you're my fave - part two

The photos above are all images featured on this blog in 2011; they're either some favorite images of mine or pictures of some of my favorite things.

Yep, more favorites from 2011 today!  I hope it's not too masturbatory to compile favorites from my own posts and lists. The thing is that since I'm often writing on names as they relate to other subjects, I don't always get the chance to talk about which names I simply love the most. 

For today's second and final installation of favorites, I want to talk about my number one names for each sex, your favorite list, and a whopping list of my favorites from all the names and name combinations covered on this blog. (exhale) Heavy!

-- So, what are my number one name crushes right now for each sex?  I never divulge the number one or two names I'm actually considering for my future children (not pregnant right now), but that works out, because my current favorites are actually ones I can't use because they are too close to my own children's names  or don't match in style (and one of them was vetoed by my  husband.)

Girl:

Jane-Reve  (Reve, the french word for 'dream', sounds like rev, as in "rev your engines".) -- This was my number one pick for our second daughter, but my husband refused it based on it's hyphenation. Non-hyphenation was a deal breaker for me (with this particular name), so away it went. Double names are a staple of Southern (American) culture, and a staple that's peppered *all* over my family tree; my adult sister still goes by her double name at all times. I like taking old traditions (double names, smooshing, maternal surnames as middles, etc) and breathing new life into them. The hyphenation honors the frenchness of  Reve and, to me, makes a double name more indivisible. I would also not usually suggest pairing two one-syllable names together, but when it works, it works.  Both Jane and Reve are in my top ten names of all time, and together, they're unstoppable. But they're completely off the table for us now, even if my husband had a change of heart, due their closeness to both June and Reverie, which we've used. This double name will be revisited in a post dedicated to a new generation of double names! 

Boy:

Junius Nightingale 'Jules' or 'Jin'-- While I may very well still use Nightingale, Junius is off the table for this family, considering we often refer to our second as simply 'June'. My love of  the middle name Nightingale on a little boy was completely solidified when I came across the name David Nightingale Hicks, on the father of India Hicks (mother to little girl Domino). I love it because it honors my mother's middle name, Gail, albeit in a very roundabout way.  'Jules' works here, in my opinion, if middle name contains an 'l', and even without-- 'Sally' from Sarah comes to mind, along with tons more examples of nicknames that aren't super straight forward. 

Salvador Bluejay 'Sully'-- I love Sully. If we'd not established a different style, Salvador 'Sully' would likely be a first pick for me.  Bluejay honors my father.

--Your favorite list? O girl! has definitely been your favorite list.   You can see my most popular posts to the right, but not all of them are categorical name lists. And while the Japanese names list has had more page hits, many of those visits are coming from various google searches which have little to do with names. When I subtract those searches, O Girl! absolutely becomes my most popular list.  And let me say, while O girl! goes *beyond* Harlow, Marlo, Willow, and Shiloh, I am in no way dismissing these four beautiful names! While it's not really my style to publicly trash any name--they're all attached to real people to be sure-- the aforementioned names we're moving "beyond" in this post are names I do actually like; I'm simply using them as a take-off point for more -o ending names, since these four have been such hot topics of discussion already.  Provided you aren't just tacking an 'o' onto the end of a name/word, you will almost never hear me dismiss an -o ending name. period. My favorites, other than the one we used for our own daughter? At the moment I'm really liking Billow, Farrow and Yarrow. 

-- Now, for my favorites from all the names featured here in 2011-- how many favorites are too many, such that the word sort of looses it's meaning?  Yes, this list is long -- be prepared-- but it's really only a small fraction of the total names I've featured so far on this blog. So here it is, my favorite names featured so far.

Girls:
Artemis

Ardith


Agnes


Anjou


Anouk 


Anais 

Albertine ('Birdie')

Azalea ('Zizi')

Berenice


Beryl


Betti (b/c I haven't featured Betty yet.)


Bim

Betsy (many ways to get here, but I love none of them as much as this nickname)

Billow (Billie)

Bloom


Blythe 


Bijou


Calypso


Cassiopeia

Cim


Cosette 


Concordia 


Claudine


Clove


Cypress

Daisy (by way of Margaret, Marguerite, Theodosia, or on it's own, I love Daisy forever)

Dovi


Eglantine

Edith

Elka

Elsa 

Emerald

Eple

Endellion 

Ernestine 

Este (so many ways to get this nickname, mostly love them all)

Eudora

Eugenie 

Farrow

Flo (by way of Florence or Fallow)

Frances

Francoise

Frida (Frie)

Garden

Gardenia (this might be my favorite flower name right now)

Georgine

Gita


Gladys (with Alice so fetching these days, a similar sounding name with 'glad' in it sounds increasingly lovely to my ears)


Greta

Henriette

Hesper

Hestia

India

Ilta

Jane (top ten favorites)

June 


Juhl 


Koemi


Leonie 


Lillo

Liv

Lova


Loxia

Lula (by way of Louise or Tallulah)


Mabel


Maple


Maja


Malgosia 


Marlene


Marjoram (though really I like the french version Marjolaine or Marjoline better, I haven't technically featured them)

Marigold


Maude


Mathilde

May (as a first name, it still isn't used so frequently. I love it paired with Margaret)

Maxine (my own aunt goes by 'Mackie')

Meadow

Maybelle

Midori

Mim (by way of Miriam or a MM alliterative combination like Mary Matilde)

Muriel

Nell

Neige

Neoma

Nettle

Nitsa 

November

Oona

Ondine

Odette

Omena

Ommel 

Opal

Pilvi

Rosamond

Rosalie 

Reve

Ree

Rita

Rue

Saffron

Sable

Sauma

Sigrid

Sine

Suzu

Sumi

Sachi

Suki

Suvi

Tuli 

Umi


Uni


Veda


Verabel


Violette 


Viola

Virgina (top ten favorite names of all time)

Willet 


Xanthe


Yarrow


Yuki


Zenith


Zinnia


Zelda


Ziv

Zuzu (by way of Susannah, Suzume, or Zulema)



Boys:

Albertus


Abraham 


Aloysius

Arthur


Atlas


Aubrey


Augustine


Barnaby


Beaumont


Benny 


Bello


Beppe 


Booker


Casper


Cedar


Claude


Clement


Clovis


Dorian 


Dov

Ernest (or Earnest)

Eno


Etienne

Fritz

Franco

George


Gilbert 

Hachi

Herve

Hector


Hank


Hickory


Hoke

Hubert (Hugh)

Hugo


Humphrey

Ignatious (Iggy, of course)

Ivo


Judah 


Junius

Leopold (Leo)


Louie


Nao


Ormand


Oscar


Ovid


Philo

Pomeroy ('Roy')

Ptolemy

Rupert (Ru)

Remy

Raphael (Ralph)

Ringo


Robin


Rowe

Roald (Ro)

Salvador

Sigmund (Siggy)

Simon


Sol (has to be in my top ten for it's simple beauty)

Sully (by way of Sullivan, Salvador, or on it's own. Sully is my favorite boy's name these days, I think.)

Teak


Timo


Thurman


Tobias

Tulliver (Tully)

Wiloughby


William


Wilfred

Whimbrel ('Whim')

Virgil


Vito


Xylo


Yesper

Unisex:
Arrow 


Balu


Clemence


Domino


Frost


Garnet 


Golden


Helmi 


Indigo


Kit


March


Myrrh

Ren or Rin

Rumi

Rune

Sunny


Vetiver


Weaver


Wren (I know several male Wrens and I think it's lovely)



Names I love in the middle (or right upfront for the more daring) and I know I'm leaving some out:
Baywren


Bellbird 


Bluejay 


Cedarmoss 

Dahlia (she seems the perfect balance to so, so many names)

Fieldfare 


Fleet


Goldfinch


Illiad


July

Margaret (to balance a more adventuresome first name, especially if it's slightly hippie leaning)

Meadowlark


Moonlily 


Nightingale


Pear

Philomeno / Philomela

Woodrose


Rosegold


Rustylark


Spring


Snowdrop


Tigerlily (thank you to Nook of Names for turning me onto this one!)


Web


Wilde 


Favorite combos (some of these are from real people and some are my own or guest's creations):

Ada Margot


Artemis Liv

Autumn Apple Windseed (while I might not use it myself, it makes me so happy to see it!)

Carole Calliope (Coco)


Daisy Marlene


Doris Kite


Enid Cleona 


Esther Swan


Ina May


Gita Pomeline

Henrietta Dove


Joan Riverlily


Maple Calliope


Mary Zest

Marigold March (I listed it last time, I know, but dang-- alliteration, nature, word name, wow.)

Olimpia Olive


Philomena Marylove

Reve Concordia Wilde

Sally Kate

Sequoia Cas (Suki)

Sun Margaret 

Suzu Argene

Thisbe Dove

Umi Vrai

Viola Fair

Clovis Rin

Ernest Snow 'Ernie' 

Fritz Edward

John Henry


Johnny Garnet


Junius Lively 


Oriole George

Otis Francisco (from Ina May's Guide to Childbirth)

Raymond Dov


Vito Thespis


Whimbrel Frank



Of course, not all of my favorites are here, because I've yet to write about them all!

What are your absolute most favorite names? What would you name a child if you were giving birth soon? Any that you love in pairings, if not so much on their own?




(Images: 1 is mine, 2 by Zoe of Le Dans La, 3 by Jeana Sohn , 4 from The Farm in Summertown TN found here, 5 by Natsuko Hagiwara of Me & Arrow, 6 is mine, 7 by Ariana)