24 Winter Babyberries Kick Off 2024

24 Winter Babyberries Kick Off 2024

This winter of 2024 has brought along 24 new birth announcements from our very own Nameberry users — 13 girls and 11 boys — and 51 unique names.

The most popular initials for girls this winter season were L and M, featuring gorgeous choices like Leonora, Lyra, and Linnea, Madelyn, Maple, Mary, Marie, and Marianne.

Two parents took the oh-so-fun route of classic, feminine full names with boyish, modern nicknames — Alberta "Albie", and Jubilee "Billie".

Other parents went straight to short and spunky, with Babyberry girls named Clio, Maple, Úna, and Lyra among others.

The only girl name used multiple times this winter was timeless Elizabeth, given to 3 baby girls as a middle name.

On the boy's side, there were two quite notable pairings this season.

Two Berry parents fell in love with the adorable nickname Sonny — using the full names Watson and Santiago respectively. We have been seeing more and more of both Sonny and Sunny recently — definitely a name to watch!

We were also very surprised to see both a Zebedee and a Zebulun born this winter — the first Babyberries ever given those names! Could this be a sign that cool-guy nickname Zeb will be coming into style soon?

Several names were spotted for the first time in a Babyberry birth announcement. These include Bridie, Debra, and Selene for girls, and Conan, Watson, Zebedee, and Zebulun for boys.

Without further ado, please welcome the first 24 Babyberries born in 2024.

Girls:

Alberta Agnes Jacob "Albie"

"She's Alberta for the Canadian province and Queen Victoria's daughter (my middle name is Victoria). She's Agnes because it's a badass name. She's Jacob because it's my maternal grandfather's name (and my brothers) and I wanted her to have a link to that side of the family tree too."

Clara Selene

"After long battling and back and forth ideas, we have finally settled on Clara Selene for the flow and combo meaning (clear and bright moon)."

Clio Elizabeth

"We chose Clio because we wanted something short and lively, not overly feminine, and with a little historical gravitas. My wife and I were drawn to names from the Greek pantheon as we met due to our mutual love of Xena: Warrior Princess. I also have a PhD in History, so Clio, the Muse of History and heroic poetry, seemed to be on brand. Elizabeth is the name of my wife's beloved late Grandmother."

Delphine Bridie "Delphi", sister to Matilda Valentine and Aurora Maeve

"When our baby girl arrived we still had about ten names on our list and Delphine wasn’t necessarily our front runner but it simply fit her perfectly. We gave her Bridie in the middle as a nod to ‘Bridget’ whose meaning and history had significance to her personal story, our Celtic heritage, and she was born around Imboc/St. Brigids day which felt fitting."

Jubilee Elizabeth Debra "Billie"

"She is our rainbow after the storm of two losses and she brings so much joy to us every day!"

Juliet Ivy Marie, sister to David Leo

"Juliet was my husband's top choice off my list, Ivy was my top choice, and Marie, a variation after both my late mother, and my mother in law."

Leonora Marianne "Lena", sister to Theresa Lilianne and Victoria Florianne

"Nickname so far is Lena (like my husband and I picked out), but her sisters have nicknamed her Twig/Twiggy because she was a bit thin at first. Glad I put in all that effort in choosing and name and nickname for her sisters to call her Twig!"

Lyra Elizabeth, sister to Trillium Kelly (g)

"Both of our daughters' names are nature first names with family middles. Trillium is a flower, and Lyra is a significant constellation in our night sky. Both their names also hold literary significance for me and my partner, who is a librarian. Trillium is from a beautiful graphic novel with the same name, and Lyra is the heroine of 'The Golden Compass' series."

Madelyn Hazel Skye "Maddie", sister to Lilith Ember Jade

"Decided to go a bit more traditional with her name as we fell in love with the name Madelyn. Though Finley was a strong contender, when we saw her face we knew she was a Madelyn/Maddie."

Maple Ezra, sister to Myla Grey

Mary Linnea

"We had both been fairly certain it would be a boy, and we had struggled to nail down a girl’s name. But when I went into labor, I just knew that actually this was a girl and she was going to be my Mary Linnea"

Ruby Chiara

Úna Kathleen, sister to Julian William

"Úna’s big brother, Julian William, is looking down on her from heaven. We actually conceived Úna right around Mother’s Day, so we like to think she’s a gift from him."

Boys:

Conan Benjamin, brother to Finley (g)

Dashiell Jem Rudolph "Dash", brother to Amory (b)

"I’m a fan of Dashiell Hammet, but mostly we just liked the sound of the name and cute nickname Dash. We wanted a shorter middle name to offset the other names, and Jem seemed cool enough to fit the bill. Also a reference to Jem Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird), Jem Mackenzie (Outlander) and Jem Morrissay from my childhood fave, The Hollow Tree. We’ve given both kids my surname (Rudolph) as a middle."

Dexter Frederick, brother to Juno Astrid

"Dexter - A Latin choice to accompany sister Juno Astrid. I proposed it from my list and OH agreed straight away as he loves the TV series. Frederick - after my dad and my step-grandad but proposed by OH which was lovely, otherwise I might have been a bit wilder!"

Ellis William, brother to Clara Eloise

"His first name was a name that I have loved for a while, but my husband was more or less indifferent to. After thinking about it for a while, the name really grew on him! His middle name is an honor to my late dad who passed away when I was a young child."

Lewis Callum

"We love Lewis and all its nickname potential, and I love how it’s a strong yet uncommon name without being too out there. We also love its gentle vibe and literary tie-ins with Lewis Carroll and C.S. Lewis. Also, as a Robin, I’ve always wanted to give my children a bird name of their own, and since Callum means dove, it was the perfect choice. I love the meanings together . . . that sometimes being a warrior means being gentle and fighting for peace."

Peregrine William Benedict

"Peregrine means Wanderer or Traveler. William is a name that my husband felt God give him years ago, as a hopeful promise for a loving family in his future. Benedict means Blessed. We want our boy to know this: wherever he wanders in life, whomever he becomes during his travels, he has been wished for and loved since long before his existence. We hope for blessings along his path, and that he will be a blessing to those he encounters in his own unique way."

Remy Emmanuel, brother to Myles Raymond and Augustine John

Santiago Angelo "Sonny"

"Our boy affectionately goes by Sonny, or as I like to call him, my sunny angel."

Watson Nathaniel "Sonny", brother to Sullivan Garnier "Sully"

"We knew the middle name would be Nathaniel (my husband’s name). We initially loved the nickname Sonny, and decided Sampson was the best full name for that! Eventually, we fell out of love with Sampson…but still held onto Sonny. Then @emeraldsea suggested Watson. My husband LOVED Watson as new baby’s name, and on January 27 our little Watson Nathaniel was born!"

Zebedee John, brother to Ransom, Tobias, and Deliverance

"Zebedee means “gift of God,” as all our children are; and it feels like a happy name, one that’s fun to say. It was on our list for Ransom and would have been Deliverance’s name if she’d been a boy, so we’ve loved it a while. John is after his daddy’s brother, who died in a farm accident a few years ago and never got to meet his niece and nephews."

Zebulun Reed "Zeb", brother to Evander Mark "Van", Gabriel Lee "Gabe", Maccabee Joel "Mac", Eliza Mae, and Aviya Joy

"Zebulun was named after the biblical Zebulun who was Leah’s sixth child, just as he is my sixth child. His middle name, Reed, was my grandfather’s middle name, as it was his mother’s maiden name. We give all of our children three-syllable first names with one-syllable middle names, and our boys all have easily accessible one-syllable nicknames."

Our warmest congratulations to all of the proud new parents!

If you’d like your child’s name to be featured in our next Babyberry blog post, tell us the name you chose and the story behind it over on our birth announcements forum.

About the Author

Brynn McKeon

Brynn McKeon

Brynn McKeon joined the Nameberry team in August of 2022 as an editor, and has written about topics such as the Ultimate Guide to Goddess Names and Redefining Classic Names. As Head Moderator, she also oversees our active Nameberry forums community. Brynn also writes the daily Name of the Day newsletter.

Outside of Nameberry, Brynn lives in New York State with her dog Raven, where she is working towards her Master's degree in Occupational Therapy. You can reach her at brynn@nameberry.com