"Witches Of East End" Names

So there is a new supernatural show airing on Lifetime called Witches Of East End. Its based on a book series of the same name, and it a good show for fans of cheesy tv fodder like Charmed.
Like any name nerd, the first thing I notice whenever I watch something new are the names each character has, and Witches Of East End certainly has a few good ones.

The main characters:

Joanna - Joanna is the mother of the two younger women of the show, and also a big sister. Personally I feel Joanna is a bit dated and not ready for a comeback, but give it a few more years and and it might be the right time. It's definitely not one of those names that I feel is gone forever, it has potential to return.

Wendy - Wendy is Joanna's spunky and funny younger sister. She has a great relationship with her nieces and is kind of the heart and glue of the show, for me at least. Wendy is a cute name, and while I feel it is a tad dated, I can also picture it on a little girl, therefore I do think its usable for those of you who want to choose this name for a daughter.

Freya - She is the emotional and romance-driven daughter of Joanna. She struggles to choose between the 2 main guys of the show, and her storyline revolves around that. Her name was appropriately given, since in norse mythology she was the goddess of love and fertility. I'm starting to hear this name more and more these days, its a popular choice in the UK, and its only a matter of time before it becomes common in the US too.

Name In Spotlight: Jaxley

So I got asked by my best friend to do a search on a family name of his: Jaxley. I thought, wow, that is quite a cool name. But as I was trying to find info on this name, I realized this wasn't just a rare name, but almost non-existant. There are no records of it on any baby name sites, and there are only a few people that have it as a surname (and even less as a first name). Determined not to let my best friend down, I had to find at least something I could tell him about the name, and I did. A very likely source is that this name is related to or a variant of the place name Yaxley, which is also a Harry Potter name. Yaxley means "cuckoo wood", and during the 19th century, the county of Yaxley in Suffolk, England, was written as Jacheslea. It is very likely that from Jacheslea, people eventually arrived at the more pronounceable Jaxley.

2013 List: Mathematical Prediction: Girl Edition

After some demand on making a girl edition, I spent the last few weeks compiling the future girl ranking - that is, if names during this year had the same increase / decrase as last year. I know that isn't really the case with most names, but it does give us some sort of preview of what could happen.

But enough of that, let's get to the juicy part, here is the possible top 20 for the 2013 list:

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

2013 List: Mathematical Prediction: Boy Edition

Curious to see how the SSA boy rank might look next year? Well that's what this post is all about. Basically, it is a preview on how the chart could look if the names had the same increase/decrease this year, as they had last year. Obviously this isn't gonna happen exactly, because numbers and trends change every year, but some overall jumps and falls are turn out to be quite accurate.

So how will the boys top 20 for 2013 look if it had the exact same performance as last year? Check it out:

01 LIAM (+5)
02 ETHAN (+1)
03 MASON (-1)
04 NOAH (=)
05 JACOB (-4)

Name In Trend: Hudson

Hudson is a name of Old English origin, and it means "son of Hugh". It is a rising star amongst the many -son names trending upwards in recent years. As well as that meaning, Hudson can also be used as a place name, thanks to the Hudson River in New York and the Hudson Bay in Canada - both were named after the explorer Henry Hudson. This gives Hudson an adventurous feel, and a strong association to water, which could give it the "nature name" tag.


Let's take a look at it's performance in the SSA ranking:

Summer Movies 2013: Interesting Character Names

Summer 2013 might be almost over, but it brought us some great flicks. As usual, I payed extra attention to the names of characters in hope of finding some interesting ones. Thankfully there were quite a few ones that caught my eye, and so I'm gonna present you the ones I thought were the most appealing and unique.


Male character names:

Harley (Iron Man 3) - A popular name for boys in the UK, but quite underused in the US, which is quite surprising for me because it's one of those names that has all the ingredients of a trendy sounding name, but isn't. I think its full potential has yet to be achieved in America, and I'd like to think it will eventually hit its stride.

Yancy (Pacific Rim) - Not one of the main characters of this movie since he dies early on, but his scenes at the start of the film were enough for me to remember his name. I don't think I've met or read about anyone with this name, although I'm not terribly surprised because I feel this one is for the brave namers only (right now). I believe this one might be quite a polarizing name if it ever pops up in a discussion, you'll either love it or hate it, a bit like Clancy.

Teen Mom 3 Names

 
Well all know how much influence Teen Mom has had on baby name trends for the past couple of years. Names such as Bentley, Jace, Aubree or Maci have had a significant boost since the show debuted. The third series of Teen Mom premiered this week and I decided to check the names on the show, and wonder which names might be the next superstars.

First let's take a quick look at the mom's names:

Katie
Briana
Mackenzie
Alexandria (Alex)

Name In Spolight: Raleigh

So I recently watched the movie Pacific Rim, which reminded me of how much I love the name Raleigh. That movie featured some pretty cool names, for example Raleigh's brother is named Yancy, which also caught my eye, so if you enjoy action flicks mixed with a dose of unique names, check the movie out.

Raleigh is of old english origin and it has two different meanings that I found: "roe deer's meadow" and "from the red field". There is definitely a nature connection in both, so if you like nature names this one is a great choice. It can also be a place name, because it's the capital of North Carolina, and it could definitely fit in with the place name trend going on lately with names like Princeton, Camden, Brooklyn, etc.

Name In Spotlight: Royal Baby Name

First of all congrats to Kate and William on the birth of their newborn son George.

I wondered if back when Prince William and Harry were born, if their names had any influence in the US baby names. I went to the SSA and tracked 3 consecutive years (the year before they were born, the year they were born, and the year after that).

William

1981 24,782
1982 25,591
1983 25,379

Henry

1983 1,948
1984 2,028
1985 2,059

Harry

1983 753
1984 727
1985 780

So I suppose William was the only one that had a significant boost the year Prince William was born, however nothing astonishing. I wonder if this time it'll be different. What do you think? Will the boost be bigger for George? I think it will have a bigger boost than William and Henry/Harry had because of how much more exposed we are to these kind of things these days. Probably back in the top100 soon, but I'm not expecting something too crazy because it's not really a name that everyone seems to like, even amongst the "classics" fandom...

Update On Previous Names In Trend (3)

So let's take a look and see how our "Names In Trend" performed in 2012:

Ryder

Still making waves, this name has climbed for the first time into the top100, at #100 exactly. I think it'll keep going up for a few more years.

Karter

K spellings are quite trendy for boys, and this one is no exception. Karter has made another nice jump to #347 year, and I don't think it'll be falling anytime soon.

Rhys

After falling last year for the first time, this year it's gone back up 11 places to #476. Still not a huge jump, but it's now officially the most common spelling of the name. I wonder if the feminization of Reese is making parents stay clear of this one?

2012 Most Popular Baby Names

So the new list is out, and here is the top10:

Boys

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

Name In Trend: Scarlett

Heard of any little Scarlett's lately? Odds are, you have.

Scarlett is a name of old french origin, and means "red", so you can use it as a color name if you wish. Scarlett was first used as a given name in Margaret Mitchell's novel "Gone With The Wind", which featured heroine Scarlett O'Hara. It is also a hollywood name, thanks to actress Scarlett Johansson, and it is also the middle name of one of Mick Jagger's daughter Elizabeth.

Let's take a closer inspection at the name Scarlett and its popularity throughout the years:

Name In Trend: Brantley

The name Brantley is of old english origin, a variant of Brand and Brant, and it means "sword" or "fiery torch". A famous bearer of this name is country singer Brantley Gilbert, and I suspect the overnight explosion of this name has a lot to do with him.

Here is how the name Brantley has performed on the SSA ranking:

Name In Spotlight: Rainbow

Everyone knew Holly Madison was naming her daughter "something unusual", but were we expecting a baby Rainbow Aurora? Probably not. Aurora is a legit name around the world, a beautiful name for sure, but the spotlight tonight goes to Rainbow. Obviously.

My parents told me that they named me Skye because they liked the sound of "sky", and also the image of peacefulness and tranquility a blue sky evoked to them. The added "e" was just an attempt to make it different (my parents loved alternative spellings...). I've always liked my name and always get positive feedback on it, especially for how "unique" it is to most people. It also made me fond of nature names, especially for boys, and I'll probably carry on that naming style with my kids.

Baby Name Advice

Hello fellow trenders! From now on, I will be taking your questions on baby names, giving you my advice on your choices, suggesting names for those of you who are stuck or struggling for ideas, or if you need help choosing a name for a sibling, for example. Don't forget to explain what your name problem is (if there is one), what your style of naming is, what kind of names your searching for, so that I can help you get the best options available.

Send your emails to xxnamesintrendxy@hotmail.com

I'll be waiting for you!

Celebrity Baby Names of 2012 - Review

As usual during January, I do my review of several celeb baby names that were born the year before. 2012 wasn't a particularly exciting year for baby names, especially if you like outlandish choices, but if you do like old school female names, it was particularly intriguing to see which ones are making a comeback.


BOYS:

Edward Duke - Not a fan of either choice to be honest. Edward is a bit dated imo, and I'm not a fan of title names, so Duke gets a "no" from me too. Plus, if you're gonna call him Duke, just put Edward in the middle, makes no sense to me when middle names are the prefered choice to call someone.

Camden Jack - Camden has been making waves lately, with at least 2 celebrity couples naming their son Camden. I quite like this choice, it's popular without being too overused, plus like many classics that are now below the top100, it doesn't have the baggage that there are a million older men with the same name. I can't stand Jack, but at least it's hidden in the middle spot.

Zander Jace - I like Zander but I do prefer the "x" spelling better. It's one of those nicknames that to me just sound better than the formal name, in this case, Alexander, which is very overused. Jace is a newby name that apparently surfaced as a nickname to Jason, and again, it's a fresher choice than the formal name.