Every name I've really loved has gotten popular by some way or another lately. Violet-- thanks, Ben Affleck & Jennifer Garner and Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters for naming your kids that. Now it's probably going to skyrocket in popularity. In fact, it's already started-- it went from #362 to #271 between 2005 and 2006. OK, forget Violet-- it sounds kind of like "Violent" and even though it's my favorite flower, it still leads to the awful nickname of "Vi."
Today I was reading a bunch of movie reviews in Rolling Stone, and every single movie had a character name that's on my Special Reserve Names list: Cecilia, Bryony, and JUNO. Yes, Juno. What's going on? Why has the movie industry tapped into my brain? I mean Juno. It's not like my favorite name on earth is Katelyn or Mary or something. I thought Juno was pretty way out in left-field.
I understand that Victorian names are entering a cycle of popularity, so forget favorites like Ruby and Daisy. I can't say that I thought of Ella and Lola first-- they're just cycling back into favor. Poppy and Phoebe are all the rage in England now, so it won't be long before they hit U.S. shores. But Juno?!? Let's hope people don't see the movie and automatically go out and name their kids that!
4 comments:
It's called "zeitgeist." The same sorts of things will start sounding good to people at the same time without them them realizing what's going on. It's why almost every parent of a Jennifer born in the 70's thought they'd stumbled upon a name that was lovely and practically unique. It's why thousands of teenagers all think they invented Nevaeh.
The solution is to either try to love the names just out of fashion, like Nancy and Linda, or just wait a while. Trends are moving more quickly these days, and a name on top one year could fall pretty far in a decade. (Other people just won't see you as being that creative.)
Yeah, I realize that. It's weird. I thought Juno would totally be safe, since it starts with a J (K names are more "in") and isn't particularly Victorian sounding. Oh well. I still love Doris and Judy...
J names are still pretty in - hence all the Jades, Jadas, Jadens, Jaylas, Jalens, Jacksons, Jasmines, etc. Juno does sound like a city, and place names are trendy. But so far in the US, mythology's far from hot. However, Freya is a popular name in England, so maybe Juno will hit their in a few years, so in the US it'll be fine for another decade.
Doris and Judith are probably safe - though I've had to give up one of my favorites, Dora, because of the animated character.
my grandfather's name was Gerand Grivah Newton. He had it legally changed to Granville George Newton. I cannot find the derivation of the name given to him at birth.
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