Baby Names Blog

Nancy has a great article over at her blog where she’s uncovered some intriguing names from America’s political past.  Check out these!

• Arphaxed Loomis (1798-1885) - Representative from New York.

• Outerbridge Horsey (1777-1842) - Senator from Delaware. (Previously, Attorney General of Delaware.)

• Powhatan Ellis (1790-1863) - Senator from Mississippi.

• Stanyarne Wilson (1860-1928) - Representative from South Carolina.

• Vespasian Warner (1842-1925) - Representative from Illinois.</blockquote>

Aren’t they awesome?  See the full list here.

It was recently revealed that Gretchen Mol and her husband, director Tod Williams, have been parents of a son since this September.

The interesting thing is his name - Ptolemy. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek name Ptolemaios, which means ‘warlike’.

* Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy in English) - 86 - 101AD - A Greek mathematician, geographer, astronomer and astrologer from Alexandria in Ancient Egypt.

* Ptolemy I Soter - 367 - 283BC - A Macedonian general under the rule of Alexander the Great, who later came to rule Ancient Egypt.

So the name, with a masculine meaning and strong historical relevance, doesn’t seem like such bad choice after all!

GossipGirls is reporting that Christina Aguilera may have plans to name her child after her husband, Jordan Bratman.

According to insiders, Christina held a private baby shower for family and friends this past weekend, where she reportedly informed those at the gathering of plans to name her baby after husband Jordan Bratman.

An In Touch source told: “She rubs her baby bump and talks to the baby, calling it Jordy. Christina’s friends all bought boy-themed gifts for the shower, all blue.”

So it remains to be seen what the truth is, but no doubt we’ll find out in the near future.

Sacha Baron Cohen and fiancé Isla Fischer have named their new born baby daughter ‘Olive‘.

Sacha, famous for his inspired characters Ali G and Borat, is thrilled with parenthood and has been taking a hands-on approach.

Isla, an Australian actress who notably starred in TV series ‘Neighbours Home & Away’, says she feels great and has ‘never been happier’.

via The Sun

A poster campaign against the discrimination of homosexuals has caused controversy today.

The poster depicts a newly born infant wearing a name tag on its wrist, but in place of a name, the word ‘homosexual’ is written.

The text accompanying the image reads “Sexual orientation is not a choice”. The photograph is part of a campaign by the Tuscany regional government in Italy.

Thousands of these posters are printed and ready for display across the region.

It’s no surprise that The poster has been condemned by conservative politicians, with Lucio Volonte, a leading parliamentarian for the Union of Christian Democrats, commenting that “exploiting newborns to suggest that homosexual tendencies are innate is a misleading and shameful act.”

Gay groups have also voiced negative opinions on the poster. Gianni Vattimo, an Italian philosopher, gay rights activist and European Parliament member described the campaign “excessive”. The slogan “is too biology-centric. Of course for a homosexual it is natural to be gay, but I’m not too sure it is determined by genetics”, Vattimo said.

What are your thoughts on this poster? Is it over the top, or simply necessary to push the message of equality? Leave your comments below!

via AAP

I just stumbled across a great compilation from the awesome Scrubs.

As you may or may not know, male intern John Dorian (J.D.) is incessantly referred to by his superior Dr. Perry Cox using girl’s names. They get through quite a few, check out the embedded video below!

Which are your most and least favourite?

Here’s a classic example of a world event causing ripples in the world of baby names. A whopping 3590 Chinese citizens bear the name Aoyun, meaning Olympics in Mandarin. This should come as no surprise, considering the impending 2008 Olympic Games to be staged in Beijing.

It seems that this unique moniker is not solely being used to honour the Games themselves, but instead with hopes of injecting some Olympian spirit into Chinese youth. Not that the country lacks in that department - at Athens 2004, China were second only to the USA.

It is thought that some pregnant Chinese woman are “aiming” to give birth at 8.08pm, August 8th 2008, to coincide with the opening ceremony.

There are five Chinese characters that comprise the phrase “Beijing Olympic Games”; Bei, Jing, Ao, Yun and Hui. These are among the 4,100 surnames available for use in Chinese culture. Interestingly, only 100 of these surnames are frequently used, meaning that 84.8% of the population is named using 2.5% of the available surnames.

The survey, carried out by id5.cn and found via ChinaDaily, points out that 2008 will be a record-setting bumper year for Olympics baby names.

Italian football legend Alessandro Del Piero and his wife Sonia yesterday welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Tobias. Here’s a message from Alessandro as posted on his website:

Sonia and I are really excited to announce the birth of our baby boy Tobias. Tobias and his Mum are both well. We are very happy and we thanks everybody for being so close to us.

This completes a great week for the Juventus star, who after having recently been dropped for both club and country, has penned a new contract and put in a brilliant performance against Genoa.

Cheryl Cole, singer in Girls Aloud and wife to Chelsea and England defender Ashley Cole, has spoken about parenthood in a recent interview with The Mirror.

They would like to start a family but out of loyalty to Girls Aloud Cheryl has put baby plans on hold to fulfil her commitments with the band.

“I do really want a baby and so does Ashley, but it’s not just my life I have to think about - there are five other people who would be affected if I got pregnant,” she says.

They would like to start a family but out of loyalty to Girls Aloud Cheryl has put baby plans on hold to fulfil her commitments with the band.

“I do really want a baby and so does Ashley, but it’s not just my life I have to think about - there are five other people who would be affected if I got pregnant,” she says.

You can be sure that if/when the Coles start dropping babies, we’ll have it covered here!