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.