Given Name or Nickname: Cricket

Image via enchantedlearning.com

There was a boy in my daughter's class last year named Christian. One day, Rachel excitedly told me that he was called Cricket by his family, friends and teachers. Hearing this made me absolutely fall in love with the nickname. And now actress Busy Philipps has named her newborn daughter Cricket Pearl. I think I would rather use a more formal name and use Cricket as a nickname, but I am not against the idea of just naming my child Cricket either. It has slowly become my new favorite animal name.

When we hear "cricket", we probably think of the animal first, or possibly even the conscience-driven character of Jiminy Cricket. Looking elsewhere, the ball and stick game of cricket is widely known and popular in several countries, and I've actually already mentioned the name in a post about card games. Besides the adorable cuteness of the word as a name, any of these could be a true source of inspiration for parents.

So, how often has Cricket been used as a given name? It was first recorded in 1950 with five girls given the name, and in 1982 there were 24 girls given the name (the most in any year to date). In 2012, it was only given to five girls, and I wonder if there will be a slight jump with the celebrity exposure. As for boys, while I do love the Cricket nickname on a young lad, there hasn't been a record of more than five boys given the name in any year since 1880.

If you just can't embrace Cricket as a given name, but want the opportunity to use it as a nickname for your child, what are your formal name options? The soap opera The Young and the Restless has a character called Cricket whose real name is Christine. Any other Chri-/Cri- name would work well, such as:

Christian
Christopher
Crispin

Christiana
Christina
Christine
Kristen

You could even stretch it to include Catherine, Caroline, Corinne and other C names.

What do you think? Would you use Cricket as a given name or as a nickname, or not at all?

Thanks to Nancy's Baby Names for help with some of the above info.