The New York Times, Sunday, September 8, 2013 had an article about New York baby names and listed the most popular as Jayden and Isabella. Laura Wattenberg, whose website is “The Baby Name Wizard,” was interviewed by the author, Jessica Gross. Apparently, vowels are popular and influential, with Jayden having a long “a” sound. Interestingly, we are told a third of American boys receive a name ending in the letter “n.” My grandchildren seem to be in the majority, not the minority. We also learn that “Jayden” is part of an entire rhyming name family for a generation, with variations in the top thousand, such as “Aiden,” and “Braden.” A long (we never say old) grandma friend has one of these and now I know why.
We also learn that there is another interesting class of names, names that sound antique even though they were never popular in the past, and were even rare in the past, such as “Isabella,” “Olivia,” and “Ava.” This Grandma must admit she is old enough to know these names belonged to beautiful movie stars of the past, but how do the parents of our grandchildren know this? My long grandma friend has one of these too from the same parent of her grandchildren as the “N” ending name!
Now I am really curious about current baby name choices, so of course, I went on Laura Wattenberg’s website. The first article on her website is about the rise of double TT names, such as “Wyatt,” and “Elliott.” I’m beginning to think her website is helpful to anyone who wants to select a name that is not in the top one thousand! But, here is what she recommended August 1:
Parents are searching high and low today for fresh name ideas. With tongue only slightly in cheek, we offer some ideas of places you might not have looked.
FONTS
Bookman
Cambria
Caslon
Geneva
Gill
Lucida
Marlett
Rockwell
Trajan
Verdana
APPLES
Baldwin
Cameo
Cortland
Crispin
Gala
Jazz
McIntosh
Melrose
Pippin
Rome
ELEMENTS
Cobalt
Copper
Mercury
Neon
Silver
Titanium
Xenon
We just saw the Broadway play, “Pippin,” with our grandchildren (we all loved it), but who knew that the lead character had the same name as an apple! Trajan sounds too much like Trojan and that could be a disaster for a child. I do believe that Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are on to something with North West. Maybe not, to quote Laura Wattenberg, “with tongue only slightly in cheek.” Now, what this Grandma could not believe is that when I searched her website for “top baby names 2012,” I FOUND NOTHING! Doing the same for 2013, I FOUND NOTHING. I guess this is because so many sites list Jacob and Sophia as the top 2012 names according to the Social Security Administration. Curious as to 2013 top names thus far, I found an article at Today.com which listed the following:
Here are Nameberry’s (on line database website) top baby names for the first half of 2013:
Girls
1. Imogen
2. Charlotte
3. Harper
4. Eleanor
5. Violet
6. Amelia
7. Seraphina
8. Isla
9. Penelope
10. Katniss
Boys
1. Asher
2. Finn
3. Declan
4. Django
5. James
6. Oliver
7. Henry
8. Atticus
9. Owen
10. Milo
Are you laughing or shaking your head yet? Thank goodness 2013 is not over!
So where do cat names come into play? The same author, Jessica Gross, on the same page listed the most popular cat names in America: Max (male) and Bella (female). We had a great cat named Max, but he was named for the artist, Peter Max. I guess that still counts to make us among the people who made Max the most popular name.
This Grandma thinks the most popular cat names in America are better for babies born in 2013 than the names listed above. Let’s see if Max and Bella make it to the top this year for humans.
Joy,
Mema