Everybody has an opinion on baby names, and even complete strangers are not afraid to let you know their hot takes if given a chance. When you add race and politics to the discussion, people don’t just give you their opinions. They write op-eds. It’s been two days since CNN published the article, “What It’s […]
‘Maids, Movies, Music, and More
Handmaid’s Tale is baaaaaack, and the first episodes of the 3rd season were everything I dreamed they’d be. If you’re watching, you’ll know why I’m so emotionally exhausted after each episode and still haunted by it the next day. If you don’t know, the dystopian drama tells the story of women who have been enslaved […]
Best of… Water Baby Names
The sun is out and we’re feeling inspired by water: the vastness of the ocean, the might of the seas, the grace of a river flowing out into a bay. Artists have always been moved by the beauty of water, writing songs about it, painting it in loving detail. So it’s no surprise that bodies […]
Ask Ava to Zeke: A Name for Leo’s Brother
Ava to Zeke, I have a son named Leo and I am pregnant with another boy. I’d like to try to avoid the super popular names. I definitely like names that age well. I like Eli, though I like how it sounds better than the way it looks, because I feel like it could be […]
Best of… Botanical Baby Names
From Jungalow interiors and succulent-loaded Instagram shelfies to palm-leaf-print everything, we have fallen hard for plants. In keeping with the trend of all things green, botanical-inspired baby names are still on the rise. If you’re a nature lover, choosing a botanical baby name could be the perfect way to pass down your green thumb. Even […]
Old Friends, Ancient Grains, & New Names
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 […]
Best of… Children’s Book Baby Names
When we each were preparing the nurseries for our babies to come, one of our finishing touches was cultivating their first libraries. As writers and avid readers, we both wanted to instill that same enthusiasm in our children, while basking in the nostalgia of the many books we loved when we were young. We all […]
Baby Naming Resources Roundup: Our Go-To Sites and Why We Love Them
If you’re searching for a baby name, you know there’s no shortage of inspiration online. The modern parent’s desire to pick a name that stands out rather than fits in has led to an anything-goes naming culture. We’re bombarded with options. But having more choice actually makes decision making harder. We can’t possibly know it […]
Dragons and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! …and other name news
The ashes have cooled on King’s Landing after the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, leaving some of us wondering, are the people who named their daughters Khaleesi or Daenerys experiencing some name regret after her dramatic turn from conqueror and potential savior to . . . something else? From some anecdotal evidence, perhaps not! […]
Best of… 2018’s Fast-Rising Baby Names
Every year, the Social Security Administration releases US baby-name data from the previous year. On Friday, we got the new 2018 rankings and the list of names that experienced the greatest change in popularity from one year to the next. We’ve dug through the names that increased in popularity from 2017 to 2018 and picked […]