The Long of It

Quite a ways back, I did a post on mini-names (which could probably use an update, or maybe a sequel). In general, American names are getting simpler, especially boys. Although Alexander is still pretty popular, parents are much more likely to skip the full name and just go with Alex or Xander than they used to be. For girls, the frilly, princess-y name trend (especially the newest influx of -annas & -ellas) ensures that there's still lots of long names in use, but a lot of the older appellations are now too "stuffy".

Boys:

• Algernon (AL-jer-non, English)
• Aloysius (al-oh-IH-shus, English)--form of Louis
• Antonius (an-TOH-nee-us, Latin)--original form of Anthony
• Apolinar (ah-poh-lee-NAHR, Spanish)
• Aurélian (oh-rayl-YAWN, French)--from Latin, "golden"
• Archibald (AHR-chih-bahld, English)
• Barnabas (BAHR-nah-bus, English)
• Bartholomew (bar-THOL-ah-myew, English)
• Benedict (BEN-eh-dikt, English)--from Latin, "blessed"
• Cornelius (kohr-NEEL-yus, English)
• Demetrius (deh-MEE-tree-us, Latin)
• Ebenezer (eb-en-EE-zer, English)
• Ferdinand (FER-dih-nand, English)
• Frederick (FRED-er-ik, English)
• Gioachino (joh-ah-KEE-noh, Italian)--form of Joachim/Joaquín
• Jedidiah (jed-ih-DYE-ah, English)
• Korbinian (kohr-BEE-nee-ahn, German)
• Leberecht (LEH-beh-rekht, German)--"lives rightly"
• Lysander (lye-SAN-der, Greek)
• Matthias (mah-THYE-as, English; mah-TEE-ahs, German)--form of Matthew
• Montgomery (mont-GOM-er-ee, English)
• Mortimer (MOHR-tih-mer, English)
• Nicostrato (nee-koh-STRAH-toh, Italian)
• Peregrine (PEHR-eh-grin, English)--from Latin, "traveller"
• Reginald (REJ-in-ahld, English)--form of Ronald
• Roderick (ROD-er-ik, English)
• Silvanus (sil-VAH-nus, Latin)--original form of Silas
• Sylvester (sil-VES-ter, English)
• Taliesin (tal-ee-ES-in, Welsh)
• Teodosio (teh-oh-DOHS-yoh, Spanish)
• Thaddeus (THAD-ee-us, English)
• Zacchaeus (zak-KEE-us, English)--from Hebrew, "pure"

Girls:

• Adelinde (ah-deh-LEEN-deh, Germanic)--"noble and mild"
• Alastríona (al-as-TREE-on-ah, Irish)--feminine of Alastar/Alexander
• Amaryllis (ah-mah-RIL-lis, English)--from Greek, "sparkling"
• Augustine (oh-goos-TEEN, French)
• Bernadette (ber-nah-DET, English)
• Calanthe (kah-LAN-thee, English)--from Greek, "beautiful flower"
• Celandine (SEL-an-deen, English)
• Chrysanta (krih-SAN-tah, English)--from Greek, "golden flower"
• Clementina (klem-en-TEE-nah, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish)
• Coriander (KOH-ree-an-der, English)
• Demetria (deh-MEE-tree-ah, Greek)
• Dezirinda (deh-zee-REEN-dah, Esperanto)
• Dominique (doh-mee-NEEK, French)--feminine of Dominic
• Emerentia (eh-meh-REN-tsee-ah, German)--from Latin, "praiseworthy"
• Federica (feh-deh-REE-kah, Italian)
• Felicitas (feh-LEE-tzee-tahs, German)--from Latin, "good luck"
• Gennadiya (gee-NAH-dee-ah, Russian)--from Greek, "noble"
• Karesinda (kah-reh-SEEN-dah, Esperanto)
• Katarzyna (kah-tahr-ZHEE-nah, Polish)--form of Katherine
• Katelijne (kah-teh-LYE-neh, Dutch)--another form of Katherine
• Kazimiera (kah-zee-MYE-rah, Polish)
• Liselotte (LEE-zeh-lot-teh, Danish, German)
• Marjolaine (mahr-zhoh-LEHN, French)--"marjoram"
• Millicent (MIL-lih-sent, English)
• Octavia (ok-TAY-vee-ah, English; ok-TAH-vee-ah, Latin)
• Seraphina (sehr-ah-FEE-nah, English)--from Hebrew, "fiery one"
• Temperance (TEM-per-ants, English)--"self-restraint"
• Willemina (wil-leh-MEE-nah, Dutch)--feminine of William/Willem