Inspiration strikes... everywhere!💡
We name lovers know that anything can be a source of interesting names, so we always have our eyes and ears open.
There are the usual suspects: books, TV (I can’t be the only one who pauses the end credits to read the cast and crew’s names), news stories, birth announcements – and obituaries – class lists, kids out and about.
My entertainment while watching my son play is noting the names people are calling around me. In just a few minutes at a haybale maze this week, I heard Alfie, Otto, Amos, Louis, Ibrahim, Poppy, Isla, Penelope, Arabella.
We can pick up names from places, signs, brands, in dreams, our friends and family, from nature and special times of the year. The weather, too – on which note, did you know that hurricane names are all planned out for the next six years? If you’re thinking of using Isaac, Oscar, Helene, Beryl or any of the other 2024 names, you may want to hold off until we know how destructive they are.
Namespotting in cemeteries might shock some parts of the internet, but it’s long been known in the name community that gravestones, like old records, can be an excellent source of obscure, forgotten names. (I like that this TikToker is feeling inspired by surnames, like Bridgers and Merritt, as well as first names.)
For those who feel inspired by high-profile announcements, we’ve had two beautiful European royal baby girl names recently: Mafalda in Denmark, and Victoire in Luxembourg.
And sometimes inspiration comes from the way a child entered the world. Here’s a recent story about Penelope Lily, named after the restaurant where she was born 😳. Fortunately it had a lovely name!
Lockdown inspiration
We guessed Covid would have some impact on baby names – such as Cora, which sadly still hasn’t got back to its pre-2020 popularity. But here’s one I’ve only just come across, from an interview with a British mother:
“we named her Lockie for lockdown… We really liked the name, and lockdown had been a good time in our lives."
Looking at the latest statistics, Lockie has never been on the girls’ name charts in England and Wales. But for boys, it had a definite spike in 2021…
2019: 17 boys
2020: 29 boys
2021: 45 boys
2022: 23 boys
It looks like some British parents may have been inspired by Lockie D during the Panny D.
Name changes
Something else that came out of lockdown was writer Kyunghee Kim’s return to using her own Korean name, after years under an anglo pseudonym:
The second that I decided to go by my real name — and committed to being myself — the weight I’d been carrying lifted, and my body and mind felt lighter. It’s been almost four years since I became Kyunghee again.
And a name change of a different kind, which I love equally: a woman who legally changed her name to Kricket. Seeing the headline, I thought “What?!”, but reading the story it makes perfect sense as a blend of her maiden name and nickname.
Why names fall out of fashion
On a different note, here’s a fun video about why name trends come and go! I especially enjoyed the comparison to genetic evolution: popular names get tweaked into ones that are similar yet different, and the most successful mutations survive to produce their own spinoffs.
On Nameberry this week
Iconic names for Pride month 🏳️🌈
The most popular name endings: -ana overtakes -ley as the most popular ending for girl names this year
Names ending in -ce are surprisingly varied and versatile (which reminds me, I used to have a major crush on Annice 😍)
Baby name style changes with parents’ age − and we’ve got the data to prove it!
