I suppose that with all of my constant rambling on the subject of names, my 12-year-old sister, Hannah, has become a name nerd by association. Or perhaps having such a common name herself has driven her to give her future children unusual names. Whatever the case may be, she’s showed me a list of her favorite names and, with her permission, I’ve decided to share it with all y’all.
Boys
Gideon
Jedidiah
Josiah
Seth
Isaac
Edmund
Dexter
Darius
Titus
Lester
Girls
Susanna
Joan
Phoebe
Matilda
Silvia
Eloise
Agatha
Naomi
Andrea
Jasmine
Esther
Chloe
Dinah
Her tastes resemble mine pretty closely, but I’m not entirely sure if she’s consciously imitating me or if we simply have similar tastes because we were raised in the same environment. The only one up there I can’t abide is
Jasmine. I don’t know, something about the name screams “trashy” to me. I don’t mind Heather, though. Honestly, though, her tastes aren’t bad for a girl her age. Then again, she’s not your typical 12-year-old. She prefers Animal Planet to Hannah Montana any day and will sooner read a Nancy Drew or Royal Diaries book than Twilight (yes, her friends are all reading that now. What is this world coming to?). Not exactly a mini-me (at her age I was watching Law & Order and reading Oliver Twist and Lord of the Rings), but close enough. What do you all think? Name nerd in training?
Onomastics Shamastics 
I like her names! My favorites from the boys’ list are Gideon, Darius, Titus, and Edmund. On the girls’ list, I like Susanna, Naomi, Eloise, and Matilda.
Comment by Emmy Jo — February 14, 2009 @ 8:55 am
Great list! It is *very* interesting to hear the perspective of a 12 y.o.
I think Laura Wattenberg talks about how your age when you name your children makes a HUGE difference in the types and styles of names we favor. It makes sense. But I remember a friend always wanting to name her first daughter Hannah Elizabeth – always, always, always. My cousin – many states away and a few years younger – felt the same way. And, apparently, so did thousands of other women.
The same must be true of lots of other names, and the style of names in general – after all, we name dolls and pets decades before we bring home baby.
I wonder how many of us do name our kids the kinds of things we always planned and how many change our minds?
For the record, at 12, I had hideous taste in names. My first pick for a girl was Mystina. Really.
Comment by appellationmountain — February 15, 2009 @ 12:55 am
Thanks, Emmy Jo and Verity! Yes, the age thing does make a lot of sense. I met one woman who had her two daughters ten years apart–the first when she was 18 and the second when she was 28. Their names? Britanie and Catherine. Quite the style clash, there!
My tastes were horrible at 12 too. Some of my favorites weren’t bad–Eulalia and Atticus (which is still very dear to my heart), for instance. Then there were those that I look back on and really shake my head at: Reagan, Rylee, and Peyton for girls; Parker, Trenton, and Dallas for boys. It wasn’t even that long ago, really–it’s only been five years. Still, yuck!
I wonder how Hannah’s tastes will be in a few years–if they’ll be the same or if they’ll change over time. She has a much better start than I did, though!
Comment by Lydia May — February 16, 2009 @ 4:08 am
LOL – my cousin had a son at 20 and named him Dallas. 🙂
He’s a great kid and luckily the name wears well. But I remember a lot of, um, surprise, greeting the announcement of his name.
Comment by appellationmountain — February 16, 2009 @ 2:51 pm
Haha, Dallas was the lead singer of my favorite band when I was thirteen. *blushes* I dreamed of having a son that would grow up to be a big tough guy. Then I looked around at my family of intellectuals, and decided that it likely wouldn’t work. 😛
The really humiliating part is that I’d never even been to Dallas.
Comment by Lydia May — February 16, 2009 @ 11:08 pm
Glad to hear it wears well on your cousin’s kid, by the way. I’m not against place names on principle–my name’s technically a place name, after all, but many of them are simply ridiculous. I first rethought naming my child Trenton when my family and I got lost and ran out of gas in Trenton, NJ while trying to find a shortcut to Philadelphia. 😛
Comment by Lydia May — February 16, 2009 @ 11:10 pm
I am absolutely thilled to see Gideon, Titus, Agatha, Esther & Dinah, in particular on her lists. Gives me hope for Humanity. 🙂 Susanna is on my list now (as you know!)
I’m no fan of place names either. I mean, if they’ve got significance, that’s fine, but still not for me. I laughed when I read about getting lost in Trenton, NJ, I’m a former Jersian and just cannot fathom the use of Camden or Trenton as names. I keep expecting to see Clifton, Edison Clayton or Winslow (all NJ town/city names) Did anyone know there’s a Dorothy, NJ too? (08317) Interesting!
Comment by Lola — February 23, 2009 @ 1:22 am
My taste was so tame when I was twelve- I wanted a boy, Matthew, and a girl, Sophie. Things have changed somewhat! I like your sister’s taste a lot, though, particularly Gideon, Esther and Eloise. It’s funny, I just posted about my fifteen year old sister’s name taste.
Mind if I Blogroll you?
Comment by Esme — March 1, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
Thanks for the input, Esme! Sure, you can blogroll me. I’ll be sure to check you out, too.
Comment by Lydia May — March 4, 2009 @ 12:22 am