News
What US city name, is now America's hottest new baby name? June 24 2014
Chris Perez - New York Post
Brooklyn is so hot right now — the name, that is, in addition to its most famous bearer.
The borough is one of the country’s most popular baby names, according to data released by the Social Security Administration.
No longer just a nom de fabulous for people like buxom Brooklyn Decker, Brooklyn has soared from No. 912 in popularity over the past two decades all the way into the top 30 in each of the past three years.
More than 6,600 girls born in the United States were named Brooklyn in 2013, which makes it the 28th-most-popular name for girls, beating out Samantha, Allison and Sarah, data show.
“People want more creativity, many for the better, some for the worse,” says Pamela Redmond Satran, co-founder of the baby naming site nameberry.com.
Brooklyn beat out some popular city names including Savannah (No. 37) and London (No. 85), but still couldn’t top favorites Madison (No. 9) and Charlotte (No. 11).
Though the popularity of the name is sweeping the nation, there’s one place it hasn’t gained much traction: New York.
“It’s almost like a magical place far away that doesn’t exist to them,” says parent Heath Farnsworth-Williams. “For us, Brooklyn is home, and we’d have a hard time trying to make the identity of our home coexist with the identity of our child.”
From left: David and Victoria Beckham’s eldest son, Brooklyn; the HBO hit series “Girls,” which takes place in Brooklyn; and actress and model Brooklyn Decker
Baby Shower Games – 9 Fun Baby Shower Games May 12 2014
Bellybaby.com has these great idea for baby shower games!
Planning a baby shower for a friend? Or do you have a friend planning a baby shower for you? Be sure to print off this list of great baby shower games which are guaranteed ways to have extra fun at your baby shower. Here are 9 fun games to get you started with a bonus adults only game if you’re that way inclined!
Baby Shower Games #1 – Baby!
What You’ll Need
- 1 x dummy/pacifier for each person, cheap dummies are fine
- 1 x piece of ribbon per dummy – enough to have a dummy hang around guests’ necks
How To Play:
When everyone arrives at the baby shower, give them a dummy each to wear around their neck.
When everyone has arrived, explain that whenever anyone is caught saying the word ‘baby’, the first person to spot them gets that person’s dummy. So the idea of the game is to collect as many dummies as you can by the end of the day.
It’s a great game for getting everyone involved and listening intently to what is going on! You can adapt the word for something else, for example if mum-to-be is having twins, you could choose ‘twins’ or ‘babies’. Another word you might pick could be ‘belly’.
Baby Shower Games #2 – Jellybabies
What You’ll Need
- A packet of jellybabies
- Ice cube trays – enough for one cube per guest
- Cups of equal size, disposable are ideal
How To Play:
This needs to be prepared the night before the baby shower. Place one jellybaby into each ice cube slot and fill with water. They need to be frozen to play.
For the baby shower, announce that you are starting a game and give everyone a drink of water or punch etc., in a cup filled to the same height and tell them not to drink it.
Bring around a bowl of the jellybabies and ask each guest to pick one frozen jellybaby and put it in their drink for the game. Remind them not to start drinking until everyone has a jellybaby.
Once everyone is ready, the game can begin. The first jellybaby to be ‘born’ (from the ice completely melting) is the winner! The cubes must melt on their own accord – no crunching the ice. Even if someone wasn’t paying attention at the time and theirs has melted, the winner is the first person to notice their baby has been born.
Baby Shower Games #3 – The Price Is Right…?
What You’ll Need
- A selection of baby products varying in price
- Notepad and pen for each guest
How To Play:
This game is simple but fun – buy around 8 or so baby products which vary in price and place them in random order on a table or bench. Each guest must guess how much each item costs and write it down on paper.
The guest who guesses closest to the amounts wins. An easy way to tally the total up is to work out the differences in amounts of the guessed amount and actual amount, then add up all the differences in prices for each guest.
Baby Shower Games #4 – Dress the Baby
What You’ll Need
- A newborn baby sized doll (with a nappy on)
- Disposable nappies
- A timer
How To Play:
For this game, each guest needs to take off a doll’s nappy and then put another nappy back on, as fast as they can, using only one hand – the other behind their back. Depending on the amount of guests and/or time you have, you could expand this to dressing also, with or without a hand behind the back. The guest who changes/dresses baby the fastest is the winner. A fun variation of this game is to play it blindfolded!
Baby Shower Games #5 – Clothes Horse Game
What You’ll Need
- A clothes horse
- Lots of pegs
- A timer
How To Play:
Place lots of pegs on a clothes horse and the guest to take off the most pegs and put them into a container or bucket in 15 seconds is the winner.
Baby Shower Games #6 – Belly Measure Game
What You’ll Need
- A tape measure
- Pen and paper for each guest
- The guest of honour’s pregnant belly!
How To Play:
This is a simple game, everyone needs to make a guess of how many centimetres the mother-to-be’s belly is. The person who guesses closest is the winner.
Baby Shower Games #7 – Weight Game
What You’ll Need
- Bathroom Scales
- Pen and paper for each guest
- The guest of honour!
How To Play:
If mum-to-be is comfortable taking part in this game, it can work as per above, except you need to guess mum’s weight. Probably a game more for a groups of friends that are close and mum is happy to do so – it’s a good idea to ask her first!
Baby Shower Games #8 – Baby Food!
What You’ll Need
- An assortment of supermarket bought baby food jars/tins
- Spoons for each guest
- Blindfold
How To Play:
Players in this game take turns at being blindfolded and have to guess which baby food they are trying by tasting it blindfolded! I wouldn’t recommend serving this food up for your guests, but its a fun and silly game to play at a baby shower! The person who guesses the most foods correctly is the winner.
Baby Shower Games #9 – Guess Who?!
What You’ll Need
- A baby photo from each guest
How To Play:
You need to pre-plan this one – ask all guests to bring along a baby photo of themselves and everyone else will need to guess which baby photo belongs to which guest. The person who guesses the most photos is the winner.
Bonus Idea For Fun At Present Time!
This is a bit of fun and is great for laughs, but isn’t really a game.
As the mother-to-be is opening the presents, when she opens each one (as she sees her gift, she needs to say something that was said on the night of conception. Guaranteed laughs!
Bonus Game – Adults Only
For those of you who like to be a bit cheeky with your friends! PLEASE run this by the mother-to-be first because its not everyone’s cup of tea, but very popular none-the-less…
‘Labour Or Porn?’ is where the game organiser makes up a poster and sticks on a whole heap of women’s faces – some of women in labour and some from porn images/stills. The guests all need to guess if the faces belong to labour or porn – and the person who gets most right is the winner.
Thanks to babybelly.com for the great ideas!!
[WATCH] Toddler's conversation with his dad. April 17 2014
[VIDEO] Babies' reactions to eating a slice of lemon! April 07 2014
82 Stylish Baby Names That Might Soon Become Popular March 20 2014
The website Nameberry is at it again, this time with 82 stylish baby names that might soon become popular:
Based on the Nameberry list, they'd place the following baby names atop the current style wave. What many of them lack in popularity, they make up for in stylishness.
Girls:
Adelaide
Beatrice
Cora
Hazel
Imogen
Isla
Ivy
Maeve
Maisie
Violet
Boys:
Asher
Atticus
Beckett
Declan
Ezra
Felix
Finn
Jasper
Milo
Silas
These are all wonderful names, certainly, and well ahead of their style crest. All of them have a fashionable sound and feel, and a good ways to go before they’re overused.
And yet there’s a new style wave on the horizon, one that parents in search of more avant garde names will want to have their eyes on. This next wave takes current styles and trends to more extreme levels. Names they'd place in the next style wave include:
Girls:
Columbia
Consuelo
Cordis
Delphi
Doon
Enid
Eulalie
Feodora
Freesia
Glory
Hebe
Hero
Ida
Ines
Kassiani
Leontine
Lettice
Malou
Minerva
Nile
Oceana
Persephone
Rhiannon
Rowena
Season
Sheba
Sybella
Thisbe
Turia
Ursuline
Viveca
Boys:
Acacius
Anton
Apollo
Basie
Beach
Cassian
Cosmo
Cyprian
Enoch
Everest
Falconer
Florin
Freeman
Gower
Guthrie
Lazarus
Lowell
Lucius
Marlon
Nero
Oberon
Otis
Otto
Paladin
Percy
Ripley
Rocco
Romulus
Santiago
Smith
Willis
For more hit up Nameberry!
Kate Winslet explains how she came up with new baby’s name: Bear. March 18 2014
14 Baby Name Ideas You Haven't Heard Before For 2014 Babies! January 15 2014
Website Nameberry just came out with 14 baby name ideas you haven't heard before for 2014 babies!
Betsan, a Welsh pet form of Elizabeth, is little-known outside of the U.K. but it could provide an intriguing alternative to Liz, Beth, Betsy, Betty, and Libby. Bethan is another Welsh diminutive of Elizabeth.
You don't need to choose a longer name like Cable or Cabot to arrive at Cabe, brother of Gabe and Abe, cousin of Cade and Gage. This earthy, unusual, friendly nickname-name was given to a handful of boys last year and can make an intriguing choice. But be warned: It will forever be mistaken, at least at first hearing, for the more familiar Gabe.
Part Cameron, part Amber, Camber may be a new name but it feels right for our times. As a word, camber means a slightly arched surface or a tilt as of a wheel. Another new name to the site that’s a smoosh of two more established choices isAnnesley: part Anne, part Ashley. Variations Ansley and Ainsley have both hit the Top 1000 in recent years.
The fashion for using surnames as firsts has extended beyond the familiar Morganand Parker to more ethnic-sounding choices such as Cohen and O'Brien to -- why not? -- this quintessentially Irish name with the friendly o ending. Costello means “from England.”
Detroit, the name of the down-on-its-heels Michigan city, has a so-far-out-it's-gotta-be-cool quality. A handful of boys were named Detroit last year, and if you have ties to the Motor City -- familial or musical or spiritual -- you may want to consider it, especially as a middle name.
With the popularity of Isabella, you might think of Isabelline as a further elaboration. But Isabelline is the name of a pale cream-yellow color supposed to have been inspired by Queen Isabella of Catile, who vowed not to change her underwear until her husband broke a siege. The color is usually used to describe horses or birds.
Kaius is a K-ization of the Latin Caius, which means “rejoice” and is the name of an ancient poet as well as one of Twilight’s more exotic-looking vampires. The K version was introduced to the lexicon by style maven Rachel Zoe, who used it for her newborn son. Nickname Kai makes the variation make sense....almost.
Kipling calls to mind writer Rudyard (b. Joseph) Kipling, author of the stories familiar to schoolchildren Gunga Din and The Jungle Story. Certainly, Kipling is a friendlier name than Rudyard these days, complete with cute short form Kip.
Legacy is proof that any attractive-sounding word can be turned into a name, and this one has the added attractions of an inspirational meaning and a cool creative namesake -- hot young artist Legacy Russell.
The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is among the most usable. MacArthur or McArthur makes a perfect honorific for an ancestral Arthur and leads directly to the nicknames Mac or Art. General Douglas Macarthur was a World War II hero and, more recently, the unrelated Macarthur Foundation awards the famous “genius grants.”
Mackson and Macsen may sound alike, but we see Mackson as more of a modern smoosh of Jackson and Maxon, while Macsen is the Welsh variation of Maximus. Both do have antecedents as patronymic surnames but also have a synthetic feel. If you like the nickname Mack or Mac, one of these names can be an original starting point.
A simple but unusual name with roots in disparate cultures, Neri appears in the Bible as a male name and is still sometimes used for boys as well as girls. The appeal of Neri are its deep roots combined with its simple, upbeat, modern feel, ala Peri and Rory. In Hebrew, Neri means “burning light” and in Greek, it means “ocean spirit.” Neri is a blue fairy, the spirit of wisdom, in the Legends of Zelda.
Sender has an attractive modern sound. Though given to only a handful of baby boys in the most recent year counted, it nevertheless is in step with the brotherhood of occupational names fashionable today. Sadler and Driver are two other similar choices new to Nameberry.
The Vale of Tempe is an important place in Greek mythology as well as a real place in Greece. The ancient poets wrote of it as the halcyon dwelling of Apollo and the Muses. The modern cities in Arizona and Australia are named for the Greek Tempe, which is pronounced tem-pee and makes an appealing first name.
Top 12 trends for baby names in 2014! January 02 2014
According to baby website Nameberry, these are the top 12 trends for baby names in 2014!
Baby names 2014 will see parents reviving family names and long-dormant choices, finding inspiration in literary characters and world leaders, looking to names to make their children seem stronger or spicier. Nameberry.com picks for the Top 12 Baby Name Trends of 2014 are:
- Most Stunning Revival: Eccentric Ancestor Names
Today's two predominant baby name trends - family names and vintage revivals - combine to bring back antique names long judged so far out they'd always be out. So welcome back, Edna and Ethel; come on down, Gertrude and Percy; walk right in, Wilhelmina and Wolfgang. And if Edna feels too clunky for nursery school, you can always call her Edie.
- Hottest Middle Names: Boys' Names for Girls
Coming up - more and more girls given traditional boy names in the middle spot, whether as family namesakes or just because they have a cool edge. Cases in point: girl starbabies named Autumn James, Gracie James, Mary James, Poppy James, Agnes Charles and Lucy Thomas.
- Tastiest Trend: Spice Girl Names
Have you noticed the spicy scents emanating from a lot of baby name lists and announcements? Herb and spice names are becoming a full-blown trend, featuring Saffron (recently picked by Tony Kanal) and Sage (a multi celebrity fave) and Rosemary, and from further back on the spice shelf Poppy (seeds), Bay (leaves), Juniper (berries), Cassia, Cinnamon, Cayenne and Lavender.
- Most Surprising Baby Name Influencer: Pope Francis
Hello, Pope Francis? Let's talk baby names. Francesco has been the top boys' name in Italy for several years, but thanks to you the name is going viral, with parents around the world rediscovering Frances, Francisco, Francesca, Frank and Frankie, Francine and of course Francis too. As a baby name influencer, we think you've got it all over TV villains Dexter, Arlo Givens and Walter White.
- Most Admirable Trend: Virtue Names for Boys
A worthy antidote to the Rowdy, Wilder Bad Boy Names we've been hearing so much of lately: New Virtue Names for boys. Joining upright sisters Hope, Faith and Mercy are rediscovered righteous brothers Noble, Valor (recently chosen by Emile Hirsch), Justice, Loyal and True.
- Coolest Consonant: C
Vowel names may still dominate the popularity charts, but we're hearing an increasing number of cool names that start with the letter C. Combine the ancient feel of Cassius, Cassia, Cassian and Caspian with vintage revivals such as Cyrus, Cora, Clarissa, Clementine, Cordelia and Clara, classics Charlotte and Claire, plus nouveau Clover, Cedar and Cadence, and you've got C as the clear-cut consonant of 2014.
- Ethnicity Ready to Rise: Greek
Some of the best known ancient Greek mythological names are already front and center - Penelope, Persephone, Chloe and Calliope - but we see a bright future ahead for Greek names in general - Theodora, Evangeline, Olympia, Cyrus, Elias.
- Name Trend Jumping the Shark: Boys' Names Ending in N
It's over, Aidan - and also Ayden and Zayden as well as Camden, Kellan, Landon, Bryson and Cohen. It's the nouveau, surname-sounding, two-syllable n-ending names we see sailing out to sea: Classics like Owen and Ethan are here to stay.
- Celebrity Trend Most Likely to Catch On: Dowdy Royal Names
The frenzy surrounding the name possibilities for England's royal babe brought to light and made plausible a whole new category of reconsiderable appellations. Suddenly, Mary, Louis, Helena, Albert, Margaret, Arthur, Maud and, of course, George can look forward to new life in 2014.
- Celebrity Trend Least Likely to Catch On: Joke Names
Don't get us wrong: We like the name North. We even predicted it as one of our hottest trends of 2013 a whole year ago, ancient history in Kardashian-and-Kanye time. But North West? Uh, no. We're also looking at the parents who gave their daughter five first names and those that named their son after their room decor. No wonder all these children took on nicknames -pronto!
- Newest Old People Names: Baby Boomer Names
As Baby Boomers near Social Security age, their names are falling off the Social Security baby name popularity list. With great-grandparent names like Violet and Henry, Max and Mabel sounding cool again, the names of the new real life grandmas and grandpas, most of them Baby Boomers, seem musty and dusty. So long, Gail and Gary, Kathy and Kenneth, Janet and Jeffrey, Patricia and Paul. See you in a generation or two.
- Slowest-Breaking Trend: Historic Hero Names
What took them so long? The newest hero names relate to real people and fictional characters that have been hidden in plain sight for decades - if not centuries. Suddenly taking off: Huckleberry, Dashiell, Scarlett, Atticus, Chaplin, Zane, McKinley and Lincoln.
Top baby names of 2013! December 04 2013
BabyCenter released its annual ranking of the top 100 baby names of 2013! Here's the list:
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