Amanda Elizabeth Barden's Blog, page 3

4 Ideas for Naming Twins

Parents of twins often look for baby names that are related to one another in order to celebrate that special bond only twins share. Parents try to do this in a bunch of different ways and I’ve put together a list of ideas you can consider when naming twins:

4 IDEAS FOR NAMING TWINS

SAME MEANING

Choose names that have similar or complementary meanings. This is my favorite way to connect names (no surprise!). I wrote about this in the Introduction of as a way to create a meaningful connection between siblings and their names, without being too obvious or cutesy.

A great example of this is Cleopatra and Mark Antony who name their twins HELIOS and SELENE, which mean “sun” and “moon,” respectively. Very cute, without being too cute…

SAME FIRST LETTER

You can use the same first letter for each name. This is relatively easy and you see it a lot. And I mean a lot… A whopping 8 out of the 10 most popular twin baby name pairings in 2008 follow this pattern, according to Social Security. Sadly, Social Security doesn’t collect data on twin names anymore, so I can’t give you new data. The top 10 were:

JACOB / JOSHUA
DANIEL / DAVID
JAYDEN / JORDAN
ETHAN / EVAN
TAYLOR / TYLER
GABRIELLA / ISABELLA
ISAAC / ISAIAH
MADISON / MORGAN
ELIJAH / ISAIAH
ELLA / EMMA

The people have spoken here. Clearly, lots of parents like the idea of choosing names with the same first letter for twins. Enough said.

FAMILY NAMES

You can use family names for each child. This is what Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick did with their twins MARION LORETTA ELWELL and TABITHA HODGE — ELWELL and HODGES are both family names.

You could take a look at your family trees and either simply choose names you like at random or choose a particular type of relative, such as great grandmothers, and choose from only those options (provided you like those options, of course). You can mix and match from mom and dad’s family trees of just stick with one. Tons of choices here!

SAME THEME

When naming twins, consider choosing names with the same theme. For example, choose two different location names or two Biblical names. Rebecca Romjin and Jerry O’Connell chose floral middle names for their twin girls CHARLIE TAMARA TULIP and DOLLY REBECCA ROSE.

This is a great idea because there are so many options and you can get really creative about what theme you choose!

Looking for more inspiration? Here are the names of some of the twins born to celebrities:

        « CELEBRITY TWINS «

COCO TRINITY and SAWYER LUCIA — daughters of Diane Farr and Seung Chung
EMME MARIBEL and MAXIMILIAN DAVID — daughter and son of Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony
FINLEY and HARPER — daughters of Lisa Marie Presley and Michael Lockwood
JUNO and REX — daughter and son of Marianne and Will Champion
VIVIENNE MARCHELINE and KNOX LEON — daughter and son of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt
VALENTINO and MATTEO — sons of Ricky Martin
PHINNAEUS WALTER and HAZEL PATRICIA — son and daughter of Julia Roberts
DEXTER HENRY LORCAN and FRANK HARLEM JAMES — sons of Diana Krall and Elvis Costello
MONROE and MOROCCAN — son and daughter of Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon

 

That’s all for today! Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts.

 

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

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

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

 

 

 

 

 

Stuck In the Middle: 16 Ways to Pick the Perfect Middle Name for Your Baby | iVillage.ca

Do you have questions about middle names? One of my LetterLuxe customers came across this article where I gave some advice to people who needed help with middle names.

Stuck In the Middle: 16 Ways to Pick the Perfect Middle Name for Your Baby

Source:

What do you think about middle names? I’d love to hear.

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

Name Ideas for Summer Babies

Warm summer days stretching into long summer nights. Lemonade. Sun dresses. Crickets chirping at night. That’s what I’ve always thought summer should feel like. I live in San Francisco though, so my summer days are usually foggy and improved by a warm sweater. We get our summer weather in October.

No matter what your summer is like, June 21st marks the summer solstice – the official beginning of summer and the longest day of the year. If you’re having a summertime baby, you may want some seasonal inspiration. Here’s a list of some lovely baby name ideas for summer babies:

AKIRA – (Japanese) “dawn”
AUGUST
AURORA – (Latin) “dawn”
DAWN
DAY
HORATIA / HORATIO – (Latin) “timekeeper”
JULY
JUNE
KIA – (African) “season’s start”
NATSU – (Japanese) “born in summer”
NYSSA – (Greek) “beginning”
ORIANA / ORIA – (Latin) “sunrise”
ROXANE / ROXIE – (Persian) “dawn”
SABA – (Arabic) “morning”
SEASON
SOLSTICE
SOMERSET – (English) “summer town”
SUMMER
SUN / SUNNY / SUNSHINE
THEROS – (Greek) “summer”
USHA – (Sanskrit) “sunrise”
ZORA – (Slavic) “dawn”

Ask me on a different day and I may have a different favorite, but despite being a little on the nose for a summertime baby, June and Summer are names I have always loved. What about you? What season do you think inspires the best baby names?

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

Follow Me on Goodreads for Game of Thrones-Inspired Baby Name Ideas

Are you on Goodreads? Are you looking for more Game of Thrones-inspired baby name ideas? Then follow me! I finally got pulled in and am reading the books. The TV show inspired . I’m happy to report that the book is opening up a whole new world of names. I need to know how George R. R. Martin keeps all these characters straight…

Find me on Goodreads to follow along and weigh in on the names I find. I write about names in all the books I read over there, so if you’re a name nerd like me we’ll have a lot to discuss.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

View all my reviews

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

Floral Baby Name Ideas

I’m not sure there’s anything as cheerful as a bouquet of flowers. They’re simple, but so pretty and they’re the perfect gift for almost any occasion. As it happens, they’re also the basis for some of the most lovely baby names.

 

I’ve put together a list of some charming floral-inspired baby name ideas for boys and girls. These names come from all over the world, proving the flower’s universal appeal. Here you go:

AIYANA – (Native American) “eternal bloom”
ANTHEA – (Greek) “flowery”
AYAMÉ – (Japanese) “iris flower”
BLOSSOM
BOTAN – (Japanese) “peony”
CALANTHA – (Greek) “beautiful blossom”
CRISANTA – (Spanish) “chrysanthemum”
DAFFODIL
DAHLIA
DAISY
DAPHNE – (Greek) “laurel”
DELPHINE – (Greek) “delphinium flower”
DIANTHA – (Greek) “divine flower”
ESTA / ESTHER – (Hebrew) “myrtle”
FARLEY – (English) “fern meadow”
FERN
FLEUR – (French) “flower”
FLORA – (Latin) “flower”
FLORENCE – (Latin) “flower”
FLORENCIO – (Filipino) “to blossom”
FLORIANO / FLORIAN – (Italian) “flower”
HADLEY – (English) “heather meadow”
HANA – (Japanese) “flower”
HEATHER
HYACINTH
IANTHE – (Greek) “violet flower”
IOLA – (Spanish) “violet flower”
IRIS
JACINTA / JACINTO – (Spanish) “hyacinth”
JASMINE
JESENIA – (Arabic) “flower”
JESSAMINE – (French) “jasmine”
JINAN – (Arabic) “garden, paradise”
KALINA – (Slavic) “flower”
KAMALA / KAMAL – (Sanskrit) “lotus”; (Hawaiian) “one garden”
LAN – (Vietnamese) (Chinese) “orchid”
LARS – (Danish) “laurel”
LAURA – (Latin) “laurel”
LAVENDER
LAWRENCE – (Latin) “laurel”
LEE ­– (English) “meadow”
LILAC
LORENZO – (Italian) “laurel”
LOTUS
MALI – (Thai) “jasmine flower”
MARIGOLD
MEHADI – (Indian) “flower”
MULAN – (Chinese) “magnolia blossom”
NALINA – (Indian) “lotus”
NARCISSA – (Greek) “daffodil”
NIZANA – (Hebrew) “blossom”
PADMA – (Sankrit) “lotus”
PHILANTHA – (Greek) “flower lover”
POPPY
POSY / POSEY
PRIMROSE – (Latin) “first rose”
REA – (Greek) “poppy”
RHODES – (Greek) “rose”
ROSABEL – (Latin) “beautiful rose”
ROSALIE / ROSALIA – (French) “feast of roses”
ROSALYN / ROALINE – (German) “lovely rose”
ROSE / ROSA
ROSS – (Latin) “rose”
ROYCE – (Latin) “rose”
SADIRA – (Persian) “lotus”
SANNE – (Dutch) “lily”
SURI – (Persian) “rose”
VARTAN – (Armenian) “rose giver”
VIOLA – (Italian) (Spanish) “violet”
VIOLET
YULAN – (Chinese) “jade orchid”
ZAHARA – (Swahili) “flower”
ZARA – (Arabic) “flower”
ZINNIA

My favorite flower is ranunculus. They are absolutely beautiful, but it doesn’t make a great name unfortunately. What is your favorite flower? Does it work as a name?

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

Baby Name Ideas for Beach Lovers

Do you daydream about your next trip to the beach? If summer is your favorite time of year and sandy flipflops, a beach blanket, and cool ocean waves are the recipe for your perfect day, then beach-themed baby names might be the answer to your baby-naming needs.

Here’s a list of my favorite baby name ideas for beach-goers:

ATHENA – (Greek) “from the sea”
BAY
BO – (Chinese) “waves”
CORAL
DYLAN – (Welsh) “sea”
ELEANOR / ELINOR – (French) “sunbeam”
ESTES – (Spanish) (Latin) “tide”
GALIA – (Hebrew) “wave”
HANALEI – Hanalei Bay, Hawaii
HURLEY – (Irish) “sea tide”
KAI – (Hawaiian) “sea”
LAINA / LAINE – (Finnish) “sunbeam”
LAMAR – (French) “of the sea”
LINA – (Italian) “sunbeam”
MARINA / MARIS / MARINA – (Latin) “sea”
MARVIN – (English) “friend of the sea”
MAYA – Maya Bay, Thailand
MERRICK – (English) “ruler of the sea”
MIHO – (Japanese) “beautiful bay”
MOANA – (Hawaiian) “ocean”
MORGAN – (Welsh) “bright sea”
NAMI / NAMIKO – (Japanese) “wave”
NIASSA – (Mozambican) “water”
OCEAN / OCEANA
PICABO – (Native American) “shining waters”
RIO
SAURA – (Hindi) “sun lover”
SOLANA / SOLANO – (Spanish) “sunshine”
SUNNY / SUNSHINE


TAO – (Chinese) “big waves”
VANORA – (Celtic) “white wave”
ZALE – (Greek) “strong sea”

What is your favorite name from the list? If you have a beach-filled vacation planned, let me know if you come across any lovely beach-inspired names.

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

A Rainbow of Baby Names: Names with Colorful Meanings

What’s your favorite color? Do you love it enough to consider using it as inspiration for your baby’s name?

There’s always been a special place in my heart for names with color meanings. When I was researching Baby Names Made Easy, I always did a little happy dance when I found a new name for my Colors chapter. With May in full swing and a few May showers in the forecast, I thought it would be a good time to share some rainbow-inspired names.

*FYI – some of these names have multiple definitions, I’m only including the meanings that are color-related*

PINK

AKALA – (Hawaiian) pink

KAMALA – (Sanskrit) pink

RED

CARMINE – (Latin) crimson

CERISE – (French) cherry, red

CLANCY – (Irish) red

MAGENTA

OMAIRA – (Afghan) red

PHOENIX – (Egyptian) dark red, purple

REED / REID – (English) red

RORY – (Gaelic) red ruler

ROSS – (French) red

RUBY

SCARLET / SCARLETT

ORANGE

CORAL / CORALIE

YELLOW

BLAINE – (English) yellow

FLAVIA / FLAVIO – (Latin) golden yellow

MELINA – (Latin) bright yellow

XANTHE – (Greek) yellow

GREEN

CHLOE – (Greek) green

EMERALD

ESME / ESMÉ- (Persian) emerald

JADA / JADE

MIDORI – (Japanese) green

ORAN – (Irish) green

BLUE

AZURE – (Persian) blue

BLUE

INDIGO

NILA – (Hindi) blue

SAPPHIRE

SLATE – (French) blue-gray

SUNIL – (Sanskrit) dark blue

PURPLE

AMETHYST

FIALA – (Czech) violet

IOLA – (Greek) violet

LAVENDER

LILAC

PHOENIX – (Egyptian) dark red, purple

VIOLA – (Italian)(Spanish) violet

VIOLET

BLACK

ADRIA – (Latin) black

CIARA / CIARAN – (Irish) black

DONOVAN – (Irish) brown, black

EBONY

KALI – (Sanskrit) black

KEIRA / KIERAN – (Irish) black

MELANIA / MELANIE – (Greek) black

ONYX

BROWN

BRUNA / BRUNO – (Italian) brown

DONOVAN – (Irish) brown, black

HAZEL

RODERICK – (Welsh) reddish-brown

SIENA / SIENNA

WHITE

BIANCA – (Italian) white

BLAKE – (English) white

CANDACE – (Ethiopian) white

DWIGHT – (English) white

FINN – (Irish) white

FIONA – (Celtic) white

IVORY – (Egyptian) creamy white

KENT – (Celtic) white

GOLD

AURELIA / AURELIUS / AURELIO – (Latin) golden

CRESSIDA – (Greek) gold

GOLDIE

KANE – (Japanese) golden

VANNA – (Cambodian) golden

ZARINA – (Persian) golden

SILVER

GIN – (Japanese) silver

OTHER COLOR NAME IDEAS

GRAY / GREY

IRIS – (Greek) rainbow

KESHET – (Hebrew) rainbow

RAINBOW

CELEBRITIES WITH COLOR-THEMED NAMES

Blake Lively

Blue Ivy – daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z

Candace Cameron-Bure

Goldie Hawn

Jada Pinkett Smith

Joaquin Phoenix

Kamala Harris

Keira Knightley

Melania Trump

Rainbow Rowell

Scarlett Johannson

Sienna Miller

Vanna White

 

After reading all the colorful options, I’m sure you’re loving these color-themed names as much as I am. What one is your favorite?

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to the moms, grandmothers, aunts, soon-to-be moms, hope-to-be moms, sisters, stepmoms, and anyone else out there deserving of the name “mom” on this day. Tell all the “moms” in your life that you love them.

As always, a very special “Happy Mother’s Day” to my lovely mom – the best mom in the world, if I do say so myself.

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

Prayerful Baby Name Ideas

For those of you so-inclined, the first Thursday in May is our National Day of Prayer in the United States.

“National Day of Prayer calls on all people of different faiths in the United States to pray for the nation and its leaders.” – via timeanddate.com

I thought this would be a nice opportunity to look at some prayerful baby name ideas. For this list, I chose names with meanings that relate to prayer, worship, and belief in God. There are lovely options for boys and girls:

AMANI / IMANI – (Arabic) “believer”
ANINA – (Aramaic) “let my prayer be answered”
ARHANA – (Hindi) “worship”
ATIRA – (Hebrew) “prayer”
CALLAHAN – (Irish) “church lover”
CREED – (Latin) “conviction, belief”
DECLAN – (Irish) “prayerful”
ELIANA – (Hebrew) “God has answered me”
JOACHIM / JOAQUIN – (Hebrew) “granted by God”
KERMIT – (Dutch) “church”
KIRBY – (English) “church town”
KIRK – (Norse) “church”
KOBE – (Japanese) “house of God”
MELA – (Hindi) “religious gathering”
MORIAH – (Hebrew) “God is my teacher”
NOVENA – (Latin) a type of Catholic prayer
ORA – (Latin) “prayer”
PAISLEY – (Irish) “church”
PALMER – (English) “pilgrimage”
PIUS – (Latin) “pious, devoted”
SAUL – (Hebrew) “asked for, prayed for”
TIMOTHY – (Greek) “honor God”
VERA – (Russian) “faith”
ZACHARY – (Hebrew) “remember God”

Do you have a favorite name from the list? Let me know.

Happy naming ♥ Amanda

Horse Naming and the Kentucky Derby

By Artist, C. Lloyd [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsI usually focus on names for humans, but I’m an animal lover, so I’m also interested in names for animals (it took me WEEKS to name my cat, Trixie). With the Kentucky Derby this week, I couldn’t resist looking into thoroughbred horse naming. It’s a complicated world, I discovered. Here are some of the basic rules (you can read the longer, much more complicated official version from the Jockey Club here):

Names must be unique (no two horses with the same name at the same time)
Names of horses over 10 years old can be reused as long as the name isn’t of a horse who’s in the Hall of Fame or attained other accolades that qualify it for a “permanent name”
Names must be 18 characters or less
No names with horse-related terms like “filly” or “stud” – so “Black Stallion” wouldn’t be allowed
No racetrack or race names can be used (so you couldn’t name your horse Belmont’s Winner)

The list goes on…Needless to say, if you’re into thoroughbred horse racing, you take naming your horse very seriously.

Do you have a favorite horse name? Here are a couple names that I’d bet on:

APOLLO

DAY STAR

GALLANT FOX

MERIDIAN

UNBRIDLED

WHIRLAWAY

DOMINO

CONSTITUTION

ECLIPSE

SKYWALKER

SMILE

VENTURA

WEDDING BAND – I’m a romantic

ALPHA

BLUE GRASS

ROAMER

MACBETH II

MIDNIGHT LUCKY

SERENA’S SONG

DAHLIA

BEWITCH

FERDINAND

KITTEN’S JOY

FURTHER READING

If you want to read an interesting NPR interview with the Jockey Club name registrar, I recommend it:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634884

Do you have a horse? How did you choose the name?

Happy naming ♥ Amanda