C is for Clementine

C is for Clementine

We interrupt our regularly patterned blog format to break into song:

Recently, a friend of a friend gave birth to the divinely named Clementine Violet. I could break into song! And I’m not just talking “Oh my darling…” Clementine is fresh, adorable, out of the box, old fashioned, quaint…I could go on. Ethan Hawke just dubbed his baby daughter Clementine, too, which means we could be seeing some darling Clementines populating playgroups in the near future. Why? Because he’s an actor, hip, edgy—all that jazz. People will read his daughter’s name in magazines, and suddenly it won’t be so foreign or undoable anymore. They’ll think, ‘Huh. Clementine. That’s kinda cute,’ and thus the name is re-launched. It’s very ripe for the plucking, especially since it hasn’t been a Top 500 name in 100 years (www.babynamewizard.com).

And now, back to our regular programming, er, blog format:

Girls

Best Literary Name: Charlotte. Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte Bronte, and Charlotte Lucas from “Pride and Prejudice” are just a few literary connections to the romantic and graceful Charlotte. It’s a strong and lovely classic just about to puncture the top 100. Runners up: Carson, Clio, Celia.

Best Celebrity Name: Carys. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones named their baby girl this Welsh name a few years ago, and I liked it immediately. Zeta Jones is Welsh, and so is Carys, making this a pretty name with an cool ethnic twist. Runners Up: Coco (Courteney Cox/David Arquette), Cosima (Nigella Lawson), and Clara (Ewan McGregor).

Best International Name: Catriona. Here’s a windblown, plaid-kilt-wearing name perfect for someone searching for a tie to their Scottish ancestry. According to gold medalist speedskater Catriona LeMay Doan, her name is pronounced “Ca-TRAIN-a” or phonetically—your choice. Runners Up: Cressida (British), Catalina (Spanish).

Boys:

Best Lit Name: Curran. There’s a kid on my son’s hockey team with this fab find, and the more I say it, the more I like it. Curran (a Shakespearean name, from King Lear) has the spice that Connor and Liam may be losing, at least in terms of Irish vivacity. And folks, don’t miss the meaning: “Hero, champion.” Runners up: Conan, Cormac, Caspian.

Best Bible Name: Cyrus. I know, he sounds like an old coot smoking a corncob pipe on the front porch—isn’t it snappy? Cyrus has a case of reverse cool, or nerdy/hot, whatever term you’d like to use to describe a name that sounds so outmoded that somehow it has flipped over to be hip. Cyrus was a king in the Bible, and Cy is a sporty short form. Runner Up: Caleb.

Best International Name: Carlo. So handsome, and if you’re looking for a strong yet uncomplicated Spanish name, this one’s a winner. Runners Up: Caspar (German/Dutch) Who cares about the ghost? He is friendly, after all. Callum (Scottish).

Just Because it’s My Blog: Chester. Rosenkrantz and Satran rave that Chester is a “comfortable, little-used teddy bear of a name that suddenly sounds quirky and cuddly.” I concur. Plus, the nickname Chet is a slick (guitar) pick. Should Brad Paisley and his lovely wife, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, stumble onto this blog, I would recommend Chet as a perfect companion brother name for Huck. I'm just saying...in case...

B is for Bella

B is for Bella


The Best of B: Girls

Lit Name: Beatrix: How many girls’ names end in an x? Yeah, not too many. But we do have Beatrix, and I for one love the saucy, personality-loaded import from England. The Potter books and movies are so adorable as well. Me and Phoebe watch “Jemima Puddleduck” all the time. Runners up: Barrett (a romantic yet strong tribute to Elizabeth Barrett Browning); Beatrice (see below), Bronte…Okay Bronte deserves the full treatment here.

Brontë: This is a name with some steel in its spine, a lit tribute that evokes the three sisters Brontë—Anne, Charlotte and Emily—dipping pens into inkwells as they concoct tales of gothic romance. Also, this name has currency in Australia, where it is a place name as well.

International Name: Beatrice
Just as I suspected, Beatrice got a bump from being born to a Beatle (yes, I do overindulge in alliteration!), and is now climbing slowly up the top 1000 chart (ref: Baby Name Voyager says it was 866 in 2007). People just have to get used to a name, attached to a baby or child, before rethinking it and possibly appropriating it for themselves. This antique restoration (a top 40 name in 1910) is ripe for renewal, and would make a perfect sister name for Violet, Lillian, and Charlotte. It’s international in two ways: not only did it originate as the French form of Beatrix, but now the English use it often and well. Bea is a cute nickname. Runners up: Bronwen and Bridget.

Bella: A gorgeous, roll off the tongue kind of name, made more romantic by the Bella from the Stephanie Meyer books (indeed, the first Meyer book came out in 2005; by 2006, Bella was a top 200 name, and it continues to climb.) I think the biggest boost for Bella, though, was Isabella, which people just stone-cold love, but which is reaching the point of saturation. Bella somehow still sounds ravishing and new.


The Best of A: Boys

Lit Name: Beckett: Naming your child after an Irish playwright might be the hippest thing you ever do. What, not a fan of “Waiting for Godot”? Well, stay tuned, because Beckett is for every creative, edgy baby namer out there. The short form Beck packs a punch, and is also imbued with rock n roll ambience thanks to, well, Beck. Runners up: Blake, Bram, and Booker.


Bible name: Boaz. It takes moxie to dub your tiny man Boaz, the kind of moxie my friend Margaret has (she, mother of Zion, Judah, Boaz, and Siloam!), but what a payoff. Boaz has all the verve and clout and zip in the world, and in an age where it’s possible (I saw it with my own eyes today) to have a 10-12 hockey team with Isaiah and Jonah zipping around the ice, why not? Plow new ground with this zesty number! Runners Up: Barnabas and Benjamin.

International Name: Bruno: Any baby name of Nigella Lawson’s has got to be smokin', and that O ending pops. Besides, no one’s gonna mess with a kid named Bruno! Runner up: Bastiaan (Dutch).


Just because it’s my blog: Baxter

I used to hang out with this cool guy from Snowflake, Manitoba, whom we called Dexter for some intangible reason. Dexter looked like Shaggy from Scooby Doo, actually. He was legitimately named the (much) blander Brent, but guess what he dubbed his Dexter Junior? Baxter. Any name with an x in it has the X factor—funky, offbeat, nerdy-yet-hot—and Bax is a nifty nickname.

Okay, you Bonkers-for-Baby Names people. Give me the buzz on your favorite B’s...!