Names From… The California Octuplets
I’m so sorry it’s been a month since I have updated! But now I am back, with commentary on the highly polarizing news story of the California Octuplets.
More accurately, the babies are the Suleman octuplets, born to 33-year-old divorcee Nadya Suleman. Added to her six previous kids, Ms. Suleman now has 14 kids 7 and under.
And… the names!:
And we can’t forget the other 6!
Names From… Famous Quintuplets & Sextuplets
I am back! And what a busy week it has been…
Today’s “Names From” will discuss the names famous quintuplets/sextuplets. I, like many of you, have neither met nor known any sextuplets, quints, or even quadruplets… the most multiple birth I have met are triplets! But there are several recorded and famous 5 or 6 child births, and some of them have very cool names!
QUINTUPLETS
The Dionne Quintuplets (first known surviving quints set)
The Ward Quints
- Lucy
- Robert
- Stephen
- James
- Andrew
The Beach Quints
- Timothy (the father’s name, and sadly Tim Jr. died of SIDS)
- John
- Patrick
- Corinne (the mother’s name)
- Deborah
The Chin Quints
- Adriel
- Amanda
- Andre
- Alicia
- Annabelle
The Cassidy Quints
- Conor James
- Amy Dorothy
- Cian Richard
- Rory Kevin
- Dearbhail Mary (** Dearbhail is unusual! I wonder what the origin/prn. is!)
The Denny Quints
- Ruth Elizabeth
- Helen Marie
- Emily Jayne
- Owen David
- Jesse William
The Ferrill Quints
- Landyn Konner
- Layne Mykel
- Drayden Karter
- Irelyn Kadyn
- Kieran Skye
The Jones Quints
- Brooklyn Faith
- Britton Grace
- Jack William
- Lila Addison
- Ryan Elizabeth
( + older sis Eliot)
SEXTUPLETS
The Rosenkowitz 6
- David Peter
- Grant Vincent
- Jason Solomon
- Emma Louise
- Nicolette Anne
- Elizabeth Rebecca
The Walton 6 (only all-female sextuplets)
The Dilley 6
The Ross 6
- Gavin Anthony
- Matthew Jackson
- Simon Fray
- Daisy Eve
- Rebecca Louise
- Chloe Anne
The Harris 6
- Kiera Christine
- Kalynne Antoinett
- Kaleb Reddrick
- Kobe Byshari
- Kieran Anthony
- Kyle Jacob
The Hanselman 6
The Gosselin 6
- Alexis Faith
- Hannah Joy
- Leah Hope
- Aaden Jonathan
- Collin Thomas
- Joel Kevin
( + sisters Madelyn Kate and Cara Nicole)
The Hayes 6… + 2 Twin Sets!
- Ryan Peter
- Connor James
- Eric John
- Tara Rose
- Rebecca Mary
- Rachel Ann
+ 2 Twin sets:
- Kevin
- Kyle
and
- Kieran
- Megan
The Thompson 6
- Octavia Daniela
- Stella Kimberly
- Ann Marie Amanda
- Emily Elizabeth
- Richard Linden
- [stillborn]
WDYT of these tons of names! I see a lot of Rebeccas and Annes/Anns. My favorites are Rose, Grace, Octavia, Daisy, Eve, Chloe, Stella, Rebecca, Cécile, Lila, Isabella, Sophia, Emma, Daniela, Megan, Helen, Annabelle, Amanda, Nicolette, and Elizabeth for the girls, and James, Andrew, Patrick, Jackson, Jack,William, Thomas, Peter, Jonathan, John, and David for the boys.
My favorite combos:
- 3st place boys: Simon Fray/Grant Vincent
- 2nd place boys: Connor James/Jack William
- 1st place boys: David Peter
- 3rd place girls: Emma Louise/Kate Elizabeth/Britton Grace
- 2nd place girls: Daisy Eve/Rebecca Louise
- 1st place girls: Lila Addison/Sophia Ivy
Names From… The Bottom 10
Us onomasts have pretty much heard the top 10 baby names from back to front: Emily, Isabella, Emma, Ava, Madison, Sophia, Olivia, Abigail, Hannah, Elizabeth, Jacob, Michael, Ethan, Joshua, Daniel, Christopher, Anthony, William, Matthew, and Andrew no longer make us blink an eye. But as we anxiously wait for the 2008 top 1000 names, we can look closer into the top 1000 of 2007. Maybe some of us have memorized the names of the top 25 or top 50 of each gender, but have any of us taken a real look at… the bottom 10 of the top 1000 list? Now, you have that chance.
BOTTOM 10 girls names:
- 990. Diya
- 991. Leticia
- 992. Sheila
- 993. Susana
- 994. Kylah
- 995. Sky
- 996. Antonia
- 997. Bree
- 998. Marlen
- 999. Olive
- 1000. Zaniya
What a diverse bunch! There’s the trendy-sounding Kylah and Sky, buttoned-up Antonia, Olive, and Leticia, sophisticated Bree, old-fashioned Sheila, Spanish-spelled Susana, and just out-there Marlen, Zaniya, and Diya.
My favorites: Antonia, Susana, and Leticia, though Bree and Olive are ok. I wonder where Diya came from? My guess as a creaytive spelling of Dia, the Spanish word for “day.”
Now for the boys:
- 990. Bentley
- 991. Talen
- 992. Blaise
- 993. Brenton
- 994. Eliezer
- 995. Isaak
- 996. Tyshawn
- 997: Dandre
- 998. Daxton
- 999. Leroy
- 1000. Trystan
Again, these are all over the place. I sense a trend here: There’s the trendy-sounding Daxton, Talen, Brenton,Bentley, and Trystan, buttoned-up Isaak and Eliezer, sophisticated Blaise, old-fashioned Leroy, and unconventional Tyshawn and Dandre.
Faves: Eliezer (ell-e-AY-zur), because of the association with Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel, author and concentration-camp survivor, and Blaise (recently a NotD at appellationmountain) are the only ones I really like, and Isaak/Isaac is ok for me. The rest are too current/soon-to-be-dated like Brenton, or made-up-sounding, like Tyshawn. And the misspelling of the medievel Tristan downgrades it quite a bit.
Conclusion: While familiar names like Ophelia, Gwen, Jedediah, and Gregor do not make the cut, names like Diya and Daxton do. WDYT of these bottom-of-the-top-1000 names?
Just An Opinion… Ezra
I’ll be up front: I LOVE the name Ezra for a boy. If you like Ezra for a girl’s name, I suggest you stop reading right… about… now.
For about a year and a half now, Ezra has been seriously in contention for breaking my top 5 boy’s names (I know… stop the presses!).
He fits all the criteria for me: he is intelligent sounding, has historical connections, is spunky yet classic, with a bonus of not being very common.
I first encountered him in a book series, where he was an incredibly handsome and quirky teacher. This may have influenced my opinion about him a little.
However, while perusing the babynames.com message boards, I encountered a post in which the user was asking for a 4th sister name for a sibset with girls named Zoe, Eden, and … Ezra.
Needless to say, I flipped.
Ezra is NOT an underused cute little girl’s name that has a z. It is a Biblical BOY’S name. Just because it ends in an “a” does not mean it’s perfect for feminine use. Have you ever met a female Joshua?
Also, the feel of Ezra is so masculine to me. EZ-ruh. Just say it aloud. Now repeat e-LIE-zuh. Close name, but a much more feminine feel. Eliza is the name these parents, in my unimportant opinion, should have chosen for their second daughter (she was the middle kid).
So, WDYT? Is Ezra feminine and I missed the memo? Do you know an Ezra of either gender? How would you complete the sibset of Zoe, Ezra Eliza, Eden, and insertgirlsnamehere ?
Names From… Laura Ingalls Wilder (And Family)
The “Little House On the Prairie” books were amoung the first books I read as a grade-schooler, and I’m sure I am not the only one. However, I didn’t appreciate what great namers ran in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s family! Here is a list of Laura’s family members, from her great-grandmother’s family down to her daughter’s.** These people were all real.
Laura’s Paternal Great-Great-Grandparents:
Jonathan Delano and Anne Ladd
Ezekiel Colby and Sally Fowler
Elijah Blood and Eunice Sleeman
Jonathan Ingalls and Martha Jane Locke
Laura’s Paternal Great-Grandparents:
Samuel Ingalls and Margaret Delano
Nathan Colby and Eunice Blood
Laura’s Paternal Grandparents:
Landsford Ingalls and Laura Colby
Their kids:
- Peter Riley (Married Eliza Ann Quiner, kids were Alice, Ella, Peter , Lansford, Edith “Dolly Varden” and Edmond Llewellyn
- Charles Phillip (more on him later)
- Lydia Louise
- Polly Melona (married Henry Odin Quiner [Laura's mother's brother] and their kids were Louisa, Charles, Albert, Lottie, Ruby, and Lillian)
- Landsford James
- Laura Ladocia “Docia” (married August Waldvogel and they had two kids: Lena and August Eugene “Jean”. She then divorced Waldvogel and married Hiram “Hi” Forbes, and they had 7 daughters [names not listed!]
- Hiram Lemuel
- George Whiting
- Ruby Celestia
Laura’s Maternal Great-Great-Grandparents:
Allan Alexander Morse and Margaret Drummond
Laura’s Maternal Great-Grandparents:
Louis Tucker and Martha Gráinne Morse [the Martha of the book series] (her brothers were Alistair, Robbie, and Duncan, and her sister was Grisie, probably short for Grisell, her aunt’s name)
William Quiner and Margaret Doer
Laura’s Maternal Grandparents:
Henry Quiner and Charlotte Tucker (sister named Lydia)
Their Kids:
- Martha Morse (died at age 3 or 4)
- Joseph Carpenter (wife named Nancy)
- Henry Odin
- Martha Jane (married Charles Carpenter)
- Caroline Lake (more on her later)
- Eliza Ann
- Thomas Lewis (married Lillian Graham Hill and had 6 kids: Helen, Alice, Donald, Dugold, Lillian, and John)
** After Henry Quiner died, Charlotte Tucker remarried, to Frederic M. Holbrook, and they had 1 daughter:
- Charlotte E. “Lotty” Holbrook
The Wilders (Laura’s husband’s family, included b/c they have kickbutt names too)
Laura’s Great-in-laws:
Abel and Hannah Wilder
Justin and Diadema Day
Laura’s In-Laws:
James Mason Wilder and Angelina Albina Day
Their kids:
And now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for: Laura’s immediate family!
Laura’s parents
Charles Phillip Ingalls & Caroline Lake Quiner Ingalls
Their kids:
- Mary Amelia
- Laura Elizabeth
- Caroline Celestia “Carrie”
- Charles Frederick “Freddie” (died as a toddler)
- Grace Pearl
Almanzo Wilder and Laura Ingalls Wilder’s daughter:
- Rose Wilder Lane
There you have it! They have some AMAZING names in this family. My favorites are:
- Grace, Rose, Lillian, Helen, Elizabeth, Caroline, Celestia, Ruby, Eliza, Charlotte, Ruby, Lydia, Polly, Angelina, Melona, Laura, Amelia, and Gráinne for the girls.
- William, George, Henry, Charles, Phillip, Frederick, Elijah, Jonathan, Ezekiel, Alastair, Thomas, James, and quirky Almanzo for the boys.
WDYT? Do you have as cool or neater names on your family tree?
