My newspaper column

[ckevans]

I have begun writing a column on names that at this point will be appearing every other Tuesday in the Omaha World-Herald. At the moment you seem to be able to look at in online. I'm not sure I really want it to be online, as my ultimate goal is to get the column syndicated, but at least you all can look at it for now. The topic for the first column was suggested by the editor. I hope you all like it.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10232182

[Mirth]

Hey, cool :)

But yes, syndication is apparently the way to go :)

[nomdeplume]

Congratulations on the new column. That's intriguing info about Martin Luther King's original name.

I'll look forward to seeing more columns, and I'd love to see it get syndicated so it could be in my local paper. There are a lot of columns that are accessible online and also syndicated, so I hope that will prove true for yours. Good luck!

[ckevans]

P.S. If the above link does not take you directly to the column, use the search function with my name "cleveland evans" and look for the article titled "He's known as Martin but was born Michael."

[Cricket28]

Interesting article. I didn't know that. I hope that we can continue to read your articles...either in syndication or online.

[IAmErica]

That was really interesting! I can't wait to see more in the future!

[KNY]

Really interesting - I didn't know that Martin Luther King's birth name was Michael! It just doesn't have the same ring to it as "Martin Luther".

And Yolanda doesn't seem like such an odd name to me either (or at least, not so odd that people would not know how to pronounce it).

Congrats on the column!

[LaLaLalena]

That's so interesting! Who woulda thunk?

Congratz on the column!

[Jennifer]

Congratulations! Great start.

[Rusalka]

Great stuff, really interesting article :)

[ckevans]

Here is my second column for the World Herald.I think the editor's changes on this one make is sound a bit blander and more simplistic than what I originally wrote, but all the information seems to still be correct. :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10244028

[LaLaLalena]

Love the new one! It's so cool that you relate it to current events!

[Panya]

There are tonnes of babies in my area named after the extremely popular Brady Quinn [Notre Dame quarterback 2003-2006], so I'm sure he's also had a bit to do with Brady's rise in use. :)

[ckevans]

Here is the next of my columns:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10256156

[retro]

I was thinking about President's names the other day... and how it seems like the age of mass media has taken away much of the intrigue and heroic power away from the office of the President (and the men who have occupied it). I wonder if this is one reason why fewer families are choosing Presidential names these days. Presidents have become more of an "everyman" instead of an icon or champion figure...

anyway... wonderful columns!

[LaLaLalena]

Love it, as usual.

I personally wouldn't name my kid after a president, but if I liked a name and it happened to also be a President's name, then I'd still use it.

[KNY]

Interesting article!

I agree that the Presidential surnames fit in well with the overall surname trend that is popular now.

It will be interesting to see what happens in terms of namesakes if we have our first ever president without an Anglo surname.

[ckevans]

Actually, we've had four Presidents without Anglo (or Scottish or Irish) surnames: Van Buren, the two Roosevelts, and Eisenhower. Van Buren and Roosevelt have occasionally become first names, but I have yet to run across Eisenhower used that way. :)

[ckevans]

And here is the fourth published column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10267894

[angiems]

It's funny I haven't seen your columns before--I read the World Herald just about every day now. I'll definitely look for it from now on!

[ckevans]

Here is a link to this week's column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10280441

I do think the editors sometimes leave out some of the most interesting bits in my column. For instance, this week the left out the fact that Howey and his pal came up with the name "Colleen Moore" while they were drinking in a Chicago bar. :)

[Mirth]

Oh, I wish this weeks column could be printed in very large letters on billboards across the US. Heh.

[KNY]

Very interesting!

Can I ask a related question is "Callie" (of any spelling, rhymes with Sally) an Irish name?

The past 5 years or so, I have been getting a lot of "Oh, that's Irish!" or "You must be Irish!" when people hear my name. I got it just today which is why it's on my mind.

[IAmErica]

What fun info! I love your articles! I always learn something new! BTW, I have a friend whose name is Erin Colleen... Guess it isn't Irish at all, at all...

[LaLaLalena]

How interesting! Is the similar Noreen used in Ireland commonly?

[ckevans]

Here is a link to my latest column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10304129

[MelissaJane]

Wait, Jack's been the top name for boys in England for twelve years?? Really? Wow.

GREAT column - you answered a bunch of questions that have been annoying me on and off for years. So thanks!

[nomdeplume]

Excellent column! As a Margaret who sometimes goes by Peggy, I've been asked that question a lot. (Daphne is a nn that came from a part I played in a college theater production -- long story).

As a kid, I read a biography of Martha Washington, focusing on her childhood. Apparently she was called Patsy as a little girl.

[LaLaLalena]

Neat! There was a thread on NNA not too long ago about nns.

[angiems]

I SAW YOUR COLUMN IN THE PAPER YESTERDAY!!! I read the title, thought "that sounds interesting", started reading, got into it... and then realized that this was the column I'd been hearing so much about! Really enjoyed it and, of course, learned a bit :)

[ckevans]

Here is a link to the latest column which was in the World Herald on Tuesday:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10316084

When I got to the office this morning I had a phone message from a man who obviously was just learning English, as he had trouble finding even simple words. But he said his name was Cuauhtemoc, and he wanted to thank me for telling people about his name. That made my day. :)

[Sobes]

Neat article.

[LaLaLalena]

How cool that that person called to thank you! Neat article!

[cinerdy]

Cool! Though we already have a large Mexican population here in Chicago so I bet there is a fair number of folks who can say Cuauhtemoc. :wink:

[ckevans]

Here is the latest column. The editor suggested the topic.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10327492

[nomdeplume]

The editor suggested the topic.

Is the editor's name David, by any chance? :happy:

I've always loved the name David. It stays perpetually near the top of my list. So I found this entry really interesting.

Your columns are great! I look forward to them.

[cinerdy]

It was my mom's favorite name that she never got to use. I will have to pass this on to her, thanks!

[ckevans]

Is the editor's name David, by any chance? :happy:



No, the editor's name is Melissa. I assume that since she's much younger than I am that she watches American Idol. I never see the program myself. :lol:

[Sobes]

I was wondering why that name seemed more common historically than a lot of other Biblical names.

[KNY]

My mother used the name David for my brother for exactly the reason you mentioned - it's common to both Jewish and Christian tradition. She wanted a Jewish name that would work well for any culture or religion. Good article!

[Panya]

I've always adored the name David, and really wanted to use it for a son -- but my husband has both a brother and an uncle named David, and that's too many for me!

Story about the brother and uncle:
My MIL wanted to name her youngest son David Leon II, after FIL's younger brother, but the nurses at the hospital in FL where he was born wouldn't let her, since the uncle wasn't the father. She named him David Allen instead.

[Zabbie]

Very interesting to read all about David, thanks; it's my Dad's name! It was only ranked number 64 in England and Wales last year and seems to be gradually falling each year.

[ckevans]

Here is this week's column, though you all probably know the information in this one already! :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10338866

[Panya]

Nice column, very informative.

[ckevans]

And here's today' column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10348704

Would also love to have your ideas on why parents in states like Nebraska and Kansas are so much more likely to use names like Addison and Caden than those along the East Coast are. :)

[ckevans]

And here's the latest column. It's longer than usual -- the editor wanted it that way so I could give a full explanation of both names.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10359658

[Zabbie]

What a fascinating article!

[Sobes]

That is a really interesting.

I'm still thinking about your second to last one, but I don't have any answers about why Nebraska is Addison country. All I can say is I'm pretty sure Iowa is, too, but Iowa City, at least the parts I run into, is not.

[ckevans]

And here is the latest column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10370715

[~Kim~]

Very interesting article! I never thought about Liberty being a popular name at other times in history. I took great interest in your article because of my friend's nieces. They both live in Lincoln, NE, & their names are Justice (age 6) and Liberty (age 14 months).

[speechykeen]

I don't know about the 90s, but in 2001 there was a movie with a female Justice in the lead: Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Has quite cult following!

[KNY]

Another idea about the name Justice is David Justice, the baseball player & former husband of Halle Berry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Justice

Not that I think all these people named their children after him, but having his name mentioned as a famous celebrity would put the word Justice into their minds.

----

ETA: And I'm behind in reading these articles, but I just read the McCain & Obama one - very informative! And I like how you pointed out the similarities in them both having traditional/family names.

[nomdeplume]

I used to know a Liberty, nn Libby, who was born either in the late 1970s. Her hippie-ish parents thought they were being quite original.

I don't have a clue about why Justice had such an abrupt surge in popularity for girls in the mid-90s but I'd love to know the answer when you find it.

Personally I'd be more likely to name a child Liberty than Justice. As a name, it doesn't seem to carry quite such a heavy weight of expectations.

[IAmErica]

The movie Poetic Justice was released in 1993 with Janet Jackson as a girl named Justice.

[KNY]

The movie Poetic Justice was released in 1993 with Janet Jackson as a girl named Justice.

Oh yeah - now that you say it, I remember that! She was a poet named Justice. I remember thinking that was the coolest idea for a play on words - "poetic" Justice.

[ckevans]

And here is the next column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10381270

[Panya]

My best friend in grade school had a mother named Roxanne -- as an eight-year-old, that was the first time I'd ever heard the name, and I thought it was wonderfully exotic [I remember she was Italian, with beautiful long brown curly hair]. A couple of years later I had a schoolmate named Roxy, who was quirky and strange, and suddenly the name didn't seem so great to me.

So I think I like Roxanne/Roxana [similar to Oksana/Oxana, which I love], but I definitely don't like the nn Roxy.

[ckevans]

And here's this week's column. I can't decide if I like the headline the editor put over it or not. (As with most newspaper articles, the writer does not get to choose the titles!) :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10392625

[KNY]

Good article - I agree with you that the headline is kind of off though.

[ckevans]

Here is a link to the latest column. The editor wanted me to write on this topic because Dolly Parton gave a big concert in Omaha this week. I think it's the column that was changed the least by the editor from what I actually wrote. Evidently I'm learning how to write like a journalist. :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10403538

[nomdeplume]

Very interesting! I knew that Dolly was a nn for Dorothy, but I always assumed that it was also a nod to toy dolls, rather than the other way around.

I wonder why Doll and Dolly lent their names to all these other uses while Susie, for instance, did not. Hey, maybe there's a column in that -- names that evolved into common words. I don't mean names of particular individuals, like Boycott, but ordinary names that became words. Usually it seems that a word becomes a name, not vice versa.

Yes, journalistic writing is an art unto itself. And you do it very well. :happy:

[ckevans]

Here is the link to the latest column. I am NOT deliberately trying to promote any of the TV shows mentioned in it. It's just that the editors like me to link the column to some upcoming event, and the only one I could think of for the end of August was the new TV season starting in the USA! I almost never watch commercial TV any more myself. Those of you who do can perhaps tell me if any of the shows mentioned in the column really have a possibility of becoming popular with the 16-35 year old "naming" generation. :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10415727

[ckevans]

And this week's column. Hope people on both sides of the presidential race think I was fair:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10427620

[lacascada]

Here is a link to this week's column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10280441

I do think the editors sometimes leave out some of the most interesting bits in my column. For instance, this week the left out the fact that Howey and his pal came up with the name "Colleen Moore" while they were drinking in a Chicago bar. :)

My (Irish) S.O. always comments on the (he thinks silly) use of Irish surnames as first names here too. I don't think that;s anywhere near as common in Ireland.

[nomdeplume]

Regarding your column on TV show names (Aug 26, 2008), I've often noticed that TV characters' names are out of synch with their ages. Usually the name is one that's popular or up-and-coming for kids a generation or more younger than the character. This seems to be especially true with soap opera characters for some reason.

I wonder which is the chicken and which is the egg. Are parents being inspired by names they hear on TV? Or are TV producers are choosing hot names in the hope that viewers will connect with the characters? Probably it's some of both.

As a writer, I try to choose names appropriate for a character's age, but I sometimes skew them a bit younger so that if a reader happens upon one of my stories 15 years from now, the name of a 35-year-old character will still work for a 35-year-old and won't make her seem as if she should be 50.

[ckevans]

Regarding your column on TV show names (Aug 26, 2008), I've often noticed that TV characters' names are out of synch with their ages. Usually the name is one that's popular or up-and-coming for kids a generation or more younger than the character. This seems to be especially true with soap opera characters for some reason.

I wonder which is the chicken and which is the egg. Are parents being inspired by names they hear on TV? Or are TV producers are choosing hot names in the hope that viewers will connect with the characters? Probably it's some of both.



Well, yes, of course. And it can be BOTH the "chicken and the egg". There are some striking instances where a name which was increasing in use for newborns with the general public is picked up for an adult character on a TV show and then has an sudden acceleration of its boom with the general public. One of the most recent examples is "Addison": it had already been discovered by some parents as a "different but not too different" alternative to Madison, which inspired the writers on Grey's Anatomy to use it for their character (highly inappropriate for a woman her age), and then the name really skyrocketed as thousands of other parents discovered the name on the show. :)

[ckevans]

Here's a link to my latest column. Hope you like it.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10440083

[ckevans]

Here's a link to today's column. I hope those of you from a Jewish background don't think it's too oversimplified:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10452661

[KNY]

Here's a link to today's column. I hope those of you from a Jewish background don't think it's too oversimplified:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10452661

Good article! (I'm Jewish)

The only thing I'd add is, even someone named Fruma would have a different Hebrew name for temple. Fruma is a Yiddish name, not Hebrew.

On the I/Irving note -- my grandfather's Hebrew name is Yeshayahu (Isaiah), but his name is Sherwin. I guess the connection is the "sh" sound? His mother would have been a Babynamer though, if it was around 100 years ago, she gave her kids unusual names!

[ckevans]

Here's the next one:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10465063

[Sobes]

Fun!

[cinerdy]

Ack! The first time I heard the name Gage was in the movie and I DID fall in love with the name . . . but ruled it out b/c of the horror attached to it!

[cinerdy]

My (Irish) S.O. always comments on the (he thinks silly) use of Irish surnames as first names here too. I don't think that;s anywhere near as common in Ireland.

Rather how like no one on NJ would name their kid Camden or Trenton, two of the foulest cities on the face of the Earth. (No offense to anyone who lives there, though those are usually the first people to agree!)

[Panya]

I adore the name Gage, and it's on our short list for a son [my 50-something FIL loves it too]. I did first notice it when I read Pet Sematary, and like it anyway. I actually heard it on a person IRL for the first time a couple of weeks ago -- the boy was probably about 14.

[Zabbie]

I really enjoyed reading the columns. It was a surprise to me, when I joined this site, how popular Audrey is in the US. It was ranked 840 in the UK last year, despite us being just as familiar with the fabulous Audrey Hepburn! It still seems very dated to me personally, possibly because my dad has a cousin called Audrey who must be about 60 years-old.

[ckevans]

And here's the latest: now with election predictions! :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10267894

[nomdeplume]

Hmm, when I click on the link shown above for the latest column, what shows up is a column from last February. :scratch:

ETA: I found the column here:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10477290

Very interesting theory. Tomorrow we'll know if the formula worked this time. I'd love to know more details so we could assess how it worked for local races.

[ckevans]

Sorry for the mistaken link last week.

Here is this week's column. And Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the USA. :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10490486

[jezebel]

Very interesting! I know two girls named Patience.

[Panya]

I have an ancestor named Mercy that was born in the 1600s. :)

[nomdeplume]

One of the Johns and one of the Elizabeths who took part in the first Thanksgiving are among my ancestors. They were married a couple of years later and had 10 children, whose names were an interesting mix of the new and traditional styles:

Desire
John
Hope
Elizabeth
Lydia
Hannah
Joseph
Jabez
Ruth
Isaac

Desire and Jabez were always the ones that I found particularly intriguing.

[ckevans]

Here's this week's column. They cut the last paragraph where I said I thought Malia would rise in use a lot more than Sasha because its sound fits in with names popular in African-American culture; must not have had enough space.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219...;u_sid=10502679 (http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10502679)

[Zabbie]

Sasha's a pretty name, and I can imagine it becoming more popular. I'm not quite as keen on Malia (the mal part puts me off), but the girls are adorable, and I'm sure that will have an impact!

[KNY]

Also, it's worth a mention that Sasha's real name is Natasha.

Interesting about the Kennedys!

[ckevans]

Here's the next one. Thanks to everyone for their help! :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10515194

[Zabbie]

A very interesting article. I still have more negative associations with Tallulah than postive ones, despite my husband's best efforts to talk me into it!

[ckevans]

Here's the next column , inspired by the 2008 names list from Scotland. I wish I had had more room in this one to deal with other interesting things from that data.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10525562

[Zabbie]

I wish I had had more room in this one to deal with other interesting things from that data.



Feel free to elaborate further on the boards! :)

I don't really understand why people name their children Rosie and Sam, rather than Rose nn Rosie and Samuel nn Sam. It makes more sense to me to have a formal name and a nice nickname; kind of like getting two names for the price of one!

[ckevans]

Here's the latest column, which is on the ANS Name of the Year:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10536108

[Zabbie]

Thanks for explaining about the American Name Society. I'd seen posts about it before but didn't really understand what people were voting for!

[KNY]

Very interesting! I agree with all the choices, but I would have picked Cullen instead of Edward in that category - because Edward is a real name with history, but the rise of Cullen, an invented surname, to such popularity as a first name based on this book is really stunning.

Definitely agree with Barack Hussein Obama as the final choice.

And I like the idea to split it into 4 categories this year.

[ckevans]

Cullen would have been a good choice, but it's not an invented surname. It's a rather well known British surname and in Hanks & Hodges' A Dictionary of Surnames it has FIVE separate derivations. It can be from a Scottish place name that meant "nook"; an Anglicization of Irish Gaelic O Cuilinn, from a byname meaning "holly"; an Anglicization of Irish Gaelic O Coileain, fron an Irish byname meaning "puppy"; an English surname indicating one's ancestors came from Cologne, Germany; or a variation of the English surname Culling, from Old English given names that meant "swollen" or "ship".

Some real people with the surname Cullen who have webpages devoted to them include

the poet Countee Cullen
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/55

author and reporter Dave Cullen
http://www.davecullen.com/

virologist Bryan R. Cullen
http://mgm.duke.edu/faculty/cullen/

TV game show host Bill Cullen
http://userdata.acd.net/ottinger/cullen/

photographer Betsy Cullen
http://www.betsycullen.com/

etc. etc. :)

[ckevans]

And here's this week's column, based on a presentation Zenzi Griffin gave at the American Name Society convention:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10548215

[Kate7950]

Yeap my parents do this all the time. My friends do it too. I also am notorious for mistakenly calling someone by another persons name by accident. ;)

[nomdeplume]

When I was growing up, we had neighbors who had 9 children. I remember their dad frequently going through all 9 names until he hit the right one for the kid he was addressing. My parents used to do that too, but they only had to make 3 tries at most before getting the name right.

I'm intrigued by the name of the woman who made the presentation, Zenzi Griffin. I've not heard the name Zenzi before.

[speechykeen]

Zenzi is a very cool name. :thup:

And yeah, when I was in trouble, I often got some combination of Jessica, Christopher, Buttons [the dog], and often my father's name. "Christo--Jessi--Butt--Rip--WHATEVER YOUR NAME IS, GET DOWN HERE!!!!!" :lol:

[Panya]

I've never had my mother do that to *me*, but I've heard her do it to her grandkids. *I've* done it to the grandkids. :lol: Really, I thought that was just something everyone did [everyone in my family does it anyway].

[ckevans]

Here is today's. I hope it's not old news by now.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10559657

[ckevans]

I'm intrigued by the name of the woman who made the presentation, Zenzi Griffin. I've not heard the name Zenzi before.

Her parents created it by shortening Zenzile, the middle name of the famous South African singer Miriam Makeba:

http://en.wordpress.com/tag/miriam-zenzile-makeba/

[Zabbie]

I think my younger sister was called Elizabeth more frequently than I was called Anne, as explained in the article. But my chemistry teacher when I was 12 called me Margaret for about 6 months, and I have no idea where that came from!

President Obama has an unusual name and is from a single-parent family and he's done pretty well for himself!

[ckevans]

Here is the latest column, focusing on Brazilian names:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10571605

I realize that some of the characteristics of Brazilian names I mention in this piece are also common in other countries of Latin America.

[Zabbie]

Very interesting...I would never have expected there to be girls named Sue Ellen in Brazil!

[ckevans]

Here's today's column. Hope this one isn't too boring. :)

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10582624

[Panya]

Interesting info on Patrick, a lot I didn't know.

I only know one Patrick, my aunt's husband -- he was named after his mother Patricia. She's called Pat, so he's always Patrick.

[ckevans]

Here is today's column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10593558

There is more of a story with this one than most. The editors at the paper like me to key the column to something coming up in Omaha. I looked at the upcoming events calendar and saw that the Beach Boys are going to be playing with the Omaha Symphony next weekend as part of their Pops series. I thought "What names are associated with Beach Boys songs?" I immediately thought of Barbara Ann and Rhonda, and thought Rhonda would be easier to write about since it was historically so much "newer" than Barbara.

When one starts to research Rhonda, one immediately finds that just about the only famous Rhonda before the "Help Me Rhonda" song came out in 1965 was the actress Rhonda Fleming. Miss Fleming has a website of her own, with a clickable place on it to send her an email. So I sent her one, never expecting to get a reply. But I sent her links to some of my past columns -- including the one on Audrey which featured Audrey Hepburn -- and I got back a message saying she was willing to have me interview her. So last Friday afternoon I have about a 45 minute conversation with a movie star on the phone, which is what most of the column is based on,.

Rhonda Fleming is 85 years old now, but still very sharp, and it was loads of fun to talk with her. She was extremely gracious and did not fit a Hollywoodstar stereotype of vanity or selfishness in any way. I realize she was perhaps only a B list star for about 15 years, but after talking with her I really want to go buy or rent some of her films that are on DVD.

To give one thing she told me which couldn't make it into the column:
Her first featured role was in the Hitchcock movie Spellbound, starring Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. She was told she was going to play a nymphomaniac. She didn't know what a nymphmaniac was. She went home and asked her mother, a devout Mormon, who didn't know what it was either, so they had to look it up in the dictionary. :)

Any way, getting to talk with Miss Fleming on the phone was the most exciting thing that's happened to me since starting to write the column.

[Zabbie]

I'd never realised that Patrick had been too sacred to use for such a long time. I'd assumed it was St Patrick's given name and was already in use when he was born.

How amazing to interview a Hollywood movie star! It's strange that if she'd been allowed to keep the name Marilyn then Norma Jeane Baker would have become known by another name.

[ckevans]

And here is today's column, about the impact of a different sort of celebrity:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10604384

[Zabbie]

I can't imagine what it would feel like to find that so many parents had named their children after you! I guess the risk is that an inspirational and talented athlete may end up being famous for something seedy and disreputable.

[ckevans]

Here's this week's column:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10614850

Wish I had had room to mention John Wayne's original name (Marion Morrison) and the famous "Marian the Librarian" song from The Music Man. :)

[Panya]

My husband wants to name our son Marian after Marion Morrison [we both prefer the spelling Marian]. I like it a lot, but my family hates it for a boy.

[Zabbie]

I can't really see Marian or Marion working on a boy nowadays, but it's very interesting to read it's history as a boys' name. I'd always wondered how John Wayne came to be called Marion.

[Panya]

Update: I just named my new laptop Marian to appease my husband. :lol:

[nomdeplume]

Good column (as always). I always thought that Marion was the masculine spelling and Marian the feminine version, similar to Francis/Frances. This is probably because my great-aunt was Marian and John Wayne was Marion. And I've almost always seen Robin Hood's Maid Marian spelled that way, with the second A, rather than Marion. So it's interesting that Marian wasn't the common spelling until several centuries later. It's a pretty name, and worth reviving.

[ckevans]

Here's the next column, on Hispanic names in Nebraska. The editor did come up with a cute headline for it this time:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10626205

[ckevans]

Today's column is on the 2008 top ten and some of the newest names on the SSA list:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10637340

[ckevans]

This week's column is based on a bit of published research which got media play earlier in the month:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10644539

[Charmy]

This week's column is based on a bit of published research which got media play earlier in the month:

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1219&u_sid=10644539

Printing the PNAS article... :)

[Panya]

A few years ago my cousins Charlie and Tasha [siblings] were "fighting over" the name Nevaeh. Charlie gave up and named his daughters Precious Joy and Tru Serenity -- Tasha named her daughter Nevaeh Kristyne [after their mother Kristy]. I don't know anyone else with the name, but everyone around here has heard of it, and most like it.

I don't know any Natalies at all, and even though the name was #23 in our state last year, it seems unpopular in my area.

[ckevans]

Here is this week's column:

http://omaha.com/article/20090616/LIVING/706169958

I know I'm going to get older readers complaining that Joyce "can still be a man's name" because they will remember having to memorize the poem "Trees" by the male poet Joyce Kilmer back in grade school, but with only about 500 words I thought it was more important for younger readers to mention Buffy's mother. :)

[cinerdy]

Yeah for Buffy!

My mom was born in 1939 and she has a lot of friends named Joyce. But I don't know anyone under 50 or so with that name--I would be surprised to hear it on someone even my age these days.

[Panya]

I graduated HS with a Chinese exchange student called Joice [her "English name"]. She's the only one I know with the name. I prefer it for a boy.

[ckevans]

Here's the next column. Some day I'll have to write columns on Luther and Wesley, too. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090630/LIVING/706309996

[ckevans]

Here is today's column:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090714/LIVING/707149924

One reason I became fascinated by the name Rowling created was several years ago when readers on this site wanted me to include names from the Harry Potter books in my baby name book. Ever since I've loved all the associations you can get from her names. :)

[nomdeplume]

J.K. Rowling has what a writer friend of mine calls "the gift of names." Her characters' names are a big part of the story world she has created, and she obviously puts a great deal of thought into them. I wish more writers had such skill in coming up with great names for their characters.

Decoding the Potter characters' names is fun. I rather like the name of the evil Lord Voldemort, which can translate to "flight of death" or possibly "wish for death"--it seems very fitting. And has anyone else noticed the name of the actor who plays Ron Beasley? Rupert Grint sounds like it could come straight out of one of the books.

[Zabbie]

I haven't read the Harry Potter books, but even if I had I wouldn't have caught all the references you mention, such as the language of flowers! I love the names that Terry Pratchett uses too. The last one I read had characters called Tolliver Groat and Adora Belle Dearheart.

[ckevans]

Here's the next column:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090728/LIVING/707289927

[Zabbie]

I think Sonia is a pretty name, but my only association is a pop star that was in the charts when I was a teenager. I just can't get that out of my head! I could never work out how Sonia comes from Sophia, but Russian pet names are a bit of a mystery.

[nomdeplume]

Sonia is a lovely name, and I've been surprised that it isn't more popular these days, since it seems to fit the current trends that have put Sophia near the top of the charts. Perhaps soon-to-be Justice Sotomayor will give the name a deserved boost.

[Panya]

I've never liked the name Sonia. Not only does the sound turn me off, but I had an evil bus driver named Sonya when I was a kid.

[ClaudiaD]

I like the name Sonya/Sonia all right, but only with the pn SONE-yuh (1st syllable rhymes with moan). I've noticed that a lot of people say SON-yuh (rhymes with Don), which I don't care for. That difficulty alone would make me reluctant to use the name.

[KNY]

Here is today's column:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090714/LIVING/707149924

One reason I became fascinated by the name Rowling created was several years ago when readers on this site wanted me to include names from the Harry Potter books in my baby name book. Ever since I've loved all the associations you can get from her names. :)

As a lover of names, mythology, and words in general, I just love the names in the Harry Potter books! I love the cool connections of even the most minor characters' names. It's even neat as a teacher - there is a passage I teach with the word "draconian," and it's so easy now to get students to learn the word - I tell them it was derived from the same dictator that Draco Malfoy was probably named after, which is an association everyone has :)

As for Hermione, I've read that Rowling wanted to choose a name that was so uncommon that no one would have heard of it and no modern girl would have it, because the character was supposed to start out nerdy and whiny, and she didn't want little girls to be teased for having that name. I can't remember where I first read that, but it's true. And then came the unforeseen problem of no one knowing how to pronounce Hermione, which is why the character says it phonetically to Viktor Krum in book 4. The "her my own" theory is really intriguing though!

[ckevans]

Here is the column published today. It turns out to be hard to say interesting things about a name which is so common. http://asoiaf.westeros.org/style_emoticons/New/smiley2.gif

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090811/LIVING/708119899 (http://www.omaha.com/article/20090811/LIVING/708119899)

You may wonder why this column is being published August 11 when it mentions events on August 29. I wrote this one for August 25. I am now visiting my mother and sister in west Tennessee. I sent both this column and one for August 11 to the editor last Friday before I left for Tennessee. She never got the one I sent for August 11 and so printed this one instead. Since I don't keep my cell phone on while I am driving I didn't get her message about that until it was too late. I am upset with cyberspace since I definitely did send the August 11 column by email and never got a message that it had NOT been delivered. Luckily I was able to rewrite the original August 11 column so that it will fit with the August 25 date.

The above is I'm sure more than you wanted to know, but I guess I needed to vent a little. http://asoiaf.westeros.org/style_emoticons/New/smiley2.gif

[Zabbie]

How annoying, when you'd made the effort to tie in your column to a date! I wouldn't have guessed that Michael would have been unpopular among so many people in America in the 1800s.

Hope you have a good holiday.

[cinerdy]

Interesting. You're right, what can you say about the most common name ever, but I think you added a lot to the story we didn't know.

My friend and I have a "bad Michael" theory, in that every girl has a jerk of an ex who was named Michael or Mike. She and I both do and so we decided that everyone probably does, if you play the odds of people our age (late 30s where there were 5 Michaels per class!). So whenever anyone talks about a terrible past relationship, I always ask if his name was Mike/Michael.

[Panya]

My grandfather, uncle, and cousin are all named Michael Leo, and three other cousins are Aaron Michael, Brandon Michael, and Adam Michael Charles [the son of Michael Leo Jr., half-brother of Michael Leo III]. I went to school with loads of Michaels, and dated two. I work with several Michaels now.

I could never use the name myself, but it does have an appealing sound. I dislike the nn Mike though, it's a bit harsh for me. My grandfather and uncle were both called Mickey when they were children, and I really dislike that as well. My cousin is called Mikey -- that's okay. I think if I had to use Michael, I'd find an alternate nn like Misha [actually, I'd be more likely to use Mikhail than Michael].

[ckevans]

Sorry I've forgotten to do this for a while, but here are the last two columns, on Demi and Claudia:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090825/LIVING/708259914 (http://www.omaha.com/article/20090825/LIVING/708259914)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090908/LIVING/709089930 (http://www.omaha.com/article/20090908/LIVING/709089930)

[nomdeplume]

Thanks for posting these! I always enjoy your columns. :)

I first ran across Demi as a name when I was a kid reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (or maybe its sequel, Good Wives). The eldest sister, Meg, and her husband John have a baby boy that they name Demijohn, or "small John," and called him Demi for short. I thought that was kind of cool.

The name was a bit of a pun, because a demijohn is a type of wicker-covered earthenware bottle. I just looked it up and apparently the bottle's name came from Dame Jeanne, or Lady Jeanne, "perhaps because its shape suggested a stout woman in the costume of the period."

I quite like the name Claudia. To me, it fits right in with today's--sort of a blend of Chloe with Audrey and an -a ending, all of which are currently popular.

[Panya]

I prefer Demi as a nn for a boy, but it's nice on a girl too.

I've loved the name Claudia since I was a little girl, reading The Baby-sitters Club books. It's currently #5 on our list for a daughter.

[Zabbie]

I think Demetria is really pretty. I prefer Demi pronounced the English way, but it seems a little too informal as a full first name to me.

I can't believe that all daughters in a Roman family were just called a female version of their family name! Surely they must have had nicknames? Still, the parents wouldn't have to go through all the agonies of choosing a name that modern parents do :lol:

[ckevans]

I believe the first two daughters were called "Claudia Major" and "Claudia Minor", and after that they were numbered (Claudia Tertia, Claudia Quarta, Claudia Quinta, etc., which meant Claudia Third, Claudia Fourth, Claudia Fifth, etc.).

[Zabbie]

Well, that sounds slightly less confusing. Thanks for explaining :)

[ckevans]

And here's today's column, featuring names in a more modern empire:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20090922/LIVING/709229894

[Zabbie]

I love Russian names! The top 10 boys' names you list contain 4 of my favourites (Alexander, Ivan, Maxim and Dmitri), and Maria and Sophia are gorgeous too.

[ckevans]

Here's this week's column. I wish I had had more space so I could have discussed some of the related names like Maxwell and Maximus more thoroughly.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091006/LIVING/710069878

[Zabbie]

I love Max, but our last name starts with Mac, so that kind of rules it out...

I know a dog called Maximus, so I find it hard to see it as a human name!

[ckevans]

Here's today's column, about a name I suspect several posters on this board have in real life:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091020/LIVING/710209904

[Zabbie]

Melissa is a lovely name. It was never as popular here in the UK as it was in America, so it probably doesn't sound as dated to me. I'd always assumed it was one of those 18th century literary inventions, so it's very interesting to hear that it's actually a mythological name. I'm sure it will be very popular again in 50 years time or so!

[ckevans]

Here is today's column. Now you can see why I am one of the few over 30 you LOVES the name Leona:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091103/LIVING/711039897&SearchID=73371437557944

[nomdeplume]

Happy birthday to your mom! :hb:

I'm over 30 and I quite like the name Leona, in spite of the Helmsley association. And I think you could beright that it will become more popular. It fits with the style of name that's popular for girls today, with its flowing vowels and its -a ending. :)

[Zabbie]

:)

I'm over 30 and I think it's a pretty name, although I've always had a big soft spot for Léonie, which I think I'll always prefer. I'm British so the Leona Helmsley association is not so strong for me.

[KNY]

Awwww, that's great. Happy birthday to your mom!

(And go Alma - "a correspondent from Puerto Rico" :) )

[liren]

That was a very sweet column! (Happy Birthday to your mom, Dr. Evans!) And informative, I'd never heard about Leona Vicario.

Oh,


(And go Alma - "a correspondent from Puerto Rico" :) )

I know! I'm almost cool now! LOL

[ckevans]

Here's today's column, on a very common boys' name:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091117/LIVING/711179906

[Mirth]

Strange that William should be so popular in the South. Particularly after Clinton. Are they Wills or Bills or Billys?

[ckevans]

Unfortunately I have no data on that, but my impression is that most American Williams under the age of 20 these days are far more likely to be called Will than Bill. :)

[KNY]

Meredith - William is such a common name here that it's unlikely to be tied to any one person, Clinton or otherwise, in people's memory.

I would guess that the older (30+, myself included!) generation is more likely to be Bill, and the younger generation more likely to be Will. I have always thought of the start of the Will trend was the movie "Good Will Hunting", but of course have no data to back that up. It's just that I never heard of anyone being called Will before that movie, and now it's super common.

[KNY]

P.S. And Clinton was a Southerner!

[Zabbie]

William is my husband's middle name and my mum's maiden name was Williams. It's a bit too popular for me to consider as a first name!

[ckevans]

Here is this week's, inspired by a question about another old time movie star:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091201/LIVING/712019912

[Zabbie]

I don't know of any real-life Merles, but I was vaguely aware of it as a female name. It sounds way too feminine for a man, IMO!

[ckevans]

Sorry I'm so late posting this one, but it is appropriate for Christmas day. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091215/LIVING/712159880

[ckevans]

Here is this week's column. And thanks loads to Meredith! :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091229/LIVING/712299995

[ckevans]

Here is this week's column, on the Names of the Year, and also it's the column's second annniversary:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100112/LIVING/701129967

[Zabbie]

I was just thinking at Christmas that I've never really seen the attraction of Noel. Maybe because of Noel Edmunds (British TV presenter with dodgy beard!)

I have no idea why hyphenated names have become significantly more popular in the UK. Very cool to see Meredith in print..."a British name expert" :)

[ckevans]

And here is the latest:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100126/LIVING/701269977

This column was a great example of how it really hurts me to have to compress this into 500 words. After finishing my research on Thaddeus, I had a 950 word column. I cut that down to 522 myself and the editor slashed it further. In my original column I mentioned Thaddeus of Warsaw, a now deservedly forgotten novel by Scottish author Jane Porter that was evidently a bestseller in the USA in the early 19th century and also helped to inspire some parents to use the name.

And the editor cut the line "over half of the boys named Thaddeus born in the United States during the 1910-1920 decade had Polish immigrant parents." I spent an hour going through the Ancestry.com census record indexes from the 1920 census to figure that out and prove that it was the Poles who gave the name its highest boost in 1918. Oh, well, :)

[ckevans]

Here is today's column, about some research reported on at the ANS meeting in January:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100209/LIVING/702099967

[angiems]

Oh goodness, how bizarre! Seriously? I guess I should be glad that my parents decided not to make my middle name Sue (after my mom), which would have made my initials A. S. S. (and mods, you can delete if you think it's inappropriate to spell out like that!)

I have a little cousin named Dylan, and that last bit kind of hit home :) Of course, his brothers both have C names, so maybe I need to get on all of them about how courageous and dependable they are.

[Zabbie]

I don't really understand how having a name that begins with D can make you more likely to die sooner, but it was very interesting to read about it!

[ckevans]

Here's today's column. It may be a bit more controversial than usual. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100223/LIVING/702239967

[liren]

She was called Precious, but treated as anything but.

I like learning about the history of names, because that makes it less likely that a movie, or book, song, celebrity, or whatever will become my main association with them. I think it's funny that with so much behind that word/name, Gollum is what's most present in many people's minds. Sure, nobody says it like him, but don't we use it in other contexts more often?

On a side note, back in the 80's there was a telenovela called 'Preciosa', it was also the name of the name of the main character. I heard of a couple of Preciosas after that, but it was never popular.

[ckevans]

Here's this week's column. The name of the company in Boston that is really Turbine, not Tribune. Sorry for the mistake.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100309/LIVING/703099960

[nomdeplume]

Since popular culture has such a profound effect on parents' name choices, I expect we'll see more and more children being given the names of video game characters. Rinoa and Kairi are both rather pretty.

About the previous column: I've never encountered a woman named Precious but I've met a man with that name. He's a notary public that my DH and I went to when we needed notarized signatures on some documents. He goes by his first and middle initials but his full name appeared on a certificate that was hanging on his wall.

[ckevans]

Here's today's column. Many thanks to Kirsty-Louise for helping me out. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100323/LIVING/703239981#cleveland-evans-name-eugenie-is-under-used

My maternal grandmother's name was Eugenia, but I didn't have room to mention that.

[ckevans]

Here's today's column, inspired by Googling the date, and featuring a celebrity baby:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100406/LIVING/704069941#cleveland-evans-shiloh-has-its-roots-in-war-and-peace

[Zabbie]

It was interesting to read about the history of Eugenia. I remember when the Duchess of York was pregnant my mum asked us to guess what we thought they would name the baby. I guessed Eugenia Victoria because I was reading 'Gone With The Wind' and that was the real name of Bonnie Blue Butler. I was stunned when I found out that the new baby was called Eugenie Victoria Helena! I agree that the 'you' sound isn't very attractive to modern ears - it makes me think of the sound they make to express disgust in 'Friends' :)

[ckevans]

Here's the latest. I sure don't know why my picture is on it this week. You'd think they would have had several choices for something more fetching. http://asoiaf.westeros.org/public/style_emoticons/default/smile.gif

http://www.omaha.com...-on-name-charts (http://www.omaha.com/article/20100420/LIVING/704209963#cleveland-evans-model-blonde-put-elle-on-name-charts)

[ckevans]

Here's today's column, inspired by the visit of a certain author and radio personality to Omaha:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100504/LIVING/705049957

[Panya]

I've fallen a bit behind reading your columns, so my comments are coming in late...

RE: Precious -- I have a 7-year-old cousin named Precious Joy [little sister to Antonie Allen and big sister to Tru Serenity].

RE: Raiden -- I'd pronounce this to rhyme with Biden [as in the VP], not Aidan.

RE: Shiloh -- The Complete Dictionary of English and Hebrew First Names by Alfred J. Kolatch lists the meaning of Shiloh as "gift is his." I've also seen "gift to him" and "tribute to him", comprised of shai [shin.yud] meaning "gift, present, tribute" and lo [lamed.vav.hey] meaning "him, to him, his."

[ckevans]

RE: Raiden -- I'd pronounce this to rhyme with Biden [as in the VP], not Aidan.


That is actually how Raiden is pronounced in the original Japanese. However, the English language version of the video game uses the "rhyme with Aidan" pronunciation, so that's what Americans who discover the name through video games use.

[ckevans]

Here's today's column, most of which regular readers of this board probably already know:


http://www.omaha.com/article/20100518/LIVING/705189975

[ckevans]

Here's this week's column. Thanks to everyone who helped out with "Christian"!

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100601/LIVING/706019982

[Lexicog]

The Italian names column was so interesting to read! My mum is Italian and I'm going to send it to her because I know she'll be interested too :) I always find your research fascinating so I wanted to thank you for being so thorough and entertaining.

[KNY]

Very interesting! My Italian-American family is very much in line with the adult names you mentioned for the older generation, but I do prefer the modern favorites.

Alice is a surprise!

[Zabbie]

I still haven't read Twilight :) It was lovely to see the top 10 for Italy, thank you. I was also surprised by Alice...I presume they pronounce it differently from us?

[ckevans]

Here is today's column:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100615/LIVING/706159976

A very good friend of mine named Helen was instrumental in helping me get the job of writing this column. I thought her birthday was in June, but I didn't realize until she sent me an email this morning that her birthday is June 15, the same as Helen Hunt's. That's an example of synchronicity or serendipity or something. :)

The editor tweaked this column more than most, and introduced a slight inaccuracy. At the end I had written "before marrying Mr. Jackson", and the editor left out the "Mr. Jackson". Well, the 19th century author Helen Hunt Jackson was born as Helen Maria Fiske. She first married Mr. Hunt, who died, and she was a widow when she married Jackson. So technically this story wouldn't have been before she married the first time.

Of course, the story is probably completely fictional and invented by someone who just liked bad puns. :biggrin:

[Panya]

My husband was very close to his late grandmother Helen Louise, and wanted to use Helen to honor her. It does sound very old-fashioned to me so I suggested Helena, which I pronounce as heh-LAY-nuh. He didn't feel the sound was close enough to Helen, so we compromised and chose Hélène [ay-LEN] as a middle name for a future daughter.


FYI, Helen Louise named both of her daughters after herself -- Helen Jo [always used as a double name] and Louise. It's so common for men, I've always admired women who did that.

[Zabbie]

That's interesting...I hadn't realised that Helen is an 'elderly' name in the US. All the Helens I know in the UK are in their 30s and 40s.

[ckevans]

Here is today's column. If I'd had more space, I'd have mentioned that members of the Whig party in England also named sons after Algernon Sidney, so Sidney became a well-used given name in the UK in the same way it did in the USA.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100629/LIVING/706299971

[Panya]

I really like Sidney for a boy/man

I thought the name origin had to do with Saint Denis -- is that not the theory any longer?

[ckevans]

I really like Sidney for a boy/man

I thought the name origin had to do with Saint Denis -- is that not the theory any longer?

The Sidney family that Algernon Sidney came from definitely got its surname from the Surrey place name. There is some possibility that there might be some other Sidney family that got it from "Saint Denis", but that is inconclusive and debatable, according to Reaney & Wilson's dictionary of English surnames.

[Zabbie]

I just can't see Sidney/Sydney as a girls' name!

[ckevans]

Here's today's column, on an international celebrity name:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100713/LIVING/707139943

[Zabbie]

There are some lovely Arabic girls' names. But I associate the name Shakira so closely with the singer that I can't imagine it on anyone else!

[ckevans]

Here's this week's column. Someday I'll have to write a similar one about official use of short forms for boys.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100727/LIVING/707279957

[Zabbie]

Everything goes in cycles, doesn't it! I'm afraid I'm one of those people who think that it's best to have a serious name, even if your friends know you by a cute nickname (although almost everyone calls me Elizabeth :) )

[Panya]

My gramma, born in 1940, was named Nancy. Her two eldest daughters [my mom and aunt], born in 1962 and 1964, are named Kathy and Kristy.

My first name is a "full name" but ends in the 'ee' sound. Part of why I dislike it is how informal and "cutesy" it sounds. I'm very much a proponent of using "full names" to get to nicknames/pet names/short forms.

[ckevans]

Another column inspired by the birthday of an international star:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100810/LIVING/708109971

[ClaudiaD]

Nice article. My town has two major intersecting streets named Antonio and Banderas. Supposedly people come to take pictures of the signs at the corner. :) I think the streets were named before the actor became well known in this country, however.

[nomdeplume]

I love the poem! I've never heard of it before. Clearly I had a deprived childhood. :winky:

[julesfujicat]

I just can't see Sidney/Sydney as a girls' name!

Sydney (I've never seen Sidney on a girl) has become pretty popular for girls here. There are three in my son's year at school (somewhere around 80 or maybe 88 kids, four classes). More than any other name!

[ckevans]

Here is a link to my latest column. Sorry I was out of town visiting my mother and forgot to post this earlier:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100824/LIVING/708249972

[Zabbie]

Yes, Howard does seem quite unattractive to me...while Antonio certainly doesn't (can't think why :))

[ckevans]

Here is today's column. Sorry it won't mean much to people outside of the USA (except perhaps in the Netherlands, where I think ATWT is also shown). But both my mother and my best friend are fans of this show:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100907/LIVING/709079979

[Zabbie]

I've never noticed the 'rapid ageing syndrome' in anything I've watched! Isn't that weird for the viewers? I know that seeing a nice character on screen has a big impact on how much I like the name.

[cinerdy]

I've never noticed the 'rapid ageing syndrome' in anything I've watched! Isn't that weird for the viewers? I know that seeing a nice character on screen has a big impact on how much I like the name.


Ah, SORAS. It's a well-known disease around these parts and is it jarring? Yes, but we've come to expect it. Today's 3 year old is tomorrow's pregnant teen.

I always notice when the names just do not fit and soaps are one of the worst offenders since they have so many characters over the years.

[cinerdy]

Here's this week's column. Someday I'll have to write a similar one about official use of short forms for boys.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100727/LIVING/707279957


I am a bit behind in my reading but hey, I'm a Cindy (not Cynthia) born in 1971. Here I thought my parents were old-fashioned--turns out they were trendy!

[ClaudiaD]

Was there a typo in the ATWT article about Sierra? The numbers don't look right--it says there were 230 Sierras born in 1984, but in 1985, after a character with that name debuted, there were 199. The second number should be higher, shouldn't it?

[julesfujicat]

Was there a typo in the ATWT article about Sierra? The numbers don't look right--it says there were 230 Sierras born in 1984, but in 1985, after a character with that name debuted, there were 199. The second number should be higher, shouldn't it?

I wondered about that, too. But I noticed that the way it's phrased, maybe it meant there were 230 Sierras total living in the country in 1984. Either that or there's an extra space and it's, "by the next Jan, 1,199 girls were named Sierra." Not sure, but it piqued my curiosity as well.

[ClaudiaD]

Either that or there's an extra space and it's, "by the next Jan, 1,199 girls were named Sierra." Not sure, but it piqued my curiosity as well.

I think you're probably right, Kathy. In that case, it would have been clearer if the editor had left out the comma in the number altogether and written "by the next January, 1199 girls..."

[ckevans]

I wondered about that, too. But I noticed that the way it's phrased, maybe it meant there were 230 Sierras total living in the country in 1984. Either that or there's an extra space and it's, "by the next Jan, 1,199 girls were named Sierra." Not sure, but it piqued my curiosity as well.

Yes, that's precisely it. They left a comma out, and it meant that by next January there were one thousand one hundred and ninety nine girls born named Sierra.

[ckevans]

Here is today's column. I feel a bit odd about it because it turned out that Footloose, the local connection that inspired me to write on Ariel, was the one pop culture phenomenon that seems NOT to have had much impact on the name so far.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100921/LIVING/709219975

[Zabbie]

I didn't realise the name was biblical; I'd assumed it was created by Shakespeare. I'm surprised that Footloose didn't affect the name's popularity at all as it was a popular film.

[ckevans]

Here's this week's column. I was sorry I didn't have room to mention Rodney Allen Rippy. Anyone else remember him? :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101005/LIVING/710059966

[ckevans]

Here is today's column. I think this is the rarest name I've ever written a column on:


http://www.omaha.com/article/20101019/LIVING/710199948#cleveland-evans-name-s-origin-is-a-lesson-in-yiddish

[Zabbie]

Hmmmm, I hadn't realised that women weren't allowed to learn Hebrew! How nice that your correspondent's mother was the first to have that particular spelling. I used to know a woman called Toba (I'm guessing on the spelling, but that's what it sounded like), and I always thought it had a lovely, soft sound.

[KNY]

Hmmmm, I hadn't realised that women weren't allowed to learn Hebrew! How nice that your correspondent's mother was the first to have that particular spelling. I used to know a woman called Toba (I'm guessing on the spelling, but that's what it sounded like), and I always thought it had a lovely, soft sound.

Hebrew is a "modern" ancient language. It's an ancient language, but modern in the sense that recently as 100 years ago, it was as dead as Latin - used mainly for religious services. The everyday language spoken by millions of people was Yiddish.

This drastic shift was caused by 1) the Holocaust killing off most of the Yiddish speakers, and sending the rest into the diaspora to learn languages of the countries where they immigrated, and 2) the subsequent founding of the state of Israel, with Hebrew as the national language because it was an "equalizer" for Jews of all ethnicities. Result, 50 years later, there are very few Yiddish speakers left that are younger than my grandparents (in their 80s), and Hebrew is a rising language again.

ETA: Interesting article!

[ckevans]

Here's today's column. The editor wanted me to write on this name because of how suddenly important it is to Nebraskans. College football is probably a lot more important to most Nebraskans than voting today was. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101102/LIVING/711029951#cleveland-evans-boy-girl-first-last-taylor-fits-all

[Zabbie]

I've never understood why you don't come across the surname Tailor, while Taylor is quite common. I know that lots of people in the past were illiterate and an individual's name was often spelt differently in different documents, at the whim of whichever official was recording it, but I would have thought that more people would have ended up with their surname spelt Tailor.

[KNY]

Great article!

Dr. Evans - if you're looking for a reason why Taylor was already popular for girls in 1990 despite it being earlier than the soap opera, there is the character Taylor Greer in the popular Barbara Kingsolver book The Bean Trees (http://books.google.com/books?id=O-XiVJO1K1gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+bean+trees&source=bl&ots=x_j24YpVoT&sig=8_DX8ljjI4rSg-KeZQhBcnxdJjc&hl=en&ei=rzbaTJ7fMcP78AaFsKH4CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&sqi=2&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false), copyright 1988. (And you can see from that link on pp. 15-16 the story of how the character renamed herself Taylor as an adult).

I had never heard the name Taylor for a girl before -- it felt very unique and cutting-edge. I loved the book so much I was going to name my first daughter Linden Taylor after her. This was my top name for a girl for over 10 years! So I really wonder if this Taylor didn't start the trend, since I certainly never heard of it before this book.

[ckevans]

Here is today's column. It repeats a little of the information from my Thanksgiving 2008 column, but most of what it says is new:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101116/LIVING/711169963#cleveland-evans-puritans-gave-us-mercy-patience-desire

As for Taylor -- I don't think Kingsolver's book can have been one of the biggest influences startint the trend. Given the history of the name, I'd look for something that happenned in 1979 or 1980 to really be the catalyst.

However, the character in Kingsolver's book is certainly another great example of the "feedback loop" between pop culture and names. The idea of girls named Taylor was already up and coming when the book was published in 1988 and then it was one of the factors reinforcing the new fashion. :)

[ckevans]

Here's this week's column. I wish I'd had room to complain about Wynonna's spelling her name that way but pronouncing it to rhyme with Mona instead of Donna. :)
http://www.omaha.com/article/20101130/LIVING/711309980/-1#cleveland-evans-winona-s-roots-are-in-indian-legend

[ClaudiaD]

I wish I'd had room to complain about Wynonna's spelling her name that way but pronouncing it to rhyme with Mona instead of Donna. :)

Oh, that kind of thing is a big pet peeve of mine. There was a girl in my high school named Ammie, pronounced Amy. The disconnect gave me that fingernails-on-the-blackboard feeling even back then. And my neighbors have a granddaughter Corryn, pronounced kaw-RIN (like Corinne). That's not right either! I wish you'd been able to say something about Wynonna. ;)

[ckevans]

Here is a link to today's column. Coincidentally, Breakfast at Tiffany's was on Turner Classic movies last night. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20101228/LIVING/712289977

[Zabbie]

I love virtue names, and we're considering Clemency as a middle name if this baby is a girl, although DH isn't particularly keen on it so that may not happen. Perhaps I should suggest Silence, Wrestling or Fear instead? :)

I really liked the name Winona when I was a teenager (due to Winona Ryder). I'm also irritated by the use of double consonants after a long vowel, and not keen on randomly changing Is to Ys as it looks like it changes the pronunciation to me.

I had no idea that Tiffany has been used since the Norman Conquest! It feels like such a 20th century name. And it's very surprising to hear that it was more commonly used as a male name at one time. Fascinating!

[nomdeplume]

The first time I met a girl named Tiffany I thought it was odd that someone would name a child after a store. :)

The early versions, Theophania and Tifaine, are new to me. They might make interesting choices for someone looking for an uncommon name for a little girl, especially if the parents have a Tiffany in their lives whom they would like to honor without using that exact name.

[ckevans]

And here's today's column, just about the Name of the Year, but with the spelling of that durn volcano corrected. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110111/LIVING/701119955/0

[nomdeplume]

Eyjafjallajökul is a good choice for Name of the Year. I love it, as much for the way it looks as for the way it sounds in my rather pathetic attempts at Icelandic pronunciation. I had the good fortune to visit Iceland a few years ago, and found the language and the naming traditions very intriguing. :)

[ckevans]

Here's a link to yesterday's column. The World Herald has someone new running their website and they forgot to post my column on it until I asked about it today. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110125/LIVING/701259804

[ckevans]

Here's a link to today's column. I am a little miffed with the headline writer because the conclusion at the end of my piece is that Justin is no longer a good "different but not too different" choice.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110208/LIVING/702089979

[Zabbie]

I can see the appeal of Ashton and Justin. I hadn't realised that Justin had such an amazingly long history.

It must be a bit annoying having people edit your work and come up with titles!

[ckevans]

I can see the appeal of Ashton and Justin. I hadn't realised that Justin had such an amazingly long history.

It must be a bit annoying having people edit your work and come up with titles!

Some times --- newspaper and magazine headlines, by the way, are almost never written by the author of the piece but are created by the editors. So never blame a reporter for the headline you don't like; it's the editor's fault.

[ckevans]

I've been really busy today and didn't get time to post this until now.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110222/LIVING/702229993

Hope you all like it. :)

[Cricket28]

Interesting. I love the name George and actually just made a post about it today. Thanks for sharing!

[Zabbie]

George would have been one of the middle names if Maria had been a boy! I love the name and it's really popular now here in the UK.

[ckevans]

Here is today's column.

This was one where I was shocked by my own findings. I certainly knew Aidan was rare until recently, but just how rare it was amazed me. Since it does have a historical origin, I assumed there would always have been a few out there since St. Aidan's time. It amazed me that there was not a single Aidan in the entire US census of 1880. So this name has gone from nonexistent to #1 status in 125 years

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110308/LIVING/703089967/-1#cleveland-evans-aidan-s-rise-to-began-in-1988

[julesfujicat]

Interesting! I wanted to use Aidan for our first son born in 2001 and I had no idea about this website or the social security lists or anything like that. So I had no idea of its popularity then or the trend toward ever-increasing popularity. I liked the sound and the meaning and thought it would be a nice nod to my Irish grandma.

[KNY]

Yes, very interesting about Aidan.

My friends had a baby named Aidan in...I think 2003. At that time, I thought the name was so unique!

[Zabbie]

Wow, it's amazing how Aidan has gone from being hardly used to number 1. It was my favourite boys' name when I was a teenager (20 something years ago) and that's partly due to Aidan Quinn. But I'm originally from the north-east of England and my mum has a slight obsession with the period of history around the time of St Aidan. And there's a school named after him in Sunderland, so it didn't seem all that unusual to me.

[ckevans]

Here's today's column, featurning another celebrity with a birthday and a nod to "Southern preppy" names:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110322/LIVING/703229993

[Zabbie]

Rhys was my uncle's middle name, so it seems very strange to me that it (or its variants) have become girls' names. I'm not very keen on boys' names as girls' names, to be honest. I think it might well be very cute to have male name if you're as beautiful as Reece Witherspoon or Cameron Diaz but I'm not so it's probably just as well I'm called Elizabeth!

[ckevans]

Here is today's column. I was very surprised to see that there were no Janets born in Scotland in 2010. There were two girls named "Jannat" and one named "Janat". I don't know if those are Gaelicized spellings of Janet or if they are names given by immigrants which have no connection with Janet.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110405/LIVING/704059987

[ckevans]

I'm not a big "royalty watcher" myself, but the upcoming event in Westminster Abbey was too good an excuse to write this week's column on one of the most classic female names of all time:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110419/LIVING/704199987#cleveland-evans-the-name-kate-has-roots-in-medieval-history

[julesfujicat]

I've always been partial to it myself. ;) Though I never knew such a detailed history of it.

[Zabbie]

It's amazing that no girls were named Janet in Scotland last year. It's very out of fashion here in England too, but there were 19 Janets born in 2009.

I really like Katherine, and my sister's middle name is Katharine (spelled that way because my mum went to St Katharine's teacher training college). In my year of 90 girls at school (in the 80s) there were 12 Katherine/Catherines and a Catharina! Another interesting Katherine from history is Katherine Swynford (1350-1403) from whom all English kings since Edward IV are descended.

[ckevans]

And today's column is based on the new SSA data, so a lot of you here will probably already have all this figured out. :)

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110517/LIVING/705179993

[ckevans]

Here's today's column. Hope you all like it.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110531/LIVING/705319977#cleveland-evans-a-rose-by-any-other-name

[Zabbie]

Oh, I LOVE flower names! Rose has been one of my favourites for years but it was DH's grandmother's name and seemed a little elderly to him, so Rosa was on our shortlist. I actually preferred it to Maria but it was important to me to have Violet (my grandma's name) as a middle name and Rosa Violet would have been a bit too much. Rose/Rosie has got much more popular here in the UK recently, but not as popular as Lily (ranked 8 in 2009), Daisy (18) or Poppy (22).

[ckevans]

Here is the link to yesterday's column:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110614/LIVING/706149984

Thank heaven most of the Donalds I know personally have personalities nothing like Trump's! :)

[liren]

Oh, I bet Rosie O'Donnell would just love to hear how the universe conspired to have granted her with one more connection to Donald Trump, subtle as it is.

I work with a Donald, who's thankfully more like Donald Duck than Trump. :)

[ckevans]

Here's today's coluimn. Hope you all like it.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20110628/LIVING/706289981