Moniker Madness!

Sorry for the absence, guys. Veritable pile of schoolwork.

In my religion class, we’ve been discussing Islam. Besides getting a greater appreciation for the religion (I would say I’ve actually been particularly struck by it; it’s a beautiful religion), I’ve picked up on some of the naming conventions. People often name their children after some of the earliest converts to the religion, in addition to Muhammad himself. Remember, the name of the prophet is the most popular one in the world! I thought I’d do a list of name often given in the Muslim community, with some prophet names and early converts thrown in. I don’t profess any expertise, though, so if I’m wrong about something, please, correct me!

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So I was recently asked by Lola why Daphne was not my #1, as I love it so much. I responded that my boyfriend doesn’t like it. Given that I do take his taste into account, I thought it might be interesting to give you guys a peek into his naming tastes and preferences. He’s not really into names at all; he just likes to humor me. Question and Answer format for the hell of it.

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June has been on my mind lately, mostly in the middle but sometimes as a first. I think it’s spunky, unusual, and endowed with a good bit of sass. My first association is June from KaBlam!, the awesome 90s kid’s show.

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Vagueperson, as seen in the comments on the Top Ten: Boys, post, is expecting a child. Well, technically I guess you’d say his wife is, but he’s expecting it to show up, too…Anyway, I’ve gotten the thumbs up to help out the happy couple by doing a post asking for your suggestions. I know you guys will have some good ideas!

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Since we did one for girls, it’s only fair to sum up my Top Ten boys for now. I know I don’t talk nearly as much about boys’ names and girls’, but I do have a top ten!

1. Rufus
2. Frederick
3. Johann/Johannes
4. Niles
5. Calvin
6. Edward
7. Peregrine
8. Alasdair
9. Leopold
10. Malcolm

So, again, only first name fodder here. John and Richard are my favorite middle choices at the moment.

What do you think of my top ten? What’s yours?

I never do recap posts or general lists, so I thought I’d give everyone an idea of where I am, name wise, at the moment. Just single names, not combos; my head would explode trying to decide on just one per name!

1. Alice
2. Daphne
3. Lucy
4. Petra
5. Martha
6. Harriet
7. Margaret/Margery “Daisy”
8. Penelope
9. Susan
10. Augusta

These are just in front, mind; Margareta, Jane, Marianne et al are all still firm favorites in the middle.

What’s your Top Ten for girls at the moment? What do you think of mine?

I’ve been really into Allegra lately. Its bouncy sound, open look, and effortless femininity have been appealing to me big time. Of course, there’s the allergy medication problem. I don’t seem to see the commercials too much anymore, though, do you?

I think the primary appeal to Allegra is the sound. It’s open yet strong, feminine yet grounded. It’s unabashedly joyous but down to earth. Honestly, it’s quite perfect, going completely on sound. To my mind’s eye, Allegra is pink/red/green/yellow, god knows why. Very colorful, like its sound. I also love the general look of the name. It’s balanced, but the hanging tail of the g lends it a little quirk. That’s why I sometimes find names like Hannah boring; they’re so regular looking in writing. Sometimes I like balance, but a little quirk is likely to intrigue me more. Another possible plus, depending on your point of view, is the possible nickname Allie. If Allegra would rather blend in, she’s got that.

The problem with Allegra is obviously the allergy medication. that’s the first thing most people think of. In my traditional weirdness vein, though, that’s not my first association. I think of Allegra’s Window, the mid-90s children’s show. I don’t know if I ever watched it, but that’s my first association. It’s not unpleasant, and a lot better than medicine!

Some Allegra combos, for the halibut:

• Allegra Corinne
• Allegra Beatrix
• Allegra Daphne
• Allegra Frances
• Allegra June

I’m in a two name combo mood today. I’m also lazy and don’t feel like thinking about second middles too much.

So what are your thoughts on Allegra? Would you consider it usable? Would you use it yourself? What would you pair it with?

It’s Monday again, which means it’s color time!

I’m starting to run out of colors that I have a lot of names for, so these posts may be seeing smaller lists, just to let you know. Also, a lot of them are unique (like Isaac; silver red), so I can’t do a post on just one name!

Anyway, pink names:

Girls

• Felicity
• Flora
• Florence (nasty pink, though. Orangey and gross)
• Jane
• Petra (partially; green as well)
• Rosalind, Rosemary, Rose, etc.
• Pomeline (purple and pink)
• Corinna (purple pink)
• Cora

Boys

• Leslie (Brown-pink)

Damn social conditioning! I don’t have any pink boys’ names I can think of at the moment. shame, really, because I do like delicate rose pink names.

I’ve also got a question for all you synaesthetes out there. I was doing my German homework, and we were learning colors. We had to write what color I associated with certain nouns/verbs, but I kept having problems. Example: langweilig. Means “boring,” so they were going for beige or something like that. I had so much trouble, since it’s a green word! Anyone else ever have similar problems?

What are your pink names? Do you find that you have many more for girls than boys?

I love The Lord of the Rings. And I’m not talking about “I’ve seen the movies, omg Aragorn is so hawt” love. I’m talking “read the series countless times, slogged through the Silmarillion, plan to read more of Tolkien’s literature, want wedding bands engraved in Elvish or Dwarvish” love. So you could say I’m a bit of a fangirl.

Which brings us to today’s topic: Eowyn. Its usability, particularly, and whether or not I’d use it over another LOTR name. The name itself is pretty, the character admirable (better than Arwen by miles and quite the proto-feminist) and the sound easy to grasp. I actually knew an Eowyn in high school, and she never had any problems that I knew of.

Now then, the problem with Eowyn. Fangirl much? I feel as though to name a child Eowyn is to brand her with the nerd stamp early. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a nerd (says the girl who writes a blog on names), but it feels a little presumptuous to decide that your child will be connected to a piece of well known literature for all time. This isn’t usually a problem with naming after characters, since most names are pretty well used anyway. For example, I have Jane for Austen and Eyre on my lists. It’s not like someone would go “Oh, like Austen!” upon meeting a little Jane. However, can you think of anything else besides the Rohirrim upon meeting Eowyn? The pronunciation also gives me fits: Ay-oh-win seems to be the accepted one, but it’s wrong, technically. It should be more like “ear-win,” but that’s not nearly as pretty.

There are some other LOTR/general Tolkien names I’d probably use before Eowyn: Lorien and Elanor, maybe Melian (hi!). Peregrine for boys. However, I’ve been finding Eowyn’s sound appealing lately.

All in all, I’d probably use Eowyn in the middle to honor my nerd-dom, if I were to use it at all. Elanor is a more likely choice for me, though.

What do you think of Eowyn? Usable? What about in the middle?

So, I’m still head over heels in love with Alice. I think it’s sweet, unusual (for the moment- we’ll get to that), and refreshingly down to earth. The sound is gorgeous and the associations positive. So, it’s gone from an infatuation to a long term relationship, you might say. Speaking of, Sean likes it too; I asked him if he could see naming a girlchild Alice and he said yes, so, I’m good there. Honestly the Alice arc is very similar to the Daphne one, if I think about it; names I thought were short term loves that have stuck around much longer than expected. The only qualm I have is that between Twilight and the vogue for “honest names,” Alice is due for a comeback in a big way. I hope not! I love the name, but I want to use it! Anyway, of my combos back from December, I’m still fond of:

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