Names: My newspaper column -- last three links restored

[Lady Winter Rose]

Here's today's column. Many, many thanks to all the boarders in Sweden who helped! As usual I learned lots of interesting stuff there wasn't room to include in the final column. I wish I'd been able to mention all those Swedish boys named Texas, which still is sort of blowing my mind. :)

http://www.omaha.com...ish-has-changed

Freya is one of mine top baby names. I am sad I didn't find it in the article, but I understand you can't include everything. I like Ingrid, btw. :thumbsup:

And it's great article.

[danro]

So thats what that thread ended up as. Nice!

[Lyanna Stark]

Nice one Ormond! :) Very informative.

Freya is one of mine top baby names. I am sad I didn't find it in the article, but I understand you can't include everything. I like Ingrid, btw. :thumbsup:

And it's great article.

It's spelled "Freja" in Sweden and is generally not a popular name. The same goes for "Frej" her brother. A "y" in the spelling would be seen as pretty weird and pretentious, I think. Plus the novel and subsequent movie "Vem älskar Yngve Frej?" (Who loves Yngve Frej?) has made Frej and maybe by extension Freja a bit of a joke name.

I had a colleague in the UK who named her daughter "Freya" and thought I'd be all impressed by it, and I didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't at all hip in Sweden. ;)

[Maltaran]

Thought you might like this, Ormond - in light of the Pope's resignation, an article on the name Benedict

[Yagathai]

Not very scholarly, but still a fun read: http://www.mentalfloss.com/article/48982/bella-cha-cha-man-boogles-fido-mopsulus-dog-naming-trends-through-ages

[Ormond]

Not very scholarly, but still a fun read: http://www.mentalflo...ds-through-ages

Actually though this itself isn't a scholarly article it's more based on actual scholarly research than most journalistic articles on pet names are!

It is very interesting to me how in modern American culture people more and more give pets "human" names, and some of the most popular names for pets are the same as some of the most popular names for human babies.

There was someone on the last "complaints about unusual baby names" thread we had who said some parents were naming babies as if they were pets. I almost remarked then that the real problem in the USA now is the opposite -- people naming pets like they were babies! More and more it seems as if there are a lot of people out there who treat their dogs and cats like they were human children. :)

[Yagathai]

I am guilty of that. And I have been guilty of giving my pets "human" names too -- Solomon, Connor, Lucy, Minerva, Talitha, Mortimer, Lebowski. And a couple of others. Catt Murdock the Cat Without Fear, Minister and Maverick not so much people names, though there are at least two boarders that presumably disagree with the latter.

[Ormond]

Here's a link to Tuesday's column. At first they forgot to put it up on their website at all and now though it's up there isn't any byline -- but at least I can now link to it!

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130219/LIVING/702199842

I didn't have room to talk about Nicholas's recent popularity in other countries -- it was fairly common in England in the 1970s, and Nicolas was actually the #1 boys' name in France 1980-1982 and stayed very popular there throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

[Angalin]

I didn't have room to talk about Nicholas's recent popularity in other countries -- it was fairly common in England in the 1970s, and Nicolas was actually the #1 boys' name in France 1980-1982 and stayed very popular there throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

Because of Le petit Nicolas, maybe? The dates seem wrong for that though.

[kuroishi]

I was born in 1982 and the number of people my own age called Nicolas I know is staggering. Those guys are everywhere!

It might be linked to Le petit Nicolas in a way, maybe their parents grew up reading it (though the other names from the books never got fashionable thanks to it, they are still as unfashionable as ever...)

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Very cool. I hadn't realized Nicholas also had a Greek orgin. It was the runner up name for my youngest son, and just barely lost out to Alexander.

[Seventh Pup]

My Husband is a Nicholas, but goes by Nick. In fact he is such a "Nick" that it's hard for me even try to think of him as Nicholas. He was born in 1980, his parents say they they didn't know any "Nicholas"s and thought the name was "different". I admit I actually have always loved the name, to me it has a wonderful kind of manly yet casual, sexy kind of feel. While I never would never date or not date someone based on their name, I remember when I found out my husband's name I thought, "I can see myself with a Nick." and that's how I ended up. :leer:

[Ormond]

Here's today's column. I think this is the rarest name I've written about since "Tybel." I had a lot of fun tracking it through the census.

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130305/LIVING/703059955/1696#cleveland-evans-ferreting-out-origins-of-name-rogene-hard-just-like-its-g

[kuroishi]

That's a very interesting study.

[Seventh Pup]

I ran into a name the other day that made me think of you Ormond. I met a lady in her 70's who's name was Nola. I'd never heard that name before, and I asked about it. Apparently she was named after a piece of music written for Mardi Gras, that was in turn named after New Orleans LA, her father had been big into music and so named Nola, New Orleans Louisiana. I thought it was an awesome name, and an awesome way to get a name, and so I thought I'd share.

[Ormond]

I ran into a name the other day that made me think of you Ormond. I met a lady in her 70's who's name was Nola. I'd never heard that name before, and I asked about it. Apparently she was named after a piece of music written for Mardi Gras, that was in turn named after New Orleans LA, her father had been big into music and so named Nola, New Orleans Louisiana. I thought it was an awesome name, and an awesome way to get a name, and so I thought I'd share.

Very interesting. Nola has also often been used as a pet form of Magnolia and Finola.

[Ormond]

Here's today's column:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130319/LIVING/703199963/1696#cleveland-evans-francis-roots-stretch-back-to-13th-century-saint-of-assisi

For some reason they edited this one more than usual, including leaving out the last four paragraphs I wrote. Here they are for those who might be interested:

Because of Hispanic immigration, Francisco has been the most common form in the United States since 1991. In 2011 1,647 Franciscos were born, ranking it 211^th.

Will the new Pope cause an increase in American boys named Francis? There were fifty-three newborns named Benedict in 2004, and 157 in 2005, the year Benedict XVI was elected.

If the same number of Francises are inspired by the new Pope, there will be about 483 born in 2013, which will raise its rank from 618^th to around 524^th. We may well see more Franciscos born, too.

Humble St. Francis would surely be amazed to know how many namesakes he’s had the last nine centuries. Pope Francis is just the latest among millions.

[Lany Freelove Cassandra]

Interesting. My first husband was Francis and went by Frank and my maternal grandmother was Frances too, but I always said it was not a name I'd give my kids. (seemed more old fashioned)

[Zoë Sumra]

The danger of "Frances" for a girl is the traditional short form. I've always liked Francis as a boy's name.

[Maltaran]

The danger of "Frances" for a girl is the traditional short form. I've always liked Francis as a boy's name.

I know a Frances and a Francesca, and until now I'd never thought of that (they both go by Fran).