Elias, Silas, Titus, Tobias, Cyrus, Leonidas, Matthias....

It's pretty easy to come up with multiple phonetic trends for girls, but I've been trying to even things up and discover some for boys. Surnames, obviously: -ers, -sons, and -dens, but surely there's an alternative trend or two, right?
Well, I think I found one--"eye_as". The names listed in the title: all Top 1000, and all rising! It makes sense--"eye"-sounding names are trending all over the place for both genders, and the softer vintage-y -s ending makes some interesting and handsome combinations.
Can we find more? Of course! :D

• Achaios (ah-kye-AHS, [ancient] Greek)--Latin form is Achaeus (ah-KYE-us). 
• Aelius (EYE-lee-us, Latin)--poss. from Greek Helios, "sun"
• Alkaios (AHL-kye-os, [ancient] Greek)--"strength". Latin form is Alcaeus (al-KYE-us). 
• Amias (ah-MYE-as, English)--poss. from Latin "friend"
• Aineias (eye-NAY-as, [ancient] Greek)--"praise". Latin spelling is Aeneas. 
• Aias (EYE-as, [ancient] Greek)--original form of Ajax, prob. "eagle" or "earth"
• Alphaios (AHL-fye-os, [Biblical] Greek)--from Hebrew, poss. "change, renew". Latin form is Alphaeus (al-FYE-us). 
• Ananias (an-an-EYE-as, [Biblical] Greek)--from Hebrew, "Yahweh is gracious"
• Argyros (ar-GYE-ros, [anglicized] Greek)--"silver"
• Aristaios (ah-ris-TYE-os, [ancient] Greek)--"most excellent". Latin spelling is Aristaeus. [Greek god of rustic occupations: beekeeping, shepherding, cheesemaking, etc]
• Astraios (AS-trye-os, [ancient] Greek)--"of the stars". Latin form is Astraeus (as-TRYE-us). [Greek Titan of the stars and astronomy]
• Azarias (az-ah-RYE-as, [Biblical] Greek)--from Hebrew, "Yahweh has helped"
• Caiaphas (KYE-ah-phas, [Hellenized] Aramaic)--poss. "valley, depression"
• Caelius (KYE-lee-us, Latin)--masculine of Caelia/Celia, "heavenly"
• Esaias (eh-SYE-as, [Biblical] Greek)--form of Hebrew Isaiah, "Yahweh is salvation". Other forms include Isaias (ee-SYE-as, Spanish) and Isaías (ee-ZYE-as, Portuguese). 
• Euryalus (yoo-RYE-ah-lus, [anglicized] Greek)--prob. "wide sea" or "wide roaming"
• Eutychus (yoo-TYE-kus, [anglicized] Greek)--"good luck"
• Ezekias (ez-eh-KYE-as, [Biblical] Greek)--form of Hebrew Hezekiah, "Yahweh strengthens"
• Gaius (GYE-us, Latin)--origin unknown. Other forms include Caius (KYE-us) and Gaianus (GYE-an-us).  
• Hephaistos (HEF-eye-stos, [ancient] Greek)--Latin form is Hephaestus (hef-EYE-stus). [Greek god of fire, smiths, and craftsmen]
• Iairos (YIGH-ros, [Biblical] Greek)--from Hebrew, "he enlightens". Latin spelling is Iairus. 
• Josias (joh-SYE-as, [Biblical] Latin)--form of Hebrew Josiah, "Yahweh supports"
• Kairos (kye-RAHS, [ancient] Greek)--"opportunity". Latin form is Caerus (KYE-rus). [Greek god of opportunity and luck; means "weather" in modern Greek]
• Laelius (LYE-lee-us, Latin)
• Linus (LYE-nus, [anglicized] Greek)--"flax"
• Lycus (LYE-kus, [anglicized] Greek)--"wolf"
• Ozias (oh-ZYE-as, [Biblical] Greek)--from Hebrew, "my strength is Yahweh"
• Phaidros (FYE-dros, [ancient] Greek)--masculine of Phaedra, "bright". Latin spelling is Phaedrus. 
• Phyleus (FYE-lee-us, [anglicized] Greek)--prob. "clan"
• Quirinus (kwer-EYE-nus, Latin)--prob. "spear"
• Tiberius (tye-BEER-ee-us, English)--from Latin "from the Tiber River"
• Timaios (TIM-eye-os, [ancient] Greek)--"honored". Latin form is Timaeus (tim-EYE-us). 
• Tiras (TYE-ras, [Biblical] Hebrew)
• Traianus (TRYE-an-us, Latin)--original form of Trajan, origin unknown
• Tydeus (TYE-dee-us, [anglicized] Greek)
• Urias (yoo-RYE-as, [Biblical] Latin)--from Hebrew, "Yahweh is my light"
• Zacharias (zak-ah-RYE-as, [Biblical] Greek)--form of Zachary, "Yahweh remembers"

(I can't seem to get away from the ancient boys' names, can I? Somehow I didn't expect that that's pretty much all this list would consist of......)

-Lines from A to Z

Latin has had a lot of impact on our naming. There are certain constructions that we can instantly say "that's a girls' name": -etta, -ella, -ia, etc. The latter two are definitely trending right now, and I think the -lines are next, led by Madeline, Adeline, Caroline, and Emmeline. So of course I have to find more. :)
The vast majority are French in origin, traditionally pronounced "leen" and Anglicized to "lyn", but modern "line" pronunciations are arguably the most popular for today's trending -lines (although for a few, like Caroline, "line" has already predominant for centuries in English).
I set myself the goal of finding new fun -line names, but rather than a massive list, I'm limiting myself to one for each letter, and it has to be a name I've never mentioned on my blog before.
*cracks knuckles*
Here we go.

• Azéline (ah-zay-LEEN, French)--from Germanic Adel-, "noble"
• Berteline (behr-teh-LEEN-eh, Danish)--from Germanic -bert-, "bright"
• Céline (say-LEEN, French)--form of Latin Caelina, "heaven", or of Marcelline, prob. "of Mars"
• Deline (deh-LEEN, Swedish)--short form of Adeline
• Esseline (es-seh-LEEN-eh, Dutch)--poss. from Germanic Ans-, "god" or Heida-, "health"
• Filine (fee-LEE-neh, Danish)--from Greek "love"
• Gemeline (zheh-meh-LEEN, French)--prob. from Latin "twin" [also a surname]
• Héline (ay-LEEN, French) / Heline (heh-LEEN, heh-LEE-neh, Scandinavian)--form of Helen
• Iseline (ee-seh-LEEN, ee-seh-LEE-neh, Scandinavian; ee-zeh-LEEN, French)--from Germanic Isen-, "iron". 
• Joceline (zhahs-LEEN, zhah-seh-LEEN, French)--feminine of Jocelyn [Jocelyn is masculine in French]
• Kateline (KAT-eh-lin, [archaic] English; kah-teh-LEEN, French)--form of Katherine
• Laureline (loh-reh-LEEN, French)--form of Laura [invented for a comic book heroine in the 60s, but caught on in real life]
• Marcelline (mar-sel-LEEN, French)--feminine of Marcel [really, I haven't mentioned Marcelline on here yet? How is that possible?!]
• Noéline (noh-ay-LEEN, French)--form of Noëlle
• Ombeline (ohm-beh-LEEN, French)--prob. from Germanic Humbert, "bright warrior"
• Péroline (pay-roh-LEEN, French) / Peroline (peh-roh-LEEN-eh, peh-roh-LEEN, Scandinavian)--prob. from Latin Petronilla, poss. "rock" or "rustic person"
• Q. I should have known Q would sink me. Gah!
• Roeline (roo-LEEN-eh, Dutch)--feminine of Roeland (Germanic, "famous land") or Roelof (Germanic, "famous wolf"). 
• Sanceline (san-seh-LEEN, [archaic] French)--from Latin "saint"
• Theoline (teh-oh-LEEN, French; teh-oh-LEEN-eh, Norwegian)--from Greek Theo-, "god", or Germanic Theud-, "people"
• Ursuline (oor-soo-LEEN, French)--from Latin "little bear"
• Veline (veh-LEEN-eh, Norwegian)--nickname for Vel-names, like Velaug (Old Norse, "promised sanctuary"), Velgjerd (Old Norse, "protector of the slain"), or Vellumine (archaic Norwegian, form of Wilhelmina)
• Wendeline (ven-deh-LEEN-eh, Dutch, Swedish)--feminine of Wendel, "a Wend" ['Wend' was a term applied to various Slavic tribes over the centuries, origin uncertain]
• X, Yeah, no X either. :(
• Yveline (eev-eh-LEEN, eev-LEEN, French)--from Germanic Ivo-, "yew"
• Zerline (tzehr-LEEN-eh, German; zur-LEEN, English; sehr-LEEN-eh, Scandinavian; zehr-LEEN, French)--form of Zerlina, a name invented by Mozart, poss. based on an old Yiddish form of Sarah

F-abulous Names

Considering how many F-names seem to be trending (Finn and variants, Flynn, Ford, Fisher, Fletcher, Felicity, Fiona, Freya), I'm surprised there aren't any except Faith in the SSA Top 100--and it's down at #91! After that, it's Finn for boys at #204 and Finley for girls at #209.
F-names were all the rage at the turn of the century (Frank, Florence, Frances/Francis, Fred, Ferdinand, Floyd, Faye, etc), and I think it's time for a comeback. ;)

(this turned into a much longer list than I had expected. How is it that there are so many F-names world-wide, but so few in use in the US?)

Boys:

• Faolán (FWEE-lawn, FWAY-lawn, Irish)--prob. "little wolf"
• Faiz (FAH-eez, Arabic)--"victorious"
• Fanuel (FAHN-oo-el, Scandinavian)--from Hebrew, "face of God"
• Faramund (FAHR-ah-mund, Germanic)--"journey protection". Old Swedish form is Farmund.
• Faris (FEHR-is, Arabic; FAH-rees, Bosnian)--from Arabic, "knight"
• Farman (FAHR-man, Scandinavian)--"traveller". Also spelled Farmann. 
• Faustin (foh-STAHN, French; FOW ['ow' like "now"] -steen, Russian)--from Latin, "lucky". Other forms include Faustyn (FOW-stin, Polish) and Faustino (fow-STEEN-oh, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish). 
• Fen (FEN, Frisian)--nickname for Germanic frid names, "peace" [coincides with an English word for a type of wetland]
• Ferapont (fyehr-ah-PAHNT, Russian)--from ancient Greek, "servant, caregiver"
• Ferris (FEHR-ris, English [surname], Irish [surname])--from French, "ironworker", or a form of Fergus
• Fife (FIFE, Scottish)--from the Scottish region, origin unknown. Also spelled Fyfe.
• Finlo (FIN-loh, Manx)--"fair Lugh" [Irish god]
• Finnegas (FIN-eh-gas, Irish [mythology])--poss. "Finn the Seer". Also written as Finegas or Finneces.
• Finnvid (FIN-vid, [somewhat archaic] Swedish)--"Finn-tree" or "magician-tree"). Other forms include Finnevid (also somewhat archaic Swedish), Finnved (archaic Norwegian), and Finwith (old Danish, old Swedish)
• Fishel (FISH-el, Yiddish)--"little fish" [also sometimes used as a nickname for Ephraim]
• Fivos (FEE-vos, Greek)--modern masculine form of Phoebe, "light"
• Flemming (FLEM-ming, Scandinavian [esp. Danish!])--"from Flanders" [probably ultimately from Old Frisian "of the flowing water"]. Also spelled Fleming. 
• Flint (FLINT, English [surname])
• Fordel (FOR-del, Norwegian)--from Germanic, "advantage"
• Fosco (FOHS-koh, Italian)--prob. from Latin, "dark"
• Fraser (FRAY-zher, FRAY-zer, Scottish, English)--also spelled Frazier
• Fredmund (FRED-moond, Norwegian)--"peace protection"
• Frey (FRAY, Danish, Swedish)--masculine of Freya "lord". Also spelled Frej.
• Fulton (FUL-ton, English [surname])

Girls:

• Fabia (FAH-bee-ah, Latin, Italian)--other forms include Fabiana (fah-bee-AH-nah, Latin, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish), Fabienne (fah-bee-EN, French), and Fabiola (fah-bee-OH-lah, Spanish, Italian).
• Fadime (fah-dee-MAY, Turkish)--form of Fatima
• Faina (fah-EE-nah, Russian)--poss. from ancient Greek Phaenna, "shining"
• Faiza (FYE-zah, Arabic)--"victorious"
• Fanchon (FAN-shawn, French)--nickname for Françoise/Frances
• Fanélie (fah-nay-LEE, French)--form of Françoise/Frances or Stéphanie
• Fara (FAH-rah, Italian, Scandinavian)--nickname for Germanic fara names, "journey"
• Fausta (FOW ['ow' like "now"] -stah, Latin, Italian)--from Latin, "lucky". Other forms include Faustine (foh-STEEN, French), Faustina (fow-STEEN-ah, Latin, Italian), and Faustyna (fow-STIN-ah, Polish). 
• Favonia (fah-VOH-nee-ah, Latin)--"favored"
• Fedea (fed-eh-ah, Basque)--"faith"
• Femke (FEM-keh, Dutch, Frisian)--nickname for Germanic frid names, "peace". [coincides with the Frisian word for "girl"]
• Fenareti (fen-ah-REH-tee, Greek)--"shining virtue". Also transliterated as Fainareti. 
• Fenna (FEN-nah, Dutch, Frisian)--another nickname for Germanic frid names, "peace". Also spelled Fenne. 
• Feray (feh-RYE, Turkish)--poss, "radiance of the moon"
• Ffion (FEE-on, Welsh)--"foxglove"
• Fia (FEE-ah, Scandinavian)--short form of Sofia
• Fiadh (FEE-ah, Irish)--"wild" or "deer"
• Fiadhnait (FYAH-nat, Irish)--"fawn"
• Fiamma (fee-AHM-mah, Italian)--"flame"
• Fiammetta (fee-ahm-MET-tah, Italian)--"little flame"
• Fiorenza (fee-oh-REN-tsah, Italian)--form of Florence. Other forms include Florentia (floh-REN-tee-ah, Latin; floh-REN-shah, English) and Florencia (floh-REN-see-ah, Spanish). 
• Fira (feer-AH, Russian)--nickname for Esfir/Esther
• Flavia (FLAH-vee-ah, Latin, Spanish, Italian)--from Latin, "golden, yellow". Other forms include Flavie (flah-VEE, French), Flavienne (flah-vee-EN, French), and Flaviana (flah-vee-AH-nah, Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese).
• Freydis (FRAY-dis, Norwegian)--"lady goddess". Another form is Frøydis (FROOY [somewhere between English "ay" and "oy"] -dis). 

Unisex:

• Farah (FAH-rah, Arabic)--"joy". Also spelled Farrah. 
• Firdaus (FEER-dohs, Arabic; fur-DOHS, Persian)--"paradise". Also transliterated as Firdos. [definitely unisex, although more common for boys, in Arabic; might be exclusively masculine in Persian]

Very International Names (boys)

Boys turn!
Again, I decided to try and find out what are currently the most popular name families in the Western world. This data was compiled from the 2014 or 2015 (depending on what was available) Top Names lists from 16 countries (US, England & Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Belgium).
Variants of one name were mostly all grouped together--exceptions were if the names are generally thought of as distinct names (e.g. Jacob and James) or for nicknames that have multiple full forms (so Max was counted alone, not grouped with Maxwell, Maximo, or Maxmilian).
In total there were approximately 386 name 'families', not that far off from the girls' 408.

• William/Liam/Wilhelm/Guillermo/etc--31 instances
  Lists without: Iceland
• Lucas/Luke/Luca/etc--31 instances
  Lists without: Iceland, Hungary
• Alexander/Alex/Alessandro/etc--29 instances
  Lists without: Finland
• John/Sean/Ian/Johannes/Jan/Ivan/Evan/etc--29 instances (easily the most diverse set, BTW!)
  Lists without: Finland
• Matthew/Matteo/Matias/etc--26 instances
  Lists without: none
• Jackson/Jack--22 instances
  Lists without: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Italy, Hungary
• Oliver/Alvaro/Ollie/etc--22 instances
  Lists without: Italy, Belgium
• Jacob/Jake/Giacomo/etc--21 instances
  Lists without: Finland, Iceland, Hungary
• Thomas/Tom/Tomas/etc--20 instances
  Lists without: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Spain
• Daniel/Dan/etc--19 instances
  Lists without: none
• Leo/Leon/etc--19 instances
  Lists without: Iceland, Italy, Hungary

Benjamin, Samuel, Eli, Louis, Nicholas, Joseph, James, David, Michael, Robert, and Theodore finish out the Top 20. (Okay, 22. There were ties)

And again, the country with the most 'unique' names was Iceland, with 40% of the Top 50 not appearing on any other top names list:
Guðmund, Gunnar, Dagur, Arni/Arnar, Bjarki, Kári, Andri, Jökull, Ásgeir, Baldur, Birkir, Hilmar, Elvar/Elfar, Björn, Haukur, Styrmir, Ari, Eyþor, Frosti, and Sindri. 

Hungary's Top 100 is just under 40% 'unique' names:

Marcell, Balázs, Zalán, Botond, Laszlo, Zsombor, Ákos, Attila, Nimród, Roland, Csaba, Zétény, Hunor, Ábel, Szabolcs, Kornél, Norbert, Bendegúz, Ármin, Tibor, Csongor, Imre, Soma, Brendon, Kende, Dénes, Csanád, Bertalan, Donát, Zente, Szilárd, Zsigmond, Dorián, Flórián, and Zénó.

Sweden's Top 100 is about 1/4 'unique' names--Arvid, Melvin, Edvin, Sixten, Albin, Gustav, Melker, Malte, Ebbe, August, Viggo, Colin, Loke, Wilmer, Vidar, Milton, Elton, Vilgot, Otto, Tage, Hjalmar, Maximilian, Algot, Linus, Ture, and Folke.

Spain's Top 100 is about 1/5 'unique' names--Sergio, Izan, Gonzalo, Bruno, Raul, Jesus, Aitor, Rodrigo, Asier, Unai, Ismael, Alonso, Biel, Gael, Ignacio, Nil, Saul, Aimar, and Yeray.

As expected, the English-speaking countries all share a lot of names. England & Wales has only two 'unique' names (Dexter and Ronnie), N. Ireland, Australia, and Canada each have 3 (Conan, Caolán, and Dáithí; Bailey, Mitchell, and Maxwell; Jeremy, Declan, and Emmett; respectively); and New Zealand has five (Arlo, Nixon, Ezra, Quinn, and Cohen). 

Very International Names (girls)

I'm amazed at how trends can spread across the globe. Yeah, Sophia is popular here in the US, but how is it also popular in like 14 other countries in the western world? Out of 16 countries I found current (2014 or 2015) data for (US, England & Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Belgium), only Iceland did not have a form of Sophia in its Top Names list. Most countries had more than more than one! What is it about Sophia?

Anyway, I set out to find which "name families" are most popular right now, and also see which country has the most unique names. :)
(this is compiled from the Top Names lists only--which are either Top 50 or Top 100, depending on the country--so for instance, if there's a variant of Mary at #51 on the Finnish charts, it wasn't counted)

• Mary/Marie/Maria/Mia/Marion/Molly/etc--45 instances
  Lists without: Finland
• Anna/Ana/Hannah/Nancy/etc--39 instances
  Lists without: none
• Sophia/Sofia/Sophie/etc--35 instances
  Lists without: Iceland
• Elizabeth/Elise/Elsa/Lisa/Eliza/etc--32 instances
  Lists without: none
• Sarah/Sara/Sadie/etc--27 instances
  Lists without: none
• Eva/Eve/Evie--25 instances
  Lists without: Norway, Sweden, Hungary
• Isabella/Isabelle/Isabel/etc--25 instances
  Lists without: Finland, Norway, Belgium
• Lily/Lilly/Lili/Lilja/Lilla/etc--24 instances
  Lists without: Spain, Italy
• Ella/Ellie/etc--21 instances
  Lists without: Iceland, Spain, Italy, Hungary
• Emily/Emilie/Emilia--21 instances
  Lists without: Spain

Julia, Alice, Katherine, Charlotte, Emma, Olivia, Helena, Amelia, Maya, and Rose round out the overall Top 20. 

There were approximately 408 "name families" total, although many are inter-related (Isabella is a form of Elizabeth, for instance, but they're generally treated as distinct names; same with Caroline and Charlotte. Ella/Ellie could be from Elizabeth, but it can also be from Helena/Ellen or Eleanor).

The country with the most unique names ('unique names' in this case being shorthand for "names without any variants appearing on any other top names lists") was by far Iceland, with nearly 1/2 of the Top 50:
Hekla, Birta, Sóley, Helga, Katla, Guðrún, Þórdís, Ingibjörg, Embla, Sigrún, Harpa, Hrafntinna, Steinunn, Unnur, Aþena, Fanney, Iðunn, Arna, Hrafnhildur, Snædís, and Vigdís. 

Spain's Top 100 is about 1/3 'unique' names:
Daniela, Valeria, Alba, Carmen, Ainhoa, Aitana, Marina, Candela, Laia, Ainara, Leire/Leyre, Nerea, Rocio, Vega, Jimena, Abril, Triana, Nuria, Aroa, Manuela, Mar, Mara, Africa, Naia, Noelia, Nahia, Naiara/Nayara, Elia, Arlet, Yanira, Fatima, Erika, and Mireia.

Finland's Top 50 is about 30% 'unique' names:
Venla, Aino, Helmi, Enni, Kerttu, Pihla, Hilla, Minea, Iina, Vilja, Sanni, Lumi, and Seela.

While Hungary, Sweden, and Italy are all around 1/4 'unique' names.
Hungary (Top 100): Boglárka, Csenge, Réka, Petra, Zselyke, Regina, Kinga, Szonja, Emese, Tímea, Tamara, Fruzsina, Eniko, Virág, Hanga, Dorottya, Dalma, Kinsco, Vanda, Kira, Zita, Ramóna, Bíborka, Boróka, Patricia, and Dzsenifer.
Sweden (Top 100): Ebba, Alva, Signe, Nova, Edith, Elvira, Tyra, Juni, Felicia, Meja, Moa, Livia, Stina, Lykke, Svea, Cornelia, Joline, Lo, Tindra, Novalie, Philippa, My, Hilma, and Linn.
Italy (Top 100): Gaia, Ginevra, Ludovica, Gioia, Asia, Serena, Benedetta, Ilaria, Federica, Cecilia, Flavia, Gloria, Diletta, Sveva, Lucrezia, Virginia, Agata, Celeste, Lavinia, Sabrina, Teresa, and Anastasia. 


On the other end, New Zealand has zero unique names. England & Wales has 2 (Aisha and Bethany), Australia has 3 (Indiana, Chelsea, and Eloise), while Scotland and N. Ireland each have 4 (Eilidh, Skye, Iona, and Hope; Eimear, Cora, Cassie, and Farrah; respectively).
Although it's not terribly surprising that the English-speaking countries all have a lot in common. :)

Taxonymy....nymy? (ferns)

Fern is kind of an odd name if you think about it. I mean, we don't call kids 'Algae' or 'Angiosperm' or 'Conifer' (although...Conifer could actually kind of work).
Ferns are a unique group of plants--they're complex with many different specialized cells, but don't have seeds or flowers, and instead reproduce with spores, like algae & fungi.
They're also not as large a group as the flowering plants, but I bet we can still find some fun potential names. :)
(all are genera, not common names)

• Azolla
• Ceradenia
• Christella
• Cyathea
• Danaea
• Davallia
• Drynaria
• Kaulinia
• Lindsaea
• Llavea
• Marattia
• Marsilea
• Matonia
• Mickelia
• Mohria
• Oleandra
• Onoclea
• Osmunda
• Paesia
• Pellaea
• Pteris
• Ptisana
• Rumohra
• Salvinia
• Vittaria

Win-ning Names

Anybody else feel like Winnie-names might be starting to trend? I did a post on Winnie-names for girls a bit back (and somehow missed Elowen, my goodness!), and it recently struck me how much I like -win names for boys, as well.

Surprisingly, -win/wyn names are split about evenly for girls and boys in the U.S.; I expected them to be mostly feminine (although if you include -wen, the boys end up with a huge majority, thanks pretty much exclusively to Owen). 

Most turn out to be Welsh (where wyn means "white" or "blessed") or Old English/Germanic (where win means "friend"). Great meaning in both origins! :D
(many of the Old English names survive only as surnames today)

• Aelwyn (ILE-win, Welsh)--"white brow". Also spelled Aylwyn. 
• Alwyn (AL-win, Welsh, English)--from Welsh, poss. "white hillside"
• Ashwin (ASH-win, Old English)--"ash [tree] friend" or "spear friend"
• Baldwin (BALD-win, Old English)--"bold friend"
• Berwyn (BEHR-win, Welsh)--"white top"
• Brandwin (BRAND-win, Old English)--prob. "sword friend"
• Brithwin (BRITH-win, Old English)--poss. "bright friend"
• Burgwin (BURG-win, Old English)--"castle friend"
• Caldwin (KAHLD-win, Old English)--poss. "cold friend"
• Carwyn (KAR-win, Welsh)--"blessed love"
• Cedwyn (KED-win, Welsh)--poss. "white woods"
• Cenwyn (KEN-win, Welsh)--poss. "white ridge" or "blessed chief"
• Christwin (KRIST-win, Old English)--"Christ-friend"
• Cledwyn (KLED-win, Welsh)--poss. "blessed sword"
• Colwyn (KAHL-win, Welsh)--poss. "enclosed thicket"
• Cuthwin (KUTH-win, Old English)--"famous friend"
• Darwin (DAR-win, English)--"dear friend"
• Delwyn (DEL-win, Welsh)--"pretty + blessed"
• Dilwyn (DIL-wyn, Welsh)--"genuine + blessed"
• Dunwin (DUN-win, Old English)--"brown friend"
• Edwin (ED-win, English)--"old friend" or "wealthy friend". An older form is Aldwin. 
• Elwyn (EL-win, English)--prob. "noble friend", "old friend", or "elf friend"
• Everwin (EV-er-win, Old English)--"boar friend". Another form is Irwin. 
• Geldwin (GELD-win, Old English)--prob. "tribute friend"
• Gerwin (GUR-win, Old English)--"spear friend"
• Gladwin (GLAD-win, Old English)--"bright friend". Also spelled Gladwyn.
• Goldwin (GOLD-win, Old English)--"gold friend"
• Godwin (GAHD-win, Old English)--"god-friend". Another form is Goodwin.
• Goswin (GAHZ-win, Old English; GOHZ-veen, German)--"Goth-friend"
• Hadwin (HAD-win, Old English)--poss. "battle-friend"
• Hartwin (HART-win, Old English; HART-veen, German)--"strong friend"
• Heddwyn (HETH-win ['th' like in "the"], Welsh)--"blessed peace"
• Hildwin (HILD-win, Old English)--"battle-friend". Another form is Hildewin. 
• Kenwyn (KEN-win, Cornish [surname])--"white ridge"
• Lewin (LOO-win, English)--"beloved friend". An older form is Lefwin. 
• Merewin (MEHR-eh-win, Old English)--poss. "famous friend" or "sea-friend"
• Merwin (MUR-win, English)--poss. from Merewin or Welsh Mervyn
• Morwin (MOHR-win, Old English)--poss. "moor friend"
• Ortwin (ORT-win, Old English; OHRT-veen, German)--"sharp-point friend"
• Oswin (OZ-win, English; OHZ-veen, German)--"god-friend"
• Rhydwyn (RID-win, Welsh)--prob. "white ford"
• Rodwin (RAHD-win, Old English)--"famous friend"
• Selwyn (SEL-win, English)--prob. "manor-friend" or "blessed friend"
• Stanwin (STAN-win, Old English)--"stone friend" [yes, the reverse of Winston]
• Tilwin (TIL-win, Old English)--poss. "good friend"
• Wulfwin (WULF-win, Old English)--"wolf friend"

(As an aside, if you do prefer any of the "white/blessed" Welsh names for girls, changing -wyn to -wen generally gets you the feminine spelling. :) 
To complicate matters further, for some of the Old English "friend" names there are related feminine names, deriving from -wynn "joy", which usually became -wen in names that survived to Middle/early Modern English; e.g. Brithwen "bright joy"; Edwen "wealthy joy". The masculine -win names are traditionally feminized to -wina/vina, and the feminine -wen names often became -wina/vina as well!)

Weird Name Journey: Isabella

Two major things alter names: time and translation. More than any other type of name, it seems, Biblical names have been subject to both. Today's WNJ is a prime example of that: Isabella.
If you're thinking, "um, Isabella isn't in the Bible.....is it?" you're sort of right.

Let's start with Elisheva. It's the name of a couple characters in the Bible, most notably the mother of John the Baptist. You probably know her as Elizabeth. When the Bible was translated into Greek, Elisheva became Elisabet, and then Elisabeth in Latin and English (in fact, many of the names we think of as "Hebrew" are actually Hellenized and/or Latinized forms). 

Provençal had problems with that final -th, however, so in Southern France, the name became Elisabel. 

It then spread to Spanish and Catalan areas, and then went through something called hypercorrection. Hypercorrection is when linguistic rules are overapplied, particularly to a word or name from a different language. In this case, Spanish speakers may have interpreted Elisabel as "el Isabel" ("the Isabel"), and dropped the non-sensical masculine 'el'. Alternatively, Catalan speakers may have heard Elisabel as "e l'Isabel"("and the Isabel"). Or both could have happened! But for whatever reason, Elisabel became Isabel as it left Provence. 

Isabel caught on like wildfire in the Middle Ages, becoming common throughout Europe. It was then re-Latinized (it wasn't exactly recognizable as a form of Elizabeth if you didn't know Provençal!) to Isabella. 

No Relation.

Etymology can be a knotty field! I've been sort of mentally keeping track of muddled associations I've spotted on forums and baby-name sites, and finally decided to unravel them all (mostly for myself, but I hope others might enjoy, too). :)


Amelia and Emilia--Amelia is Latinized Germanic, meaning "work, vigor", while Emilia is from Latin, "competitor, rival". They may be pronounced nearly identically in English, but in many languages, they are quite distinct.

Cecelia and Celia--both are Latin, but Cecelia is from Caecilia ("blind") and Celia from Caelia ("heaven").

Eloise and Louise--both are French forms of Germanic names, but Eloise ultimately comes from Helewidis ("healthy and wide" or "healthy wood") and Louise from Chlodovech ("famous battle").

Ellen/Elaine/Helena and Eleanor--Helena is from Ancient Greek, prob. "torch". Ellen and Elaine are medieval English and French forms, respectively. Eleanor comes from Provençal Alianor, itself probably from a Germanic name, like Aldenordis ("old north").

Genevieve and Guinevere--both are medieval and Gallicized, but Genevieve is from Germanic Genovefa, prob. "tribe woman", while Guinevere is from Welsh Gwenhwyfar, prob. "white phantom".

Jerome and Jeremy--Jerome is Anglicized from Greek Hieronymos ("sacred name"). Jeremy is a medieval form of Hebrew Jeremiah ("Yahweh lifts up").

John and Jonathan--well, they're not completely unrelated: both are Hebrew and theophoric, but John didn't originate as nickname for Jonathan. John comes from Yehochanan ("Yahweh is gracious"), and Jonathan from Yehonatan ("Yahweh has given"). For some reason, John went through a lot more changes passing through Greek and Latin than Jonathan did!

Livia and Olivia--Olivia is a Shakespearean coinage, probably based either on Oliver or Olive (which are, incidentally, also unrelated to each other, see below), while Livia is a much older Latin name, poss. meaning "bluish, jealous".

Olive and Oliver--shockingly, Olive means "olive", taken almost directly from Latin ;) Oliver is Anglicized from French Olivier, itself from Old Norse Olaf/Áleifr ("ancestor's descendent") or from a Germanic name like Alfher ("elf warrior") or Aylward/Adalward ("noble defender").

Rose and Rosalind/Rosamund--although they're commonly interpreted as "beautiful rose" and "rose of the world", respectively, in Latin, Rosalind and Rosamund are not Latin names, but Germanic. The 'rosa-' part is actually derived from hros, "horse" (and there were many other Germanic -hros- names, but these two are by far the most well-known today): Rosalind is from Roslindis ("gentle horse"); and Rosamund from Rosmunda ("horse protection").

Iras & Yras, Ilas & Ylas

Time for another installment of the short and catchy!
(first two here: Aias, Anas, & Aras, Ias, Inas, & Itas)
Since English is an outlier with our treatment of 'i's and 'y's, I'll be separating them by sound rather than by spelling. ;)
(and yes, many do have different pronunciations as well)

"EER-ah"

• Cira/Sira (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian)
• Dyra (Swedish)
• Fira (Russian)
• Gvira (Hebrew)
• Hira (Turkish, Arabic)
• Ira (Russian, Greek, Basque) [separate derivations]
• Kira (English, Russian, Japanese, Scandinavian) [multiple derivations]
• Mira (English, Hindi, Slavic) [multiple derivations]
• Nira (Hebrew, Russian) [separate derivations]
• Rira (Persian, Japanese) [separate derivations]
• Shira (Hebrew)
• Tsira (Georgian)
• Tyra (Swedish)
• Vera (English)
• Vira (Ukrainian)

"EYE-rah"

• Aira (Finnish, Estonian, Latvian)
• Cyra (English)
• Daira (Latvian)
• Eira (Welsh)
• Kaira (Estonian, Latvian)
• Kayra (Turkish) [unisex]
• Kyra (English)
• Lyra (English)
• Maira (Spanish, Portuguese, [ancient] Greek, Latvian) [multiple derivations]
• Mayra (Spanish)
• Myra (English)
• Naira (Spanish, Aymara)
• Saira (Indian [Urdu?])
• Tyra (English)
• Vaira (Latvian)
• Yaira (Hebrew)
• Zaira (Italian)

"EE-lah"

• Cila (Portuguese)
• Čila (Croatian)
• Dila (Turkish)
• Gila (German, Hebrew) [separate derivations]
• Hila (Hebrew)
• Ila (Hindi)
• Jila (Persian)
• Lila/Leela (Hindi)
• Mila (English, Slavic, French, Portuguese, Scandinavian)
• Nila/Neela (Hindi)
• Phila ([ancient] Greek)
• Shila/Sheela (Hindi)
• Síle/Sheila (Irish, English)
• Svila (Serbian)
• Tila (Spanish, Scandinavian) [separate derivations]
• Tzila (Hebrew)
• Zhila/Zheela (Persian)

"EYE-lah"

• Aila (Finnish)
• Ayla (Turkish, Scandinavian) [separate derivations]
• Baila/Beila (Yiddish)
• Gaila ([medieval] Basque)
• Ila (English)
• Isla (Scottish, English)
• Kyla (English)
• Laila (Scandinavian)
• Lila/Lilah (English)
• Lyla (English)
• Maila (Estonian, Scandinavian, Portuguese)
• Naila (Arabic)
• Raila (Finnish)
• Saila (Finnish)
• Twila/Twyla (English)

Legendary Princesses

Oh, princesses. They've been a part of pop-culture for a while, and I'm happy that the idea of a less passive-damsel-in-distress type princess is finally catching on. In the spirit of this trend, here are some legendary princesses (and a couple queens) who were known for more than just getting saved and/or married off. :)

• Æthelflæd (ATH-el-flad, Old English) of Mercia--"noble beauty". More modern form is Elfleda (elf-LEE-dah). 
• Anahí (ah-nah-EE, Spanish), Native American--from Guarani, poss. "ceibo flower"
• Aoife (EE-fah, Irish), Irish--"beauty". Her equally-awesome sister, with an arguably less-usable name, was Scáthach (SKAH-hahkh, prob. "shadow").
• Awilda (ah-WIL-dah, [Latinized] Old Norse), Scandinavian--"elf battle". Also called Alfhild, Alwilda or Alvilda. 
• Brunhilda (broon-HIL-dah, Germanic) of Austrasia--"armor-battle"
• Cordeilla (kor-DAY-lah, [literary] Middle English)--prob. from Welsh Creiddylad (krye-THUL-ad, poss. "heart-debt"). Also called Cordelia.
• Cynisca (sin-IS-kah, [Anglicized, ancient] Greek)--"female puppy". Greek form is Kyniska (koo-NEES-kah). 
• Disa (DEE-sah, Swedish)--from Old Norse, "goddess"
• Eréndira (eh-REN-deer-ah, Spanish), Native American--from Tarascan, meaning unknown. Also spelled Erendira (eh-ren-DEER-ah). 
• Gwendolen (GWEN-doh-len, [literary] Middle English)--poss. from Welsh, "white ring"
• Heledd (HEL-eth ['th' like in "that"], Welsh)--poss. "salt" or "estuary"
• Ness (NES, Old Irish)--prob. "not gentle". Also called Neas (NYAS, NAS), Neasa (NYAS-ah, NAS-ah), or Nessa (NES-sah). 
• Razia (rah-ZEE-ah, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu), Delhi--poss. "happy, content". Also transliterated as Raziyya.
• Tamar (TAH-mahr, Georgian; TAY-mar, English) of Georgia--from Hebrew, "palm tree". Also called Tamari (TAH-mah-ree). 
• Wanda (VAHN-dah, Polish; WAHN-dah, English), Polish--prob. from "Wend" [a tribal name, itself poss. from Germanic "friend" or Old Prussian "water"]
• Zenobia (zen-OH-bee-ah, [ancient] Greek), Palmyrene--poss. "Zeus-life" or from Arabic Zaynab (ZAY-nab, poss. "beauty")

More Matronymics

Some time ago (5 years, apparently!), I did a post on matronymic surnames. Since then, I've found more! Although there are nowhere near as many matronymics as patronymics, there are still quite a few more than I'd realized. :)

Prime surname-formation time was the Middle Ages, and many of the listed women's names only survived in surname form.

*unless otherwise stated, the name etymologies are Old English or Germanic
**in source names with two forms stated, the first was a common medieval form, the second the more familiar modern form

• Aldis, Edis--from Aldus ("old")
• Ames--from Amice (Latin, "friend") [can also be from the masculine form, Amis]
• Annett, Anning--from Anne (Hebrew, "grace") or Annis/Agnes (Greek, "chaste")
• Ansteys, Anstice, Anstis--from Anstice/Anastasia (Greek, "resurrection")
• Aylett--from Ailith ("noble war")
• Ayliff--from Aileva ("noble gift")
• Baseley, Bazeley, Bazell--from Basilia (Greek, "king")
• Bedloe, Bedlow--from Bedelove (poss. "battle-love")
• Belson--from Isabel (Hebrew, "my God is an oath") or Belsant (poss. "sword strength")
• Drewett--from Drueta (feminine of Drogo, poss. "ghost")
• Edney--from Idony (Old Norse, poss. "love again")
• Ellett, Ellet--from Ellen (Greek, "torch")
• Elvey--from Alviva ("elf gift")
• Elvis, Elwes--from Helewys/Eloise ("famous war")
• Ennever, Enever, Jenever--from Guinevere/Jennifer (from Celtic, "white phantom")
• Evatt, Evett, Evetts--from Eva/Eve (Hebrew, "life")
• Gillet, Gillette--from Gilia (feminine of Giles, Latin, "goat") or Gillian (Latin, "fuzzy-bearded" or "of Jove")
• Goldburg--from Goldburga ("gold fortress")
• Goodison--from Godith ("god-war")
• Hawes--from Hawisia/Hawys ("battle-wide" or "battle-wood")
• Hildyard, Hilliard--from Hildegard ("battle-protection")
• Ingrey--from Ingrid (Old Norse, "beautiful Ing")
• Issard, Izatt, Izett, Izzard--from Isolda/Isolde (poss. "ice-battle" or "iron-battle")
• Jeeves--from Geva/Genevieve ("kinswoman")
• Jennett--from Jane (Hebrew, "God is gracious")
• Jewett, Jowett--from Julian/Gillian (Latin, "fuzzy-bearded" or "of Jove") [Julian was unisex, and more common for girls in medieval England]
• Kimbro, Kimbrough--from Kinborough ("royal fortress")
• Letson, Lett, Letts--from Lettice/Letitia (Latin, "joy")
• Linney--from Linniva (poss. "linden-gift" or "shield-gift")
• Loveday--from Loveday (you guessed it--"love-day")
• Malkin, Marriott--from Mary (Hebrew, origin uncertain)
• Mott, Tillett--from Matilda ("battle-might")
• Parnall--from Petronilla (Latin, prob, "rock" or "rustic")
• Quennell, Quinell--from Quenilda ("queen-battle")
• Rain--from Regina (Latin, "queen") [may also be from masculine Germanic Ragin-names, like Reginald or Reinhard]
• Ravenell, Ravenhall, Ravenhill--from Ravenild ("raven-battle")
• Sealy, Seeley, Seely--from Sely ("blessed") [unisex, but more often feminine]
• Seavers--from Sefare ("sea-journey") [may also be from Severus]
• Sibley--from Sibyl/Sybil (Greek, "prophetess, oracle")
• Sisley, Sisterson--from Cecily/Cecilia (Latin, "blind")
• Stanbery, Stanberry--from Stanburg ("stone fortress")
• Summerhill, Summerill--from Somerhild ("summer battle")
• Swannell--from Swanhilda ("swan-battle")
• Tiffany--from Teffan/Theophania (Greek, "appearance of God")
• Wantling--from Wentliana/Gwenllian (Welsh, "pure-flaxen")
• Winney--from Wenyeva ("joy-gift" or "friend-gift")
• Whybray, Wyber, Wybrew--from Wigburg ("war fortress")
• Wymark--from Wimarc (poss. "war-famous" or Breton " ??? -horse") [unisex]

As you can probably guess, this is still nowhere near comprehensive! It was a great excuse to find more fun medieval girls' names, and unexpected forms of some modern girls' names, though. ;)

Iamb What I Am (boys)

I've been wondering--why do we have so many iambic names for girls, but not for boys? (if you need a reminder, an "iamb" is a word/name with a 'weak' syllable followed by a stressed syllable. e.g. Denise, Renee, Marie)
Iambic names are often the go-to names for girls' middles, but boys don't seem to have that many options. I think we should try to remedy that. :)
(before we even start, yes, this list leans heavily French)

• Achille (ah-SHEEL, French)--form of Achilles
• Adair (ah-DEHR, English [surname])--form of Edgar
• Adán (ah-DAHN, Spanish)--form of Adam
• Aimé (eh-MAY, French)--masculine of Amy/Aimée
• Alain (ah-LEN, French)--form of Alan
• Aleix (ah-LEHSH, Catalan)--form of Alexis
• Amir (ah-MEER, Arabic, Hebrew) [separate derivations]
• Armand (ar-MAWN, French)--from Germanic, "army man"
• Armel (ar-MEL, French)--from Old Breton, "bear-prince"
• Arnaud (ar-NOH, French)--form of Arnold
• Aviv (ah-VEEV, Hebrew)--"spring" [the season]
• Benoit (ben-WAH, French)--form of Benedict/Bennett
• Bohdan (boh-DAHN, Czech, Ukrainian)--from Slavic, "given by God"
• Canute (kah-NOOT, English)--from Old Norse, "knot"
• Charlot (shar-LOH, French)--masculine of Charlotte
• Cornell (kor-NEL, English [surname])--form of Cornelius
• Darnell (dar-NEL, English [surname])
• Denzel (den-ZEL, English [surname])--also spelled Denzell
• Eloy (eh-LOY, Spanish)--from Latin, "chosen". Also spelled Eloi (Catalan) and Elói (Portuguese). 
• Emil (eh-MEEL, English)--masculine of Emily. French form is Émile (ay-MEEL).
• Eugene (yoo-JEEN, English)--from Greek, "born good". French form is Eugene (oo-ZHEN). 
• Fernand (fehr-NAWN, French)--from Germanic, "brave journey". Other forms include Ferran (fehr-RAHN [rolled Rs], Catalan) and Hernan (ehr-NAHN, Spanish). 
• Gaspar (gahs-PAHR, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan)--form of Jasper/Casper
• Gawain (gah-WAYN, English)--older form of Gavin
• Gerard (jer-ARD, English)--from Germanic, "brave spear". French form is Gérard (zhay-RAHR). 
• Ivan (ee-VAHN, Russian, Ukrainian, Serbian, Czech, Polish, Slovak, Portuguese)--form of John. Spanish spelling is Iván.  
• Javier (hahv-YEHR, Spanish)--form of Xavier
• Jermaine (jur-MAYN, English)--from Latin, "brother". French form is Germain (zhehr-MAHN). 
• Jerome (jeh-ROHM, English)
• Jourdain (zhor-DAHN, French)--form of Jordan. Other forms include Jordán (hor-DAHN, Spanish), Jordão (zhor-DOW, Portuguese), and Yarden (yar-DEN, Hebrew).
• Lamar (lah-MAHR, English [surname])--from French, "the pond"
• Lazare (lah-ZAHR, French)--form of Lazarus, "God has helped"
• Louis (loo-EE, French)--from Germanic, "famous battle". Other forms include Luis (loo-EES, Spanish), Luís (loo-EESH, Portuguese) and Loïc (loh-EEK, Breton).
• Manuel (man-WEL, English; mahn-WEL, Spanish, Catalan, Italian)--form of Emmanuel
• Marcel (mar-SEL, English, French, Catalan)--from Latin, poss. "of Mars"
• Martell (mar-TEL, English [surname])--form of Martin, or from French "hammer"
• Maurice (mor-EES, French, English)
• Pascal (pas-KAL, French, pahs-KAHL, Dutch, German)--from Latin "Easter". Other forms include Pascual (pahs-KWAHL, Spanish), Pasqual (pahs-KWAHL, Catalan), and Paskal (pas-KAHL, Bulgarian).
• Ramón (rah-MOHN, Spanish)--form of Raymond. 
• Renard (reh-NAHR, French)--from Germanic, "brave advisor" [also means "fox" in modern French]
• Rennell (ren-NEL, English [surname])--form of Reynold/Reginald
• Ruslan (roos-LAHN, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian)--poss. from Turkish, "lion". 
• Salim (sah-LEEM, Arabic)--"safe"
• Sinclair (sin-CLEHR, English [surname])--"Saint Clair"
• Stephane (stay-FAHN, French)--form of Stephen. Other forms include Stepan (stee-PAHN, Russian). 
• Tyrone (tye-ROHN, English)--from Irish place-name, "Owen's land"
• Yefim (yeh-FEEM, Russian)--masculine of Euphemia

I've Got a Bad Feelyn' About This (2015)

I did the -leys a few months back, and I got a perverse urge to find all the -lyns as well.
So here they all are, alternate spellings combined (only the most popular is listed here), from most --> least common.

• Adalynn (≈15000 babies)
• Madelyn
• Evelyn (≈11000 babies)
• Brooklyn
• Kaitlyn
• Jocelyn (≈4700 babies)
• Kaelyn
• Raelynn
• Emmalyn
• Jaelynn
• Jacqueline
• Ashlyn (≈2000 babies)
• Braelynn
• Gracelyn
• Jazlyn
• Aylin
• Roselyn
• Rylan
• Dylan (≈1000 babies)
• Avalynn
• Marilyn
• Gwendolyn
• Helen
• Aislinn
• Taelyn
• Maelynn
• Carolyn
• Ellen (≈500 babies)
• Skylynn
• Angeline
• Fallon
• Shaelyn
• Jessalyn
• Aaralyn
• Daelyn
• Kylynn
• Sherlyn
• Annalynn (≈250 babies)
• Breelyn
• Jacelyn
• Emberlyn
• Azlynn 
• Jadelyn
• Magdalene
• Lakelyn
• Harlyn
• Haylen
• Irelynn
• Kimberlyn
• Brilynn
• Coralynn
• Scotlyn
• Zailynn
• Marlen
• Berlin
• Carlin
• Krislyn
• Courtlynn
• Locklyn
• Oaklynn
• Natalynn
• Makaylin
• Declyn (≈100 babies)
• Blakelyn
• Yaslin
• Lynn
• Kendalyn
• Amberlynn
• Arlyn
• Callan
• Kahlan
• Quinlan
• Brecklyn
• Kellyn
• Laelynn
• Jolynn
• Bailyn
• Kacelyn
• Pailynn
• Edelyn
• Weslyn
• Faelyn
• Kashlyn
• Joshlyn
• Keelyn
• Naydelin
• Allyn
• Jerilyn
• Faithlynn
• Everlyn
• Graelyn
• Brinlynn
• Breslin (≈50 babies)
• Hollyn
• Yeilin
• Christalyn
• Milynn
• Darlyn
• Collyn
• Andilyn
• Macklyn
• Hazelyn
• Paislynn
• Danilynn
• Nolan
• Hartlyn
• Tylynn
• Katilyn
• Jennalyn
• Deslyn
• Mialynn
• Novalynn
• Kathlyn
• Saralyn
• Starlynn
• Lauralyn
• Taralynn
• Lovelyn
• Joycelyn
• Timberlynn
• Devlyn (≈25 babies)
• Sharlyn
• Evangelyn
• Waylon
• Valen
• Merlin
• Copelyn
• Joplin
• Brycelynn
• Icelynn
• Joylynn
• Preslyn
• Macelyn
• Kenlynn
• Brittlynn
• Kaslynn
• Brenlynn
• Rocklyn
• Emerlyn
• Gracilyn
• Jakailyn
• Taitlyn
• Zeppelin
• Talon
• Tesslyn
• Hadalyn
• Brendalyn
• Summerlyn
• Emlyn
• Hadlyn
• Leelynn
• Noralyn
• Veralyn
• Aidalyn
• Brandalyn
• Mandolin
• Daralyn (≈10 babies)
• Adailyn
• Llewellyn
• Chaselyn
• Kinlyn
• Maizlyn
• Mazlyn
• Portlyn
• Brexlyn
• Chaslyn
• Eslyn
• Franklyn
• Janalyn
• Kamlyn
• Keslyn
• Karslyn (here and below 5 babies)
• Kirklyn
• Paitlyn
• Thailyn

Apparently I haven't been keeping track in previous years, but that's ≈175 -lyn names (in about 1205 "unique" spellings), comprising 5.3% of all new baby girls born last year. 

Primer: Ancient Greek Names

If you have any sort of background or interest in Ancient Greece, you've probably noticed that I've been rather inconsistent on pronunciation. Part of this is laziness, but another part (especially the further back in my blog you go) was lack of knowledge. I might go back and correct or clarify previous posts later, but for now, I'll just resolve myself to be better going forward!

This is not intended to be a thorough guide to Ancient Greek names, but it should be helpful for the newbie or for passing interest.

First, there are three ways to pronounce Ancient Greek names:
--reconstructed Ancient Greek (what most scholars believe the language actually sounded like)
--Latinized (how the Romans pronounced the names when they imported them)
--Anglicized (how we usually say them today, which is based off the Latinized versions)

The letters are mostly the same as English, but there are some exceptions:

• A (Α, α) -- "ah" (like 'father') in Ancient Greek and Latin. In English, like "a" ('cat') or "ah" ('father') or "ay" ('play').
• C (Κ, κ) -- always hard ('cat') in Ancient Greek and Latin. In English, like our C: hard before a, o, u ('cat'); soft before i, e, y ('cent'). Also soft before 'ae'.
  Latin didn't have the letter K, so older transliterations will have C. More authentic transliterations will use K (which English adopted directly from Greek).
• G (Γ, γ) -- always hard ('gift') in Ancient Greek and Latin. In English, like our G: hard before a, o, u ('go'); soft before e, i, y ('gem'). Also soft before 'ae'.
• I (Ι, ι) -- "ee" in Ancient Greek and Latin; in English, "ih" ('it'), "ee" ('see'), or "eye" ('sight'). Usually 'ih' if followed by two consonants, otherwise whichever is easiest to say, it seems. 
• X (Ξ, ξ) -- "ks" in Ancient Greek and Latin; in English "z" at the start of a word ('xylophone'), "ks" otherwise.
• Y (Υ, υ) -- "eu" in Ancient Greek (doesn't exist in English; think of the French 'u'); "ee" in Latin. In English, like I, basically a toss-up. 
• U (Υ, υ) -- "eu" in Ancient Greek (doesn't exist in English; think of the French 'u'); "oo" in Latin; "oo" in English, or "yoo" when at the beginning of a word.
  (yes, the letter upsilon (Υ, υ) is written either Y or U. If after another vowel, it tends to be written as U, and as Y after consonants)
• CH (Χ, χ) -- "kh" in Ancient Greek and Latin; "k" in English.
• PS (Ψ, ψ) -- "ps" in Ancient Greek; "s" in Latin and English.
• TH (Θ, θ) -- "t'h" in Ancient Greek and Latin (an aspirated T, rather like a 't'-sound followed immediately by a 'h'-sound); "th" in English ("thigh").
  (Interestingly, in Modern Greek, now pronounced "th".)

I've saved the two trickiest for last--E & O. Both are represented by two letters in Ancient Greek, and the pronunciation depends on which.

• E can be either from epsilon (Ε, ε), which is short ('let'), or eta (Η, η), which is similar to the long English "ay" sound ('play'). When Anglicized, the eta says "ee" ('see'), and sometimes the epsilon does too.
• Similarly, O can be either from omicron (Ο, ο), which is short ('cot') or omega (Ω, ω), which is long ('coat'). When Anglicized, both tend to follow English pronunciation rules.
  Names ending in -os are usually changed to -us in Latin and English.

Ancient Greek uses the following digraphs:

• ai (αι) -- "eye". Written as ae in Latin, still pronounced "eye". Often ae in English as well, but then is pronounced "ee" or "eh".
• au (αυ) -- "ow", like 'cow'.
• ei (ει) -- "ay" in Ancient Greek and Latin, usually "eh" ('set') or "ee" ('see') in English. Often written as just e or i in Latin and English (e.g. Rheia --> Rhea; Dareios --> Darius).
• eu (ευ or ηυ) -- "eh-oo" in Ancient Greek and Latin, "yoo" in English ('Europe').
• oi (οι) -- "oy", like 'boy'. Written as oe in Latin, and usually in English as well, but then pronounced "ee" (not to be confused with the name ending -oe, which is two separate vowels, οη or ωη).
• ou (ου) -- "oo", like "boot". Often written as just u in Latin and English (and in English, then pronounced "yoo" at the start of the word, like in 'Uranus').
• yi or ui (υι) -- "oo-ee" in Ancient Greek and Latin, "ee" in English.

So, that was easy, right? :p On to stress!

--Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek used tonal stress, which is something that a native English speaker will have a hard time imagining, let alone pulling off! Most just approximate it by using the dynamic ("loudness") stress we Anglophones are used to.
(aside: stress is something that's generally quite lacking in pronunciation guides, and if you want a really in-depth look, I suggest this page: http://enargea.org/homyth/translit.html, which is amazingly thorough on stress differences in Ancient Greek and Latinized pronunciations)
If you happen to have the actual Greek spelling of the name, you can often quite easily tell where the stress is--many names have the stressed syllable marked with the acute accent (ά, έ, ή, etc).
If the name does not have the accents marked, it can get quite complicated since stress is dependent on word length and vowel length (really, the simplest way might be to just stick the Greek spelling into Forvo)!

• Two-syllable names are usually stressed on the first. 
• Greek often has final-syllable stress, particularly in names ending in -o, -is, -os or -us. 
• If the name ends in -as, -on, -e, -ia, or -ea, it's usually the second-last syllable stressed (but not -eia, however! Those are stressed on the third-last).
  Remember that the vowel pairs -oe, -ia and -ea are separate syllables, so the stress would be on the o, i, or e (Beroe = "beh-RAH-ay"; Delia = "day-LEE-ah"; Leucothea = "lyoo-koth-EH-ah").
• With longer names, the third-last is usually a good guess, especially if the name does not fall into one of the previously mentioned patterns. 

We're used to Latinized pronunciations, so if it sounds awkward, you're probably pretty close. :p


--Latin and English

• If you don't care about attempting Ancient Greek accent, and are content with Latinized or Anglicized, just stress the second-last syllable.
• Common exceptions are when the name ends in -ia or -e (Eumelia = "yoo-MEL-ee-ah; Antigone = "an-TIG-on-ee"), or -ias, -ion, or -eus (Callias = "KAL-ee-us", Endymion = "en-DIM-ee-on", Proteus = "PRO-tee-us").
• With names of 4 syllables. it's sometimes the third-to-last that's stressed (Eidothea = "ed-OTH-ee-ah"), but not always (Amalthea = "am-al-THEE-ah").

Here are a few names, showing common differences in the three pronunciation methods.

	Ancient Greek	Latin	English
Psyche (Ψυχή)	"psoo-KHAY"	"SEE-khay"	"SYE-kee"
Theseus (Θησεύς)	"t'hay-seh-OOS"	"T'HAY-seh-oos"	"THEE-see-us"
Kelaino / Celaeno (Κελαινώ)	"kel-eye-NOH"	"kel-EYE-noh"	"sel-EE-noh"
Chryseis (Χρυσηἰς)	"khroo-say-EES"	"kree-SAY-ees"	"krye-SEE-is" or "kris-AY-is"
Medousa / Medusa (Μέδουσα)	"MED-oo-sah"	"med-OO-sah"	"med-OO-sah"

"Quick primer". Ha!
Well, hopefully that wasn't too confusing, and maybe a little bit helpful. ;)

British vs. American, Part 2 (2015)

(part 1 here)
Oh, I am nervous. Here are the most popular American names that were not used at all in England & Wales last year.

Boys:

1. Brantley
2. Waylon
3. Brooks
4. Gunner
5. Gage
6. Collin
7. Garrett
8. Rhett
9. Lane
10. Remington
11. Barrett
12. Landen
13. Beckham
14. Major
15. Kamden
16. Legend
17. Jaxton
18. Kolton
19. Gerardo
20. Chandler

Girls:

1. Kinsley
2. Ximena
3. Emery
4. Londyn
5. Raelynn
6. Makenzie
7. Kinley
8. Daleyza
9. Kylee
10. Brynlee
11. Brynn
12. Jordan
13. Journey
14. Haley
15. Raelyn
16. Alondra
17. Kaydence
18. Blakely
19. Allyson
20. Kamryn

Yep, that's about what I was expecting. 

Here are the "most American" names that do appear on the full ONS list:

Boys:

1. Jesus
2. Paxton
3. Angel
4. Josue
5. Iker
6. Cesar
7. Weston
8. Easton
9. Jayceon
10. Landon
11. Grady
12. Emiliano
13. Graham
14. Esteban
15. Trenton
16. Sawyer
17. Enrique
18. Princeton
19. Jamison
20. Tucker

Girls:

1. Allison
2. Finley
3. Jordyn
4. Genesis
5. Adalynn
6. Makenna
7. Lyric
8. London
9. Camila
10. Ainsley
11. Brinley
12. Kylie
13. Sawyer
14. Malaysia
15. Ryan
16. Rylee
17. Haylee
18. Jaylah
19. Presley
20. Madilyn

Spanish names and surnames! Wow.

Still too weird, my British friends? Here are the most American names from the ONS Top 1000:

Boys:

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

Girls:

1. Avery
2. Claire
3. Addison
4. Zoey
5. Serenity
6. Aubrey
7. Vivian
8. Kimberly
9. Caroline
10. Riley
11. Melanie
12. Ashley
13. Brooklyn
14. Bailey
15. Jocelyn
16. Andrea
17. Morgan
18. Paisley
19. Brianna
20. Trinity

Avery is on both lists again! Seems to be gaining quite a bit of popularity in the UK, too. Kind of interesting how we're both pretty into -y names for girls, but not always the same ones!

And just for fun again, here are the names that are used about evenly in both nations (by % of births in each, from the Top 1500ish):

Boys:

1. Denzel
2. Harper
3. Perry
4. Peter
5. Myles
6. Kylan
7. Massimo
8. Benjamin
9. Tate
10. Kenny
11. Bradley
12. Kareem
13. Quinn
14. Martin
15. Kane
16. Darius
17. Amar
18. Tyler
19. Aarush
20. Simeon

Girls:

1. Nala
2. Luella
3. Lilah
4. Ariya
5. Mae
6. Delia
7. Stevie
8. Siena
9. Nadine
10. Annabella
11. Violet
12. Anabelle
13. Charlotte
14. Noa
15. Taya
16. Arya
17. Hannah
18. Jennifer
19. Melissa
20. Thalia

Those are some pretty decent lists. Nice going, all. :)

British vs. American, Part 1 (2015)

Yay, stats! The British ONS recently released their name lists from 2015, so it's comparison time!

To start with, here are the most popular British names that did not appear at all on the full US lists:

Boys:

1. Albie
2. Barnaby
3. Osian
4. Bertie
5. Harri
6. Teddie
7. Mikolaj
8. Dougie
9. Oliwier
10. Tomos
11. Frazer
12. Alby
13. Wiktor
14. Dominykas
15. Gethin
16. Tommy-Lee
17. Herbie
18. Kajus
19. Ieuan
20. Ralphy

Girls:

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

Right. Hyphens. Somehow I always forget about those. In the US, those would appear as first and middle, or smashed together as one name. Let's pull those out.

(From the boys', just take out Tommy-Lee and add Bartosz to the end)

Girls:

1. Ffion
2. Fearne
3. Bethan
4. Poppie
5. Esmai
6. Hettie
7. Dolcie
8. Orlaith
9. Isobelle
10. Eadie
11. Florrie
12. Saarah
13. Efa
14. Weronika
15. Blanka
16. Hetty
17. Nancie
18. Lowri
19. Leja
20. Cadi

Yep. Any of those names would be pretty distinct in the US! Here are the "most British" names that were actually used in the US last year. 

Boys:

1. Alfie
2. Olly
3. Fraser
4. Freddie
5. Vinnie
6. Franciszek
7. Archie
8. Rupert
9. Nikodem
10. Harry
11. Ioan
12. Woody
13. Barney
14. Teddy
15. Ralphie
16. Jac
17. Tomasz
18. Rafferty
19. Wilfred
20. Lennie

Girls:

1. Darcey
2. Darcie
3. Orla
4. Fleur
5. Alicja
6. Niamh
7. Kitty
8. Marnie
9. Wiktoria
10. Zuzanna
11. Nieve
12. Neave
13. Jorgie
14. Cerys
15. Oliwia
16. Poppy
17. Imogen
18. Pixie
19. Pola
20. Florence

I also always forget about Eastern European influence! I imagine we'll see a matching Spanish influence in the US. 

In case these are still a bit too obscure, here are the most British names from the US Top 1000:

Boys:

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

Girls:

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

That is a lot of "-y/ie" names, for both genders.

Next time: the "most American" names! 

Smash-Names

You might have noticed that there is new generator button!
I've been fascinated for a while about what makes a good "smash-name". Although many people think they hate them, there are quite a few that predate the current -ley & -lyn craze (Marlene, Marilyn, Rosanna, etc), and that aren't even thought of as "smash-names" anymore.
I set out to try and come up with more classic-sounding, potentially usable smash-ups, and decided eventually to just make a new generator out of it.

It's definitely still a work in progress (for instance, I've yet to come up with an elegant way to avoid names like 'Annanna' or 'Lauranora'), but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

http://rosesandcellardoors.blogspot.com/p/smash-name-generator.html

My favorite "new" names include Margalise, Gretaflor, Kathelore, Evalou, and Tildalise. :)

No Alternates Allowed! (2015, boys)

Boys turn! Here are the names from the Top 1000 that did not have any alternate spellings last year.
(from most--> least popular)

• David
• Hunter
• Charles
• Thomas
• Parker
• Jose
• Sawyer
• Juan
• Diego
• Jesus
• Timothy
• Richard
• Jude
• Abraham
• Grant
• Alejandro
• August
• Paul
• Peter
• Jorge
• Javier
• Travis
• Fernando
• Seth
• Manuel
• Mario
• Archer
• Arthur
• Troy
• Walter
• Tobias
• Edgar
• Enzo
• Sergio
• Walker
• Alexis
• Nash
• Roberto
• Pedro
• Porter
• Romeo
• Pablo
• Warren
• Bruce
• Theo
• Dexter
• Chandler
• Keith
• Enrique
• Jonas
• Hugo
• Ronald
• Harvey
• Albert
• Donald
• Raul
• Julio
• Sullivan
• Rodrigo
• Davis
• Moises
• Jaime
• Atlas
• Ahmed
• Saul
• Arjun
• Arlo
• Arturo
• Gustavo
• Hank
• Otto
• Alberto
• Moshe
• Sam
• Larry
• Trent
• Mauricio
• Alfredo
• Joe
• Byron
• Alvin
• Duke
• Lance
• Santino
• Orlando
• Aldo
• Maurice
• Bryant
• Noe
• Salvador
• Nelson
• Ernesto
• Kelvin
• Memphis
• Guillermo
• Terry
• Fletcher
• Morgan
• Valentino
• Langston
• Flynn
• Bruno
• Rodney
• Tomas
• Harper
• Chaim
• Amos
• Vicente
• Ben
• Ford
• Briggs
• Wayne
• Joey
• Vance
• Dash
• Stetson
• Harry
• Channing
• Duncan
• Anders
• Harold
• Rene
• Vincenzo
• Castiel
• Eugene
• Miller
• Heath
• Amare
• Hugh
• Maximo
• Magnus
• Santana
• Abdiel
• Reginald
• Benton
• Urijah
• Denver
• Thatcher
• Alvaro
• Craig
• Dario
• Santos
• Alfred
• Tyrone
• Valentin
• Turner
• Ignacio
• Rodolfo
• Steve
• Boone
• Gibson
• Rolando
• Sutton
• Salvatore
• Yadiel
• Todd
• Truman
• Gilbert
• Brixton
• Bishop

If you feel like that's a lot longer than the girls' list, you're right. 159 alternate-free names for boys in the Top 1000......51 for girls. *sigh*

No Alternates Allowed! (2015, girls)

I missed 2014! Shame on me!
I can't guarantee these names to be misspelling-proof, but here are the names from the Top 1000 that have no alternate spellings (well, none given to 5 or more girls, at least).
(from most --> least popular)

• Harper
• Rose
• Hope
• Sawyer
• Olive
• June
• Ruth
• Amanda
• Elle
• Juniper
• Alejandra
• Eve
• Virginia
• Gloria
• Fernanda
• Angelique
• Guadalupe
• Demi
• Magnolia
• Zelda
• Dulce
• Meadow
• Alma
• Monroe
• Liv
• Paola
• Royal
• Chaya
• Hunter
• Martha
• Estrella
• Salma
• Brenda
• Clementine
• Nancy
• Joyce
• Holland
• Barbara
• Paulina
• Paula
• Paloma
• Louisa
• Belen
• Vienna
• Esperanza
• Judith
• Cordelia
• Ingrid
• Luz
• Heather
• Abril

Nature in Other Languages

It's probably pretty obvious by now that I love nature names. And of all the nature-y posts I've done so far, I think "Plants in Other Languages" is probably one of my favorites. Naturally, I've now decided to try another along those lines, but widening the field to all nature word-names. :) And so, here are translations of the 12 most common nature-names in the US (minus the plant-names).
*Asterisks indicate the name is already in use in that language, and, unless otherwise indicated, feminine.

Savannah

• Sabana (sah-BAH-nah)--Spanish
• Safana (sah-FAH-nah)--Arabic
• Savana (sah-VAH-nah)--Greek, Italian, Portuguese
• Savane (sah-VAN)--French
• Savanne (sah-VAH-neh)--Dutch, German, Norwegian
• Savanni (SAH-vahn-nee)--Finnish

Autumn

• Aki (ah-kee)--Japanese* [many other kanji/meanings also, some unisex or masculine]
• Automne (oo-tawn)--French*
• Esen (EH-sen)--Bulgarian, Macedonian
• Fómhar (FOH-var)--Irish
• Güz (gooz)--Turkish*
• Jesień (YESH-en)--Polish [*surname]
• Ósen (OH-seen)--Russian
• Payiz (pah-EES)--Persian
• Sharad (SHAH-rad)--Hindi* [masculine]
• Stav (stahv)--Hebrew* [unisex]

Aurora

• Gealán (GAL-awn)--Irish
• Selas (SEH-las)--Greek

Ruby

• Odem (oh-dem)--Hebrew
• Rubiini (ROO-bee-nee)--Finnish
• Rubin (ROO-been)--German, Danish, Hungarian, Polish, Norwegian, Swedish (and probably others)
• Rubino (roo-BEE-noh)--Italian [*surname]

Jade

• Giada (JAH-dah)--Italian*
• Jade (zhahd)--French*
• Jade (YAH-deh)--German, Finnish
• Jade (ZHAH-thee [th like in 'this'])--Portuguese*
• Jade (HAH-day)--Spanish
• Nephritis (nef-FREE-tees)--Greek

River

• Aven (AH-ven)--Breton
• Fluss (floos)--German
• Ibai (ee-bye)--Basque* [masculine]
• Nadi (NAH-dee)--Hindi
• Nahar (NAH-har)--Arabic [*same spelling is a surname, but stressed on the second syllable, and means "day"]
• Nahar (nah-HAR)--Hebrew* [unisex]
• Reka (REH-kah)--Russian, Macedonian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Slovene
• Rika (REE-kah)--Ukrainian
• Río (REE-oh)--Spanish, Galician
• Rivière (reev-YEHR)--French [*surname]

August

• Elokuu (EH-loh-koo)--Finnish
• Eost (AY-ohst)--Breton
• Lúnasa (LOON-uh-sah)--Irish

Jasper

• Biyu (bee-yoo)--Mandarin*
• Diaspro (dee-AHS-proh)--Italian
• Jasma (YAHSH-mah)--Russian
• Jaspe (zhasp)--French
• Jaspe (ZHAZ-pee)--Portuguese
• Jaspe (HAHS-pay)--Spanish
• Jaspis (YAHS-pis)--German, Dutch, Finnish, Polish, Norwegian, Czech
• Yeşim (YESH-im)--Turkish*

Summer 

• Été (AY-tay)--French
• Haf (hahv)--Welsh*
• Kesä (KEH-sa [short a, like in 'cat'])--Finnish [*surname]
• Léto (LEH-toh)--Czech, Russian
• Ljeta (LYEH-tah)--Belarusian
• Natsu (naht-soo)--Japanese* [usually combined with another character]
• Samhradh (SOW-rah)--Irish, Scottish
• Sayf (sah-eef)--Arabic
• Suvi (SOO-vee)--Estonian, Finnish*
• Uda (oo-dah)--Basque*
• Udara (oo-dah-rah)--Basque*
• Verano (vehr-AH-noh)--Spanish
• Verão (vehr-OW)--Portuguese
• Zomer (ZOH-mer)--Dutch [*surname]

(I actually had to leave out the next two here, sorry--Brooks because plurals are tricky, and Sienna because there just isn't a word for it in most other languages!)

Colt

• Bromach (BRAHM-akh)--Irish, Scottish
• Ju (joo)--Chinese [*surname, but with different characters/meaning]
• Varsa (VAHR-sah)--Finnish

Amber

• Ambra (AHM-brah)--Italian*
• Ambre (AWMbr)--French*
• Kohaku (koh-hah-koo)--Japanese* [unisex]
• Meripihka (MEHR-ee-pee-hkah)--Finnish
• Ómra (OHM-rah)--Irish
• Rav (rahv)--Norwegian

Ember

• Ascua (AHS-koo-ah)--Spanish
• Brasa (BRAH-sah)--Spanish
• Brasa (BRAH-zah)--Catalan, Portuguese
• Favilla (fah-VEEL-lah)--Latin
• Jamra (ZHAM-rah)--Arabic
• Kekäle (KEK-al-ay)--Finnish
• Pruna (PROO-nah)--Latin
• Sintel (SIN-tel)--Dutch
• Thraka (THRAH-kah)--Greek

Western Names 1: Surfer Names

A while back, I did an analysis of "Southern" names, and after recently returning from SoCal, was inspired to do one for Western names as well.
Instead of the entire "Western" region, I'm only doing the Pacific Western states (CA, OR, WA, AK, HI), but I imagine I'll tackle the Mountain Western states sometime soon as well.

Here the "most Pacific" names (by % of babies given that name) from the Pacific states' combined Top 1000:
Boys:

1. Makoa
2. Kekoa
3. Keoni
4. Koa
5. Arley
6. Kainoa
7. Arman
8. Everardo
9. Noa
10. Sunny
11. Arvin
12. Salvador
13. Madison
14. Ulises
15. Emiliano
16. Nikita
17. Rigoberto
18. Gonzalo
19. Octavio
20. Ernesto

Nice to see several Hawaiian names. <3

Girls:

1. Izel
2. Sequoia
3. Jaylene
4. Emi
5. Citlali
6. Xitlali
7. Darlene
8. Adilene
9. Jayleen
10. Vicky
11. Arlene
12. Hana
13. Yaretzy
14. Julieta
15. Itzel
16. Maribel
17. Belinda
18. Noemi
19. Darla
20. Jaylah

Okay, I was expecting lots of Spanish names. I was not expecting all those "leens"!

To narrow things a bit further, from the Pacific Top 500:
Boys:

1. Salvador
2. Emiliano
3. Ernesto
4. Damian
5. Francisco
6. Ruben
7. Joaquin
8. Ismael
9. Saul
10. Esteban
11. Andy
12. Gustavo
13. Adan
14. Vicente
15. Armando
16. Alfredo
17. Maximiliano
18. Mateo
19. Valentino
20. Sergio

Girls:

1. Jaylene
2. Jayleen
3. Hana
4. Julieta
5. Itzel
6. Noemi
7. Jaylah
8. Aileen
9. Guadalupe
10. Monserrat
11. Yaretzi
12. Aimee
13. Esmeralda
14. Julissa
15. Kenia
16. Paloma
17. Frida
18. Montserrat
19. Irene
20. Kassandra

And finally, the most Pacific names from the states' Top 100:

Boys:

1. Damian
2. Mateo
3. Diego
4. Jesus
5. Ivan
6. Santiago
7. Angel
8. Leonardo
9. Julian
10. Miguel
11. Adrian
12. Juan
13. Carlos
14. Jose
15. Luis
16. Nathan
17. Sebastian
18. Aaron
19. Giovanni
20. Elias

Girls:

1. Valerie
2. Ximena
3. Delilah
4. Alina
5. Camila
6. Valeria
7. Alexa
8. Melanie
9. Luna
10. Natalia
11. Amy
12. Athena
13. Valentina
14. Andrea
15. Nicole
16. Samantha
17. Sofia
18. Jasmine
19. Melody
20. Victoria

I might be biased, but I think those are pretty great lists! Love all those multilingual names. 

For comparison's sake, here is the Pacific Top 10, alongside the National Top 10:

	Pacific	National
1.	Noah	Noah
2.	Jacob	Liam
3.	Ethan	Mason
4.	Daniel	Jacob
5.	Alexander	William
6.	Matthew	Ethan
7.	Liam	James
8.	Jayden	Alexander
9.	Sebastian	Michael
10.	Benjamin	Benjamin

	Pacific	National
1.	Sophia	Emma
2.	Emma	Olivia
3.	Mia	Sophia
4.	Olivia	Ava
5.	Isabella	Isabella
6.	Emily	Mia
7.	Sofia	Abigail
8.	Abigail	Emily
9.	Ava	Charlotte
10.	Charlotte	Harper

And should you be interested in the full Pacific Top 1000, it is here, in Google Sheets. :)

I also wanted to go a bit further this time, and see what names appeared only in the Pacific states, but the results were much smaller, and more obscure, than I'd expected. They were also all in either CA or HI.
CA: Harut, Gevork, Mher (boys); Serly, Maneh, Jazzleen, Anmol (girls)
HI: Lawaia, Kiai (boys); Hilinai (girls)

So, I settled for finding the most disproportionately common (by %) names in each state. (So, for instance, you're about 8x more likely to run into a Narek in CA than in the rest of the US as a whole)
CA: Narek, Sahib, Arley, Everardo, Sunny (boys); Raylene, Izel, Avleen, Arleen, Jazlene (girls)
HI: Kaeo, Kaimana, Ikaika, Makoa, Kaizen (boys); Lilinoe, Mahina, Anela, Kalena, Kalea (girls)
AK: Paxson, Killian, Ronan, Gideon, Walter (boys); Aurora, Juniper, Sage, Cassidy, Kinley (girls)
OR: Sage, Soren, Malakai, Kellen, Arlo (boys); Opal, Juniper, Faye, Louisa, Esme (girls)
WA: Soren, Anton, Anders, Maxim, Odin (boys); Roslyn, Pepper, Linnea, Opal, Bentley (girls)

I came across a couple interesting quirks:
--Firstly, I initially narrowed my search for "most representative" to the top 2/5 of names for each state (the lists vary in length quite a bit, with the largest, CA, having 14x as many names as the smallest, AK), but I just had to stretch that a bit in Alaska so I could include Paxson.
There were 33 Paxsons born in the US last year. 10 were in AK. 10! 1/3 of all new Paxsons were born in 4th least populated state.
--Secondly, by the indecisiveness of Oregon parents, and/or some oddity in how Oregon birth certificates are filled out, over 60% of babies officially named Unknown in the entire US were born in OR.

And no, the few repeating names are not errors; those names are just much more concentrated in both states for whatever reasons.


So what sort of names are the "least Pacific"? Turns out, modern creative spellings and innovations: Brantley, Braylon, Brycen, Landyn, Karter; Kennedi, Ryleigh, Londyn, Brynlee, Kayleigh, and the like.