Thursday Thirteen #21
I’m teaching a class on blogging this Saturday, so I had to come up with a topic for this week’s Thursday Thirteen that wouldn’t require quite so much research as usual. Considering that a bunch of my friends seem to be having babies lately, Baby Names seemed just the ticket.
According to the Social Security Administration website the following names were among the 10 most popular for Boys or Girls in 2007.
1. Jacob This name is Hebrew and Biblical in origin. It means “He who supplants,” and according to the baby name book I consulted it has been the number one boy’s name in the USA since 1999. (Still #1 in 2007.)
2. Emily From the Latin this names means “industrious” and from the Teutonic it means “energetic.” The Baby Name Bible lists this as the number one girls’ name since 1996. I personally know three Emilys that are graduating High School this year. (Still #1 in 2007.)
3. Michael From the Hebrew, this name means “who is like God?” Formerly the number one boys’ name in the U.S. for about half a century, it now sits at number two. And seriously, how many Michaels do you know? (At least as recently as 2007.)
4. Isabella A Spanish and Italian version of “Elizabeth,” which means “pledged to God” in Hebrew. My great-aunt’s name is Isabelle, and she was born in 1918, so you can see that all number of versions of this name remain popular throughout time. (This name was number two for girls in 2007.)
5. Ethan From the Hebrew, this name means “strong and firm.” Do that many people like Ethan Hawke or Tom Cruise’s character from Mission Impossible? (This biblical name was number three for boys in 2007.)
6. Emma From the German and meaning “healer of the Universe,” Emma is both the name of one of my friends and my parents’ cat. (Lagging a whole two spaces behind the similar sounding “Emily,” this name sits at the number three spot for female names in 2007.)
7. Joshua A Hebrew name meaning “the Lord is salvation,” Joshua is another of those perennial favorites. I currently know two fellows with this name, one of whom I’m related to. (This name made it to the number four male name on the most popular list in 2007.)
8. Eva This name is a variation of the biblical “Eve” that carries with it the meaning of “life.” I wonder what caused the sudden popularity of this one. Eva Longoria, perhaps? (In 2007, this name reached number four for young ladies.)
9. Daniel From the Hebrew meaning “God is my judge,” Daniel is another of those perennial favorites. Okay. You got me. Not only is this my grandfather’s name, after whom my sister is named, but it is actually on my short list of names for potential children. Come to think of it, it’s also my great-grandfather’s name. I officially declare it a family name, so I can use it no matter how popular it is. (in 2007, Daniel was number five on the popular names list for males.)
10. Madison Carrying with it the meaning “son of the mighty warrior,” this newly popular girl’s name was originally from the English…and for boys. Wasn’t that the name for the mermaid from Splash? In any case, it is soon to be the name of my friend’s new baby. (in 2007, this name reached number five.)
11. Christopher From the Geek and the Latin, Christopher means “one who carries Christ.” A grand total of three different men in my family answer to this name, though they do prefer “Chris.” Did you know that the diminutive for this name during Shakespeare’s time was “Kit”? (In 2007 this was the sixth most popular male name.)
12. Sophia As of 2007, Sophia was number six on the populare female names list. The thing you need to ask yourself is, do you prefer Soph-EEa or Soph-EYEa for the pronounciation. Either way, it’s from the Greek for “Wisdom.”
13. Elizabeth This name, sitting at number ten on the popular female names list in 2007, seems to be the official middle name of my family. Well, for the girls at least. It means “pledged to God” and is ground zero for nicknames. Did you know that Queen Elizabeth I was known a Good Queen Bess?
Sources:
The Baby Name Bible by Pamela Redmond Satran & Linda Rosenkrantz
The Social Security Administration website
Fun! Can you talk more about the blogging class?
She was… she took the name from Madison Avenue. It’s been a popular girl’s name ever since. Neither of my kids’ names are on your list. Happy TT.
Little did I know that Joshua was such a popular name until I went to the grocery store with my Joshie and heard no less than four other moms calling their sons by the same name. We started calling him by his middle name that very day. Since he was only 6 months it was too tramatic for any of us. He doesn’t find too many with his name now: Tov (Hebrew for “good”)
Those are really popular I did 2 family names and two ‘popular’ names for my children and I prefer to stick w/ family fo r the meaningfulness
I have a different baby name book by the same authors that I use for naming characters. Just thought I’d share…
When I was pregnant with #1, I nixed certain names because they were on that list. I wanted my kid to be an original (and he is) — so we went Biblical. Makes perfect sense, huh?
Sure, OSG. It’s totally booked and has a waiting list (egad.) However, what did you wish to know about blogging? I could start a series about it here if you like.
Sarah, well named! I have a think about names, so I suppose it was inevitable that I did a post on them.
Susan, Tov? That’s cool!
marcia, luckily most of the names I have chosen are not on that list. All hail family names, eh? Except Hazel. My great-grandmother declared that she would haunt anyone who named someone after her.
Susan, I love baby name books. Dead handy when you are trying to come up with a name for a story, eh?
I love names and I like learning what’s popular. We’ve got all these Bellas and Aidens in our neighborhood now.
Just love these names! I’m Mary and my brother is James Michael. I bet you can tell how old I am just from my name… 😀
Ha. My neighbor to my left is an Isabel, I am a Beth. My Neighbor to my right is a Liz and if I go one more house over, an Elizabeth. I think it is a rule , if you live on my street someone in your house better have a variation of Elizabeth as a name.
Brenda, I once knew a girl named “Freshta.” Isn’t that a cool name?
Mary, I’m sure that Mary is a perennial favorite.
Beth, is this the point that I remind you that my name is Elisa? Perhaps I could move to your street. 😉
I love name meanings, they are fun!
I’ve got a Writer’s Digest Character naming book as well, by Sherrilyn Kenyon, before I even knew who she was! 🙂
Interesting as always! Thanks and happy TT!
Boys’ names to seem the same over the years, girls’ become more creative and colourful though lots of old fashioned names on your list. I know NO Eva’s or Isabella’s however.
Cool list. I love baby name books, very helpful when trying to name characters. 🙂
I know a great resource for baby names. You can find a lot of baby names, their popularity graphs details and many more at http://www.babynology.com.
It’s nice to see some of the classic names coming back. The made-up and the surname-as-first-name stuff got old fast with me.
Shaunesay, I have the New Age Baby Name book. It’s dead handy for Fantasy names.
Hazelnut, it really does seem that way, doesn’t it? Well, it cuts down on the teasing, I shouldn’t wonder.
Ann, exactly. 929.44 in the Dewey Decimal System.
Crency, thank you kindly!
Sandy, if I ever name a kid Hazel, my great-grandmother will haunt me.
I believe all babies should be named Daniel (or Danielle). I just like the name, I guess.
I suppose that makes sense, Dan.
I don’t think I have ever met anyone else named Emma, but when I was a kid people often told me: Oh, my grandma/great-grandma’s name is Emma!
Now, people say: Oh, my baby/granddaughter’s niece is Emma!
Emma is back. I can attest that it is a reasonable name that will perform all the necessary functions. 😉
Hi Emma! Thanks for the name testimonial. 😀