In our last Name News, we shared that Pretty Little Liars star Shay Mitchell had given birth. Now we’re here to discuss the newborn’s name, Atlas Noa. While Mitchell apparently got the name from a friend who had considered using it for her own daughter, Mitchell explains that the name symbolizes the family’s love of travel. Atlas gets us thinking about the potential for travel-inspired monikers to become a thing. Place-name baby names have certainly become popular (see Brooklyn Beckham, Ireland Baldwin, and India Hemsworth), so why not? Would you like us to tackle a travel-inspired name list? Yay or nay?
And what about when a name becomes a trend in itself? Evan Bass and Carly Waddell, of Bachelor In Paradise fame, welcomed a baby boy November 12th. When they bestowed his name, Charles Wolfe, he became the name’s THIRD recent high-profile bearer. Lauren Conrad and Zooey Deschanel also have Charlie Wolfs (sans -e), though Bass made it clear on Instagram that his child will be going by Chuck:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B43CouNgZOm/?utm_source=ig_embed
We can’t not see the Gossip Girl connection here since Chuck Bass is the name of one of the show’s main characters. It’s an interesting choice since neither Bass nor Waddell has any direct connection to Gossip Girl. Then again, Charles is a classic name and a family one, too.
In more celebrity baby news, Andy Murray has revealed the name of his third child with wife Kim Sears, born November 4th: Teddy Barron. The couple also has two daughters, Sophia and Edie. Sears apparently chose the name Teddy, while middle name Barron has a family connection on Murray’s side. We could see Teddy making a comeback in the US, as vintage nicknames gain traction among American parents. No word on whether the name’s similarity to “teddy bear” was intentional. Thoughts on Teddy Barron?
Josiah and Lauren Duggar welcomed their first child on Nov. 8th after a very public miscarriage last year. Their new daughter’s name is Bella Milagro, which means “beautiful miracle” and is obviously loaded with significance for the couple. We always recommend not letting a name’s meaning hold you back if you love the name but not its literal definition. But this is an example of using meaning to guide your name choice. And there’s nothing better than loving a name AND its meaning.
At his recent surprise appearance at the 2019 Fast Company Innovation Festival, Kanye West suggested a legal name change of his own: “Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West.” “When people say it’s crass to call yourself a billionaire, I might legally change my name to Christian Genius Billionaire Kanye West for a year until y’all understand exactly what it is,” he told Fast Company’s Mark Wilson. If it were anyone but Kanye, we’d assume he were joking. But it is Kanye, so we’re actually not so shocked.
And keeping it in the family, Kim Kardashian West has been in the news for her recent name change. She spoke with People this week about her decision to change the name of her shapewear line from Kimono to SKIMS, ahead of the brand’s Nov 20th re-release. The Kimono name received major backlash for its cultural insensitivity and appropriation. Kardashian West admits, “I just feel kind of dumb. Like, why didn’t we think about this?” Good point, Kim. And a reminder to all of us, regardless of what/whom we’re naming, to do the research and always consider cultural associations before making the big decision.
From wild-animal baby names to Kanye’s wild antics, that’s the very latest in name news!
Meanwhile in Italy, Leonardo toppled Francesco’s long reign at the top of the baby boy chart to become the most popular boy name there for 2018. Sofia is still up there but has seen a sharp decline in numbers, as has Francesco.
So the question I have in my mind is what the top baby girl name would be in, say, 5 years from now. Would that drop in numbers be a one-off and Sofia would still rule or would Aurora take over?
I originally shared it over on my Twitter page, but I have the top 200 names up in PDF format: https://maybeitisdaijirou.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/italy-2018.pdf
You have rising names like Bianca, Azzurra and Diana for the girls, Liam, Santiago and Amir for the boys. There’s lots of interesting stuff to look at with regards to how Italians (and foreigners residing there) are naming their babies.