By Linda Rosenkrantz

　　January was a month when some especially unusual and creative names landed on our berrybaby birth announcements—and for their siblings as well. For girls alone we saw Ezrie, Islington, Yvaine, Oswin, Dorthea, Elia, and Salomea, while boys included Callister, Isao, Ender, Maximo, Forde and Ransom.

　　Here’s the full list of January baby names chosen by Berries—and don’t forget to tell us your faves in the comments and in particular how you like those you may not have heard before.

　　GIRLS

　　Clementine Scout, sister of August Gray

　　“Her name was a much loved number that we had considered for her brother if he had been a girl, and we just couldn’t get past it this time. Scout was the name I was going to be called right up until my birth, when my overbearing English grandmother weighed in and declared that I should be named after royalty, not some popular, made up name. I’ve always held it dear in my heart.”

　　Delilah Briar Snow (changed rom Briar Nixie)

　　Elia (Ellie) Judith, pronounced Ellie–Ah.“Although generally used for males, we thought it sounded more appropriate for a girl and I believe it’s used for girls in Spain (could be wrong). We also loved the Italian connection to Elia as it honours my heritage.”

　　Ezrie Grace

　　Grace Garvey Rose (Gigi), sister of Henry James Glass and Walter Dayton

　　“She is named after our mothers and aunt yet her nickname perfectly suits her feisty personality.”

　　Islington Yorke “Isly” (pronounced eye-ling-ton), sister of Callister Everett.

　　Juliette Ayla Wren, sister of Eli Mika and Nathan Isao Fox

　　Lyra Yvaine, sister of Ender Grey

　　“Like her big brother, both of her names come from literary characters that were influential to both my husband and I in our childhoods. Lyra from The Golden Compass and Yvaine from Stardust. We also love that they both relate to the stars. Lyra is a constellation that contains the star Vega (one of the brightest in the sky!) and Yvaine means “Evening star.”

　　Margot Dahlia

　　“We chose Margot because it has all the dignity of a traditional name and all the spunk of a nickname.”

　　Matilda Mae, sister of Eleanor Elizabeth and Penelope Primrose

　　“She has an alliterated name like her big sisters and her dad.”

　　Oswin Dorthea

　　“From the second I heard the name Oswin (in an episode of Doctor Who) I knew I wanted to use it if I ever had a daughter. My mother’s name is Dorothy and while I wasn’t in love with it I wanted my little girl to be named for her so we just changed it to Dorthea, We frequently call her Ozzy.”

　　Salomea Joy

　　“Salomea was my Great Grandmother’s name. She came across the Atlantic from Poland in 1903 with a daughter and husband who was evading life in the Polish Army. She raised seven children and lived to be 101. We liked the idea of our precious one sharing a name with such a strong and brave woman. We call her Sal and actually have been since the summer after seeing a “You pick” blueberries sign and thinking of the book “Blueberries for Sal.”

　　Violeta Macondo, sister of Maximo Wild

　　“Violeta honors my Chilean heritage which every day I am more proud of through the amazing artist, songwriter and political activist Violeta Parra. Macondo is after the village in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s book, ‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ which is mine and SO’s favorite. I think we managed to choose a name that exalts positively the Latin American culture, language and roots of our family and we hope that Violeta, or Vita as we call her for short, will learn to cherish and respect it as much as we do.”

　　BOYS

　　Caius Christian, brother of Henry Justus

　　Cormac Alexander, brother of Fiona Mae

　　“He raced into the world in a mere 4.5 hours, so Cormac’s meaning of “Charioteer” seems to fit him perfectly.”

　　Forde Calloway

　　Henry Justus, brother of Caius Christian

　　Isaac Roy

　　“We decided on Isaac (apart from it being one name we could both agree on) because of its meaning: Laughter. In the biblical account of Isaac’s life, his name means ‘Laughter’ (as Sarah, aged 90, laughed when Abraham told her that God had promised they would conceive a son). Like Sarah, we too laugh, but with joy when we found out I was pregnant, and now our precious boy brings a smile to our face every day.”

　　Lincoln Kaleb Orion

　　Myles Carter

　　Ransom Earl

　　“I’ve loved the name Ransom for a long time. It went on my list sometime after I first read C. S. Lewis’s Space Trilogy, and it hasn’t left my Top 5 for years…..I also love the fact that it is also a word synonymous with redemption, the idea of being brought back…”

　　Sullivan (Sully) Eli, brother of Hadley Estelle

　　Theo Oscar Eliot, brother of Miles Henry Graham and Gabriel Calvin Pierce

　　And now, once again, here are some nuggets that Katinka mined from the Forums last week:

　　— Double first names are all the rage in Britain at the moment, and here are some great ideas for double-barrelled monikers beyond -Rose and -Mae.

　　— Scarlett called Scout, Florence called Ren, and Felicity called Fizz… We’re seeing more and more of these ingenious “best of both worlds” names on the forums and in your Babyberry announcements. What’s your favourite?

　　— And on a lighter note: we’ve seen Elea‘s predictions for the next royal baby, but what would you pick in William or Harry’s place?