I regularly see double-x baby names used in English-speaking countries. The double-x names below, for instance, belong to babies that were born in America, Australia, Canada, England and Scotland within the last few years.

The problem? There’s no double-x in English. Sure, you’ll sometimes spot it in brand names (Exxon, T.J. Maxx) and in surnames (Foxx, Saxxon), but “xx” just doesn’t occur in native English words.

And that’s not all. The double-x has several unsavory associations (see 1st paragraph). So “xx” isn’t a particularly classy pair of letters.

My advice? When it comes to baby names, stick to a single x.

• Liz likes “traditional names that are not the type of name the person wearing it will be teased for,” such as Amalia, Charlotte, Sofia and Louisa/Louise.
• Liz’s husband like “names that sound cute for a little kid but good for an adult,” such as Grace, Beatrice and Nathalie. (Liz doesn’t care for Beatrice/Beatrix, though.)

So far, Louise/Louisa is the only name both Liz and her husband can agree on.

Here are some other names that I thought might work:

No name is immune to teasing, but I did bump Harriet, which is dangerously close to “hairy.”

What other names would you suggest to Liz?

Charles and Carlo

• French author Charles Perrault wrote Tales of Mother Goose (1697).
• Italian author Carlo Collodi, born Carlo Lorenzini, wrote The Adventures of Pinocchio (1883).

Johann and Hans

• Swiss pastor Johann David Wyss wrote The Swiss Family Robinson (1812).
• Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s began writing fairy tales in the 1830s.

Lewis
English author Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865).

Louisa
American author Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women (1868).

Jules
French author Jules Verne wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea (1870).

Mark
American author Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens, wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876).

Johanna
Swiss author Johanna Spyri wrote Heidi (1880).

Robert
Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Treasure Island (1883).

Beatrix
English author Beatrix Potter, born Helen Beatrix Potter, wrote The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902).

Jack
American author Jack London, born John Griffith Chaney, wrote The Call of the Wild (1903).

James
Scottish author James Matthew Barrie created the character Peter Pan in the early 1900s.

Lucy
Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote Anne of Green Gables (1908).

Frances
Anglo-American author Frances Hodgson Burnett wrote The Secret Garden (1911).

Theodor
American writer Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, wrote The Cat in the Hat (1957).

Madeleine
American author Madeleine L’Engle wrote A Wrinkle in Time (1962).

Katherine
American author Katherine Paterson wrote Bridge to Terabithia (1977).

Beverly
American author Beverly Cleary wrote Ramona Quimby, Age 8 (1981).

Lois
American author Lois Lowry wrote The Giver (1993).

And now, two questions for you:

• Can you come up with any other children’s book authors?
• What interests/activities should we namestorm about next?

Time’s 1937 Homage to Winner mentions:

Many an ante-bellum baby was named after Hally, the fictitious girl over whom the song moons:

I’m dreaming now of Hally, sweet Hally, sweet Hally,
I’m dreaming now of Hally,
For the thought of her is one that never dies.

The name is spelled “Hally” in Time and in sheet music from 1856, but spelled “Hallie” in other sources, like Music of the Civil War Era by Steven H. Cornelius. Regardless, it always rhymes with the word “valley,” which appears in the next line. It’s a pet form of Harriet, Henrietta and related names.

I’m not sure what kind of impact “Listen to the Mocking Bird” had on baby names in the mid-1800s, but Hallie was used regularly as a baby name in the late 1800s and early 1900s according to Social Security Administration data. (The spelling Hally never charted.)

P.S. Want to hear the song? Here’s Tom Roush’s version of Listen to the Mocking Bird, via YouTube.

Honey
Honey was the 190th most popular baby girl name on the list. Parents have also been using alternative spellings of Honey, and throwing (pouring?) Honey into compound names. Here are all the Honeys I spotted:

• Honey (278 babies)
• Honey-Rose (8)
• Honey-May (6)
• Hunnie (6)
• Honey-Mae (4)
• Hunni (4)
• Hunny (4)
• Honey-Marie (3)

They honey-names don’t even account for a tenth of a percent of all the baby girls in the data set, so I wouldn’t call them trendy. But they’re definitely on the radar.

Can’t say I’m on board with Honey. To me, honey is either a term of endearment or something I use in my tea. I like it for dogs and cats, but not for humans. (Would make a great stripper name, though.)

Honey has never charted here in the U.S., but I have seen it on birth announcements before.

Brandon-Lee
Lee was a very common second element in compound names for both genders. Despite this, I’d bet at least a few of the baby Brandon-Lees I saw were named specifically for Brandon Lee, the actor who died while filming cult favorite The Crow (1994). Here are the numbers:

• Brandon-Lee (23 babies)
• Brandonlee (4)
• Brandon-Leigh (3)

The only “-Lee” names to rank higher than Brandon-Lee were Jayden-Lee (29), Harvey-Lee (26), and Tommy-Lee (26).

Source: Office for National Statistics

Why am I posting old news? Because I recently found a more complete version of the 2008 list that goes all the way down to baby names used in England and Wales just three times. So, the top-ranked names may be old news, but the rest are new. (New to me, anyway.) Here goes:

And now, just for fun, let’s compare usage in England to usage in America:

*By UK, I mean England and Wales. Not an accurate substitution, I know. But “England and Wales” is just way too long for that spot.
**The 1,000th name on the U.S. top 1,000 was used for 192 baby boys. So the question marks represent some number between 0 and 192.
***Update: Kelly has astutely pointed out that raw numbers can be misleading. I’m not going to change the chart — I’m just too lazy — but I’ve thrown in some rough totals, for context.

Source: Office for National Statistics

• Kain, a male character from the Legacy of Kain series.
• Rinoa, a female character from Final Fantasy VIII.
• Kairi, a female character from Kingdom Hearts.
• Raiden, a male character from Mortal Kombat.

I’ve seen Raiden used as a baby name several times. Too bad it’s impossible to tell which Raidens were named after the character and which were simply given a variant of Aidan, or Jayden, or Caden…

Have you met any babies with these names before? (If so, do you know if their parents are gamers?)

But I thought taking a general approach would be more fun than focusing on a specific sport, so here are notable names culled from a range of sports:

James

• Canadian-born sports coach James Naismith invented basketball in Springfield, Massachusetts in late 1891.
• American athlete James “Jesse” Owens won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.
• American athlete James “Jim” Thorpe was named the greatest athlete of the first half of the 20th century by the Associated Press in 1950.
• American football player James “Jim” Brown was named the greatest professional football player ever by The Sporting News in 2002.

Mildred and Charlotte
American athlete Mildred “Babe” Didrikson and English athlete Charlotte “Lottie” Dod were named the most versatile female athletes of all time by The Guinness Book of Records.

George
American baseball player George “Babe” Ruth is widely regarded as the greatest baseball player of all time.

Gertrude
American swimmer Gertrude Ederle was the first woman to swim across the English Channel, in 1926.

Roger
English athlete Roger Bannister was the first man to run a mile in fewer than four minutes, in 1954.

Althea
American tennis player Althea Gibson was the first African-American woman to win a Grand Slam title, in 1956.

Edison
Brazilian soccer player Edison Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé, is widely regarded as the best soccer player of all time.

Jack

• American baseball player Jack “Jackie” Robinson was the first African-American to play Major League Baseball, in 1947. He was also the first African American inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1962.
• American golfer Jack Nicklaus is regarded by some as the greatest professional golfer of all time.

Sanford
American baseball player Sanford “Sandy” Koufax is the youngest person to have been inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame, in 1972.

Muhammad
American boxer Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay) was a three-time World Heavyweight Champion.

Bonnie
American speedskater Bonnie Blair is one of the most decorated athletes in Olympic history.

Wayne
Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky is regarded by some as the greatest professional hockey player of all time.

Michael
American basketball player Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the best basketball player of all time.

And now, two questions:

• What other sports-inspired names can you come up with?
• What other interests or activities should we namestorm about next?

Sources: Smithsonian Institution, Top North American Athletes of the Century

I am currently pregnant with my first baby. We do not know whether a boy or girl yet, but we are brainstorming names. I love the girl’s name Tatum, but my best friend’s daughter has that name. Can you think of any similar girl’s names I might like?

I get this question every once in a while — probably because Tatum is such an idiosyncratic name.

Sloane has always been my default answer. But it only works for non-UK babies, thanks to the Sloane Rangers.

Other names that come to mind are:

What other Tatum-like names can you come up with for Kate?

We are expecting twin girls and know we want to use Anna as one of our choices. Do you have any suggestions for our second baby girl? We already have two boys who are named Ivan and Ben, so you can see we like short, simple, traditional names…and nothing that rhymes! (Also Emma is not an option!)

Here are some names that I think Dana might like:

Like Ben, many of these originated as nicknames but are now used as independent names.

Which do you like best with Anna, Ivan and Ben? What other short, simple, traditional girl names would you suggest to Dana?