The Rider Named Ryder

(c) AFP: Ryder Hesjedal celebrates his underdog victory at the Giro d’Italia cycling race on May 27, 2012 in Milan.

Vancouver Island cyclist Ryder Hesjedal has burned up the headlines across Canada this week, making us proud by becoming the first Canadian ever to win a Grand Tour cycling event when he captured the Giro d’Italia trophy this morning. And one of my favourite tweets about the win? A non-Canadian who had been watching the Giro daily, live from Italy, commented regarding the athlete whom no one had pegged as the possible winner:

“I just realized that rider Hesjedal is Ryder Hesjedal. #duh”

He and nearly everybody else, within Canada included (cycling’s popularity is growing here, and Hesjedal could be the new star to elevate it!) Before he won the second most prestigious cycling race in the world, Hesjedal’s best finish was 6th overall at the 2010 Tour de France, and he won the 12th stage of the 2009 Vuelta a Espana.

Bad Baby Namer: Levi Johnson

To those of you making your first visit thanks to my first guest post at Nameberry (which I’ve been squeeing about since they asked me!!) – Welcome! Happy to have you here!

Today, though, I feel the need to get a little bit serious for a second (bear with me). The first thing I did when I found out Levi Johnson plans to name his unborn daughter Breeze Beretta was write a long-winded, angry post calling him out for using his kid as a toy in his never-ending quest for attention. There are many rules for baby naming out there, and while I feel most rules are made to be broken, for the right price, the notion that children are not to be named for our amusement feels like the one rule not up for debate.

That doesn’t mean I’ve lost my laid-back attitude to names, or that I think parents should refrain from using Fifi if they have a really good reason for it. I deleted the first post; it didn’t sound like me. It didn’t live up to the goals of my blog. I choose not to be among the madding crowd for names ranging from the truly awful to the mundane to the strange or even questionable. I’ve never believed that “they’ll get made fun of” is a good enough reason not to use a name, because kids will make fun of any name, given the right ammunition.

But my disappointment in Levi Johnson and his paternally-undeveloped mind all comes back around to reason, and my predisposition to dislike violent names. Why did Sarah Palin’s Achilles heel choose to name his daughter after an Italian gunmaker? (The weather-pattern first name is an easy play to call, with a babymama named Sunny.) Was it because he likes to hunt? Well, we know he does. I like to listen to music, but a brand name like Fender or Gibson is still not on my list – though I know they have inspired many.

But back to Beretta. What good is there – really – in using violent themes to name our children? Don’t we want our kids to grow up to be presidents or artists, economists or computer geniuses? Don’t we want our kids to exemplify traits like honour, courage, kindness, hope, and love? Are our violent hobbies or interests really best suited to our children’s birth certificates? Bears may be a dangerous animal, and it’s a name that I’ve defended, but bears are connected to nature. Guns, especially brand names of guns, are connected only to violence. (Colt, a comparable, is also a horse, which can dress this one up a bit.)

Sure, in some circles, guns/hunting equals honour, but my not-so-humble opinion of that theory is that it’s wrong. Hunting equals survival or sport, and guns equal death. Charlton Heston may have once expressed a love of guns so deep we could pry his “from my cold, dead hands,” but Charlton Heston still named his children Fraser Clarke and Holly Ann.

When it comes to Levi Johnson, I can’t help but think that, just like his Playgirl spread and tabloid-friendly memoir, he was well aware that a simple, controversy-free name like Lily Rose wouldn’t cut it, wouldn’t help him live up to the bad boy reputation he has clearly found some easy money in. For the reason that his new daughter feels like his latest press tool, and for the fact I cannot figure out why we honour violence with baby names, Levi Johnson gets a uniquely rare, but altogether ‘entirely official,’ stamp of disapproval from me as a Bad Baby Namer.

Okay, rant’s over. Am I overreacting? Blinded by a distaste in fame-hungry deadbeat dads? I’m not so sure, I’m not used to hating names/namers. Weigh in!

About A Name: Pearl

The ultra-classy mineral, mined not in the ground but from oyster shells under the sea, has been popping up on birth certificates with a certain vengeance the past few years. An old-fashioned name somewhere between Ruby and Diamond on the trendy scale, a renewed interest in classy vintage fashionistas like Jackie O and Audrey Hepburn seem to have helped bring this name back around. But pearls have always had value.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, protagonist Hester Prynne names her daughter Pearl because she was “of great price, purchased with all she had, her mother’s only treasure.”

The past few weeks, Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes has announced the adoption of second daughter Emerson Pearl, and Jack Osbourne’s partner Lisa Stelly welcomed Sharon Osbourne’s first grandchild, named Pearl, yesterday in Los Angeles. (Ozzy’s got a few already, kids of his daughter Jessica Starshine, from his first marriage.)

Hawaii

Hanauma Bay, Hawaii

I know, right? ANOTHER vacation. But to know me is to know there is no world without travel, and I’m about to fly away for a sunny, mostly absent week in Hawaii. Though I’m sure it will prove yet another excuse for blogging inspiration, much like my post from last fall on Japanese names (which was lovingly reblogged by the magnificent Lou at Mer de Noms earlier this week!) Just look at FOX News LA reporter Courtney Friel, who welcomed daughter Cameron Kaiulani last week – we continue to love Hawaiian names and I will try to deliver!

In other news, I’ve recently made the decision to return to school. This means a) more time for name blogging, and b) an opportunity for better posts as I’m forced to break out of old habits and write with grades in mind again! I’m feeling really excited about the future, for myself and the blog, so stay tuned.

Aloha, ladies and gents – see you next week!

Baby, You’re a Star!

In celebration of the birth of Sweden’s future Queen – Princess Estelle Silvia Ewa Mary, Duchess of Ostergotland on February 23rd in Stockholm, I was inspired by the stars to write a post in tribute to another theme we can’t get enough of in the naming world – the stars. And in case you’re wondering if you read my blog semi-regularly, yes, I love outer space.

The stars provide countless naming inspirations for us. First, there’s Estelle, which means “star” in Old French (a variation on Latin Estella that is nowhere near as overexposed these days as Stella). We love the word so much we’ve gotten a little creative with it over the years – like Starlit, as chosen in captivity by California abduction victim Jaycee Dugard for her second daughter. Then there’s a multitude of names like Orion in honour of the ancient, storied constellations in our night sky.

The Swedish princess, the first future queen born to a future queen in Sweden’s history, and what she might be named, had been the source of speculation for months. And her birth may have been met with more fanfare stateside than it was, if William and Kate’s new puppy didn’t also get a name around the time of her birth! Nonetheless, Princess Estelle looks set to join a group of young females who are expected to one day be queen – Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway, Princess Elisabeth of Belgium, and Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands. The laws of primogeniture stand in the way for some, like Infantas Leonor and Sofia, daughters of Prince Felipe of Asturias, heir to the Spanish throne, but the laws continue to fall away, country by country – even William and Kate’s firstborn, no matter the sex, will become Britain’s future king or queen following a unanimous decision by Commonwealth leaders at a summit last fall.

Estelle is reputedly in honour of Estelle (nee Manville) Bernadotte, wife of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden’s ancestor Count Folke Bernadotte af Wisborg, a cousin to Victoria’s great-great-greandfather, King Gustaf V. Estelle Manville was the first American-born individual to marry a member of any European royal house on American soil, and she used her status as a countess to provide leadership and spread the work of the International Red Cross and, so very Kate Middleton of her, the Girl Scouts. (Or perhaps instead, it’s so very Estelle Bernadotte of the Duchess of Cambridge!) Estelle’s charitable endeavours continued long after Count Folke was assassinated in Israel in 1948 as a mediator for the United Nations following World War II, and Estelle Bernadotte was a beloved member of the Swedish Royal Family until her death in Uppsala in 1984.

Is Maxwell the next Elliott?

Jessica Simpson may have let the speculation carry for weeks before she officially announced her first pregnancy last Halloween, but from that moment on, the singer and reality TV star has held nothing back discussing pregnancy or her baby-to-be. In her recent nude cover shoot for Elle, she told the magazine that the name she and fiance Eric Johnson had selected for their daughter, to be born later this month, was “non-traditional,” but not “out there.” She also ensured the name was set in stone, admitting that she was already having the baby’s name “embroidered on things.” (Done deal, then!)

So in that the name seems like a foregone conclusion, a source reportedly leaked their choice: Maxwell Johnson, to be called Maxi. Maxwell is Eric’s middle name and his grandmother’s maiden name, and Jessica’s been wearing an “M” necklace lately, so this rumour could prove true. But it’s not exactly a new trend, and I’m not the kind of blogger who balks anymore at the sight of a typically male name on a little girl – what got me was that actress Lindsay Sloane, once of Sabrina The Teenage Witch fame, beat Simpson to it in January when she welcomed daughter Maxwell Lue. Two girls named Maxwell in less than four months?

Maxi is fairly feminine (though it’s the name of reggae star Maxi Priest, a male who had a chart hit with rapper Shaggy, “That Girl,” and Argentinean footballer Maxi Lopez), and was the name of one of Barbie’s closest friends in the ’80s line-up of the dolls – Maxie was my personal favourite, in all her crimped-hair glory! Maxi also brings to mind a “maxi pad,” but I see this baby being colloquially referred to as just ‘Max’ quite often. After all, Simpson is often referred to simply as ‘Jess.’

August Kopff’s 68 asteroids (Part Two)

I finally finished part two of August Kopff’s list of asteroids, each with it’s own unique, usually female, name. There were some interesting selections, loaded with various meanings, in Part One, and the next batch of names is no different. Though these lists look for the trends in the names of asteroids attributed to one German astronomer in particular and take a ton of energy, I’ve decided that it would leave me feeling like I left something unfinished if I didn’t finally complete the project (and I’ve still got two more parts to go).

Unique (or at the very least, mythological) names are no problem for Mr. Kopff. On to part 2, a prolific period for Kopff, and plenty more gems:

613 Ginevra (October 11, 1906)
It’s not confirmed why Kopff chose Ginevra for his next discovery, with some speculating that he chose the name in honour of Guinevere, wife of King Arthur. Like his previous selection, Jenny, it’s Welsh (and Italian) for “fair and smooth.”

It’s a beautiful and exotic name, especially popular these days in Italy. Italian footballer Alberto Gilardino gave it to his daughter, born 2007. It’s also the name of Italian heiress and socialite Ginevra Elkann. It’s popularity could easily expand to English speaking countries, especially thanks to the Harry Potter series. Ron Weasley’s little sister Ginny, who eventually marries the boy wizard, is really Ginevra.

614 Pia (October 11, 1906)
This asteroid was probably named for the Pia Observatory in Trieste, northern Italy, the private observatory of the German astronomer and moon researcher Johan Nepomuk Krieger. His research was of great assistance to Kopff and his team in Germany.

This name has survived well past it’s association with singer/actress Pia Zadora, a star in the 1980s who won two Golden Globes. It’s a sweet and simple feminine name meaning “pious” in Latin. It’s phonetic similarity to popular choices like Mia and Leah keeps in relevant.

(more after the jump)

Lin-spired Baby Names

(c) Kathy Kmonicek/AP - February 6, 2011: Taiwanese-American Jeremy Lin's come-from-nowhere start with the Knicks has spawned endless wordplay.

Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks isn’t just a surprising, inspiring force on the basketball court – the man is a word nerd’s dream. His short and simple last name has spawned countless new catchphrases – from Linsanity to Linning to a YouTube spoof to the tune of Insane Clown Posse’s “Insane in the Membrane.” But could his new and immediate popularity, paired with the clever wordplay available from his surname, give rise to a new crop of baby Lindsays, Lindas, Kaitlins or Colins? Or will a less common crop of Lin names begin appearing on birth certificates from Taipei to Queens? Let’s discuss a few possibilities.

Which ones to do you like? Have any to add? Play along, the Linsanity hasn’t slowed down just yet! (Incidentally, Lin has just trademarked the phrase. Smart guy.)

About A Name: Maple

If there was a celebrity baby name that was going to pull this proud Canadian name blogger out of a self-imposed, quasi-hiatus while the demands of my real life job owned my life for the past six weeks, it’s no surprise that name is Maple Sylvie.

I love it. I hate it. I know exactly why and how I’m so conflicted about a name that most people have balked, “Pfft, sounds like maple syrup!”

Yes folks, Sylvie and syrup both start with Sy, but that would be beside the point if ‘maple’ wasn’t the first name. And unfortunately for Jason Bateman and his wife Amanda Anka – whose father, “My Way” songwriter Paul Anka, was born in Ottawa in 1941 – Americans don’t generally think of the symbolic importance of the maple leaf to someone who is Canadian. I’m not sure why Bateman and his wife picked Sylvie, but my money’s on the fact that Sylvie is the name of one of their grandmothers. As Anka and his first wife Anne (Amanda’s mother) are from the Ottawa area, which borders Quebec, I wouldn’t doubt that French Sylvie is a family name.

Just five days after little Maple Sylvie Bateman was born on February 10th in Los Angeles, Canada’s flag – red and white, with a maple leaf (not a pot leaf, but thank you American comedies!) in the centre, turned 47. The maple leaf is not just our flag, it’s symbolic of our national identity. Though the British and the French first colonized this country almost 500 years ago, Canada did not become a country until 1867 when Queen Victoria granted our wish to form a Canadian confederation.

About A Name: Anden

(c) Michelle Wojdyla, 2005: Jennifer Wester, from Texas, and her Russian-born ice dance partner Daniil Barantsev recently welcomed a son with an 'international' name.

I spotted a name the other day that I just had to feature! Need a new moniker that is a cross between Anton and Aiden, sounds like Brandon, and provides the commonplace nickname Andy? We live in a creative naming society, to be sure (I’m looking at you, Miss The Blueprint 4!), and while that creativity can sometimes go further than some people are comfortable with – I, for one, love the idea of taking two names that mean something – maybe they’re family names – and making something new, unique to your new babe.

Former professional US ice dancing pair, Dallas-based Jennifer Wester and her Russian-born husband Daniil Barantsev, created a name recently that I fell in love with on sight! The couple, whose best international finish was winning the 2007 Nebelhorn Trophy, though Wester starred with Motley Crue’s Vince Neil on 2010′s Skating With the Stars, welcomed a son on December 29th in Texas – named Anden.

“Anden came from me having grown up with so many other ‘Jennifers’,” Wester wrote in an email to IceNetwork.com. “I wanted him to have a unique name, while both Daniil and I wanted it to sound confident and phonetically accessible to Americans, Texans (my family) and Russians (Daniil’s family).”

Wester said she and Barantsev considered both Andon, the Russian variant of Anton, and Aiden. “We really liked Aiden, but it didn’t fit my unique criteria, given that it’s really popular right now,” she said. “At some point, I decided to combine Andon and Aiden, and I got Anden. After many Google searches, I didn’t find any translations that seemed offensive or directly applicable, so we went with it!”