Where the Wild Things Are

Here's a trend for you all: babies with animal names. I don't mean just Tiger (though the birth name of Tiger Woods was Elias Tont Woods), or even Puma (like the daughter of Erykah Badu, who also has a son named Seven). If you're going to give your child an animal-inspired name, it seems to me that big cats would be the way to go; Tiger or Puma give an immediate mental image of strength and power.

But what about other animal families--like birds? Oriole, for instance, is the name of the daughter of '60s songster Donovan Leitch. Orioles are lovely birds, to be sure, but it's certainly an interesting choice for a baby's name. Melanie B., formerly known as Scary Spice, has a daughter named Phoenix Chi. Then there's Dove, a good choice if you're looking for a "peaceful" name. On the other end of the spectrum, there are Falcon and Hawk. And finally (though this is a stretch), there's always Robin and all its variants.

In the end, then, if you're looking at a nature-inspired name for your baby, it seems safe to stay within the confines of large cats or birds. But if anyone knows of a child named, say, Elephant or Llama, please do let me know!

Presidential Name Thoughts

Hello, and welcome to the new era of the Right Baby Name blog! We started this blog a while ago, but we hope to be more active bloggers, and a better resource for expectant parents and anyone interested in baby names, from now on.

And what better way to start our new era of blogging than with everyone's favorite (or least favorite) news topic? I am referring, of course, to the 2008 Presidential campaign. The link on this post will take you to a page from which you can access The Right Baby Name's name reports for John McCain, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, which will give you in-depth information about a variety of factors for each candidate's (or former candidate's) name.

A quick but interesting fact: Barack is an African name meaning "blessed," while John is a Hebrew name meaning "God is gracious." Perhaps the 2008 candidates have more in common than we realize, but there seems to be a departure here from our past few presidents: George derives from the Greek for "farmer," and William is an English name meaning "strong-willed warrior." From farmer to warrior to farmer once more--to which name is the presidency headed next?

That's all for now, but I will be back with more baby name news on a regular basis, so please check back soon!