I recently obtained a sweet, little book at the library by way of slight tragedy: Nona's daddy accidentally turned in all of her new birthday books to the library, along with the library books he was returning. When I called the library they were able to pin them all down, but when I got there two days later to retrieve them, only one was left remaining for me to claim. Someone took them right off an employee's desk, in spite of a note on top stating what they were. In some attempt to make the outcome a bit less upsetting to Nona, I headed for the used book sale room and found this little gem, Attic of the Wind (written by Dorris Herald Lund and illustrated by Ati Forberg) for only 50 cents, which is quite the bargain. I also got all of my late fees dropped by a pretty embarrassed librarian.
I picked it up because of the pretty cover and bought it in a bit of a hurry, but when we got home, sad as we were for our lost books, I was so happy to really take in this little treasure from 1966 and it's amazing illustrations! It's also packed full of beautiful words, as every good book should be, and many of them make for intriguing name choices. Given the mix of nature, vintage and Scandinavian names this book has to offer, get ready for some exciting pairings!
Doris (I'm ready to see her popping up again. She might just be the new old Alice, actually.)
Herald (what do we think about this one being on a lady? it's spelling makes it more of a word name? is it ready for a come back?)
Lund ( I sure like the sound of this Norwegian and Swedish surname. With Luna being a bit popular these days, Lund's sound could appeal to those who also like the surname-as-first-name thing.)
Ati
Sunny
Wind (Similar enough to Wim and Winnie for me to like it. I like the idea of using it up front with a classic middle name, and Wind can easily go by Winnie or Win if she or he wants to down the road.)
Cloud (such a beautiful word. I love the name Claude for it's likeness.)
Autumn
Snow
Petal
Daisy
Blossom (Can we shake the 90's sitcom? Maybe not, but young 20 somethings will be able to, and the next crop of parents won't even have to think about it.)
Dandelion (this is up there with Tigerlily, I think, and it has so many great nickname options!)
Butterfly (if not on it's own, what about the name of a type of butterfly? See British Baby Name's post of the matter, if this appeals to you!)
Summer
Wren
Fair
Kite
Bravely
Feather
Robin
Bluejay
Plume
Gull
Gust (I can see this working on a little boy, for those with a love of nature and word names, and it's so similar in sound to Gus.)
Sail (We've seen Sailor, but with word names becoming more popular, I can see this one happening, too. It is not so unlike Saint in sound.... a little Arthur Sail, anyone?)
Hero (I've seen this one popping up here and there on little girls. I likey.)
Valentine (I don't need to sell this one. classic. beautiful.)
Golden (this one is great for smooshing, and on it's own, too!)
Using all of the names from today's list, and using it's vintage, nature, word-name and Scandinavian themes as inspiration, here are some pairings I like:
Doris Kite
Ati Myrtle
Wind Margaret
Eugenie Autumn
Betty Plume
Miriam Feather Augusta (Mim)
Blossom Henriette
Leona Petal
Elsa Wren
Ernestine Daisy
Edith Butterfly
Virginia Lund
Dandelion Mary
Jane Hero Valentine (nothing plain about this!)
Sun Harriet (Sunny)
Daisy Marlene
Henrietta Dove
Muriel Cloud
Esther Swan
Lullula Summer Claudine
Gladys Willet
Viola Fair
Salvador Gust
George Bluejay
Clement Gull
Hubert Bravely (Hugh)
Albertus Golden (Bertie)
Rupert Sail (Ru)
Hoke Herald
Whimbrel Frank (Whim)
Junius Robbin
Ernest Snow
Any favorites on the list? What vintage names would you like to see them paired with? What are your favorite vintage books for children? Any gems in them?
We've seen a bit of a break from the holiday goings on around here, but I'll be back with more holiday goodness by the week's end!
(images: mine. sorry for the near blinded-by-the-light photos this go round!)
Oh, some lovely gems there! Love the mix of "frumpy" classics and bright, soulful "hippie" names.
ReplyDeleteThat book looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteI like Herald, actually, though I think I'd save it for a middle name if using it for a girl. It's sort of seasonal, too, isn't it? (Thinking "hark, the herald angels sing ...")
Dandelion is nice, I've always thought it should be getting more attention. I like Kite, Hero, Valentine and Golden, too.
Elsa Wren, Hero Valentine, and Henrietta Dove are my favorites here. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteWow, I love so many of these! A great post - and an amazing book by the looks of it!
ReplyDeleteSome favs:
Cloud - I could imagine this on a little girl - a peaceful, creative soul. Perhaps anchored with a more classic name - like Cloud Marceline or Cloud Violetta.
{As an aside, it does remind me of Cloud Strife, the character from Final Fantasy VII - a video game with some amazing names.)
Bravely, Hero, Valentine and Snow are all fantastic.
Of your combos, I adore:
Ernest Snow - he sounds like a character from a vintage noir film.
Miriam Feather Augusta - she'd just be the perfect person to have around for a dinner party, in my imagination.
Rupert Sail (Ru) - I imagine this little boy going on to study the classics or anthropology. Sail adds a lovely whimsy to Rupert.
A few other combos I like:
Clara Dandelion
Magnolia Kite (nn Nola or Kitty)
Silvestra Snow (nn Silva)
Augustus Cloud with nn 'Gull'
Oh, I love Silvestra Snow, P.J.!
ReplyDeleteeBirdie, I'm going to post here your book finds from a previous post, where I first announced I'd be doing "thrifted names." I hope that's alright. You listed such great ones, so I want to share them here, too!
eBirdie's previous comment on names found in vintage books:
eBirdie said...
I look forward to seeing your thrifted names lists! One of the most fascinating things to me about helping my mother when she was cleaning up her parents' estate a few years ago were the great vintage books and the names in them.
There were a lot of The Five Little Peppers books, and they had some great names:
-Phronsie (Sophronia)...which is a pretty fantastic name in contrast to its meaning: "sensible"
-Polly (Mary)
-Ben (Ebenezer)
-Davie (David)
-Joel
-Horatio
-Jasper
Then there was The Adventures of Tippy
The dedication is to Lloyd, Cookie, Do, Roger, Lila, Wally, Cyrilla, Matty, and Little Cora...and these are some of the names in the story itself:
-Sir Ignatius Tippitolio
-Oriella
-Titus
-Beatrix
-Tobias
-Simon
-Cornelius
-Fritz
-Kaspar
-Josi
That's probably enough for now, ha! Vintage books are so much fun - and they look great on the shelf too.
You always come up with such delightful combos. I love them. I love Snow, Gust, & Kite plus Arthur Sail, Viola Fair, & Esther Swan are awesome.
ReplyDeleteI recently found a baby named Wind. There was no middle and I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl, but I love it when I find a name I've never seen before. I also recently saw a baby boy named Golden. :)
Sarah
PJ, I love Matilda Kite!
Oh, yes! Those are great - I often find the dedications of books to contain fascinating lists of names. Or in vintage books, the endpapers might have the names of previous owners penciled in, and those are often wonderful too.
ReplyDeleteOoh, great list! Fair as a middle name, I love. And I've always adored Daisy (since reading The Great Gatsby).
ReplyDeleteCloud made me recall a name I hadn't heard before but has popped up recently: A friend of mine became an aunt; her niece is named Ciel, which I believe is French for "sky." Quite pretty, don't you think?
Oh, that is pretty, Nicole! Thanks for sharing. I have such a big soft spot for Daisy, too--it could become as popular as Sophia and I'll still adore it.
ReplyDeleteLOVELY LOVELY LOVELY Name Combos! I feel like, since just 'meeting' you on this amazing blog, as if to find people who finally speak my language !!!!
ReplyDeleteAll are perfectly rhythmic, perfectly colourful, and full of character.
xooxox