BEYOND AVA & AIDEN
The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby
by
Linda Rosenkrantz & Pamela Redmond Satran
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
Linda Rosenkrantz & Pamela Redmond Satran
on Smashwords
Beyond Ava & Aiden
The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby
Copyright © 2010 by Linda Rosenkrantz & Pamela Redmond Satran
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the authors’ work.
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Beyond Ava & Aiden
The Enlightened Guide to Naming Your Baby
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ALSO BY LINDA ROSENKRANTZ & PAMELA REDMOND SATRAN
Cool Irish Names for Babies
Cool Names
The Baby Name Bible: The Ultimate Guide by America’s Baby-Naming Experts
Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana:
What to Name Your Baby Now
Baby Names Now
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For the wonderful daughters and sons we’ve named...
Chloe Samantha, Rory Elizabeth Margaret, Joseph Leopold, and Owen Redmond
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CONTENTS
STYLE
A+ Names
Millennial Names
New-Age Names
Star Power
Starbabies
The Craziest Starbaby Names
Celebrity Inspiration
Glamour Girls & Boys
Names That Work
The Er-ending Names
Other Occupational Names
Vintage Chic
Vintage Starbabies
Just Josies
Nicknamed Starbabies
So Far In They’re Out Names
But Olivia is my Favorite Name!
Green Names
Flower & Fruit Names
Botanical Names
Herb & Spice Names
Water Names
Sky & Weather Names
Animal & Bird Names
Baby Gods & Goddesses
Celestial Starbabies
Uncool Names
The Celts Are Coming
Unique—or Close to It—Names
Extreme Exotics
Off the Map
IMAGE
Presidential Power
Art
Fashion & Design
Literature
Music & Dance
Creativo
Fictional Characters
Movies
Television
Books
Vintage Nicknames
No-Nickname Names
SEX
Girly-Girl Names
Womanly Names
Mom Names
Girlish Names
Boyish Names
Mannish Names
Powerboy Names
All-Boy Classics
Biblical Boys
Metrodude Names
Unisex Starbabies
TRADITION
The Early Years
The Nineteenth Century
The Twentieth Century
African-American Naming Traditions
Muslim & African Names
Ava & Aidan: Patron Saints of Popular Names
Hebrew-Israeli Names
The Kosher Curve
Mixed-Marriage Names
Dutch Names
French Names
German Names
Italian Names
Scandinavian Names
Spanish Names
Double Trouble
Twin Starbabies
Single-Syllable Middle Names
Starstruck Middles
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We would like to extend our warmest thanks to our brilliant editor, Hope Dellon, who has been providing us with both perspicacious editorial advice and friendship since the very first edition of Beyond Jennifer & Jason. Also at St. Martin’s, we have had support in putting together and promoting our books from Laura Bourgeois, Anne Marie Tallberg, and Rachel Ekstrom. We want to take this opportunity, too, to acknowledge our terrific nameberry team: Hugh Hunter, Ed Sim, and Jefferson Rabb, and to the others who have provided such valuable help—Betsy Rosini, Danielle Miksza, Kimberly Caputo, Neil Rosini, Rita DiMatteo, and Steve Adamczyk.
And finally, we’d like to thank all the parents who have listened to us talk about names all these years and who now freely share their own enlightened thoughts with us.
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What happened to Jennifer and Jason, the names behind the name of our very first book? They’re all grown up and naming babies of their own now, and so it’s time for a new baby name guide for the next generation: Beyond Ava & Aiden.
Beyond Jennifer & Jason inspired a baby-naming revolution that transformed what and how millions of parents name their children. Rather than reaching for the handiest family name or trendy favorite, parents now invest tremendous time and energy in choosing the perfect name for their baby. They’re well aware of the power of a name to influence how people see their child. And they’re way more adventurous than their own parents were, considering names that defy old gender stereotypes, that push through international boundaries, that carry deep personal meaning and show off their own individual style.
Of course, the internet has changed the way people search for names, making it enormously more efficient to hunt down a name that meets all your requirements: One that works for girls as well as boys, that means something related to nature, and that’s Irish, for instance. You can accomplish that on our own website, nameberry.com, much more efficiently than you can with any book.
But to truly make the best name choice for your baby, you need the kind of comprehensive information and in-depth expertise contained in Beyond Ava & Aiden. Fun as it can be to chat about names online, no other newbie parent is going to be able to offer the level of knowledge and advice you’ll find here. And no amount of analyzing the popularity statistics on the web will give you the kind of foresight and analysis you need to pick a name that’s right for you now, and that will still feel right for your child in a hundred years.
Beyond Ava & Aiden is filled with hundreds of the kind of subjective lists we invented and still do best, all populated with names you simply won’t find in any other resource. What’s cool, what’s hot, and what’s overheated. Which names are hipster and which are Harvard-bound. We’ve got girly-girl names, names for your little dude, and names that work best for twins. We offer you undiscovered names from Tibet, chic names from Paris, and names fit for a baby god or goddess.
Each list is supported by the kind of information today’s smart baby-namer craves: Where trends come from and where they’re going. What psychologists say about the effect of unusual names, and how much a name impacts a child’s chance of success. Whether unisex names work as well for boys as for girls and what you should know about nicknames, middle names, and sibling names.
All the information you need to choose the kind of name you and your child will love forever is organized into four easy-to-follow sections:
STYLE—A look at baby-naming fashion and trends: What’s in, out, hot, not. We look at which names are most fashionable right and why, including A+ names that may encourage kids to get better grades, names that have just been invented, and names inspired by celebrities. We also offer a cautionary list of names that are becoming too faddish, substitutes you might consider, plus hundreds of undiscovered names we predict will come into style over the next decades.
IMAGE—A guide to the impressions names make: Which names sound hip, serious, creative, and classy. This section includes detailed information on how a name’s image affects your child, which names are moving up and down the class ladder, and how to choose a name that offers the perfect balance between fitting in and standing out.
SEX—Gender lines are constantly being redrawn, and here we help you mark them. Girls’ names are divided into four main categories: Girly-Girl, Womanly, Girlish, and Boyish. Boys’ names are classed as Powerboys, All-Boy Classics, Biblical Boys, and Metrodudes. And then we detail the Unisex names, more appropriate than ever for both boys and girls, and the starbabies who promote them.
TRADITION—A look at names over history, around the world, and within cultural and religious groups. Here’s where you’ll find fascinating Jewish, Muslim, and saints’ names, undiscovered choices fashionable in Europe, and how to pick a name that reflects your unique background. Also here: How to pick a name you and your spouse both love, how to deal with lame name advice, and why you should choose a name with your baby’s future siblings in mind.
Beyond Ava & Aiden can be used as a companion to our other bestselling name guides, our comprehensive baby-naming dictionary The Baby Name Bible and our edgier Cool Names for Babies, as well as our website nameberry.com. But it can also stand on its own as a way to both explore the newest, hippest names and to gather the sort of authoritative information you need for your baby-naming research.
In the end, after reading this book you’ll know you made the very best name choice possible for your child, whether you decide to move beyond Ava and Aiden or not.
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STYLE
Style is the most important consideration for many parents when choosing a name. But how to factor current naming trends into a choice that lasts forever? How do you balance fashion dictates with your own personal style, and when do other considerations like image and family take precedence?
In this section, we help you untangle the hows, whys, and whats of the baby-name style decision by showing you which names are hot right now, which are coming into style, and which are fading away.
The Hot Names, those that are being favored by large numbers of parents at the moment, include gently old-fashioned Vintage Names and newly hatched Millennials, names inspired by celebrities and names that may motivate your child to get straight As! If you’re looking for a name that reflects the most current style, here’s where to look.
Parents who hate the idea of choosing an overly trendy name can be guided by our list of names that are So Far In They’re Out. But don’t despair if you do find your personal favorite there: we also offer worthy substitutes for overplayed choices.
And if you’d rather lead the trends instead of follow them, we offer hundreds of new names—from the Green to the Godlike to the So-Uncool-They’re-Cool—to propel you into the future of baby naming.
#
A+ NAMES
Today’s baby namers not only want their kids to get As later on in school, they want to give them an A to start off with—as the initial letter of their names. There’s been a remarkable upsurge of hot A names—we did, after all, call this book Beyond Ava & Aiden—especially if you consider that in 1975 only seven of the top fifty names began with any vowel, while in 2007 there were seventeen beginning just with the letter A. Vowel names in general are on the rise—lots of interesting E, I, and O names as well—but A as in Alpha is definitely the leader of the pack.
And there are even some scientific grounds for choosing an A name. A study by Leif Nelson of the University of California, San Diego, and Joseph Simmons of Yale in the journal Psychological Science stated that students whose names began with A or B earned higher averages than students whose names began with letters farther down the alphabet, and that there were also more students in top-ranking law schools with names starting with A or B—so making an A-pick now might just help point your child toward the A-list. You’ll find lots more A names plus other vowel-beginning names on the other hot and cool lists. But here are some of the hottest A names:
GIRLS
AALIYAH
ABIGAIL
ADA
ADDIE/ADDY
ADDISON
ADELAIDE
ADELINE
ADRIANA
AERIN
AINSLEY
AISLINN (ASH-LIN)
ALABAMA
ALEXA
ALEXIA
ALEXIS
ALI
ALICE
ALLEGRA
ALMA
AMABEL
AMELIA
AMELIE
AMERICA
AMITY
ANAÏS
ANASTASIA
ANDROMEDA
ANGEL
ANGELICA
ANGELINA
ANIKA/ANNIKA
ANNA
ANNABEL(LA)
ANOUK
ANYA
APHRA
APPLE
ARABELLA
ARAMINTA
ARDEN
ARIA
ARIAN(N)A
ARMANI
ARTEMIS
ASHA
ASHBY
ASHLYN
ASIA
ASPEN
AUBREY
AUDEN
AUDREY
AUGUSTA
AUTUMN
AVA
AVALON
AVALYN/AVELINE
AVERY
AVIS
BOYS
AARON
ABBOTT
ACE
ACHILLES
ADAIR
ADRIAN
AIDAN/AIDEN
ALESSANDRO
ALEX
ALFIE
AMORY
ANDERSON
ANGEL
ANGUS
APOLLO
ARCHER
ARI
ARMANI
ARROW
ARTHUR
ASA
ASH
ASHER
ASHTON
ATTICUS
AUDEN
AUGUST
AUGUSTEN/AUGUSTIN
AXEL
AZARIAH
MILLENNIAL NAMES
There is an entire generation of names moving rapidly up the popularity list that distinguish themselves by being newly minted. Even if they existed as surnames or place names or occupations, they’ve rarely been used before as first names. Many of them are morphed versions of names that were used in another form earlier, while others have been spun from thin air.
The underlying feeling seems to be a desire for a new beginning along with the new millennium. Anything we did and said, felt and experienced in the last century is over now. We’ve entered an era of change, and these names are evidence of that belief.
GIRLS (mostly)
ADDISON
AINSLEY
ARIA
AVERY
BROOKLYN
CADENCE
CALI
CHEYENNE
ELLE
HARLOW
LEXI
MACY
MARLEY
MYA
REESE
SAGE
SAILOR
SCOUT
SIENNA
SIERRA
SKYLA
SKYLAR
TAYLA
TRISTA
BOYS (mostly)
ASH
ASHTON
BECKETT
BRADEN
BRADY
BRAXTON
BRYSON
CADE
CALE
CAMDEN
CANNON
CHACE
CHANCE
COLBY
COLT
COLTON
DARWIN
DAWSON
EASTON
FISHER
FLINT
GAGE
GRAYSON
HUDSON
HUNTER
JAX
JADEN
JET
JETSON
KANE
KIAN
KYLAN
KYLER
LANDON
LENNON
LENNOX
LOGAN
MAVERICK
ORION
ROCKET
RYDER
STONE
STEEL
TRENTON
ZANDER
BOTH
ASH
ASHTON
BECKETT
BRADEN
BRADY
BRAXTON
BRYSON
CADE
CALE
CAMDEN
CANNON
CHACE
CHANCE
COLBY
COLT
COLTON
DARWIN
DAWSON
EASTON
FISHER
FLINT
GABLE
GAGE
GRAYSON
HUDSON
HUNTER
JADEN
JAX
JAXON
JET
JETSON
KANE
KIAN
KYLAN
KYLER
LANDON
LENNON
LENNOX
LOGAN
MAVERICK
ORION
ROCKET
RYDER
STEEL
STONE
TRENTON
ZANDER
EITHER
AUDEN
BLAZE
DEVON
FINLAY
HARLEY
JALEN
JAMESON
JUSTICE
KAI
KEATON
KENNEDY
LONDON
PAYTON/PEYTON
REEVE
RILEY
ROMY
ROWAN
SAWYER
TAJ
TRACE
NEW AGE NAMES
Related to the Millennial group are the New Age Names—children of the new era but with a distinctly spiritual twist. These names reflect positivity, peace, an enduring strength and the thirst for a higher power. They include:
ANGEL
ANSWER
BLISS
BODHI
CHARITY
DEACON
DESTINY
DEVA
DHARMA
EDEN
ESSENCE
EVER
FAITH
GENESIS
HARMONY
HAVEN
HEAVEN
HONOR
INFINITY
JUSTICE
MERCY
MESSIAH
MIRACLE
NEVAEH
PATIENCE
PAX
PAXTON
PEACE
PRAISE
SERENITY
TRINITY
TRUE
TRUTH
VERITY
ZEN
ZION
STAR POWER
The names of stars and their children are flashed before the public all day, every day, and not just in the gossip magazines and TV shows and online blogs, but on the national nightly news and in mainstream media like the New York Times, Time and Newsweek. Those famous names have become an increasingly powerful influence on baby-naming trends in general and on what we name our individual children. A star can single-handedly make a boy’s name like Drew or Cameron seem feminine and sexy, catapult a shy old favorite like Violet or Matilda to superstardom, even raise an old-school glamourous name like Ava or Harlow from the dead. Celebrities have made us more accepting of quirky ethnic names such as Viggo and Suri, have encouraged us to look for names that honor significant places (Kingston) or heroes (Nouvel), have inspired us to invent unique names—from Beyonce to January to Jet—of our very own.
STARBABIES
When your great-aunt Agnes can reel off all twelve first and middle names of the Jolie-Pitt sextet, you know you’re living in a culture that celebrates celebrity babies. We scrutinize their bumps, pore over their nurseries and layettes, and when the name is finally announced, everyone weighs in: Is it too far out? Is it too trendy? Will it work in my neighborhood as well as it works in Malibu?
Many of the names below have either already become hot or are beginning to heat up thanks to a starbaby’s influence. A star can pluck a name out of limbo and give it new life and potential, as in the cases of Julia Roberts’ Hazel (not a popular choice at first), Tina Fey’s Alice, Jessica Alba’s Honor and several celebrities’ picks of Tallulah. The same holds true for boys, with such instant hits as Kingston (Rossdale), Maddox (Jolie-Pitt) and several Becketts.. Of course this doesn’t happen across the board , especially in the more extreme examples: not many Apples have fallen far from the Paltrow-Martin tree, for instance, and Moxie CrimeFighter will surely be the only one in her class.
The following is a selective list of starbaby choices that might influence your pick for the newest star in your own family:
GIRLS
AGNES Elisabeth Shue & Davis Guggenheim
ALABAMA Drea de Matteo & Shooter Jennings
ALICE Tina Fey, Tom Cavanaugh
ANGEL Melanie (Spice Girl) Brown
APPLE Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
ARIZONA Art (Everclear) Alexakis
ASHBY Nancy O’Dell
AUDREY Greg Kinnear
AVA Kevin Dillon, Mia Hamm & Nomar Garciaparra, Jason Priestley, Caroline Rhea—to name the most recent
AVALON Rena Sofer
AVIS Daniel Baldwin
BAILEY Scott Baio, Stella McCartney, Teri Polo (who spelled it Bayley)
BIRDIE Busy Philipps
BLUEBELL Geri (Spice Girl) Halliwell
BRIGHTON Jon Favreau
CHARLESTON Joey Lawrence
CHARLIE Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O’Connell
CLEMENTINE Ethan Hawke
COCO Courteney Cox & David Arquette
DOLLY Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O’Connell
DOMINO India Hicks
EASTON Elisabeth Röhm
EDEN Marcia Cross
EDIE Samantha Morton
EMERY Angie Harmon & Jason Sehorn
EVER Milla Jovovich & Paul Anderson
FINLEY Lisa Marie Presley
GIA Matt Damon
GRIER Brooke Shields
HARLOW Nicole Richie & Joel Madden
HARPER Martie (Dixie Chick) Maguire, Lisa Marie Presley
HEAVEN Brooke Burke
HONOR Jessica Alba & Cash Warren
INDIGO Lou Diamond Phillips
JAGGER Soleil Moon Frye
JOHNNIE Melissa Etheridge
JUNO Will (Coldplay) Champion
LOTUS Rain Pryor
LUNA Constance Marie
MAEVE Chris O’Donnell
MARLO Rob Corddry
MARS Erykah Badu & Jay Electronica
MERCY Andy Richter
MILEY Rev Run
NAHLA Halle Berry
NAVY Nivea & Terius Nash
NELL Helena Bonham Carter & Tim Burton
ODETTE Mark Ruffalo
OLIVE Isla Fisher & Sacha Baron Cohen
PALOMA David Caruso
PETAH Ani DiFranco
PIPER Samantha Bee
RHIANNON Robert Rodriguez
ROMY Sofia Coppola
RUBY Tobey Maguire, Charlotte Church
SADIE Adam Sandler, Finola Hughes
SAGE Toni Collette
SAM Tiger Woods
SAWYER Sara Gilbert
SCARLETT Karen Elson & Jack (White Stripes) White
SERAPHINA Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck
SHILOH Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
SIENNA Campbell Brown
STELLA Tori Spelling
SUNDAY Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban
SURI Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise
TALLULAH Philip Seymour Hoffman, Damon Dash
TRUE Joely Fisher
VALENTINA Selma Hayek
VIOLET Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck, Dave (Foo Fighters) Grohl
VIVIENNE Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
WILLA Philip Seymour Hoffman
ZAHARA Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
BOYS
ACE Tom (No Doubt) Dumont, Jennie Finch & Casey Daigle
ARCHIBALD Amy Poehler & Will Arnett
ATTICUS Summer Phoenix & Casey Affleck
AUGUST Mariska Hargitay
AUGUSTIN Linda Evangelista
BECKETT Stella McCartney, Conan O’Brien, Diane Farr
CALLUM Kyle MacLachlan
CASH Joshua Morrow, Annabeth Gish
COLT Cole Hauser
CRUZ Victoria & David Beckham
DARBY Patrick Dempsey
DEACON Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillippe, Don Johnson
DEXTER Diana Krall & Elvis Costello, Charlotte Church
DEZI Jaime Pressly
EVERLY Anthony (Red Hot Chili Peppers) Kiedis
FELIX Gillian Anderson
FINLEY Chris O’Donnell
FINN Christy Turlington & Ed Burns
FLETCHER Samantha Bee
GABLE Kevin Nealon
GIANNI Jill Hennessy
GIDEON Ziggy Marley
GULLIVER Damian Lewis
HAYES Kevin Costner
IGNATIUS Cate Blanchett, Julianne Nicholson
JAGGER Lindsay Davenport
KIERAN Julianna Margulies
KINGSTON Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale
KNOX Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
LEVI Camila Alves & Matthew McConaughey
LUCA Vincent D’Onofrio
MADDOX Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt, McKenzie Westmore
MAGNUS Will Ferrell, Kristy Swanson
MALACHY Cillian Murphy
MAX Christina Aguilera
MAXIMILIAN Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony
MILLER Melissa Etheridge
MOSES Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
ORION Chris Noth
ORSON Paz Vega, Lauren Ambrose
OSCAR Gillian Anderson
PAX Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt
REX Will (Coldplay) Champion
RIO Tom (No Doubt) Dumont
RIVER Keri Russell
ROMEO Victoria & David Beckham
SLATER Angela Bassett & Courtney B. Vance
STORY Jenna Elfman
SULLIVAN Patrick Dempsey
TENNYSON Russell Crowe
THEO Bryce Dallas Howard
THIJS Matt Lauer
VIGGO Taylor Hanson
WINSTON Billie Piper
YESHUA Sinead O’Connor
ZEPPELIN Jonathan (Korn) Davis
ZOLTEN Penn Jillette
ZUMA NESTA Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale
Apples are so sweet and they’re wholesome, and it’s biblical. And I just thought it sounded so lovely and clean.—Gwyneth Paltrow, mother of Apple and Moses
There’s nothing weird about calling your baby Chewbacca if that’s what you want to call your baby. It’s no stranger than Sarah. A name is just a noise, and if you like it, then [expletive] what everyone else says.—Chris Martin, father of Apple and Moses
THE CRAZIEST STARBABY NAMES
Celebrity baby names don’t always prove inspirational for real people. Not many Apples have fallen far from the Paltrow-Martin tree, for instance, and Moxie CrimeFighter will surely be the only one in her class.
Here, some of the craziest starbaby names of recent years, with a “don’t try this at home” warning.
GIRLS
APPLE Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
BLUEBELL MADONNA Geri (Spice Girl) Halliwell
HAPPY Macy Gray
MAKENA’LEI Helen Hunt
MOXIE CRIMEFIGHTER Penn Jillette
PRINCESS TIAAMII Jordan & Peter Andre
BOYS
BANJO Rachel Griffiths
BRONX MOWGLI Ashlee Simpson & Pete Wentz
BUSTER Michele Hicks & Jonny Lee Miller
CROIX Cedric the Entertainer
DIEZEL Toni Braxton
HUCKLEBERRY Bear Grylls
KAL-EL Nicolas Cage
MARMADUKE Bear Grylls
NAKOA-WOLF Lisa Bonet & Jason Momoa
PEANUT Ingo (General Hospital) Rademacher
PHINNAEUS Julia Roberts
PILOT INSPEKTOR Jason Lee
PTOLEMY Gretchen Mol
ROCKET Robert Rodriguez
SUNNY BEBOP Michael “Flea” Balzey
ZEPPELIN Jonathan (Korn) Davis
ZOLTEN Penn Jillette
ZUMA NESTA ROCK Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rossdale
CELEBRITY INSPIRATION
Along with their babies, more and more celebrities today have names that are unusual, cool, attractive, distinctive. Some of these star-inspired names—Hayden, Sienna, Scarlett, Chace, Anderson—have already inspired what we’re naming our babies, and the others here are sure to follow. And even if the world doesn’t end up with thousands of baby Beyoncés, the effect of these names is to make us reach harder to find one that’s special—starworthy—to launch our own babies into the world. Our hot list:
FEMALE
ALANIS Morrisette
AMERICA Ferrera
AMERIE
ANANDA Lewis
ANGELINA Jolie
ANNIKA Sorenstam
ARDEN Wohl
ASHANTI
AUDRINA Patridge
AVRIL Lavigne
AZURA Skye
BEYONCÉ Knowles
BLAKE Lively
BLU (b. Tiffany) Cantrell
CALISTA Flockhart
CAMERON Diaz
CAMPBELL Brown
CHAN Marshall
CHARISMA Carpenter
CHINA Chow
CHLOE Sevigny
CLEA DuVall
DANICA Patrick
DIDO
DIVA Zappa
DREW Barrymore
ELISHA Cuthbert
EVANGELINE Lilly
FEIST
FERGIE
GISELE Bundchen
HAYDEN Panettiere
IONE Skye
ISLA Fisher
IVANKA Trump
JACINDA Barrett
JADA Pinkett-Smith
JANUARY Jones
Angelina JOLIE
JORJA Fox
KEIRA Knightley
LAKE Bell
LEIGHTON Meester
LIBERTY Ross
MARIAH Carey
MILEY Cyrus
MISCHA Barton
MONET Mazur
MYA
NEVE Campbell
PAZ Vega
PINK
PLUM Sykes
POPPY Montgomery
RIHANNA
RUMER Willis
SAFFRON Burroughs
SAOIRSE Ronan
SCARLETT Johansson
SERENA Williams
SHAKIRA (b. Isabel)
SIENNA Miller
SUNSHINE Tutt
THANDIE Newton
TILA Tequila
TINSLEY Mortimer
TRISTA Sutter
TYRA Banks
VENUS Williams
ZOOEY Deschanel
MALE
ADRIAN Grenier
ANDERSON Cooper
ASHTON Kutcher
CHACE Crawford
CILLIAN Murphy
DANE Cook
DAX Shepard
DJIMON Hounsou
ELI Manning
EWAN McGregor
JET Li
JOAQUIN Phoenix
JUDE Law
KANYE West
LEBRON James
LEONARDO DiCaprio
ORLANDO Bloom
PEYTON Manning
RAINN Wilson
ROMANY Malco
SACHA Baron Cohen
SHIA LaBeouf
STELLAN Skarsgård
TIGER Woods
VIGGO Mortensen
WENTWORTH Miller
After 19 years of getting into fights over his name and hearing it mispronounced, Shia LaBeouf can’t believe celebrities are still coming up with weird names for their kids...Asked what he would say to parents planning to give their kids strange names, LeBeouf says, “Name your kid Billy and Timmy. What is the problem with that?”
—The Associated Press
GLAMOUR GIRLS AND BOYS
But you don’t have to be young and hot—or even alive, for that matter—to be a name-influential celebrity: a rich source of new names is old Hollywood history. As attested to by the title of this book, Ava, namesake of breathtakingly beautiful 1940s-50s movie siren Ava Gardner, is one of the most popular names in the country, with the strong potential of reaching Number One. In this case it was celebrity building on celebrity—by our count no fewer than a dozen stars (the first was Aidan Quinn in 1989), from Reese Witherspoon to Hugh Jackman to Martina McBride have bestowed the name on their daughters, polishing up the image of a name that had been moldering in the fusty, musty Ada-Ida-Edna closet. Not far behind Ava is Audrey, as in Audrey Hepburn, charming and unique beauty, sophisticated fashion icon, and humanitarian. And lately they’ve been joined by blonde bombshell Jean Harlow’s surname, picked most recently by Nicole Richie and Joel Madden, and sure to spread like wildfire. Some other currently favored baby names also reverberate with the echoes of past star power. Grace, for example, suggests the cool, elegant blond beauty of Grace Kelly, and the mega-popular Sophia conjures up the sultry Italian image of Sophia Loren.
What are some other possibilities to join this stellar group? Here are a few ideas from the Golden and Silver Ages of Hollywood:
FEMALE
ANOUK Aimée
BRIGITTE Bardot
CLAUDETTE Colbert
GINGER Rogers
GREER Garson
GRETA Garbo
HEDY Lamarr
INGRID Bergman
LANA Turner
LENA Horne
LIV Ullman
MAE West
MAMIE Van Doren
MARLENE (pronounced
mar-LAY-na) Dietrich
MERLE Oberon
MIA Farrow
NATALIE Wood
OLIVIA DeHavilland
PAULETTE Goddard
PIPER Laurie
RITA Hayworth
ROMY Schneider
ROSALIND Russell
SIMONE Signoret
TALLULAH Bankhead
URSULA Andress
VERONICA Lake
VIVEKA Lindfors
VIVIEN Leigh
MALE
(with several of these, it’s the surname that’s the winner)
Gene AUTRY
Marlon BRANDO
James CAGNEY
Gary COOPER
Bing CROSBY
MARCELLO Mastroianni
Joel McCREA
NOEL Coward
Laurence OLIVIER
OMAR Sharif
ORSON Welles
REX Harrison
RORY Calhoun
SPENCER Tracy
VAN Johnson
Opting for a solo one-word stage name is like grabbing for the brass ring in celebritydom. It’s a naked bid for icon status, a way to brand yourself like Kleenex or Xerox or Liberace.
—Rachel Abramowitz, Los Angeles Times
NAMES THAT WORK
Have you noticed how many of the boys’ names climbing up the ladder end in the letters ‘er’? They sound really new and cool, but in reality a large proportion of them actually originated in medieval England as occupational surnames, when Timothy the Tanner morphed into Timothy Tanner—as if in our day Pete the Programmer became Pete Programmer. And even if a large proportion of these are trades that no longer exist in this Digital Age, and some of their meanings have been lost to time, part of their appeal as a group lies in their throwback reference to basic concepts of honest labor, adding some historical heft to their appeal, and giving them more weight than other fashionable two-syllable names. They offer the parents of boy babies a comfortable middle ground between the sharper-edged single syllable names (Holt, Colt), and the more ornate longer names (Gregory, Jeremy) of the recent past. Some of them, like Cooper, Harper and Hunter, have been in use for awhile, but there are some other more unusual ones just waiting to be discovered. Here are the most usable, with their original, sometimes arcane, meanings:
THE ER-ENDING NAMES
ARCHER professional bowman
BAKER baker
BANNER flag bearer
BARBER at one time barbers also did surgery and dentistry
BARKER stripper of bark from trees for tanning
BAXTER baker, usually female
BEAMER trumpet player
BOOKER scribe
BOYER bow maker, cattle herder
BRENNER charcoal burner
BREWER/BREWSTER brewer of beer
BRIDGER builder of bridges
CARDEN wood carder
CARTER cart maker or driver, transporter of goods
CARVER sculptor
CHANDLER candle maker
CHAUCER maker of breeches, boots or leg armor
COLLIER charcoal seller, coal miner
CONNER inspector
COOPER wooden barrel maker
COSTER fruit grower or seller
CURRIER leather finisher
CUTLER knife maker
DECKER roofer
DEXTER dyer
DRAPER woolen cloth maker or seller
DUFFER peddler
FARRIER iron worker
FISHER fisherman
FLETCHER arrow maker
FORESTER gamekeeper, forest warden
FOSTER sheep shearer
FOWLER hunter of while birds
GARDNER gardener
GLOVER maker or seller of gloves
GRANGER granary worker
HARPER harp maker or player
HOOPER one who makes or fits hoops for barrels
HOPPER dancer, acrobat
HUNTER huntsman
JAGGER peddler, usually of fish
KEELER barge maker
KIEFER barrel maker
LANDER launderer
LARDNER servant in charge of the larder
LORIMER a spur maker
MERCER merchant, especially in luxury fabrics
MILLER grinder of corn
NAYLER maker of nails
PAINTER self-explanatory
PARKER gamekeeper in a medieval private park
PORTER gate keeper, carrier of goods
POTTER maker or seller of earthenware pottery
QUILLER scribe
RANGER game warden
RIDER/RYDER cavalryman, horseman, messenger
SADLER saddle maker
SALTER worker in or seller of salter
SAWYER woodsman, carpenter
SAYER assayer of metal, food taster
SCHUYLER scholar, teacher
SLATER roofer
SPENCER a dispenser of provisions
SUMNER court summoner
TANNER processor of animal skins for leather
THATCHER roofer
TOLLIVER metal worker
TUCKER cloth worker, fabric pleater
TURNER turner of wood on a lathe
TYLER worker with roof tiles
WALKER worker in cloth, cloth-walker
WEBSTER weaver, originally female
WHEELER wheel maker
I was thinking of naming my kid Doctor if I have one. Doctor Fallon. Then what ever he does, he’s set.—Jimmy Fallon
OTHER OCCUPATIONAL NAMES
BAILEY bailiff or other administrator
BAIRD minstrel or poet
BARLEY grower or seller of barley
BEAMAN beekeeper
CHAPIN clergyman
CLARK clerk, cleric or scholar
DEACON church dignitary
FARRAR blacksmith, metalworker
FISK fisherman
JUDGE self-explanatory
MARSHALL one who looked after horses, later ceremonial official
MASON skilled stoneworker
PARSON rector
PILOT ship pilot
REEVE bailiff, chief magistrate
SAILOR sailor
SHERMAN trimmer of the nap of cloth after weaving
SHEPHERD herder of sheep
SMITH metal worker, blacksmith
STEELE a steel worker
TAYLOR cutter of clothes, tailor
TODD a fox hunter
TRAVIS gate keeper, toll collector
WARD watchman, guard
WRIGHT carpenter, joiner
VINTAGE CHIC
Brides these days are wearing vintage gown, fashionistas are searching for vintage purses and shoes. But it’s not shabby chic we’re talking about anymore, or frilly Victorian period remnants: vintage now has moved on to sleeker, more stylish, classic—preferably designer—pieces from the last few decades. And it’s similarly true of names. Today’s parents looking for a vintage name are less likely to consider the fussy Victorian valentines of Great-Grandma’s day which were revived in the eighties—goodbye Marissa, Melissa, Cassandra and Clarissa—than to opt for a simpler, more modern sounding oldie. These are names that had gone out of fashion and been passed over for a few decades, but which still make solid choices, with harder consonants and stronger vowels. Here are some prime examples:
GIRLS
ADELINE
ALICE
AMELIA
AUDREY
AVA
BEATRICE
BELLA
CELIA
CHARLOTTE
CLAIRE
CLARA
CLAUDIA
CLEMENTINE
CORA
CORNELIA
DAISY
EDITH
ELEANOR
ELIZA
ELLA
EMMA
ESMÉ
EUGENIA
EVA
EVE
EVELYN
FAITH
FAY
FLORA
FRANCES
GEORGIA
GRACE
GRETA
HAZEL
HELEN
HONOR
HOPE
IMOGEN
IRIS
ISABEL
IVY
JANE
JOSEPHINE
JULIA
JULIET
JUNE
LILA
LILY
LOUISA
LUCY
MADELINE
MATILDA
MAUDE
MAY
MIRANDA
NATALIE
NINA
NORA
OLIVE
OLIVIA
PATIENCE
PAULINE
PEARL
PHOEBE
POLLY
RAMONA
ROSALIND
ROSE
RUBY
SOPHIA
SOPHIE
STELLA
SYLVIA
VERONICA
VIOLET
VIVIAN
WILLA
BOYS
ABBOTT
ABRAHAM
ASHER
CALEB
CALVIN
DUNCAN
EDISON
ELI
ELIJAH
ELLIOT
EMMETT
EPHRAIM
ETHAN
EVERETT
EZRA
FELIX
FRANCIS
GEORGE
GIDEON
HARRY
HENRY
HOMER
HORATIO
ISAAC
JACK
JARED
JASPER
JONAH
JONAS
JOSIAH
JUDAH
JULIAN
LEO
LEVI
LINCOLN
LOWELL
LUCAS
LUCIAN
MAX
MICAH
MILES
MOSES
NATHAN
NATHANIEL
NED
NOAH
OLIVER
ORSON
OSCAR
OWEN
PATRICK
QUINCY
SAMSON
SEBASTIAN
SIMON
SPENCER
THEO
TOBIAS
TRUMAN
WALTER
WARD
WILL
XAVIER
VINTAGE STARBABIES
GIRLS
ALICE Tina Fey, Tom Cavanaugh
AMELIA Lisa Rinna & Harry Hamlin
AUDREY Greg Kinnear, Faith Hill & Tim McGraw
AVA Reese Witherspoon & Ryan Phillippe, Kevin Dillon, Hugh Jackman, Caroline Rhea, Martina McBride, and several others
BEATRICE Paul McCartney
BELLA Mark Ruffalo, Billy Bob Thornton, Eddie Murphy, and others
CHARLOTTE Dylan McDermott, Embeth Davidtz, Amy Brenneman, Harry Connick, Jr.
CLAIRE Albert Brooks
CLAUDIA Michelle Pfeiffer
CLEMENTINE Claudia Schiffer, Ethan Hawke
DAISY Meg Ryan, Jamie Oliver
ELEANOR Diane Lane
ELLA Annette Bening & Warren Beatty, Kelly Preston & John Travolta, Eric Clapton, Ben Stiller, Mark Wahlberg, Jeff Gordon, and others
EMMA Wayne Gretzky, Kristi Yamaguchi
ESMÉ Samantha Morton, Anthony Edwards
FAITH Rick Schroder
FRANCES Amanda Peet, Kate Spade
GRACE Lance Armstrong, Mia Hamm, Norah O’Donnell, Elisabeth & Tim Hasselbeck, and others
GRETA David Caruso, Phoebe Cates & Kevin Kline
HAZEL Julia Roberts
HONOR Jessica Alba, Tilda Swinton
HOPE Brad Garrett
IRIS Sadie Frost & Jude Law
ISABEL Annette Bening & Warren Beatty, Stanley Tucci, Angela Kinsey
ISABELLA Matt Damon, Drew Lachey, Sean Astin, Josh Gracin, and others
JOSEPHINE Vera Wang
JULIET Emily Watson
LILA Kate Moss
LILY Lisa Hartman & Clint Black, Greg Kinnear
LUCY Laura Leighton, Nancy Grace
MATILDA Michelle Williams & Heath Ledger, Molly Ringwald, Moon Unit Zappa
NELL Helena Bonham Carter & Tim Burton
NINA “Weird Al” Yankovic
OLIVE Isla Fisher & Sacha Baron Cohen
OLIVIA Justine Bateman, Eddie Vedder, Beverly D’Angelo & Al Pacino
PEARL Maya Rudolph & Paul Thomas Anderson
PHOEBE Bill Gates
RAMONA Maggie Gyllenhaal & Peter Sarsgaard
RUBY Tobey Maguire, Charlotte Church
SADIE Adam Sandler
SERAPHINA Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck
SOPHIA Soledad O’Brien, Talisa Soto & Benjamin Bratt
SOPHIE Luke Perry
STELLA Melanie Griffith & Antonio Banderas, Tori Spelling, Peri Gilpin
VERONICA Rebecca De Mornay & Patrick O’Neal
VIOLET Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck, Dave Grohl
WILLA Philip Seymour Hoffman
BOYS
ARCHIBALD Amy Poehler & Will Arnett
ASHER Embeth Davidtz
CALEB Julianne Moore, Bo Bice
DEXTER Diana Krall & Elvis Costello, Charlotte Church
ELI Campbell Brown
ELIJAH Bono, Donnie Wahlberg
ETHAN Edward Furlong
EZRA Paul Reiser
FELIX Gillian Anderson
FLETCHER Samantha Bee
FRANK Diana Krall & Elvis Costello
FREDERICK Mayim Bialik
GEORGE Kristin Scott Thomas, Eva Herzigova
GIDEON Ziggy Marley
HARRY David Letterman
HENRY Julia Roberts, Heidi Klum & Seal, Norah O’Donnell, Emily Robison, Rachel Weisz, Steve Zahn, Minnie Driver, and others
HOMER Carey Lowell & Richard Gere, Anne Heche
IGNATIUS Cate Blanchett
JACK Matt Lauer, Joan Lunden, Christie Brinkley, and several others
JASPER Wynton Marsalis, Don Johnson
JONAS Tom DeLonge
JUDAH Lucy Lawless
JULIAN Jessica Sklar & Jerry Seinfeld, Lisa Kudrow
LEO Kim Raver
LEVI Matthew McConaughey, Sara Gilbert
LINCOLN Bill Murray
LUCIAN Steve Buscemi
MILES Joan Cusack, Larenz Tate
MOSES Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin
NATHAN Jon Stewart
NOAH Scott Weiland, Kim Alexis
OLIVER Bridget Fonda & Danny Elfman, Fred Savage, Taylor Hawkins
ORSON Paz Vega, Lauren Ambrose
OSCAR Gillian Anderson, Hugh Jackman
OWEN Noah Wyle, Ricki Lake
REX Will (Coldplay) Champion
SEBASTIAN Kim Fields, James Spader
SPENCER Gena Lee Nolan
TRUMAN Rita Wilson & Tom Hanks
WALTER Rainn Wilson
WILL Wendy Wilson, Meg Tilly & Colin Firth
XAVIER Tilda Swinton, Donnie Wahlberg
JUST JOSIES
We’re living in an ever more casual, informal society. The stranger who calls us up to ask for a charitable contribution assumes we’re on a first-name basis. Kids are more likely to call the parents of their friends Scott and Stephanie than they are Mr. and Mrs. Miller, and in many schools students are encouraged to address their teachers by their first names. From these widespread firsts it’s just a hop, skip and a jump to nickname names—after all, they’re something we give ourselves as new online identities and password nicknames all the time now.
So it shouldn’t be surprising that for the first time since the Age of Aquarius, stylish parents are picking nicknames over their formal versions for their kids, a trend that started with the Brits, whose soap operas are populated by characters with names like Alfie and Edie. But what we’re seeing is not déjà vu all over again: it’s a whole different genre from the American nickname-names of the 60s and 70s—the unisex Cory-Carey-Jodie-Jamie era. The nickname names of today are for the most part short forms of standard appellations, with parents opting for Charlie over Charles and Sam over Samantha.
There are definite pros and cons to using a pet form on the birth certificate. There’s no denying their friendly, perky, relaxed yet high energy appeal, giving a child an air of inviting accessibility, and many of them, like Nellie and Lottie have a nostalgic, Victorian feel as well. But they are names that never get to grow up, and can be seen as keeping your baby babyish forever. There’s a sense of incompleteness too—your daughter may wonder why she didn’t rate a more legitimate name—and her future employers may as well. But if you feel that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages, and a hot nickname name is what you’re after, here are some of the most appealing:
GIRLS
ABBY
ADDIE
AGGIE
ALLY
BEA
BILLIE
BIRDIE
CHARLIE
COCO
DAISY
DIXIE
DOT
EDIE
ELLIE
EMMY
EVIE
FANNY
GIGI
GRACIE
HATTIE
IZZY
JOSIE
KATIE
KIKI
KITTY
LETTY
LIBBY
LIL
LO
LOLA
LOTTIE
LULU
MADDIE/MADDY
MAISIE
MAMIE
MILLIE
MINNIE
MITZI
NELL
NELLIE
NETTIE
NIC
PIPPA
PIXIE
ROSIE
ROXY
SADIE
SAM
TASHA
TAY
TESS
TILLIE
TRIXIE
VIVI
ZUZU
BOYS
ACE
ALFIE
ARCHIE
ARI
AVI
BAZ
BIX
BO
CAL
CALE
CHARLIE
CHAZ
CLEM
DASH
DEX
DEZI
DREW
DUKE
FREDDIE
GUS
HARRY
IKE
JACE
JACK
JAX
JAZZ
JEB
JED
JOE
LINC
MAC
MISHA
MOE
MOSE
NED
NICO
OLLIE
OZZIE
PACO
RAFE
RAY
RY
SASHA
SEB
THEO
THOM
TREY
VIN
VING
WILL
XAN
ZAK
ZEB
NICKNAMED STARBABIES
ACE Natalie Appleton, Tom Dumont, Jennie Finch
BEAU Art Garfunkle, Wendy Wilson, Emma Bunton
BILLIE Ethan Suplee
BILLY Helena Bonham Carter & Tim Burton
BIRDIE Busy Phillips
CHARLIE Mimi Rogers, Soledad O’Brien