Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault have finally announced the birth of their daughter. Her name is Valentina Paloma. (I'm not sure how the last name will be done-- Hayek, Pinault, Hayek-Pinault, or Pinault-Hayek.)
I'm glad they ended up going with Valentina. It has a delicate, feminine feel, but I think it would age well, which is often unusual for the girlier names. I have to admit that I've never cared for the sound of Paloma (pa-LO-mah). It seems like a name more often chosen for it's meaning: dove, or less appealingly pigeon, in Spanish. I'm also unsure as to how legitimate it is as a name in Spanish-speaking cultures. I have found Palomas born in Spanish-speaking countries, but none born earlier than the 1970s. Is it a modern word-name, like the English hippie-ish choices of Willow or River?
I also found out, in an article on Valentina's birth, that Francois-Henri has two older children named Francois and Mathilde. Both gorgeous names-- particularly Mathilde. Delightful!
Other Celebrities with a Valentina:
Italian football legend Roberto Baggio
Baywatch "actress" Angelica Bridges and pro hockey player Sheldon Souray
Actress Lolita Davidovich and writer/director Ron Shelton
Oscar-winning actor Anthony Quinn
Comedian Red Skelton
Other Celebrities with a Paloma:
Actor Emilio Estevez
Spanish musician Juanes
Artist Pablo Picasso
Friday, September 21, 2007
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Baby Name Pool for Famous Folks
This is one of my most favorite things to do, and I'm sure that admission has hereby cemented my eternal status as a big ole geek. I keep lists of when celebrities are expecting their babies, so I can keep track of when the next one should be popping. And I also like to make guesses as to the gender and possible name choices. I've never gotten it totally right (though I have been close!), but it's fun.
I'll do them in order of the due dates.
Background: They have one child, Cosimo Henri Hansen. A very interesting name, and I'm sure they went with something else off the beaten track for their new little one. Marissa is a variant of Marisa, which is Italian (among other things). She's the twin sister of Giovanni Ribisi (from a whole bunch of movies, but most memorably to me Phoebe's younger brother on Friends), which is also an Italian name. Cosimo is the Italian variant of Cosmo. Henri is both French and Finnish, which might be a tribute to Beck's background, as his mother is half-Norwegian and half-Swedish.
Gender Predictions: I'm leaning towards girl.
Name Predictions: Cosimo is interesting, a lyrical and distinctive choice, and I see them going with another Italian name for this baby. Eulalia (yoo-lay-lee-ah) seems to fit their style-- sophisticated names with a long history that have fallen out of wide use in modern day. Possibly Beatrice (with the Italian pronunciation-- bee-ah-tree-chay) for the middle name, which would pay tribute to Beck's mother, Bibbe.
Background: They have two children, a daughter named Bella and a son named Keen. I've never heard middle names for either of them, so I'll just stick with predicting first names for this one. They seem to be fond of noun names-- mark, sunrise, and keen are all English words, and Bella, of course, means "beautiful" in Italian.
Gender Predictions: No clear feeling one way or the other, so I'll take a shot in the dark and say boy.
Name Predictions: I'm thinking they'll go with another noun name for this one-- probably something short and on the trendy side (Bella being born in the middle of the uber-hot Isabella trend, and Keen fitting with the K-obsession that's inexplicably gripped parents). I'd like to predict August (meaning "venerable" or "inspiring reverence or admiration"), which is increasingly popular amongst celebrities, but it may not be hip enough for their tastes. Frank (meaning "straightforward" or "direct"), which is Mark's father's name, would be a lovely, meaningful choice, but again, probably too old-man. So I'm going to go with the as-yet undiscovered Archer (the meaning ties into its roots as a surname-- "a person who shoots with a bow and arrow") which should rise in popularity when the first tryndee mom discovers it. If the Ruffalo babe turns out to be a girl, I can see them using a lesser-known virtue name, like Mercy, or the ever-popular celebrity choice Tru(e), or even a boy's name, like Chase. I really like Mark Ruffalo though, and I don't want to be more discouraged with celebrity baby names that I already am, so I hope he comes through and picks something good.
Background: Christina is of Ecuadoran (through her father) and Irish (through her mother) descent. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her father is alleged to have been abusive. They are currently estranged. Bratman is from a Jewish family, but it's unsure if he still follows the religion.
Gender Prediction: Girl. Another shot in the dark, I could go either way.
Name Prediction: I can't get a handle on this one. It's perplexing. Christina has always been a bit out-there, a trendsetter, and I can see her choosing a completely random name for her baby. Of course, she's in her 1940s retro phase at the moment, so she might pay tribute to the glamour of that era by choosing an glamorous actress name, like Lana or Vivien. Or she might pay tribute to her mother's Irish heritage and use a familiar Irish name like Bridget, or a more distinctive one like Roisin (rosh-een), Caoimhe (kee-va), or Aisling (ash-ling). Or she could go in some other direction I've not even thought of yet! So I'm going to take a crazy guess and know I won't be right.
Background: Halle is biracial-- her mother is British, and her father is black. She and her father had an unhappy relationship, and are currently estranged. Aubry is French Canadian and was raised in five foster families from the ages of 3 to 18.
Gender Prediction: Boy
Name Prediction: Halle seems especially close to her mother, probably a result of her father's alleged abuse early in her life and growing up with her mom as a single parent for the rest of the time. So I think she will probably give her baby a first name or middle name that pays tribute to her mom, whose name is Judith. I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of French name being used, but since Gabriel was raised in foster care, I'm not sure how much he identifies as French Canadian.
And that's it-- for now. Please comment with any alternate suggestions, random thoughts, criticisms, etc. Just don't tell me I'm a stalker. I hear that enough from the voices in my head.
(Sad attempt at humor.)
I'll do them in order of the due dates.
Beck Hansen & Marissa Ribisi
This is a bit of a cheat, since they've apparently already had their second baby. I think Beck's bassist announced it on his blog a couple months ago. They're very private, so we probably won't hear about it until his next album comes out.Background: They have one child, Cosimo Henri Hansen. A very interesting name, and I'm sure they went with something else off the beaten track for their new little one. Marissa is a variant of Marisa, which is Italian (among other things). She's the twin sister of Giovanni Ribisi (from a whole bunch of movies, but most memorably to me Phoebe's younger brother on Friends), which is also an Italian name. Cosimo is the Italian variant of Cosmo. Henri is both French and Finnish, which might be a tribute to Beck's background, as his mother is half-Norwegian and half-Swedish.
Gender Predictions: I'm leaning towards girl.
Name Predictions: Cosimo is interesting, a lyrical and distinctive choice, and I see them going with another Italian name for this baby. Eulalia (yoo-lay-lee-ah) seems to fit their style-- sophisticated names with a long history that have fallen out of wide use in modern day. Possibly Beatrice (with the Italian pronunciation-- bee-ah-tree-chay) for the middle name, which would pay tribute to Beck's mother, Bibbe.
Eulalia Beatrice Hansen.
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Mark Ruffalo and Sunrise "Her Real Name Is Christina" Coigney
Another one I'm not totally sure on the date for. They announced in March of this year, so I'm thinking it'll be soon-- most couples don't say anything until they're at least three months along, and she was probably a bit further. I wouldn't be surprised if she'd already had the baby and we just haven't heard yet. (Argh! I hate when celebrities make me wait.)Background: They have two children, a daughter named Bella and a son named Keen. I've never heard middle names for either of them, so I'll just stick with predicting first names for this one. They seem to be fond of noun names-- mark, sunrise, and keen are all English words, and Bella, of course, means "beautiful" in Italian.
Gender Predictions: No clear feeling one way or the other, so I'll take a shot in the dark and say boy.
Name Predictions: I'm thinking they'll go with another noun name for this one-- probably something short and on the trendy side (Bella being born in the middle of the uber-hot Isabella trend, and Keen fitting with the K-obsession that's inexplicably gripped parents). I'd like to predict August (meaning "venerable" or "inspiring reverence or admiration"), which is increasingly popular amongst celebrities, but it may not be hip enough for their tastes. Frank (meaning "straightforward" or "direct"), which is Mark's father's name, would be a lovely, meaningful choice, but again, probably too old-man. So I'm going to go with the as-yet undiscovered Archer (the meaning ties into its roots as a surname-- "a person who shoots with a bow and arrow") which should rise in popularity when the first tryndee mom discovers it. If the Ruffalo babe turns out to be a girl, I can see them using a lesser-known virtue name, like Mercy, or the ever-popular celebrity choice Tru(e), or even a boy's name, like Chase. I really like Mark Ruffalo though, and I don't want to be more discouraged with celebrity baby names that I already am, so I hope he comes through and picks something good.
Archer Ruffalo.
Salma Hayek and Francois-Henri Pinault
Doesn't it seem like she's been pregnant forever? I thought she was due in August, but my math is, as always, fuzzy, so the baby will probably make a break for it sometime this month. She carried her pregnancy very well, but I imagine it'll be a relief to be done with. She's gotten huge!
Background: Salma is an Arabic name meaning "to be safe," possibly chosen as a tribute to her father, whose name is Sami. She was born in Mexican to parents of Lebanese and Spanish descent. Her fiance Pinault, if you can't tell from that great name, is French. They have such a rich background of cultures to choose from, I'm very confident that they'll give their baby a beautiful name.
Gender Prediction: Even before insider gossip from Salma's recent baby shower said it was a girl, I was leaning that way, so yeah: Girl!
Name Prediction: More whispers from the baby shower said Valentina was a possibility. I would be thrilled to see them use that one, but I'm not 100% that they'll go with that. When my French major sister tried to school me on some of the language, she taught me a French song with "valentina" (cee too vu faire mon bon huere-- yeah, can you tell I was a failure as a languages student?) in it, and I wonder if they're using it as a pet name for the baby, like sweetheart in English? Anyway, I'm predicting they'll use something deliciously elaborate and girly. Claudia, Veronica, Lucia, Silvia-- any of these would be gorgeous, but I'm leaning towards Marina. I definitely think that Marina will (and should!) rise in popularity here.
Marina Juliette Hayek-Pinault.
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Sacha Baron-Cohen and Isla Fisher
Possibly not quite as well-known as other people on the list, so I'll just put in that Sacha is Borat, from the movie (and Ali G, if you have HBO). Isla Fisher is a lovely up-and-coming Australian actress best known for her role in Wedding Crashers. They're due with their first child 'round about October.
Background: Sacha was born in England to an Orthodox Jewish family. His first name is apparently French, which seems an odd choice (well, he did play a Frenchman in the Ricky Bobby movie...). I'm not sure where it comes from; his family background, from what I gather, is Welsh and German. Isla was born in the Middle Eastern country of Oman to Scottish parents, and raised in Australia. Her first name, pronounced eye-la, derives from the Scottish island Islay.
Gender Prediction: Boy (again. Seems like I have more boys than girls on here, doesn't it?).
Name Prediction: From what I've read, Sacha's religious heritage seems to be important to him: he keeps kosher and observes the Jewish Sabbath, and Fisher was (or has?) converted to Judaism for their upcoming marriage. So I would anticipate them going with a Hebrew name. Additionally, Sacha and Isla, despite his outrageous stage personas, seem down-to-earth and sensible in real life, so I think we can count them out of the crazy celeb name watch. I adore a lot of Jewish names, and I'd be thrilled to see them use Ilan or Asher or Moshe or Gavriel... Okay, you get the picture. But my final pick is going to be...
Daniel Avram Baron-Cohen.
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Dennis Quaid and Kimberly Buffington
They're expecting twins, a boy and a girl, in late November. I have to admit, past celebrity births have left me petrified about these names. Not too long ago Marcia Cross was expecting twins and Kevin Costner and his (younger) second wife were having their first child. I had high expectations for both of these couples and I got... Eden & Savannah from Marcia Cross, and Cayden Wyatt from Kevin Costner. Fuck. Me. So I'm really not sure how much I can dare to hope for here.
Background: The twins are their first children together. Dennis has one son, Jack Henry Quaid, from his marriage to Meg Ryan. He and Kimberly are both from Texas. He was raised a Baptist and is still a practicing Christian, most recently attending a Presbyterian church.
Gender Predictions: Um, a boy and a girl, I'm guessing, since that's what they announced. Woo, me!
Name Predictions: Something popular but not misspelled or made-up (hello, parents of Nevaehs). Possibly a Biblical choice, but if they go that route, it'll be a more common one, like Sarah or Maria, not Dinah. Dennis's middle name is William, after his father, and the Irish name Liam is very popular at the moment, so I can see them using that. For the girl, I'll say Ava, which isn't much of a guess at all, since every other female famous baby seems to be named that, but whatever.
Name Predictions: Something popular but not misspelled or made-up (hello, parents of Nevaehs). Possibly a Biblical choice, but if they go that route, it'll be a more common one, like Sarah or Maria, not Dinah. Dennis's middle name is William, after his father, and the Irish name Liam is very popular at the moment, so I can see them using that. For the girl, I'll say Ava, which isn't much of a guess at all, since every other female famous baby seems to be named that, but whatever.
Liam Aidan Quaid and Ava Rachel Quaid.
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Toni Collette and Dave Galafassi
I just adore Toni Collette. She's a brilliant actress (she played the mother in The Sixth Sense and Little Miss Sunshine, among many other roles), and she seems like such a fun, interesting person, the sort you want as a friend but are too shy to ever talk around. She and her husband are expecting their first child in December.
Background: Her full name is Antonia. She was raised in Australia, and they currently own homes both there and in Ireland. I have no clue what the origin of the last name Galafassi is (but I'd love to-- so if anyone knows, tell me!), but several people with Italian first names come up when I do a Google search, so possibly Italian?
Gender Prediction: Boy.
Name Prediction: Somehow, from the first moment I heard she was pregnant, I was sure it would be a boy named Hugo. Maybe because Hugo feels like a particularly Australian name to me, I'm not completely sure why. She's another who seems smart and together, so I hope she and her husband do right by their kid, name-wise. I think they will.
Name Prediction: Somehow, from the first moment I heard she was pregnant, I was sure it would be a boy named Hugo. Maybe because Hugo feels like a particularly Australian name to me, I'm not completely sure why. She's another who seems smart and together, so I hope she and her husband do right by their kid, name-wise. I think they will.
Hugo Benjamin Galafassi
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Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman
Can you believe the little Genie-in-a-Bottle girl is pregnant? I feel old. Even though she's older than me, I still feel old. (By the by, nothing freaks me out more than when people my age or younger have kids. It makes me feel utterly unaccomplished. Which I likely am.) She and her husband Bratman (heh) are expecting their first child in January 2008.Background: Christina is of Ecuadoran (through her father) and Irish (through her mother) descent. Her parents divorced when she was young, and her father is alleged to have been abusive. They are currently estranged. Bratman is from a Jewish family, but it's unsure if he still follows the religion.
Gender Prediction: Girl. Another shot in the dark, I could go either way.
Name Prediction: I can't get a handle on this one. It's perplexing. Christina has always been a bit out-there, a trendsetter, and I can see her choosing a completely random name for her baby. Of course, she's in her 1940s retro phase at the moment, so she might pay tribute to the glamour of that era by choosing an glamorous actress name, like Lana or Vivien. Or she might pay tribute to her mother's Irish heritage and use a familiar Irish name like Bridget, or a more distinctive one like Roisin (rosh-een), Caoimhe (kee-va), or Aisling (ash-ling). Or she could go in some other direction I've not even thought of yet! So I'm going to take a crazy guess and know I won't be right.
Lucy Mae Bratman
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Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry
Yep, Halle Berry is pregnant. She confirmed it in an email to a host on one of those syndicated celeb news shows, which seems really odd to me, but apparently they're friends (it was Nancy O'Dell from Access Hollywood, Wise Old Lady Google says). I totally saw this coming. Who doesn't want to have a baby with a younger, super-hot French male model?Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry
Background: Halle is biracial-- her mother is British, and her father is black. She and her father had an unhappy relationship, and are currently estranged. Aubry is French Canadian and was raised in five foster families from the ages of 3 to 18.
Gender Prediction: Boy
Name Prediction: Halle seems especially close to her mother, probably a result of her father's alleged abuse early in her life and growing up with her mom as a single parent for the rest of the time. So I think she will probably give her baby a first name or middle name that pays tribute to her mom, whose name is Judith. I wouldn't be surprised to see some kind of French name being used, but since Gabriel was raised in foster care, I'm not sure how much he identifies as French Canadian.
Jude Adrien Hawkins Aubry.
And that's it-- for now. Please comment with any alternate suggestions, random thoughts, criticisms, etc. Just don't tell me I'm a stalker. I hear that enough from the voices in my head.
(Sad attempt at humor.)
Saturday, September 1, 2007
The New Exotic Traditionals, Part Two
Second verse, same as the first.
Removed from Wattenberg's Exotic Traditionals for reasons of popularity:
Alonzo, Andreas, Antony, Atticus, Augustus, Axel, Cedric, Cornelius, Damian, Demetrius, Desmond, Dominick, Elias, Emmanuel, Ezekiel, Ezra, Felix, Gideon, Isaias, Jasper, Justus, Lucian, Malachi, Matthias, Maxim, Maximilian, Milo, Orlando, Quinton, Raphael, Roman, Romeo, Samson, Simeon, Thaddeus, Titus, Zachariah
Removed from the Exotic Traditionals list for reasons of illegitimacy: Adelard, Aidric, Artemas, Beauregard, Dashiell, Falco, Garth, Lafayette, Montague, Montgomery, Regis, Tristram, Wolf
Removed because, frankly, I would worry about people who used these names for children: Adolphus, Fabio, Hannibal, Philo, Severin
Which leaves us with: Absalom, Aeneas, Alaric, Aldric, Algernon, Alistair, Aloysius, Alphonso, Auberon, Barnabas, Barnaby, Bartholomew, Benedict, Bram, Casimir, Cassius, Constantin, Cosmo, Dimitri, Eliezer, Ephraim, Erasmus, Erastus, Evander, Ferdinand, Florian, Galen, Gawain, Gervase, Horatio, Ignatius, Ishmael, Ivor, Jabez, Japheth, Jedidiah, Joachim, Lazar, Lazarus, Leander, Leif, Lucius, Magnus, Marcellus, Marius, Napoleon, Nicodemus, Niels, Pascal, Peregrine, Phineas, Piers, Severin, Stanislaus, Tarquin, Tavish, Thelonius, Theophilus, Torquil, Ulysses, Zebedee
The New Exotic Traditionals (my suggestions):
Ambrose
Amos
Anatoly
Aonghus/Angus
Archibald
Avram
Azriel
Baltazar
Basim
Benoit
Bertram
Cian
Cillian
Cormac
Crispin
Diarmaid
Dietrich
Edmond
Emile
Eoghan
Enrico
Giuseppe
Gregor
Hamish
Henrik
Homer
Ilan
Jago
Klaus
Laurent
Lemuel
Leonidas
Leopold
Linus
Malachy
Marek
Merlin
Milos
Mordecai
Noam
Olaf
Piet
Renato
Rudolf
Rufus
Stefanos
Stellan
Sylvain
Tommaso
Tzvi
Vadim
Willem
Suggestions, please.
Removed from Wattenberg's Exotic Traditionals for reasons of popularity:
Alonzo, Andreas, Antony, Atticus, Augustus, Axel, Cedric, Cornelius, Damian, Demetrius, Desmond, Dominick, Elias, Emmanuel, Ezekiel, Ezra, Felix, Gideon, Isaias, Jasper, Justus, Lucian, Malachi, Matthias, Maxim, Maximilian, Milo, Orlando, Quinton, Raphael, Roman, Romeo, Samson, Simeon, Thaddeus, Titus, Zachariah
Removed from the Exotic Traditionals list for reasons of illegitimacy: Adelard, Aidric, Artemas, Beauregard, Dashiell, Falco, Garth, Lafayette, Montague, Montgomery, Regis, Tristram, Wolf
Removed because, frankly, I would worry about people who used these names for children: Adolphus, Fabio, Hannibal, Philo, Severin
Which leaves us with: Absalom, Aeneas, Alaric, Aldric, Algernon, Alistair, Aloysius, Alphonso, Auberon, Barnabas, Barnaby, Bartholomew, Benedict, Bram, Casimir, Cassius, Constantin, Cosmo, Dimitri, Eliezer, Ephraim, Erasmus, Erastus, Evander, Ferdinand, Florian, Galen, Gawain, Gervase, Horatio, Ignatius, Ishmael, Ivor, Jabez, Japheth, Jedidiah, Joachim, Lazar, Lazarus, Leander, Leif, Lucius, Magnus, Marcellus, Marius, Napoleon, Nicodemus, Niels, Pascal, Peregrine, Phineas, Piers, Severin, Stanislaus, Tarquin, Tavish, Thelonius, Theophilus, Torquil, Ulysses, Zebedee
The New Exotic Traditionals (my suggestions):
Ambrose
Amos
Anatoly
Aonghus/Angus
Archibald
Avram
Azriel
Baltazar
Basim
Benoit
Bertram
Cian
Cillian
Cormac
Crispin
Diarmaid
Dietrich
Edmond
Emile
Eoghan
Enrico
Giuseppe
Gregor
Hamish
Henrik
Homer
Ilan
Jago
Klaus
Laurent
Lemuel
Leonidas
Leopold
Linus
Malachy
Marek
Merlin
Milos
Mordecai
Noam
Olaf
Piet
Renato
Rudolf
Rufus
Stefanos
Stellan
Sylvain
Tommaso
Tzvi
Vadim
Willem
Suggestions, please.
The New Exotic Traditionals
A funny thing happened not long after I created this blog-- I got a life. Thus the lack of updating. But never fear, my name geek tendencies survive.
I was rereading my abused, falling-apart copy (seriously, this book has the worst binding job I've ever seen!) of The Baby Name Wizard last night and pondering the Exotic Traditionals category. In this group, Wattenberg places names that "stand out from the pack," stretching from the less-familiar to the "downright eccentric." But, as the Traditionals label suggests, all the names are legitimate, "with roots and resonance," and often "artistic or literary pedigree."
My first inclination when looking at the list was to remove any names appearing in the Top 1000 in the United States, on the basis that they have reached a level of popularity that negates the exotic flair they once had. I like a lot of the names this standard eliminates, and I'm not suggesting they're poor choices in any way, but for the truly exotic, we need names that are in much more limited use.
Names from Wattenberg's Exotic Traditionals girls' list I'd remove on the basis of popularity:
Angelique, Athena, Aurora, Catalina, Damaris, Delilah, Evangeline, Genevieve, Isis, Leilani, Lorelei, Paloma, Sarai, Scarlett, Valentina.
Most of these rank in the mid-range of popularity (400-600), and there's an obvious celebrity influence. It's no coincidence that Scarlett and Evangeline rocketed up in popularity after the success of actresses Scarlett Johansson and Evangeline Lilly. Similarly, Lorelei owes some of its success to the cult hit TV show The Gilmore Girls.
The next set of names I'd remove are those with questionable legitimacy. Wattenberg has put out some great information with this book, but she's also guilty of giving the more, um, trendy parents among us ideas by suggesting Atlanta as a great girl's name. This set of names includes:
Averil, Domicela, Glynis, Lourdes, Monserrate, Tallulah, Viva, Xanthia, Zena, Zola, Zora
And, last but not least, I'd purge a few names that I think are so out-there that it would be cruel to use them on a child. I tread lightly here, since I know there are people more adventurous than me, but I hope these are names that the majority can agree are frankly bizarre (but often quite delightful guilty pleasures). These names include:
Apollonia, Flavia, Mehitabel, Olympia (Sorry, Ms. Dukakis), Severina, Zenobia
So, the revised Exotic Traditionals girls' list is as follows:
Aida, Amabel, Anais, Araminta, Ariadne, Artemisia, Astrid, Beatrix, Bronwyn, Charis, Christabel, Cleo, Danae, Drusilla, Elodie, Esme, Guinevere, Hermione, Iolanthe, Iole, Ione, Isadora, Leocadia, Lilias, Linnea, Lucretia, Minerva, Octavia, Philomena, Phyllida, Portia, Salome, Sapphira, Sidony, Siobhan, Tamar, Thomasina, Violetta, Xanthe, Zelda, Zilla
And here comes the geeky-fun part-- what to add? I would humbly submit these names as New Exotic Traditionals:
Aoife
Clemence
Cornelia
Cosima
Davina
Demetria
Ekaterina
Eulalia
Euphemia
Galina
Hadassah
Ileana
Ines
Irina
Jacinta
Lavinia
Leonora
Liora
Lucasta
Ludivine
Nadezhda
Orfhlaith
Rosamund
Sigrid
Sunniva
Tamsin
Theodora
Ursula
Vashti
Verena
Verity
Wilhelmina
What makes an exotic traditional in your book?
I was rereading my abused, falling-apart copy (seriously, this book has the worst binding job I've ever seen!) of The Baby Name Wizard last night and pondering the Exotic Traditionals category. In this group, Wattenberg places names that "stand out from the pack," stretching from the less-familiar to the "downright eccentric." But, as the Traditionals label suggests, all the names are legitimate, "with roots and resonance," and often "artistic or literary pedigree."
My first inclination when looking at the list was to remove any names appearing in the Top 1000 in the United States, on the basis that they have reached a level of popularity that negates the exotic flair they once had. I like a lot of the names this standard eliminates, and I'm not suggesting they're poor choices in any way, but for the truly exotic, we need names that are in much more limited use.
Names from Wattenberg's Exotic Traditionals girls' list I'd remove on the basis of popularity:
Angelique, Athena, Aurora, Catalina, Damaris, Delilah, Evangeline, Genevieve, Isis, Leilani, Lorelei, Paloma, Sarai, Scarlett, Valentina.
Most of these rank in the mid-range of popularity (400-600), and there's an obvious celebrity influence. It's no coincidence that Scarlett and Evangeline rocketed up in popularity after the success of actresses Scarlett Johansson and Evangeline Lilly. Similarly, Lorelei owes some of its success to the cult hit TV show The Gilmore Girls.
The next set of names I'd remove are those with questionable legitimacy. Wattenberg has put out some great information with this book, but she's also guilty of giving the more, um, trendy parents among us ideas by suggesting Atlanta as a great girl's name. This set of names includes:
Averil, Domicela, Glynis, Lourdes, Monserrate, Tallulah, Viva, Xanthia, Zena, Zola, Zora
And, last but not least, I'd purge a few names that I think are so out-there that it would be cruel to use them on a child. I tread lightly here, since I know there are people more adventurous than me, but I hope these are names that the majority can agree are frankly bizarre (but often quite delightful guilty pleasures). These names include:
Apollonia, Flavia, Mehitabel, Olympia (Sorry, Ms. Dukakis), Severina, Zenobia
So, the revised Exotic Traditionals girls' list is as follows:
Aida, Amabel, Anais, Araminta, Ariadne, Artemisia, Astrid, Beatrix, Bronwyn, Charis, Christabel, Cleo, Danae, Drusilla, Elodie, Esme, Guinevere, Hermione, Iolanthe, Iole, Ione, Isadora, Leocadia, Lilias, Linnea, Lucretia, Minerva, Octavia, Philomena, Phyllida, Portia, Salome, Sapphira, Sidony, Siobhan, Tamar, Thomasina, Violetta, Xanthe, Zelda, Zilla
And here comes the geeky-fun part-- what to add? I would humbly submit these names as New Exotic Traditionals:
Aoife
Clemence
Cornelia
Cosima
Davina
Demetria
Ekaterina
Eulalia
Euphemia
Galina
Hadassah
Ileana
Ines
Irina
Jacinta
Lavinia
Leonora
Liora
Lucasta
Ludivine
Nadezhda
Orfhlaith
Rosamund
Sigrid
Sunniva
Tamsin
Theodora
Ursula
Vashti
Verena
Verity
Wilhelmina
What makes an exotic traditional in your book?
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