Roses and Cellar Doors

Haha, now that song's in your head! I love a good -ric name. And unlike many constructions, this one is pretty much exclusively male (...

Despite the fact that Etta  rose higher than any of her long forms, I still think of her as a nickname. I'm not sure why--because -etta ...

Poor Molly . Is she a nickname, or a full given name? I guess the answer is 'both': Molly was originally a regional pronunciation of...

Did you know there're no D-names for girls in the Top 100? Destiny  is the highest-ranked, at #113, followed by Delilah , Daniela , Dais...

I haven't done this one yet? Really?? *hangs head in shame* Originally short for Millicent , Mildred , and other musty Germanic names, ...

Woo! Time for another theoretical names post (I have a lot of fun with these). Lots of gemstone- & other mineralogical-type names are/h...

While doing my virtue-names post a while back, I came across many names with meanings that weren't quite  virtues. While naming your da...

Oh, that tricky 'th'. Agatha  is mostly recognizable from language to language, but that last syllable sure is variable. With only ...

Poor Lenny . The go-to nickname for old-man Leonard , he's probably out of general favor for another generation or so, since boys' n...

As the centuries have passed, so have our nickname conventions. Most of the historical nicknames for Margaret  seem fusty or nonsensical now...

May flowers! Happy, uh, May Day? We'll go with that. On the heels of my bird-themed post, a flower-themed post also seemed like a fun i...

For such a long time, Alex  was the favored nickname for Alexander , but in recent years, you're just as likely to hear Xander . Thanks ...

Wow. This was a hard one. I challenged myself to not  use any Katherine-variants on this list. Consequently, this list has a lot less Weste...

Madeline  is an interesting case. Most girls' names are either relatively stable (ex: Elizabeth ), out-of-style after reigning for decad...

Helen  probably brings up conflicting images--first there's Helen of Troy, so beautiful a war was fought over her. And then there's ...

Polly likely brings up mental images of black-and-white movies. It's cute, but somehow old, and maybe a bit musty. It was originally a ...

Poor Anne is often held as the epitome of 'boring' names. And yet, she's also one of the most common contributors to compound n...

Mia . At just three letters, it's easily the shortest female name in common usage today. That's probably why, despite it's overw...

*dies under avalanche of Ellas* I kid, I kid. Ella/Ellie is potentially one of the most popular nicknames right now, though, with Isabella,...

Watching languages develop & diverge is fascinating--or at least, that's what I tell myself when even I see a crazy alternative spel...