Roses and Cellar Doors

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

Oh, poor Agnes . Once one of the most popular girls names in all the English-speaking world, she fell off the charts in the early 70s, and h...

There are quite a few popular nicknames that are seriously lacking a variety of sources! Of course, I have to try anyway. This will definite...

Well, I've done I-names and O-names , so now it time for me to continue the trend of underused letters, this time with U. Only 4 names...

Guy  is a bit odd. Most people today consider it a slang term rather than a name, and that's not completely unreasonable, since it's...

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 ...

Elizabeth  remains one of our enduring classics. Despite the fact that everyone is almost guaranteed to know at least one (probably more lik...

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 ...

What can you say about John ? Thanks to a pair of admirable Bible characters, it's one of the most popular boys' names of all time, ...

Earlier this week I added to my SSA analysis, discovering trends and sounds that describe American names. Knowing what most people are drawn...

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