Kendra & Joe Part 12: Another day, Another Duggar on the Way

[Smee]

3 hours ago, nausicaa said:

I think it's a different case when you're giving your kids classic names like "John" and "Sarah" that have stood the test of time, but I can understand avoiding trends. I always kinda felt bad for the five Jennifers in my class who had to go by "Jenny S." and "Jenny D." to be delineated.

True, but national data only tells you so much. My son’s first grade class last year had two boys called Malachi and two girls called Zahlie. Neither were in the top 100 the year they were born.

 

”Old” names are definitely making a comeback, particularly for girls. Under the age of 8, I know kids called Evelyn, Freya, Florence, Eleanor, Alice, Adelaide, Edith, Estelle, Margot, Constance, Theodore and Herbert.

Edited April 15, 2019 by Smee

[CarrotCake]

2 hours ago, Smee said:

”Old” names are definitely making a comeback, particularly for girls. Under the age of 8, I know kids called Evelyn, Freya, Florence, Eleanor, Alice, Adelaide, Edith, Estelle, Margot, Constance, Theodore and Herbert.

Funny how this is an international thing. Here also 'old' names are making a comeback but then the Dutch older names. 

[tabitha2]

My none existing  daughter would be named Windsor Rose. That’s a given. But I knew a girl named Saxon once and find that really attractive. Twin girls named Windsor and Saxon? That Sounds cool. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by tabitha2

[JordynDarby5]

10 hours ago, Sky with diamonds said:

I love many old names. Don't know if I should admit to this or not, I even love the name Esther. Then again, one of my favorite Aunt's was named Esther, but she was known as Ess. ❤️

I love so many old names too. Matilda, Eleanor, Emma, Millicent, and Alice.  I love the name Esther too. 

8 hours ago, tabitha2 said:

I want Lavinia to make a come back. Such a lovely name. 

Yes it is.

5 hours ago, NachosFlandersStyle said:

I have a grandmother named Gladys and it would be sorta fun if that came back into style just so somebody could name a kid after her. 

It's funny how these things go around. I always really liked the name Linda (maybe because I grew up listening to Linda Ronstadt?) and only later found out that it's strictly considered a fusty middle-aged name now. But it still sounds pretty to me!

It is funny. One of my mom's friends told me once her real name was Belinda but she went by Linda because she hated the name and thought it sounded old I thought Belinda sounded like a great name. 

5 hours ago, nausicaa said:

I really like the names Evelyn, Celeste, Stella, Agnes, and Gretchen, much to the horror of many people. 

Still can't be down with Hortense though...

I think it's a different case when you're giving your kids classic names like "John" and "Sarah" that have stood the test of time, but I can understand avoiding trends. I always kinda felt bad for the five Jennifers in my class who had to go by "Jenny S." and "Jenny D." to be delineated. 

So did I. The many Jennifers, Jessicas, Lisas, Heathers and Brandys. Jessica with red hair, Jessica with curly hair, Jennifer S, Jennifer M., Brandi or Brandy why? Its pain when every where you go there's always four or five women with your name. Or your school constantly mixing up the girls with same name and kept calling my sister-in-law's parents when she was in school saying she was ditching class all the time when it was another girl with her same first and last name. No matter how many times my sister-in-law or her parents told them that, they never fixed and never stopped confusing them. Or my grandmother who kept getting all the phone calls and nasty letters meant for her sister-in-law with the same first and last name who kept running up debts everywhere.       

     I can see why it would be a pain and why you'd want to try to name your kid something more rare. But that can have problems too. As much as it is a problem to always end up in a room or classroom with several girls with your name. It can be a pain to have a  rare or unusual name that is always mispronounced and misspelled. My mom and I both have unique names and although we love them. It is a pain to always have to no one able pronounce them (even though both are really easy and pronounced exactly how it looks), always have to spell the name and you really learn to listen for something that sounds weird because nine times of ten its my name. I'm really not sure which is easier. My friend and I could never figure out what name to give the hostess when we went out to lunch. She had a very common name which always meant there were three or four with the same name waiting for the name and mine always got so badly butchered it could be hard to recognize,    

2 hours ago, Smee said:

True, but national data only tells you so much. My son’s first grade class last year had two boys called Malachi and two girls called Zahlie. Neither were in the top 100 the year they were born.

 

”Old” names are definitely making a comeback, particularly for girls. Under the age of 8, I know kids called Evelyn, Freya, Florence, Eleanor, Alice, Adelaide, Edith, Estelle, Margot, Constance, Theodore and Herbert.

It really is. So many of my ancestors names I never thought would be popular again particularly the Swedish and Norwegian ones. But they are! Its so cool to see them again.

My favorite one though is Anastasia. Its been my favorite for so long and if I ever have a daughter that's what I'll name her. Even if it means a lot of explaining no she's not name after Ana from 50 Shades of Gray. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by JordynDarby5

[Captain Obvious]

6 hours ago, nausicaa said:

I really like the names Evelyn, Celeste, Stella, Agnes, and Gretchen, much to the horror of many people. 

I think it depends on where you live and the sort of people you hang out with. It's very much a hipster thing - and the preserve of people who hang out on sites like Nameberry - to resurrect old fashioned names. Even more so in the UK - names like Florence, Ivy, Elsie and Maisie for girls (and Alfie, Archie, Frederick for boys) have been top 20 names there.

And Evelyn is a top 10 name in the US and top 20 in the UK, which is no surprise since all the Eve variations (except Eve itself) are super popular right now - from Ava and Evie to Avery and Everly (neither of which are actually variants of Eve or Ava, but I think owe their popularity to those names),

6 hours ago, singsingsing said:

I actually think Linda is a really pretty name too. I feel like it might come back into style in a few decades. I always really liked the name Irene. I had a friend named Irene growing up and had no idea it was considered an ‘old lady’ name until I was an adult. She was the only Irene I knew, so it seemed like a beautiful, youthful name to me!

I think you're right about the timing: the cut off seems to be when names are associated with great-grandma rather than grandma or mum. Nameberry describes it as the 100-year rule (but it might be more like 80 years). 

So that means we're only about 10 years away from Joan, Janet, Betty and Nancy for girls starting to sound fresh again, and names like Roy, Kenneth, Norman and Earl for boys. Honestly, some of those names seem like they're not far off for hipsters to pick up now, actually. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Captain Obvious

[QuiverFullofBooks]

Back in the 80s I thought Heath and Heather would be cool names for boy/girl twins. 

[CarrotCake]

13 minutes ago, Captain Obvious said:

So that means we're only about 10 years away from Joan, Janet, Betty and Nancy for girls starting to sound fresh again, and names like Roy, Kenneth, Norman and Earl for boys. Honestly, some of those names seem like they're not far off for hipsters to pick up now, actually. 

That's so funny, Nancy, Roy and Kenneth are such 80s names here. Around that time it started to become cool to give your kids American names.

[Bobology]

18 hours ago, VelociRapture said:

18 hours ago, VeryNikeSeamstress said:

I though the Dillards' theme was names with 'el' in them.

I'm really curious to see if any theme naming happens with the one child and currently childless families. Knowing the theme makes name guessing easier and more fun.

I thought so, but another poster told me a while back that it was apparently just a coincidence. So now I’m not sure.

Although the 'el' was a coincidence, Derick grabbed onto it because of something about 'el' = 'of god'. Their girl choice name, Selah, contains 'el' and I bet they'll use it if they have a girl and then the 'el' would be set to be a thing for them. Elizabeth, Hazel, Evelyn, Rachel, Nathaniel, Daniel, Eli, Mattel, Trumpel... (yes I made those up because I get carried away.  I don't expect the Dillards to have a quiver, though.)

[fluffernutter]

It's a good thing we had three girls was because we could never agree on a boy's name. I wanted to do William with the nickname of Will or Liam, and he would've been a William the third. My husband didn't like his name. And the names he would pick out I didn't like. But our girl name list went on for ages. So girls it was. ?‍♀️

[Satan'sFortress]

18 hours ago, Sky with diamonds said:

I love many old names. Don't know if I should admit to this or not, I even love the name Esther. Then again, one of my favorite Aunt's was named Esther, but she was known as Ess. ❤️

I really love the name Esther, too!

LittleFortress (born in the early 2000s) knows two different kids named "Seven".  One male, one female.

[nickelodeon]

Have we ever heard anything about the mysterious Cousin Mackynzie whom Smuggar and Anna love so much they named their fistborn after her?

Maybe Joystin will go with a Book of Judges theme due to their shared love of being Judgey. Gideon could have siblings named Deborah, Samson, and Elon. Not Barak though!!!

[Georgiana]

3 hours ago, Bobology said:

Although the 'el' was a coincidence, Derick grabbed onto it because of something about 'el' = 'of god'. Their girl choice name, Selah, contains 'el' and I bet they'll use it if they have a girl and then the 'el' would be set to be a thing for them. Elizabeth, Hazel, Evelyn, Rachel, Nathaniel, Daniel, Eli, Mattel, Trumpel... (yes I made those up because I get carried away.  I don't expect the Dillards to have a quiver, though.)

Ironic since El (the same El you find in Israel, Bethel, Samuel, etc.) was actually the name of a Canaanite God (and generally Canaanite for "god" before it came to denote a specific figure).  The God of the Hebrews originally identifies himself AS this Canaanite father-God in the Old Testament, before later revising his "true" name.  In fact, most Biblical scholars believe the Israelite God to be a composite of the older El figure and other influences.  So Derick's really naming his kids after a pagan God.  Exactly the kind of work I expect from him, nice job buckaroo.  

If you look at the imagery of El, you'll find a LOT of overlap between the imagery of the Israelite and Christian God as well.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_(deity)

This is not the only Canaanite God found in the Bible, shockingly,  nor seemingly the only one the early Israelites worshiped.  There are pieces of text that indicate that the early Hebrews ALSO worshiped a goddess, Asherah, and that the ride of the monotheistic, Patriarchal religion we now associate with Judaism came about much later than originally believed.  The early Hebrew people were likely very consistent with their polytheistic neighbors, and the importance of the Prophets may be that THEY were the innovators leading the people to male-centered monotheism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asherah

[Iamtheway]

My name was normal but not hugely popular when I was a kid. I never had another girl with my name in my class, but there were usually one in some other class at school. It become more popular later though, it was up on top 10 for a while and has been top 20-40 for 20 years. And it is a good name so I get it.

Miniway has an old name Swedish name. Apparently it was in the top 200 the year he was born. Less then 100 boys got it though and in the last 20 years it has slowly gone from 0-25 kids a year to over 50. So a really slow rise but not a very popular name. 

I still really like it. 

Edited April 15, 2019 by Iamtheway

[OyToTheVey]

19 hours ago, anjulibai said:

I picked names that have been common for centuries, and haven't been out of the top 20 in the last 140 years in the US, and were mostly in the top 10. I know a lot of people that won't pick any name in the top #100, which I think is strange. Who cares what everyone else is naming their kids? 

I once had a kindergarten classroom with 3 Jadens( all spelled differently) and 2 Aidens (also spelled differently), it was such a mess tbh.

[viii]

When I was like... 8, I thought the most beautiful names for a pair of twin girls would be Oceanic and Aquafina (yes, like the water LOL) 

Thankfully my tastes have since evolved, but I've yet had the chance to bestow a name upon another human. 

[KeshetParparNesicha]

5 hours ago, Bobology said:

Although the 'el' was a coincidence, Derick grabbed onto it because of something about 'el' = 'of god'. Their girl choice name, Selah, contains 'el' and I bet they'll use it if they have a girl and then the 'el' would be set to be a thing for them.

The 'el' in Selah doesn't have anything to do with the 'of God' suffix. It's not even the same letters.

[MargaretElliott]

I adore old names - Myra is a favorite for a girl, Nathaniel for a boy. I can totally see Kendra & Joe going for a name like that, since Gideon already falls into that category. It's trendy but not ~*tRyNdY*~ (no shame to anyone who likes unique spellings, but when they make the name hard to pronounce it kind of bothers me)

[JordynDarby5]

3 hours ago, nickelodeon said:

Have we ever heard anything about the mysterious Cousin Mackynzie whom Smuggar and Anna love so much they named their fistborn after her?

Maybe Joystin will go with a Book of Judges theme due to their shared love of being Judgey. Gideon could have siblings named Deborah, Samson, and Elon. Not Barak though!!!

I'd be surprised if any of them choose Deborah. Deborah was a badass in the Bible. She was a prophet, Judge and General. But given their ridged gender views I can't imagine any of the picking that name because of that. A woman who was a Judge? Who lead an army? Who was prophet? Nope, can't have that. I have a feeling its the same reason why they never picked Judith out of all the J names. 

[singsingsing]

3 minutes ago, JordynDarby5 said:

I have a feeling its the same reason why they never picked Judith out of all the J names. 

Judith isn't in the Protestant Bible. I kind of think the same about Jael, though (though I think I maybe have heard of fundies named Jael).

[OyToTheVey]

2 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

Judith isn't in the Protestant Bible. I kind of think the same about Jael, though (though I think I maybe have heard of fundies named Jael).

Most Jaels that I know are really Yaels and they're all Jewish. 

[JordynDarby5]

5 minutes ago, singsingsing said:

Judith isn't in the Protestant Bible. I kind of think the same about Jael, though (though I think I maybe have heard of fundies named Jael).

She's not? I could have swore I read about her story in the Protestant Bible. Maybe I mixed her up with the Catholic one or other Christian books. She was so awesome right up there with Jael and Deborah. Badasses.

[TheMustardCardigan]

2 hours ago, MargaretElliott said:

 I can totally see Kendra & Joe going for a name like that, since Gideon already falls into that category. 

It makes it a little confusing because they're both G names, but Gideon is Joy and Austin's son-- Joe and Kendra named their baby Garrett. That being said, I agree that they'll go with popular names that aren't too out of the box!

 

[Georgiana]

18 hours ago, nausicaa said:

I really like the names Evelyn, Celeste, Stella, Agnes, and Gretchen, much to the horror of many people. 

Agnes and Gretchen make my short-list too!  "Gretch" is such a cute nickname for a girl!

I also like Winnifred (Winnie), Wilhelmina (Mina/Minnie), Theodora (Teddy/Theo), Eleanor (Nell/Nellie), Marguerite, Grace, Aisling, Samantha, and Tennessee.  For boys, I like Lawrence, Ronald, Alexander, and Theodore.  

Eugene is a male name that runs strongly in my family, but it will be a middle name only because...it's Eugene.  Isadore could get the promotion to first name though!

Edit: ONLY for twins would I add Agatha to that list.  Because Agnes and Agatha were my favorite twins growing up from the American Girl Samantha books!

Edited April 15, 2019 by Georgiana

[nickelodeon]

2 hours ago, JordynDarby5 said:

I'd be surprised if any of them choose Deborah. Deborah was a badass in the Bible. She was a prophet, Judge and General. But given their ridged gender views I can't imagine any of the picking that name because of that. A woman who was a Judge? Who lead an army? Who was prophet? Nope, can't have that. I have a feeling its the same reason why they never picked Judith out of all the J names. 

It would be a weird choice for them! However, I wouldn't underestimate fundies' ability to make really bonkers religious naming choices. (Preaching that women should never criticize or contradict their husbands? Name your daughter MICHAL! Preaching that practicing Catholicism is totally comparable to demon possession? Name your kid after SAINT FELICITY!)

[AussieKrissy]

On 4/15/2019 at 7:00 AM, tabitha2 said:

Who names a baby Ethel now days even as middle name? That has not been trendy for 60 years . Evelyn is not exactly a name someone like Jessa would use as first name for a baby girl  either. It’s dated as well. 

evelyn is making a comeback in Australia. nn Evie