Moving

I am starting up a new name blog, over on Blogspot. This one will still be here, but I won’t be posting here anymore. I’m not sure if I’ll like Blogspot, so I may come back to this one, but for now, if you want to see the new blog, here it is: The Beauty of Names

Thanks!

Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson Welcome Baby Girl!

Jessica and Eric

Singer and Actress Jessica Simpson has welcomed her first child, a baby girl who they named Maxwell Drew, with her husband, football player Eric Johnson.

What do you think? Personally, I dislike it. Why not Maxine Drew? I think that’s very sweet. Drew is Jessica’s mother’s maiden name.

Name Game (Take Three!)

Yet another round of the name game!

For boys the first name has to be an obscure Bible name, and the middle name has to be the name of a gem.

For girls the first name must be a state and the middle name must be the name of a silent film actress.

My answers: Sopater Malachite and Alabama Lillian.

WINNERS: Absalom Garnet and Alaska Leatrice
2nd Place: Kemuel Jasper and Tennessee Julanne

Peaches Geldof and Thomas Cohen Welcome a Baby Boy

Peaches and Thomas

Model, journalist, and television presenter Peaches Geldof, daughter of Bob Geldof of the band The Boomtown Rats, and writer and television presenter Paula Yates, has welcomed her first child, a boy named Astala Dylan Willow, with her fiance, Thomas Cohen, who is the lead singer of the band S.C.U.M.

Praxilla

"Praxilla" by John William Godward

Meaning: N/A
Gender: Female
Pronunciation: I think PRA-zil-uh or possibly PRAX-il-uh
Origin: Greek
Other forms of the name: Possibly Priscilla

I really cannot find anything on the name Praxilla, or the pronunciation, so I’m winging this thing. Praxilla of Sicyon was a lyric poet from 5th century Greece. She was very popular in her day and not much of her work survived. She was named one of the nine earthly muses by Antipater of Thessalonica, along with Sappho.

Later on her poetry fell out of favor, many crictized her for mentioning cucumbers along with the sun and moon. In one of her hymns Adonis is asked “What is the most beautiful thing you left behind?” by some of the underworld dwellers, he replies:

“Finest of all the things I have left is the light of the sun,
Next to that the brilliant stars and the face of the moon,
Cucumbers in their season, too, and apples and pears.”

Some people think cucumbers were supposed to be used as a pun to mention her place of birth; in Greek cucumber is “sicyos”. Not much else is known about Praxilla, if anybody has any information on the name, please let me know.

Haruki

Meaning: Mutiple, from “spring child”, to “sun, sunlight” to “radiance or shine”.
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: hah-ROO-kee (I think)
Origin: Japanese
Other forms of the name: N/A

A perfect name for a Spring baby. There are many different kanji used for this name, like most Japanese names, so it doesn’t have just one meaning. Other meanings are “clear up” or “hope/rare”.

Spring is one of my favorite seasons, I was born during Spring, and I love the weather, although it is more like Summer than Spring down here in the south. In Spring the days become longer because the axis of the Earth is starting to tilt towards the Sun. Because of this, the Earth starts to warm, allowing plants to grow. Spring is a time of revival, and new life. There are many Spring festivals, the most famous probably being Easter, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ in Christian mythology.

A famous namesake is author Haruki Murakami. He is said to be one of the greatest living novelists. His most recent novel is “1Q84” which came out in 2009.

Blanchefleur

Meaning: “White flower”
Gender: Female
Pronunciation: blawnsh-FLURE
Origin: French
Other forms of the name: Blancheflor, Blanzifore, Blankiflúr

A beautiful and dramatic name, Blanchefleur is one you won’t hear everyday. Blanchefleur is supposedly the name of Tristan’s mother in the legend of Tristan and Isolde and is the name of the lover of Perceval in “Perceval, le Conte du Graal” by Chrétien de Troyes. But probably the most famous Blanchefleur is from the romantic story told throughout the Middle Ages, “Floris and Blanchefleur”.

The story goes something like this:

King Felix of Al-Andalus is on one of his little ventures in Galicia, Spain when he attacks a group of Christian pilgrims on their way to the shrine of Santiago de Compostela. Among them is a French Knight and his recently widowed daughter who has chosen to dedicate her life to the sanctuary. The French Knight is killed but his daughter is spared and is taken to Naples where she is made lady-in-waiting to King Felix’s wife. Well both women are pregnant and both women give birth on Palm Sunday, the Queen to Floris and the Knight’s daughter to Blanchefleur.

Floris (which is a great name also, we need more flowery names for boys!) and Blanchefleur grow up together and grow very close. The King fears that Floris will want to marry her so he decides he must have her killed, but cannot go through with it. He sends Floris to school and sells Blanchefleur to merchants travelling to Cairo where she is then sold to an Emir. King Felix creates a tomb for Blanchefleur and tells Floris that she is dead. Floris reacts so badly that he tells him that he sold her to some merchants. Floris then decides he must find her. He eventually makes it to Cairo and meets the bridge warden Daire who tells him about the maiden tower. Each year the Emir selects a new bride and kills his former bride and rumour tells that Blanchefleur is to be the new bride.

Daire tells Floris that he should play chess with the tower watchman and return all of his winnings to him so that he would be forced to do him the favor of letting him into the tower. All goes according to plan and Floris is snuck into the tower in a flower basket that is mistakenly delivered to Blanchefleur’s friend Claris. Claris plans a marriage between the two but they are discovered by the Emir.

The Emir does not kill them until he he asks a council what to do. The council is so impressed by the willingness of the couple to die for one another that they spare them. Floris is knighted and finally marries Blanchefleur. Claris marries the Emir who promises she will be his last bride, and they inherit a kingdom.

Other versions tell that Blanchefleur is a Christian Princess and Floris (spelled Flores) is a Pagan Prince.

Archer

I’m sorry I haven’t posted in anything in so long! I took a break for a little while.

Meaning: “Bow”
Gender: Male
Pronunciation: AHR-chur
Origin: Old French
Other forms of the name: N/A

The word archer comes from the Old French archier, which came from the Latin arcus which meant “bow”. As a name, it is getting more and more use, ranking #550 in 2010 for the US.

Archery is used for sport today, but in history it has been used as a weapon in warfare and for hunting. After the invention of firearms, the use of bows became almost extinct. In the 18th century archery became a sport for the English gentry, and notably it was a good sport for women, who could still be seen as “feminine” and show off their femininity by playing.  There are many famous archers in mythology, from twins Artemis and Apollo, to Robin Hood. People who hunt using bows are much more skilled than those who hunt using guns. They must get much closer to the prey for it to be a humane kill.

Jeremy Sisto and Hilary Duff Welcome Baby Boys

Jeremy Sisto and Addie Lane

Actor Jeremy Sisto has welcomed his second child with his wife Addie Lane, a baby boy who they named Bastian Kick Sisto. Their first child is a little girl named Charlie Ballerina.

Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie

Actress and singer Hilary Duff and her husband Mike Comrie have just had their first child together, a boy who they named Luca Cruz Comrie.

Top Fifty Names for Sweden (Girls)

The common Blackbird, Sweden's national bird, by Marco Hebing

1. Maja
2. Alice
3. Julia
4. Linnéa
5. Wilma
6. Ella
7. Elsa
8. Emma
9. Alva
10. Olivia
11. Molly
12. Ebba
13. Klara
14. Nellie
15. Agnes
16. Isabelle
17. Ida
18. Elin
19. Ellen
20. Moa
21. Emilia
22. Nova
23. Alma
24. Saga
25. Amanda
26. Isabella
27. Lilly
28. Alicia
29. Astrid
30. Matilda
31. Tilde
32. Tuva
33. Stella
34. Elvira
35 Felicia
36. Tyra
37. Hanna
38. Sara
39. Vera
40. Thea
41. Freja
42. Lova
43. Meja
44. Selma
45. Signe
46. Ester
47. Lovisa
48. Ellie
49. Lea
50. Tilda