Much Ado About: Arlie

Last summer, my husband and I took a vacation to Seattle to visit relatives, including his grandmother, who happens to live in a nursing home.  Name enthusiast that I am, I took this opportunity to scan the nameplates on the residents’ doors, figuring I’d see plenty of old gems worthy of revival.  Among the expected Dorothys and Helens and Franceses and Patricias, I spotted a name I’d never seen:

Arleigh

My first thought:  What’s a six-year-old doing in a nursing home?  The name seemed strangely anachronistic, more akin to the Hayleighs and Carlees of today than the Dorothys and Helens of her generation.  Were her parents 80 years ahead of their time, I wondered.  Had they just invented something that sounded cute to them?  Or was this a legitimate name with a century-old history of use?

Introducing Julius Arthur…The Boy Who Was Almost Elliot

It has been a long time since I updated my blog, but a lot of people have requested that I tell the story of my son’s name, so that seems like a fitting way for me to start again.

Julius Arthur as a newborn

The Results Are In…

We’re having a boy!

Our little one

Much Ado About: Tulliver

After recently delving into the realm of popular teen fiction, let’s turn in the other direction today and look at a highly literary choice.

Tulliver.

Ask Emmy Jo: How to Use a Twilight Name (Without Sounding like a Fan)

Whether you’ve read the books or seen the movie or not, chances are you’ve at least heard of the Twilight saga, by Stephenie Meyer. And chances are, if you’re a name enthusiast, you appreciate some of the names she chose for her characters. What about those, though, who aren’t followers of Twilight but have always planned to call their first son Edward or their first daughter Rosalie?

One reader wonders, can you still use these names without sounding too much like a fan?

My Husband Meets Nymbler

I’m 10 weeks today!  According to www.babycenter.com, my baby is now the size of a kumquat.  I like kumquats.  They’re little and silly, and they have a fun name.  I think I’m going to enjoy calling the baby a kumquat this week.

Speaking of what to call the baby, I got my husband to sit down and talk baby names yesterday.  I’ve been wanting him to come up with his own list of names he likes instead of simply picking and choosing off mine.  To facilitate the process (and since I thought a huge book of baby names might intimidate him), I introduced him to Nymbler.

A Name for Baby Grape

Hello, everyone!  I have some exciting news to share.  My husband and I found out about a month ago that we are expecting our first child!  I just got back from the doctor today.  We had an ultrasound and all appears to be going well.  The baby is measuring at 8 weeks and 2 days, which means it’s somewhere between the length of a kidney bean and a grape.  It has a big head and a normal heartbeat, and it even kicked its teensy little leg.  Who knew kidney beans could kick?  Weird.

Anyway, you have probably noticed I haven’t been posting quite as much as usual.  I’ve been very tired recently, and surprisingly enough this news has made me want to spend more time with my husband (while I still can) and less time thinking about baby names (at least for the moment).  But as soon as the school year is over next week, I should be back to posting regularly.

We have been talking about names a bit, of course.  How could we not?  At the moment, we feel we have a good list of girl possibilities, including our one clear front-runner (Clara).  The boys’ list definitely needs work, so I’m sure I’ll be calling on you all for help on that front.  We apparently have until January 4, 2010, to figure this all out.

We’re very excited, and I’m glad I’ll finally be able to replace the generic baby in the picture above with one of my own making!

Ask Emmy Jo: A Guide to Baby Name Grammar

As a teacher, I spend countless hours correcting spelling and punctuation of my students’ papers.  But one reader wonders, are there spelling and punctuation rules when it comes to baby names?

Namewatching in Disneyland

My husband and I just got back from a weekend at Disneyland.  I did quite a bit of namewatching while standing in lines or walking between rides.  Those embroidered Mickey hats sure make it easy.  🙂  Here are the names I noticed on kids.  The majority of these are from toddlers and preschoolers, but I included a few who appeared to be elementary school aged as well.

Multicultural Baby Names: The Bilingual Boys

Following on the heels of The Globe-Trotting Girls, here are some boys’ names that have derivations from more than one language: