Friday, May 11, 2012
Name Sighting...
Name I heard the other day: Mercede. Like Mercedes, but without the "s" on the end. I guess one car is a Mersadie (I think this is how they spelled it; the parents called the little girl Sadie), but two are Mercedes?
Monday, December 05, 2011
7 Recent Naming Trends
I've read a lot of articles about which names are trendy these days.
For example... Latin/Italian/Spanish versions of names as opposed to French forms of names are in. I.e., Michaela is IN, Michelle is OUT. Daniela is IN. Danielle is OUT.
Old-fashioned names are in (Isabella, Hannah, Grace etc.) and made-up nicknamey names are out (Traci, Kari, Jennie, etc.)
Biblical names are generally IN! (Elijah, Jacob, Ethan, Nathan, Noah)
But really, when are Biblical names ever NOT in?
What articles don't generally touch on are naming trends among the non-white and/or working classes. I know this is a touchy subject, since nobody likes to admit that not everyone in the USA is middle class, but naming trends really do follow socioeconomic lines pretty predictably.
Here are some trends that you are probably totally unaware of if you live in middle class areas on up!
Trends in Girls' names (boys' names don't hop on trends as fast for a variety of reasons, so I'm focusing on girls' names right now)
1. -ianna names. These names have been popular for years (Brianna, Ariana, Ayana etc.), but since the rise to fame of singing diva Rihanna, they've gotten way more popular. Also, Rihanna's spelling has influenced all sorts of names. Before 2005, you'd be hard pressed to find a single Brihanna, but in 2010 there were 81 (and 30 Brihanas). There were also a number of Arihannas, Gihannas, Khiannas, Tyrhiannas and others. It seems like pretty much any consonant can get an -ianna added to it to make a name, and it makes sense, because it's kind of a built-in naming element. Kiana, Ziana, Quiana, Viana... they all sound perfectly normal as names.
2. -iah, iyah, iya etc. names. Take a syllable and add -iah to the end, basically is this trend. Mariah was probably the touchstone for this trend (Mariah itself was how they pronounced "Maria" in England for a time up through the 1800s. It later got the "h" on the end to distinguish it from Maria). However, there are several Arabic names that are often anglicized with the ending -iya or -iyyah (Safiyyah, Samiya, Rabiya) as well as Russian forms of names that are sometimes anglicized with that ending (Sofiya, Lidiya). In the Russian and Arabic cases, the "y" actually stands for a letter: The "ya" (Я or backwards R) in ЛИДИЯ (Lidiya in Cyrillic; I'm not sure if the Unicode is working right). In Arabic, feminine names often end in ي ("Ya"). However, in modern American usage, -iya, -iyah, -ya, -yah, -iah and -ia are all used interchangeably. Some examples: Oliviya, Miyah (could be either Mia or Maya, probably more often Mia), and a host of recent additions, like Amiya, Aniyah, Kiyah, Diya, Giya, Amariyah, Kamariyah, Jamariyah, Maliyah etc.
3. Spanish-speaking Americans are adding a lot of the top names in the naming charts. There are several names in the top 200 that are mainly given to Latinas: Jocelyn (#37), Evelyn (#51), Gisele (#99), Genesis (#108), Stephanie (#134; higher if you count all the spellings of Estephanie/Estefany etc.), Leslie (#158), and Daisy (#163) to name a few.
4. -lani and -ani names. For every -ana name, there is probably an -ani form. Hawaiian names like Leilani, Ailani and Kealani have given way to Naylani, Alani, Milani, Jaylani, Malani, Maylani. Names that normally end in -ana, like Juliana, now have forms like Juliani, Briana/Briani, Eliana/Eliani, Ayana/Ayani.
5. Intangible or Concept names. The Puritans brought us such lasting concept names as Faith, Hope, and Charity (as well as some non-lasting names like Fear, Obedience, Sin-Not, and Flee-Fornication). The Victorians extended the conceptual names to include seasons like Autumn and Summer, though they never really caught on until the Hippies took this to new heights adding names like Sunshine, River, Rain etc. These days, anything goes! Names like Honesty are now found in multiple spellings (Aunesti, Ahonesty etc.), Cherish, Angelic, Savvy, Miracle, Twinkle, Shiny, Lyrical, Sweet, Heavenly, Bless/Blessed/Blessing (all verb forms! as well as the plural noun Blessings) Reality, Secret, Solace, and Allure are climbing the charts along with not-necessarily favorable names like Envy, Tyranny, Vanity and Racy (!).
6. British Isles Names. There are a lot of people of Irish, English, Scottish, and Welsh descent in the USA. Many of these people are fiercely proud of their heritage... enough to name their kids Irish, Ireland, Scotland, Britain and England. It doesn't end there, though. Alternate forms, like Briton, Brittyn, Irelynn, Irelyn, Scotlyn, and Scottlyn are also found in the top 2000. Not to be outdone, English place names like Brighton, Brixton and Bristol (thanks to Sarah Palin for the last one) are getting more frequent, as is London in multiple spellings: Londyn, Londynn, Lundyn, Londen, Lunden, Londan, Londin, Lundon, Lundynn, and Lundin.
7. -ii, -ye and -ei endings. Not content with the regular long e endings (e.g. as found in Ashley, Ashlee, Ashly, Ashli, Ashlie and occasionally Ashliee), a new group of eeee endings is out there. You can now spell this name Ashlei, Ashlii or Ashlye. The ye ending has been around for a hundred years or more, showing up in names like Bettye, Jessye (as in Jessye Norman the opera singer born 1945) etc. However, what makes all these names difficult is that sometimes they are pronounced /EYE/. For example, Danii as in Danii Minogue is pronounced like Danny. However, sometimes you find it pronounced like /dan EYE/. Ditto for names like Janei, Janye, Janii. Names ending in the /EYE/ sound are becoming more popular as well, so look out elementary school teachers of the future! You may have difficulty calling attendance in a few years! Note: names ending in -ih are almost always pronounced like 'eye'. We can thank the R&B singer Jeremih /JER eh mye/ for this. This is another new thing, but the -ih ending is mostly found in boys' names these days.
So there you have it-- 7 trends you probably won't run into in Beverly Hills or suburban Connecticut, but are alive and well in the USA!
For example... Latin/Italian/Spanish versions of names as opposed to French forms of names are in. I.e., Michaela is IN, Michelle is OUT. Daniela is IN. Danielle is OUT.
Old-fashioned names are in (Isabella, Hannah, Grace etc.) and made-up nicknamey names are out (Traci, Kari, Jennie, etc.)
Biblical names are generally IN! (Elijah, Jacob, Ethan, Nathan, Noah)
But really, when are Biblical names ever NOT in?
What articles don't generally touch on are naming trends among the non-white and/or working classes. I know this is a touchy subject, since nobody likes to admit that not everyone in the USA is middle class, but naming trends really do follow socioeconomic lines pretty predictably.
Here are some trends that you are probably totally unaware of if you live in middle class areas on up!
Trends in Girls' names (boys' names don't hop on trends as fast for a variety of reasons, so I'm focusing on girls' names right now)
1. -ianna names. These names have been popular for years (Brianna, Ariana, Ayana etc.), but since the rise to fame of singing diva Rihanna, they've gotten way more popular. Also, Rihanna's spelling has influenced all sorts of names. Before 2005, you'd be hard pressed to find a single Brihanna, but in 2010 there were 81 (and 30 Brihanas). There were also a number of Arihannas, Gihannas, Khiannas, Tyrhiannas and others. It seems like pretty much any consonant can get an -ianna added to it to make a name, and it makes sense, because it's kind of a built-in naming element. Kiana, Ziana, Quiana, Viana... they all sound perfectly normal as names.
2. -iah, iyah, iya etc. names. Take a syllable and add -iah to the end, basically is this trend. Mariah was probably the touchstone for this trend (Mariah itself was how they pronounced "Maria" in England for a time up through the 1800s. It later got the "h" on the end to distinguish it from Maria). However, there are several Arabic names that are often anglicized with the ending -iya or -iyyah (Safiyyah, Samiya, Rabiya) as well as Russian forms of names that are sometimes anglicized with that ending (Sofiya, Lidiya). In the Russian and Arabic cases, the "y" actually stands for a letter: The "ya" (Я or backwards R) in ЛИДИЯ (Lidiya in Cyrillic; I'm not sure if the Unicode is working right). In Arabic, feminine names often end in ي ("Ya"). However, in modern American usage, -iya, -iyah, -ya, -yah, -iah and -ia are all used interchangeably. Some examples: Oliviya, Miyah (could be either Mia or Maya, probably more often Mia), and a host of recent additions, like Amiya, Aniyah, Kiyah, Diya, Giya, Amariyah, Kamariyah, Jamariyah, Maliyah etc.
3. Spanish-speaking Americans are adding a lot of the top names in the naming charts. There are several names in the top 200 that are mainly given to Latinas: Jocelyn (#37), Evelyn (#51), Gisele (#99), Genesis (#108), Stephanie (#134; higher if you count all the spellings of Estephanie/Estefany etc.), Leslie (#158), and Daisy (#163) to name a few.
4. -lani and -ani names. For every -ana name, there is probably an -ani form. Hawaiian names like Leilani, Ailani and Kealani have given way to Naylani, Alani, Milani, Jaylani, Malani, Maylani. Names that normally end in -ana, like Juliana, now have forms like Juliani, Briana/Briani, Eliana/Eliani, Ayana/Ayani.
5. Intangible or Concept names. The Puritans brought us such lasting concept names as Faith, Hope, and Charity (as well as some non-lasting names like Fear, Obedience, Sin-Not, and Flee-Fornication). The Victorians extended the conceptual names to include seasons like Autumn and Summer, though they never really caught on until the Hippies took this to new heights adding names like Sunshine, River, Rain etc. These days, anything goes! Names like Honesty are now found in multiple spellings (Aunesti, Ahonesty etc.), Cherish, Angelic, Savvy, Miracle, Twinkle, Shiny, Lyrical, Sweet, Heavenly, Bless/Blessed/Blessing (all verb forms! as well as the plural noun Blessings) Reality, Secret, Solace, and Allure are climbing the charts along with not-necessarily favorable names like Envy, Tyranny, Vanity and Racy (!).
6. British Isles Names. There are a lot of people of Irish, English, Scottish, and Welsh descent in the USA. Many of these people are fiercely proud of their heritage... enough to name their kids Irish, Ireland, Scotland, Britain and England. It doesn't end there, though. Alternate forms, like Briton, Brittyn, Irelynn, Irelyn, Scotlyn, and Scottlyn are also found in the top 2000. Not to be outdone, English place names like Brighton, Brixton and Bristol (thanks to Sarah Palin for the last one) are getting more frequent, as is London in multiple spellings: Londyn, Londynn, Lundyn, Londen, Lunden, Londan, Londin, Lundon, Lundynn, and Lundin.
7. -ii, -ye and -ei endings. Not content with the regular long e endings (e.g. as found in Ashley, Ashlee, Ashly, Ashli, Ashlie and occasionally Ashliee), a new group of eeee endings is out there. You can now spell this name Ashlei, Ashlii or Ashlye. The ye ending has been around for a hundred years or more, showing up in names like Bettye, Jessye (as in Jessye Norman the opera singer born 1945) etc. However, what makes all these names difficult is that sometimes they are pronounced /EYE/. For example, Danii as in Danii Minogue is pronounced like Danny. However, sometimes you find it pronounced like /dan EYE/. Ditto for names like Janei, Janye, Janii. Names ending in the /EYE/ sound are becoming more popular as well, so look out elementary school teachers of the future! You may have difficulty calling attendance in a few years! Note: names ending in -ih are almost always pronounced like 'eye'. We can thank the R&B singer Jeremih /JER eh mye/ for this. This is another new thing, but the -ih ending is mostly found in boys' names these days.
So there you have it-- 7 trends you probably won't run into in Beverly Hills or suburban Connecticut, but are alive and well in the USA!
Friday, September 23, 2011
Name Statistics in Norway
Who's been dying to check out name statistics in Norway? I know I have! Here's the site for it.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Thursday, September 08, 2011
New Data!
Top 3400 Names in England and Wales, 2010
here are the top 3400 baby names in England and Wales arranged by spelling!
here are the top 3400 baby names in England and Wales arranged by spelling!
Friday, July 01, 2011
top 7000 names of 2010!
At long last, the top 7000 names of 2010 are grouped by spelling!
Popularity Lists
It took me forever this year because I worked from the long list (39,000-ish names) instead of the normal short list (2,000 names).
Popularity Lists
It took me forever this year because I worked from the long list (39,000-ish names) instead of the normal short list (2,000 names).
Sunday, June 26, 2011
"The lack of recent Jane Austen movies has probably played a role."
Say Goodnight, Grace (and Julia and Emma, too)
By DAVID LEONHARDT
New York Times Published: June 24, 2011
When the Social Security Administration released its annual database of baby names earlier this year, there were plenty of grabby little details. Isabella and Jacob remained the most popular names for the second straight year — Jacob has been the No. 1 boy’s name since 1999 — while Iker, Crew and Zuri each cracked the top 1,000 for the first time. But a closer look at the database reveals several deeper trends.
The nostalgia wave among girls’ names appears to be over. About two decades ago, an entire generation of girls’ names — those from the late 19th and early 20th centuries — started coming back into fashion: Grace and Emma, Julia and Anna, Ella and Hannah. Nothing like it had ever happened before. Individual names obviously came back into style. But an entire era’s never had. Now the nostalgia wave, which peaked in 2004, is ending. Emily fell 41 percent between 2004 and 2010, Sarah tumbled 49 percent and Hannah 54 percent. The lack of recent Jane Austen movies has probably played a role.
Girls’ names are more diverse than ever. Andrew Gelman, a statistics professor at Columbia and an amateur name-ologist, argues that many parents want their boys to seem mature and so pick classic names. William, David, Joseph and James, all longtime stalwarts, remain in the Top 20.
With girls, Gelman says, parents are attracted to names that convey youth even into adulthood and choose names that seem to be on the upswing. By the 1990s, of course, not many girls from the 1880s were still around, and that era’s names could seem fresh again. This search for youthfulness makes girls’ names more volatile — and increasingly so, as more statistics about names become available and parents grow more willing to experiment in an attempt to get out in front of the curve. The 1,000 top girl names accounted for only 67 percent of all girl names last year, down from 91 percent in 1960 and compared with 79 percent for boys last year. Similarly, the most popular first letter for boys’ names is J, as it was for much of the 20th century. The most popular first letter for girls is the once-obscure A, thanks partly to rising names like Avery, Arianna and Ava.
Brevity is in. Names grew longer for most of the last century until about 20 years ago, also the start of the nostalgia boom. Since 1990, the average length has fallen to 5.9 letters from 6.2, a significant change given how little the average tends to move. The one name that may best embody recent trends — a long 19th-century girls’ name that rose and then fell — is, fittingly enough, Victoria.
By DAVID LEONHARDT
New York Times Published: June 24, 2011
When the Social Security Administration released its annual database of baby names earlier this year, there were plenty of grabby little details. Isabella and Jacob remained the most popular names for the second straight year — Jacob has been the No. 1 boy’s name since 1999 — while Iker, Crew and Zuri each cracked the top 1,000 for the first time. But a closer look at the database reveals several deeper trends.
The nostalgia wave among girls’ names appears to be over. About two decades ago, an entire generation of girls’ names — those from the late 19th and early 20th centuries — started coming back into fashion: Grace and Emma, Julia and Anna, Ella and Hannah. Nothing like it had ever happened before. Individual names obviously came back into style. But an entire era’s never had. Now the nostalgia wave, which peaked in 2004, is ending. Emily fell 41 percent between 2004 and 2010, Sarah tumbled 49 percent and Hannah 54 percent. The lack of recent Jane Austen movies has probably played a role.
Girls’ names are more diverse than ever. Andrew Gelman, a statistics professor at Columbia and an amateur name-ologist, argues that many parents want their boys to seem mature and so pick classic names. William, David, Joseph and James, all longtime stalwarts, remain in the Top 20.
With girls, Gelman says, parents are attracted to names that convey youth even into adulthood and choose names that seem to be on the upswing. By the 1990s, of course, not many girls from the 1880s were still around, and that era’s names could seem fresh again. This search for youthfulness makes girls’ names more volatile — and increasingly so, as more statistics about names become available and parents grow more willing to experiment in an attempt to get out in front of the curve. The 1,000 top girl names accounted for only 67 percent of all girl names last year, down from 91 percent in 1960 and compared with 79 percent for boys last year. Similarly, the most popular first letter for boys’ names is J, as it was for much of the 20th century. The most popular first letter for girls is the once-obscure A, thanks partly to rising names like Avery, Arianna and Ava.
Brevity is in. Names grew longer for most of the last century until about 20 years ago, also the start of the nostalgia boom. Since 1990, the average length has fallen to 5.9 letters from 6.2, a significant change given how little the average tends to move. The one name that may best embody recent trends — a long 19th-century girls’ name that rose and then fell — is, fittingly enough, Victoria.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Neveah and Friends
The name Nevaeh, or "heaven" spelled backwards has been popular since the early 2000's when Christian rocker Sonny Sandoval of the band P.O.D. gave it to his daughter. The whole point of the name seems to be that the name is "heaven" backwards. Otherwise, why the weird spelling? People aren't entirely sure how to pronounce it-- some say /nev EYE ah/, some say /nev AY ah/ and I've even heard /neh VAY/ and /neh VYE/ (I think the most common pronunciation is /nev EYE ah/.
Anyway, like most name trends, this one has spawned a number of spin-offs, alternate spellings and the like. What's funny is that there's only one way to spell "heaven." Thus, all these other names spell something else backwards. Let's take a look at some of them that appeared in the USA in 2010. Some are a bit strange, but I guess they're still better than Lleh or Yrotagrup. Actually, Obmil might be kinda cute.
Spin-offs:
Nevah = Haven (not too bad)
Evaeh = Heave (lol)
Nevaehtnes (there were 5 of these born in 2010)-- I'm assuming it's a form of "heaven sent." However, if you spell the whole thing backwards, it's "sent heaven."
Nevaen = Neaven
Nevaehmarie = I know this is kind of cheating on my part, since it's just Nevaeh + Marie, but still. Backwards it's Eiram heaven.
Kevaeh = Heavek
Levaeh = Heavel
Devaeh = Heaved (Seriously?)
Jevaeh = Heavej
Sevaeh = Heaves
Zevaeh = Heavez
Alt spellings (number given in 2010):
Neveah (295) = Haeven
Navaeh (101) = Heavan
Nevaeha (86) = Aheaven
Naveah (74) = Haevan
Navya (73) = Ayvan
Nevayah (30) = Hayaven
Navia (25) = Aivan (sounds a bit bird-like)
Naveyah (24) = Hayevan
Navaya (23) = Ayavan
Neviah (21) = Haiven
Nevaya (20) = Ayaven
Naviah (19) = Haivan
Navayah (19) = Hayavan Hay, a van! (ok, spelled wrong but still)
Navea (18) = Aevan
Neveyah (15) = Hayeven
Naviyah (15) = Hayivan Hay Ivan!
Naveya (14) = Ayevan
Nevea (9) = Aeven
Naviya (9) = Ayivan
Neviyah (7) = Hayiven
Neveaha (6) = Ahaeven- aha! Even!
Nevaha (6) = Ahaven
Neveya (6) = Ayeven
Navaeha (5) = Aheavan
So there you have it. In addition to those heavenly names, there were 979 girls named just "Heaven" (and 35 Heavyns).
There were 117 Heavenlys, 26 Heavenlees, 14 Heavenleighs, and 7 girls named Heavenli.
33 girls got the more vague name of Paradise.
Anyway, like most name trends, this one has spawned a number of spin-offs, alternate spellings and the like. What's funny is that there's only one way to spell "heaven." Thus, all these other names spell something else backwards. Let's take a look at some of them that appeared in the USA in 2010. Some are a bit strange, but I guess they're still better than Lleh or Yrotagrup. Actually, Obmil might be kinda cute.
Spin-offs:
Nevah = Haven (not too bad)
Evaeh = Heave (lol)
Nevaehtnes (there were 5 of these born in 2010)-- I'm assuming it's a form of "heaven sent." However, if you spell the whole thing backwards, it's "sent heaven."
Nevaen = Neaven
Nevaehmarie = I know this is kind of cheating on my part, since it's just Nevaeh + Marie, but still. Backwards it's Eiram heaven.
Kevaeh = Heavek
Levaeh = Heavel
Devaeh = Heaved (Seriously?)
Jevaeh = Heavej
Sevaeh = Heaves
Zevaeh = Heavez
Alt spellings (number given in 2010):
Neveah (295) = Haeven
Navaeh (101) = Heavan
Nevaeha (86) = Aheaven
Naveah (74) = Haevan
Navya (73) = Ayvan
Nevayah (30) = Hayaven
Navia (25) = Aivan (sounds a bit bird-like)
Naveyah (24) = Hayevan
Navaya (23) = Ayavan
Neviah (21) = Haiven
Nevaya (20) = Ayaven
Naviah (19) = Haivan
Navayah (19) = Hayavan Hay, a van! (ok, spelled wrong but still)
Navea (18) = Aevan
Neveyah (15) = Hayeven
Naviyah (15) = Hayivan Hay Ivan!
Naveya (14) = Ayevan
Nevea (9) = Aeven
Naviya (9) = Ayivan
Neviyah (7) = Hayiven
Neveaha (6) = Ahaeven- aha! Even!
Nevaha (6) = Ahaven
Neveya (6) = Ayeven
Navaeha (5) = Aheavan
So there you have it. In addition to those heavenly names, there were 979 girls named just "Heaven" (and 35 Heavyns).
There were 117 Heavenlys, 26 Heavenlees, 14 Heavenleighs, and 7 girls named Heavenli.
33 girls got the more vague name of Paradise.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Survey Anomalies
People fill out my name consultation survey at least 15 times a day for fun (i.e., they don't want a consultation, they just feel like filling out the survey and sending it to me for whatever reason). I usually just delete them, but occasionally I get an interesting one:
*Does the baby have any sisters or brothers? If so, what are their names?
Kohen Lestaht, Maeleigha Reighhne
*Is there any particular language, religion or ethnicity you'd like to find names from?
Christianity
Kohen Lestaht doesn't strike me as being the most Christian name out there! Reighhne with 2 H's?
*Does the baby have any sisters or brothers? If so, what are their names?
Kohen Lestaht, Maeleigha Reighhne
*Is there any particular language, religion or ethnicity you'd like to find names from?
Christianity
Kohen Lestaht doesn't strike me as being the most Christian name out there! Reighhne with 2 H's?
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Does Spelling Matter?
Gaddafi? Kadafi? Qaddafi? What's the correct spelling?
From the Christian Science Monitor By Eoin O'Carroll, CSMonitor.com / February 22, 2011
You say, Gaddafi, we say Qaddafi. Other variations on the leader of Libya include "Gathafi," "Kadafi," and "Gadafy," creating an unholy mess for newspaper editors.
Each time Libya appears in the news, scores of newspaper editors go bananas. Once possessed of faculties that could detect a breaking story as readily as a dangling participle, these poor souls are now reduced to a jabbering stupor, as though they had gazed into the tentacled maw of Cthulhu himself.
Blame it on the name of the country's head of state, Colonel Gaddafi. Wait, no, that's Kaddafi. Or maybe it's Qadhafi. Tell you what, we'll just call him by his first name, which is, er ... hoo boy.
Part of the problem here is that there's no universally accepted authority for transliterating Arabic names. Normally, news outlets will just go with whatever spelling the subject prefers, but this particular subject hasn't settled on a single Roman orthography for his name.
Instead, Libya's Brother Leader lets a hundred flowers bloom. The banner at the top of his official website spells it, "AL Gathafi." But if you go deeper into the site, you'll see it variously rendered as "Al Qaddafi," "Algathafi," and "Al-Gathafi." Adding to the multitude of his spellings is the increasingly ironically named "Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights."
And that's just the surname. Variations on his given name include Muammar, Moammar, Mu'ammar, and Moamar, and many others. Once you've settled on how to spell his first and last names, you then have to decide whether you want to add the Arabic prefix "al-" before his last name. Which can also be spelled "el-." And then you have to decide whether the prefix should be capitalized.
This is the point where most editors give up and run a story on Justin Bieber instead.
RELATED: Justin Bieber cuts his hair
For those few brave editors who press on, the result is a multiplicity of spellings. The Associated Press, CNN, and MSNBC spell it "Moammar Gadhafi." The New York Times spells it "Muammar el-Qaddafi." At the Los Angeles Times, it's "Moammar Kadafi." Reuters, the Guardian, and the BBC go with "Muammar Gaddafi." The Irish Times goes with "Muammar Gadafy." ABC News – which spells it "Moammar Gaddafi" – has posted a list of 112 variations on the English spelling of the Libyan strongman's name.
At The Christian Science Monitor, we go with "Muammar Qaddafi," a spelling that is no more or less defensible than anyone else's.
All this would just be a matter of idle curiosity if it weren't for the Web. Go to Google News and type in "Gadhafi." Now try "Qaddafi." And now try "Gaddafi." Notice how it returns three completely different lists of stories? How you choose to spell it determines what news you get.
This may be the point at which one feel's one's grip on reality loosening. Do we change the spelling to whatever is the most-Google-searched-for rendering? What if it changes again? How do we find stories on our own site if we keep changing the spelling of the guy's name? And where did all these variations come from in the first place, if not the news media? Can't we just get together at the next ASNE conference and all agree to spell it one way? At this point, having a dictator doesn't sound all that bad.
But don't feel sorry for us. After all, it's rare that we can write about someone whose job security actually may be more tenuous than our own.
From the Christian Science Monitor By Eoin O'Carroll, CSMonitor.com / February 22, 2011
You say, Gaddafi, we say Qaddafi. Other variations on the leader of Libya include "Gathafi," "Kadafi," and "Gadafy," creating an unholy mess for newspaper editors.
Each time Libya appears in the news, scores of newspaper editors go bananas. Once possessed of faculties that could detect a breaking story as readily as a dangling participle, these poor souls are now reduced to a jabbering stupor, as though they had gazed into the tentacled maw of Cthulhu himself.
Blame it on the name of the country's head of state, Colonel Gaddafi. Wait, no, that's Kaddafi. Or maybe it's Qadhafi. Tell you what, we'll just call him by his first name, which is, er ... hoo boy.
Part of the problem here is that there's no universally accepted authority for transliterating Arabic names. Normally, news outlets will just go with whatever spelling the subject prefers, but this particular subject hasn't settled on a single Roman orthography for his name.
Instead, Libya's Brother Leader lets a hundred flowers bloom. The banner at the top of his official website spells it, "AL Gathafi." But if you go deeper into the site, you'll see it variously rendered as "Al Qaddafi," "Algathafi," and "Al-Gathafi." Adding to the multitude of his spellings is the increasingly ironically named "Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights."
And that's just the surname. Variations on his given name include Muammar, Moammar, Mu'ammar, and Moamar, and many others. Once you've settled on how to spell his first and last names, you then have to decide whether you want to add the Arabic prefix "al-" before his last name. Which can also be spelled "el-." And then you have to decide whether the prefix should be capitalized.
This is the point where most editors give up and run a story on Justin Bieber instead.
RELATED: Justin Bieber cuts his hair
For those few brave editors who press on, the result is a multiplicity of spellings. The Associated Press, CNN, and MSNBC spell it "Moammar Gadhafi." The New York Times spells it "Muammar el-Qaddafi." At the Los Angeles Times, it's "Moammar Kadafi." Reuters, the Guardian, and the BBC go with "Muammar Gaddafi." The Irish Times goes with "Muammar Gadafy." ABC News – which spells it "Moammar Gaddafi" – has posted a list of 112 variations on the English spelling of the Libyan strongman's name.
At The Christian Science Monitor, we go with "Muammar Qaddafi," a spelling that is no more or less defensible than anyone else's.
All this would just be a matter of idle curiosity if it weren't for the Web. Go to Google News and type in "Gadhafi." Now try "Qaddafi." And now try "Gaddafi." Notice how it returns three completely different lists of stories? How you choose to spell it determines what news you get.
This may be the point at which one feel's one's grip on reality loosening. Do we change the spelling to whatever is the most-Google-searched-for rendering? What if it changes again? How do we find stories on our own site if we keep changing the spelling of the guy's name? And where did all these variations come from in the first place, if not the news media? Can't we just get together at the next ASNE conference and all agree to spell it one way? At this point, having a dictator doesn't sound all that bad.
But don't feel sorry for us. After all, it's rare that we can write about someone whose job security actually may be more tenuous than our own.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Names Really Do Matter!
Especially if you want to name your new government building after former mayer Harry Baals.
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Wednesday, August 11, 2010
The Good baby Names Blog
Lots of people out there document awful, weird, or funny names. This one catalogs the "good ones"
Good Baby Names Blog
Good Baby Names Blog
Monday, August 09, 2010
Everyone Loves Michaela!
The most popular spelling of the name pronounced /mik AY la/ is Makayla, and has been for a number of years. However, the name has become so popular that there are tons of "copycat" names that have arisen because of it. This happens a lot in the world of names. For example, Katelyn became popular, so then we started hearing Kaylin... and then Maylin and Shaelyn.
Here are all the spellings of Michaela from 2009 (followed by # babies given that particular spelling):
Makayla (5197), Mikayla (1810), Michaela(860), Mikaela (589), Mckayla (431), Micaela (232), Makaila (228), Makaylah(222), Makaela (124), Macayla (87), Makala (86), Mikaylah(83), Mykayla (80), Micayla(70), Mikaila (62), Mackayla (60), Mikala (51), Michayla (51), Mekayla (51), Mickayla(31), Michaella (30), Makeyla (30), Makalah (29), Mikalah (28), Makailah (28), Mykaela(27), Michela (27), Mikaella(24), Mykala (23), Mahkayla (22), Mykaila (21), Micheala (20), Mckaylah (19), Macaela(19), Micaella (18), Mkayla (17), Mikeyla (17), Mikela (15), Makeila (15), Mickaela(13), Michala (13), Mikeala (12), Mckaila (12), Mychaela (11), Mikaelah(11), Maykayla(11), Makhayla (11), Mikeila (9), Mikailah (9), Mekaylah(9), Mckaela (9), Machaela(9), Miquela (8), Mykaylah(8), Mikhayla (8), Mikhaila(8), Mikhaela (8), Mikayela(8), Michaelah (8), Mckala (8), Makela (8), Mahkaylah(8), Mykalah (7), Mekaila (7), Makaelah (7), Maikayla (7), Michaila (6), Mccayla (6), Maykala (6), Macaylah (6), Mikaeyla (5), Mickala (5), Mekaela (5), Micaila (5), Makhaila (5), Makaiyla (5), Maekayla (5)
Michaela is off the charts, though. In Addition to Mishayla, Mikayle, Makaylee, Mikyla, Mikaylin and Mikylee, There are spin-off for most of the letters of the alphabet! Here are some from 2009:
Akayla
Dakayla
Jakayla
Lakayla
Markayla
Nakayla
Nakaylee
Rakayla
Rickayla
Sakayla
Shakayla
Takayla
Zakayla
Here are all the spellings of Michaela from 2009 (followed by # babies given that particular spelling):
Makayla (5197), Mikayla (1810), Michaela(860), Mikaela (589), Mckayla (431), Micaela (232), Makaila (228), Makaylah(222), Makaela (124), Macayla (87), Makala (86), Mikaylah(83), Mykayla (80), Micayla(70), Mikaila (62), Mackayla (60), Mikala (51), Michayla (51), Mekayla (51), Mickayla(31), Michaella (30), Makeyla (30), Makalah (29), Mikalah (28), Makailah (28), Mykaela(27), Michela (27), Mikaella(24), Mykala (23), Mahkayla (22), Mykaila (21), Micheala (20), Mckaylah (19), Macaela(19), Micaella (18), Mkayla (17), Mikeyla (17), Mikela (15), Makeila (15), Mickaela(13), Michala (13), Mikeala (12), Mckaila (12), Mychaela (11), Mikaelah(11), Maykayla(11), Makhayla (11), Mikeila (9), Mikailah (9), Mekaylah(9), Mckaela (9), Machaela(9), Miquela (8), Mykaylah(8), Mikhayla (8), Mikhaila(8), Mikhaela (8), Mikayela(8), Michaelah (8), Mckala (8), Makela (8), Mahkaylah(8), Mykalah (7), Mekaila (7), Makaelah (7), Maikayla (7), Michaila (6), Mccayla (6), Maykala (6), Macaylah (6), Mikaeyla (5), Mickala (5), Mekaela (5), Micaila (5), Makhaila (5), Makaiyla (5), Maekayla (5)
Michaela is off the charts, though. In Addition to Mishayla, Mikayle, Makaylee, Mikyla, Mikaylin and Mikylee, There are spin-off for most of the letters of the alphabet! Here are some from 2009:
Akayla
Dakayla
Jakayla
Lakayla
Markayla
Nakayla
Nakaylee
Rakayla
Rickayla
Sakayla
Shakayla
Takayla
Zakayla
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Names that seem related but aren't.
There are a lot of names out there that sound like they are the same, but actually have different sources. Today's example:
Cecilia, Celia and Cecil
All three of these names are Latin in origin, but people often think that Celia is a short form of Cecilia, often to the point where Cecilia is often spelled Cecelia.
Cecilia is a feminine form of the Latin name Caecilius, which means "blind."
Celia is a feminine form of Caelus, which was introduced to English by William Shakespeare for his play As You Like It. It stems from the word caelum, meaning "heaven."
Cecil, in modern use, comes from an anglicization of the Welsh name Sesyllt, which comes from the Latin name Sextilius, meaning "sixth." There are a lot of Latin names that are ordinal numbers:
Primus (still used in its Italian form, Primo)
Secundus
Tertius
Quartus
Quintinus/Quintus (still used in an Anglicised French form-- Quentin)
Sextilius/Sextus
Septimus
Octavius
Nonus (the feminine form, Nona is still occasionally heard today)
Decimus
Cecilia, Celia and Cecil
All three of these names are Latin in origin, but people often think that Celia is a short form of Cecilia, often to the point where Cecilia is often spelled Cecelia.
Cecilia is a feminine form of the Latin name Caecilius, which means "blind."
Celia is a feminine form of Caelus, which was introduced to English by William Shakespeare for his play As You Like It. It stems from the word caelum, meaning "heaven."
Cecil, in modern use, comes from an anglicization of the Welsh name Sesyllt, which comes from the Latin name Sextilius, meaning "sixth." There are a lot of Latin names that are ordinal numbers:
Primus (still used in its Italian form, Primo)
Secundus
Tertius
Quartus
Quintinus/Quintus (still used in an Anglicised French form-- Quentin)
Sextilius/Sextus
Septimus
Octavius
Nonus (the feminine form, Nona is still occasionally heard today)
Decimus
Monday, August 02, 2010
Fun with the Social Security Administration
Every year the Social Security Administration posts a list of the 1000 most popular baby names of the previous year. These lists comprise names down to 194 instances for boys and 263 instances for girls (this means at least 263 or so girls would have to be named something in order for it to appear on the list). This is awesome, but it leaves out a ton of names that are popular, but have a ton of different spellings. Take the name Demitri, for example. if you put all spellings together, there were 576 baby Demetris born last year with 12 different spellings, which, had it been counted, would have ranked somewhere around #415. However, since the most popular spelling only had 191 instances, it didn't appear at all.
I just discovered that they have posted the lists down to 5 instances for boys and girls from last year all the way back to 1880!
So, I am putting all the names together by spelling, so all the Jaydens, Jadens, Jaiden, Jadyns etc. all count together.
Anyway, with instances down to 5, you get a ton more names, and there are a lot of interesting/weird/funky ones out there. I'll post a few.
These are from the BOYS' 2009 list:
First of all, these are either alt spellings or foreign names, but they have weird meanings in English or other languages:
Atom 32 - This is an Armenian form of Adam, but it's kind of funny to name a kid this in English. I hope his last name isn't Baum.
Avion, Chaise - in French these mean "airplane" and "chair."
Dali - probably named after Salvador Dali, but most kids will still call him Dolly.
Some adjectives (these are all girls)
Coy
Gabby - I know this is usually a nickname for Gabriell/a, but on its own?
Golden
Gorgeous
Savvy
Rainy
Marvelous
Naturell
Shy
Sincere
Southern
Sovereign
Steely
Stellar
Victorious
Beautiful
Breezy
Celestial
Classie - I think this is a foreign name, but still!
Crimson - I guess it's no worse than Scarlett
Daily
Fancy
Gracious
Irish
Jazzy
Lovely
Loyal
Majestic
Marvelous
Mystic
And nouns (again, all girls):
Arrow
Belladonna
Breeze
Cinnamon
Cricket
Fanta
Fantasia
Feather
Fedora
Galaxy
Gift
Goddess
Harbor
Heiress
Hunny - because Honey wasn't sweet enough
Island
Jazz
Jubilee
Kindred
Majesty
Mandolin
Maple
Memory
Meridian
Moxie
Nature
Navy
Novella
Paradise
Poet - she'll grow up to be a NASCAR driver, just you watch!
Poetry
Princess
Queen
Rhapsody
Romani
Safari
Saga
Sativa - it sounds pretty, too bad it's the species of marijuana!
Saxon - and her brother, Viking
Season - couldn't decide between Autumn or Summer
Senna
Shadow
Siren
Sundae - nicole Kidman named her daughter Sunday recently, but Sundae?
Tequila
Tomorrow
Twilight
Valkyrie
Verbs:
Shine
Whisper
Sparkle
X-Men Characters -# given)
Angel- (girls- 1857, boys 9762)
Aurora- 1,478
Bishop- 174
Cable- 6
Danger- 5
Darwin- 312
Domino- 6
Gaia- 47
Jubilee- 89
Karma- 366
Mercury- 6
Mirage- 6
Mystique - 6
Omega (girls-9, boys -9)
Phoenix - (girls- 398, boys-814)
Pixie- 31
Rogue - 28
Sage - (girls-784, boys-295)
Storm (girls- 43 , boys - 43)
Sway - 8
More to come because I'm having way too much fun with this!
I just discovered that they have posted the lists down to 5 instances for boys and girls from last year all the way back to 1880!
So, I am putting all the names together by spelling, so all the Jaydens, Jadens, Jaiden, Jadyns etc. all count together.
Anyway, with instances down to 5, you get a ton more names, and there are a lot of interesting/weird/funky ones out there. I'll post a few.
These are from the BOYS' 2009 list:
First of all, these are either alt spellings or foreign names, but they have weird meanings in English or other languages:
Atom 32 - This is an Armenian form of Adam, but it's kind of funny to name a kid this in English. I hope his last name isn't Baum.
Avion, Chaise - in French these mean "airplane" and "chair."
Dali - probably named after Salvador Dali, but most kids will still call him Dolly.
Some adjectives (these are all girls)
Coy
Gabby - I know this is usually a nickname for Gabriell/a, but on its own?
Golden
Gorgeous
Savvy
Rainy
Marvelous
Naturell
Shy
Sincere
Southern
Sovereign
Steely
Stellar
Victorious
Beautiful
Breezy
Celestial
Classie - I think this is a foreign name, but still!
Crimson - I guess it's no worse than Scarlett
Daily
Fancy
Gracious
Irish
Jazzy
Lovely
Loyal
Majestic
Marvelous
Mystic
And nouns (again, all girls):
Arrow
Belladonna
Breeze
Cinnamon
Cricket
Fanta
Fantasia
Feather
Fedora
Galaxy
Gift
Goddess
Harbor
Heiress
Hunny - because Honey wasn't sweet enough
Island
Jazz
Jubilee
Kindred
Majesty
Mandolin
Maple
Memory
Meridian
Moxie
Nature
Navy
Novella
Paradise
Poet - she'll grow up to be a NASCAR driver, just you watch!
Poetry
Princess
Queen
Rhapsody
Romani
Safari
Saga
Sativa - it sounds pretty, too bad it's the species of marijuana!
Saxon - and her brother, Viking
Season - couldn't decide between Autumn or Summer
Senna
Shadow
Siren
Sundae - nicole Kidman named her daughter Sunday recently, but Sundae?
Tequila
Tomorrow
Twilight
Valkyrie
Verbs:
Shine
Whisper
Sparkle
X-Men Characters -# given)
Angel- (girls- 1857, boys 9762)
Aurora- 1,478
Bishop- 174
Cable- 6
Danger- 5
Darwin- 312
Domino- 6
Gaia- 47
Jubilee- 89
Karma- 366
Mercury- 6
Mirage- 6
Mystique - 6
Omega (girls-9, boys -9)
Phoenix - (girls- 398, boys-814)
Pixie- 31
Rogue - 28
Sage - (girls-784, boys-295)
Storm (girls- 43 , boys - 43)
Sway - 8
More to come because I'm having way too much fun with this!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Names really do matter!
Good or Bad, Baby Names Have Long-lasting Effects
By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
posted: 13 June 2010 04:30 pm ET
Choosing a baby name proves to be a challenging task for many parents. And they're wise to work hard at it. A name can have a profound impact on a child that reverberates well into adulthood, a growing body of research suggests.
"There is a reason why baby name books are extremely popular," said David Figlio of Northwestern University in Illinois. "We're always trying to think about the first bit of a child's identity and so if we as a society pay a lot of attention to names it makes a lot of sense that people's names might influence how they think about themselves and the way in which people might think about them."
Plenty of research suggests the name chosen impacts a baby's life well into adulthood. For instance, donning your newborn boy with a girly sounding name could mean behavioral problems later in life. And unique baby names that only your child will have can be a hardship too.
A British study of 3,000 parents released in May suggests one-in-five parents regret the name they chose for a child, many of whom were distressed over the unusual or oddly spelled names they'd chosen. And even those who didn't explicitly regret the name choice admitted there were names they knew now they wished they'd chosen then, according to the study conducted by Bounty.com. [List of history's most popular baby names.]
Girly names
Boys with names traditionally given to girls are more likely to misbehave than their counterparts with masculine names, research suggests.
When in elementary school, boys named Ashley and Shannon, for instance, behave just like their more masculine-named classmates named Brian and other boyish names.
"Once these kids hit sixth grade, all of a sudden the rates of disciplinary problems skyrocket [for those boys with girlish names], and it was much more the case if there happened to be a girl in the grade with that same name," Figlio told LiveScience.
Imagine, Figlio said, having to come face-to-face with your girly name every day when there's a girl in the classroom with a matching moniker. That suggests feelings of self-consciousness, which are perhaps magnified by teasing from others, play a role in the name-behavior link in this case.
Girls given boy names also see an effect. In a 2005 study, Figlio parsed out names by their phonemic sounds and then figured out their likelihood of belonging to a girl. For instance, the names Kayla and Isabella were so phonemically feminine their predicted probability of belonging to a girl was more than 100 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Taylor, Madison and Alexis were phonemically predicted to be twice as likely to belong to boys than girls.
"I found girls with names that are relatively feminine in high school chose advanced coursework in humanities – and less feminine are more likely to choose math and science courses," Figlio said, adding the research focused on high-achieving girls.
He can't say that one causes the other. Perhaps parents treat one daughter, Morgan, differently from an early age than they do her sister Elizabeth, whose name is much more feminine. “Did the parents choose that when they were choosing the name or did the name end up shaping their behavior toward their daughter?” Figlio said.
Socioeconomic status and expectations
Just as a person's accent or clothing can indicate something about that individual's background or character, so can a first name. And just like any other external indicator, names can lie.
Figlio got names from millions of birth certificates, and then broke down each name into more than a thousand phonemic components. He analyzed the names for letter combinations, complexity and other factors, and then used a statistical analysis to figure out the probability that the name belonged to someone of low socioeconomic status.
"Kids who have names [that] from a linguistic perspective are likely to be given by poorly educated parents, those kids ended up being treated differently," Figlio said. "They do worse in school and are less likely to be recommended for gifted [classes] and more likely to be classified as learning disabled."
He specifically looked at more unusual baby names, since with common names people have their individual experiences that can taint one's perspective of that name. Say you went to school with a jerk named George, you're likely to associate that name with negative qualities, regardless of how the name sounds linguistically.
To account for the idea that "dropout moms" might just give their babies poor-sounding names, Figlio included siblings from the same family with both high- and low-status sounding names. (Not all "poor-sounding" names were donned by kids of low socioeconomic status.)
Meeting low expectations
The link between a name and success later in life could have to do with these kids fulfilling others' expectations of them. Names that sound as though they came from a family of low socioeconomic status, might be tagged as less capable of achieving, for instance.
"People draw subconscious cues all the time about people. You meet a person for the first time and without thinking about it on an explicit level you're looking at the way they're walking, what their accent sounds like, how they're dressed, whether they smell ... and you're developing these immediate reactions," Figlio said.
He added, "I think there's probably an evolutionary reason behind that. We're hardwired to try to figure out in a heartbeat whether or not we want to trust somebody, whether we want to run from somebody.”
Today, Figlio said to imagine a teacher on the first day of class looking over his or her roster and trying to figure out what to expect from a child. Plenty of teachers have told Figlio "I have to fight myself from doing this. I see this name ... I think maybe they aren't going to have active parents."
And so the story continues. Children typically meet expectations, research has shown.
Self-esteem
Whether or not your name sounds upper class might not matter if you don’t like it. Accumulating research has shown a strong link between a person's like or dislike of his or her name and high and low self-esteem, respectively.
"The relationship is so strong that when people want to measure self-esteem in a more subtle way you can do it with the name-letter task," said Jean Twenge of San Diego State University, referring to a method in which subjects report whether they like different letters of the alphabet. Those with high self-esteem will say they like those letters in their names, particularly the first letter, she said.
It makes sense if you think about how much a part of a person a name really is.
"Our names really are wrapped up in our identity, and that might be why you get this somewhat surprising finding at least in some areas," Twenge said during a telephone interview. "People who particularly dislike their name and also if other people think it's an odd and unlikeable name, that can cause some problems. [They] tend not to be as well-adjusted."
Unusual vs. common names
When it's time to pick baby's name, there are two types of parents, those who want an unusual baby name and those who prefer a more common name donned by lots of kids.
Turns out, even if the particular name chosen doesn't make a difference in a child's success later in life, whether or not that name is common or unusual does matter.
The difference between choosing, say, one of five common, relatively likeable names is small in terms of any impact on the child’s life. "If you're choosing between a relatively likeable, common name and one that is really odd, that definitely could have an impact," Twenge said.
"Some of it ends up being a proxy for the parents' philosophy on life in general," Twenge said. "The parent who says 'I want my kid to be unique and stand out' and gives their kid a name that’s uncommon, probably will have a parenting style that emphasizes uniqueness and standing out."
She added, "So it ends up building on itself. The type of parent who would give a really unusual name is often going to parent differently from a parent who says 'I want to give my child a name so they fit in.'"
Twenge's recent research suggests parents are, in fact, choosing more unusual baby names than decades ago.
Baby-naming advice books and blogs often suggest changing up the spelling of a common, or on-the-rise, name, in order to add some flare. Preliminary results from Figlio’s work suggest that may not be wise. Children with a deviant spelling of a common name tended to have slowed spelling and reading capabilities.
"That suggests a lot about internalizing," Figlio said. “You have the child named Jennifer spelled with a "G" – her teacher says 'Are you sure your name is spelled that way?' That can be incredibly hard on a person's confidence.”
All this parents end up realizing, as the Bounty study shows: One-fifth of parents in the British study wished they had chosen a name that was easier to spell; 8 percent were fed up with people being unable to pronounce the child’s name; and one in 10 thought the chosen name was clever at the time, but said the novelty had worn off.
By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Managing Editor
posted: 13 June 2010 04:30 pm ET
Choosing a baby name proves to be a challenging task for many parents. And they're wise to work hard at it. A name can have a profound impact on a child that reverberates well into adulthood, a growing body of research suggests.
"There is a reason why baby name books are extremely popular," said David Figlio of Northwestern University in Illinois. "We're always trying to think about the first bit of a child's identity and so if we as a society pay a lot of attention to names it makes a lot of sense that people's names might influence how they think about themselves and the way in which people might think about them."
Plenty of research suggests the name chosen impacts a baby's life well into adulthood. For instance, donning your newborn boy with a girly sounding name could mean behavioral problems later in life. And unique baby names that only your child will have can be a hardship too.
A British study of 3,000 parents released in May suggests one-in-five parents regret the name they chose for a child, many of whom were distressed over the unusual or oddly spelled names they'd chosen. And even those who didn't explicitly regret the name choice admitted there were names they knew now they wished they'd chosen then, according to the study conducted by Bounty.com. [List of history's most popular baby names.]
Girly names
Boys with names traditionally given to girls are more likely to misbehave than their counterparts with masculine names, research suggests.
When in elementary school, boys named Ashley and Shannon, for instance, behave just like their more masculine-named classmates named Brian and other boyish names.
"Once these kids hit sixth grade, all of a sudden the rates of disciplinary problems skyrocket [for those boys with girlish names], and it was much more the case if there happened to be a girl in the grade with that same name," Figlio told LiveScience.
Imagine, Figlio said, having to come face-to-face with your girly name every day when there's a girl in the classroom with a matching moniker. That suggests feelings of self-consciousness, which are perhaps magnified by teasing from others, play a role in the name-behavior link in this case.
Girls given boy names also see an effect. In a 2005 study, Figlio parsed out names by their phonemic sounds and then figured out their likelihood of belonging to a girl. For instance, the names Kayla and Isabella were so phonemically feminine their predicted probability of belonging to a girl was more than 100 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, Taylor, Madison and Alexis were phonemically predicted to be twice as likely to belong to boys than girls.
"I found girls with names that are relatively feminine in high school chose advanced coursework in humanities – and less feminine are more likely to choose math and science courses," Figlio said, adding the research focused on high-achieving girls.
He can't say that one causes the other. Perhaps parents treat one daughter, Morgan, differently from an early age than they do her sister Elizabeth, whose name is much more feminine. “Did the parents choose that when they were choosing the name or did the name end up shaping their behavior toward their daughter?” Figlio said.
Socioeconomic status and expectations
Just as a person's accent or clothing can indicate something about that individual's background or character, so can a first name. And just like any other external indicator, names can lie.
Figlio got names from millions of birth certificates, and then broke down each name into more than a thousand phonemic components. He analyzed the names for letter combinations, complexity and other factors, and then used a statistical analysis to figure out the probability that the name belonged to someone of low socioeconomic status.
"Kids who have names [that] from a linguistic perspective are likely to be given by poorly educated parents, those kids ended up being treated differently," Figlio said. "They do worse in school and are less likely to be recommended for gifted [classes] and more likely to be classified as learning disabled."
He specifically looked at more unusual baby names, since with common names people have their individual experiences that can taint one's perspective of that name. Say you went to school with a jerk named George, you're likely to associate that name with negative qualities, regardless of how the name sounds linguistically.
To account for the idea that "dropout moms" might just give their babies poor-sounding names, Figlio included siblings from the same family with both high- and low-status sounding names. (Not all "poor-sounding" names were donned by kids of low socioeconomic status.)
Meeting low expectations
The link between a name and success later in life could have to do with these kids fulfilling others' expectations of them. Names that sound as though they came from a family of low socioeconomic status, might be tagged as less capable of achieving, for instance.
"People draw subconscious cues all the time about people. You meet a person for the first time and without thinking about it on an explicit level you're looking at the way they're walking, what their accent sounds like, how they're dressed, whether they smell ... and you're developing these immediate reactions," Figlio said.
He added, "I think there's probably an evolutionary reason behind that. We're hardwired to try to figure out in a heartbeat whether or not we want to trust somebody, whether we want to run from somebody.”
Today, Figlio said to imagine a teacher on the first day of class looking over his or her roster and trying to figure out what to expect from a child. Plenty of teachers have told Figlio "I have to fight myself from doing this. I see this name ... I think maybe they aren't going to have active parents."
And so the story continues. Children typically meet expectations, research has shown.
Self-esteem
Whether or not your name sounds upper class might not matter if you don’t like it. Accumulating research has shown a strong link between a person's like or dislike of his or her name and high and low self-esteem, respectively.
"The relationship is so strong that when people want to measure self-esteem in a more subtle way you can do it with the name-letter task," said Jean Twenge of San Diego State University, referring to a method in which subjects report whether they like different letters of the alphabet. Those with high self-esteem will say they like those letters in their names, particularly the first letter, she said.
It makes sense if you think about how much a part of a person a name really is.
"Our names really are wrapped up in our identity, and that might be why you get this somewhat surprising finding at least in some areas," Twenge said during a telephone interview. "People who particularly dislike their name and also if other people think it's an odd and unlikeable name, that can cause some problems. [They] tend not to be as well-adjusted."
Unusual vs. common names
When it's time to pick baby's name, there are two types of parents, those who want an unusual baby name and those who prefer a more common name donned by lots of kids.
Turns out, even if the particular name chosen doesn't make a difference in a child's success later in life, whether or not that name is common or unusual does matter.
The difference between choosing, say, one of five common, relatively likeable names is small in terms of any impact on the child’s life. "If you're choosing between a relatively likeable, common name and one that is really odd, that definitely could have an impact," Twenge said.
"Some of it ends up being a proxy for the parents' philosophy on life in general," Twenge said. "The parent who says 'I want my kid to be unique and stand out' and gives their kid a name that’s uncommon, probably will have a parenting style that emphasizes uniqueness and standing out."
She added, "So it ends up building on itself. The type of parent who would give a really unusual name is often going to parent differently from a parent who says 'I want to give my child a name so they fit in.'"
Twenge's recent research suggests parents are, in fact, choosing more unusual baby names than decades ago.
Baby-naming advice books and blogs often suggest changing up the spelling of a common, or on-the-rise, name, in order to add some flare. Preliminary results from Figlio’s work suggest that may not be wise. Children with a deviant spelling of a common name tended to have slowed spelling and reading capabilities.
"That suggests a lot about internalizing," Figlio said. “You have the child named Jennifer spelled with a "G" – her teacher says 'Are you sure your name is spelled that way?' That can be incredibly hard on a person's confidence.”
All this parents end up realizing, as the Bounty study shows: One-fifth of parents in the British study wished they had chosen a name that was easier to spell; 8 percent were fed up with people being unable to pronounce the child’s name; and one in 10 thought the chosen name was clever at the time, but said the novelty had worn off.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Awesome blog
Check Out: http://nameoftheyear.blogspot.com/-- a blog devoted to strange names. An awesome read!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Meet 'Flicity & Conna', the new baby names from the texting generation
The nice thing about baby names is that even older articles are usually still relevant.
By LUKE SALKED
Last updated at 08:06 31 March 2008
Read more:
ore parents are giving their children names derived from texting language
Given the unstoppable rise of text language, it was only a matter of time before children's names went the way of traditional English.
Sure enough, text-style versions have begun to appear on birth certificates.
Anne has been changed to An, Connor to Conna and Laura to Lora.
Six boys were named Cam'ron instead of Cameron. According to the online parenting club Bounty, one girl born last month was named Flicity. And there are numerous young chaps named Samiul.
Last year, a couple were told they would not be allowed to register their son's name as 4Real.
Officials in New Zealand ruled that the use of a number made it inappropriate, so Pat and Sheena Wheaton had to opt for their second choice - Superman.
In this country, other bizarre choices officially registered have included Ikea for a girl as well as Moet for a boy whose parents might have a soft spot for the champagne label.
The trend is thought to be inspired by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, who named her daughter Apple, and Jamie Oliver, who has daughters Daisy Boo and Poppy Honey.
Bounty spokesman Pauline Kent said: "Some of these new and different names are a way for parents to give their children a unique identity.
"It is similar to the thinking that goes in to naming a new brand of product for example - something to make them stand out from the crowd."
Others in recent registers have followed the example of the Beckhams, who named their eldest son after the place where he was conceived.
But while David and Victoria chose Brooklyn, children in Britain have been named after places such as Finchley in North London and the cathedral city of Ely in Cambridgeshire.
Both are male names. Other examples of unusually-titled boys registered in the past 12 months include Rocky, Rivers and Red.
As well as Ikea, recent girls' names have included Paprica, Caramel, Bambi, Fire-Lily, Skylark and Tame - which apparently stands for The Apple of My Eye.
On the text-style names, John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said it was possible that new mothers and fathers had lost the ability to spell.
He added: "Some of it is genuine misspelling; some is parents looking for a unique way to spell a name and some is just carelessness.
"It makes life very difficult for teachers taking the register and completing forms."
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-550688/Meet-Flicity--Conna-new-baby-names-texting-generation.html#ixzz0neTws8O3
Report: Lord Jesus Christ Hit by Mass. Car
Updated: Friday, 07 May 2010, 1:18 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 07 May 2010, 1:18 PM EDT
(NewsCore) - Cops in Northampton, Mass., issued a traffic citation this week to a driver whose car hit Lord Jesus Christ, WWLP reported Friday.
The crash happened Tuesday on Main Street in front of Fitzwilly's, Northampton.
Lt. Michael Patenaude told 22News a 50-year-old man, Lord Jesus Christ of Belchertown, was struck as he crossed Main Street a little after 3:30pm Eastern Time.
Twenty-year-old Brittany Cantarella of Pittsfield was cited for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
Lord Jesus Christ was treated for facial injuries at Cooley Dickinson Hospital.
Lt. Patenaude said the man had a Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles identification card. Officers checked his ID and discovered that, indeed, his legal name was Lord Jesus Christ.
I suppose it's better than naming your kid Satan.
Monday, May 10, 2010
The Twilight Effect: Why Do So Many Parents Choose The Same Baby Names?
From Time Magazine:
By Claire Suddath Monday, May. 10, 2010
People are naming their children after vampires. The Social Security Administration has released its list of 2009's most popular baby names, and the leading choices were Isabella and Jacob. Both names just happen to belong to main characters in the Twilight book series. True, Isabella has been trending steadily upwards since the 1990s and Jacob has been in the top spot for 10 years in a row (thus predating 2005's Twilight). But one of the rising names is almost certainly the result of Stephanie Meyers' blood-sucking romance: Cullen. The last name of Meyer's sexy main vampire jumped 297 spots in one year and is now the 485th most popular first name for a baby boy. (Read TIME's Q&A with Kristen Stewart.)
Cullen is also part of a larger trend: two-syllable male names that end in the sound "-en." Aiden is another example (12th most popular name). So is Jayden (#8), Logan (#17), Nathan (#24), Kevin (#44), Justin (#46) and a name I've never heard of before — Brayden. At #47, it means I'll probably start meeting a number of Braydens in about 20 years. Likewise, nearly half of the 50 most popular girl names end in "-a," just like Isabella. Why does this happen? Why do parents so often choose the same names for their newborns?
The short answer is because people copy each other, and no one likes to be that unique. Just as fashion and music trends wax and wane, so do baby names. Girls born in the 1980s were given perky, peppy monikers that ended in "-y" or "-ie" — Tiffany, Ashley, Katie, Brittany. These days it's all about the soft, feminine ending: Isabella, Emma, Kayla and Ella. Sociologists and journalists often propose their own theories about child names, though they usually end up being nothing more than unfounded speculation. CBS News once asserted that Emma became popular in 2002 because Jennifer Aniston's character named her child that on Friends. But Emma had been on the rise since the 1980s and it broke into the top 20 a full three years before Rachel and Ross had their fictional night of passion. Friends probably had very little to do with it.
Dig a little deeper, and baby name trends become much more complicated. According to Harvard University's Roland Fryer and the University of Chicago's Steven Levitt, blacks and whites chose similar names for their babies until the 1970s, when hospitals began seeing a rise in so-called "black" names such as Ebony, Shanice or Darnell. The racial name divide is now so strong that Fryer and Levitt claim that 40% of all African-American babies born in California are given a name that doesn't appear on even a single white birth certificate. (They limited their study to California for simplicity's sake). (Comment on this story.)
Geography can also play a part. In 2009, Hebrew University researchers Jacob Goldenberg and Moshe Levy looked at names' varying popularity among different U.S. states, and found that people are likely to give their kids names that are popular in their town, city, or state. Judging from the Social Security's name database, they seem to be right. Isabella broke the top 5 most popular list first in Colorado and Rhode Island. From Colorado, it spread to California, Nevada and Arizona. From Rhode Island it hit Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. Now it's all over the country.
But why did it start in Colorado and Rhode Island? And what happened in 1991 to suddenly shoot the name up 210 spots, from 698 to a still fairly uncommon 488, in just one year? Unfortunately, no one really knows. Ultimately, baby names remain subject to the whims of the people who bestow them. Parents are responsible for all the Isabellas, Emmas and Madisons in the world, not to mention the creative misspellings (Keighty instead of Katie, Danyale instead of Danielle) certain to drive their children mad for the rest of their lives.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1988092,00.html#ixzz0nY3BIg2W
By Claire Suddath Monday, May. 10, 2010
People are naming their children after vampires. The Social Security Administration has released its list of 2009's most popular baby names, and the leading choices were Isabella and Jacob. Both names just happen to belong to main characters in the Twilight book series. True, Isabella has been trending steadily upwards since the 1990s and Jacob has been in the top spot for 10 years in a row (thus predating 2005's Twilight). But one of the rising names is almost certainly the result of Stephanie Meyers' blood-sucking romance: Cullen. The last name of Meyer's sexy main vampire jumped 297 spots in one year and is now the 485th most popular first name for a baby boy. (Read TIME's Q&A with Kristen Stewart.)
Cullen is also part of a larger trend: two-syllable male names that end in the sound "-en." Aiden is another example (12th most popular name). So is Jayden (#8), Logan (#17), Nathan (#24), Kevin (#44), Justin (#46) and a name I've never heard of before — Brayden. At #47, it means I'll probably start meeting a number of Braydens in about 20 years. Likewise, nearly half of the 50 most popular girl names end in "-a," just like Isabella. Why does this happen? Why do parents so often choose the same names for their newborns?
The short answer is because people copy each other, and no one likes to be that unique. Just as fashion and music trends wax and wane, so do baby names. Girls born in the 1980s were given perky, peppy monikers that ended in "-y" or "-ie" — Tiffany, Ashley, Katie, Brittany. These days it's all about the soft, feminine ending: Isabella, Emma, Kayla and Ella. Sociologists and journalists often propose their own theories about child names, though they usually end up being nothing more than unfounded speculation. CBS News once asserted that Emma became popular in 2002 because Jennifer Aniston's character named her child that on Friends. But Emma had been on the rise since the 1980s and it broke into the top 20 a full three years before Rachel and Ross had their fictional night of passion. Friends probably had very little to do with it.
Dig a little deeper, and baby name trends become much more complicated. According to Harvard University's Roland Fryer and the University of Chicago's Steven Levitt, blacks and whites chose similar names for their babies until the 1970s, when hospitals began seeing a rise in so-called "black" names such as Ebony, Shanice or Darnell. The racial name divide is now so strong that Fryer and Levitt claim that 40% of all African-American babies born in California are given a name that doesn't appear on even a single white birth certificate. (They limited their study to California for simplicity's sake). (Comment on this story.)
Geography can also play a part. In 2009, Hebrew University researchers Jacob Goldenberg and Moshe Levy looked at names' varying popularity among different U.S. states, and found that people are likely to give their kids names that are popular in their town, city, or state. Judging from the Social Security's name database, they seem to be right. Isabella broke the top 5 most popular list first in Colorado and Rhode Island. From Colorado, it spread to California, Nevada and Arizona. From Rhode Island it hit Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey. Now it's all over the country.
But why did it start in Colorado and Rhode Island? And what happened in 1991 to suddenly shoot the name up 210 spots, from 698 to a still fairly uncommon 488, in just one year? Unfortunately, no one really knows. Ultimately, baby names remain subject to the whims of the people who bestow them. Parents are responsible for all the Isabellas, Emmas and Madisons in the world, not to mention the creative misspellings (Keighty instead of Katie, Danyale instead of Danielle) certain to drive their children mad for the rest of their lives.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1988092,00.html#ixzz0nY3BIg2W
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