Fun and Names

While we’ve been talking idly about names for quite a while (heck, I’ve kept a running list for at least a year), last week I finally went out and bought my first baby name book. By and large, I don’t see a lot of use in them. There’s so many different (free) websites where you can look up meanings, popularity, etc, I didn’t really find any value in buying “The super ginormous book of every baby name, ever.” But there was this one book… I remember seeing it at a friend’s house two years ago when they were expecting their first. I finally bought it for myself, and it is my new favorite thing.

The Baby Name Wizard is the most useful, and the most fun-to-read, name book I’ve come across. It doesn’t really list “meanings,” but does have a blurb about each name (about 1500, total) that has to do with it’s “feel.” It also includes spelling variations, nicknames, and even suggested similar names for siblings. Not just names that rhyme or start with the same letter, but somehow seem to becoming from the same place. My other favorite feature is that it not only lists the name’s current (2003, I believe) popularity ranking, but also a small graph that shows its useage over the last 100 years. Not rank, but useage. For instance, one name could keep the same rank for three years in a row, but the number of kids with that name actually decreases. I really enjoy that one, because I don’t want my kids to be one of six Emmas and Jacobs in the first grade. You can actually see the graphical information on this website, but without all of the descriptive information.

I’ve had the book at work, and people have peppering me with names to look up all day. “What about Bridget?” “What does it say for Herman?” One coworker borrowed it for most of the day and read it nearly cover to cover. It’s honestly just that entertaining to read!

As for us, our choices still tend very much toward the traditional. We’re not into very exotic names, and we also try to steer away from things that are particularly trendy or popular (no Aidans or Madisons here, thank you). My husband has been stuck on one particular boy’s name for a couple of months now. I’m not wild about it, but there are very few boy names that I particularly like in the first place. Several are ruled out either because a friend recently used it, or it just plain sounds wrong wtih our last name (I’m very anti-alliteration). One of the few that I liked, he unfortunately did not. I even read through all of the boy names in my new favorite book, and still very little jumped out at me. I gave him the book to do the same and, despite brief flirtations with Asher and Phinneus (!), we seem to be back where we started, which is just fine.

There’s a bit more discussion for our girl’s name, since there happen to be more girl names that we like, anyways. A few are solid contenders, though I’d say there are two front-runners at the moment. They’re both pretty simple, though I’m favoring one because it’s a little less common and has more potential nickname variations. We’ll just have to see what we think when the time comes (which, hopefully, will be at least another 9-10 weeks from now).

And you’ll have to wait, too. We’re not telling anyone until they’re born. I have no interest in hearing whose ex-boyfriend was called that, or the mean ugly girl in high school, or who used that name for their dog.

For now, they remain Danger (girl) and Peril (boy). And no, that isn’t any kind of hint as to their real names.