Usual Nickname, Unexpected Name--Dora/Dolly/Dotty

I know, it seems weird to group those together. But, Dolly & Dotty were nicknames for Dorothy thanks to that R-to-L/T/D shift that Middle English pulled (see also: Sarah --> Sadie; Mary --> Molly), so I think they could also work for any 'Dora' name. :)
The usual full names for Dora include Dorothy/Dorothea, Doris, Theodora, & Isadora, although none are at all common today.
(I would also like you all to know that I now have the "Dora the Explorer" theme song stuck in my head. Gaaaaaaaaaaaaah.)

• Adora (ah-DOR-ah, English, Spanish)--from Spanish adoración. Catalan form is Adoració.
• Adorinda (ah-doh-REEN-dah, Esperanto)--"adorable"
• Anesidora (ah-nee-sih-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)--"sender of gifts"
• Cassiodora (kahs-see-oh-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)
• Christodora (kris-toh-DOR-ah), [ancient] Greek)--"gift of Christ"
• Cleodora (kleh-oh-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)--"gift of glory"
• Devorah (deh-voh-RAH, Hebrew)--form of Deborah
• Dinorah (dee-NOR-ah, Portuguese, Spanish)
• Diodora (dee-oh-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)--"gift of Zeus"
• Doralice (doh-rah-LEE-cheh, Italian; doh-rah-LEE-see, Portuguese)--poss. from Greek, "gift of the dawn". Other forms include Doralys (Spanish) & Doralise (English).
• Doriane (doh-ree-AHN, French)--feminine of Dorian. Another form is Doriana (Italian, Portuguese).
• Dorina (doh-REE-nah, Hungarian, Romanian)
• Dorit (DOR-it, Scandinavian)--form of Dorothea
• Eldora (el-DOR-ah, English)
• Eudora (yoo-DOR-ah, English)--from Greek, "good gift"
• Halldóra (HAL-doh-rah, Icelandic)--another form is Aldora (Norwegian)
• Heliodora (ay-lee-oh-DOR-ah, Portuguese, Spanish)--from Greek, "gift of the sun"
• Medora (meh-DOR-ah, English)
• Menodora (men-ah-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)--"gift of the moon". Romanian form is Minodora.
• Metrodora (met-roh-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)--"gift of the mother"
• Midori (mee-doh-ree, Japanese)--"green"
• Nicodora (nee-koh-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)--"gift of victory"
• Polydora (pol-ee-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)--"many gifts"
• Teodora (teh-oh-DOR-ah, Bulgarian, Italian, Spanish, Scandinavian)--form of Theodora. Other forms include Feodora (Russian) and Deodora (Norwegian).
• Zenodora (zee-noh-DOR-ah, [ancient] Greek)--"gift of Zeus"

British vs. American, Part 2 (2014)

Time for the next part of my comparison: the "most American" names.
(come on America; don't embarrass me!)

First off: the most popular names in the US that don't appear at all on the full ONS list:

Boys:

1. Brantley
2. Jayceon
3. Collin
4. Garrett
5. Waylon
6. Josue
7. Lane
8. Messiah
9. Trenton
10. Grady
11. Barrett
12. Major
13. Nash
14. Gerardo
15. Brycen
16. Braylen
17. Gannon
18. Landyn
19. Jamison
20. Moises

Girls:

1. Jordyn
2. Kinsley
3. Ximena
4. Londyn
5. Emery
6. Kylee
7. Daleyza
8. Brynlee
9. Brynn
10. Raelynn
11. Makenna
12. Journey
13. Ashlynn
14. Haven
15. Leslie
16. Kyleigh
17. Alondra
18. Yaretzi
19. Addyson
20. Kamryn

Hmm. Yeah, definitely not what you think of when you think "British"! Here are the most "American" names that were used in England & Wales last year:

Boys:

1. Jesus
2. Weston
3. Easton
4. Tucker
5. Iker
6. Paxton
7. Bennett
8. Angel
9. Landon
10. Brooks
11. Grant
12. Remington
13. Gunner
14. Holden
15. Emiliano
16. Gage
17. Braylon
18. Gunnar
19. Gael
20. Kolton

Girls:

1. Allison
2. Brooklynn
3. Adalynn
4. Makenzie
5. Haley
6. Delaney
7. Lyric
8. Kinley
9. Camila
10. Madilyn
11. Adalyn
12. Mckenna
13. Allyson
14. Jaylah
15. Avery
16. London
17. Adelynn
18. Genesis
19. Hailey
20. Allie

Surnames and -lyns! Not terribly shocking. ;)
Still too "weird"? The most American names in the British Top 1000:

Boys:

1. Gavin
2. Colton
3. Nolan
4. Silas
5. Avery
6. Brayden
7. Kenneth
8. Ian
9. Wyatt
10. Giovanni
11. Colin
12. Wesley
13. Emmett
14. Jayce
15. Braxton
16. Maverick
17. Conner
18. Ryder
19. Jace
20. Julian

Girls:

1. Addison
2. Claire
3. Aubrey
4. Kaylee
5. Caroline
6. Serenity
7. Zoey
8. Riley
9. Brooklyn
10. Trinity
11. Aubree
12. Paisley
13. Ashley
14. Kimberly
15. Jocelyn
16. Mariah
17. Melanie
18. Lillian
19. Brianna
20. Audrey

Gavin and Claire surprise me. Perhaps they're rather out-of-date now? It's interesting to see Avery as an "American" boys' name--it's waaaaaaay more popular for girls here!


So far I've been concentrating on differences. For interest's sake, here are the names (from the Top 1500 or so) given to about an equal % of babies in the US & UK. :)

Boys:

1. Kobe
2. Solomon
3. Josef
4. Devon
5. Avi
6. Malaki
7. Bernard
8. Dion
9. Curtis
10. Lawson
11. Terence
12. Kane
13. Malakai
14. Kenny
15. Benjamin
16. Jaydon
17. Quinn
18. Kristian
19. Chace
20. Jamil

Girls:

1. Frances
2. Farrah
3. Faith
4. Mercedes
5. Kara
6. Evelyn
7. Shyla
8. Alana
9. Amaya
10. Sofie
11. Anita
12. Sofia
13. Isabella
14. Elora
15. Heather
16. Nahla
17. Laila
18. Ananya
19. Alissa
20. Charley

Wow--a list where I actually like the girls' side more than the boys! Yay for both sides of the pond. ;)

British vs. American, Part 1 (2014)

Yep, it's time for this again. The British ONS released their top names of 2014, so of course we must compare. :)

First up--the "most British" names! Here are the most popular names used in England & Wales that didn't appear at all on the full SSA lists:

Boys:

1. Albie
2. Harri
3. Osian
4. Bertie
5. Dougie
6. Kenzie
7. Tomos
8. Barney
9. Matas
10. Gethin
11. Rudi
12. Oliwier
13. Wiktor
14. Frazer
15. Ralphie
16. Nojus
17. Ieuan
18. Tyler-James
19. Alby
20. Tommy-Lee

Girls:

1. Amelia-Rose
2. Lily-Mae
3. Lily-Rose
4. Lilly-Mae
5. Ffion
6. Ella-Rose
7. Ellie-Mae
8. Lilly-Rose
9. Lilly-May
10. Isla-Rose
11. Ava-Rose
12. Bethan
13. Fleur
14. Fearne
15. Ellie-May
16. Lily-May
17. Mia-Rose
18. Poppie
19. Bella-Rose
20. Gracie-Mae

Wow. Yay for hyphens! Since in the US, those would appear as either one name (e.g. Ameliarose) or first & middle, let's take them out:

Boys:

1. Albie
2. Harri
3. Osian
4. Bertie
5. Dougie
6. Kenzie
7. Tomos
8. Barney
9. Matas
10. Gethin
11. Rudi
12. Oliwier
13. Wiktor
14. Frazer
15. Ralphie
16. Nojus
17. Ieuan
18. Alby
19. Bartosz
20. Kajus

Girls:

1. Ffion
2. Bethan
3. Fleur
4. Fearne
5. Poppie
6. Orlaith
7. Jorgie
8. Eadie
9. Esmai
10. Dolcie
11. Dulcie
12. Kornelia
13. Hettie
14. Lowri
15. Cadi
16. Nel
17. Weronika
18. Blanka
19. Ferne
20. Neive

Any of these names would certainly be distinct in the US! I'd wager that most are pretty much unknown here. So let's narrow down to the most British names (based on %) that were actually used in the US last year:

Boys:

1. Alfie
2. Olly
3. Freddie
4. Barnaby
5. Archie
6. Fraser
7. Vinnie
8. Rupert
9. Teddie
10. Nikodem
11. Finlay
12. Franciszek
13. Georgie
14. Harry
15. Jac
16. Teddy
17. Ollie
18. Elis
19. Dawid
20. Jago

Girls:

1. Darcey
2. Darcie
3. Isobelle
4. Orla
5. Poppy
6. Wiktoria
7. Nieve
8. Pixie
9. Nikola
10. Neave
11. Oliwia
12. Ottilie
13. Niamh
14. Zuzanna
15. Xanthe
16. Alicja
17. Emilija
18. Lottie
19. Florence
20. Seren

Still too...."out there"? Let's narrow to the most British names in the US Top 1000:

Boys:

1. Harry
2. Frankie
3. Reuben
4. Theo
5. Tommy
6. Harley
7. Toby
8. Bobby
9. Stanley
10. Charlie
11. Lewis
12. Sonny
13. Jamie
14. Finley
15. Callum
16. Ronnie
17. Harvey
18. Kian
19. Oscar
20. Billy

Girls:

1. Rosie
2. Evie
3. Freya
4. Esme
5. Maisie
6. Matilda
7. Millie
8. Amelie
9. Martha
10. Phoebe
11. Holly
12. Mollie
13. Isla
14. Thea
15. Sienna
16. Jessica
17. Nancy
18. Elsie
19. Lara
20. Erin

*is jealous*

Next time: the most American names! I'm scared.

Triple Goddesses!

No, that's not an anime (that I know of, anyway).
Goddess-trios are a common theme in mythology, and while the Greeks are most famous for them, they do exist in many ancient pantheons. And many of them have fun names! (perhaps better for cats than human babies, but still fun!)

The Charites (Greek) [sing.: Charis, "grace"]; goddesses of beauty and creativity:

• Aglaea (ah-GLYE-ah, ah-GLEE-ah) "glory"
• Euphrosyne (yoo-FROS-in-ee) "mirth"
• Thalia (THAHL-yah) "festivity"

The daughters of Maderakka (Sami); goddesses of childbirth and children:

• Sarakka (SAH-rahk-kah) "separating woman"
• Juksakka (YOOK-sahk-kah) "bow [archery] woman"
• Uksakka (OOK-sahk-kah) "door woman"

The Erinyes (Greek) [sing.: Erinys, poss. "angered" or "dark"]; goddesses of vengeance:

• Alecto (ah-LEK-toh) "unceasing"
• Tisiphone (tis-IF-oh-nee) "avenging murder"
• Megaera (meh-JEER-ah) "grudge"

The goddesses of Mecca (pre-Islamic Arabian):

• Allat (al-LAT) poss. "the goddess"
• Al-‘Uzzá (al-OOZ-ah) poss. "the mightiest"
• Manat (man-AT) poss. "fate"

The Gorgons (Greek) ["terrible"]; personifications of the dangers of the sea:

• Medusa (meh-DOO-sah) "queen"
• Euryale (yoo-RYE-ah-lee) prob. "wide step" or "wide sea"
• Stheno (STHEN-oh) "strength"

The Graeae (Greek) [sing.: Graea, "gray woman, old woman"]; personifications of sea foam:

• Pemphredo (pem-FREE-doh), poss "alarm" or "guide"
• Enyo (EN-yoh) "warlike"
• Deino (DEE-noh) "dread"

The Hesperides (Greek) [sing.: Hesperis, "of the evening"]; personifications of the evening:

• Aegle (EG-lee) "shining"
• Erytheia / Erytheis (eh-REETH-ay-ah / eh-REE-thays) "red"
• Hesperethousa (hes-pehr-eh-THOO-sah) "swift evening"; sometimes replaced with Hespere (HES-peh-ree) or Hesperia (hes-PEHR-ee-ah)

The Horae (Greek) [sing.: Hora, "hour" or "season"]; goddesses of nature, or of law and order:

• Thallo (THAH-loh) "blossom"
• Carpo (KAR-poh) "fruit"
• Auxo (OWKS-oh) "growth"
  
  

• Dike (DYE-kee) "justice"
• Eunomia (yoo-NOH-mee-ah) "good order"
• Eirene (eye-REE-nee) "peace"

The Hyperboreiai (Greek) [sing: Hyperboreia, "beyond the North Wind']; Artemis' archery attendants:

• Oupis (OO-pis) "sighting"
• Hecaerge (heh-SEER-jee) "distancing"
• Loxo (LOKS-oh) "angling"

The Moirai (Greek) [sing.: Moira, "portion"]; controllers of each person's fate:

• Clotho (KLOH-thoh) "spinner"
• Lachesis (LAK-eh-sis) "allotter"
• Atropos (AT-rop-ohs) "inevitable"

The Morrigna (Irish) [sing.: Morrigan, prob. "phantom queen"]; war & sovereignty goddesses:

• Badhbh (BIVE) "crow" 
• Macha (MAH-khah), prob. "field"
• Neamhain (NYAV-an), prob. "poison" or "seizer"; sometimes replaced with Anand or Morrigan

The (three original) Muses (Greek); goddesses of the arts:

• Aoide (ah-EE-dee, ay-EE-dee) "voice"
• Melete (MEL-eh-tee, mel-ET-ee) "practice"
• Mneme (NEE-mee) "memory"

The Norn (Norse) [prob. "whisper" or "twine"]; goddesses of destiny:

• Urd/Urth (OORD / OORTH [hard 'th', like "the"]) "fate"
• Verdandi/Verthandi (VEHR-dahn-dee / VEHR-thahn-dee [hard 'th']) "becoming"
• Skuld (skoold ['oo' like in "foot"]) "future" or "blame"

The Parcae (Roman) [sing.: Parca, prob. "frugal" or "slight"]; equivalent to the Greek Moirai:

• Nona (NOH-nah) "ninth"
• Decima (DES-ee-mah) "tenth"
• Morta (MOR-tah) "death"

The patron goddesses of Ireland:

• Éire (EHR-eh) poss. "abundant"
• Banbha (BAHN-uh-vah) poss. "unplowed land" or "sow"
• Fodhla (FOH-lah) poss. "sod"

The Praxidicae (Greek) ["exacting justice"]; goddesses of justice:

• Praxidike (prak-SID-ik-ee) "exacting justice"
• Arete (EHR-eh-tee) "virtue"
• Homonoea (hoh-MOH-nee-ah) "unanimity"

A Few Little Updates

Every now and again I discover a name that would fit perfectly in a previous list, or find out that I had something really wrong! Here are pages that have had relatively recent additions/corrections, so if you only read them the first time around, you might find some changes. :)

• Actually, It's Traditionally Spelled with a K
• Are They Really "Unisex" if They're Only Used on Girls?
• Calendar Names
• Coincident Names
• Marian Names
• Matilda and Her Sisters
• The Modern Name Generator

The Other Fairy Tales

Before books and movies and urban legends, there were fairy tales. Many were, of course, adapted to the new mediums, but for some reason, others just never caught on in the modern world.
And so, just because, here are some fairy tale names you've probably never heard of. :)

• Covan
• Esben
• Ferdinand
• Georgic
• Guerrino
• Iain/Ian
• Jean
• Jesper
• Joringel
• Niels

• Aimée
• Catherine
• Elisa
• Eulalie
• Euna
• Filadoro
• Finette
• Ilonka
• Jorinde
• Kate
• Luisa
• Maleen
• Molly
• Myrsina
• Nella
• Prunella
• Zezolla

Son of a---!

I blame Alison & Madison. Despite "son" written straight out, many -son names are now trendy on girls. And while most of course mean "son of ____", not all do, and I set out to find them.
So if you're looking for a unisex (or "unisex") name, here are some -son names that are neither patronymics nor overwhelmingly more common on boys, as well as some -san/sen/sin/sun sound-alikes.

• Aeson (EE-son, [Ancient] Greek)
• Alison/Allison/Alyson (AL-is-on, English)--from French, diminutive of Alice. Another form is Alson.
• Chanson (SHAHN-sohn, French [surname])--"singer"
• Chryson (KRIS-on, KREE-sohn, [Ancient] Greek)--prob. "gold"
• Crimson (KRIM-son, English)
• Essan (ES-san, Swedish)--diminutive of Ester, Estrid, or Elisabeth
• Gerson (GEHR-son, Dutch; JEHR-son, Portuguese; HEHR-son, Spanish)--form of Gershom
• Kajsen (KYE-sen, Swedish)--diminutive of Karin/Katarina
• Lisen/Lissen (LEE-sen, Swedish)--diminutive of Elisabeth, Alice, Melissa, or Louise/Lovisa
• Lison (LEE-zohn, French)--diminutive of Elisabeth
• Louison (loo-EE-zohn, French)--diminutive of Louis or Louise
• Majsan (MYE-san, Swedish)--diminutive of Maja. Norwegian form is Maisen.
• Mossen (MOHS-sen, Norwegian)--diminutive of Margareta or Maria
• Orison (OR-is-on, English)--from Latin, "prayer"
• Reason (REE-zon, English)
• Season (SEE-zon, English)
• Sessan/Sessen (SES-san, Swedish)--diminutive of Cecilia
• Tamsin (TAM-sin, English)--feminine of Thomas
• Tessan (TES-san, Swedish)--diminutive of Teresa/Teresia
• Visen (VEE-sen, Swedish)--diminutive of Louise/Lovisa