Mix and Match

As I went through the Top 1000 for the Playground Analysis, I got lost in all the different combinations of the same syllables. Kaylee, Kaylyn, Ashlyn, Ashlee, etc. Further down in the field, you will find even more less common names but with the same or similar sounds: Brynlynn, Shayden, Kayton and Jayten. Whether these are names in their own right or ones the parents constructed of sounds they liked, I'm not sure. But I find it interesting how certain sounds are selected to be put together and how interchangeable they can be.

So, for some name fun... how many combinations can you make with the following sounds? What are your favorite combinations?

Ann             +               -by/-bee/-bey/-bie
Anna                            -cy/-sey
Ash                              -don/-den/-dyn
Ava                              -ett/-ette
Bay                              -la
Bran                             -lan/-land
Bray                             -lee/-lie/-ley/-leigh
Bry                               -lon/-len
Bryn                             -lyn/-lynn/-line/-lin
Dar                               -son/-sen/-cyn
Day                               -ton/-ten/-tyn
Emma
Eva
Ever
Hay                            
Jay                              
Kay
Kel
Lay
Lyn
May
Oak
Pay
Quin
Ray  
Ry            
Shay
Shel
Tay
Ty                    
Zay

Diverted by a Name: Melusine

Image via Wikipedia

As I read through Philippa Gregory's historical fiction books about the Plantagenets, a name pops up here and there that I cannot ignore. It is the name of a European legend, a woman who is half human and half fish or serpent, like a mermaid. There are several different stores about her, but I am mostly diverted by the beauty of her name: Melusine.

Melusine, or Melusina, is not a name to be taken lightly. In the most common folk story, the fairy Pressyne and Elynas, the King of Albany have three girls, Melusine, Melior and Palatyne. Pressyne made Elynas promise not to walk in on her while she was bathing the girls, but when he broke that promise, Pressyne took the girls away from him. When Melusine later found out about her father's betrayal, she locked him away, which made her mother very angry. Melusine was then cursed to turn into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. She married Raymond of Poitou, and told her husband never to come to her on a Saturday. He promised, but eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he broke that promise. During an argument he called her a serpent at court, and in her anger, Melusine turned into a huge serpent or dragon and left him forever. This being a fable, there are several other stories that can be found here along with more information on the story and name here.

In any case, such a grand and somewhat tragic story may keep people from using the name for their baby girl. In fact, it has no recorded use in the United States, and has not charted in any country that I know of. There are a few though, including Melusine von der Schulenburg, born in 1667 and German mistress of Great Britain's King George I. Melusine was actually her middle name; her first name was Ehrengard. Melusine and King George had three daughters together, and one of them was named Petronilla Melusina. More recently, there is a young French actress named Mélusine Mayance, who was born in 1999. In fiction, there is a Belgian comic book character Mélusine, who has relatives with other great names: Adrazelle, Mélisande, Pirouline, and Malicella.

Just like a lot of -ine names, Melusine can be pronounced several ways: mel-yoo-seen, mel-yoo-sin or mel-yoo-sien. I tend to favor the first syllable. If it sounds familiar to you, maybe it's because Melusine may or may not be a variant or of similar root to Millicent.

As for nicknames, Mel, Ellie, Millie and Lucy would make great ones for this legendary moniker.

What do you think of Melusine? Could it be used favorably today?

When Variations Surpass Originals

I am a huge fan of classic names. And while there are always exceptions, I prefer original spellings (which is funny since my name is Kelli). In looking at the 2012 Top 1000, I have found several variations of names that have surpassed their originals.

So, what determines the original spelling? I am using common sense (Kaydence is not the original spelling of Cadence) as well as historical information from Behind the Name and other baby name sites. I am also using the English form of the name as "original", but I know different languages have a translation of the name and consider its spelling original. It is understandable that, in the United States, the Spanish version of a name could be more popular than the English version, I am just noting the difference in the list below.

This post is meant to spark curiosities and discussions. Discuss away!

Boys - Numbers are how many boy babies were given the name in 2012.

Agustin 215 versus Augustine 197 - Agustin is the Spanish version of Augustine.

Aiden 14,779 versus Aidan 3,189 (Ayden also outnumbers Aidan) - Aidan comes from the Irish and Scottish Aodhán.

Blaze 301 versus Blaise 222 - Yes, Blaze is a word name, but as a name, Blaise is the original.

Brayden 8,451 versus Braden 1,126

Bryan 3,064 versus Brian 2,804

Bryce 3,159 versus Brice 217

Jayden 16,013 versus Jadon 315 (Jaden, Jaiden, and Jaydon also outnumber Jadon) - Some might say Jayden is a made up name capitalizing on the popularity of Aidan, but Jadon is in the Old Testament and that is pretty original.

Jaylen 1,422 versus Jalen 576

Kane 476 versus Cain 288

Kason 767 versus Cason 581 - Not sure of the origination of this name, but I can't help but think a C is original over a K. Also, one can say it comes from Case.

Kayden 3,825 versus Caden 2,669 (Kaden also outnumbers Caden)

Luis 4,349 versus Louis 1,049 - Luis is the Spanish form of Louis.

Mohamed 624 versus Muhammad 580 - Mohamed is a variant transcription of Muhammad, meaning when words in languages with different alphabets are translated into English, spellings may vary.

Phillip 873 versus Philip 705

Ruben 951 versus Reuben 205 - Ruben is the Spanish form of Reuben.

Steven 3,214 versus Stephen 1,549


Girls - Numbers are how many girl babies were given the name in 2012.

Aileen 601 versus Eileen 324 (Ayleen also outnumbers Eileen) - Aileen could be pronounced differently (ay-leen instead of eye-leen), but enough pronounce it the same as Eileen to include it here.

Annabelle 3,025 versus Annabel 579 (Anabelle also outnumbers Annabel) - Annabelle can be considered a variant of Annabel, which came from Anna, or as Anna + belle.

Brianna 4,605 versus Briana 1,057 - May be a little stickler on this, but Behind the Name shows Brianna as a variant of Briana, which is the feminine version of Brian.

Brynn 1,650 versus Bryn 353 - Brynn is the feminine variant of the male Bryn.

Camila 4,776 versus Camilla 706 (Kamila also outnumbers Camilla) - Camila is the Spanish form of Camilla.

Camryn 913 versus Cameron 531 (Kamryn also outnumbers Cameron) - Camryn is a feminine variant of the male Cameron.

Isabelle 2,483 versus Isabel 2,363 - Isabelle is the French form of Isabel.

Jaelyn 647 versus Jaylin 364 (Jaylynn and Jaelynn also outnumber Jaylin) - Jalen is the male form, but Jaylin could either come from Jalen or be a feminine variation of Jay.

Jordyn 2,554 versus Jordan 1,408 - Jordyn is a feminine variant of the male Jordan.

Kaelyn 746 versus Kaylyn 275 (Kaelynn, Kailyn, Kaylin, and Kaylynn also outnumber Kaylyn) - Kaylyn is the combination of Kay and -lyn.

Kaitlyn 2,581 versus Caitlin 738 (Katelyn and Caitlyn also outnumber Caitlin)

Kara 850 versus Cara 402

Karissa 299 versus Carissa 262 - Both are variants of Charissa, but it's hard to overlook the K replacing the C.

Karla 757 versus Carla 365 - Hard to tell if Karla is the German/Scandinavian version of the feminine version of Charles or another K replacing the C.

Kaydence 1,193 versus Cadence 1,084

Lindsey 574 versus Lindsay 393

Madelyn 3,764 versus Madeline 3,137 - Yes, this is one of contention. Is Madeline "mad-uh-lien" with with long "i" or "mad-uh-lynn'? To throw in another wrench, it can also be pronounced "mad-uh-leen". But for the purposes of this post, I see Madelyn as a variant... parents changing the spelling to clarify how they want it pronounced.

Makayla 3,739 versus Michaela 713 (Mikayla also outnumbers Michaela)

Reyna 378 versus Reina 247 - Reina means "queen" in Spanish. Rayna and Raina also outnumber Reina, but they could be considered another language version of Regina.


Other Notes

Kellen 924 beats Kellan 805, but I'm not sure which is the original, if there even is one.

Cael/Cale/Kale is complicated. Cael is an Irish name, Cale could be a shortened form of Caleb, and Kale could either be a variant of Cale, the Hawaiian form of Charles, or from the vegetable. It's hard to say what is "original." In any case, Kale is the most popular spelling, followed by Cale, Cael and then Kael.

Skylar/Skyler is a weird one. Skyler is a variant of Schuyler and more popular with boys, while Skylar is listed as a variant of Skyler and more popular with girls. It seems to be a true unisex name with each spelling being more popular with a different gender. Since they both came from Schuyler, I'll just say they both outnumber their original spelling and not worry about comparing them to each other.

The Rare Debuts

There are some interesting finds at the lower end of the 2012 SSA baby name list. The only qualifications required to make the following list were that the name was on the beyond 1000 list in 2012 but not in 2011, and that it caught my eye. Lots of place names, celebrity and other surnames, and more attention-grabbing monikers to peruse...

Girls
Abbott (5) - I like it... and Abby would be a cute nickname.
Adaire (8)
Amelianna (5) - interesting name smush.
Anemone (6)*
Athens (7)
Atlas (7)
Bae (5)* - I am fond of "ay" names, and this is a cute alternative to Bay.
Bambi (6)
Beata (10) - one of my favorite Polish names!
Bette (5)
Beulah (12) - this dropped off briefly in 2011, but has made a somewhat strong reappearance after less than 10 births per year since 2004.
Bobby (6)
Breslin (14) - Michigan State fans?
Callisto (7)
Calloway (5)
Cambridge (9)
Copper (5)
Crawford (7)
Daenerys (21)* - from Game of Thrones, no doubt.
Debby (13)
Emrys (6) - Merlin?
Eponine (7)* - Les Misérables anyone?
Fairy (6)
Faustine (6) - a popular French name.
Fedora (5)
Ferrari (5)
Gardner (5)
Gertie (5)
Gilda (8) - reached its heights in the 1920s and 1940s.
Happy (5)
Houston (6)
Hyacinth (6) - the pretty flower name makes an appearance after a brief disappearance.
Ikea (5)
Jase (10) - the Jase craze transferred over to the girls as well.
Kae (6) - I love the simplicity of this.
Katniss (12)* - Hunger Games love.
Letitia (6) - such a pretty name that was more popular in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lively (6)* - there's something about this that is just nice and maybe inspired by actress Blake Lively?
Louisiana (7)
Manning (6)
Merida (19) - Brave!
Noble (6)
Primrose (16) - beat out her sister Katniss.
Psalm (13)
Sistine (5)* - as long as her last name isn't Chapel.
Texas (5)
Vail (7)
Vegas (5)
Wallis (7) - hasn't been recorded since 2005.
Yoko (6)

Boys
Anchor (5)*
Athos (8) - all 3 Musketeers have great names! This is Athos' first appearance since 1926, Aramis has been a pretty steady presence since 1969 and had 50 appearances in 2012, but Porthos has yet to show up.
Bogart (6)
Bolton (7)
Brees (11) - I wonder if these parents are New Orleans Saints fans?
Bridge (6)
Chaplin (6)*
Churchill (5)
Connery (6)
Crash (6) - maybe baseball-inspired? ;)
Detroit (5)
Emperor (5) - another rank or title name to add to the list.
England (7)
Finnick (9)* - more Hunger Games love.
Germany (11)
Gin (5) - also appeared in 1988.
Grimm (6)* - I wonder if the TV show inspired this.
Harding (6)
Hawkeye (6)* - possibly due to The Avengers.
Hawthorne (10)
Hinckley (6)
Hutchins (6)* - Hutch is a great nickname.
Jacks (5) - has only appeared in 2010 and 2012.
Jenkins (7)
Khan (16) - the Star Trek geek in me loves this.
Knightley (5) - you have no idea how much this makes me happy.
Mecca (12)
Mercury (5)
Mitt (8) - some Romney fans?
Morocco (9)
Myers (9)
Optimus (5)* - because we need the leader of the Autobots.
Patriot (5)
Phelps (5)
Poe (5)
Portland (6)
Radford (6)
Rage (6)
Rawlings (5)* - I just talked about this name on my baseball-inspired list.
Renly (10)* - more Game of Thrones love.
Rutherford (5)
Saban (5) - Alabama fans?
Savage (8)*
Scholar (5)*
Severus (6)* - some late Harry Potter love.
Sherlock (6) - love it.
Sovereign (7)
Steeler (5)* - from Pittsburgh maybe?
Thailand (5)
Theon (12) - even more Game of Thrones love.
Vader (5)
Vin (12)
Xerxes (12)
Yale (9)

*First time ever captured on the SSA list.

Music made it's first appearance ever on both the Male and Female charts, each with 6 babies.

Plus, there were more than 20 different spellings of Cataleya that made their debut in 2012, some that start with C and some that start with K.

What is your favorite Rare Debut?

Thanks to Nancy's Baby Names for numbers help.

Playground Analysis 2012 - Top 50

Note: You can also see this information on Nameberry!

Why do I call this the Playground Analysis? Well, when you are on the playground with your kids and you hear a name, you don't know how it is spelled, but you do know how often you hear it. Some names might actually be more popular than the SSA list shows because it ranks names by their spelling, not by their sound. To see how popular a name actually is, I have gathered the various spellings of each name in the 2012 Top 1000 and come up with a new Top 50 for each gender!

Note: The main name listed is the spelling given to the most babies in 2012 (SSA Rank is in parentheses). The others are in alphabetical order. Opinions vary on how different spellings are pronounced. I am very aware of the differences between Madeline and Madelyn, as well as many others, but the fact remains that parents will pronounce names differently no matter the spelling. Some may pronounce Madeline with the long "i", while others may pronounce it with "lynn" at the end. The Mia and Mya name groupings are another contested issue. A lot of people also say Katherine and Kathryn are different. There is no way we can know for sure how each parent intended on pronouncing the name. So, I gathered the names using my best judgment. In the grand scheme of things, it may or may not influence the list order. But, as with all data analyses, there is no guarantee for perfection. :) Enjoy!

Girls

1. Sophia (1) - Sofia
2. Isabella (3) - Isabela, Izabella
3. Emma (2)
4. Olivia (4) - Alivia, Alyvia
5. Ava (5) - Avah
6. Emily (6) - Emely, Emilee, Emilie, Emmalee
7. Zoey (20) - Zoe, Zoie
8. Chloe (11) - Khloe
9. Madison (9) - Maddison, Madisyn, Madyson
10. Aubrey (15) - Aubree, Aubri, Aubrie
11. Abigail (7) - Abbigail
12. Mia (8) - Miah
13. Madelyn (67) - Madalyn, Madalynn, Madeleine, Madeline, Madelynn, Madilyn, Madilynn
14. Lily (16) - Lillie, Lilly
15. Layla (31) - Laila, Lailah, Laylah, Leila, Leyla
16. Hailey (32) - Hailee, Haley, Haylee, Hayleigh, Hayley, Haylie
17. Addison (14) - Addisyn, Addyson
18. Riley (47) - Rylee, Ryleigh, Rylie
19. Elizabeth (10) - Elisabeth
20. Natalie (17) - Natalee, Nataly, Nathalie, Nathaly
21. Aaliyah (36) - Aleah, Aleigha, Alia, Aliya, Aliyah
22. Avery (13) - Averi, Averie
23. Kaylee (34) - Caylee, Kailee, Kailey, Kayleigh, Kaylie
24. Arianna (49) - Ariana, Aryana, Aryanna
25. Ella (12)
26. Brooklyn (29) - Brooklynn
27. Amelia (23) - Emelia, Emilia
28. Allison (38) - Alison, Alisson, Allyson, Alyson
29. Hannah (22) - Hana, Hanna
30. Kaitlyn (118) - Caitlin, Caitlyn, Kaitlin, Kaitlynn, Katelyn, Katelynn
31. Mackenzie (71) - Makenzie, Mckenzie
32. Kylie (59) - Kiley, Kylee, Kyleigh
33. Peyton (53) - Paityn, Payton
34. Lillian (25) - Lilian
35. Evelyn (27) - Evalyn, Evelynn
36. Leah (33) - Lea, Leia, Lia
37. Charlotte (19)
38. Sarah (43) - Sara
39. Grace (21)
40. Harper (24)
41. Katherine (64) - Catherine, Kathryn
42. Gabriella (37) - Gabriela
43. Anna (35) - Ana
44. Samantha (26)
45. Alyssa (44) - Alisa, Alissa, Elisa, Elissa
46. Brianna (51) - Breanna, Briana, Bryanna
47. Victoria (28)
48. Makayla (69) - Mckayla, Michaela, Mikaela, Mikayla
49. Adalyn (198) - Adalynn, Addilyn, Adeline, Adelyn, Adelynn
50. Elena (139) - Alaina, Alayna, Elaina

The top 5 do not drastically change, but Zoey jumps from #20 to #7. Adalyn, Elena, Kaitlyn and Madelyn make huge gains after adding all of their various spellings.

Boys

1. Aiden (10) - Aaden, Adan, Aden, Aidan, Aidyn, Aydan, Ayden, Aydin
2. Jackson (22) - Jaxen, Jaxson, Jaxon
3. Jayden (7) - Jaden, Jadon, Jaeden, Jaiden, Jaidyn, Jaydon
4. Jacob (1) - Jakob, Jaycob
5. Mason (2) - Maison, Masen, Mayson
6. Ethan (3)
7. Noah (4)
8. William (5)
9. Liam (6)
10. Michael (8) - Micheal
11. Kayden (99) - Caden, Caiden, Cayden, Kaden, Kaeden, Kaiden
12. Alexander (9) - Alexzander
13. Matthew (12) - Mathew)
14. Elijah (13) - Alijah
15. Daniel (11)
16. James (14)
17. Anthony (15)
18. Caleb (32) - Kaleb
19. Benjamin (16)
20. Christopher (23) - Cristopher, Kristopher
21. Joshua (17)
22. Andrew (18)
23. David (19)
24. Joseph (20)
25. Logan (21)
26. Lucas (27) - Lukas
27. Christian (33) - Cristian, Kristian
28. Landon (34) - Landen, Landyn
29. Gabriel (24)
30. Brayden (39) - Braden, Bradyn, Braeden, Braiden, Braydon
31. Samuel (25)
32. Jonathan (35) - Johnathan, Johnathon, Jonathon
33. John (28) - Jon
34. Ryan (26)
35. Dylan (31) - Dillon
36. Nicholas (49) - Nicolas, Nickolas, Nikolas
37. Isaac (30) - Issac
38. Nathan (29)
39. Carter (36) - Karter
40. Cameron (54) - Camren, Camron, Camryn, Kameron, Kamron, Kamryn
41. Connor (59) - Conner, Conor, Konner, Konnor
42. Isaiah (42) - Isiah, Izaiah, Izayah
43. Luke (37)
44. Owen (38)
45. Gavin (40) - Gavyn
46. Dominic (70) - Dominick, Dominik, Dominique
47. Jordan (48) - Jorden, Jordyn
48. Wyatt (41)
49. Colton (65) - Colten, Kolten, Kolton
50. Henry (43)

Aiden and it's various spellings (there are NINE) take the top spot away from Jacob, and Jackson jumps from #22 to #2! Jacob doesn't show up until #4 after all the spellings of Jayden. And Kayden and Dominic look like the names with the biggest gain.

What do you think? Does this sound about right? Or are there any surprises?

Names on the Cusp - An Update

Remember my predictions of 12 names (6 boys and 6 girls) that would jump into the Top 1000? Well... 4 of the 12 made it to the list:

Oakley ranked at #880 with 237 births, up from 191 births in 2011.

Thiago ranked at #862 with 244 births, up from 187 births in 2011.

Milena ranked at #965 with 262 births, up from 230 births in 2011.

Everly ranked at #907 with 286 births, up from 222 births in 2011.

So, I was 1/3 right. :)

Popular Baby Names of 2012

The new list is out! Nothing has drastically changed on top... Jacob and Sophia are still #1. But there are some interesting things beyond the top for sure!

My fellow name enthusiasts have pushed out a ton of great analyses and there are several articles already out there, so I thought I would share some here:

Nameberry gives a great synopsis of the new list.

Eponymia looks at the names that broke into the Top 1000.

OMG posted an article about the influence of celebrities on the popularity of certain names.

In Name Only talks about names that are skyrocketing in popularity.

The Baby Name Wizard looks at the fastest-rising baby names for boys.

The Baby Name Wizard looks at the fastest-rising baby names for girls.

The Baby Name Wizard looks at the fastest-rising baby names outside of the Top 1000.

and

The SSA posts a list showing the rank changes between 2011 and 2012.