Broadway Names

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Love musical theater? Why not give your baby a Broadway worthy name? All of the following come from the titles of Broadway musicals, past and present.

Abner--Lil' Abner
Adele--Adele
Aida--Aida
Allegro--Allegro
Alma--Alma, Where Do You Live?
Annie--Annie; Annie Get Your Gun
Anya--Anya
Babette--Babette
Beatrice--An Evening with Beatrice Lillie
Bess--Porgy and Bess
Billie--Billie
Billy--Billy Elliot
Birdie--Bring Back Birdie; Bye Bye Birdie
Brooklyn--Brooklyn
Carmelina--Carmelina
Carmen--Carmen Jones
Caroline--Caroline, or Change
Carrie--Carrie
Charity--Sweet Charity
Charley--Where's Charley?
Chris--Chris and the Wonderful Lamp
Christine--Christine; Marie Christine
Coco--Coco
David--King David
Dolly--Hello, Dolly!
Eddie--Very Good, Eddie
Edwin--The Mystery of Edwin Drood
Eileen--Eileen
Elsie--Elsie
Evangeline--Evangeline, or the Belle of Arcadia
Fanny--Fanny
Finian--Finian's Rainbow
Flora--Flora the Red Menace
George--George M.!; Sunday in the Park with George
Giovanni--Bravo Giovanni
Hattie--Panama Hattie
Hazel--Hazel Flagg
Henry--Henry, Sweet Henry; John Henry
Illya--Illya Darling
Irene--Irene
Jamie--Three Wishes for Jamie
Jane--Jane Eyre
Jerome--Jerome Robbins' Birthday
Jerry--Jerry's Girls
Jersey--Jersey Boys
Joey--Pal Joey
John--John Henry
Johnny--Johnny Johnson; Little Johnny Jones
Juan--Juan Darien
Jubilee--Jubilee
Juliet--Me and Juliet
Juno--Juno
Kate--Kiss Me, Kate
Kay--Oh, Kay!
Kean--Kean
Kelly--Kelly
Lennon--Lennon
Liberty--Miss Liberty
Lillie--An Evening with Beatrice Lillie
Mabel--Mack & Mabel
Mack--Mack & Mabel
Maddox--Red, White, and Maddox
Marie--Marie Christine
Marinka--Marinka
Memphis--Memphis
Merlin--Merlin
Millie--Thoroughly Modern Millie
Molly--The Unsinkable Molly Brown
Monty--The Full Monty
Nanette--No, No, Nanette
Paris--Paris
Peter--Peter Pan
Pippin--Pippin
Rex--Rex
Roberta--Roberta
Rocky--Rocky the Musical
Rosalie--Rosalie
Rose-Marie--Rose-Marie
Sadie--Sadie Thompson
Sally--Sally
Sammy--What Makes Sammy Run?
Sarafina--Sarafina!
Sawyer--The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Sweeney--Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tiffany--Breakfast at Tiffany's
Todd--Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tom--The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Tommy--The Who's Tommy
Venus--One Touch of Venus
Victor--Victor/Victoria
Victoria--Victor/Victoria
Will--The Will Rogers Follies

Same Meaning Sibsets: Part One

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I'm not usually a fan of baby name gimmicks, but if done right, they can be cute. One subtle way to tie your kids names together is through meaning. Many names share the same meaning, and sometimes they would make a nice sibset together. Take a look.

Beautiful
Astrid + Ingrid
Aoife + Calla
Callie + Bonnie

Free
Charles + Frances
Caroline, Darby, + Lottie

Happy
Felix, Asher, + Blythe
Ada + Felicity
Gwyneth + Hillary

Life
Chaya + Evie
Ava, Liv, + Zoe
Vivian + Zenaida

Light
Nell + Liora
Elena, Lucy, + Nora
Helena + Lucinda
Lux + Orly
Eleanor + Lucian

Wise
Alfred + Sophia
Aldo + Ramona
Raymond + Shannon

Unhateable Names

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Some parents don't care about how popular their child's name is, or whether or not it will seem dated in twenty years. In fact, many parents' goal is to find a normal name for their baby, one that no one will ridicule or cringe at. If you fall into that camp, I have a great list for you today. I have compiled a list of 14 names that people just can't hate.

Boys:
Andrew- A sturdy classic. Andrew is a solid choice.
Ben- Sweet and charming. Everyone loves a Ben.
Charlie- Charlie is a handsome and playful name. Whether on his own, or as a nickname for Charles, you can't go wrong with Charlie.
Henry- I'm normally adverse to names as popular as Henry, but I just can't help loving him. How can you not?
Jack- A simple name that packs a punch. I can picture the name Jack on almost any man.
James- One of the more popular of this list, he ranks at 13. Many parents see James's appeal.
Michael- Always popular and never dated. No one will give you weird looks for naming your son Michael.

Girls:
Caroline- Elegant and royal. Caroline will always be a lovely choice.
Emma- Classy, simple, and yes, currently a bit trendy. But I have a feeling she's going to remain much more of a classic than Sophia or Ava.
Claire- I know so many Claires, of all ages. She's not going out of style for a long time.
Grace- I'll admit, I'm not the biggest fan of Grace, but I don't hate her. She is virtuous without being over the top, and has some incredible namesakes (I mean, Grace Kelly, right?).
Julia- She's been flying under the radar, but that doesn't mean she's not being used--she comes in at 75. A beautiful name, forever and always.
Kate- The trendy nicknames for Katherine will come and go (I'm pretty into Kit), but Kate will always remain the classic. Whether she's the nickname or the full form, everyone will like Kate.
Lucy- A sweet choice that I've been hearing all over the place on little girls. I predict she will go down in history as a modern classic.

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.

Unusual -ine Names

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The -ine suffix is very feminine, almost all names that end in -ine are female. It's a fairly popular ending, with names such as Madeline and Caroline in the top 100. However, there are some undiscovered gems, including my favorite guilty pleasure name- Pomeline!

Apolline- A pretty name that would be nice to honor a Pauline with.

Capucine- The only problem with her being the similarity to Cappuccino.

Celandine- Ultra-feminine. Call her Cela for short.

Celestine- Another one of my favorite guilty pleasure names. I think I even like her more than Celeste.

Delphine- Gorgeous. One I hear often in the baby name community.

Eponine- Les Mis put this one in the spotlight for a while, but she never got much use.

Faustine- I was enthralled by this name as a seventh grader. She seemed beautiful and exotic, until one of my friends pointed out she sounds like frosting.

Leontine- Lovely name for a lioness, or your strong-willed daughter.

Lexine- Want Lexi but hate Alexandra? Lexine is a fabulous choice.

Lucine- A quirky way to get to Lucy.

Ottoline- Ottoline or Ottilie? I can't decide, but either one would make a great and unusual pick for an American baby girl.

Pomeline- She's French and means apple. One of my favorites, plus how cute is the nickname Pomme?


P.S. I pronounce all these names with an -een sound at the end, but some of them can have the -eyne sound, depending on your preference.

P.P.S. I'm off on Labor Day, so see you guys on the 3rd!

Catalog Names: Boden Summer 2014

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Last week I did a post on the Mini Boden names, but today we are going to talk about the regular Boden. Not only will this list contain the names of models, but also of the fabulously names products.

Expected:
Alexandra
Alyssa
Arianna
Camille
Caroline
Charlotte
Chelsea
Erin
Francesca
Isabella
Jessica
Katie
Lilian
Lola
Matilda
Sienna

Unique:
Ada
Corrine
Darcey
Evelina
Florence
Georgette
Helena
Lucia
Millie
Nancy
Olga
Poppy
Selina
Valencia

Unheard of:
Ariette
Jerniya
Lais
Marloes
Palma
Serrana

Full Names for Charley

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As of late, Charlie has been heading towards the girls. Charley, Charleigh, and Charliegh are the more common female spellings, and are often used as a nickname for Charlotte. I'm not a big fan of Charley on a girl (maybe I'm bias, I have a brother named Charlie), however she's rising fast. Love Charley but not Charlotte? Take a look at this list.

Expected:
Carlotta- The Spanish form of Charlotte would make a very nice way to get to Charley.
Carolina- Better pronounced CARE-oh-LEE-nuh than CARE-oh-LINE-uh.
Caroline- Classic and lovely.
Carolyn- Ready for a comeback? Maybe, with this spunky nickname.
Charity- She's a dated virtue name, but everyone's heard of her.
Charlize- A household name, thanks to Charlize Theron.
Charlotte- She's gaining popularity at lightning speed, so watch out.

Unique:
Carissa (Charissa)- She is pronounced without the "H" sound, and is a very feminine name for the tomboyish Charley.
Carla- Yes, she's a little old, but Charley freshens her up.
Carlton- Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Carlton makes this one available for the girls.
Carmela- The sweetest way to get to Charley.
Carmen- A recent celebrity baby name, and a great full name for Charley.
Charisse- A girly French name that means "grace."
Charlene- Very dated, but Charley makes her sound fresh.
Charmaine- An unexpected way to get to Charley.

Unheard of:
Chardon- A Native American unisex name that means "sand bar."
Charisma- A word name that might be a lot to live up to.
Charlette- Unfortunately, she will often be confused with Charlotte.
Charlot- She rhymes with Harlow, but seems like a miss-spelling of Charlotte.
Charnell- She could go by Charley or Nellie.
Charo- A Spanish name meaning "rosary." Perfect for families with Spanish heritage.

Useable Anagram Names for Twins

These days, a lot of people want their twins names to have some sort of connection. Anagram names are a good way to do that. Not every anagram set is a good one though. Heaven and Nevaeh are too matchy, but Blair and Libra aren't the same style. Or you love Nora, but hate the spelling Aron. I have compiled a list of the best anagram names for twins, based mostly off of style. Are there any others you like?

Abe and Bea
Adeline and Delanie
Adelina and Daniela
Aileen and Elaine
Alice and Celia
Alan and Lana
Allen and Nella
Allie and Leila
Ally and Lyla
Anders and Sander
Anja and Jana
Ari and Ira
Arlo and Lora
Arlo and Orla
Arnold and Ronald
Axel and Lexa
Bellamy and Maybell
Blake and Kaleb
Byron and Robyn
Carlie and Claire
Carmela and Marcela
Caroline and Cornelia
Chaz and Zach
Clay and Lacy
Dean and Edna
Diana and Nadia
Dianne and Nadine
Dolly and Lloyd
Dot and Tod
Elin and Leni
Eliott and Lottie
Ellen and Nelle
Elmer and Merle
Elodia and Odelia
Erika and Kiera
Ernie and Irene
Forest and Foster
Hale and Leah
Iris and Siri
Jonas and Sonja
Liam and Mila
Lileas and Sallie
Lissa and Silas
Leonie and Noelie
Lorna and Rolan
Marisa and Samira
Maxine and Ximena
Orlando and Ronaldo

Full Names for Carrie

Planning on calling your daughter by the sweet, simple name Carrie (or Kerry, Cary, Carri, etc.)? Here are some full names to put on the birth certificate

Cara
Carbry
Carina
Carissa
Carol
Caroline
Carolina
Carys
Karen

25 Days of Christmas: Carol

Our Christmas name today is Carol. She is the English version of Charles, and means "free man." She peaked in the 1940s, ranking at #5. Today she would mostly be considered a "grandma name" but on a baby she might sound fresh again.

Carol has many full name options, including more modern ones like Caroline and Carolina, and also under-used choices like Carlotta, Carolyn, and Carline. She also works on her own, or would be great in the middle spot.

Carol is a great name that merges holiday and music. If you want a unexpected, old-fashioned name for your baby girl, Carol would make a lovely, simple choice.