My college alumni magazine arrived in today's mail. As usual, I skipped most of the articles and went straight for the section in the back marked "Births/Adoptions." Here's what the alumni of one small, elite New England university are naming their children this month:
- Luca Isaac Rocco (brother to Francesca Emilia)
- Isabela (sister to Gabriela)
- Richard Vann (brother to Avery (girl))
- Jiya (sister to Armaan and Milan)
- Sasha (sister to Talia and Sofie)
- Sophia
- Grace Mackenzie (sister to Hannah)
- Maximus Alexander and Isabel Yvonne (twins, siblings to Malachi (girl) and Zadok)
- Gabriella Melanie
- Hugo
- Donovan Eli
- Leo (brother to Kai)
- Lucia Frances
- Holden Jude (girl)
- Mira Hope
- Arden
- Astrid
- Graham Isaiah
- Alexandra Maya
Some notable things about this list:
- The complete absence of -lee and -ayden names. Obviously, this is a small sample, but the -lee and -ayden endings are so common in the US right now that it seems worth noting their absence among the new babies and their siblings. I think this has a lot to do with both class and location — these parents are all graduates of an Ivy League college and most live in the Northeastern US, and tend more toward "neo-traditional" and international styles.
- The girls show a very wide range. The frilly feminine names are well represented (Gabriella, Isabella), as are several names more commonly used for boys (Holden, Jude, Malachi), with everything in between. One thing I noticed about the girls on this list is that none of them could be considered "cutesy" — even potential cuties like Sofie and Mira are by no means juvenile.
- Long o is a popular sound. With Rocco, Leo, Hugo, Sophia, Sofie, Holden, and Hope all showing up in this small sample (along with sound-alikes Lucia and Luca), I expect to see lots more Os in the near future.
Anything else you notice in this list?
I have noticed how fashionable the long O is - to the point I can feel confident recommending any name with that sound, no matter how unlikely.
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