Amanda Elizabeth Barden's Blog

Winter Olympics Baby Name Ideas

Baby Names Inspired by Olympic Athletes

I always enjoy watching the Olympics. I’m a sports fan in general, so watching the world’s best athletes come together and compete in the Olympics is right up my alley. Sports-viewing is also prime baby name inspiration territory.

Sporty Girl Baby Name Ideas

Some of my favorites girl names from the 2022 Winter Olympics are:

TABITHA Peterson, curlingCHLOE Kim, snowboardingMARIAH Bell, figure skatingROSIE Brennan, cross-country skiingSAVANNAH Harmon, hockeyEUNICE Lee, speed skatingKAYSHA Love, bobsledTESSA Maud, snowboardingBRITA Sigourney, freestyle skiingWINTER Vinecki, freestyle skiingSUMMER Britcher, lugeNOVIE McCade, cross-country skiingFAYE Gulini, snowboardingELANA Meyers Taylor, bobsledBRADIE Tennell, figure skatingSporty Boy Baby Name Ideas

Some of my favorites boy names from the 2022 Winter Olympics are:

NATHAN Chen, figure skatingDECKER Dean, ski jumpingREDMOND “Red” Gerard, snowboardingJASPER Good, Nordic combinedDUSTY Henricksen, snowboardingEMERY Lehman, speed skatingCOLE McDonald, freestyle skiingGUS Schumacher, cross-country skiingTUCKER West, lugeMICK Dierdorff, snowboardingMAC Forehand, freestyle skiingRIVER Radamus, alpine skiingCARLO Valdes, bobsled

What are your favorite winter Olympian-inspired baby names?

Okay, back to watching curling… every four years I get a little obsessed with curling. I’m not the only one, right? I’ve never played it, but it’s on my bucket list.

More Baby Name Inspiration

If you’re looking for more winter and sport-themed names, check out my book .

Happy naming, Amanda

Christmas Baby Name Ideas

Christmas is a joyful time of year. If you’re adding a baby to your family, then your Christmas is full of even more blessings than usual. If the idea of giving your Christmas baby a Christmassy name appeals to you, consider one of the names on this list:

BABY NAMES ASSOCIATED WITH CHRISTMAS




CAROL – (French) joyful song, Christmas song
CHRISTMAS
EMMANUEL – (Hebrew) God is with us (“O come, O come, Emmanuel”)
FAITH
HOLIDAY
HOLLY
IVY
JOY
MERRY
NATALIE – (French) birthday, especially Christmas day [there are so many beautiful variations of this name – Natalaine is one of my favorites! – see BABY NAMES MADE EASY for more versions]
NATASHA – (Russian) birthday, especially Christmas day
NOELLE | NOËL – (French) to be born (refers to the birth of Jesus)
YULE

If you want to celebrate Christmas all year round with a holiday-inspired name, one of these names might be perfect for your baby. I have dozens more names with Christian meanings in my book for parents looking for religious baby names.

Happy naming Amanda

Christmas Baby Names

Christmas is a joyful time of year. If you’re adding a baby to your family, then your Christmas is full of even more blessings than usual. If the idea of giving your Christmas baby a Christmassy name appeals to you, consider one of the names on this list:

BABY NAMES ASSOCIATED WITH CHRISTMASCAROL – (French) joyful song, Christmas songCHRISTMASEMMANUEL – (Hebrew) God is with us (“O come, O come, Emmanuel”)FAITHHOLIDAYHOLLYIVYJOYMERRYNATALIE – (French) birthday, especially Christmas day [there are so many beautiful variations of this name – Natalaine is one of my favorites! – see BABY NAMES MADE EASY for more versions]NATASHA – (Russian) birthday, especially Christmas dayNOELLE | NOËL – (French) to be born (refers to the birth of Jesus)YULE

If you want to celebrate Christmas all year round with a holiday-inspired name, one of these names might be perfect for your baby. I have dozens more names with Christian meanings in my book for parents looking for religious baby names.

Happy naming Amanda

Space-Themed Baby Names | Astronomy Names

One of my favorite books growing up was a coffee table book full of space images. It completely captured my imagination. I remember spending hours and hours looking through every page over and over again. Maybe this is why I’ve always been interested in names with space-themed meanings and connections. Here are a couple lists with some of my favorites:

NAMES WITH SPACE-THEMED MEANINGS

These names have traditionally been given to girls:

ASTERA – (Greek) starCÉLINE – (French) heavenly, celestial [There are tons of beautiful international variations of this one! Check out BABY NAMES MADE EASY for more.]CHANDRA – (Sanskrit) moonDANICA – (Slavic) morning starESTELLE – (French) starHALA – (Arabic) moon’s haloLUNA – (Latin) moonMINA – (Hindi) PiscesNATESA – (Hindi) cosmic dancerSOLEIL – (French) sunTARA – (Sanskrit) shining star

These names have traditionally been given to boys:

COSMO – (Greek) universe, orderDESMOND – (Latin) universe, heavensJERICHO – (Hebrew) moonKIRAN – (Sanskrit) sunbeam, moonbeamNAMID – (Native American) star dancerPRANAV – (Hindi) primordial, universeQAMAR – (Arabic) moonRAVINDRA – (Sanskrit) mighty sunRINN – (Irish) star, constellationSAMSON – (Hebrew) sunTARIQ – (Arabic) night visitor, morning starNAMES WITH ASTRONOMY CONNECTIONS

Here are some cool constellation and astronomy-related names that would make great baby names:

ARIESCASSIOPEIAGEMINILEOLIBRALYRANOVAORIONPOLLUXSCORPIOSOLSTICEVEGAVENUS

I have many more space-themed names in my book BABY NAMES MADE EASY. Let me know what your favorites are.

Happy naming Amanda

Book-Inspired Baby Names: Paulina, Petrova, and Posy (Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild)

Baby Name Ideas from Children’s Books

I’m reading Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild for the first time. Any fans out there? I’ve wanted to read it ever since You’ve Got Mail mentioned it (so it’s been in my TBR pile for a very long time…). When giving advice to a customer in her bookshop, Kathleen Kelly says, “I’d start with Ballet Shoes first, it’s my favorite.” She conveyed so much love for the book, I knew I wanted to read it. And now, I finally am!

Naturally, I’m intrigued by the names. In the first chapter we meet the main characters as babies – Paulina, Petrova, and Posy – and learn how they got their names. SPOILERS for chapter 1:

PAULINA: Gum (G.U.M. = Great Uncle Matthew) rescues the baby when their ship hits an iceberg. They name her Paulina after St. Paul who was also rescued at sea.
PETROVA: Gum adopts her after her Russian parents pass away. They name her Petrova as a nod to her Russian heritage and because it sounds like St. Peter, another apostle, like St. Paul.
POSY: Gum adopts her after her father passes away and her mother is unable to care for her. She was named before the adoption, much to the chagrin of Nana, the nurse/nanny raising the girls for Gum.

Despite Posy being an absolutely adorable name, no one in the book seems fond of it. In a letter about her, Gum writes, “Her name is Posy. Unfortunate, but true.” I think Nana would have preferred another apostle-inspired name.

Which of the names is your favorite?

Happy naming, Amanda

UPDATE: More book-inspired baby names from Ballet Shoes

I finished reading this book and wanted to add a few more great names to the list:

THEODORA: This is one of the dance instructors and she goes by “Theo” – a very cute vintage name with a modern nickname
POPPY: A sweet floral name
WINIFRED: Lots of nickname potential here – Winnie and Freddie are two of my favorites
CLARA: This vintage name always makes me think about the character from The Nutcracker, so it’s fitting it was used in a book called Ballet Shoes.

Book-Inspired Names: Paulina, Petrova, and Posy (Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild)

I’m reading Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild for the first time. Any fans out there? I’ve wanted to read it ever since You’ve Got Mail mentioned it (so it’s been in my TBR pile for a very long time…). When giving advice to a customer in her bookshop, Kathleen Kelly says, “I’d start with Ballet Shoes first, it’s my favorite.” She conveyed so much love for the book, I knew I wanted to read it. And now, I finally am!

Naturally, I’m intrigued by the names. In the first chapter we meet the main characters as babies – Paulina, Petrova, and Posy – and learn how they got their names. SPOILERS for chapter 1:

PAULINA: Gum (G.U.M. = Great Uncle Matthew) rescues the baby when their ship hits an iceberg. They name her Paulina after St. Paul who was also rescued at sea. PETROVA: Gum adopts her after her Russian parents pass away. They name her Petrova as a nod to her Russian heritage and because it sounds like St. Peter, another apostle, like St. Paul.POSY: Gum adopts her after her father passes away and her mother is unable to care for her. She was named before the adoption, much to the chagrin of Nana, the nurse/nanny raising the girls for Gum.

Despite Posy being an absolutely adorable name, no one in the book seems fond of it. In a letter about her, Gum writes, “Her name is Posy. Unfortunate, but true.” I think Nana would have preferred another apostle-inspired name.

Which of the names is your favorite?

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Character Naming for #NaNoWriMo : A Resource Guide

[image error]What are you naming your characters?

If you don’t know the answer to that question, you may want to check out my Character Naming Resource Guide:

http://libraryschool.libguidescms.com/character-naming-resource-guide

I gathered all these resources together to save writers time. The guide includes:

Links to handy websites
The best name books
Character naming advice
Character name quizzes on each page

Let me know what you name your characters and why. Good luck, writers!

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

Ask Amanda: I have “Baby Name Regret,” what now?

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This edition of ASK AMANDA is a tough one. What do you do when you’ve already named your baby and then you change your mind?

Ask Amanda

My baby girl was born last year and now she’s 6 months old. I’m really confused because I think I gave her the wrong name. I love her so much and I want to call her a name that I love. I would really appreciate if you could help me since you are an expert in baby names.

My baby’s name is Leia. My husband really loves Star Wars and that‘s how we got her name – from Princess Leia. Now I’m afraid that she’ll be teased in school because of this. I just feel that the name does not fit to her now.

Please help me. I like the name Amelia, Emily and Lily. Do you think I should change her name? I’m afraid that people might think that I’m crazy.

Thank you for your kindness and time! ANDY

First, let me assure you, you’re not crazy. You’re not even the first person to contact me about changing a baby’s name. Choosing a baby name is a huge decision! I know there must be quite a few parents who have “baby name regret” like you.

So what do you do now?

I don’t think there’s one right answer here, but for what it’s worth, here’s my opinion.

You mention a few concerns about your daughter’s name, Leia:

You think she might be teased because of the Star Wars connection

I definitely think people will make the connection between your daughter’s name and Star Wars. I’m not sure it’s going to cause a lot of teasing though. Star Wars is an older movie and it’s also a very cool movie. I think both of those things reduce the likelihood of teasing. I bet some people will actually think the connection is cool.

Do any readers think that the Star Wars connection to Leia will cause teasing? Chime in, please!

You don’t think the name suits her

How do you decide whether a name suits someone? That’s such a tough question. I think you and your husband need to decide this together

Ask yourself what’s making you feel this way. Do you think another name suits your daughter better or do your feelings stem from your mixed feelings about the name?

Speaking of your husband, how does he feel about all this? Since he’s the Star Wars fan, I’m guessing he still likes Leia?

You worry that others will think it’s weird if you change her name now

People will undoubtedly find it surprising if you change your daughter’s name at this point, but who cares? It’s your daughter and your decision. Do keep in mind that your daughter will eventually learn about the name change and may have questions.

SOME IDEAS
This is what middle names are for

If you and your husband decide not to change her name officially, you can still change her name unofficially. You could start using her middle name or call her by a nickname.

Change the spelling

Another thing you could do is change the spelling of Leia to LEA. This would allow you to keep the same pronunciation while removing some of the Star Wars connection.

Consider other names

If you want to change her name, I made a couple lists with some ideas for you…

You might want to consider names that end in a similar -leia or -lia sound, so you, your husband, or others can continue to call her Leia if they want to. Here are some names you might like:

Celia
Aurelia
Callia
Cordelia
Delia
Magnolia
Malia
Natalia
Ophelia (this is a Shakespearean name though, which might cause the same issue you have with Leia)

Since Leia is a short “L” name, I put together a list of other short “L” names you might like:

Lacey
Lana
Laney
Lara
Leda
Layla
Lena
Lily
Lila
Livia

I’m really glad you shared your question because I know there are a lot of parents feeling the same way you are – maybe some will write in and share their stories, too.

Good luck to you! Please write me with an update about what you decide.

Happy naming,

♥  Amanda

Mary Beard’s “Meet the Romans”…and Their Names

This weekend I watched Meet the Romans[image error] (it’s available on Amazon Prime if you’re a member). Loved it! The fabulous Mary Beard is a great host and I love how she focuses on the daily life of average people. If you ever go to a museum with me, I’ll drag you to the exhibit that has things like hairbrushes and cooking utensils. It’s amazing to see what people like me lived like. Despite how different our lives are, we’re still so much alike.

The reason I’m blogging about this show is because Ms. Beard seems to be a kindred spirit where names are concerned. In the show, she points out some of her favorite/interesting names and stories:

An awesome tomboy with red hair and… a mullet?:

Geminiae Agathe

A murder victim and his wife (who made his tombstone):

Julius Timotheus

Otacilia Narcissa

Young girl killed in a fire:

Doris

A couple who ran an inn:

Lucius Calidius Eroticus (!) – Ms. Beard translates this to “Mr. Hot Sex” (!!)

Fannia Voluptati – this one is “Madame Gorgeous”

What was going on in this inn…?

Similarly…

Vettia Erotice

A few other young girls who met tragic ends:

Primae Florentia

Miniciae Marcellae

Junia (one of my all-time favorite names from Ancient Rome)

An ex-slave with a surprising domestic life (you’ll have to watch this one for yourself):

Allia (very pretty name!)

Ms. Beard and I even had a mini-Twitter chat about our favorite Ancient Roman names:

https://twitter.com/amandaebarden/status/841061858274496512

What’s your favorite Ancient Roman name?

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

PS – Please forgive any misspellings – the tombstones and signs were sometimes difficult to read.

Name Ideas for Thanksgiving Babies

My gift to you this Thanksgiving? Pilgrim names.

Doesn’t sound exciting? Trust me, the Pilgrims had some awesome names. Today, I bring you the list of passengers on the Mayflower. Sure there are 3 ELIZABETHs, 5 MARYs, 6 EDWARDs, 7 WILLIAMs and a whopping 13 JOHNs, but there are some one-of-a-kind gems here, too. Boys named LOVE and WRESTLING?! DAMARIS, DEGORY, and DESIRE! OCEANUS and PEREGRINE! Fabulous names for a true name aficionado.

This list is worth a read. Enjoy (and let me know your favorites).

FEMALE NAMES

ALICE Mullins
ALICE Rigsdale
ANN Tilley
CONSTANCE Hopkins
DAMARIS Hopkins
DESIRE Minter
DOROTHY Bradford
ELEANOR Billington
ELIZABETH Hopkins
ELIZABETH Tilley
ELIZABETH Winslow
ELLEN More
HUMILITY Cooper
JOAN Tilley
KATHERINE Carver
MARY Allerton
MARY Brewster
MARY Chilton
MARY Martin
MARY More
PRISCILLA Mullins
REMEMBER Allerton
SARAH Eaton
SUSANNA White

MALE NAMES

BARTHOLOMEW Allerton
CHRISTOPHER Martin
DEGORY Priest
EDMUND Margesson
EDWARD Fuller
EDWARD Leister
EDWARD Planter Doty
EDWARD Thompson
EDWARD Tilley
EDWARD Winslow
ELIAS Story
FRANCIS Billington
FRANCIS Cooke
FRANCIS Eaton
GEORGE Soule
GILBERT Winslow
GILES Hopkins
HENRY Samson
ISAAC Allerton
JAMES Chilton
JASPER More
JOHN Alden
JOHN Allerton
JOHN Billington
JOHN Carver
JOHN Cooke
JOHN Crackstone
JOHN Goodman
JOHN Hooke
JOHN Howland
JOHN Langmore
JOHN Rigsdale
JOHN Tilley
JOHN Turner
JOSEPH Mullins
JOSEPH Rogers
LOVE Brewster
MOSES Fletcher
MYLES Standish
OCEANUS Hopkins (born at sea!)
PEREGRINE White
PETER Browne
RESOLVED White
RICHARD Britteridge
RICHARD Clarke
RICHARD Gardinar
RICHARD More
RICHARD Warren
ROBERT Carter
ROGER Wilder
SAMUEL Eaton
SAMUEL Fuller
SOLOMON Prower
THOMAS English
THOMAS Rogers
THOMAS Tinker
THOMAS Williams
WILLIAM Brandord
WILLIAM Brewster
WILLIAM Button
WILLIAM Holbeck
WILLIAM Latham
WILLIAM Mullins
WILLIAM White
WRESTLING Brewster

SOURCE: http://pilgrimhall.org/mayfpass.htm

 

My faves? I love the name PRISCILLA. I can’t be alone. Who else likes this name? I know there may not be many of us, but I think it’s a very sweet name with great nickname potential – CILLA is adorable! Other nice picks are ALICE, ELIZABETH, and DAMARIS.

From the boys list, I like ISAAC, ELIAS, and BARTHOLOMEW (not crazy about Bart as a nickname though).

However, the real standouts from this list are the virtue names. Most of these are a little too off-the-beaten-path for modern parents, but they’re worth looking at. From the Mayflower we have CONSTANCE, DESIRE, REMEMBER, HUMILITY, LOVE, RESOLVED, and WRESTLING.

Love the idea of these virtue names, but worried your kids would never forgive you? Consider them for a middle name. As I always say, you can be a little more daring with the middle name.

That’s all for now. Have a very happy and safe Thanksgiving!

♥  Amanda

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.