:

Jonathan
Jesse
Jeff
Jera
Shavar
Edgar
Denys
Sebastian
Mackenzie
Yonni
Hani

Now I know Jonathan, Jesse, Jeff, Sebastian and Edgar aren't particularly interesting names for boys, I'm thinking most of you have heard of them, and they're even spelled correctly.