New Surname Names :: F

Inspiration :: Farren (painting by David Farren)

Farren

Origin: English

Meaning: Occupational name for an oxherd

Features: Neutral sounds and fits in the popular two-syllable, -n ending surnames.

Similar Names: Darren, Aaron, Mason, Soren.

Feehally

Origin: Liverpudlian

Meaning: Variation of Fitzhenry

Features: Sounds Irish, energetic and friendly.

Similar Names: Rafferty, Flannery.

Fennell

Origin: English

Meaning: Grower or seller of fennell

Features: Nature name, occupational name with the option of the nickname Nell.

Similar Names: Merrill, Fern, Nell.

Fiala

Origin: Czech

Meaning: Violet

Features: Beautiful meaning, unusual with familar sounds.

Similar Names: Viola, Fenella, Nuala.

Fiorelle

Origin: French

Meaning: Little flower

Features: Pretty with lots of French flair.

Similar Names: Elle, Flora, Isabelle.

Flinn

Origin: Irish

Meaning: Reddish

Features: Has similarities to Finn but looks less flimsy than Flynn. It would make a really cool girls' name.

Similar Names: Finn, Flynn, Sloan. 

Foy

Origin: French

Meaning: Faith

Features: Simplicity in one syllable.

Similar Names: Faith, Roy, Fay.

Freidis

Origin: Jewish

Meaning: Joy

Features: Lovely meaning, unusual ending.

Similar Names: Freya, Frida, Phyllis.

Power and Popularity :: Part 1

Inspiration :: Oliver (picture from Oliver Twist)

Often one of the first criteria a couple have when choosing a name is that it ‘isn’t too popular’. Often we look at names that are within a certain rank – like looking at names below the top 100 or top 1000. But using the ranks as a guide can be deceiving. For one thing, the birth counts for boys and girls are different. The name Oliver (1^st in 2014 for boys) was given to 6649 babies but Amelia (1^st in 2014 for girls) was given to 5327 babies. In this first post in a series on the statistics of baby name popularity, I’m going to show you what popular and unpopular really look like in the real world.

The chart below shows the proportion of babies named out of each section.

You can see that the amount of babies given a name from the top 100 is very similar to the number of babies given a name from outside the top 1000. The remaining third shows a breakdown of the number of babies given a name ranked between 100 and 1000. I was really surprised by the number of people that choose a name outside the top 1000. This means that it is popular to be unusual so even though your child may be the only person in their class with their name, it won’t stand out as much because most other people will have an unusual name of their own. But this is okay because most parents don’t want their child to be standing out for a ‘weird’ name – they just don’t want their child to be 1 of 3 Emily’s in a class.

Talking of classes, I made a chart to show what the name popularities would look like in a class of 30. To do this I worked out the percentage of babies born out of the total babies born for each 100 section of the chart. I then found that percentage out of 30. It uses the same colour code as the pie chart above.

If your 2014 born child was in a classroom there would be:

9 children with names within the top 100

3 children with names ranked from 100-200

2 children with names ranked from 200-300

1 child with a name ranked from 300-400

1 child with a name ranked from 400-500

1 child with a name ranked from 500-600

1 child with a name ranked from 600-700

1 child with a name ranked from 700-1000

11 children with a name outside the top 1000

Of course this is only a model and can’t perfectly predict every classroom. There are going to be some clubs and groups that children are part with like minded parents. This means that there may be more of a certain type of name. I wonder whether this makes parents more fussy about popularity – they have a skewed view because the other parents they associate with are naming their children similar names. When, in the big scheme of things, the names they are choosing are not that popular.

New Surname Names :: E

Inspiration :: Emlyn (Painting of Newcastle Emlyn)

I seem to gravitate towards E- names when choosing names to put on my personal lists but sometimes I cannot find less popular choices. I love the likes of Emily and Emmeline although sometimes I just want something new and exciting. My favourite on this list has to be Elizalde for her spunky z and elegant, sophisticated style. I added a new category of 'similar names' so you can see how these more unusual names can be used as alternatives to chart toppers.

Eade

Origin: English

Meaning: Nickname for Edith

Features: Short, sweet with a neutral sound.

Similar Names: Eve, Eden

Ealey

Origin: English/Irish

Meaning: Habitation name

Features: Nicknamey sound but a ‘proper’ name.

Similar Names: Ellie, Eli

Eame

Origin: English

Meaning: Uncle

Features: Simple with a pleasing sound.

Similar Names: Emmy, Emme, Emma.

Ebi

Origin: English

Meaning: Wild + Boar

Features: Cool –i ending and the simplicity of three letters.

Similar Names: Eli

Echelle

Origin: French

Meaning: Ladder

Features: Has the supermodel style –elle ending but without the popularity of Estelle or the dated feel of Michelle.

Similar Names: Estelle, Michelle, Elle.

Edzard

Origin: German/Frisian

Meaning: Edge, brave, strong.

Features: The z updates Edward but keeps a familiar feel.

Similar Names: Edward, Ezra.

Elcy

Origin: English

Meaning: Elf victory

Features: The c spelling seems to make it more of an androgynous name and adds a bit of a sensible touch to the nicknamey Elsie.

Similar Names: Elsie, Eli, Lucy.

Elizalde

Origin: Basque

Meaning: Topographic name

Features: A rarer, fresher version of Elizabeth with one fewer syllable to worry about.

Similar Names: Elizabeth, Mathilde, Isolde.

Elphey

Origin: English

Meaning: Elf battle

Features: Not the most substantial of names but longer than Alf or Fay/Fey.

Similar Names: Alfie, Fey.

Elzas

Origin: German/Jewish

Meaning:

Features: Sounds unusual but strong and easy to pronounce.

Similar Names: Ezra, Eleazer, Eliaz.

Emary

Origin: English

Meaning: Bravery and power

Features: The fashionable Em- beginning and classic Mary ending make this much more than a creative spelling of Emory.

Similar Names: Emory, Mary, Emily,

Emberry

Origin: English

Meaning: Bravery and power

Features: A daring choice with a subtle naturey twist.

Similar Names: Ember, Huckleberry.

Emmel

Origin: English

Meaning: Bravery and power

Features: A tailored version of many popular girls’ names. It has a soft but not airy sound.

Similar Names: Emmy, Emmeline, Amael.

Emslie

Origin: Scottish

Meaning: Habitation name

Features: Another variation on popular girls’ names and a useful way to link a name to Scotland.

Similar Names: Lindsey, Leslie, Emily.

Emson

Origin: English

Meaning: Variant of Emma

Features: Different to the rising Emerson and more sleek as it only has two syllables.

Similar Names: Emerson, Emma, Anderson.

Esslin

Origin: English

Meaning: God + protector/helmet

Features: Easy to pronounce, strong meaning and a pretty surfer style sound.

Similar Names: Agnes, Evelyn.

Around the World :: Iceland

I was watching the credits for the film 'Noah' the other day. Only a name nerd would skip the actual film and go straight to pages and pages of lovely names! About halfway through, there was a set of names titled 'Icelandic Crew' that contained so many new names to me. Thoranna and Finnur are my favourites.

Male 'Icelandic Crew' Names

                                              Female 'Icelandic Crew' Names

Top Baby Names in Iceland 2015

Girls

1. Guðrún

2. Anna

3. Kristín

4. Sigdríður

5. Margrét/Margrjet/Margret

6. Helga

7. Sigrún

8. Ingibjörg

9. María

10. Jóhanna

11. Elín

12. Katrín

13. Hildur

14. Ragnheiður

15. Lilja

Boys

1. Jón

2. Sigurður

3. Guðmundur

4. Gunnar

5. Ólafur/Olav

6. Einar

7. Kristján/Kristian/Christian

8. Magnús

9. Stefán/Stefan

10. Jóhann

11. Björn

12. Arnar

13. Árni

14. Bjarni

15. Helgi

Baby Naming Rules in Iceland

Forenames

A forename must follow the linguistic structure and orthography of the Icelandic language. It must also be obviously male or female. There is a list of approved names and any others must be approved by the court.

Family Names

You are allowed one family name and this also has to be established in the Icelandic language.

Surnames

Surnames are either patronymic or metronymic. You can use the name of your father or mother with the suffix –son (for a boy) or –dóttir (for a girl). People in Iceland do not take their spouse’s name when they get married.

My favourite bit of the Icelandic rules says ‘A name may not be such as to cause its bearer embarrassment.’ Good advice indeed.