Names from Christmas Song Titles

Image by Diana Susselman via Flickr

It's the day after Thanksgiving... time to start the Christmas music! I love listening to Christmas music from morning until night, every day until Christmas is over. There are tons of names inspired by Christmas and, more specifically, it's music. To begin this holiday season, I have gathered names taken from Christmas song titles. Of course, a lot of these are names from the general Christmas season, but it's fun to seek inspiration from the titles alone!

Angel - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

Bell - Jingle Bell Rock

Blue - Blue Christmas

Carol - Carol of the Bells

Christmas - White Christmas

Darling - Merry Christmas, Darling

Drummer - The Little Drummer Boy

Emmanuel - O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Eve - Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)

Faith - Faith of our Fathers

Frost - Frosty the Snowman

Holiday - Happy Holiday

Holly - A Holly Jolly Christmas

Ivy - The Holly and the Ivy

Joseph - Joseph and Mary's Boy

Joy - Joy to the World

Maria - Ave Maria

Mary - Mary, Did You Know?

Merry - We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Midnight - It Came Upon a Midnight Clear

Nicholas - Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Nick - Little Saint Nick

Noel - The First Noel

River - River

Rudolph - Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer

Shepherd - While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night

Silver - Silver Bells

Snow - Let It Snow

Wenceslas - Good King Wenceslas

Winter - Winter Wonderland

It's kind of a stretch, but what about Mele Kalikimaka? The Hawaiian way to say Merry Christmas could be a cute name if shortened... Kali, Kiki? I guess the same could also be said for Feliz Navidad... Navi?

Have I missed any? What is your favorite name inspired by a Christmas song title?

Name Madness 2013 - Round 3

Image by delitefulimage via Flickr

There were 95 responses for Round 2... THANK YOU for voting! Several of the match-ups were close the entire week, which means the competition will just get more and more fierce. Here are the results for Round 2:

#1
Anastasia 55%
Ariadne 45%

#2
Blanca 21%
Eleni 79%

#3
Élodie 55%
Francesca 45%

#4
Imogen 52%
Isla 48%

#5
Leonie 46%
Linnéa 54%

#6
Matilda 62%
Natalia 38%

#7
Pia 32%
Saoirse 68%

#8
Thea 60%
Zoe 40%

#9
Aleksi 52%
Andreas 48%

#10
Bendt 17%
Callum 83%

#11
Cillian 47%
Enzo 53%

#12
Gustav 64%
Kacper 36%

#13
León 33%
Luka 67%

#14
Milan 37%
Otto 63%

#15
Petros 21%
Raphael 79%

#16
Ronan 75%
Viggo 25%

Are you surprised by any of the results? It's fun to try to guess whether or not you all voted a certain way because you love the name you chose or because you really dislike the name you didn't choose. Any thoughts or do you care to share your reasons for voting a certain way?

Time for Round 3!

You have until Sunday, December 1 to vote. Please vote only once and for only one name in each match. Winners of Round 2 and the ballot for Round 3 should be published on Monday, December 2. Have fun!

Hidden Gems of 1963

Today is the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination. It was a tragic and life-altering incident in American history, the September 11th of a previous generation. I have written how the name Fitzgerald became more popular after this event (ranked #1062 with 52 births in 1963 and #691 with 125 births in 1964), and now I wonder what other names ranked between #1000 and #1500 in 1963 can and should be considered currently. Isn't it crazy how an event or even an anniversary of an event can spark inspiration for a name post?

I picked some names that were ranked between #1000 and #1500 in 1963 and listed them below with the number of babies given the name in that year. Interestingly enough, these names are not so different in terms of use today...

GIRLS (Name #of births in 1963... #of births in 2012)
Petra 112... 118
May 110... 106
Millicent 110... 71
Gilda 109... 8
Fern 108... 45
Octavia 103... 79
Opal 97... 105
Effie 89... 37
Winona 79... 32
Elma 76... 33
Theodora 75... 67
Phaedra 70... 37
Linnea 69... 146
Lisette 69... 65
Coral 68... 160
Pandora 68... 56
Selma 66... 72
Bronwyn 63... 51
Inga 59... 20
Wilhelmina 59... 63

It's also fun to note that Ashley, Sophie, Mia, Sofia, Zoe, Ellie, Meghan, Samantha, and Gabriela were all between #1000 and #1500 in 1963.

Not as many of the boy names jumped out at me, but it's still interesting to see the comparison between their usage in 1963 versus 50 years later.

BOYS
Leander 57... 57
Octavio 53... 158
Fitzgerald 52... 12
Lucius 51... 117
Oren 48... 127
Hardy 46... 26
Noble 41... 115
Olin 41... 80
Gray 38... 120
Ford 30... 170

Caleb, Logan, and Liam were also between #1000 and #1500 in 1963.

Are you like me in wanting to hear more of these names in 2013? Which one is your favorite?

Name Madness 2013 - Round 2

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

Thank you for the tremendous turnout in Round 1! There were 83 votes tabulated, more than double the most votes we had in last year's Name Madness. Much appreciation to those who linked to it, including Appellation Mountain and Name News! I hope the trend continues with the next round!

Now down to the results. As I periodically checked the way the votes were going, I saw several leads change hands as well as a couple of match-ups go down to the wire. Here they are (winners in bold)...

#1
Anastasia 53%
Anya 47%

#2
Aoife 40%
Ariadne 60%

#3
Blanca 54%
Edyta 46%

#4
Eleni 72%
Eliška 28%

#5
Élodie 71%
Fleur 29%

#6
Francesca 71%
Giulia 29%

#7
Ilse 34%
Imogen 66%

#8
Isla 88%
Jadwiga 12%

#9
Lena 48%
Leonie 52%

#10
Linnéa 57%
Lucía 43%

#11
Matilda 76%
Milena 24%

#12
Natalia 72%
Oona 28%

#13
Pia 83%
Pinja 17%

#14
Saoirse 70%
Selma 30%

#15
Thea 72%
Valeria 28%

#16
Zoe 58%
Zora 42%

#17
Aleksi 81%
Alvaro 19%

#18
Andreas 84%
Attila 16%

#19
Bendt 62%
Bogdan 38%

#20
Bram 45%
Callum 55%

#21
Cillian 57%
Emil 43%

#22
Enzo 73%
Florian 27%

#23
Guillermo 35%
Gustav 65%

#24
Iker 46%
Kacper 54%

#25
León 71%
Livio 29%

#26
Lorcán 48%
Luka 52%

#27
Maxime 45%
Milan 55%

#28
Moritz 25%
Otto 75%

#29
Panagiotis 6%
Petros 94%

#30
Raphael 76%
Rasmus 24%

#31
Ronan 89%
Sergei 11%

#32
Tiago 46%
Viggo 54%

The Tiago/Viggo fight went back and forth the entire time... I had no idea who was going to come out on top in the end. Same with Lorcán/Luka. I'm a bit bummed Rasmus lost, as I had grown fond of it in my research for this tournament. On the girl side, I am thrilled Saoirse won, as it is a name that came to my attention when I was pregnant with my daughter and has always caught my eye since. I'm glad Leonie pulled through (picked from my memories of living in Germany), and a bit disappointed both Jadwiga and Milena didn't win (picked from my memories of living in Poland). But the names that beat them are fabulous as well, so the disappointment didn't last long!

What do you think of the results? Any huge surprises or disappointments for you? Is there any name you are ecstatic it's still around?

Now on to Round 2!

You have until Sunday, November 24 to vote. Please vote only once and for only one name in each match. Winners of Round 2 and the ballot for Round 3 should be published on Monday, November 25. Have fun!

Ender's Game

The movie Ender's Game is based on a book of the same title. My husband wanted to see it and I tagged along, not knowing I would be entering another small treasure trove of names. Like... did you know the main character's name is Ender?

Ender - His real name is Andrew, but he is called Ender due to his sister's mispronunciation of his given name. While it is more of a nickname in the book/movie, the name Ender in Turkish means "very rare", which is actually very appropriate for this story.

Petra - Petra is a friend of Ender's, and her name is the feminine form of Peter found in many Scandinavian and Central European countries. Petra has also been ranked in the U.S., mostly in the late 1800s and the first half of the 1900s.

Mazer - Mazer is a hero figure in the movie, and it has been said that the author based his name off of the first president of BYU, Karl Maeser. It sounds like razor and could also be seen as a word (a large drinking bowl or goblet), but it is also a surname.

Valentine - Ender's sister is the most important person in his life, and she has a name that is considered both masculine and feminine.

Bonzo - Born Bonito, Bonzo is a member of the Battle School with Ender. According to the book, it is pronounced "bone-so", which takes away from a Gonzo-sounding name.

Alai - Pronounced "ah-lie", the character Alai is a Muslim member of the Battle School, although in my research I have found Alai as a Gaelic name.

Dink - A lot of us may see this as slang for "dual income, no kids", but in the book he is a Dutch member of the Battle School. The name Dink was ranked in the U.S. in 1883 and 1892.

Bernard - Another member of the Battle School, the movie character of Bernard is one who was a jerk at first and then grows to be an ally to Ender. Bernard was a popular name in the early 1900s, but has fallen away as time passed.

I would also like to mention some of the names of the actors who portrayed the characters in the movie: Asa, Harrison, Viola, Aramis, Suraj, Moises, and Khylin are all pretty fantastic in their own right.

What do you think of Ender and his counterparts? Would you use any of them?

Thank you to Wikipedia for the above information, since I didn't read the book.

Name Madness 2013 - Round 1

Image by John Ayo via Flickr

How did I pick the names for Name Madness 2013, you may wonder? Well, narrowing down all the possible European names out there to 64 was not easy, but I selected names from your suggestions, lists of recent top names in European countries, and my personal favorites. These names have European roots and/or are European versions of other names. Most of them have been used or have a form from all around the continent. Before I present the ballot, I would like to give a bit of a description of each name in the tournament (thank you to Behind the Name, Baby Name Wizard, and Baby Name Facts for the information).

GIRLS
Anastasia - Feminine form of the Greek Anastasios. Usage in Greek, Russian, English and Spanish. Recently popular in Russia and Ukraine.
Anya - Russian diminutive of Anna. Usage in Russian.
Aoife - Pronounced EE-fa. Means "beauty" in Gaelic. Usage in Irish. Recently popular in Ireland.
Ariadne - Means "most holy" and from Greek Mythology. Usage in Greek Mythology.
Blanca - Means "white" and a Spanish form of Blanche. Usage in Spanish. Recently popular in Spain, Hungary, and Poland (also spelled Blanka).
Edyta - Polish form of Edith. Usage in Polish.
Eleni - Variant of Elene or Helene. Usage in Greek. Recently popular in Greece.
Eliška - Czech and Slovak diminutive of Elizabeth. Usage in Czech and Slovak. Recently popular in Czech Republic.
Élodie - French form of Alodia. Usage in French.
Fleur - Means "flower" in French. Usage in French, Dutch and English. Recently popular in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Francesca - Italian feminine form of Francis. Usage in Italian and Catalan. Recently popular in England and Italy.
Giulia - Pronounced JOOL-yah. Italian feminine form of Julius. Usage in Italian. Recently popular in Italy, Hungary, Finland, Liechtenstein, and Spain (also spelled Julia).
Ilse - German and Dutch diminutive form of Elizabeth. Usage in German and Dutch. Recently popular in Spain and Finland (also spelled Elsa).
Imogen - Pronounced IM-ə-jən. From Shakespeare. Usage in English. Recently popular in England and Scotland.
Isla - Pronounced IE-lə. Variant of Islay. Usage in Scottish. Recently popular in England, Scotland, Ireland and Finland.
Jadwiga - Pronounced yahd-VEE-gah. Polish form of Hedwig. Usage in Polish.
Lena - Scandinavian, German and Polish diminutive of Helena and Russian diminutive of Yelena. Usage in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Polish, Russian, English, Italian, and Portuguese. Recently popular in Ireland, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Germany, and Serbia.
Leonie - Pronounced LE-o-nee. German feminine form of Leonius. Usage in German. Recently popular in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, and Liechtenstein.
Linnéa - Pronounced lin-NE-ah. From the name of a flower. Usage in Swedish. Recently popular in Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
Lucía - Pronounced loo-THEE-ah (Spanish) or loo-SEE-ah (Latin American Spanish). Spanish feminine form of Lucius. Usage in Spanish. Recently popular in Spain.
Matilda - From the German name Mahthildis. Usage in English, Swedish, Finnish and Slovak. Recently popular in England, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Italy, and France.
Milena - Feminine form of Milan. Usage in Czech, Russian, Bulgarian, Slovene, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Polish, and Italian. Recently popular in Poland and Armenia.
Natalia - Polish, Italian, Spanish and Romanian form of Natalie. Usage in Polish, Italian, Spanish, and Romanian. Recently popular in Spain, Poland and Slovakia.
Oona - Irish variant and Finnish form of Úna. Usage in Irish and Finnish. Recently popular in Finland and Belgium.
Pia - Feminine form of Pius. Usage in Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, German, Polish, and Slovene. Recently popular in Austria and Germany.
Pinja - Means "stone pine" in Finnish. Usage in Finnish. Recently popular in Finland.
Saoirse - Pronounced SEER-sha. Means "freedom" in Irish Gaelic. Usage in Irish. Recently popular in Ireland.
Selma - Possibly a diminutive of Anselma. Usage in English, German, Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish. Recently popular in Sweden and Norway.
Thea - Diminutive of Dorothea or Theodora. Usage in German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and English. Recently popular in Sweden and Norway.
Valeria - Feminine form of Valerius. Usage in Italian, Spanish, Romanian, and German. Recently popular in Russia.
Zoe - Means "life" in Greek. Usage in English, Greek, and Italian. Recently popular in England, Scotland, Ireland, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Hungary, France and Liechtenstein.
Zora - Means "dawn, aurora" in Slavic. Usage in Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Bulgarian, and Macedonian.

BOYS
Aleksi - Finnish form of Alexis. Usage in Finnish. Recently popular in Finland.
Álvaro - Spanish form of Alvar. Usage in Spanish or Portuguese. Recently popular in Spain.
Andreas - Ancient Greek and Latin form of Andrew. Usage in German, Greek, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, and Welsh. Recently popular in Denmark, Norway and Austria.
Attila - Means "little father" from the Gothic "atta." Usage in Hungarian. Recently popular in Hungary.
Bendt - Danish form of Benedict. Usage in Danish.
Bogdan - Means "given by God" in Slavic. Usage in Polish, Russian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, and Romanian. Recently popular in Romania.
Bram - Diminutive of Abraham. Usage in English and Dutch. Recently popular in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Callum - Scottish form of Columbia. Usage in Scottish. Recently popular in England, Scotland and Ireland.
Cillian - Means "church" in Gaelic. Usage in Irish. Recently popular in Ireland.
Emil - Means "rival" in Latin. Usage in German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Polish, Slovene, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, and English. Recently popular in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium, Austria, and Bulgaria.
Enzo - Diminutive of Lorenzo. Usage in Italian and French. Recently popular in France, Belgium and Switzerland.
Florian - A derivative of Florus. Usage in German, Polish and French. Recently popular in Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.
Guillermo - Spanish form of William. Usage in Spanish. Recently popular in Spain.
Gustav - Derived from the Slavic name Gostislav. Usage in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and German. Recently popular in Denmark and Sweden.
Iker - Means "visitation" in Basque. Usage in Basque. Recently popular in Spain.
Kacper - Polish form of Jasper. Usage in Polish. Recently popular in Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland and Hungary (also spelled Casper and Kasper).
Leon - Means "lion" in Greek. Usage in English, German, Polish, Slovene, and Croatian. Recently popular in England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Liechtenstein and Slovenia.
Livio - Italian form of Livius. Usage in Italian.
Lorcán - Means "little fierce one" in Gaelic. Usage in Irish. Recently popular in Ireland.
Luka - Form of Luke. Usage in Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Macedonian, and Georgian. Recently popular in England, Scotland, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Croatia, Finland, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Netherlands, Serbia and Slovenia (also spelled Luca).
Maxime - French form of Maximus. Usage in French. Recently popular in Belgium, France, Switzerland and Ukraine.
Milan - From the Slavic element meaning "gracious, dear." Usage in Czech, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Slovene, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Dutch. Recently popular in Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands.
Moritz - German form of Maurice. Usage in German. Recently popular in Austria and Germany.
Otto - From the Germanic element meaning "wealth, fortune." Usage in German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, English, and Finnish. Recently popular in Sweden and Finland.
Panagiotis - Means "all holy" in Greek. Usage in Greek. Recently popular in Greece.
Petros - Greek and Armenian form of Peter. Usage in Greek and Armenian.
Raphael - From the Hebrew. Usage in German, French, and English. Recently popular in France, Spain, Austria, Armenia, and Liechtenstein.
Rasmus - Scandinavian form of Erasmus. Usage in Swedish, Norwegian, and Dutch. Recently popular in Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
Ronan - Means "little seal" in Irish. Usage in Irish. Recently popular in Ireland.
Sergei - Russian and Bulgarian form of Sergius. Usage in Russian and Bulgerian.
Tiago - Portuguese form of James. Usage in Portuguese. Recently popular in Switzerland.
Viggo - From the Old Norse element meaning "war." Usage in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish. Recently popular in Sweden.

What do you think? Are you as excited about this as I am?

Without further ado, here is the ballot for Round 1! You have until Sunday, November 17 to vote. Please vote only once and for only one name in each match. Winners of Round 1 and the ballot for Round 2 should be published on Monday, November 18. Have fun!

*ber* Names

Last year, my November post was about names beginning with Nov. One of the best things about that post is the mention of Ember as a cute nickname for November. Are there any other names containing *ber* that I would like? Hmmm....

I grabbed some of the *ber* names from the 2012 list. Separated by gender, I listed the most popular spelling of each name and put any unisex name in the gender group in which it is more popular.

GIRLS
Aberdeen
Abernathy
Alberta
Amber
Amberly
Amberlynn
Anberlin
Berenice
Beretta
Bergen
Berkley
Berlin
Bernadette
Bernadine
Bertha
Beryl
Camber
December
Ember
Emberly
Emberlynn
Kimber
Kimberly
Kimberlyn
Liberty
November
October
Roberta
September
Timber
Timberly
Timberlynn

BOYS
Albert
Alberto
Berk
Bernard
Bernardo
Berry
Bert
Bertram
Bertrand
Caliber
Chamberlain
Colbert
Delbert
Elbert
Gilbert
Gilberto
Heber
Herbert
Hubert
Huckleberry
Humberto
Lambert
Norbert
Norbero
Oberon
Philbert
Rigoberto
Robert
Roberto
Saber
Tiberius
Wilber
Wilbert

Lots of good ones on the list! It had previously escaped me that one of my favorite place names contains *ber* (Berlin), and now I see that people have also used other place names (Aberdeen, Abernathy, and Alberta). All of the *ber* months are included, as is the very patriotic Liberty. There are also those names that use the pronunciation "bear" instead of "burr", including Berry, Beryl, Colbert and Huckleberry, not to mention the alternative pronunciations of such names as Alberto and Roberto. While Bertha is widely considered too "old" of a name (28 girls were given the name in 2012), what about Berenice (129 girls in 2012)? And on the boy side, there are several "bert" names to consider, but I think my favorite one on the list is Oberon (although I do have a soft spot for Tiberius thanks to Captain Kirk).

What is your favorite *ber* name?