Once Upon a Time Baby Names

Beryl (BEHR-ill) is a girl's baby name that is also a mineral gemstone, and it has been used since the 19th century. The etymology of Beryl can be traced from 12th century Old French beryl , from Latin beryllus / Greek beryllos , to Prakrit veruliya and Sanskrit vaidurya. It may ultimately come from the city Velur in India. The Greek meaning was considered "precious blue-green, color-of-seawater stone." There are seven varieties of Beryl that often get overlooked, especially as baby name potential: morganite, emerald, aquamarine, maxixe, goshenite, and heliodor or golden beryl, and red beryl (formerly known as bixbite). While Morgan and Morgana are still used as baby names, Emerald is unusual but familiar, and Heliodor, Heliodoro, and even Heliodorus had their day in the sun, Aquamarine is usually reserved for fantasy characters and movie titles, and Maxixe is unheard of. Goshenite comes from the name of Goshen, Massachusetts. Beryl last ranked for girls in t...

The Gemma Augustea Onyx (ON-iks) is a tricky name. People often think it's a name they can't use, but for what reason? Raw onyx is anywhere from a golden-beige to smoky black. Polished onyx is usually shiny black and can be made into a wide variety of jewelry pieces. A banded variety of the mineral chalcedony, it's sibling is the agate stone and the only difference between them is which way their bands run. Sardonyx is the beautiful red variety of onyx, which was used by Roman warriors to represent Mars, the god of war, but you can find yellow, blue and green shades too. While onyx is Latin, it ultimately comes from Greek word meaning "nail" or "claw." Historically it has been used since ancient times for ornamental carvings, cameos, bowls, and other works of art. It's also mentioned in the Bible. Elsewhere, Onyx was used as the name of a planet in the novel Halo: Ghosts of Onyx , as a comic book character from the DC Universe, is the na...

Coral is one of those names that everyone knows, yet no one really uses. When is the last time you actually met one? While Coral saw 199 births in 2015, it is not in the top 1000 - even though it has so much to offer. Your first introduction may have been to coral reefs (marine invertebrates) or the precious coral gems made out of the underwater living "bushes." There's also the color coral, given in reference to the polished material. Coral jewelry has been used as far back as the ancient Egyptians and then some. It had great popularity in Victorian times, which may have been when the name started being used in modern times. The U.S. records specifically for names started in 1880, and we know Coral was being used at that time, which was just before the end of the Victorian period. Coral comes from Greek korallion , given to mean a shade of red. It could mean "small stone" in Semitic. Elaborate versions of Coral include Coraline, Coralie, and Coralia. Co...

Larimar Continuing after taking a break to talk about Tigris, here is a list of the stunning names given to only seven girls in 2016. Accalia, Aissa, Ambriella, Anastassia, Annesley, Annisa, Antonette, Avabelle, Avriella Belicia, Bell, Bia (a goddess), Bitania, Brigitta, Briona, Bronte, Branwen Cecilie, Chandra, Chetana, Chriselle, Claritza, Corazon Daciana, Deidra, Derica, Deva, Domino, Doriana Eisele, Eleri, Eline, Elisea, Emmelina, Elora, Enora, Essa, Eudora, Evania Fatimatou, Faviola, Felina, Fionnuala, Florentina, Fortune Gabriana, Gael, Garnet, Gene, Genoveva, Giordana, Gwenneth, Gwynneth Haydan, Helina, Hodaya, Holliday (possibly the extra L is to give notice that it's being used as a name and not the word) Ilyse, Isana Jara, Jarah, Jem, Jenia, Jera, Jerra, Jet, Jezebelle, Jora Kaede, Kathalia (which is a place name), Kei, Keirsten, Kelsa, Kesha, Kindra, Kirstin, Korinna Larimar*, Leonore, Lilana, Lior, Lisbet, Lolly, Louna, Lucelia, Lucine, Lunetta, Ly...

Ametrine A gorgeous natural mixture of amethyst and citrine, this beautiful name can hardly say its been used at all - in fact there are likely as few as two people in the U.S. named Trystine. While the stone itself is known as ametrine (amethyst + citrine as a smush word) or golden amethyst, it is naturally found in Bolivia, thus the trade-name is Bolivianite. There are several varieties of quartz, including onyx, Tiger's eye, rock crystal, and amethyst and citrine individually. To be clear, a gemstone is a "mineral crystal" and it can be a precious or semi-precious stone. When cut and polished these are used to make jewelry. A few gemstones are not minerals at all, such as lapis lazuli, amber and jet. In legend, ametrine was first seen when a Conquistador inherited a Bolivian mine via marriage to a Princess Anahi of the Ayoreos tribe, and he gifted some of these New World gemstones to the Queen of Spain. This must only be legend because the Ayoreo were supposed...

Olivine (French prn. oh-liv-EEN, American/English prn. OLL-iv-ine), named for its light olive green color, is a mineral formation found under the earth's surface. When this mineral becomes gem quality we call it "peridot," pronounced PER-ih-doe, which is the French word for olivine (thus the French "-doe" ending and not PER-ih-dot). This name is also sometimes taken as a variant of Olivia, which didn't actually mean "olive" in the beginning. Some types of olivine have been discovered on meteors, the moon, Mars, and further into the depths of the universe. It can also be found naturally all over the world, including a beach in Hawaii. Peridot is the birthstone for August, and was a loved stone of the ancient Egyptians - it may have even been Cleopatra's favorite. Peridot is one of many similar names the gem has gone by, but most sound very close, such as peridon and peritot. Olivine is an exceedingly rare baby name for girls in the U.S...

  It seems to me that modern parents in the U.S. only fawn over a select few French names. Noelle, Madeline (Madeleine), Isabelle, Natalie, Sophie, Charlotte, Elle, Claire and Caroline can all be found high on the top 1000, but where are the unique and uncommon French names? Where's Jessamine, Felicienne, Marcheline and Emmanuelle? Where are Corisande, Melusine and Chantal? Where's Ombeline ? Ombeline ( ohm-bell-een , om-bell-een) saw no U.S. births in 2011, and remains unheard of here. In France in 2000 the name ranked at #375. Similar sounding and sea-sweet Ondine fared only a bit better with 7 births. Ombeline is also connected to water, as Greek philosopher Pliny claimed it was one of the stones that fell from heaven during rain and thunderstorms. Known then as Ombria, the "rain stone," Notia, meaning "south wind," and occasionally the Scirocco-stone, and Brontia, meaning "thunder-stone," even the gemstone is hard to find information on. O...

  Carnelian crystal skull Carnelian (kahr-NEEL-yan) is a handsome red-orange gemstone that you definitely don't see in everyday jewelry. This mineral, or crypto-crystalline quartz, turned semi-precious gemstone has been used since the Bronze Age as decoration, and is still used for decoration and jewelry today. Cameos carved in ivory on top of carnelian have always been popular, as well as carving into the carnelian, as you can see on this antique Algiers seal ring below, from Eragem . One of the stone's first purposes was for these seal rings, used to print the carved image into wax to seal and identify letters. Carnelian has never been popular as a name, but it has a very masculine, strong, mystical feel to it. Neil could be an easy nickname for boys. It has been used at least twice for male characters, once in Dancers at the End of Time  series by Michael Moorcock, and once in The Stone Dance of the Chameleon trilogy by Ricardo Pinto. It was also a U.S. war ship during Wor...

I had forgotten I was doing month-by-month birth stone posts, so I obviously missed pearl for June, ruby for July, and peridot for August. I'm not going to do a post on Ruby because you can find information on it elsewhere, it's very popular, but I'll save Peridot for next August. So, on to the pearl, objectified for its beauty for centuries. Pearls are the "official" jewels of mermaids! Often in art, mermaids are depicted with pearls and starfish. Pearls are formed inside mollusks like oysters, as a crystalline form of calcium carbonate. Yet however mythical pearls are, the name Pearl is decidedly vintage. Pearl comes from French perle , which is from the Latin word for "leg," as it is like an extra appendage of the mollusk, in a sense, but it is really an act of the immune system. Many times the mollusk is killed after removing the pearl, but sometimes they let it grow more pearls. In 2011 there were 327 baby girls named Pearl, ranking at #814. The Ita...

Usually I try to post a name that could be a sibling to the last name I wrote about, but I just came across an old love of mine and had to share. Cyprine (sip-reen/sigh-preen) is a name you'll likely only see once in your life. Reading it now may be that single time. Cyprine is another name for/variety of the gem Vesuvianite that ranges from light/exotic blue to light smoky purple. Vesuvianite comes from Mount Vesuvius, known for destroying Pompeii, which had cypress trees, and Cyprine itself means "of the cypress." So there is a nice little connection, and an alternative for those who like (or dislike) Cypress, Cyprian and Cypriana. Two other forms are Cypria and Cyprina (sip-ree-na/sigh-pree-na) since Cyprine is the French form. Nerdy fact: Cyprine was a minor Sailor Moon character. Naoko Takeuchi was very fond of gem and mineral names, as well as mythology and the planets. She really loved to research to find the perfect names for her characters. Update: Ok, so I guess...

Emerald is May's birthstone. There were 124 baby girls named Emerald in 2011, which jumped up to 193 girls given the name in 2015, now ranking just below the top 1000 at #1357. Esmeralda, which means "emerald," has been much more popular, with 942 births in 2011, while Emeraude, the French version, has seen no love. Jade, another green gemstone, is also very popular, with 2,655 births in 2011. Both Esmeralda and Jade ranked in the top 1000, along with Ruby, Pearl and Diamond. An obvious nickname for Emerald is Emmy. Emerald is the green variant of Beryl, which was a popular name decades ago and is now considered vintage. Emerald was considered the stone of the goddess Venus, which just so happens to be the ruling planet of May's astrological sign: Taurus, the bull. It was also thought to be the fourth foundation in the Kingdom of Heaven in Revelations. (FYI, another great May name is Tauria.)

Aquamarine is the birthstone for March, and what a pretty springtime color it is. I've seen a lot of unusual names being considered for middle names these days, such as Reverie, Fable and Wren. Even as first names. And I cannot think of a better middle name for a March baby (especially with blue eyes) than Aquamarine, if unusual names grace your list. In 2010 there were 6 baby girls named Aqua, but none named Aquamarine. As far as middle names, I have no way to know. (Although, my guess is that generic middle names are still the most predominant, such as Marie and Rose.) FYI, Aquamarine was also a movie abouts Mermaids. Aquamarine is a variant of beryl, and Beryl was also used as a given name, but is now considered vintage and dated.

Well, I lost my list of planned February posts, so I'm a little behind and frustrated. Believe it or not, a little effort goes into lining up the names I post, as I want each pair to fit well together. In my opinion, anyway. But, until I've covered each month's birth stone, you can at least expect me to have a post on a birth stone every month until August, since the first one I covered was this past September, sapphire. Amethyst is February's birth stone, a beautiful purple gem, as you can see. I have long loved Amethyst as a baby name since, although it is a little quirky, it offers options for those of us who love names like Amber, Angelina, Amy, Violet, or any other names we are drawn to but would not use. Like Violet, which is ever popular, Amethyst immediately conjures up the image of a distinct purple color, and like Ruby, also ever popular, it gives us thoughts of pretty gemstones. However, Amethyst has never graced the top 1000. In 2010 there were only 62 baby ...

Garnet is January's traditional birthstone and the stone of Aquarius, and there is nothing to say it is definitely feminine or masculine. In fact, in 2010 there were 5 baby girls named Garnet and 7 baby boys named Garnett (with two t's, so I'm not sure what the parents intended, although this spelling was used as a surname). In 2011 there were 5 baby boys named Garnett, but no Garnet. There were 11 baby girls named Garnet in 2011, and no Garnett. In my mind, Garnett (like Garnette) looks better on girls and Garnet seems more masculine, thus it would look better on boys. However, for the past two years Garnett has been strictly for boys and Garnet strictly for girls. Maybe it's a surname vs gemstone thing. It last ranked on the popularity chart in 1944 at #956, after having ranked for at least a decade. It was most popular in 1904 at #593 for boys, and 1911 at #376 for girls. Garnet was used along with other gemstone names in the late Victorian era. Garnet is Middle...

Traditionally, if you're a Capricorn you should be wearing a ruby, although turquoise is considered December's modern stone. It is not uncommon for a month to have more than one stone. So, since Ruby currently ranks #113, I will cover Turquoise, and it's Turkish gem-turned-baby-name, Fairuza. Turquoise would make a fine middle name in my opinion, because it's not as feminine and frilly as Ruby, Amethyst, Coral, etc. Fairuza, on the other hand, has first name potential. Fairuza is Turkish, meaning "turquoise." Pronounced fy-RO-zah, fair-OO-zah, or FY-ru-zah, you might be more inclined to ask actress Fairuza Balk (of The Craft and Waterboy fame) how she pronounces her name. A suitable nickname for Fairuza is Fay. It was originally spelled Firouza, which is where the fy-RO-zah pronunciations come from. It can also mean "happiness," "luck," "precious one" and "victory." I believe the word fairuz means "turquoise...

Today's name: Topaz, November's birthstone Pronunciation: TOW-paz Potential nicknames: Topa, Paz (like Paz Vega) Topaz could potentially be a nickname for Topanga Origin: Topaz is the Latin name (Latin Topazus from Greek Topazios) of this golden jewel. It does not have a formal meaning. It has been used in England, sparingly, since the 13th century. Popularity: Never in the top 1000, with zero births in 2010 and 2011. Just in case you were wondering, there were 15 baby girls named Topanga in 2010 and 18 Topanga's in 2011. Fun fact: (1) Topazios, the original form of the name Topaz, came from the ancient St. John's Island in the Red Sea, where a yellowish gem could be mined. (Today it is believed that gem was actually chrysolite, not topaz.) (2) Topaz comes in an array of colors. Only the golden/orange colored version is November's birthstone, which symbolizes friendship. (3) Topaz is the state gem of Utah. There is also a Topaz Mountain in Utah. (4) Topaz is mentio...

Today's name: Opal, the birthstone of October Try Opalina or Opaline if you don't like Opal. There have even been a few Opalinska's. Pronunciation: OH-pull, OH-pall Potential nicknames: Opie, Palla, Ollie Origin: Hindi and Sanskrit (from the word upala ), meaning "gem, precious stone." From Sanskrit upala came the Greek word opallios , and then Latin opalus . Some say the name Opal came from the wife of the god Saturn, who was named Ops. The term/festival Opalia refers to her, just as Saturnalia refers to Saturn. Opaline and Opalina are longer versions of the female name. Popularity: Opal was last on the Social Security Administration's top 1000 list in 1960, at #920, after a very successful run from the early 1900's. It made it to #81 in 1911. In 2010 there were only 80 baby girls named Opal. In 2011 there were 92 girls named Opal. There were no baby girls named Opaline or Opalina. Fun Fact: (1) The opal gemstone comes in a wide variet...

Today's name : Sapphira Alternate spellings: Sapphire, Safira, Saffira, Saphira, Safeera *Sapphire is the birthstone of September* Pronunciation : sa-FEER-uh (Sapphire is pronounced SAFF-ire) Potential nicknames : Sapphire, Sapphy, Sappho, Saph, Phira, Fire Origin : Sapphira, Saphira, and Safira come directly from Sapphire, which is an English word name for the precious gemstone. Sapir, a Hebrew name meaning "sapphire," was typically used as a boy's name. Variants of Sapir include Safir, Saphir, and Saphiros. Sapphira and Safira are used in various languages, but the spelling Safira is an Esperanto baby name for girls, also meaning "sapphire." Popularity : In 2010, 8 babies were born in the U.S. named Safira, 102 were named Saphira, 23 Saphire, 24 Sapphira, 91 Sapphire, and 7 named Sapphyre. In 2011 there were 12 girls named Safira, 23 Sapphira and 98 Sapphire. Fun facts : (1) A similar name, Sefira or Sephira, a feminine variant of Zephyr, means "west...