The UK stats for 2007 most popular baby names have been released. The number one boys name for five years running is Jack. Big surprise to me was the name Alfie to hit the top ten this year, although it has been in the top hundred for the past five years.

Check out the boys names here, and the girls names here.

I'm also surprised that Tilly and Martha made it to the top 100 girls names, while Freddie, Theo and Louie made it to the top 100 boys names.

If you can't be bothered clicking, here's a snapshot of the 2007 top ten (excuse the formatting, Blogger is not table-friendly):

Boys
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
1 JACK JACK JACK JACK JACK
2 JOSHUA JOSHUA JOSHUA THOMAS THOMAS
3 THOMAS THOMAS THOMAS JOSHUA OLIVER
4 JAMES JAMES JAMES OLIVER JOSHUA
5 DANIEL DANIEL OLIVER HARRY HARRY
6 OLIVER SAMUEL DANIEL JAMES CHARLIE
7 BENJAMIN OLIVER SAMUEL WILLIAM DANIEL
8 SAMUEL WILLIAM WILLIAM SAMUEL WILLIAM
9 WILLIAM BENJAMIN HARRY DANIEL JAMES
10 JOSEPH JOSEPH JOSEPH CHARLIE ALFIE

Girls
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
1 EMILY EMILY JESSICA OLIVIA GRACE
2 ELLIE ELLIE EMILY GRACE RUBY
3 CHLOE JESSICA SOPHIE JESSICA OLIVIA
4 JESSICA SOPHIE OLIVIA RUBY EMILY
5 SOPHIE CHLOE CHLOE EMILY JESSICA
6 MEGAN LUCY ELLIE SOPHIE SOPHIE
7 LUCY OLIVIA GRACE CHLOE CHLOE
8 OLIVIA CHARLOTTE LUCY LUCY LILY
9 CHARLOTTE KATIE CHARLOTTE LILY ELLA
10 HANNAH MEGAN KATIE ELLIE AMELIA

Nov 07, my J name fascination

I was thinking today that my current favourite names are Judah (m), Jonas (m), Julia (f) and Jane (f). Only problem is they all start with J, and I'm really not that into alliteration with sibling sets. It's not deliberate, they just happen to start with J. So, while I'm pretty attached to these, I'm on the scope for new names for my favourites list. Not that I'm having four children (or any children for that matter) any time shortly...

Big baby Nadia

Nadia. I think Nadia is a lovely name. It's Russian and it means 'hope'.

I bet this particular Nadia's mother was 'hoping' for a smaller baby, instead of the 17 pound (7.75kg) sucker she got.

Maybe one of the following female names would have been more appropriate (meaning in brackets):

Skathi (a giantess)
Jarnsaxa (a giantess)
Skadi (a mountain giantess)
Tai (very big)
Titania (land of giants)

Th@t's s@d!

A Chinese couple tried to name their baby "@," claiming the character used in e-mail addresses echoed their love for the child, an official trying to whip the national language into line said Thursday.

The unusual name stands out especially in Chinese, which has no alphabet and instead uses tens of thousands of multi-stroke characters to represent words.

"The whole world uses it to write e-mail, and translated into Chinese it means 'love him'," the father explained, according to the deputy chief of the State Language Commission Li Yuming.

While "@" is familiar to Chinese e-mail users, they often use the English word "at" to sound it out -- which with a drawn out "T" sounds something like "ai ta," or "love him," to Mandarin speakers.

Source: Reuters

Australia, state by state 2006

Here's a 'round the nation look at the top ten baby names for each gender in each state and territory of Australia for 2006 (minus Tasmania... can't locate that info)

Queensland
Jack / Ella
Lachlan / Emily
Joshua / Charlotte
Thomas / Chloe
William / Mia
Ethan / Sophie
Samuel / Grace
Cooper / Olivia
Ryan /Isabella
Matthew /Jessica

New South Wales
Jack /Chloe
Joshua / Charlotte
William / Ella
Lachlan / Emily
Thomas / Olivia
James / Jessica
Daniel / Isabella
Noah / Mia
Ryan / Sophie
Ethan / Sienna

Northern Territory
Jack / Emily
Joshua / Ella
James / Georgia
Thomas / Jessica
Ethan / Grace
Michael / Isabella
Lachlan / Chloe
William / Lily
Jacob / Mia
Xavier / Sarah

Victoria
Jack / Olivia
Lachlan / Charlotte
Thomas / Ella
Wiliam / Chloe
Joshua / Emily
James / Mia
Ethan / Isabella
Noah / Sienna
Benjamin / Jessica
Daniel / Sophia

South Australia
Jack / Ella
Lachlan / Chloe
Joshua / Charlotte
William / Emily
Thomas / Sophie
James / Olivia
Liam / Isabella
Riley / Jessica
Daniel / Zoe
Cooper / Hannah

Western Australia
Jack / Ella
Thomas / Emily
Joshua / Chloe
Lachlan / Jessica
James / Olivia
Luke / Sophie
Liam / Isabella
Ethan / Charlotte
Riley / Mia
William / Sienna

Australian Capital Territory
William / Charlotte
Lachlan / Ella
Thomas / Emily
Jack / Sophie
James / Jessica
Joshua / Isabella
Ryan / Chloe
Riley / Grace
Samuel / Hannah
Nicholas / Olivia

Jack tops every list but ACT. Jack, Joshua, Thomas, William and Lachlan are in the top ten for each state. James and Ethan are in all but one.

With the girls, Ella, Emily, Chloe, Isabella and Jessica make every state's top ten. Charlotte made all but one, while Mia and Olivia made all but two. Sophie came close - on all but NT's and Victoria's, though the very similar Sophia appeared in Victoria's list instead.

Birth announcements - Sunday Mail 5 August 07

Girls
Jessica
Skye
Veronica

Boys
Tristan, brother for Charlotte
Nicholas, brother for Luke
Jonah, brother for Toby
Michael

First Fleet series: females on the Prince of Wales

The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships carrying convicts from Great Britain to Australia in 1787. This is the fourth post in a series collating first names of convicts on the First Fleet.

There were 50 female convicts aboard the Prince of Wales, with the following names:

Mary x 12
Ann x 6
Elizabeth x 6
Jane x 5
Susannah x 3
Sarah x 2
Catherine x 2
Frances x 2
Esther
Ruth
Rebecca
Margaret
Deborah
Phebe
Ellen / Eleanor
Caroline
Flora / Laura
Martha
Lydia
Ellen / Esther


Data courtesy of University of Wollongong.

Birth announcements - Courier Mail 4 August 07

Girls
Anastasia Lily, sister for Catherine
Felicity Rose
Lucinda Emma, sister for Annabelle and Amelia
Chennae, sister for Tenisha and Khyla
Neve Isobel, sister for Kallen
Charlotte Anne, sister for Sophie
Ava Rose
Anna Louise

Boys
James Craig
Angus Gregory, brother for Henry
Charles William (Charlie), brother for Mia
Jed Michael, brother for Emily
Hudson James
Mark James

A thing for 'J'

Baby Jessica Duggar was born on Thursday, joining 18 siblings. Their names?
Joshua 19
John David 17
Janna 17
Jill 16
Jessa 14
Jinger 13
Joseph 12
Josiah 11
Joy-Anna 9
Jedidiah 8
Jeremiah 8
Jason 7
James 6
Justin 4
Jackson 3
Johannah almost 2

Read about it in this article.

Birth announcements - Courier Mail 21 July 07

Girls
Piper Emily
Mikaela Louise
Stella Violet
Ava Grace
Samantha Ellen
Stella Maree
Asher Jaide Catherine, sister for Cooper and Briar
Lily Belle, sister for Emily Louise

Boys
Harrison Ben
Dayton Lee, brother for Abby
Caleb Thomas, brother for Natalie, Jessica, Chloe and Cadence
Stewart Ian John
Christopher Thomas Jack, brother for Rhyannon and Keeley
Daniel Alexander, brother for Zoe and Emily

Twins
Max Anghus and Lily May

Birth announcements - Sunday Mail 22 July 07

Girls
Lily
Jazlyn
Sarah
Ella
Liana

Boys
Jackson
James


Because there are not quite enough babies named Ella or Lily in the world yet.

First fleet series: females on the Lady Penrhyn

The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships carrying convicts from Great Britain to Australia in 1787. This is the third post in a series collating first names of convicts on the First Fleet.

There were 102 females aboard the Lady Penrhyn, with the following names:

Mary x 31
Ann x 19
Elizabeth x 17
Sarah x 7
Margaret x 3
Jane x 3
Catherine x 3
Martha x 3
Susannah x 2
Charlotte x 2
Phebe
Eleanor
Sophia
Amelia
Tamasin
Rebecca
Frances
Olive
Maria
Dorothy
Esther
Hannah
Isabella
Lucy
Nancy


Data courtesy of University of Wollongong.

Boys from the Bible

The following are my picks for male Bible names:

Asher: happy
Abraham: father of a great multitude
Caleb: the devoted one
Elijah: the Lord is my God
Micah: who is like Yahweh
Gabriel: man of God
Jericho*: His fragrance
Jonah: dove (also love the variant 'Jonas')
Josiah: Yahwel heals; Yahweh sustains
Lucas: a light, bright, white
Malachi: my messenger, my angel
Moses: drawn out; saved out
Noah: rest
Solomon: peacableness
Tobiah: goodness of Yahweh; pleasing to Yahweh (like 'Toby' better)


*Jericho - awesome name, but could get shortened to Jerry, which I'm not a fan of.

Some of the above are uber popular right now. How annoying.

Birth announcements - Sunday Mail 15 July 07

Girls
Lia
Alexis

Boys
Isaac, brother for Jake
Kuuta
Jye, sister for Kya
Felix
Kyson


I think Jye / Jai or any other variation is purely vomituous. Ditto for Kyson.

Spelling variations: Mackenzie and Caden

I was sifting through some information about naming patterns of 2006 at babycentre.com, and found the following.

There are 45 ways parents have spelled Mackenzie in 2006, the girls name with the most spelling variations: Mackenzie, Mckenzie, Mackenzi, Mackenzee, Mackinzie, Mackensie, Mackenize, Mackinzy, Mackinsey, Mackenzy, Mackenzey, Machenzie, Mackynzi, Mackinze, Mackenziee, Mackanzie, Macinzee, Machkenzie, Macenzie, Mckinzie, Mckenzee, Mckenzi, Mckynzie, Mckinzee, Mckenzye, Mckenzy, Mckenzey, Mckenze, Mckenize, Makenzie, Makenzi, Makenzy, Makensie, Makynzie, Makynze, Makenize, Makynzye, Makynzi, Makinzy, Makinzie, Makinzi, Makenzee, Makinze, Makinsy, Mykenzie.

And Caden, the boys' name with the most variations: Caden, Cadin, Cayden, Caiden, Caeden, Caidan, Cadyn, Caydan, Caydn, Caidyn, Cadan, Cadon, Cadaan, Caedon, Caedan, Kaidan, Kaiden, Kayden, Kaidyn, Kaidynn, Kaidon, Kaidin, Kaden, Kaeden, Kadin, Kaedyn, Kaedan, Kadyn, Kaedon, Kaedin, Kadan, Kadon.

Bleh.

Birth announcements - Courier Mail 14 July 07

Girls
Sophia Lilly, sister for Bella Rose
Ruby Elizabeth
Molly Hannah
Cailin Emily

Boys
Jacob Patrick, brother for Ethan
Link Anthoney, brother for Belle
Joshua Anthony, brother for Chloe
Conor MacKenzie
Jackson
Alec James

Twins
Annabella Rosaline and Sebastian Oliver, siblings for Harrison Oscar

Naming a transnationally adopted child

This is the second entry that I've cross-posted from our adoption blog.

Naming a baby can be a complex craft. Naming a child who has been adopted from another culture can be even more complex.

The topic of naming adopted children is raised every few months on various discussion boards, with many schools of thought around this... particularly with regard to China adoptions, where abandoned babies are often named by the orphanage director.

Some people believe that the name is the only thing a child brings with them from their birth culture, so it must be preserved.

Some believe that because the name is given by the orphanage director, often as a required task and not as an act of love or genuine consideration, that it does not hold great meaning or significance, so it shouldn't be kept.

Some believe the child should be given a new Chinese name, picked by the adoptive parents.

Some believe that if a child looks Asian, their name should reflect that.

Some believe that their child is beginning a new life, so they should have a new name.

Some believe that their child is now [insert nationality] and therefore should have a name that reflects that nationality (eg. American, Australian).

Some say that with the identity issues an adopted child goes through, they usually want to fit in with their peers, who have 'regular' names.

Some say that it depends on the age of the child at the time of adoption and whether or not they know their name yet.

It seems (not based on any statistical research, just my own observations) that most children adopted from China are given their first name by the adoptive parents and keep part of their Chinese name as their middle name. Some suggest that this gives the child the option for which name they may choose to use later in life.

There are worthy arguments and reasons for all the above thoughts. I don't think there are any easy answers. I don't even know yet what I believe most or what we will choose to do when it comes to naming our baby. It's an area I'm trying to learn more about.

There's an extremely thought provoking post over at Twice the Rice called Naming, Renaming and Reclaiming. She talks about growing up as a Korean adoptee in America with a name that is obviously not Asian. I'd like to read more from adult adoptees about this topic, reflecting on their own thoughts and experiences. Sure got me pondering...

The name game

Before starting this blog, I had a few entries about names in our adoption blog. It's probably appropriate to cross-post them here. Here's the first one - Name Game.

My friend at work is about to go on maternity leave; she'll be giving birth to her first child in the coming weeks. She's not letting anyone in on the name game, which is quite funny because I remember saying to her about a year ago that I didn't understand the concept of withholding baby names.

I know that if you tell people the names you're thinking of in the lead-up to the birth (or in our case, referral/adoption) that they'll likely tell you straight out what they think, but if you just surprise everyone after the birth they generally wont tell you if they don't like it. Not sure why, maybe people think that they can save a baby from a sucky name before they are born, but afterwards it's just too late. Maybe parents have a fear of being offended if they tell a name and get a not-so-pleasant response. Maybe they just want to keep it personal, because it's so exciting and special. Anyway, I truly do respect the right of parents to not tell before the birth/referral, even if I don't fully understand it.

We are waaayy off a referral, as we're still paper chasing and checking boxes for the next ten months or so before our file can even go to China to begin the wait, so we haven't seriously discussed names... however cruising baby name sites is a bit of a hobby for me. I've spent plenty of time over at the Baby Name Wizard checking the popularity of names throughout history. I recently came across a discussion forum called Baby's Named a Bad, Bad Thing, which is a bunch of name purists strongly opposed to any 'tryndee' names that 'mummeighs' give kids. Heh.

Anyway, at the abovementioned forum I came across a link to this post about what not to name your child, from a fellow Aussie blogger called redcap. She cruises the birth announcements in newspapers for what she considers inappropriate names. Anyway, I did think twice about whether to share this link, as some people could be offended if their chosen baby name is pooh-poohed, but hopefully you're all big enough to handle it and can appreciate her wit. I like a couple of the names she deems inapproriate, but for the most part it should be compulsory reading for all expectant parents. I'm sure my teacher friends would have a few to add to the list!

The danger of polls

First Fleet series: females on the Friendship

The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships carrying convicts from Great Britain to Australia in 1787. This is the second post in a series collating first names of convicts on the First Fleet.

There were 21 females aboard the Friendship. Given names as follows:

Elizabeth x 8
Susannah x 2
Mary x 2
Ann
Rachel
Hannah
Margaret
Frances
Sarah
Isabella
Jane
Charlotte


Data courtesy of University of Wollongong.

First Fleet series: females on the Charlotte

The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships carrying convicts from Great Britain to Australia in 1787. This is the first post in a series collating first names of convicts on the First Fleet.

There were 20 female convicts aboard the Charlotte, with the following names:

Mary x 5
Ann x 4
Jane x 3
Elizabeth x 2
Hannah x 2
Margaret x 2
Catherine
Frances (Fanny)

No doubt Catherine and Frances felt pretty unique.

Data courtesy of University of Wollongong.

Birth announcements - Sunday Mail 8 July 07

Girls
Lilly
Scarlett
Ella
Marlea

Boys
Darcy
Lachlan
Jack

Twins
Hunter (boy) and Mia (girl)

Birth announcements - Courier Mail 7 July 07

Girls
Mackenzie Leigh
Arabella Esta
Grace Alison, sister for Harry
Eva Michelle, sister for Harry and Audrey
Elizabeth Greer, sister for Alexander
Charlotte Jane, sister for Georgia, Mollie and Henry
Elora Jaid
Ella Grace


Boys
Cormaic Joseph, brother for Fionan and Ceamus
Corey Michael
Oliver Henry
Dylan John, brother for Kayla and Emily
Thomas Edward
William Adrian, brother for Keely Anne
Joseph Gerard
Coen Terry
Edward (Ned) George Malcolm
Riley James

Colin

There's a story that has been circulating around Aaron's family for some time, that there was an uncle who died with no offspring. This uncle's name was Colin. The story goes that there is an unknown inheritance for any relative who names their son Colin (only applicable to those with his surname, which we have).

For years, Aaron has joked (I hope he's joking, he claims he's not) that we will have a son and name him Colin. Too bad it's a horrid name and I'd never do that to a child.

Last night Aaron came up with a brain wave, that we could name a son Colin but call him Olly as a nickname. He knows I like the name Oliver, and particularly the nickname Olly.

My first thought when he said "Colin - Olly!" was something completely different. It reminded me of the word 'colonoscopy'.

So we came up with an even better name:

Colin Oscar Pete.


Oh to be so cruel.

Moses

I was listening to a sermon this afternoon about Moses, and decided that I like that name.

Moses Blake.

I blatantly took the idea for Blake from a friend who had a baby last week. Oops.

Moses means drawn out of the water / saviour.

Moses in the Bible was left by his parents in a reed basket on the Nile River, as Pharaoh had ordered that all male babies born to Hebrew slaves must be drowned. His parents managed to hide him for thee months, then they left him to be found by Pharaoh's daughter.

This is interesting and remarkable, if we ever choose to use this name... as it is likely that our future adopted daughter will have been 'left to be found' by her parents in China. A further coincidence is that Moses' brother's name was Aaron (in our case, it will be his father's name).

Blake means dark. Not convinced I like that meaning. If you have any suggestions for other names that go with Moses please comment.

(I should clarify that I am not pregnant, nor trying to become so.)

Welcome to the Warehouse

My mild obsession with names needs a new outlet.

Welcome to The Name Warehouse! (Because there just aren't enough blogs in the world).