In 2014 I featured a series of blog posts introducing you to 2,014 names. For the most part they were names that were brand new to me as well. Some names may be more familiar but I found the meaning or origin or some other aspect of the name made it worthy of inclusion here. You may love some of the names, you may hate some, but hopefully you enjoy learning about all of them.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

How 'bout these names!

GIRLS


Emireth - when I came across this name, on a Spanish language website for parents, I also read about Emileth and Emilet, also used by Spanish-speakers. All three seem to be rather rare.




BOYS


Maelfothartaigh - Irish, I assume,

Coibhdeanach - ditto

Eugenius - Latin?

Maenghal - Irish?

Maelcaularda - ditto

Maelpadraig - ditto

Cathusach - ditto

Ailchi - ditto

Guaire - ditto

Doilghen- ditto

Murtough - Irish, more familiar when spelled Murdoch

Maelbrighde - Irish

Awley - Irish? English???

Gilladowney - Irish?

Mulmurry - Irish?

Florence - Latin, I think. I'd not thought of it ever as a boy's name, but in the Middle Ages I find it used as a man's first name. Now that I think about it, Florent is a boy's name from the Middle Ages, so I don't know why Florence surprises me. But it does.

Giolla - Gaelic, meaning "servant". Giolla is an element of both Scottish and Irish surnames such as Mac Giolla Mhuire (in English this becomes Gilmore).

Turloch - Irish, there are many spellings for this name, it comes from Turlough, which comes from Toirdhealbach meaning "prompting" or "instigator".

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Some names from the Fertile Crescent

Boys

Annubanini -

Enmerkar -

Erridupizir - Gutian

Gula'an - Gutian

Lugalbanda -


Naram-Sin defeats the people of Lullubum

Naram-Sin - Akkadian

Satuni - Lullubi


Saturday, June 13, 2015

A Neat Name

Ran into this name some months ago. I still haven't gotten around to researching it but this blog is a bit like a notebook to remind me which names I want to learn about. At the same time, you get to learn about them when I do. If you know anything about it, let me know!

Odalis - used in Spanish for a girl.  'oh dah lees', emphasis on the last syllable

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Some names you only hear

Shalda, for instance. This is a name I heard in court today. I know how it sounded (shawl duh) and that it was a youngish black woman who had it. I don't know its origin or meaning. If it is a created name I would wonder how they came up with it and of course, how is it correctly spelled? Since my spelling is just a guess.  I'm curious about it so if you know anything, let me know!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

And there's more where THAT came from!

It's been a while since I shared some of the unusual names I've run into. Here are a few with a promise that I'll post more another day. It's possible that some of the names aren't as unusual as others, like LaVonne, still, they seemed interesting and worth knowing more about, especially more about their origin.

Girls

Ehrengard

LaVonne

Laerke

Melior

Palatyne

Pressyne



Boys

Abargi - Sumerian, name of a king of the ancient city of Ur (more well-known as the biblical Abraham's hometown).

Ormsby

Shulgi - Sumerian, name of a king of the ancient city of Ur


UNSURE OF GENDER

Couldrette or Coudrette

Monday, June 1, 2015

The Top 100 Names of 2014

Popularity in 2014
RankMale nameNumber of
males
Female nameNumber of
females
1Noah19,144Emma20,799
2Liam18,342Olivia19,674
3Mason17,092Sophia18,490
4Jacob16,712Isabella16,950
5William16,687Ava15,586
6Ethan15,619Mia13,442
7Michael15,323Emily12,562
8Alexander15,293Abigail11,985
9James14,301Madison10,247
10Daniel13,829Charlotte10,048
11Elijah13,694Harper9,564
12Benjamin13,687Sofia9,542
13Logan13,579Avery9,517
14Aiden13,296Elizabeth9,492
15Jayden12,878Amelia8,727
16Matthew12,809Evelyn8,692
17Jackson12,121Ella8,489
18David12,078Chloe8,469
19Lucas12,078Victoria7,955
20Joseph11,995Aubrey7,589
21Anthony11,490Grace7,554
22Andrew11,069Zoey7,358
23Samuel10,859Natalie7,061
24Gabriel10,826Addison6,950
25Joshua10,764Lillian6,869
26John10,600Brooklyn6,767
27Carter10,599Lily6,727
28Luke10,431Hannah6,512
29Dylan10,350Layla6,428
30Christopher10,278Scarlett5,965
31Isaac9,868Aria5,893
32Oliver9,365Zoe5,828
33Henry9,350Samantha5,680
34Sebastian9,237Anna5,639
35Caleb9,143Leah5,563
36Owen9,100Audrey5,531
37Ryan9,026Ariana5,461
38Nathan8,902Allison5,440
39Wyatt8,812Savannah5,433
40Hunter8,759Arianna5,240
41Jack8,685Camila5,194
42Christian8,388Penelope5,062
43Landon8,180Gabriella5,051
44Jonathan8,035Claire4,991
45Levi7,958Aaliyah4,850
46Jaxon7,635Sadie4,823
47Julian7,611Riley4,761
48Isaiah7,530Skylar4,732
49Eli7,428Nora4,708
50Aaron7,334Sarah4,647
51Charles7,269Hailey4,595
52Connor7,195Kaylee4,513
53Cameron7,013Paisley4,473
54Thomas6,972Kennedy4,459
55Jordan6,810Ellie4,442
56Jeremiah6,780Peyton4,426
57Nicholas6,713Annabelle4,324
58Evan6,667Caroline4,307
59Adrian6,659Madelyn4,289
60Gavin6,582Serenity4,284
61Robert6,572Aubree4,258
62Brayden6,539Lucy4,257
63Grayson6,532Alexa4,227
64Josiah6,376Alexis4,188
65Colton6,339Nevaeh4,188
66Austin6,263Stella4,165
67Angel6,255Violet4,156
68Jace6,254Genesis4,144
69Dominic6,205Mackenzie4,122
70Kevin5,859Bella4,050
71Brandon5,804Autumn4,034
72Tyler5,785Mila4,033
73Parker5,677Kylie3,928
74Ayden5,586Maya3,904
75Jason5,510Piper3,840
76Jose5,442Alyssa3,798
77Ian5,422Taylor3,782
78Chase5,322Eleanor3,704
79Adam5,293Melanie3,681
80Hudson5,199Naomi3,677
81Nolan5,181Faith3,664
82Zachary5,137Eva3,651
83Easton4,961Katherine3,651
84Blake4,913Lydia3,609
85Jaxson4,900Brianna3,582
86Cooper4,803Julia3,578
87Lincoln4,785Ashley3,539
88Xavier4,726Khloe3,518
89Bentley4,722Madeline3,409
90Kayden4,691Ruby3,383
91Carson4,580Sophie3,364
92Brody4,297Alexandra3,288
93Asher4,279London3,264
94Nathaniel4,257Lauren3,072
95Ryder4,073Gianna3,061
96Justin3,991Isabelle3,044
97Leo3,936Alice3,042
98Juan3,887Vivian3,040
99Luis3,879Hadley2,992
100Camden3,872Jasmine2,988

Check out the top 100 names on the Social Security Administration's list of names given to babies in 2014. Since we've already looked at the first half of the list, now let's focus on the second part.

To begin with, on the boys' side, only 2 names advanced from the bottom 50 names to the top 50 (Oliver and Aaron). Jase actually fell out of the top 100 boys' names in 2014, going from # 89 to 105. 16 spots!

Names that rose: Grayson, going from 77 to 63, 14 spots

Names that fell:
Gavin fell out of the top 50 names, going from 49 to 60, 11 spots
Tyler, dropped from 63 to 72 , 9 spots
Zachary also dropped, from 73 to 82, also 9 spots

Tristan and Damian bowed out, at 101 and 102 this year, while Asher snuck in, coming in at 93 from 104. Ryder and Leo are two boy names that entered the top 100 in 2014. Ryder's move was respectable, going from 103 in 2013 to 95 this year, 8 spots. Leo did a bit better, going from 112 up to 97, 15 spots. Oliver is the only name that outdid Leo on the boy's portion of the SSA list, in terms of how much change in rank he experienced. This is the first year Ryder has been in the top 100 names, only entering the top 1000 in 1994 at 951. Leo is an interesting case. He is more popular this year than last, by a few hundred births. Even though fewer than 700 Leos were born in 1903 that is the year the SSA lists as his best, when he was ranked 38.

The girls names in the second half of the above list show more movement than the boys do. Names that moved into the top 50 names from the bottom 50 in the top 100 names:
Ariana, from 54th in 2013 up to 37th in 2014
Penelope, from 56th to 42nd ... 14 spots
Skylar, from 73 to 48... 25 spots
Nora, from 83 to 49 ... 34 spots

Nora is the 'big news' of the top 100 names this year.

Some names dropped from the top 50 into the bottom 50 of the top 100 names.
Hailey, from 43 to 51... 8 spots
Kaylee, from 41 to 52 ... 11 spots