The Top 100 Analysis

The Rising Names

 

New Entrants to the Top 10

There was only one new entrant to the Top 10 for the girls  this year, with Poppy racing up 6 places to #7, replacing the once-darling of the flower world: Lily, who falls to #12.

As for the boys, Oscar races into the Top 10 to sit at #7, whilst George sneaks back in at #10. They replace Alfie and Riley.

New Entrants to the Top 100

On the boys side there was the most amount of movement into and out of the Top 100. In all, 6 names are new on the boys side:

• Teddy (now #86, up from #141, that’s a massive leap of 55 places)
• Ibrahim (now #89, up from #107)
• Ronnie (now #90, up from #105)
• Felix (now #91, up from #114)
• Austin (now #94, up from 108)
• Albert (now #99, up from #109, which has made me very happy)

As for the girls, there were only 3 new entrants:

• Victoria (now #88, up from #106)
• Darcy (now #93, up from #107)
• Beatrice (now #95, up from #114)

Big Jumps in the Top 100

With Teddy doing so well this year, it may not surprise you to hear that Theodore also made big leaps within the Top 100 after his first entrance last year at #97, jumping up about 20 places to #78. Other big rises for the boys are: Hugo; Reuben; Elijah; Oscar; and Blake, who all rose at least 10 places.

As for the girls, the highest rising name within the Top 100 was Elsie (for the second year rising) who rose about 20 places, also, to break the 50 mark at #47. Elsie first joined the Top 100 in 2011. Nature names fared well in the Top 100, with Willow (15 places), Violet, and Ivy (both 22 places, respectively) also being high risers.

The Falling Names

 

Exiters of the Top 100

And the names they’ve replaced are:

• Rhys (#101)
• Ellis (#103)
• Kayden (#104)
• Bailey (#113)
• Taylor (#118)
• Kyle (#120)

For the girls, this year Sara and Lydia shared the Top 100 spot, thus only two names fell out:

• Caitlin (#114)
• Keira (#110)

Big Falls in the Top 100

It may not surprise the British public to hear Cameron was one of the biggest fallers in 2013, falling 16 places to #93; at this rate, he may drop out altogether for the 2014 list. Other names falling far within the Top 100 are Callum, Liam, Tyler and Riley, all falling at least 10 places each.

For the girls, the big fallers were: Hollie (down 21 places to #75); Paige (down 18 places to #98); Madison (down 17 places to #92); and Amy (down 14 places to #76).

Spot of the Week: Pet Peeves

This is being posted late, I know, but I come prepared with a fabulous excuse:

Birthday Cake

So my Nana recently turned 80 and we had a cute little birthday bash at a hotel that swallowed all of my time over the weekend.

Now, I’m going to finally admit this right here, right now: I loathe the name Margaret and always have done. Part of me is glad that my family don’t do family names because whilst I’m no so bothered about using Carole (the name of my other grandmother), I just don’t want to use the name Margaret.

That doesn’t mean that Margaret is not a fabulous for your child, full of wonder and meaning. I try my very hardest to stay neutral and not make my list of names I loathe known because I know some people do love those names, and they don’t deserve to hear their favourite names be belittled by some stranger.

Since I’m on a role with this venting thing, one of my pet peeves is when people belittle names from other cultures. This week, I saw Fatima in the firing line and it broke my heart. I know a Fatima and she is a wonderful person, and yes, her parents speak fluent English and are aware that her name starts with the word fat. You know what? The majority of people who use Madison are also fluent in English, and she starts with the word mad.

Indeed, I was mad to see such a beautiful Arabic name ripped apart like that. Yes, it could cause problems, but it might not.

You could say that this is likely to be a unfamiliarity thing, so many girls have the name Madison that you’ve got a lot of girls to answer to. However, Fatima isn’t that rare either; she ranked at #136 in England&Wales in 2010.

On a lighter note, my sister made me sit through the film Sky High last night. A standard kiddie film by all means, but featuring a sorta main character called Magenta.

That’s a name that rocks.

But not as much as Fatima.

Or Margaret.

 

Maude

from eerdmans.com

I mentioned Maisie yesterday and today we’re talking about Maude. Why ever for? Because I know of sisters named Maisie, Maude and Mollie. It certainly seems odd at first that these three names come together as names for three sisters, but if you shake off first impressions and really think about it, there are similarities between the names.

First off, the most obvious link is that all three begin with the letter M, all are 5/6 letters long and all have 1/2 syllables. That may even be why these names ended up together in the first place. It’s also worth noting at this point that the birth order is: Maude, Mollie and Maisie – and it’s not Maude who has the different father, but Maisie. It feels like a good time to mention a few other similar M- names that could sit alongside the existing three:

Mabel; Maddie; Maeve; Magda; Maggie; Mandy; Marcie; Margot; Marie/Maria; Maris; Mavis; Megan; Myrtle

Whilst Maisie and Mollie are relatively popular, the name Maude is only enjoying relative popularity in her extended family: there are currently two forms of Madison in the England&Wales Top 100 and Matilda is also in amongst the top flight as well as her short form of Tilly.

The name Matilda comes from the Germanic name Mathilidis, which means strength in battle. It seems apt therefore that a famed Matilda in British history is Empress Matilda, who spent many year fighing King Stephen for the crown. Matilda was the daughter of Henry I, and indeed was his heir following the death of her only brother, William, in the White Ship disaster of 1120. She was never crowned, however, and it was her cousin Stephen of Blois who is usually named as the King between 1135-1154. Their rivalry for the throne led to many years of unrest and civil war in England now know as The Anarchy.

Matilda herself was sometimes recorded as being name Maude and her mother was Matilda of Scotland, who was actually born as an Edith. The godmother of Matilda of Scotland was Queen Matilda – wife of William the Conqueror, and when Matilda of Scotland was crowned, it was as Matilda. It is widely accepted that the Normans brought the name Matilda to England with them.

The name Maude is a medieval short form of the name Matilda, and for many years the names were interchangeable – such as with the aformentioned Matilda’s often being known as Maude instead.

The name Maude remained popular until circa the 14th century in England, but usually used with the slight variant spelling of Maud. After this time the name died out somewhat, but was revived by the Victorians. It was in this time that Alfred Lord Tennyson penned a collection of poems entitled Maud. Tennyson also helped boost the popular of the name Elaine and Ida, thanks to his writings and he penned also first the name Lynette as an alternative spelling of Luned, which itself is a varient of the Welsh name Eluned.

In terms of popularity, a table is in order for all of the mentioned related names. Here wer’re comparing data from 2005 and 2010, both for England&Wales:

	2005		2010
	Rank	Births	Rank	Births
Maddison	#63	899	#81	734
Madison	#39	1556	#67	926
Maisie	#58	949	#14	2930
Maisy	#157	329	#100	584
Mathilde	#851	33	#1520	19
Matilda	#89	620	#53	1274
Maud	#2247	9	#2589	9
Maude	#3970	4	#5707	3
Mollie	#81	668	#117	490
Molly	#22	2355	#42	1454
Tillie	#516	66	#431	98
Tilly	#95	557	#88	677

A breakdown of the movement of the names works out as such, with the highest climbers/fallers at the top and working down:

Rise		Fall
Rank	Birth	Rank	Birth
Tillie (+85)	Maisie (+1981)	Maude (-1737)	Molly (-901)
Maisy (+57)	Matilda (+654)	Mathilde (-669)	Madison (-630)
Maisie (+44)	Maisy (+255)	Maud (-342)	Mollie (-178)
Matilda (+36)	Tilly (+120)	Mollie (-36)	Maddison (-165)
Tilly (+7)	Tillie (+32)	Madison (-28)	Mathilde (-14)
		Molly (-20)	Maude (-1)
		Maddison (-18)

The name Maud did not change when it came to birth numbers. I normally give both ranking and the number of births to give the full picture of where the name is going – since one of them just doesn’t give the full picture. If you take the case of Maud, from the ranks you may deduce that she’s falling out of popularity given that she fell 342 places between 2005 and 2010 – but the same amount of them were born in each year. It’s only because of the changing number of births each year that Maud received a different ranking in each list. However, observe the table and you’ll see that if the name fell in rank, it also fell in birth number (aside from Maud). So, you could indeed infer from the data that those names on the left-hand side of the table are growing in popularity whilst the ones on the right-hand side are falling in popularity.

What does this say to me? Well, first of all, a five-year comparison may not take in the whole picture of movement. A name can move fast in those years, but most take many years to really grow in favour or fall out of favour. In short though, neither Maud nor Maude are popular by any means, and whilst they may start to become popular it will likely take a few years for her to really rise up the rankings. On the flipside, in the next five years Maisie could easily start to fall – she’s already inside the Top 20 and may have peaked in popularity. I do think Maisie is a future Top 10 name, though.

Seeing the name Maude alongside current favourites such as Maisie makes me reconsider her potential. Whilst writing this post I’ve been think about the combination of Maude Eulalie, now I don’t really suggest combinations as a rule but Maude Eulalie has me tickled. The light, freshness of Eulalie combined with the solid, classic Maude really rather makes me smile.

Chatsworth House of Names

Chatsworth House, from toffsmen.com

You’d think, given that I’ve spent the last fortnight in the USA that I’d want to talk more about American names. It seems not because Chatsworth House is on my mind, which is one of the closest stately homes to me. It also happens to be home to the 12th Duke of Devonshire and some of the fascinating names you’d expect from the aristocracy.

First, a moment to mention that no, I haven’t quietly moved south. Chatsworth House is in North Derbyshire, but like many rich families, the Cavendishs bought the title Duke of Devonshire in 1616 from James I. The first, William, reportedly paid in the region of £10,000 for it.

But, back to the modern day crop of the family and we’ll start with the eldest living tier. Or, we would do, except Nook has already spoken about the Mitford sisters of which the youngest, Deborah ‘Debo’, is the mother of the current Duke. With Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire, she actually had several offspring, including:

• Mark
• Emma
• Peregrine
• Victor
• Mary
• Sophia

Since Mark died shortly after birth it is her second son who is the current (12th) Duke of Devonshire: Peregrine Andrew Morny. He took the title in 2004 following the death of his father. Deborah, Dowager Duchess of Devonshire is still around, though.

The name Peregrine comes from Latin and means traveller – rather setting me on the thought train of ‘Wow! Wouldn’t Beatrix and Peregrine work well together?’. Those feeling in the dark, Beatrix could come from the Late Latin name Viatrix which means means voyager, albeit with influence from the Latin word beatus, meaning blessed.

Morny is an interesting choice, with aristocratic links. French ones, though, as there was once a Duc de Morny. It’s after him that the horse race, Prix Morny, is named since he was a great lover of the sport.

As for Peregrine, Duke of Devonshire, he married a lady named Amanda on 28 June 1967 and together they have three children:

William ‘Bill’

Celina

Jasmine

The youngest, Jasmine, was born in 1975, a whole 17 years prior to Aladdin being released in 1992 – a film often associated with the popularity of the name. Then we have Celina, which isn’t all that dissimilar to a rather more modern-day Disney-associated name: Selena, as in, Selena Gomez whom appears in Wizard of Waverley Place – she herself was named after the Mexican singer.

As for their third child, should William become the 13th Duke of Devonshire, he’ll be the 8th Duke to bear the name William. Infact, it was an unbroken chain of Williams from the 1st to the 7th, a pattern broken by Spencer, 8th Duke of Devonshire. This is because his elder brother, William, died young. The 10th Duke’s eldest son was also called William, but he was killed in WWI before the death of his father, hence stopping him from becoming the 11th Duke of Devonshire, which then passed onto the aformentioned Andrew.

Moving onto the youngest generation, William currently has two children with his wife, Laura:

• Maud
• James

Maud is certainly one of those names I can see more and more people using – the popular name Madison means son of Maud (Maud as a nickname for Madison? Probably too different in style – no?).  Maud herself is a medieval form of Matilda. Personally, I feel myself leaning towards Maud with an e: Maude and I love the idea of using her with something overly girly: Maude Eulalie; Maude Felicity; Maude Cecily, to name just a few.

Cardcaptor Sakura

Sakura Avalon/Kinomoto from her wikipedia page

I have two wonderful friends who are into the world of ‘cosplay’, which for those not in the know basically boils down to dressing up as characters from Japanese anime. I’ve never particularly become involved in the practice myself, or ever attended expos, but there were two highly popular anime shows I did get into as a child: Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura. To be honest, this was mostly because they were the only things my sister and I could agree on watching. One of these afforementioned friends, Tiff, is celebrating her birthday at the beginning of the new year, so I see this as an early birthday present for her. It also gives us an oppotunity to look into Japanese names and how well they do at translating into the English speaking world – for the English version of the show many names were altered to more English ones; and also stress me out as I try to find reliable sources on name meanings for the following Japanese names.

Sakura is easily one of my favourite Japanese names, and is likely to be one of the first such names to cross my path. In a way, she reminds me of the name Saskia, or even the slightly more cutesy Suki. For the English version of the show her surname was changed to Avalon, as opposed to her Japanese surname in Kinomoto – and doesn’t Sakura Avalon sound strikingly whimsical? Her design was originally based on illustrator Mokona Apapa’s two-year-old neice Kawaji. She was almost renamed as simply Nikki for the English version, but this was cast aside for varying reasons, including the cost it would’ve incured to implement the name change, but I have heard from people that the English version does say her name slightly different to how the Japanese do. In terms of meaning, Sakura is Japanese for cherry blossom, which for the Japanese symbolises the fleeting moment of life. In 2010, 13 girls were given the name Sakura in England&Wales, compared to the 112 given the name Saskia and the further 18 given the name Suki. I’ve also read that Sakura is a name of relative popularity in Japan.

As for the relations of young Sakura, she has an older brother named Toya in the Japanese version, which is altered to Tori in the dub. Toya is a short form for Victoria, as indeed can Tori be (maybe someone did their research?) but also comes to mean door into the valley in Japanese. As an aside, there’s a male Tory in Mythbusters, whose full name is Salvatore Paul.

Her father is Fujitaka/Aiden and her deceased mother is Nadeshiko/Natasha. Yamamoto nadeshiko is a Japanese term relating to the personification of an idealised Japanese female. Nadeshiko refers to a frilled pink carnation, whilst Yamamoto is an ancient name for Japan. I must say, whilst writing this post I have been won over by the name Nadashiko in a way Natasha has never suceeded with me. Excessive research on the internet suggests that Fujitaka means tall wisteria. How on Earth they got to Aiden from Fujitaka remains a mystery to me – part of me wishes they’d gone with Fergus instead.

Another main character is called Syaoran Li, whose name is altered to Li Showron. Syaoran means little wolf, whilst Li means plum. Then there’s also Eriol Hiiragizawa, who arrives in the English version as Eli Moon. The name Eriol reminds me of another English name: Errol, as in Errol Flynn. Whilst Errol has roots as a Scottish place name, Eriol appears to mean broken chain.

Two characters get the complete works when it comes to transforming their names into English-language ones: Sakura’s best friend Tomoyo Daidouji becomes Madison Taylor (whilst mother Sonomi becomes Samantha) and substitute teacher Kaho Mizuki becomes Layla Mackenzie. Closer translations include classmate Rika Sasaki who simply becomes Rita. Personally, I would’ve preferred her to remain as the delightful Rika. I’ve found sites saying Sonomi means beautiful garden, whilst Tomoyo means wise age or intellgient making her rather like the Japanese equivalent of the name Sage.

Now as a final thought, I’ve been racking my brains trying to remember where I’d seen Kaho before recently, and of course the slightly different Kahlo was covered over at Bewitching Names at the end of September. Thanks to the joy that is differing kanji, this name has more meanings than letters, depending on how you interpret it. Some of my favourites include sail, summer and perfume.