Father filled in the name badge, just so ya know
I landed back at Gatwick this morning, bleary eyed and in desperate need of a sugar boost. I was also brimming with name news, so much that it deserves it’s own post. This is kind of like a Name Spot post, in fact, it really is.
I spent most of my time exploring the various areas Disneyland Orlando and comparing them with their Paris counterpart which I hold so dear in my heart. Ebba and I are agreed that we much prefer the It’s A Small World in Paris. Some interesting tidbits from that part of my holiday were:
- I met my first Asher at Magic Kingdom.
- My Christmas dinner waiter was named Kim. Not particularly exciting until you know that Kim was a hulking Norwegian dude.
- There’s a ride in the Norway section of Epcot called Maelstrom, which continually reminded me of the name Maelle.
- I noticed in amongst the scenery for Splash Mountain a three-tier letterbox outside one of the ‘houses’ of what I presumed to be sisters, who were named Pansy, Poppy and Petunia.
- On my birthday I watched the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular show-thingy at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, where the main female stunt lady was called Devin. Or maybe Devon. One of the ‘extras’ sourced from the crowd was also celebrating a birthday. Her name? Cady. She was probably my age-ish.
- I also drew Pascal from Tangled at the drawing class. The lady taking the class said he was named after a real-life chameleon some lady owned who had some relations with production. She gave more details, but I was too busy having a crisis with his eyes.
And from other areas of our Florida epic:
- On the flight back I cracked and watched Come Fly With Me for the first time. Whilst most of the names were picked for their double meanings, there were some interesting names used: Melody, Omar, Moses, Fearghal (in the episode I watched he mentioned brother Finnbar), Judith, Buster, Hetty and Precious.
- Something I also watched during the flight back was the hugely popular sitcom Outnumbered. The youngest child of the family is called Karen, and is played by a girl named Ramona. Two things: I once had someone tell me that Karen was one of the ultimate baby-boomer names, yet this is a girl born circa mid-noughties; the last Ramona I met was a similar age and was frequently referred to as Manon.
- Whilst sat at the departures gate, I took a bash at a crossword. I’m more of a suduko girl than crossword one, mostly because I pick the Metro up most days and they only have sudokus in it. Either way, one of the clues was simply Reverie (5).
- Predictably, Bear Blu has made it onto most of the Worst Celeb Baby Names list going. I never mentioned this at the time, but it seems apt given whats on the plate next to me: Billy Bear is a type of reformed ham for kids which is extremely popular in my household. It’s always my first thought when I hear Bear Blu.
- Something that always surprises me when I go abroad is the lack of crisp flavours available. Thanks to Walkers, we have such flavours as Worcestershire Sauce, Smokey Bacon and Builder’s Breakfast on offer here in the UK. When you get abroad, Walkers is almost invariably known as Lays and only appears to offer the standard Ready Salted variety. Why am I babbling on about crisps? There’s another brand of crisps here in the UK called Phileas Fogg – a possible alternative to Phineas, should you want one? He’s also a character in Jules Verne’s Around The World In Eighty Days.
- I opened the majority of my Christmas/Birthday presents a few hours ago, and it prompted a thought in me. What about Meccano? It’s a construction toy invented by Frank Hornby (the train dude) that I’ve always wanted but never given.
- I showed the Fenton video to an American. It’s easily my most favourite viral name of the year. Currently we’re called my brother Fenton.
It seems ages ago now that I posted the Lies Non-Name Nerds Tell Me post, but I now have yet another interesting occurence to add to the list:
- My Fatyher showed an American the infamous Carling Black Label advert whilst at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. You know, that one which heavily references the war, in line with a very British sense of humour. The man in question was not particularly impressed, to say the least – but he later asked why Carling was such a popular name. Perhaps there was something lost in accent translation, but I think he may have meant to say either Charlie, Carly or maybe even Carter. That said, Carling is an interesting option if you don’t mind the alcohol reference. Stella hasn’t done too bad, and plenty of Rebeccas are known as Becks without issue. Let’s not even get onto the subject of ladies named things such as Shandy, Brandy and Meade.
Mer de Noms 