Skip to main content

Bex or maybe Bix

Bex can be a nickname for Rebecca and Beckett, but Bex, which happens to be a municipality in Switzerland, could be a name of its own. Some of you might recognize Bex Taylor-Klaus who has starred in the TV shows Arrow, House of Lies, Scream, and The Killing. However, Bex can be short for Bexley, which happens to be a place in east London and in Ohio. That's two-for-one in the place names department. Bexley, which means "boxtree meadow," ranked #970 in 2016 for girls (275 girls total), while it was only given to 13 boys that year. Bex was not used at all. As far as namesakes go, Bexley was the surname of actor Donald Thomas "Bubba" Bexley. Bexley is sometimes said to mean "pasture by the stream," and as this article claims, it was recorded as Bix, later Bixle, in the Domesday Book. But that might not be entirely accurate, and it seems Bex was recorded in the book itself. This source tells us it actually means "box tree meadow," from the elements byxe leahAnother source tells us Bixley is derived from Scandinavian elements - byski, meaning "bushy area," and other places back up this information. It seems we have to separate Bexley from Bixley in this case, and call the two separate names. Bix and Bixley were not used on any boys or girls in 2016. Bexton, which would assumably mean "box tree town," was given to 10 boys in 2016.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Galician Baby Names

I grew up on a street that was named an Italian variant of Roger. When I got married and we bought our first house, it turned out to be on Roger Street. Once noting that coincidence, I started searching for other variants of the name. However, female variants turned out to be pretty nonexistent. Save for Roxeria, which I later discovered was the Galician female form, possibly pronounced rohz-AIR-ee-uh. That led me to a few lists of female Galician names, ranging from common to rare. Here is a sampling of names not often heard here in the states... Albina Alda Alma Alodia Aloia Amada Amadora Amalia Amparo Anisia Antia Araceli Aranzazu Artemisa Avelina Azucena Baia Balbina Baltasara Beatriz Benvida Berenice Bieita Branca Braulia Caetana Carola Casilda Casimira Ceferina Celsa Cipriana Cira Clorinda Coralia Cornelia Cosima Davinia Delfina Desideria Dionisia Dominga Dorinda Dorotea Dositea Edelmira Edenia Elba Elvira Emiliana Etelvina ...

Witchy Baby Girl Names!

Circe Invidiosa by John William Waterhouse Have a little girl due in October? Looking to name a character? Here's my [seemingly endless] list of witchy-sounding baby names. Most of them also fit in the "clunky but cool" category, or "vintage." Most plants, trees, herbs, spices, flowers, gems, space and nature names fit the bill, because in stories and current practice these things are useful to witches. I've put any actual witch names from legend, myth, literature, movies, etc in bold and up front. I have not considered the names of actual, living people or their Pagan names, and I've left out any characters that only have a surname, or truly ridiculous given names. In the second half you'll see a list of names that, to my knowledge, have not been used for witch characters. Please know that this is not a complete list. Wikipedia has an almost complete list you can view  here . Tabitha, Samantha, Endora, Clara, Serena  (Bewitched) Katrina...

Ancient Germanic Female Deities

Loki and Idun by John Bauer Here is a list of ancient Germanic goddess and personifications. There is some overlap with the goddesses of the Norse pantheon, and I've limited it to those names that I think would wear well today on modern babies. Of the following names, only the following were used in 2016. Sol was given to 91 girls, Ran to 5 girls, Saga to 9 girls, and Beyla to 6 girls. Beyla - as a possible agricultural personification, her name could mean "cow," "bean," or "bee," but she has been associated with bees and mead, so my guess is "bee." However, there's been a proposed connection to the reconstructed Proto-Norse name Baunila, which means "little bean." This is also a Spanish and Italian girls name. Fulla - possibly means "bountiful." Her other name is Volla, which I think is equally accessible as a name. She is a virgin goddess in Old Norse mythology. Gersemi - means "treasure." Sh...