Matilda Magazine

Announcing a new arrival! Last month, the first online magazine dedicated to baby names was born. Welcome to the world, Matilda Magazine!

The ladies behind Name Soiree and For Real Baby Names have come together to bring Matilda to life. I encourage you to check out the site for a ton of baby name love and appreciation! The magazine itself is full of baby name advice, trends, and name stories. Several name bloggers on my blog roll have made contributions, so you know it's great! But the site also has a boy and girl name database, polls, and a blog. Yours truly even has a new post on the blog:

When You Like Ben But Not Benjamin...

There is a Matilda page on Facebook that will give you a heads up on the magazine's issues as well as other name news. I won't keep you from it all any longer.

Names from Little Einsteins

via Wikipedia

When my kids became obsessed with Little Einsteins a few years ago, I started researching its episodes to find out what piece of music and art each one used. Much to my surprise and glee, my research unearthed name stories for each of the characters! I am thankful to Wikipedia for this information.

Leo - The red-headed character who loves to conduct music was named after famous conductor Leopold Stokowski. Leo is on the rise, ranking at #167 in 2011.

Annie - Leo's younger blonde sister who loves to sing was named after famous jazz singer Anni Rossi. Annie ranks at #386 in 2011 and has held steady in the 300s over the past couple of decades.

June - The possibly Asian-inspired character who loves to dance was named after famous choreographer June Taylor. June ranked at #470 in 2011 and is rising quickly; it had just reentered the Top 1000 in 2008 after a 20 year absence.

Quincy - The African-American character who loves to play musical instruments was named after famous musician/composer/arranger Quincy Jones. Quincy is the only name of the four that is falling somewhat, ranking at #599 in 2011.

The show originally ran from 2005 through 2009. Whether the creators intended to or not, they chose names (or namesakes) that are very fashionable for today!

Name Madness - Round 1

We're off to a great start! We had 20 voters for Round 0.5... let's shoot for more this week!

The results for Round 0.5 are as follows:

#1
McLean 3
Virginia 17

#2
Claire 16
Diana 4

#3
Macon 6
Deacon 14

#4
Gilbert 3
Pierce 17

You all definitely had your favorites in these first matches! There were no close calls in the play-in round and the winners will now move on to Round 1. Thanks to a friend, I found a better way to collect your votes for the remainder of the tournament. The ballot for Round 1 is embedded below. I apologize for any imperfect formatting on the blog. And for those who are wondering where these names came from, below the ballot is a list of the references for each character name.

Note: If you printed out the brackets from the Round 0.5 post, you will need to make a correction on it. I mistakenly included the name Damon twice. I have replaced the Damon from Match 27 with Luke.

I am so excited about a lot of these match-ups and can't wait to see the results! Have fun making your selections! Please vote only once and for only one name in each match.



Here is the list of where I got the character names. I realize that a lot of these names have more than one possible reference, but I list the one where it first caught my eye for this tournament:

McLean - What Happened to Goodbye
Diana - Anne of Green Gables
Virginia - Raising Hope
Claire - The Breakfast Club
Bay - Switched at Birth
Zoe - Firefly
Ramona - Ramona Quimby
Margaret - Little Women
Elena - Vampire Diaries
Regina - Once Upon a Time
Anastasia - Battlestar Galactica
Josephine - Little Women
Edith - Downton Abbey
Genevieve - White Girl Problems
Haddie - Parenthood
Celia - As You Like It
Matilda - Matilda
Caroline - Little House
Mallory - Family Ties
Hazel - The Fault in our Stars
Auden - Along for the Ride
Penelope - The Big Bang Theory
Savannah - Dear John
Britta - Community
Juliette - Nashville
Serena - Gossip Girl
Marian - Where We Belong
Camille - Parenthood
Astrid - White Oleander
Primrose - Hunger Games
Willow - Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Arya - Game of Thrones
Daphne - Switched at Birth
Hermoine - Harry Potter

Macon - Someone Like You
Gilbert - Anne of Green Gables
Deacon - Nashville
Pierce - Community
Declan - Revenge
Hugo - Hugo
Thayer - The Lying Game
Artie - Glee
Nolan - Once Upon a Time
Hoyt - True Blood
Toby - Switched at Birth
Winston - New Girl
Conrad - Revenge
Archie - Once Upon a Time
Emmett - Back to the Future
Damon - Vampire Diaries
Gunnar - Nashville
Troy - Community
Henry - Once Upon a Time
Tyrion - Game of Thrones
Gaius - Battlestar Galactica
Axl - The Middle
Luke - Star Wars
Dexter - Dexter
Sheldon - The Big Bang Theory
Sherlock - Sherlock Holmes
Brody - Glee
Malcolm - Firefly
Brick - Hart of Dixie
Saul - Battlestar Galactica
Bertram - All's Well That Ends Well
Frederick - Persuasion
Cedric - Harry Potter
James - James Bond

Where Are They Now? - 1911 Top 10

via Wikipedia

There is a so-called "100 year rule" in baby naming. Names have a good chance of becoming popular again after 100 years. This isn't necessarily the case all the time, as we all know that the rise and fall of names can happen drastically and unpredictably. But for fun, let's look back to 1911 and see where the top 10 names lie in 2011:

1911 Top 10

1 John - #27 and falling
2 William - #3 and rising (after falling to #20)
3 James - #17 and steady
4 George - #165 and falling
5 Robert - #61 and falling
6 Joseph - #22 and falling
7 Charles - #62 and falling
8 Frank - #308 and falling
9 Edward - #148 and falling
10 Thomas - #63 and falling

1 Mary - #112 and falling
2 Helen - #427 and falling
3 Margaret - #187 and falling
4 Dorothy - #937 and steady
5 Ruth - #362 and falling
6 Anna - #38 and falling (after falling and rising again)
7 Elizabeth - #11 and steady
8 Mildred - fell off the Top 1000 after 1984
9 Marie - #599 and falling
10 Frances - #789 and falling

Besides William, James, and Elizabeth, all of these names are still falling in popularity. Looking a little further into the top 100 of 1911, several "old-fashioned" names have made a return, examples include: Emma at #35 in 1911, fell to #458 before rising back up to #3 in 2011; Violet at #83 in 1911, fell off the Top 1000 chart before rising back up to #101 in 2011; and Ruby at #22 in 1911, fell to #401 before rising back up to #109 in 2011. Maybe the rule can be expanded a bit, because I feel like some of the Top 10 names from 1911 are due for a comeback in the next generation. I mean, if Hattie can come back from oblivion (was #86 in 1911, fell off to Top 1000 for 40 years, and just reentered at #993 in 2011), why can't Helen make a comeback?

Which of these names deserve to be rising stars again?

Names from Wreck-It Ralph

via imdb.com

A friend of mine sent my kids some toys from the movie Wreck-It Ralph and told me I would appreciate the names of the characters.  I have not seen the movie yet, but to say that I enjoy the names mentioned on the box the toys came in would be an understatement:

Gloyd Orangeboar
Crumbelina DiCarmello
Snowanna Rainbeau
Vanellope Von Schweetz
Taffyta Muttonfudge
Adorabeezle Winterpop
Candle Head
Rancis Fluggerbutter
Jubileena Bing-Bing
Minty Zaki
Swizzle Malarkey

How fun! While most of these names are probably not meant to be taken seriously, some of them can definitely be considered:

Snowanna - Nature-lovers who want to honor a family member named Anna could be drawn to this name.

Rainbeau - The name Rainbow was given to 10 girls in 2011. This alternate spelling could be attractive to those wanting to use it for a boy.

Taffyta - Taffeta is a type of fabric, and was a given name to 5 girls in 1966. Taff, Taffi, Taffie, and Taffy were also given names from the 1940s through the 1990s. Taffyta is a varied spelling that would go along with the current "y" trend.

Vanellope - I'm guessing this is pronounced like Penelope, which is becoming more and more popular ever since it reentered the top 1000 in 2001. Van and Nell are just a couple of possible nicknames.

Rancis - Subtract the F in Francis and you have Rancis. Unfortunately, it's a little too close to the word "rancid" for my liking, but others may see the name's appeal. Twenty-eight boys were named Rance in 2011.

Jubileena - Just add a popular ending to Jubilee and you have Jubileena.  Jubilee was given to 103 girls in 2011.

There are other interesting names from the movie. From what I understand, some of them are names from video games, but I think you can see some similarities in the types of names chosen (not in the top 100 and falling in popularity):

Ralph - Ranked #953 in 2011 and holding steady in the 900s after falling.

Felix - Ranked #311 in 2011 and has remained in the 300s for the past 60 years.

Calhoun - Political history buffs like me might recognize this surname from the first half of the 19th century, and it was a given name to at least 5 boys in 1886.

Wynnchel - Wynchell is an English name and means "drawer of water".

Mary - Ranked #112 in 2011 and falling.

Don - Fell off the Top 1000 after 2001.

Deanna - Ranked #817 in 2011 and falling.

Roy - Ranked #565 in 2011 and falling.

Duncan - Ranked #799 in 2011 and falling.

Clyde - Fell off the Top 1000 after 1998.

Ken - Fell off the Top 1000 after 1995.

Ryu - Japanese in origin and means "dragon".

What do you think of the names from Wreck-It Ralph? Do you have a favorite?