We’ve obviously been spending too much time in the depths of nameberry, checking out which names our visitors have been checking out. 　　And while Finn and Charlotte are the most-searched names for the first nine months of the year, and while we recently brought you our own nameberry Top 100...

　　Question of the Week: Would you choose a popular name? 　　When my daughter Chloe was little, her name was becoming well used in Britain and Australia, but was hardly heard in the U.S.  In fact, a surprising number of  people often didn’t know how to pronounce or spell it.  And so, try as...

　　Belgian native and guest blogger Sarah B. unscrambles the pieces of the complicated jigsaw puzzle that is the diverse naming structure of her native land by analyzing its Most Popular list of 2010. 　　Belgium is a small country with a mere 10 million inhabitants. Yet it sits right in the heart...

　　New Zealand native Anna Hamilton parses the recently released Kiwi name statistics and analyzes what’s up and down, in and out, including such surprise (to us) hits as Aria, Ayla, Anahera, Manaia, and Sione.. 　　BOYS 　　Looking first at the boys: The big news here is that after a five-year reign,...

　　VINTAGE NAMES: What era are you? 　　Unless you’re a baby namer focused on finding a newly created or cutting-edge name, chances are you’ve considered using one from the past.  But which part of the past?  An ancient name or one from earlier in the 20th century? 　　So, the question of the...

　　There are countless books for kids with first names in their titles—from Harold and the Purple Crayon to Madeline to Fancy Nancy to Olivia—but there aren’t very many books for children about names, with scenarios revolving around such name issues as how they relate to identity, popularity, etc 　　I have found a...

　　Irish baby names are in the news this week, with the release of the official statistics on the top names of 2010. Leading the list: Sophie and Jack, holding onto their Number 1 crowns from last year. But there are lots of other changes and surprises in the statistics. 　　The...

　　British baby names were very much on the front burner this week, following the release of the official Top 100 popular British names lists for 2010. 　　At the top of the British names rankings was a pair of what sounds for all the world like matchy-matchy twin names, Olivia and Oliver. ...

　　Since our last round-up of Nameberry’s actual baby names of 2011 in June, there’s been a bonanza of beautifully named newbies posted on our forums–and I’m sure they’re just the tip of the iceberg.  Once again Pam and I are blown away by the fantastic choices being made—from the elegant  classics to the more imaginative...

　　Today’s guest blogger Kristen, aka Swistle, confronts the question of popular baby names–and explains why it’s okay to use them. 　　More common than the name is this naming concern heard from parents: “We don’t want her to be one of five  in every class.” 　　We know they don’t need to worry about...

　　The term Latin American, of course, takes in a number of countries and cultures, with both shared name histories and trends and distinctly individual ones. The names in Portuguese-speaking Brazil are, for example, quite different from those in the various Spanish-speaking cultures.  Some currently popular names prove to be international...

　　Today’s QOW was inspired by a comment from jgirl525. 　　This week it’s a two-parter: 　　a.  What’s your response when you meet someone who shares your own first name? Do you feel an instant kinship or do you feel more proprietary?  If it’s a popular name, do you immediately start comparing nicknames...

　　This week, Appellation Mountain ‘s Abby Sandel travels around the country and across the pond to discover which  names ranked Number 1 where. 　　Baby name news is fast and furious at year’s end.  Lists of Worst and Best Celebrity Baby Names abound.  (Did anyone else notice that Zuzu Audrey, daughter of Top...