Nichole writes:

For some reason, my husband has become completely enamored of the name Thames and wants to use if for our next son.  I looked up pronunciation and the Thames River in England (and thus the British pronunciation) is “temz”.  But the Thames River in Connecticut (and thus the American pronunciation) is said to be “thaymz or taymz”.

My questions: 1) how do you / how does your average N. American reader pronounce Thames when read and spoken?; and 2) is “Thames” a name that is too off-the-wall to consider as a first name?

Thank you!!

Oh, interesting! I immediately pronounced it “temz” in my mind—but if I saw it as a child’s name, I’d wouldn’t assume that was the way it was pronounced. I wasn’t familiar with the Thames River in Connecticut, but I still would have wondered if Thames as a name might be pronounced to rhyme with James, with a soft TH sound; I’m not sure if the river in Connecticut is well-known enough to affect the U.S. pronunciation. I’d also wonder if it might be a creative spelling of Thomas. Or I’d wonder if it might be thay-mus, to rhyme with Seamus/Shamus. I’d be very uncertain, and would feel uncomfortable even taking a stab at it.

According to the Social Security Administration, the name is unused or nearly unused in the United States: Thames is not in the data base, which means it was used for fewer than 5 boy or 5 girl babies in 2011.

My own opinion is that it would be a hassle to carry that name in the United States, with more confusion over spelling and pronunciation than would be worth it. I think, however, that it would make a terrific and distinctive middle name.

What does everyone else think? Let’s have a poll over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.]

And in the comments section, say how you would have thought Thames was pronounced if you encountered it as a child’s name.

Jenn writes:

I am (unfortunately) not yet pregnant, but in a trivia quiz today my husband and I came across the name Grover (the question was about Grover Cleveland).  We both decided that we like the name, and are considering it for our ever-growing-and-changing-shortlist.  However, we are aware of the very strong association with Sesame Street.  So I’m wondering what everyone thinks.  I know that the association will be strong for most, but does it make it unusable?  Would it be better in the middle name slot?  What makes it different to Oscar, also from Sesame St, but now on so many cute wee boys?

Hope you and your fabulous readers can help us out.

PS – Before you say it’s no good – how cute would little Grover in a Super Grover shirt be?

PRETTY CUTE, that’s how cute. I have three associations with the name Grover:

1. Loveable furry Sesame Street Grover.

2. Former U.S. president Grover Cleveland.

3. A former hippie co-worker of mine, who used to ask me in dreamy tones how many birds I’d seen today. (Bird-counting is how you show you’re tuned in to nature around you.) (Apparently.)

The comparison to Oscar is a good one: without it, I’d be tempted to say I was afraid the name Grover was too tied to Sesame Street—but you’re absolutely right, the name Oscar is managing to overcome that. In 2011, the Social Security Administration reports 2,359 new baby boys named Oscar—but only 9 named Grover. WHY?

Even more mystifying, Oscar isn’t the recent “finally overcoming the television show” success I’d been thinking of it as: it was in the Top 100 until 1925, and it’s stayed steadily in the 100s and 200s rankings ever since. I’d have thought it would have gone down in popularity after Sesame Street aired, but in fact it got MORE common.

The name Grover had a remarkable surge in popularity around the time Grover Cleveland was president in the late 1800s, and then dropped to mostly the 200s and 300s for about 50 years, then dropped even further (400s, 500s, 600s, 700s) in the next 25 years, and then disappeared from the Top 1000 altogether in 1974 and hasn’t been back.

WHY? Theories welcome! And in the meantime, let’s have a poll over to the right, with reasons for our voting choices in the comments section. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “What do you think of the name Grover?” (468 votes total):

I love it! I’d want to use it! – 34 votes (7%)
I like it! I’d want to consider it! – 62 votes (13%)
I like it for someone else’s baby – 161 votes (34%)
No particular opinion – 14 votes (3%)
Slight dislike – 99 votes (21%)
Strong dislike – 98 votes (21%)

E. writes:

I am looking to get opinions on a name I’ve been considering. I am only 6 weeks pregnant,  and we are choosing to not know the sex of our baby until birth. Our last name is Lawrence so I really do want a unique first name to go with our common last name. One boy name that I really like is Kilo (kee-loh) with a family name for the middle name. I got the idea from hearing a gentleman as a guest speaker on the radio,  he was named Kilo and I really like what he was speaking about. I also really like how the name is simple and still unique. At one time I also liked the name Keno but quickly dismissed that name due to its association with gambling which I choose to not gamble for my own moral beliefs. Now with Kilo, would people associate this name with anything negative? Like drugs? I kind of live in a bubble and not sure if drug dealers use kilos more commonly or grams or some other unit of measure? Possibly I am overthinking this but wondering what somebody’s first thought is when they hear “Kilo”  I do love the name however I don’t want any regrets if people have a negative association with its word form.

My associations aren’t negative, but they’re definitely measurement-related rather than name-related: Kilo is filed in my mind with words like meter, yard, inch, and gram. The name is not in the Social Security Administration’s baby name data base for 2011.

If I saw Kilo used as a name, I would think it might be pronounced Milo with a K.

Another association was niggling in the back of my mind; I finally figured out it was reminding me of Cee Lo Green, who sang the huge hit “F**k You!” in 2010.

What does everyone else think of the name potential of Kilo?

J. writes:

I was recently introduced to the music of New Zealand musical artist Kimbra aka Kimbra Lee Johnson and thought her name was ripe for using. It has the familiarity of Kim/Kimberly with today’s popular BR sound found in fast-risers Aubree, Briella, Brielle and Aubrey (referenced on the Baby Name Wizard blog).

Although the bree sound is current, I suspect the -bra sound belongs more to names such as Deborah and Barbara. But combining the -bra of two generations ago with the Kim- of last generation does result in a fresh and surprising sound.

Other things that come to mind when considering the name Kimbra:

1. cobra
2. bra
3. Simba
4. limbo/limber

So for me, it’s the perfect name for a pop star: distinctive, with sexy/wild associations—and, since she’s an adult, no fears of middle school classmates repeatedly remarking on the “bra” element.

The Social Security Administration doesn’t have Kimbra in their data base for 2011, which means the name was given to four or fewer babies that year. Since Kimbra’s album appeared in North America only this year, we may see a change right away in the 2012 data. I can picture someone using it as a combination honor name for a baby’s Grandma Barbara and Aunt Kim.

What does everyone else think about the name Kimbra? Let’s have a poll over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “Name to Consider: Kimbra” (354 votes total):

I love it! I’d want to use it! – 5 votes (1%)
I like it! I’d want to consider it! – 16 votes (5%)
I like it for someone else’s baby – 55 votes (16%)
No particular opinion – 28 votes (8%)
Slight dislike – 146 votes (41%)
Strong dislike – 104 votes (29%)

A. writes:

Why aren’t more people using the name Scout, for boys? According to the Social Security Administration data, there were only 59 boys (and 148 girls) named Scout in 2010. I have heard it used, in real life, as a girl’s middle name (which her parents also used as a pet name for her), in homage to the character in To Kill a Mocking Bird. And I do like it for a girl, but I kind of love it for a boy.
I think it has a very adventurous/rugged masculine feel, like Hunter, Ranger, Colt and Sawyer, and the Boy Scout association makes it sound capable and good citizen like (although, I actually have some issues with the Boy Scouts of America’s stance on certain issues, the idea of boy scouting remains positive in my mind) .
I do see the possible downsides of it sounding too much like and being confused for Scott (a name I find utterly lackluster due to personal associations and it being out of fashion) and it sounding like a dog’s name, but I still kind of love it and imagine it being adorable on a little boy and handsome on a man. What do you and your readers think of Scout? I love your blog(s) and a would love to know what you think about Scout!

I have four associations with the name Scout:

1. Jean Louise Finch’s nickname in To Kill a Mockingbird (female)

2. The daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore (female)

3. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts (either male or female)

4. A talent/sports/military scout (either male or female)

Considering that I think the To Kill a Mockingbird association is likely the strongest one in the U.S. (and re-emphasized by so many parents citing the book as the reason they chose the name), a 59m/148f split is more boys than I would have expected. I see the gap widened in 2011: according to the Social Security Administration, there were 51 male babies and 182 female babies named Scout.

It’s an interesting question, because I think if the name had entered our culture without the book, it would very likely have been as a boy’s name. As you’ve mentioned, it sounds like Scott, and it works well with names like Hunter and Ranger.

But instead it’s considered a boyISH name for a scrappy girl—and meanwhile, the book To Kill a Mockingbird is commonly taught in high school year after year, which doesn’t allow the association to fade. And the name remains unusual, which doesn’t allow the association to dilute.

What does everyone else think about why Scout isn’t used more for boys? Do you think it could be tipped by, say, another famous Scout, but this one male? Maybe a handsome, winking, rugged type?

And let’s have a poll over to the right to see what we think of the name for a boy at this point. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “Scout, but for a boy” (380 votes total):

I love it! I’d want to use it! – 16 votes (4%)
I like it! I’d want to consider it! – 32 votes (8%)
I like it for someone else’s baby – 124 votes (33%)
No particular opinion – 39 votes (10%)
Slight dislike – 96 votes (25%)
Strong dislike – 73 votes (19%)

In just the first 6.5 months of 2012, we’ve done five questions where the letter-writer has mentioned the name Sloane—either as a candidate for the upcoming baby, or as a name of a sibling. In my spreadsheet I have three more letters that include the name Sloane as a candidate.

This is in sharp contrast to last year: in ALL of 2011, only one letter mentioned the name Sloane.

It made me curious enough to go look it up at the Social Security Administration website:

That’s the entire Top-1000 history of the name Sloane from 1879 to 2011. That is, it hasn’t been in the Top 1000 AT ALL, until 2009. And since then it’s made a big jump, from the high 800s to the low 500s—that’s huge. In numbers, that’s 310 baby girls named Sloane in 2009 (and another 147 named Sloan, for a total of 457 girls named Sloan/Sloane), and 570 baby girls named Sloane just two years later in 2011 (and another 291 named Sloan, for a total of 861 girls named Sloan/Sloane)—nearly doubled.

Here is the question: WHY? I see the appeal of the name: it’s growing on me just like it’s growing on everyone else (a quick check shows my “suggesting the name Sloane” rate has gone up at about the same rate as the “letters mentioning the name Sloane” rate). But why IS it?

My primary association is with pretty, relaxed, rich, cool Sloane in the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. When I put the name Sloane into a search engine, I was reminded that I also know of the Sloane who wrote I Was Told There’d Be Cake—which, incidentally, was published in 2008, a year before the name showed up on the charts.

So it’s a surname name, which fits into current styles, and I think it has some of the rich sound of names like Ava and Lila and Sophia and Chloe. It has a preppy, rich, smooth, cool, boyish style—and yet it’s used mostly for girls (87 boys named Sloane/Sloan in 2011, most without the E) so it doesn’t cause much confusion or make people feel like they’re using “a boy name” for a daughter.

What do you think? Is Sloane just meeting the perfect moment for it to come into style? Are there other ways the name Sloane is bringing itself to parents’ minds?

E. writes:

I would like your impartial advice on this, as a baby name advice blogger. Most people think “syrup” and I’m aware of the slavery connotations – however my daughter will be Caucasian/Italian. We live in California, and both have college/graduate degrees. Is Jemima a quirky biblical name or still too loaded to use?

Interesting! I’m not sure! For me it definitely has an immediate syrup/slavery association (no biblical association even for this pastor’s daughter—Jemima had such a tiny/brief mention), but that kind of association dims so quickly with increased usage of a name. One year it’s “NOAH?? As in, THE ARK??,” and then suddenly it’s in the Top 10.

So let’s check to see what the Social Security Administration says the usage is doing:

1996 – 27 baby girls named Jemima
1997 – 13
1998 – 14
1999 – 26
2000 – 22
2001 – 24
2002 – 18
2003 – 34
2004 – 32
2005 – 28
2006 – 35
2007 – 43
2008 – 33
2009 – 50
2010 – 32
2011 – 39

Not much, huh? Somewhat of an increase over time, but not exactly leaping up the charts.

Here’s something of possible interest, however: the very similar name Jemma hadn’t been in the Top 1000 since 1879 (that’s how far the online records go back)—but it suddenly appeared in 2010 and 2011 at #854 and #832, respectively. The spelling Gemma has a similar story: nothing from 1879 through 2007—but then it appeared in 2008 at #889, and then for the next three years it LEAPED: #562 in 2009, #449 in 2010, and #356 in 2011.

This suggests to me that the SOUND of the name Jemima may be ready to come into style. The associations may still be too strong—or perhaps Jemima just needs a few more years and will then suddenly leap after Gemma.

What does everyone else think? Is Jemima usable now? Usable soon? Not usable in the foreseeable future? Let’s have a poll over to the right, but put the reasons for the responses in the comments section. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “The name Jemima:” (411 votes total):

I think it’s usable now! – 132 votes (32%)
I think it’ll be usable soon! – 58 votes (14%)
I don’t think it’ll be usable for a long time – 123 votes (30%)
I don’t think it’ll ever be usable – 80 votes (19%)
I can’t decide – 18 votes (4%)

Kate writes:

I’ve been thinking about the name Percy recently, but for a girl.  To me it’s a perfect little girl name- feminine but spunky.  But I’m not sure the world is ready for Percy to cross over yet and I’d be interested in what you and your readers think. Are the Thomas the Tank Engine and Percy Weasley associations too strong?

I would like to see it used as a nickname (maybe spelled Persy or Persey or Persie) for the name Persephone, which, now that Penelope and Hermione and Phoebe are familiar, I see no reason we can’t bring into fashion. PERSEPHONE. It’s time.

I think Percy would also work well as a given name. Tracy, Stacy, Lacy, Macy, Lucy, Gracie, Marcy, Mercy, Darcy, Percy. And the boys seem to be done with all the -cy names for now.

What do you think of Percy as a girl name? Let’s have a poll over to the right! [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “What do you think of the name Percy for a girl?” (421 votes total):

I love it! I’d want to use it! – 16 votes (4%)
I like it! I’d want to consider it! – 41 votes (10%)
I like it for someone else’s baby – 142 votes (34%)
No particular opinion – 20 votes (5%)
Slight dislike – 94 votes (22%)
Strong dislike – 108 votes (26%)

B. writes:

I heard this name again recently (I once knew a girl by the name who was born in the early 1980s), and a quick search revealed you’ve never discussed it on the blog.  Bevin (or Bevan?), as a girl’s name.  I’d assume its pronounced BEV-in or BEV-an. Preliminary research tells me its an Anglicization of the Celtic name Beibhinn (BAY-vin), meaning white or fair.  It has a lot to recommend it for popularity:  there is a young actress by the name (Bevin Prince); it has Celtic roots but is easy to spell and pronounce; it has a pleasing familiar quality (similar to popular male names like Kevin and Evan); its also a surname.  Yet it has never gained traction.  Social Security database says it has not been in the top 1000 in the past 100 years, although it has been given to between 15 and 25 girls in each year between 2008 and 2011 (all I had time to search). 

My husband (a high school teacher) tried it out on his students (a very scientific sample, to be sure), and none reacted positively.  They thought it looked like “bovine” or was too similar to Devin or that it looked invented.

I’d be interested in your/ your reader’s thoughts.

Starting with the Social Security database, I find this info for 2011 babies:

6 boys and 7 girls named Bevan
15 girls named Bevin

The spellings Bevyn and Beven seem to be unused (or at least, they’re not in the database, so there were 4 or fewer of each in 2011).

The Oxford Dictionary of First Names has Bevan listed as a surname name meaning “son of Evan.” Bevin is listed as the Anglicized version of the Irish name Béibhinn, as you mention.

For me, it calls to mind The Name Game song. Evan Evan bo-bevan, banana-fana fo-fevan. I don’t know why it would do so, when Devan and Kevin don’t, but it does.

I think I’m also getting a little bit of a Beavis feeling about it.

I also think of the word bevy.

I wonder if the similar names Bethan and Beverly (neither currently in style) and the dropping popularity of Devan and Kevin affect its popularity as well: the sounds of it may be out of style right now, but it may come bursting in when those sounds come back around.

Let’s have a poll over to the right to see what we think of the name overall. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “What do you think of the name Bevin?” (448 votes total):

I love it! I’d want to use it! – 4 votes (1%)
I like it! I’d want to consider it! – 27 votes (6%)
I like it for someone else’s baby – 64 votes (14%)
No particular opinion either way – 43 votes (10%)
Slight dislike – 177 votes (40%)
Strong dislike – 133 votes (30%)

A. writes:

I’m due with my first – a boy – on August 29th. My maiden name is Salem, and my married last name is Ceder.

What do you think about Salem Ceder for a boy? Too much alliteration? Is “Salem” too odd for a first name? Yes, I know about the associations with the witch trials and cigarettes :)

Thanks for any help!

Using the mother’s maiden name as a first name is one of my top favorite baby name ideas. It’s rare for it to work out: most surnames don’t work as first names—and even among the ones that do work, many then don’t work with the baby’s surname, or aren’t to one or both parents’ tastes.

My opinion of Salem is that there are two reasons it doesn’t work: (1) the negative associations you mention, and (2) the way it fits with the surname.

The Salem witch trials were a horrifying time in U.S. history. Terms like “witch hunt” are still used to instantly remind us of how people can become evil themselves in their efforts to find evil in others. The cigarette association pales in comparison with that, though it’s also an issue. (And I think with this particular surname it can sound like a new kind of cigarette: Salem Slim, Salem Menthol, and Salem Cedar.)

Nevertheless, the name is being used, so the associations are clearly not as overwhelming as they are with, say, a name like Adolf: according to the Social Security Administration, in 2010 there were 67 new baby boys and 66 new baby girls named Salem. The unisex nature of the name is another issue, either positive or negative depending on what sorts of names you’d want to use for future siblings.

Salem Ceder might be okay alliteration-wise; I don’t like the way the name sounds when I say it aloud, but such things are almost completely subjective and the next person could love the way it sounds. I think a bigger issue is that both Salem and Ceder are strong word names. The sudden double mental imagery (witch trials, then cedar chests; or cigarettes, and then cedar trees) is a lot of imagery for one name. Or the word-like surname can turn the first name into an adjective: Atlas Cedar, White Cedar, Salem Cedar.

I think all these issues are hugely reduced (if not eliminated entirely) if the name is instead put in the middle name slot. Then you get the mother’s-maiden-name tradition, which is a great one, AND you get to use a name that would be a great name without the association problems and surname conflicts.

Let’s have a poll over to the right. [Poll closed; see results below.]

Poll results for “What do you think of the name Salem?” (476 votes total):

I love it! I’d want to use it! – 20 votes (4%)
I like it! I’d want to consider it! – 44 votes (9%)
I like it for someone else’s baby – 122 votes (26%)
No particular opinion – 28 votes (6%)
Slight dislike – 148 votes (31%)
Strong dislike – 114 votes (24%)