Althouse: These are good names!

January 10, 2016

These are good names!

"Here’s What You Should Name Your Baby In 2016."

39 comments:

Bob Ellison said...: No, those are not good names for humans. They'd be good names for dogs and cats. Tango, Zulu, Nefertiti, Walkabout, Hound, Yaya, Filbert, Respite, Pop-pup, Victorino, Delmonte-- these are also good names for dogs and cats.; 1/10/16, 9:38 AM
madAsHell said...: LeDeRon, and Latisha didn't make the list?? We're going to need a little more racial healing.; 1/10/16, 10:00 AM
bleh said...: I hate nearly all trendy names.; 1/10/16, 10:06 AM
Curious George said...: I now have a grandson George. George IV. That's a good name.; 1/10/16, 10:09 AM
RLB_IV said...: "We're going to need a little more racial healing." That is so true.
I was shocked, no DaTika or DaMarius this year.; 1/10/16, 10:18 AM
Big Mike said...: Abel is a poor choice -- people will be misspelling it all the time.; 1/10/16, 10:21 AM
dc said...: And the winner is....Mohamed; 1/10/16, 10:47 AM
Coconuss Network said...: I like Frances and Eloise. Eloise especially sounds nice in both English and German.; 1/10/16, 10:48 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: I'm having a baby in 2016 and some of those names are very pretty; some are just silly look-at-how-cool-we-are markers. My husband and I have decided on the name but the other children are still lobbying hard--the nine year old girl wants to name the baby Destiny and the six year old boy wants to name her Shiny while the fourteen year old is too cool to have an opinion and the twelve year old wants Robin Vale.

It's a bit of a bummer how much of that list refers to actors and actresses. Goodness sakes, Benedict and Jane existed before people on the teevee.; 1/10/16, 11:02 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: In fifteen years we will know which of these names will be associated with Hot Girls but we are Not Allowed to Notice.

n sixteen years we will know which of these names will be associated with Hot Girls who Have given their First Blow-Job.

In seventeen years we will know which of these names is still viable as names for the new Babies of seventeen-year-old girls.

In eighteen years we will know which of these names will be associated with Strippers.

In nineteen years we will know which of these names will be associated with Hookers.

In twenty years we will know which of these names will be associated with students of Lesbian Studies. Or Meth Addicts. Either.

In twenty-one years we will know which of these names is associated with That Girl at the Bar Who Always Gets Drunk and Goes Home with Questionable Men.

In twenty-two years we will know which of these names is associated with the Girls who dropped out of Lesbian Studies and became a Barista with $60,000 in College Debt.

In twenty-three years we will know which of these names is associated with the Girls who dropped out of Lesbian Studies and became Strippers.

Not much else happens in years twenty-four to twenty-nine. Maybe trailer parks.

In thirty years we will know which of these names will be associated with Lives Alone with her Cat.

In fifty years we will know which names are associated with the Kind Aunt that Lives Alone with her Cats, Plural.

After fifty-one years we will not be thinking about these women much at all, because: Society.

I am Laslo.; 1/10/16, 11:13 AM
William said...: I suppose at Beverly Hills High a name like Xanthe or Titan would help you fit in and feel like one of the gang......Of all the trendy names, only Malala makes the cut. The syllables roll off the tongue in a gentle way. The name is feminine but refers back to an admirably brave young woman.; 1/10/16, 11:26 AM
buwaya said...: One day, Urraca will be back.
Hundreds of medieval Spanish princesses should count for something.; 1/10/16, 12:03 PM
Unknown said...: Our baby was born on Wednesday 11 weeks early. We named her Brinleigh Marjorie, prettiest name I could think of. She is doing good; 1/10/16, 12:06 PM
Dr Weevil said...: Is "George IV" a "good name"? The Wikipedia article on King George IV of England suggests that it may be a bit unlucky.; 1/10/16, 12:20 PM
Adamsunderground said...: How about "Fuct"? It's delightfully androgynous!; 1/10/16, 12:21 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: Noted that Cordelia is in the list. That was the name of one of my great-great-grandmothers. Her husband fought in the Civil War, and was one of the men who influenced Bruce Catton to write about the Civil War (he is buried in the next family plot over from the one that my ancestress Cordelia and her husband are buried in). The two of them moved from relatively civilized Ohio up to the wilds of Michigan in the 1840s to help found a Christian academy. She, and her sisters, wrote back and forth continually, and much of their correspondence involved their fights for emancipation, temperance, and suffrage. My mother always wanted to use this name for a daughter, but, for that reason, it is probably good that she only had sons. How would you like going through life as "Cordie", or something like that?; 1/10/16, 12:45 PM
Bill said...: A friend's mother, born in the 1930s, was named Mary Frances. Everyone addressed her as Mary.

When she hit adolescence she insisted that people call her Frances, since they'd gotten into the habit of calling her Mare. "I am not a horse!" she protested.

Shortly thereafter, the first of seven Francis the Talking Mule movies was released.; 1/10/16, 1:19 PM
MathMom said...: Xanthe? Xanthan Gum? That's what kids will call her/him.

The Z name is going to wear thin, too. Zephyr was the word used in a story I read, in which one character had uncontrollable flatulence, and and other character referred to the "malodorous zephyr" emitted by the first character... Blech.; 1/10/16, 1:33 PM
David Begley said...: @misplacedpants

Ann is a good name for a girl.

Meade, Donald or Ted for a boy.; 1/10/16, 1:54 PM
Saint Croix said...: Saint's catching on. That's me. I did that.; 1/10/16, 2:04 PM
Saint Croix said...: Rappers and hillbillies. Names in the crib.; 1/10/16, 2:06 PM
Saint Croix said...: Hillbilly Clinton would have been kind of funny.; 1/10/16, 2:07 PM
David Begley said...: What are the odds?

http://www.althouseandmeade.com; 1/10/16, 2:09 PM
Sydney said...: I am partial to the names Blaise and Linus, found in the longer list at the bottom of the article.; 1/10/16, 2:22 PM
vanderleun said...: I think we should all take a cue from "Advanced Ebonics" and name kids after over-the-counter medicines: Murine, Listerine, Calamine, Tylenol, Robitussin, DelSym, etc.; 1/10/16, 2:42 PM
Portlandmermaid said...: @Paul DeBuhr--Welcome little Brinleigh.; 1/10/16, 3:28 PM
Ignorance is Bliss said...: I couldn't name a kid Inigo. I'd be too worried about being killed by a six-fingered man.; 1/10/16, 3:38 PM
Mary Beth said...: Xanthe? Xanthan Gum? That's what kids will call her/him.

That's what it made me think of. I like to think I'm too mature to make jokes about it, but I probably would have a hard time resisting a "I hear he's a little thick". And then I would have to explain to non-label readers that xanthan gum is used as a thickener...that's pretty much how most of my jokes go.

the six year old boy wants to name her Shiny

As a Firefly fan, I endorse this suggestion. Well, maybe Kaylee would be more practical.; 1/10/16, 4:03 PM
The Godfather said...: I remember when most people had real names: John, Michael, Charles, Mary, Eleanor, Louise, etc. Ann or Anne is that kind of name. Here in Dixie where I live now there's still the practice of giving children their grandmothers' maiden names as their surnames, so you have Stewarts, and Ashleys, and Jacksons, and Lees -- and you have no idea what gender the person is until you meet them (if then). Perhaps that's where Meade comes from. I've traced part of my ancestry (the Yankee part) back to 1640, and I haven't found a single Xanthe. My guess is that the German and Irish branches don't have any either (although the Krauts probably have some Adolphs, more's the pity).; 1/10/16, 4:12 PM
The Godfather said...: One of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy novelists was Roger Zelazny, and one of my favorite series was the "Amber" books, beginning with Nine Princes In Amber ("Amber" was a place, sort of). The nine princes were named: Corwin, Baldwin, Random, Julian, Gerard, Eric, Benedict, Bleys, Brand, and Caine, and their four sisters were: Flora, Deirdre, Llwella, and Fiona. Three (at least if you allow alternate spelling) are your list. Almost any of them would be better than many of the names on the list.; 1/10/16, 4:23 PM
Fernandinande said...: 2nd order Eddington Monkey says:
Adeliana
Alizabel
Andeliet
Ariffine
Axelias
Axelicheodie
Beatilodorays
Bennabell
Calexanox
Carentice
Dairella
Decketthanette
Eliola
Elizabel
Elodie
Esmellas
Evangelix
Gabelieliela
Genelope
Georayatt
Hudel
Irison
Irisona
Isaacksonanetharria
Jachoma
Jacola
Jandret
Lachlan
Lolemesia
Lucashiett
Madelix
Maevelix
Maeviden
Marloise
Nicust
Norayder
Novan
Ronangel
Saddox
Scarlia
Scarlotte
Seraphia
Tobigaid
Xavid
Zacharlotte
Zaniethan; 1/10/16, 6:35 PM
Paddy O said...: Congrats, Paul! Glad to hear she is doing okay. That's quite a bit early.

"As a Firefly fan, I endorse this suggestion."

When we were thinking of boy names for our second, I suggested Malcolm. My wife replied that I just wanted to call him Mal. She was absolutely right.

We went with Oliver. Which apparently has creeped into popular names lists over the last few years, though we didn't know it.; 1/10/16, 6:40 PM
Ann Althouse said...: Congratulations, Paul. Take care.; 1/10/16, 8:13 PM
Anonymous said...: someday it'll be an asset to have a name that is searchable without returning more than a page of noise. Though search will get more intelligent. Perhaps adding a zip code, or the name of a past employer, or the name of a close friend. As we enter the world of "no curtains" because we don't care. We want "free. so we are the product." Save for government's that attempt to regulate privacy into existence and either raise costs for all of us, or stop innovation relative to our external competitors. Of course a government could chose to make themselves less fearsome by simply reducing their size to a point where all they want to, can do, in the open curtains world is what only they can do and no private concern can do.

Consider Nevada Inc. where the Casino industry runs a better intelligence based "protect and defend" than any the U.S. government can accomplish, with the assistance of the state where they know that to tax revenue, there has to be revenue. Which also means a return to the early 50s when most did not lock their homes and had pushbutton car starters rather than bother with keys. And bars made change from a pile of cash on the counter (like they still do in Japan). Where only local taxes made cash-registers necessary. Where National Cash was the most successful corporate lobbyist ever. More tax for more government, who could resist?

Which brings us to Mr. T. and anything more than short term protectionism to allow him to survive recalibrating the trade scales as we adapt to international competition in government burden and the few elites willing to work for a competitive salary. The least of us are already working at that rate, given 90% are underemployed or not employed at all. Who who does a tariff harm? Just the least and poorest of us. The same as taxes on energy and NIMBY special interests. As they always have. The rich won't even notice. See the Irish famine.; 1/10/16, 10:25 PM
RichardJohnson said...: Here in Dixie where I live now there's still the practice of giving children their grandmothers' maiden names as their surnames.

My father's middle name was his mother's maiden name. My older brother's first name is his grandmother's maiden name- and thus also our father's middle name. My paternal grandparents were Midwesterners. For naming him, my parents used names from my father's side of the family.

For naming my younger brother, my parents used names from my mother's side of the family. My younger brother's first name was a great-grandfather's name.My younger brother's middle name is the same as our maternal grandfather's middle name, which is the name by which my grandfather went by all his life, and my brother went by until he went off to college. My mother's family was Southwestern from Tennessee. The naming of my maternal grandfather followed the aforementioned Southern custom, as the middle name he went by all his life was also his grandmother's maiden name.

I suppose that custom works as long as your grandmother's maiden name was English.; 1/10/16, 10:39 PM
Quaestor said...: ARTHUR: So what does the Hitchhiker's Guide have to say about early 21st Century American given names?

FORD: The current edition says ... (scrolling through the Guide)... "Appalling."

ARTHUR: Appalling? Is that all that worthless tome has to say? Appalling?

FORD: Well, the Guide embraces the whole of galactic knowledge. There just wasn't room for more than one word. However, I've submitted a revision.

ARTHUR: And what's that?

FORD: "Mostly appalling."; 1/10/16, 11:37 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Our baby was born on Wednesday 11 weeks early.

I second our hostess' congratulations. And I've always been partial to Marjorie; it's a lovely name!

As a Firefly fan, I endorse this suggestion. Well, maybe Kaylee would be more practical.

Ha! I did not think of the Firefly connection. Maybe I should reconsider....Also, see below : )

When we were thinking of boy names for our second, I suggested Malcolm. My wife replied that I just wanted to call him Mal. She was absolutely right.

Hand to God, I considered Malcolm for that very reason before we knew we are having a girl; the pull of A year from now, ten, they'll swing back to the belief that they can make people better. And I do not hold to that. So no more running; I aim to misbehave was very strong for this libertarian mama.

their four sisters were: Flora, Deirdre, Llwella, and Fiona

We chose Fiona for the baby's first name : ); 1/11/16, 1:06 AM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 1/11/16, 1:10 AM
MarkW said...: "Her husband fought in the Civil War, and was one of the men who influenced Bruce Catton to write about the Civil War (he is buried in the next family plot over from the one that my ancestress Cordelia and her husband are buried in). The two of them moved from relatively civilized Ohio up to the wilds of Michigan in the 1840s to help found a Christian academy. She, and her sisters, wrote back and forth continually, and much of their correspondence involved their fights for emancipation, temperance, and suffrage."

Bruce Catton wrote a wonderful memoir about growing up in northern Michigan called 'Waiting for the Morning Train'. The main building of the small college where Catton's father taught (which I assume is the same academy your ancestors helped found) is now the public library in Benzonia. I'll bet the museum around the corner:

http://www.benziemuseum.org/

Would love to have copies of your ancestors' letters.; 1/11/16, 7:40 AM