When we think of Scandinavian names, what usually comes to mind are the familiar and accessible ones that have been imported from Norway, Denmark and Sweden, like Eric and Ingrid and Lars and Dagmar.  But Finnish names, while still Scandinavian, are a world unto themselves, loaded with double vowels (and sometimes consonants) and tricky accents and pronunciations.  Yet  though this nomenclature includes clunkers like Hongatar and Kiputytto, there are many others that have a unique and quirky charm all their own.  I remember that when we were researching the foreign variations of names for The Baby Name Bible, I always kind of looked forward to seeing what the Finnish take would be on a classic–like Viljo for William, Maiju for Mary.

One reason for the sparse representation of Finnish names here is the small number of Finnish-Americans in the US.  There are currently about 700,000 people of that ethnicity, which is only 0.2% of the population.  Nor have many celebrities publicized Finnish names–there has never been a Finnish movie star equivalent of Ingrid Bergman, for example–the only Finnish names people might recognize are Esa-Pekka Salonen, the contemporary classical conductor, or perhaps father-and-son architects Eliel and Eero Saarinen.

Another element that sets these names apart comes from the fact that the Finnish language is very different from that of the other Scandinavian countries, with their Norse roots; Finnish has more in common with Hungarian, Estonian, Turkish and the languages spoken in the Asian part of Russia.  But–for you vowel lovers– double vowels are its most distinctive feature.  Pronunciation can be a little tricky, but here are some simple rules: A is pronounced as in arm, E as in egg, I as in it, O as in on, U as in pull,  J=Y, and W=V.

So, while the current most popular names in Finland are quite international in flavor–Maria, Olivia, Sofia, Amanda, Matilda, and Julia are all in the Top 10–here are some more traiditional choices that would be usable but still highly distinctive here:

GIRLS

AAMU

AIJA

AILA

AILI

ALIISA

ANNELI

ARJA

EEVA (EH-vuh)

HELEENA

KAIJA

KIELO

KIIRA

LIISI

LILJA (LEEL-yah)

MAIJA (MIGH-yah)

MIRJA (MEER-yah)

NEA

PIIA/ RIIA/TIIA

SAARA

VEERA

BOYS

AARNE

AARO

ARTO

ARVI

EERO

EETU

HANNU

JAAKO

JALO

JARI

JOONAS

JUHO

JUSSI

KARI

KAARLO

LEEVI

MIKKO

NILO/NIILO

PAAVO

RAIMO

Family names are a hot topic among baby-namers these days, with many parents looking through their family trees in search of names that carry family meaning.

For some people, the family itself is what’s most important, with the aim to choose the name of a family member they love and admire. If Great-Grandpa Floyd was a war hero or Grandma Enid a beloved and influential caregiver, then Floyd or Enid is the name they use for their child, fashion and even taste aside.

But there are other baby-namers who view the family name issue a bit more broadly. Sure, Great-Grandpa Floyd was an admirable guy, but Great-Uncle Isaiah did some pretty cool things too — and we like the name Isaiah a lot better than Floyd. Or we do want to name the baby after dear Grandma Enid, but we’re just going to use the initial and call her Eliza, or we’re going to use Enid as a middle name, or we’ll revive Grandma’s maiden name Morgan and put it in first place.

Then there are those parents who like the idea of using a name with family significance, but don’t particularly care which family member it was originally attached to. They’ll comb through the family tree in search of appealing choices that can be dusted off and restored to prominence, never mind that they never actually knew Great-Aunt Louisa or that Uncle Theo was a scoundrel. He was a scoundrel with a great name.

Of course, some parents don’t put much stock in using family names, or downright don’t want to use them — maybe because they were the one who got stuck being named after Grandma Enid.

What’s your feeling about family names? Vote in the first nameberry poll (yay! we finally figured out how to work it!) and let us know — and tell us more about how you used or didn’t use a family name for YOUR baby and what you think about the issue of family names in general.

One of the downsides–admittedly a fairly minor one–to living in such a heavily populated country as the U.S. is that it takes the Social Security Administration five months to tally up the year’s baby name stats, while some states and other countries put out their results even before the New Year’s Eve ball drops on Times Square.

The full UK report will be arriving any day now, but in the interim, there’s a survey of 380,000 babies born in Britain in 2008 that can give us some strong clues.  For girls, the Top 5 names are Olivia, Ruby, Grace, Emily, and Jessica, with  a noteworthy number of nickname names further down–Evie, Katie, Ellie, Millie, Gracie, Rosie, Abbie and Tilly.  Names hot over there that haven’t taken off to the same degree here: Freya, Poppy, Imogen, Niamh and Maisie.  And those rising fastest?  Isla, Summer and Ava.

For British boys, Jack is #1, as it has been for 14 years, followed by Oliver, Harry, Alfie and Charlie.  Royal names–such as George, William and James–continue to rule, and nickname names, in addition to Alfie and Charlie, are popular with this gender too, as in  Archie, Jamie, Freddie, Joe and Billy.  The boys’ names heard more there than here: Lewis, Harvey and Kian.  Theo was the fastest climber of the boys.

Scotland has released its official list, with Sophie, Emily, Olivia, Chloe and Emma, and Jack, Lewis, Daniel, Liam and James in the lead.  Some traditional Scottish favorites continued to hold their own, including Isla, Logan, Cameron, Gregor, Kyle, Finlay , Ewan and Angus.  To go somewhat farther afield, in New South Wales, the most populous part of Australia, the Top 5 for girls were Mia, Chloe, Isabella, Emily and Olivia; for boys it was  Jack (fifth year in a row), William, Lachlan, Joshua and Cooper, while  the starbaby influence was felt in the presence of names like Shiloh, Suri, Sunday, Honour (as it’s spelled there), and even Bronx.  In Japan, the top girls’ names were Aoi, Yui and Rin; for boys Hiroto, Ren and Yuto.

One US state that has weighed in early is Arizona, where the top names were Anthony and Isabella.  Several Hispanic names appeared on the boys’ list: Angel at #2, and Jose, Jesus and Luis in the Top 20.  The registrar of Oakland County, Michigan, which includes several Detroit suburbs, is obviously a name buff.  Among the groupings she noted in her area:  Harmony and Melody; Hope, Faith, Charity and Unity; London, Paris, Phoenix, Aspen, Georgia, Austin, Savannah and Brooklyn; Zinnia, Rose, Lily, Ivy and Violet, and a contingent of ancients: Julius, Marcus, Cassius, Leonidas, Athena and Adonis.

We’ll keep you posted  as more results come in.

The ringing in of a new year brings with it a sense of fresh beginnings, a new dawn dawning, and bright hopes for the future.  And so with that in mind, and with our warmest wishes to all of you for a great year, we offer some names drawn from a variety of cultures that suggest  those very things–and all of them appropriate for a New Year’s baby.

NAMES THAT MEAN HOPE

AMAL

AMIL

ARRAYAH

ASHA

ESPERANZA

HOPE

NADIA, NADINE

NOZOMI

RAJA

SPERANZA

TARAJA

TIKVAH

VON

NAMES THAT MEAN DAWN

AURORA

DAWN

ORIANA

ROXANA/ROXANNE

SAHAR

ZARA

ZORA/ZORINA

NAMES THAT MEAN NEWNESS, FRESHNESS, BEGINNINGS

AMARYLLIS

BEEJA

DAGNY

IDONY

MIKA

NASIMA

NAVIN

NEO

NEOMA

NOVA

NYSSA

RAANAN

ZELENKA

ZERA

Another approach, if you’re naming a baby born in the first month of the year, would be to consider one of the diverse names used for the month of January across the world:

BAHMAN

CAIT (in Hindi)

EINAIR

ENERO

GENNAIO

GENNARO

JAANUAR

JANIERO/JANEIRO

JANUARI

JANVIER

LEDEN

MAKARA (means born under Capricorn)

TARR

HAVE A HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

OK, we have to admit it: We’re not sure we ever saw a picture of a stork before that wasn’t rendered in cartoonish shades of pink and blue, flying along with a baby slung from its beak.  Come to think of it, there was one just like that on the cover of at least one of our books.

But this picture of an in-the-flesh stork puts us in mind of the new flock of bird names winging our way.  (All right, all right, we’ll stop.)  Not Robin, though that long-time favorite feels fresh again for boys.  Or Jay, tired for boys but livelier as a short form for any girls’ name that starts with J.

We have in mind the less familiar bird names, starting with a handful heard occasionally over the past few years, sometimes as a celebrity or starbaby name: Lark, Raven, Phoenix, Birdie.  Bird name enthusiasts will want to check this list of possibilities — though these are only the beginning.

A few names with bird-related meanings from the list: Merle, Paloma, Avis, Deryn.  More intriguing, though, are the choices that are truly unfamiliar and more blatantly birdlike: Wren, Sparrow, Finch, Starling, Heron, Dove.

For our taste, Hawk and Talon are a bit too aggressive.  Eagle can go either way: Though as the national bird it has a noble image, Benjamin Franklin campaigned against its elevated status on the grounds that it was a bird of prey and a scavenger, stealing food from smaller, weaker birds.  Franklin’s nomination for national bird: the Turkey, which we don’t see making it as a name anytime soon.  Or, for that matter, ever.

Push further, though, and we come up with some more intriguing possibilities. Names that mean eagle include Andor, Aquilla, Arden, Arno, Ezio, Paco, Peta, and Vega, all of which may prove more attractive than Eagle itself.

There are several beautiful names that mean dove, which carries the added message of peace: Callum, Colm, Columba, Culver, Dova, Jonah, and Jemima, along with Paloma.  Sparrow-related names include Galvin and Sequoia (who would ever guess?).

Raven-related names include Branigan, Branson, Branwen, Brenna, Corbett, and Corbin, any of which might make a provocative choice for a black-haired, brown-eyed, or dark-skinned child.  (Or perhaps for the offspring of an Edgar Allan Poe fan.)

A couple more bird names: Ava and Aya, the Biblical Zippora and Efron, the Hawaiian Palila and Iranian Parastoo, and the Native American Dasan, which rhymes with Jason.

Why choose a bird name for your baby?  Birds are graceful and free, transcending the bonds of earth.  As symbols, they may well prove inspirational for a child.  And a bird or other animal name can be a unique choice as a middle name.

So what do you think: Would you choose a bird name for your child?  Which are your favorites — or do you prefer another kind of animal name?  Or is this kind of name….for the birds?

Which baby name trends do we see coming in and which do we see heading out? Here, our predictions for the year ahead.

BIGGEST BIG-PICTURE TREND: DEPRESSION ERA NAMES

The hit TV show Mad Men, set in the early 60s, reintroduced names that were all the rage when the characters were born in the 1930s: Don , Betty, Joan, Peggy.  They’re plain names fit for hard times, and we predict the hardscrabble months ahead will inspire more babies with these names: Dorothy, Helen, Ruth, and Frances for girls; Thomas, Edward, Frank, Raymond, and even Harold for boys.  Plus the stylish new occupational names–Gardener, Ranger, Miller–are likely to gain in appeal for both boys and girls as actual jobs become more scarce. 

MOST SURPRISING COMEBACK NAME

Leon, middle name choice for Brangelina twin Knox, had become a joke in the U.S. but was on the rise in Europe, where all lion-related names–Leo, Leonora, Lionel–are tres chic.  Leon and Leonie are the number one names in Germany and for the first time in decades, have style potential here.

BEST NEW TREND INSPIRED BY A CELEBRITY BABY NAME

Jessica Alba’s infant Honor has ushered in a new appreciation for virtue names, on the rise through the name ranks–and hopefully also in spirit–with Faith, Hope, Patience, Mercy, Justice, True, and Pax.

HOTTEST GENDER-BENDING TREND

Boys names that end in a vowel sound and girls’ names that end in a consonant.  Examples: Ezra, Eli, Milo, Noah, Hugo for boys, and for girls, Annabel instead of Annabella, for instance, or Eden  instead of Emma.

ETHNIC NAMES GROUPS MOST LIKELY TO RISE

Hawaiian and Russian, thanks to First Daughters Malia and Sasha, short for Natasha, Obama.

TRENDIEST TREND-RELATED TREND

Names that are considered too trendy by stylish parents by virtue of their association with other, trendier names or with high-visibility celebrities.  Examples: Ada, fresh yet too close to the megapopular Ava.  Pearl, too much like groovy Ruby.  Roman, son of Cate Blanchett and Debra Messing.  And Matilda, toddler of Michelle Wiliams and Heath Ledger.

GIRL TREND READY TO JUMP THE SHARK

Names that end in –ella, from Isabella to Gabriella to Bella and even Ella herself.  The long trend for that extra-syllable a ending is about to end.

BOY TREND READY TO JUMP THE SHARK

Names that rhyme with -aden: Braden, Caden, Jaden, Xaden, you’ve had your moment in the sun.

COOLEST MIDDLE NAME TREND

Names that carry powerful meaning, launched when people adopted the middle name Hussein in solidarity with Obama.  Less name than symbol, the new middle name may carry political meaning, convey ethnic background, stand in for a place, animal, character, or thing that has meaning for the parents.

NEW “IT” VOWEL

I, with the rise of such iNames as Isaiah, Iris, Isaac, and Isla.

MOST FASHIONABLE CONSONANT

V, vivifying names wherever it falls: Olive, Vivienne, Eva, Victor, Avery, Violet, Evan, Nevaeh.

NAME TREND THAT’S BEST FOR THE EARTH

Green Names, which include the recycling of grandma and grandpa names like Mabel and Max, and also nature names drawn from the water (Bay, Lake), trees (Birch, Oak), and flowers (Violet, Poppy).

TREND MOST LIKELY TO CROSS THE OCEAN

The hot British baby-naming trend of using nicknames from Millie to Alfie to Dixie and Dot is coming our way, as a light-hearted antidote to tough times.

MOST SURPRISING CELEBRITY NAME INSPIRATION

Arianna Huffington, whose Huffington Post was the media star of the 2008 election, is an attractive and influential person but hardly the kind of tabloid hottie who usually inspires thousands of baby namesakes.  But joining Ashton and Angelina, the name Arianna has ascended with Huffington’s renown, reaching number 70 in the last year counted and certain to zoom much higher.

TREND WE’D MOST LIKE TO SEE DIE

Scary, violent names like Talon, Cannon, Gunner.

Last week our guest blogger Elisabeth Wilborn offered a great yuletide menu of names that was both inclusive and imaginative, covering all the bases from religious to seasonal to spiritual.  At the risk of being accused of overkill, I thought I’d offer a few quirkier ideas, which are tied less directly to the holiday.

One of them is to look at some first and last names that have appeared in classic Christmas movies, ranging from the vintage It’s a Wonderful Life to the more recent Elf. Some examples:

BAILEY ……..It’s a Wonderful Life

BELLE ………A Christmas Carol

CLAIRE …….Scrooged

CLARENCE ..It’s a Wonderful Life

DUDLEY ……Christmas in Connecticut

ELIOT ……….Scrooged

FAN ………….A Christmas Carol

FELIX ……….Christmas in Connecticut

FRED ……….Miracle on 34th Street

GEORGE ……It’s a Wonderful Life

JACOB ………A Christmas Carol

JEFFERSON ..Christmas in Connecticut

JOVIE ………..Elf

MARLEY …….A Christmas Carol

PRESTON …..Scrooged

RALPH ……….A Christmas Story

TIM …………..A Christmas Carol

VIOLET ……..It’s a Wonderful Life

ZUZU ………..It’s a Wonderful Life

Another possibility, even more of a stretch, could be various shades of the Christmas colors, red and green:

ALIZARIN

BERYL

CARMINE

CELADON

CRIMSON

EMERALD

JADE

NILE

SCARLET

VERDE

VIRIDIAN

Then, in addition to the Cedar and Pine that Elisabeth mentioned, there are several other Christmas tree names:

BALSAM

CAROLINE

CYPRESS

DOUGLAS

FRASER

SAPPHIRE

SPRUCE

VIRGINIA

And finally Christmas-season baby namers can consider one of the more exotic variations of Mary or Joseph:

MAIRE

MAIRI

MALIA

MANON

MARIELLE

MARIETTE

MARIKA

MARISKA

MARJAN

MIRJAM

MITZI

MOIRA

or

GIUSEPPE

JOOSEF

JOSE

JOSEBA

JOSEF

JOZA

JOZIO

Oh, and what about Santa’s reindeer’s names?  Where did those funky names come from?  It seems that the Night Before Christmas poet Clement C. Moore gave a lot of thought to his choices,  picking names that imply speed, grace, power, and strength.  We wouldn’t recommend Donner or Blitzen or Prancer.  Comet, Cupid, Vixen–barely possible.  A little more conceivable: Dasher and Dancer.

We teamed up with people.com’s Celebrity Baby Blog to bring you this look behind Natalie and Taylor Hanson’s choice of the name Viggo Moriah for their fourth child.

Musical brother Taylor Hanson is the latest celebrity to choose a baby name that’s reminiscent of another celebrity, when he and wife Natalie named their newborn son and fourth child Viggo Moriah.

While actor Viggo Mortensen wasn’t the direct inspiration for the baby’s name, says Natalie. “He’s a great actor and a handsome modern reference for the name.”.

Natalie and Taylor were combing through records on ancestry.com in search of a distinctive yet historic name when they hit upon Viggo, a Scandinavian name that means “war.” “It’s a strong name with a great sound and matches our Danish last name and we just loved it,” says Natalie.

The baby’s middle name Moriah was Taylor’s choice, inspired by the Book of Genesis story of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, which took place on Mount Moriah.

The couple didn’t anticipate the celebrity reference of that Biblical place name. “People have been asking us, ‘Oh, like Mariah Carey?,’ and we didn’t even think of that,” says Natalie Hanson. “We were thinking of other Biblical names like Josiah and Jeremiah that to us sounded so masculine.”

Baby Viggo Moriah’s three older siblings, Jordan Ezra, 6; Penelope Anne, 3; and River Samuel, 2, so far pronounce his name “Biggo,” laughs Natalie. “It’s so cute, we always make them say it.”

“I’m such a name fan,” says Natalie, who was poring over name books long before she started her brood with the middle Hanson brother. With the world watching, how does she feel about the pressure to choose the perfect name? “The pressure is worse from my Mom and the in-laws,” she laughs. “But once they see the baby, he’s so precious, they say he looks like a Viggo.”

Taylor Hanson uses his middle name as his first, an informal tradition in the family, with grandpa Clarke Walker known as Walker and Taylor and Natalie’s oldest son using his middle name Ezra. Taylor will sometimes switch things up the other way and identify himself as Jordan – his actual first name – Hanson. Having a built-in alias can make life easier for a celebrity who likes to keep a low profile, says Natalie, as do the Oklahoma-centered Hansons.

Baby Viggo joins other celebrity babies and children who share their names with stars, including Ava (as in Gardner), daughters of Reese Witherspoon and Hugh Jackman,: Harlow (Jean), daughter of Nicole Ritchie, Audrey (Hepburn), daughter of Greg Kinnear; and Gable, (Clark) son of Kevin Nealon. Soleil Moon Frye’s daughter’s first name is Jagger, while Madonna is Geri Halliwell’s daughter Bluebell’s middle name.

As for Viggo Mortensen, the Lord of the Rings star is actually a junior—he inherited his name from his Danish father. It’s a Norse name meaning ‘warlike’ but its real-life image is one of energy and—well—vigor. This Viggo too has brothers with more ordinary names—Charles and Walter. Maybe that’s why they turned out to be geologists.

First for the good news.  Here are the starbaby names which we consider to have found the right combination of originality, charm and substance this year:

CLEMENTINE —Ethan Hawke & Ryan Shawhughes

Full name Clementine Jane Hawke projects the image of a sweet but strong, prim but pretty heroine of a Victorian novel, and brings to mind the song lyric ‘Oh my darlin’ (never mind that her shoes were #9).  It was previously the starbaby selection of Cybill Shepherd and Claudia Schiffer.

HONOR — Jessica Alba & Cash Warren

We applaud this choice that moves beyond the more common Puritan Virtue names like Grace, Hope, and Faith to one that projects an even more righteous image, but has rarely been heard in this country.  An honorable decision.

KNOX  & VIVIENNE —Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt

The award for best twin names of the year goes to the always inventive but never quite over-the-top serial baby namers, the Jolie-Pitts.  Knox continued their tradition of boys’ names ending in ‘X’ (as in Maddox and Pax), and also has family connections to Brad’s grandfather, as does Vivienne’s middle name, Marcheline, that of Angelina’s mother.  Runner-up twin names: Coldplay drummer Will Champion’s lively Juno & Rex.

LOTUS —Rain Pryor

In the name garden overgrown with Roses and Lillies, Violets and Daisies, it seems fitting that the granddaughter of the late iconoclastic comedian Richard Pryor would have a more exotic flower name.  With its languorous feel, the lotus holds intriguing significance in several cultures.

SUNDAY—Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban

An unusual but sunny day-of-the-week name, inspired by an Australian artist’s patron named Sunday Reed, it’s in tune with other current calendar names like January, May, June and August, as well as the seasonal Winter and Summer.  Some people did think it strange that Sunday was born on a Monday.

And now for what we judge to be this year’s losers:

BRONX MOWGLI —Ashlee Simpson & Pete Wentz

Poor little Bronx got nothing but Bronx cheers when his name was released, especially as paired with the name of the Disneyfied Jungle Book boy.  If his parents thought this New York borough name would catch on the way Brooklyn has, they’re in for a big disappointment.

BUSTER —Michele Hicks & Jonny Lee Miller

Is he a bulldog?  Is he a prizefighter?  No, he’s a baby, whose rambunctuous name will not do much to encourage his sensitive side.  An example of the alarming trend towards giving doggy names (Lucky, Princess) to babies.

KADENCE CLOVER —Tony Hawk

It could just as well be Cadence Klover, within the paradigm of using the initial letters C and K interchangeably, leading to regrettable innovations like Kasey, Kassidy, Karolyn and Kaleb.  Fortunately, the trend seems to be waning.

MAXX —Scott Hamilton

Taking Max–which already means “the greatest”–to the max.  INXS, we’d say.

PEANUT—Ingo Rademacher

The General Hospital star explained that this had been the nickname they used “when he was in mommy.”  OK, good luck explaining that to him when he’s six feet tall and applying to Princeton.

We’d love to hear your nominations for the best and worst celebrity choices of the year, and won’t be surprised if you have very different opinions.  Let’s hear from you lovers of Harlow and defenders of Kadence!

Palindrome Names

Exotic Reversals

Here are a few other exotic reversals, giving a nouveau twist to an old name.  You could probably come up with some more yourself–perhaps as a way of creating a namesake for someone you wish to honor: