Names from Children's Books

Pom is a shortened word name that's not much used in France, but cute and familiar here as one of Babar (the Elephant's) triplets. Pom, pommy and pommie are (non-derogatory) terms sometimes used by Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans to denote a person of English heritage. 

Sixties-style short form that sounds cool again -- though the unscrupulous Pete on "Mad Men" is not a character to emulate.

Trapped somewhere in the nether region between Haddie and Catie, with the added confusion of sounding like someone who works on a golf course. Caddie Woodlawn was a TV heroine of the Old West in the 1980s. Caddie had its moment, but we don't see it becoming one of the more popular girl names starting with C.

This Latin-sounding place-name, created by C. S. Lewis for his Chronicles, will undoubtedly be adopted by a few admiring parents.

Short for Samuel or long for Sam, Sammy is a sweet midcentury nickname name that we can see coming back.

Rough-and-tumble surname with some degree of charm.

Has become a byword in English for an overly optimistic person, thanks to the eponymous children's book heroine.

Sweet and southern-feeling, maybe thanks to Horton Foote, author of Tender Mercies and The Trip to Bountiful, not to mention the Dr. Seuss connection.

Looks very much like it lost its first initial.

Katy, or more popularly Katie, stood fashionably on their own two feet for several years there, during the Katelyn boom. But now both Katy and Katie are fading in favor of grownup Kate or buttoned-up Katherine.

It's most commonly associated with the French elephant, but Babar ironically means "tiger."

Rosmerta is a Gallo-Roman goddess of fertility, abundance, and prosperity, often depicted holding a cornucopia. In the Harry Potter books, Madame Rosmerta is the landlady of the Three Broomsticks pub in the wizarding village of Hogsmeade.