Bemusedley, I Relay a List Most Painstakinglee Talleigh-ed

Or, "How I, on Another Site, I Saw Yet Another New Name Ending in 'lee', and How I Set Out to Discover Them All".-leigh.

I'm not sure who started the '-ley' epidemic, but I have a feeling we have Shirley Temple and Hayley Mills to blame, as well as author George Barr McCutcheon (who gave a female main character the male name Beverly). Regardless, for your own amusement and horror, here are all the '-ley/lie/leigh/li/ly' names given to baby girls in 2010 (for names with multiple spellings, only the most common is given).
I'm sorry.

• Emily
• Kaylee
• Hailey
• Riley
• Lily
• Natalie
• Kylie
• Ashley
• Bailey
• Carly
• Kimberly
• Molly
• Callie
• Ellie
• Allie
• Marley
• Leslie
• Kinley
• Charlie
• Miley
• Ainsley
• Brylee
• Hadley
• Paisley
• Presley
• Brynlee
• Kinsley
• Kelly
• Harley
• Halle
• Nayeli
• Annalee
• Kenley
• Mckinley
• Jaylee
• Holly
• Finley
• Julie
• Yareli
• Tenley
• Jolie
• Rosalie
• Braylee
• Raylee
• Maylee
• Araceli
• Keely
• Amelie
• Shaylee
• Adalee
• Kensley
• Millie
• Bentley
• Everleigh
• Angely
• Berkley
• Zaylee
• Blakely
• Ailey
• Yaneli
• Tinley
• Anjali
• Lynlee
• Tinsley
• Janelly
• Shirley
• Amberly
• Oakley
• Skylee
• Makaylee
• Karely
• Taylee
• Heavenly
• Eisley
• Adley
• Whitley
• Mckenley
• Henley
• Tylee
• Hartley
• Emberly
• Brenley
• Shelly
• Denali
• Greenlee
• Beverly
• Quetzalli
• Avalee
• Lovely
• Jubilee
• Leily
• Arleigh
• Novalee
• Tilly
• Sicily
• Leigh
• Brinkley
• Mallie
• Neely
• Tali
• Zuly
• Noeli
• Daylee
• Mali
• Coralie
• Evalee
• Cylee
• Waverly
• Idaly
• Shylee
• Breleigh
• Marily
• Coley
• Atley
• Kingsley
• Jennalee
• Ily
• Wesley
• Brantley
• Ripley
• Orly
• Mariely
• Ciclaly
• Isley
• Haisley
• Polly
• Emsley
• Brooklee
• Madilee
• Jesly
• Kaisley
• Kesley
• Ensley
• Quinley
• Bradley
• Metzli
• Naleigh
• Hensley
• Langley
• Valley
• Anaily
• Dolly
• Sonali
• Annlee
• Brentley
• Ollie
• Azalee
• Suley
• Zylie
• Nashly
• Makylie
• Truly
• Conley
• Averly
• Tigerlily
• Yaeli
• Esli
• Hanalei
• Tensley
• Britlee
• Kialee
• Ridley
• Mahaley
• Zolie
• Nylee
• Jaydalee
• Dally
• Chaeli
• Hanley
• Mattingly
• Mckinsley
• Saralee
• Galilee
• Anareli 
• Arceli
• Nazli 
• Yameli
• Kiralee
• Talei
• Gabrielly 
• Jazly
• Kamali
• Naraly
• Wrigley
• Brendaly
• Camily
• Janalee
• Nayalee
• Starlee
• Yariely
• Heli
• Shivali
• Sully
• Soli
• Suhailey
• Greeley
• Merly
• Nollie
• Onalee
• Siddalee
• Tanley
• Danielly
• Dianely
• Emmanuelly
• Isaly
• Layali
• Seeley
• Graylee
• Isabelly
• Jehieli
• Jiali
• Narely
• Nirali
• Norely
• Pailey
• Sahily
• Yaresli
• Aleli
• Ameyalli
• Bexley
• Celie
• Darly
• Lakely
• Nefeli
• Timberly
• Tully 
• Yoeli 
• Yorley
• Zali
• Airlie
• Benelli
• Chanley
• Chesleigh
• Hiley
• Huntley
• Ixareli
• Jakaylee
• Josely
• Loxley
• Marbely
• Shefali
• Thaily
• Vaishali
• Analily
• Brinsley
• Brooksley
• Darisley
• Draylee
• Endsley
• Gracelee
• Hatley
• Kentley
• Kinberli
• Krystalee
• Luley
• Marali
• Mayerli
• Medley
• Mialee
• Mythili
• Nelani
• Rochely
• Saheli
• Sareli
• Saylee
• Thessaly
• Wendoly
• Yaheli
• Yanali 

Breaking the Patterns, Part 1

Earlier this week I added to my SSA analysis, discovering trends and sounds that describe American names. Knowing what most people are drawn to means one has a better shot of avoiding a "boring" or trendy-sounding name.

The average American boys' name:

• Is 4-7 letters long
• Ends in N, R, S, or a vowel-sound
• Will likely start with  J, A, D, C, M, K, R, B, T, or L.
• Contains the vowels A and/or E.

The average American girls' name:

• Is 5-7 letters long
• Ends in a vowel sound, usually "ah" or "ee", or in N.
• Will likely start with A, M, K, J, or L.
• Contains A, and E or I.

While I doubt that a future parent will narrow their name list to ones don't fit the above criteria, it's a good starting point to find a truly stand-out name. Onto the inevitable lists:

Boys:

• Basil (BAH-sil, Arabic; or BAZ-il, English)
• Briscoe (BRIS-ko, English)
• Burke (BURK, English)
• Caius (KYE-us, Latin)
• Christoph/Kristof (KRIS-tof, German/Hungarian)
• Ciro (SEE-roh, Spanish; or CHEE-roh, Italian)--form of Cyrus
• Clement (KLEM-ent, English)
• Colm (COL-um, Irish)--"dove"
• Conleth (CON-leth, Irish)
• Elek (EL-ek, Hungarian)--form of Alexis
• Ezio (ETZ-ee-oh, Italian)--"eagle"
• Ford (FOHRD, English)
• Frey (FRAY, Norse)
• Gero (GEH-roh, German)--"spear"
• Giles (JILES, English)
• Griffith (GRIF-fith, Welsh)--anglicized from Gruffudd
• Gwillym/Gwillim (GWIL-lem, Welsh)--form of William
• Hemming (HEM-ming, Scandinavian)--"shape-changer" 
• Hugh (HEW, English)
• Ivor (EE-vohr or EYE-vor, Irish & Scottish)
• Menno (MEN-noh, German)
• Merrick (MEHR-rik, English)
• Murdoch (MUR-dok, Scottish)
• Nye (NYE, Welsh)
• Omri (OHM-ree, Hebrew)
• Orfeo (or-FAY-oh, Italian & Spanish)
• Otto (OT-toh, Germanic)
• Priam (PREE-am, Greek)
• Roald (ROO-all or ROE-ald, Norwegian)
• Rurik (RUR-ik, Russian)--form of Roderick
• Savio (SAH-vee-oh, Italian)--"clever"
• Sem (SEM, Dutch)--form of Biblical Shem
• Somerled (SOM-er-led, Scottish)--"summer traveller". Sometimes anglicized to Sorley.
• Tygo (TYE-goh, Dutch)--form of Greek Tycho. Swedish form is Tyko.

Girls:

• Beryl (BEHR-il, English)--a type of gemstone
• Bertille (behr-TEE, French)
• Celeste (sehl-EST, French)--"heavenly"
• Chryseis (krih-SAY-is, Greek)--"golden"
• Dilys (DIL-is, Welsh)--"genuine"
• Dione (dee-OH-nay, Greek)
• Echo (EH-koh, Greek)
• Emer (EE-mur, Irish)--"swift"
• Eris (EHR-is, Greek)--goddess of chaos
• Eseld (ES-ehld, Cornish)--form of Isolde
• Esen (ES-en, Turkish)--"the wind"
• Eydis (AY-dees, Icelandic)
• Fen (FEN, Chinese)--"fragrance"
• Ffion (FEE-on, Welsh)--"rose"
• Idril (ID-ril, Sindarin)--"sparkle-briliance". From J.R.R. Tolkien's invented elvish language.
• Ines (ee-NES, French, Spanish, Italian, & Slovene)--form of Agnes
• Jonquil (JON-kwil, English)--a type of flower
• Josette (zho-ZET, French)--feminine form of Joseph
• Lilou (lee-loo, French)
• Lykki (LEWK-kee, Danish)--"good luck, happiness"
• Neith (NEETH or NAYTH, Greek)--form of Nit, Egyptian goddess of war & hunting.
• Nurit (NOO-reet, Hebrew)--"buttercup" [flower]
• Olwen (OHL-wen, Welsh)
• Pernille (pehr-NEEL-eh, Danish & Norwegian)--modern form of Petronilla
• Peronel (PEHR-o-nel, English)--another form of Petronilla
• Sive (SIVE, Irish)--"sweet, good". Anglicized from Sadb.
• Tempest (TEM-pest, English)--"storm"
• Tinuviel (tin-OO-vee-el, Sindarin)--"nightingale". Another from J.R.R. Tolkien.

Same Name?!--Jacob

Jacob--a seeming contradiction; both traditional and trendy. It was a top name back when the SSA started keeping track over 120 years ago, but was steadily on the decline. For some reason, it shot back to the top in the 1970s, and has been there ever since. Jacob wasn't exactly the most honorable of Biblical characters to be sure, but he has that eye-catching J up front, that fun-to-say 'ay', that crisp 'c', and that rare 'ob' ending. The mixture of familiar and unusual is probably what's kept him so appealing for so long. Jacob is also the original form of another perennial boys' name--James.

Original Hebrew form: Ya'aqov [יַעֲקֹב] (ya-ah-kov)
Greek form: Iacobus [ Ιακωβος] (ya-COH-boos)
Later Latin form: Iacomus (YA-coh-moos)

Modern versions:

• Cobus (KOH-bus)--Dutch
• Diego (dee-AY-go)--Spanish (via Santiago, an elision of Santo [Saint] Yago)
• Giacomo (JAH-koh-moh)--Italian
• Hamish (HAY-mish)--Scottish (from James)
• Iago (ee-AH-goh)--Galician & Welsh
• Jacques (ZHAHK)--French
• Jago (JAY-goh)--Cornish
• Jaime (HYE-may)--Spanish (from James)
• Jaime (ZHIME)--Portuguese (from James)
• James (JAYMZ)--English (via the late Latin Iacomus)
• Japik (YAH-pik)--Frisian
  
• Jaume (ZHOW-meh)--Catalan (from James)
• Jem (JEM)--medieval English (from James)
• Kimo (kee-moh)--Hawaiian (from James)
• Seamus (SHAY-mus)--Irish (from James)
• Tiago (tee-AH-go)--Portuguese (via Santiago)
• Xanti (SHAHN-tee)--Basque (via Santiago)
• Yago (YAH-goh)--Spanish
• Yacov (YAH-kof)--Bulgarian & Russian
  

Feminine forms:

• Giachetta (jah-KET-tah)--Italian
• Jacomina (ZHAK-oh-mee-nah)--Dutch
• Jacqueline (zhak-a-LEEN)--French
• Jamesina (JAY-meh-SEE-nah)--Scottish (from James)
• Jayma (JAY-mah)--English (from James)
• Zaklina (zhak-LEE-nah)--Croatian & Polish