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.

TV series and their influence on names

We all know how TV and popular series/shows can influence how a name performs. However, I have to vent at TV series constantly giving girls unisex or even manly names, and boys always getting the same old boring names that have been popular since Christ was born...

Grey's Anatomy is one of the main culprits, by naming one of the most popular female characters Addison - arguably one of the reasons the name started to be associated with girls. We all know the lead female character, Meredith, has a boys name, but that has been lost to the girls a long time ago. Addison had a fighting chance, had. Other female characters are: Izzie (Isobel), Lexie, Reed (also a boys name), Callie (Calliope), Sloan (another boy name), Teddy (and another one), and of course the nazi-surgeon commonly called by her surname Bailey - surely doesn't help the boys. The males of course all have typical boy names that everyone is bored of: Derek, Richard, Alex, George, Charles, Jackson - a snoozefest.