Names
While we’ve decided on a name, Hayley, if it’s a girl the field is still somewhat open if it’s a boy. With the news that it’s going to be another 5 weeks longer than expected before gender is determined I thought I would open the subject for debate.
My primary concern is the identity that a name might or might not imply. Anything too masculine or too feminine is also a concern, as are names that might confuse the child in the realm of ancestry (i.e. Mohamed, Yoshi, or Angus would not seem to be appropriate). Obviously anything that would hint at a profession (i.e. Jeeves, Hunter) is out, and I have provisionally banned the letters A and M (although Aidan is exempt from this restriction), my reasoning is that names beginning with these letters are incredibly prevalent right now as my research indicates. Alexander for example is the 7th most common male first name in the province, Matthew 3rd, and Max 86th.
How to read what follows…
Name - Origin “Meaning” US: #popularity in the states BC: #position in top 100 most common names in BC - direction of popularity.
So here is some information on first names currently being considered…
Julian - Italian. “Jove’s Child”. Female name in medieval England. US: #276 BC: #98 - steady popularity.
Neil - Irish-Scottish. “Champion” US: #234 BC: N/A - declining popularity.
Aidan - Also a female name. US: Very rare, not statistically significant BC: #31 - increasing popularity (largely unknown before 1995).
Middle Names…
Joseph - Hebrew. “The Lord Will Increase” US: #9 BC: #30 - steady popularity.
Louis - German-French. “Famous Warrior” US: #75 BC: N/A - declining popularity.
Jon - Hebrew. (and he calls ME the Jew) US: #157 BC: #57 - declining popularity.
And in case you were curious…
Hayley - English. “Hero” US: #1312 BC: #16 - steady popularity (largely unknown before 1961).
And for fun…
Ray - German-English. “Advice Protector” US: #36 BC: N/A - declining popularity.
Mindi - English. “Sweet” US: #1757 BC: N/A - sharply declining popularity.
For me Julian and Neil are neck and neck with Aidan a very distant third. Likewise Joseph and Louis is a tight battle with Jon thrown in for laughs.
To keep from confusing you completely we’ll save the discussion of female middle names for another time.
