This weekend we had a reunion! The two of us haven’t lived in the same state since our Tucson days ended in 2006. We got a chance to meet up briefly on Saturday when Star came to Baltimore for a family wedding. Though the visit was short, it was sweet! And we couldn’t not spend at least half that time talking about baby names. We were surrounded by *exceptionally* well-named babies all weekend, after all. 😉
A big thank you goes to Nancy’s Baby Names and Nameberry for sharing our Resources Roundup, and to Appellation Mountain for including us in her Sunday Summary!
Now on to a few post-three-day-weekend musings . . .
This weekend my kids wanted to watch The Little Mermaid. They’ve never seen it, but at the school concert last week, a 5th grader sang “Part of Your World” and interest was piqued. While everyone knows the Disneyfied versions, does anyone else remember Nickelodeon’s Grimm’s Fairy Tale Classics? I have been nostalgia-watching them recently and some of the names, out of the expected Cinderellas and Briar Roses, caught my attention: Lisbeth, Alliya, Jorinda, Genevieve.
For the first time in weeks, I was able to carve out some time to bake a loaf of sourdough. I went too heavy with the hydration, but I got lucky and the loaf got a decent oven rise. That got me to thinking about ancient and heirloom grains, and the increase in food-inspired baby names. Would you consider naming your kid after an ancient grain? Tiffany Beveridge seemed to do okay with Quinoa . . . So what about a little Farro, Amaranth, Ekker, Khorasan, Millet, or Emmer?
Speaking of plants, millennials in Australia are naming their kids after them, according to Kidspot.com.au. And that’s not surprising. Botanical names are on the rise all over the world, perhaps due to the “green” movement. Floral names like Rose, Lily, and Violet are especially on trend, but so are other botanical names like Sage and Willow.
Vanity Fair released new photos from the upcoming movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The photos feature beloved classic characters but also new ones, with names like Zorri Bliss (Keri Russell), Allegient General Pryde (Richard E. Grant), and Jannah (Naomi Ackie). Anakin (aka Darth Vader) has caught on (#828 in 2018), but for names original to the Star Wars universe, few others have gotten any traction with parents. Will these characters be the ones to inspire some new baby names in 2020?
We spoke more generally about the popularity of names from Game of Thrones, but the statistics from the Social Security Administration confirm: People are naming their kids after their favorite characters from the show, with over 4,500 GOT-inspired names (Jon and Jaime were excluded from the list) going to babies in 2018.
Chime in with your thoughts. And enjoy the short work week!
From all the names you’ve listed here, Jannah is the one that I kind of like the most. Also, regarding the list of GoT names you’ve put out, Lys is also the only one out of all that I like, but then again, it does kind of fit that nature vibe whilst staying true to its uncommon appeal (for the moment).
The spelling of “Jannah” is a nice take on the more traditional, Jana, but is still familiar in the way it mirrors Hannah/Hana. From the photos, the character looks pretty cool, too! And Lys was also our favorite from the uncommon GOT names list! It’s unusual but not out there, we like its associations with lilies, and it’s subtle in its homage to the show so that it’s not obvious and can just stand alone as the child’s name once the reference to the show possibly goes out of the mainstream.