It’s one of the unwritten rules of baby names–well, actually it’s been written more than once, including by us–that it takes a century for a name to feel fresh enough again to be used for an infant, to no longer sound like a mommy name (Jennifer) or grandpa (Irwin) or...

　　We’re often asked to talk about and predict names that are on their way up, but recently someone posed the reverse question, about names that have peaked and are trending downwards.  So here are a few thoughts on some categories of names that have gone from cool to hot to lukewarm, and...

　　Ever notice how some stylish names are the new versions of other names that got too hot too fast? 　　Felix, for instance, is the new Oscar, one of those poor names that flamed out almost before anybody noticed it was heating up.  Parents who might have chosen Oscar a couple...

　　When the latest starbaby was announced the other day, Michele Hicks and Jonny Lee Miller‘s boy Buster, I wasn’t as surprised as I would have been a few years ago.  Already on our celebrity kids’ roster, after all, are Buck and Lucky and Marmaduke and Duke and King and Prince and Princess...

　　What are the names that gained the most attention this year, symbolizing how far we’ve come and where we’re heading next?   The election, of course, figured heavily in deciding on the most influential names of 2008, as did popular culture and the economy.  Here are our top ten picks for...

　　Whenever I speak to one of my most trusted name correspondents from her loft in a hip bastion of lower NYC, I can usually depend on her to give me some unexpected name news.  A while back, Emily was the one who first told me that Oscar was over before most of...

　　Which baby name trends do we see coming in for 2009 and which do we see heading out? Here, our predictions for the year ahead. 　　BIGGEST BIG-PICTURE TREND: DEPRESSION ERA NAMES 　　The hit TV show Mad Men, set in the early 60s, reintroduced names that were all the rage when...

　　OK, we have to admit it: We’re not sure we ever saw a picture of a stork before that wasn’t rendered in cartoonish shades of pink and blue, flying along with a baby slung from its beak.  Come to think of it, there was one just like that on the...

　　One of the downsides–admittedly a fairly minor one–to living in such a heavily populated country as the U.S. is that it takes the Social Security Administration five months to tally up the year’s baby name stats, while some states and other countries put out their results even before the New...

　　You’ve probably noticed that Aiden is now way more popular than the original Irish Aidan.  And also that Zoey is catching up with Zoe, while other names like Isiah, Kaleb, Camryn and Sienna are either ahead of or breathing down the necks of their conventionally spelled cousins.  Sometimes the reasons for these changes...

　　January Jones, the attractive star of the hot TV show Mad Men has focused a lot of attention on her (real) name, but what’s the prognosis for the other calendar baby names? 　　JANUARY, named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and ends,  has a real history as a name,...

　　Having a baby in New York City is different from having one anywhere else, and that includes choosing a name. 　　The most popular New York baby names are a departure from the popular names in the rest of the country, for one thing. Daniel tops the boys’ chart for the...

　　When the latest unusual starbaby name hit the headlines last week–extreme adventurer Bear Grylls’ son Huckleberry–maybe we shouldn’t have been so surprised.  After all, a previous celebrity couple, Kimberly Williams and Brad Paisley had named their son William Huckleberry, and are known to call him Huck.  But with people still commenting on...