Baby names

[flea]

My college friend Amy had her first child May 4, a daughter named Greta Felise. I'm guessing the very unusual Felise (variant of Felicia, feminine of Felix) is a family name. Amy is Canadian and her husband is Welsh; they live in England.

Sibling sets noticed recently:
Hampton and Jenkins. Both girls. Hampton is a classmate of Dillo's and as it turns out Jenkins is going to the YMCA with Casper this summer.

Tristan and Presley. Presley is a girl. At least I think so. If not, Tristan is a girl. I'm pretty sure the girl is Presley.

So, yes, in my local observations, the South is especially big on traditionally-this-is-a-last-name names as first names. For girls.

Comments

[fatoudust.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about your names assessment recently when I was looking at my list of private music students the other day. Ranging in age from 7 to 17, all coming from approximately middle class rural Arizona families:

• Rebekah
  
• Tanner
  
• DJ
  
• Michaela
  
• Leah
  
• Erik
  
• Zachary
  
• Paisley
  
• Kylie
  
• Bailey (m)
  
• Katlynn
  
• Jordan (f)
  
• Brooke
  
• Gavin
  
• Stefan
  
• Amelia
  
• Joshua
  
• Kyler
  
• Laura
  
• William
  
• Ben
  
• Colton
  
• Lorin (m)
  
• Skyler
  
• Kristin
  
• Chloe
  
• Jabin
  
• another Zachary
  
• Lisa
  
• Garrett
  
• Nicole

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

I do hope Paisley has a sibling named Plaid.

Also, I am now imagining twins named Kyle and Kyler. Like Dumb and Dumber.

[fatoudust.livejournal.com]

Hee. Paisley is an awesome name. And the kid rocks it, too. She's this total jock, who plays drums in her spare time.

The worst bit for me was when Kyler & Skyler had successive lessons. I always sounded like I was stuttering while I was trying to remember which one of them was in front of me.

Oh, and I forgot Rhiannon. How could I forget Rhiannon? Rhiaaaaaannon.

[amy37.livejournal.com]

My dad went to college with a very Southern girl named Brown. I believe it was her mother's maiden name.

[ellenbs.livejournal.com]

Hey - is this Amy B. of the Archaeology program? If so, is she still archaeologizing? (I think her family was originally southern - she's the daughter of grad-school friends of my mother's from Emery.)

I would say (as a half-Southerner) that the constant last-to-first-naming of girls is ridiculous (Fairley, OK. Burton, NO.) if it weren't for the fact that Southern nicknames are so much more ridiculous. (Weezie, Bitsy, Tah, Munny, Lum, etc., etc. in my own family.)

My great-great-uncle married a woman named Flotilla, which is unrelated, but awesome.

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

It is indeed our Amy B. She is a lecturer in archaeobotany at Oxford, and exactly the same as she always was. (Well, I last saw her in 2002, but by email the same.)

I also am fond of ridiculous New England nicknames, the best being Bootsie.

[mightyurchin.livejournal.com]

The vacant lot two doors down from my parents' house in Virginny is known as "Bootsy's lot," named after the owner. (Note I have no idea what Bootsy's real name is.) I've never seen it spelled, but I always imagined it with a "y" - maybe that's the southern spelling? Or the male spelling?

[casperflea.livejournal.com]

I know it as a New England WASP nickname for Elizabeth (Bootsy Collins aside). Actually in some ways there are cultural similarities between truly old-school NE WASPs and old southern families - the persistence of what is probably some 17th century nickname might be one!

[wandsci.blogspot.com (from livejournal.com)]

So why is it that everyone makes fun of Californians for weird names? From these lists, we're no worse than anyone else. The only really out there name in my daughter's day care class is Haven. It's a boy. My daughter (and most of her little friends) can't say it right, so he's referred to as Baben.