Friday, June 29, 2012

Turn of the Century Names

I found some interesting and even surprising names on the top 1000 from around the turn of the century, I thought I would share them with you. Enjoy!

Girls:
Isadora
Evaline
Theda
Neoma
Mahala
Odelia
Elberta
Verona
Aurora - this one surprised me a bit
Leontine
Nora
Theodora
Cordia
Fairy - another surprise
Zoe - another surprise
Eulah
Signe
Madaline
Sophronia
Lelah
Adella
Icie - Oo
Novella
Leola
Geneva
Elnora
Leota
Floy - Another surprise......
Leatha


Boys:
Felton
Shedrick
Newell
Sullivan
Julious
Hayden -
Harlow - both in the 800's for men in 1900, is this telling us something?
Thurston
Thornton
Addison - in the 700's in 1900 for men. Again - might this be telling us something?
Sylvan
Wilton
Aubrey - number 259 for men in 1900, yes, I am definitely starting to see the trend.
Cyrus
Wilford


Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Grumpy Old Men

With the popularity of such boys names as The -Aydens, popular surname turned first names like Mason, Logan, and Jackson - I thought it might be nice to look at one of my favorite categories, those which I refer to as "grumpy old man" names. Ones that may feel clunky and old others, but I think feel like a breath of fresh air and are full of spunk and quirk. Think of the names of your great grandfather's and great uncle's.

Walter
Lloyd
Harvey
Calvin
Luther
Wilbur
August
Nelson
Sylvester
Abraham
Jerome
Byron
Roger
Orville
Clifton
Stewart
Truman
Murphy
Thaddeus
Rowland
Theodore
Albert
Harold
Ralph
Oscar
Leonard
Edgar
Melvin
Amos


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Top 10 from the Social Security site ( http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/) is always a hot topic and one I like to talk about - a lot of people either don't realize that a certain name is really popular or they really like it, but want an alternative because the popularity is off-putting. Here are some alternative ideas for the top 20.


  • Sophia - Sophronia, Phoebe, Daphne, Seraphina, Phaedra, Lydia, Alessia, Cecilia, Sidonia, Sylvia, Serena.
  • Isabella - Mirabelle, Annabelle, Arabella, Rosabelle, Rosamel, Daniella, Noelia, Estella, Luella, Eloisa, Isla, Ilythia, Ysabel, Ishbel, Isadora, Isotta, Isabeau, Isabetta, Isobel, Iolanthe, Isemay, Ismene
  • Emma - Emmeline, Emilia, Gemma, Emmanuela, Emmelise, Emmelotte, Noemi, Emuna, Euphemia, Emiri, Emelda, Clementine
  • Olivia - Livia, Liviana, Ottilie, Liv, Olive, Flavia, Octavia, Ottavia, Vivia, Sylvia, Lavinia, Viviana, Linnea, Louisa, Aurelia, Odelia, Ophelia, Olympia, Oralia, Zosia, Alodia
  • Ava - Eva, Eve, Aveline, Ada, Ida, Ahava, Aveza, Avani, Navina, Avia, Avril, Aviela, Avis, Aviva, Nava, Avila, Ayla, Isla, Ilsa, Veda, Ivy, Vera, Aida, Aura, Elsa
  • Emily - Emilia, Elysia, Alessia, Rommily, Cecily, Emiliana, Ilysa, Verity, Ellidh, Elodie, Eloise, Adelie, Esme, Eliza, Amity, Coralie, Sidonie, Eleni, Eleri, Clarity, Bellamy, Bryony (Briony)
  • Abigail - Avigail., Aila, Abelia, Abia, Abiela, Abiona, Abira, Sabrina, Tabitha, Abrielle, Abilene, Alba
  • Madison - Madeleine, Adeline, Alison, Madelaine, Madalena, Madira, Lison, Linden, Liron, Vivien, Caitlin, Maren, Jessamine, Kiersten, Aislinn, Jillian
  • Mia - Lia / Leah/ Lea, Maia, Maya, Naia, Mariah, Laila, Lilia, Amira, Mira, Mara, Malia, Nyree, Eva, Mina, Nina, Thea, Nia
  • Chloe - Zoe, Phoebe, Cora, Daphne, Cleo, Xanthe, Carys, Briony, Chloris, Cloelia, Noelia, Noemi, Cleophee
  • Elizabeth - Elspeth, Elisbet, Elise, Eliza, Lisbeth, Elisabetta, Elisheva, Lilibet, Eliska, Ilsa, Bettina, Erzsi, Elowen, Elzira, Bethan, Elysia
  • Ella - Elodie, Elsa, Alma, Isla, Iris, Lola, Kaia, Elise, Greta, Lena, Clara, Selma, Enya, Esme, Audra, Eula, Zillah, Alba, Anya, Lilia, Della, Lyra
  • Addison - Adamina, Adelaide, Adelie, Adara, Adella, Adelise, Adonia, Adria, Adelina
  • Natalie - Talia, Natasha, Nastasia, Thalia, Atalia, Tabitha, Talitha, Talisa, Tallulah, Nerissa, Noelia, Nadia
  • Lily - Lilia, Liliane, Lilibet, Linnea, Lola, Luna, Leia, Leonie, Lia, Leda, Lucy, Lyra, Lana, Lula
  • Grace - Verity, Clarity, Amity, Joy, Bliss, Blythe, Merry, Glory, Patience
  • Samantha - Samara, Seraphina, Serena, Susannah, Soraya, Sariah, Tabitha, Selena, Calista, Tamara, Cassandra, Sunniva, Shoshannah
  • Avery - Ariadne, Amy, Mary, Rosemarie, Bellamy, Mallory, Valarie, Kateri, Eleri, Kaveri
  • Sofia - See Sophia (How did this happen? Same name in the top 20 twice, with different spelling - if it counts for anything I vastly prefer Sofia to Sophia).
  • Aubrey - Audrey, Audra, Audrina, Audrea, Augusta, Aurelia, Aurora, Autumn, Aura, Audelia, Auriane, Ausra


  • Jacob - Caleb, Josiah, Tobias, Julian, Gabriel, Jasper, Corbin
  • Mason - Matthias, Calvin, Gavin, Aeson, Murphy, Martin
  • William - Willem, Wilhelm, Illiam, Wyatt, Noam, Graham, Callum
  • Jayden - Auden, Leighton, Keaton, Truman, Paxton, Easton
  • Noah - Noel, Jonah, Milo, Noe, Miles, Amos, Evan, Ezra, Luca, Asa, Nolan
  • Michael - Micah, Maxwell, Emmanuel, Nathaniel, Niall, Dashiell, Joel, Ezekiel
  • Ethan - Eamon, Tristan, Deacon, Ian, Heath
  • Alexander - Alasdair, Lysander, Evander, Asher, Thatcher, Archer, Leander, Dexter
  • Aiden - Auden, Adrian, Finnian, Lorcan, Eamon, Ivan, Linden, Alden
  • Daniel - Gabriel, Donovan, Dante, Katriel
  • Anthony - Antony, Antoine, Antonio, Andre, Anatole, Angelus, Anton
  • Matthew - Matthias, Matteo, Mathis, Maxwell, Maximus, Maksim
  • Elijah - Eli, Elias, Elden, Elliot, Ellison, Ellery
  • Joshua - Elisha, Asher, Euan, Elishua
  • Liam - Eamon, Lachlan, Lorcan, Torin, Mannix, Seamus, Tiernan, Leo, Leopold
  • Andrew - Anderson, Andre, Andreas, August, Anders, Andrick, Andrus
  • James - Jamison, Seamus, Silas, Julian, Jude, Ace, Graham, Joel, Joss
  • David - Devin, Alfred, Jared, Reid, Leland, Donald, Declan
  • Benjamin - Bennett, Beckett, Benson, Bertram, Benedict, Barrett, Baxter, Winston, Aaron...
  • Logan - Lorcan, Brogan, Egan, Teagan, Lucan, Duncan, Lachlan, Lorin, Louis

As you can see, there seem to be many more options for boys. Comment if you need pronunciation help. Thanks for reading!

Monday, June 18, 2012

The purpose of this blog is to share information and ideas regarding onomastics and anthroponymy. I've been a name lover for nearly a decade and I dedicate this blog to my CNL's new and old, you know who you are, you've all been a huge support and I love you dearly. 

More to come soon.