H is for Harlow and Honor

H is for Harlow and Honor

GIRLS

Best Lit Name: Harper. “If only the rarest treasures will do for your little girl, put Harper on your short list along with Southern tomboys Eliot and Flannery,” I raved in “A is for Atticus.” One journo-couple I know of named their baby Harper Maria, and that pairing, of the elegant-yet-quirky, ultra-literary-yet-tomboyish Harper with a strong, lushly feminine name (and recognizably so), just beat all. Harper Lee, of course, wrote one of the most popular and influential books of our time—“To Kill a Mockingbird.” Runners up: Harriet (the Spy, Beecher Stowe), and Hazel.

Best Celeb Name(s): Harlow and Honor. Maybe it’s because of my current Harper fixation, but I was really very impressed with Nicole Ritchie and Joel Madden’s phenomenal choice of Harlow Winter Kate for their adorable daughter (although, two names would have sufficed. Harlow Winter or Harlow Kate would have been perfection. Yes, all my children have three names!) Commenting on his choice: "I really like Jean Harlow the actress, and [Nicole] likes Shalom Harlow the model," explains Joel to People.com. "Harlow's cool because it feels like a classic name. Winter [is] so serene and quiet and that's how [our daughter] is." Tied with Harlow is Honor, the first name of the darling cherub of Jessica Alba and her husband, Cash Allen. First of all, the meaning of Honor is unrivaled: respect, principle, distinction, tribute…all pop up in my thesaurus as meanings. And let’s face it, Grace is overused to the point of saturation. It’s time for a new virtue name that isn’t over-the-top (Chastity comes to mind). It’s simple, pretty, and people should know how to spell it. Of course, in Canada and other places where QE2 means something, “Honour” would be the way to go. Honor’s also an Irish Lit name: from Iris Murdoch’s “A Severed Head” and a play by J.M. Synge.

Miscellaneous H Hotties: Helen, Hollis, Hope, and Haven

BOYS

Best Lit Names: Stellar H names abound in the pages of great books. There’s “cool, adventuresome, earnest, and snappy” Harry of Harry Potter fame, ranked #11 in Victorian days and is experiencing a resurgence due to the wiz-bang Mr. Potter; there’s “Treasure Island’s” Hawkins, speaking of adventure; Bronte’s Heath(cliff); Salinger’s Holden, and “homey, quirky-cool” Homer of ancient days. Two standouts: Henry and Huckleberry. I know, not exactly twin names! Henry is a pure classic, a strong yet sweet name with a dash of the quirky. Henry James, Longfellow, Thoreau…the lit list is illustrious. Huckleberry is completely different, a renegade wearing a flannel shirt and floating down a river on a homemade raft. The Paisleys, Brad and Kimberly Williams, gave this to their firstborn, and they “matched” it perfectly with their second son’s name, Jasper.

Miscellaneous H Hotties: Hamish, Harrison, and Haskell.