The Penguin Book of Baby Names

488 Pages·2009·2.16 MB·English

by  David Pickering

PENGUIN REFERENCE
The Penguin Book of Baby Names
David Pickering is an experienced writer, editor and illustrator. He has
broadcast many times on radio and television and lives in Buckingham
with his wife and two sons. He has compiled or contributed to well over
200 reference books, mostly in the area of the arts, English language,
history, folklore, entertainment and popular interest. As author, these
include a Dictionary of First Names (Penguin, 1999, 2004), Sports
Quotations (2000), a Dictionary of Proverbs (2001), the Pears Factfinder
(Penguin, 2002), a Dictionary of Saints (2004), Pirates (2006), Jokes
(Penguin, 2006), Perfect Pub Quiz (2007) and Buttering Parsnips, Twocking
Chavs (2007).
The Penguin Book of
BABY NAMES
David Pickering
PENGUIN BOOKS
PENGUIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375
Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue
East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a
division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre,
Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale,
North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South
Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books
Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England www.penguin.com
First published 2009
1
Copyright © David Pickering, 2009
All rights reserved
The moral right of the author has been asserted Except in the United States of America, this book
is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold,
hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or
cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this
condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser ISBN: 978-0-14-193150-0
CONTENTS
Introduction
Girls
Boys
Appendices
Saints’ Days
Popular Names
Celebrity Names
INTRODUCTION
Choosing a name for a baby is a matter most new parents naturally take
very seriously. After all, a person’s name can affect their whole life and
career, and an inappropriate choice may cause lasting embarrassment or
difficulty whatever that person’s age or other qualities. A fanciful or
frivolous name, for example, may suggest a likeable, cheerful nature but
is not likely to promote a person’s chances of being taken seriously,
while a plainer, monosyllabic name might.
A person’s name is a stamp of their individuality, though in reality it
may well say more about the parents’ prejudices, class background or
social pretensions than it does about the bearer. People tend to make
instant judgements about strangers based on names, although these
judgements may be modified later. Children in particular may focus on
unusual names in order to emphasize their own unique personality or
make fun of others. Some names ‘fit in’ in certain regions or
communities, but would look out of place elsewhere. Others change with
fashion, being in vogue with one generation, but old-fashioned to the
next (although they may well come back into fashion years later).
Examination of the latest lists of newly registered first names
published by various government agencies around the English-speaking
world each year (and contained in an appendix at the end of this book)
reveals much about current trends and changing tastes in the naming of
children. Parents continue to be attracted both to traditional choices that
have been popular for generations and to revivals of neglected favourites
as well as to newer coinages, typically ones that have been promoted in
various branches of the media. Thus, lists of the most popular names
over the past few years have featured such well-established choices as
Jack, Thomas, Olivia and Emily alongside such new or rediscovered
names as Ethan, Callum, Ruby and Mia.
Modern parents tend to be more conservative in naming their sons
than they are in naming their daughters and there is consequently a
somewhat wider choice of names available for girl babies. They are,
however, more than happy to consider unusual alternatives for either sex
alongside more conservative traditional choices or to take up a
diminutive form of an old name rather than the root name itself (for
instance, Jake rather than Jacob or Evie rather than Eve). Several long-
standing favourites for both sexes, which might have been expected to
remain top choices for years to come, have gone into decline as a result,
notable amongst them such examples as David (ending some fifty years
as one of the top-ten favourite choices) and Sarah. Also languishing in
the lower reaches of the tables are such former staples as Robert,
Andrew, John, Susan and Alexandra. Other names that were briefly at a
peak a decade ago (among them Jason, Kylie and Chelsea) have returned
to relative obscurity. Only time will tell if a similar fate awaits Madison,
Jayden, Tyler, Keira, Ava and other recently emerged choices that have
taken their place.
Parents continue to range widely for inspiration. For some the easiest
route, in time-honoured fashion, is to look at a list of saints’ days (as
given in the appendices of this book) and select a name appropriate to
the baby’s birthday or else to pick a name with family or religious
significance. While names from the Bible (Joshua, Matthew, Rebecca and
so on) continue to play an important role, many of the other names in
the lists of the most popular baby names reflect the influence of
contemporary society, with bursts of interest in names borne by top
sports players, film stars, fictional characters and so forth. In the last few
years television has provided several candidates, including the girls’
name Chardonnay, as featured in the drama series Footballers’ Wives, and
Leona, familiar through Leona Lewis, winner of The X Factor talent show.
The cinema, meanwhile, has suggested, among others, Angelina (after
actress Angelina Jolie), Erin (from the film Erin Brockovich) and
Maximus (after the name of the hero in Gladiator). Children’s literature
has inspired a renewal of interest in the old favourite Harry (as a result
of the success of the Harry Potter stories) and in politics the election of
Barack Obama as US president may well boost the status of Barack as a
popular choice.
Many people have followed the lead of various celebrities in taking
up, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, the often adventurous names
that the famous select for their own children. Highlights in this category
have included such names as Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz (as bestowed
upon David and Victoria Beckham’s offspring), Mia (the name of Kate
Winslet’s daughter) and Daisy (Jamie Oliver’s choice for his daughter).
A natural conservatism has continued to exert itself with regard to
more outlandish choices and parents seem to have been on the whole
reluctant to accept the baton proffered by the late Paula Yates, who
named her four daughters Fifi Trixibelle, Peaches, Little Pixie and
Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (see the appendices for a list of celebrity
baby names for further inspiration). Other recently recorded names that
seem destined to remain unique include those of three Brazilian sisters
who were called Xerox, Photocopier and Authenticated (reportedly
because their birth resulted from a romp on a photocopying machine)
and the British baby girl born in the 1990s with the name Room 21A
(named apparently for similar reasons).
Lists of the most popular first names from different parts of the
English-speaking world reveal the extent to which first names appear to
be becoming increasingly universal, perhaps through the influence of the
international media. There remain, however, some regional preferences,
examples including Logan, Ryan and Caitlin in Scotland, Brandon and
Taylor in the USA, and Lachlan and Mackenzie in Australia. If richness
of choice is to be preserved in the future such divergences are only to be
welcomed.
Unlike some other countries, the UK does not have a formal list of
names from which new parents must choose. It should be noted,
however, that the authorities may suggest parents reconsider if they find
the proposed names particularly provocative or offensive. Births must be
registered with the local register office within forty-two days (twenty-
one in Scotland), although it is possible to delay for a whole year before
notifying the authorities of the child’s actual name.
The aim of this book is to expand the number of possibilities available
to parents seeking names for their children without swamping them with
ridiculous names that virtually no one would ever consider. To inform
their choices, entries include brief information about the meaning of
each name and its origins as well as cross-references to variant forms
and (where appropriate) a guide to pronunciation.
Finally, it may be reassuring to know that if a baby grows up to hate
his or her name there remains the option of changing it, for a small fee
(currently £34), by deed poll at a Registrar’s Office.
GIRLS
a
GIRLS’ NAMES
Aaliyah See ALIYAH.
Abbey English name that was taken up as an informal version of ABIGAIL
and in time came to be considered a name in its own right. Also found as
Abbie or Abby.
Abbie/Abby See ABBEY.
Abigail Biblical name based on the Hebrew Abigayil, meaning ‘my
father rejoices’ or ‘father’s joy’. It appears in the Bible as the name of
both King David’s sister and his wife and was consequently taken up by
English Puritans in the seventeenth century. Familiar forms include
Abbie, Abby, Gale and Gayle. See also ABBEY; GAIL.
Abilene English name based ultimately on a Hebrew place name
thought originally to have meant ‘grass’. It appears in the Bible and was
consequently adopted as a name for various settlements in the USA,
including a city in Kansas.
Acacia English name based on the Greek for ‘immortality’ or
‘resurrection’, best known as the name of a flowering shrub.
Ad See ADA.