Belgian family with 13 children

kinderfest

Gwenny Blanckaert and Marino Vaneeno of Staden, Belgium, have 13 children — eight girls and five boys.

Notably, each child’s first name is made up of just four letters: A, E, L, and X.

Here are the names of all 13, from oldest to youngest:

  1. Alex (boy)
  2. Axel (boy)
  3. Xela
  4. Lexa
  5. Xael
  6. Xeal
  7. Exla
  8. Leax
  9. Xale (girl, born in 2019)
  10. Elax
  11. Alxe
  12. Laex (girl, born in 2022)
  13. Laxe (boy, born in 2023)

One of my sources mentioned that the eldest child, Alex, was named after Marino’s stepfather.

Sources:

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus

[Latest update: Feb. 2025]

Uplifting baby names: Summit, Meridian, Zenith

I have a soft spot for word names with inspiring definitions. I love how they can often double as one-word mantras.

So here are five word names with two things in common. First, each one has appeared in the U.S. data within the last few years. And, second, each one has a definition pertaining to height or upward movement — which signifies, to me, motivating concepts like progress* and improvement.

Click the links to see the popularity graphs.

  • Summit means “peak” or “highest point.” It can be traced back to the Latin word summus, meaning “highest.”
  • Meridian can mean “highest point” by way of its literal meaning, “mid-day,” from the Latin word meridianum (medius, “middle,” plus dies, “day”). Mid-day is when the sun is at its highest point.
  • Zenith, in astronomy, refers to the point in the sky vertically above a given position and, by extension, means “peak” or “highest point.” The origin is an an Arabic phrase meaning “the way over the head.”
  • Crown can refer to the “top part” of various things (a head, a hill, a hat, an arch, etc.) by extension of its best-known definition, “royal headdress.”
  • Rise means “to move upwards.” It was derived from the Old English word risan, which essentially had the same meaning. (Don’t confuse Rise with Risë!)

Which of the above would you be most likely to use as a baby name? Can you think of any similar names you’d add to the list?

*Progress itself has been used as a name before — it popped up in Alberta data just recently — but it has yet to appear in the U.S. data.

Source: Online Etymology Dictionary

Vision-inspired baby names for 2020

eyeglasses

Most of the babies conceived during 2019 will be born during 2020 — a year that happens to mirror 20/20 (twenty-twenty), the term we use for perfect vision. It’s such a strong association that, just for fun, I put together a list of vision-related baby names for all those parents anticipating the arrival of 2020 babies…

  • Aisling, Irish, “vision” or “dream.”
  • Basar, Arabic, “sight.”
  • Butta-kuz, Mongolian, “camel eyes.” Implies “wide, beautiful eyes” like Maha and Najla, below.
  • Charopus, ancient Greek, “glad-eyed” or “bright-eyed.” Also spelled Charops.
  • Daisy, from Old English dægeseage, “day’s eye.” Daisies open during the day and close at night.
  • Drishti, Hindi, “gaze.”
  • Hawkeye, originally a character in The Last of the Mohicans (1826).
  • Hitomi, Japanese, “pupil [of the eye].” Can mean other things as well, though, depending on the kanji.
  • Lochan/Lochana, Hindi, “eye.”
  • Maha, Arabic, “wide, beautiful eyes.” Refers to either wild cow eyes or oryx eyes specifically.
  • Maka, Hawaiian, “eyes.” Also: Namaka, “the eyes,” and Makanui, “big eyes.”
  • Mantius/Manto (masc./fem.), from ancient Greek mantis, “seer, prophet.”
  • Najla, Arabic, “wide, beautiful eyes.” Refers to either wild cow eyes or oryx eyes specifically. Also spelled Nagla.
  • Nayan, Hindi, “eye.”
  • Nayra, Aymara, “eye,” “sight,” or “past.”
  • Nazir, Arabic, “observant” or “spectator.” Can mean other things as well, though.
  • Panope/Panopea, ancient Greek, “all-seeing.”
  • Rana, Arabic, “eye-catching.”
  • Ruya, Arabic, “vision” or “dream.”
  • Sibyl, ancient Greek, “prophetess.” Also spelled Sybil.
  • Sullivan, anglicized Irish surname, “descendant of the little dark-eyed one.”
  • Tarisai, Shona, “look at, behold.”
  • Vision, which began appearing in the U.S. baby name data nearly 20 years ago.

And here are some names that simply begin with the word see:

  • Seeley/Seely
  • Seerat/Seerit
  • Seela
  • Seema
  • Seena
  • Seeta
  • Seeya

Finally, a few Esperanto words that could potentially be used as baby names:

  • Vidi, “see.”
  • Vidinda, “worth seeing.”
  • Vido, “sight, view.”
  • Vizio, “vision.”

Which of the names above do you like best?

If you’re expecting a baby in 2020, will you consider using a vision-themed baby name?

Image: Adapted from Arterio Rough by Faoflex under CC BY-SA 4.0.

The Lee family of Hawaii

From the cover of the book "One World" (1943) by Wendell Willkie

Louis Lee was born in 1921 to Chinese parents living in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was one of 13 children* and became multi-lingual while working at the family grocery store in Chinatown. His language skills came in handy later on, when he got a job as a Pan Am customer service representative.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Louis and his wife Lucille had a total of eight children, six boys and two girls. I don’t know the birth order, so I’ll list their names alphabetically:

  • Dean
  • Licius
  • Louann
  • Maycevene
  • Philmund
  • Rytwin
  • Taoward
  • Worldster (who became an ophthalmologist)

Here are the name explanations I’ve found so far: Maycevene was born on May 7th (1946), Rytwin’s name was based on the phrase “right will win,” Taoward’s name was based on the phrase “going toward a goal,” and Worldster was born in late 1943 when the book One World by Wendell Willkie was popular.

*Louis’s siblings were named Anna, Daisy, Edith, Elizabeth, Elsie, Grace, James, Joseph, Lillian, Pansy, Violet, and William.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from the cover of One World