So far Abby’s favorite first name is Benjamin. Her husband isn’t sold on it, though, so they’d like some other first name ideas.

Here are a few that I thought might work:

Which of the above names do you like best with Wade? What other names would you suggest to Abby?

A total of 4,816 girl names and 3,924 boy names were handed out, but most Irish babies (56.5% of girls, 65.0% of boys) were given names in the top 100.

Perhaps the most interesting baby-naming trend in Ireland right now is the number of Polish names (e.g. Filip, Kacper, Oliwia, Patryk, Szymon, Zuzanna) popping up in the top 100. Poland joined the EU in mid-2004, and well over one hundred thousand Poles have migrated to Ireland since then.

Sources: Central Statistics Office of Ireland, Jack and Sophie top baby names, Warsaw On The Thames

Here’s what she’s looking for in a boy name:

For the boy I’d like names that are two syllables long and start and end in a consonant. So far I like Robert, Patrick, Daniel and Fabian. The only one he likes is Fabian, but we’re still not sure.

And here’s what she’s looking for in a girl name:

For the girl I’d like names that are three or four syllables long, and start and end in a vowel. So far I like Anastasia, Ophelia, Elena and Ursula, but he likes none of them.

The babies’ last name will sound something like Thisbe.

Here are some of the boy names I came up with:

And here are some ideas for the girl name:

Which of the above do you like best with Beatrix? (And which ones make the best boy/girl pairings, do you think?)

What other names would you suggest to Marissa?

Colt, like King and Jett, has become more popular recently. After ranking 534th in 2008, it jumped 164 spots to reach 370th in 2009.

Why? A CNBC reporter says the reason is former University of Texas quarterback Daniel “Colt” McCoy.

In fact, the rise of the name mirrors McCoy’s career. Not bad considering the name was barely cracking the top 1000 when McCoy arrived on national scene four years ago.

It’s a sound theory. Colt did indeed enter the top 1,000 in 2005–the year that McCoy began playing college football.

But let’s not forget two things.

First, Colt wasn’t a top 1,000 virgin in 2005. It had been in the top 1,000 from 1982 all the way to 2002–over two decades. This original run may have been sparked by Colt Seavers, a character played by Lee Majors on the television series The Fall Guy (1982-1986).

Second, there’s the influence of Colton. It first cracked the top 1,000 in 1982 as well (perhaps due to the influence of Colt?). Unlike Colt, though, Colton became more popular as time went on. So now, a few decades later, the still-trendy sound of Colton may be paving the way for the re-introduction of Colt.

And now a question for you: In terms of college football-related baby names, which do you like better, Colt or Crimson?

Source: Parents Naming More Kids Colt

Which baby name ranked #1 in the most states? Clearly Isabella:

1. Isabella, 21 states (AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, HI, IL, NV, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, TX, VA, WA, WY)
2. Emma, 14 states (AL, AR, IN, KS, KY, ME, MO, MT, NC, OR, SC, SD, TN, VT)
3. Ethan, 9 states (HI, IN, KS, MT, ND, OK, SD, UT, WI)
   William, 9 states (AL, AR, DC, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA)
4. Olivia, 8 states (ID, MA, MI, MN, NH, ND, UT, WI)
5. Jacob, 7 states (AZ, IA, KY, MI, MO, OH, WV)
6. Alexander, 6 states (CO, DE, IL, NE, OR, WA)
   Michael, 6 states (AK, CT, MD, NJ, NY, PA)
7. Madison, 4 states (GA, MD, MS, WV)
8. Logan, 3 states (ID, MN, NH)
9. Anthony, 2 states (NV, RI)
   Ava, 2 states (IA, LA)
   Jayden, 2 states (FL, LA)
   Noah, 2 states (ME, VT)
10. Addison, 1 state (NE)
    Aiden, 1 state (NM)
    Allison, 1 state (DC)
    Daniel, 1 state (CA)
    Jose, 1 state (TX)
    Ryan, 1 state (MA)
    Wyatt, 1 state (WY)

Wyatt was #1 in Wyoming. Cute, isn’t it? I wonder if it’s the name letter effect working in reverse.

Highlights: Isabella trumps Emma. Jayden, Noah and Mia make the top 10. Michael slips out of the top 2 for the first time since the 1950s.

Are you surprised Isabella is the new #1? Were you expecting it?

(For top names in other areas, see The Most Popular Baby Names of 2009.)

Source: SSA

Thomas

• English diplomat Thomas Bodley began reviving Oxford’s (nearly defunct) library in 1598. It was reopened as the Bodleian Library in November of 1602.
• English librarian Thomas James was the first librarian of the Bodleian Library.

Louis
Dutch printer Louis Timothee became the first salaried librarian in the American colonies in 1732.

Gottfried
Austrian diplomat and librarian Gottfried van Swieten created the world’s first card catalog at Austria’s Imperial Library, circa 1780.

Anthony and Antonio
Italian-born librarian Anthony Panizzi (originally Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi) was Chief Librarian of the British Museum Library during the mid-1800s.

Melvil
American librarian Melvil Dewey (born Melville Louis Kossuth Dewey) invented the Dewey Decimal Classification system as a 21-year-old, in 1876.

“Keenly interested in simplified spelling, he shortened his first name to Melvil as a young adult, dropped his middle names and, for a short time, even spelled his last name as Dui” (OCLC).

Charles
American librarian Charles A. Cutter developed the Cutter Expansive Classification system in the 1890s.

William
American librarian William Dix was the principle author of The Freedom to Read, which was adopted by the American Library Association in 1953.

Henriette
American systems analyst Henriette Davidson Avram developed the MARC standards in the late 1960s.

Judith
American librarian and anti-censorship activist Judith Fingeret Krug co-founded Banned Books Week in 1982.

Librarians of Congress
There have been 13 so far. Four of them were named John, and the others were named Ainsworth, Daniel, George, Herbert, James, Lawrence, Luther, Patrick and Archibald (as in, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Archibald MacLeish).

And now, the same two questions as always:

• Can you come up with any other library-related baby names?
• What interests/activities should we namestorm about next?

Sources: List of Librarians, Library of Congress

I know scores of chocolate lovers, so let’s start with chocolate. Below are names I found while researching the evolution of chocolate from the bitter Mesoamerican beverage it once was to the sweet, addictive confection it now is.

Hernando
Spanish conquistador Hernando Cortés was one of the first Europeans to try (and like) chocolate, circa 1519.

Hans
Ulster-Scot physician Hans Sloane (technically) invented chocolate milk while visiting Jamaica in the 1680s.

John and James
Irish immigrant John Hannon and American physician James Baker opened America’s first successful chocolate mill in Massachusetts in 1765.

Casparus and Coenraad
Dutch father-and-son chocolate makers Casparus van Houten and Coenraad van Houten developed several chocolate manufacturing techniques, including the Dutch process, in the early 1800s.

Joseph and Francis
English chocolate maker Joseph S. Fry began was the first to use a steam engine to grind cocoa beans in 1795. His son Francis Fry was head of J. S. Fry & Sons when the company introduced the first chocolate bar in 1847.

Domingo
An anonymous worker at the Ghirardelli factory in San Francisco discovered the Broma process around 1865. (Italian-born Domingo Ghirardelli was originally known as Domenico.)

Daniel and Henri
Swiss chocolate maker Daniel Peter produced the first milk chocolate bar in 1875, after years of experimentation. He did so by using the powdered milk invented by German baby formula maker Henri Nestlé (originally named Heinrich).

Rodolphe
Swiss chocolate maker Rodolphe Lindt invented the conching machine in 1879.

Milton
American confectioner Milton S. Hershey built the world’s largest chocolate manufacturing plant in 1905 in what is today known as Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Jules
Swiss chocolate maker Jules Séchaud invented a machine for manufacturing filled chocolates in 1913.

And now, two questions for you:

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

Sources: A Brief History of Chocolate, Chocolate, the exhibition, The History of Chocolate, Wikipedia

Eight pairs start with the same letter. Seven have the same rhythm. Another seven end with the same letter (and many of these nearly rhyme).

For twins and other multiples, name patterns are easy. You know the number of children and their genders ahead of time. But what if you want a name pattern for an entire sibling set? That can make things tricky. You don’t know how many children you’ll have, or what their genders will be. You also don’t know how your tastes may change over time.

If you’re thinking about a name pattern to cover all of your kids, here are three pieces of advice to consider before you begin:

Don’t lock yourself into something limiting.
Let’s say you like flowers. You have a daughter and you name her Lily. You have another daughter and name her Rose. Then another, Jasmine. And then a fourth, but…you don’t like any other flower names. Iris? Too old. Poppy? Too young. Zinnia? Too weird. Amaryllis will never be spelled correctly. And Daisy is the golden retriever down the street.

Or, let’s say you have a son named Alexander. Then you have another boy, and you decide to name him Xavier so they both have that X in common. Then baby #3–a little girl–comes along. Well, you can’t do Alexis–that’s too close to Alexander. You won’t go near Maxine because you fear maxi pad jokes. Roxanne reminds you too much of that song. Xena reminds you too much of that show. And Beatrix makes you think of rabbits.

When you play chess, you have to think ahead several moves. Look at sibling name patterns the same way. Think ahead as many kids as possible. If you can think of 10 or more usable names that fit the pattern, it’s probably a safe pattern. If you can’t, the pattern may be too limiting to be sustainable.

Consider the pros and cons of visibility.
Have you heard of the Duggars? They have nearly 20 kids, and all of those kids have a J-name. This type of name pattern is one of the easiest to spot. (Especially in large families.)

But name patterns don’t have to be obvious. Let’s say your children will have a whole bunch of aunts and uncles you’d like to honor with baby names. You make a list of their names and simply pick from this list as you have children. In this case, the pattern (aunt and uncle names) is so subtle that it’s basically a family secret.

Here are some example name patterns, ranging from blatant to barely there:

How can you test the visibility of a particular pattern? Make a list of names that fit the pattern. Pick two at random and give them to a friend. Ask that friend what the two names have in common. Did she get it on the first try? Was she unable to guess at all? That should give you a good idea about where the pattern would fall on the spectrum.

Avoid sets of names that have an endpoint.
Your first son is Luke. The next is Sky. The next is Walker. And then…surprise! Son #4. Now what–Anakin? Darth? Chewbacca?

If you start off with a discrete set of names, the universe will laugh at you and you will either:

• not have enough kids, or
• have too many kids

to match the number of names in the set. Murphy’s Law in action. So don’t tempt fate–stick with an open-ended theme that could end at two names or continue to ten.

What other suggestions would you give to parents considering name patterns?

Source: SSA

We need help finding a boy name for a very challenging last name…Gripe. We tend to like classic names (Henry, Charles).

Ah, the surname-that-is-also-a-word. I know this one well: my married name is one of these. They can turn great first names into puns, insults, unpleasant phrases, and who knows what else. Names like Kurt, Will, Harry and Roman just won’t do with a surname like Gripe.

I think the key to dealing with a word-surname is to select a first name that does not call attention to that surname, in terms of either meaning or sound.

• Meaning: Steer clear of first names that are words, that sound like words, or that have short forms that are similarly word-like. We want people to think of Gripe as a name, not as a verb or a noun. (I’d also keep away from A-names and I-names, which could turn into A. Gripe and I. Gripe on, say, a résumé. Not too helpful for making a good first impression.)
• Sound: Avoid names with the same sounds as Gripe, especially those with a G, long I, or G-R combination. The repetition in Gregory Gripe, for instance, makes the name sound like it belongs to a character, not a human–and it’s easy to think of character names in an abstract, meaning-laden sort of way. (Think Holly Golightly.)

The names below seem to me to be good matches for Gripe:

Do you like any of the above? What other names would you suggest to Sarah?

Update: The baby has arrived! Scroll down to see what name Sarah chose.