Rare but Real (2012)

Time for another round-up! Here are some of the gems somehow at the bottom of the SSA list--only given to 5 kids last year.

Boys:

• Alexius (ah-LEKS-ee-us, Greek)--purely masculine form of the unisex Alexis
• Delwyn (DEL-win, Welsh)--"handsome & blessed"
• Gregor (GREH-gohr, German, Scottish, Slavic)
• Osric (OZ-rik, Germanic)--"divine might"
• Owain (OH-wine, Welsh)--older form of Owen
• Urias (yoo-RYE-as, oo-REE-as, Latin)--from Hebrew, "God is my light"
• Wulfric (WOOL-frik, Old English)--"wolf power"

Girls:

• Alda (AHL-dah, Italian, Portuguese)--feminine of Aldo/Aldous
• Anthea (an-THEE-ah, ahn-THEH-ah, Latin)--from Greek, "flower"
• Cherith (KEHR-ith, keh-REET, [Biblical] Hebrew)
• Floriana (floh-RYAH-nah, Italian)--from Latin, "from/like a flower"
• Oriane (oh-ree-AHN, French)--from Latin, "golden"
• Pascale (pahs-KAL, French)
• Piera (PYEHR-ah, Italian)--feminine of Peter/Pietro
• Sunniva (SOON-ee-vah, Norwegian)

Lyns Throughout the Generations

And by 'generations', I just mean the last 4 or so. :p
I often see "-lyn" names listed as a modern trend, but actually, they're fairly stable part of American names. Between 3-5% of girls get names that end in -lyn every year--of course, which "-lyn" names they get is determined by the fads of the day.
So, I thought it'd be fun to look at the top "-lyn" names for this generation and previous.

2012:

1. Evelyn
2. Brooklyn
3. Madelyn
4. Caroline*
5. Jocelyn
6. Madeline
7. Kaitlyn
8. Katelyn
9. Brooklynn
10. Adalyn
11. Ashlyn
12. Adelyn
13. Adeline
14. Adalynn
15. Jacqueline

1982:

1. Jacqueline
2. Jaclyn
3. Carolyn
4. Caroline
5. Jacquelyn
6. Evelyn
7. Caitlin
8. Ellen
9. Helen
10. Lynn
11. Jocelyn
12. Marilyn
13. Gwendolyn
14. Jacklyn
15. Madeline

1952:

1. Carolyn
2. Marilyn
3. Jacqueline
4. Helen
5. Ellen
6. Lynn
7. Evelyn
8. Gwendolyn
9. Lynne
10. Jacquelyn
11. Pauline
12. Caroline
13. Madeline
14. Rosalyn
15. Jacalyn

1922**:

1. Helen
2. Evelyn
3. Ellen
4. Madeline
5. Carolyn
6. Marilyn
7. Caroline
8. Adeline
9. Jacqueline
10. Gwendolyn
11. Madelyn
12. Marilynn
13. Evangeline
14. Roslyn
15. Hellen

1892**:

1. Helen
2. Ellen
3. Caroline
4. Evelyn
5. Madeline
6. Adeline
7. Carolyn
8. Evangeline
9. Adaline
10. Evalyn
11. Gwendolyn
12. Emeline
13. Magdalen
14. Ethelyn
15. Adline

*Quite a few "-line" names have multiple pronunciations--"lin", "leen" or "line". With many, there's no way to separate them, but I did remove the ones that were rarely, if ever, 'lin'--Pauline, Angeline, Arline, Earline, etc.

**Before 1937, the SSA did not require all citizens to register for a SSN. Thus, data before this time is voluntary, and therefore not as reliable.

Usual Nickname, Unexpected Name--Ari

A Top 500 boy name on the rise, Ari has begun to gain momentum as a girls' nickname--nothing new in the naming world, of course--thanks to the doubly-Top 100 Ariana/Arianna, and wow-it's-rising-fast!-Aria. Ari on its own also had a respectable rise on the girls' charts, now sitting a bit below the Top 1000 at 1326. Although it is a full name in its own right, wanting a full name for Ari is understandable: while it's masculine in most cultures, it's easily mistaken for a girl's name in English.

Boys:

• Aram (AH-rahm, Armenian)--"excellence"
• Aravind (AHR-ah-vind, Hindi)--"lotus"
• Archibald (AHR-chih-bahld, English, Scottish)
• Ardal (AHR-dahl, Irish)--"high valor". Anglicized from Ardghal. 
• Arduino (ahrd-WEE-noh, Italian)
• Argus (AHR-goos, [ancient] Greek)--"shining"
• Arkadiy (ahr-KAH-dee, Russian)--Also spelled Arkady or Arkadi. 
• Arnor (AHR-nohr, Scandinavian)
• Arrigo (ahr-REE-goh, Italiah)--from of Harry
• Arthur (AHR-thur, English)--other forms include Artair (Scottish), Arturo (Spanish, Portuguese), Artturi (Finnish), & Artūrus (Lithuanian)

Girls:

• Araceli (ah-rah-SEH-lee, Spanish)
• Araminta (ah-rah-MIN-tah, English)
• Aranka (AW-rahn-kah, Hungarian)--"gold"
• Arantxa (ah-rahnt-shah, Basque)
• Arendse (ah-REND-seh, Danish)--feminine of Arendt/Arnold
• Arezoo (ah-reh-ZOO, Persian)--also spelled Arezu or Arezou.
• Argiñe (ahr-gee-nyeh, Basque)--"light"
• Ariadne (ah-ree-AHD-nee, [ancient] Greek)--"most holy". Other forms include Ariadna (Spanish), Ariane (French), & Arianna (Italian)
• Arilda (ah-RIL-dah, Scandinavian)--feminine of Arild/Harold. 
• Arlette (ahr-LET, French)
• Armida (ahr-MEE-dah, Italian, Spanish)
• Arneke (AHR-neh-keh, Dutch, German)--from Germanic, "eagle". Also spelled Arnika or Arnike. 
• Arundhati (ah-ROOND-hah-tee, Hindi)
• Aruzhan (ah-roo-ZHAHN, Kazakh)--"beautiful soul"