Once Upon a Time Baby Names

Ivelisse (ee-vel-eess) is a name you'll find in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and very rarely in the U.S. There's a handful of namesakes from the Latin community to represent this name, such as Ivelisse Echevarria, Puerto Rico's greatest softball pitcher, and Ivelisse Blanco, who competed in the Olympics for rhythmic gymnastics. The name Ivelisse is said to mean "life," from some obscure Spanish or French origin. The likely explanation is that Ivelisse comes from Eve, meaning "life," and had the -lis/-lisse ending tacked on to sound more feminine, like Elise. However, it could also come from Ivette, the Spanish form of the French name Yvette, meaning "yew," (possibly combined with Elise ) or the names Evelyn and Evelina, which have debated meaning. You can find it spelled several ways: Iveliz, Ivaneliz, Ivalisse, Iveliss, Ivelice, Ivelys, Evelisse, Evaliz, and Yvelisse. In Bulgaria, Ivelina and it's masculine form Ivelin can be found. One of my favo...

Cathay - Better known as William Cathay in order to fight as a soldier, the woman named Cathay Williams was the first African American woman to enlist in the military. Her name sounds a bit like Kathy, making it familiar, yet Marco Polo used it to refer to China. Belle - Sojourner Truth, defender of women's rights, was born Isabella Baumfree and called Belle. Belle is not in the top 1000. Sojourner helped recruit African American troops for the Union during the Civil War. Poppy - Not only do we wear poppies on Remembrance Day thanks to the poem "In  Flanders Fields," but a poet named Moina Michael also wrote a poem in which poppies symbolized the blood of heroes. Araminta - Harriet Tubman was born Araminta and known as Minty (and while Minty may not make the best nickname today, Minna, Minta, or even Ana might). The Underground Railroad is one of the most famous parts of the Civil War. Hattie and Harriet , for the same reasons above. Jeb - Jeb Stuart, aka J...

There were 45 new additions to last year's top 1000. Here are highlights and thoughts. Azalea - A great flower name addition. Coraline - Making a giant leap to #823, I'm surprised this Neil Gaiman favorite didn't make it on the list when the movie Coraline came out. Titan - An intriguing choice. Foster - Foster the People, or surname chic? Denzel - I'm also surprised this name didn't make it on the list a long time ago (Denzel Washington). Thiago - A very spunky and classy choice. Mack - I love this name. It reminds me of the 1920's for some reason. Katrina - Another name I love. Winter - I knew it wouldn't be long before this one shot up the charts. Elissa - A very pretty, feminine name. Aubrielle - This one definitely fits in with a lot of other popular names, and also with Aubriana, which also charted for the first time Katalina - Another elegant, feminine choice.

2012 Top 10       1. Sophia (22,158)                                       1. Jacob (18,899)      2. Emma (20,791)                                        2. Mason (18,856)      3. Isabella (18,931)                                      3. Ethan (17,547)      4. Olivia (17,147)                                         4. Noah (17,201)      5. Ava (15,418)                                           5. William (16,726)   ...

....Donatella, with or without the nickname Donna (because you could also go with Tella, Ella, or the tomboy Donnie) ...Belladonna, the mysterious plant ...Domina, which has the same meaning as Donna ...Donelle, a French twist ...Donia ...Doncia, meaning "sweet" ...Donya ...Donnalina ...Donina, with the possibility of Doe as a nickname ...Dontia Or, Donahue, Donovan or Donnelly for a boy.

   Cedric (SED-rik) is an Old English boy's name meaning "bounty, loved." The name was invented by Sir Walter Scott for his 1819 novel Ivanhoe . He may have been inspired by or misunderstood Cerdic, the Old English name of the Saxon king that founded the kingdom of Wessex, although this name could be Germanic or Welsh (from Cedrych, meaning "pattern of bounty," or "from Caradoc," (Caradoc meaning "love") in origin. Cedric was later used by Frances Hodgson Burnett in the 1886 children's novel Little Lord Fauntleroy . Most recently Cedric was used in the Harry Potter series for the character Cedric Diggory. Cedric comes with the nicknames Ced and Ric. In 2011 Cedric ranked at #751, a decrease in popularity with the name given to 299 boys. It has been accounted for since 1890, but other spellings have been used as well, such as Cedrick, Cederick, Cedrik and Ceddrick. By 2016 the name fell a bit in popularity, at #914. Cedric the Ente...

  Isabeau (IZ-ah-bow, EE-sah-bow) is a French variant of Isabel, derived from the Hebrew name Elizabeth (Elisheba/Elisheva), meaning "God's promise, my god is a vow/oath." There are more alternate forms of the name, including Ysabeau, Esabeau, Isabetta, Ishbel, Isabelle and Isobel. Beau in French is the masculine form of beautiful , or should I say handsome . One possible explanation for this masculine ending could be the way the Spanish translated Elizabeth, and the Occitan (or medieval Gascon language) version:  Eisabèu . While Isabelle was the name of several Spanish queens, Isabeau has its own namesakes. Isabeau of Bavaria, who may have been born "Elizabeth," was Queen Consort of France, wife of King Charles VI. She had quite an amount of power for a medieval queen as regent. There was a different Isabeau that was convicted of being a witch. Another well known Isabeau was the short-lived Isabeau of Brittany. More recently than historical queens, Isab...

  Tabrett is the first name of Australian actress (former model and cheerleader) Tabrett Bethell, famous for roles in "Legend of the Seeker" and "Cops LAC." Tabrett's parents were disagreeing on names for her, torn between Siobhan and Murray, and when her father was out driving through Sydney he came across Tabrett Street. In the U.S., Tabrett is such a rare name that it has not charted or been noted in any way. Tabrett is a French surname from the word tabour , meaning "drum, tambourine." This name was likely given as an occupational surname for those who made or played tambourines or small drums, which had value in the military. In one spelling or another, this name can probably be traced back to about 1066 and the Norman Invasion when French was the main language of England. Taboret seems to be a later variant of the surname, and Tabrett the most modern. Tabrett can have the nicknames Tab, Tabby, Rett or even Etta if so desired. Being an occ...

  Tobin (TOH-bihn) is a Hebrew name meaning "God is good" as a variation of Tobias, but it is also an English surname derived from Tobias, and an Irish surname, brought over by the Norman surname St. Aubyn (Latinized as de St. Albino), from the town of Aubyn in France. It also comes with the desired nickname Toby, but can also have the nickname Binx. Both Toby and Tobias were used in Medieval times, but Toby was used more often until the Reformation. Tobia/h and Tobit are alternate forms. Saint Aubin d'Angers (Aubyn, Albinus) was Bishop of Angers in 529 and was known for his generosity and caring for those who would otherwise be looked down upon, such as slaves, orphans, and widows. His feast day is March 1st. There have been many places named after him, including dozens in France. The names Albinus, Aubin and Aubyn are from the Latin alba , meaning "white." There have been a range of namesakes over the years, including Tobin Dax from Star Trek DS9, 1950...

Giordana Otero Giordana (jee-or-dah-na) is the Italian feminine form of Jordana, originally from the name of the Jordan River. Jordan is Hebrew meaning "flowing down," a very suitable name for a river, but popular in Italian because it was where Jesus was baptized. Giordana's saint day is September 5th in memory of Saint Jordan of Saxony, who was one of the first leaders of the Dominican Order. Zordana, Yordana, Giardina, Jardena, Jordi, Jorda, Jardina, and Jordain are other international variants. All versions of the name were commonly given to children baptized in holy water from the Jordan River, even since the Middle Ages. Giordana has never ranked in the U.S. top 1000 and was given to only 9 baby girls in 2011. Even the more American version, Jordana, was only given to 85 baby girls in 2011, still considered quite rare. The unisex name Jordan ranked at #196 in 2011 for girls, on its way down from #50 in 2000, and for boys it ranked at #46 in 2011, still just a...

  Alternatively spelled Rhidian from the 20th century, Rhydian (RID-ee-an) is a Welsh boy's name meaning "red," from the element rhudd (rudd), sharing some similarities with Rowan. An early Welsh saint may have had this name. There is a church  established by the saint in the 6th century Namesakes include British-Taiwanese actor Rhydian Vaughan (pictured above), Welsh singer Rhydian Roberts, novelist Rhidian Brook (who coincidentally wrote The Testimony of Taliesin Jones - I just wrote about Taliesin), and bass player Rhydian Dafydd for the band The Joy Formidable. As a name in the U.S., Rhydian has not been used more than four times in a year, and is therefore not recorded by the SSA. White Pages tells me that only one exists.

I passed by a beauty salon with this name in the title, and it immediately struck me as a name I had to write about. However, when I looked for information, none was found. So like many -bel names, I assumed it was simply Erisa + bel. Truthfully, people can find a way to add -bel or -belle to just about anything, from Annabel to Corabelle. I also came across Onabelle recently. Erisa is known as a Japanese name that I cannot find an accurate meaning for (most Japanese name meanings vary by how they're written in kanji). Eris, meaning "strife," was a Greek goddess of discord, the equivalent of the Roman goddess Discordia. Eris charted in 1923 and 1924, and is a recently named dwarf planet. If Eris is the main component, Erisabel would essentially mean "beautiful chaos." Erisa in English could come from Iris by way of Irisa. Unfortunately, the letters of Erisa are also an acronym for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, so adding -bel makes all the di...