Stylish Choices Outside the Top 1000: 2014 Boys

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Uninspired by the names in the top 1000? Looking for something particularly unusual? Consider one of the following names for your son--none of them were given to more than 204 boys last year (and some were only given to 5!) It's all after the jump.

Top Italian Names

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At the end of this week I will be jet-setting to Italy for two weeks! I am beyond excited, and to set the mood, I thought we would look at the top five names for each gender in Italy. The most recent data I could find was from 2012, but that shouldn't be too far off from this year's. Enjoy!

Girls:
1. Sofia- Same top name as the U.S., just with the Latin spelling as opposed to the Greek.
2. Giulia- The Italian Julia. I think this spelling is more pretty, though I wouldn't use it in the U.S.
3. Giorgia- What a gorgeous name. The English equivalent, Georgia is on the rise in America.
4. Martina- Martina is so lovely, yet she is not even ranked in our top 1000. What's up with that?
5. Emma- She's not very Italian, but it's easy to see why she is so popular in so many countries.

Boys:
1. Francesco- A romantic name that would work well on an American child. Also not in the top 1000.
2. Alessandro- You can't get more Italian than Alessandro.
3. Andrea- Considering this used to be a popular girl name in the U.S., I can't see this one working.
4. Lorenzo- A really cool way to honor a Lawrence. His popularity at 237 remains steady.
5. Matteo- A popular American celebrity baby name, often paired with Luca. Image Credit

Names with "an"

I recently got an email from a reader asking for some naming inspiration.

Fiona writes:

My first 2 children both have a theme of "an" - Marianne and Kassandra. It happened accidentally, but the more we think about future names, the more we seem attracted to this sound. It would be great to have some help and inspiration please! 
Our second child was only born this year, so we are jumping the gun a little but we do plan a 3rd child (hopefully, as obviously thanks to mother nature's blips, having a child is not in our complete control!) and our experience is that it is never too early to start thinking about names.

With many thanks,
Fiona 

Past the page break I have put together an exhaustive list of names with -an in them. I've italicised the ones I think work best with Marianne and Kassandra. Feel free to leave your thoughts or suggestions for Fiona in the comments. If you have a naming question that you would like me to post on the blog, feel free to email me at skihm (at) hotmail (dot) com. 

Celebrity Baby Name Suggestions: Volume 3

Danny Dek via Dribbble

This month has had some high profile pregnancy announcements. The Baldwins, Olivers, and Levines? How did we get so lucky? There's no doubt that these babies will have impeccable names, but what they are exactly, we can't yet say. We might have to wait a few more months to hear these babies' names, but in the meantime, we can always speculate. These are my picks for the big celebrity baby names--from the classic and respected to the unconventional and bizarre (I'm looking at you, Jamie Oliver).

Behati Prinsloo and Adam Levine
Gender: unknown
Siblings: none
Predicting names is always hard when there are no siblings to refer to. That's why these names are all over the place stylistically. I could see Behati and Adam going in a couple different directions. Maybe honor names (Behati's mother's name is Magda, Adam's middle name is Noah), or possibly a musical reference to dad's career. Whatever the case, baby Levine will have a striking and stylish name.
Girl: Celie, Elodie, Harbor, Kiva, Lennox, Lotus, Maggie, Marlowe, Vivienne, Zola
Boy: Boaz, Bowie, Dashiell, Freddie, Huxley, Loyal, Morrison, Neo, Noah, Wilder
*Update* Baby girl is Dusty Rose!

Hilaria and Alec Baldwin
Gender: boy
Siblings: Ireland (previous marriage), Carmen Gabriela and Raphael Thomas
After two babies together, we know the Baldwin's naming style--Spanish romance. All of their kids have such great names (dare I say perfect?), so I can't wait to hear what they name this little boy.
Boy: Antonio, Emanuel, Dominic, Joaquin, Leonardo, Lorenzo, Simeon, Vincenzo
*Update* A correct prediction--Leonardo Ángel Charles Baldwin

Jools and Jamie Oliver
Gender: unknown
Siblings: Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, and Buddy Bear Maurice
Another baby Oliver? Praise the naming gods! At this point we know it's going to be something floral for a girl, something informal for a boy. Either gender, we know baby Oliver is going to have three names, with one (or all!) of them quirky.
Girl: Bluebell, Butterfly, Clementine, Clover, Flora, Iris, Lilac, Peony, Posey, Primrose, Tulip
Boy: Charlie, Billy, Bobby, Freddy, Huey, Perry, Ricky, Rudy, Sammy, Sonny, Teddy, Woody
*Update* It's a boy! Welcome River Rocket Blue.

Anna Chlumsky and Shaun So
Gender: unknown
Siblings: Penelope Joan
Veep's Anna Chlumsky and her husband chose such a sweet name for their first-born. Penelope Joan has a vintage-yet-modern feel, something I think they'll try to emulate with baby number two.
Girl: Alice, Camilla, Daphne, Delia, Greta, Isobel, Josephine, Lorelei, Matilda, Millicent, Zelda
Boy: Andrew, Arthur, Edward, Henry, Paul, Quentin, Ray, Simon, Theodore, Thomas, Walter
*Update* Clara Elizabeth--perfect!

Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green
Gender: unknown
Siblings: Noah Shannon (b) and Bodhi Ransom
Megan Fox's two sons have names that are almost opposites on the style scale, however, they have one thing in common--the long o sound. Will they continue the pattern with baby number three?
Girl: Bree, Harley, Kyla, Leila, Liv, Lola, Naomi, Rain, Rose, Sage, Shea, Zoe
Boy: Ace, Axel, Blaise, Jonah, Levi, Major, Max, Owen, Rafe, Rowan, Zeb, Zeke
*Update* Megan and Brian have welcomed a son, Journey River.

Ellie Kemper and Michael Koman
Gender: unknown
Siblings: none
The ever-cheerful Ellie Kemper is pregnant with her first child! The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt actress is known for her sunny disposition, so no doubt Baby Koman will have a happy and upbeat name.
Girl: Anya, Birdie, Celia, Daisy, Gracie, Hallie, Hattie, Ivy, Josie, Juniper, Libby, Olive, Penny
Boy: Elliot, Felix, Finley, Frankie, Henry, Jasper, Julian, Liam, Oliver, Rory, Theo, Wyatt
*Update* Welcome, James Miller!

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds
Gender: unknown
Siblings: James (g)
What do you name a sibling for a daughter named James? This is a relatively new phenomenon, and a question I expect we'll be hearing much more in the coming years. For now, here are my ideas.
Girl: Abbott, Elliot, Emmett, Greer, Hollis, Lincoln, Mavis, Maxwell, Percy, Quincy, Sutton
Boy: Calvin, Charles, Harrison, Jonathan, Noble, Quinlan, Roscoe, Theodore, Thomas, Weston
*Update* A little girl--Ines!

Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling
Gender: unknown
Siblings: Esmeralda Amada
Like the Baldwins, Eva Mendes and Ryan Gosling love extravagent Spanish names, undeniably due to Eva's Cuban heritage. It seems pretty likely that they'll stick with this theme for their next son or daughter, which in that case means Baby Gosling will have a lovely (and probably long) name.
Girl: Celestina, Estela, Floriana, Graciela, Luisa, Mariela, Mireya, Paloma, Raphaela, Rosalina
Boy: Augusto, Cortez. Emilio, Francesco, Luciano, Marcelo, Pasqual, Silviano, Valentino
*Update* It's a girl, and her name is Amada Lee! They must love the name Amada to use it twice.


I'm taking next week off for midterms, but I will see you all back here right after the arrival of the 2015's top 1000!

Share a Coke Names: Part Two

Might as well go with Nell ;) Make one here.

Okay, back for more. To do this post, I looked at all the names they sold in stores in the UK. Turns out it's a lot more. Like, almost five times as more. It took a long time to get all this data, but I've got some interesting observations for you guys. I'm going to list all 1,146 (!) names after the jump, then we can talk about them.

My hand hurt after writing seven pages of this.