Baby Names and Place Names

Last night, after a heady evening of NBC Olympics, my husband mused that Helsinki would make an interesting name for a girl. While Helsinki doesn't have the sounds I associate with the next trendy winning name--it has consonant clusters instead of smooth, open vowels--it does have one trend on its side: it's the name of a famous city. Recognizing this trend, the SSA has made a little guessing game and put together a nice list of popular names that are also cities in the U.S. I put together my own list of names in the top 1000 for 2007 that are also famous places. I'm primarily trying to identify people names that were place names first. It's not a short list!

Asia
Austin
Boston
Brittany
Brooklyn
Chad
Cheyenne
Dakota
Dallas
Dayton
Eden
Heaven
India
Ireland
Israel
Jordan
Kenya
Kingston
London
Madison
Memphis
Montana
Montserrat
Orlando
Paris
Phoenix
Santiago
Savannah
Shiloh
Sydney
Trenton
Troy
Zaire
Zion

As you look through this list, you might disagree with me here and there; I was surprised at how much controversy I felt in compiling it. Take, for example, the name Brittany. Brittany is, of course, a region in northern France, and that's the origin and meaning of the name as well. But Brittany has been so popular as a girls' name over the years, and spawned so many variants, that I suspect most new parents think of Brittany as primarily a name, and only secondarily (if at all), as a place. If Florence were on the top 1000 list, I would definitely put it in the same category with Brittany. Other fairly established names, such as Austin, Chad, Jordan and Troy, probably also fit there. It's a matter of opinion.

Then there were other names, such as Orlando and Shiloh, which have become popular recently, but are probably following a different trend, specifically, the trends of Orlando Bloom and Shiloh Jolie-Pitt. So I don't blame you for quibbling with me a little.

Just to make one last point, there are plenty of names that were people first, places second, notably Georgia, Carolina, and Virginia. Eugene, Oregon, where I went to graduate school, is named after a man named Eugene. I left those names off of my list, so again, if you compare my list to the one made by the SSA, you'll notice some differences. And again, you may disagree with my judgment.

I hope to put together a list of place names that have as-yet untapped potential to be bestowed on human beings. I'll consider any suggestions! Stay tuned for that post in the near future.

New Links & Tools

A short note to draw your attention to all the new links to name databases, name blogs and websites, and name tools that I've added in the side bars. A few demand a short explanation: Baby Namescape allows you to get local by seeing what names babies have been getting at individual hospitals. Nymbler is a tool associated with the excellent Baby Name Wizard that suggests names and responds to your feedback about which ones you like to gradually refine the results to match your tastes. Similar, though somewhat less effective, tools are available at Baby Names World and Behind The Name. Baby Names World also offers a free suggestion service that I've never found to be terribly perceptive, but it's still a fun thing to get in your email every day.

Of course, all sites have their own unique features and advantages. Happy browsing!

Sophia for Boys

As many people have noticed I'm sure, there's a trend in U.S. naming toward Victorian, old-world style names, especially for girls. They travel well and they feel upper-class, historical, important. Girls have many popular choices in this genre, including Isabella, Sophia, Lily, Ava, Olivia, Emma, Samantha, Amelia...you get the picture. Moreover, going back to lists of given names from 100 years ago (see the Social Security Administration's lists) yields even more lovely, usable names for girls. But, as Laura Wattenberg points out, boys' names with this same feel are harder to come by. Parents who like Isabella and Sophia face the same familiar choices that parents of boys have always faced: William, Thomas, James, Edward, Charles, Jonathan, etc. All solid, traditional names, but just too normal. (As a compromise, informal observation suggests that baby William is more likely to go by his full name, and if he does get a nickname, you can bet it's "Will.")

I feel for parents expecting boys. So I took a look at lists of names given to boys in the early parts of the 20th century, which yielded a few possibilities. I also looked at popular names in Europe, and that's where the gold is. The Swedes are way ahead of Americans in choosing brothers for Sophia, and what's more, if the name appears on a European list, it's an automatic guarantee that the name travels well to that country at least. Here are some suggestions:

Adrian
Andre
Basil
Byron
Cecil
Conrad
Constantine
Cyril
Dominic
Dorian
Emil, Emile
Florian
Frederick
Hugo
Gabriel
Ivan
Ivar, Ivor
Harlan
Hector
Jasper
Julius
Leander
Linus
Louis, Lewis
Lyle
Magnus
Marius
Maximilian
Oscar
Paris
Quentin
Raphael
Raymond
Reginald
Roland
Sylvan
Thaddeus
Tobias
Victor
Vincent

It's a long list, but by no means do I think it's an exhaustive list. If tastes change just a little, some of the names that I hesitated to recommend whole-heartedly would sound great as globe-trotting come-back kids too.