But people naming their babies after fictional vampires? That’s quite another story! You would have had to been locked in a cave (hopefully not a bat-infested one) to have missed the Twilight phenomena over the last several years. A series of four books were written by Stephanie Meyer and sold millions of copies. The Twilight series gave an interesting twist on an old theme – vampires that feed on the blood of animals instead of humans (although technically humans are animals too). So they’re still vampires, but they seem to have a conscience. (That’s what I like in my fictional, blood-sucking characters: a conscience.)

Some of the main characters in the Twilight series of 4 books are Bella Swan (a human character), Edward Cullen (one of the undead vampires), and Jacob Black (a werewolf). In fact, Bella finds herself in the midst of a love triangle, struggling to choose between the affections of Edward and Jacob. And true to today’s reality TV voting style, people are selecting their preferred mate for Bella. Those who think she should go with the vampire refer to themselves as in Camp Edward and those who think she should go with the werewolf (Vampire or Werewolf? Wow the singles market really is tough these days) refer to themselves as in  Camp Jacob.

As a result of the books’ popularity and ensuing movies, we now see some subsequent influences in baby naming trends. In the book Freakonomics, authors Levitt and Dubner tried to make a point that baby naming trends are not influenced by celebrities (fictional or not). And they do raise a good example in the book. Madonna has sold millions of records worldwide, but her ability to translate her success into a naming franchise fizzled. The name Madonna never even made it on the top 1,000 names list for baby names.

However, there are some examples including this Twilight tagging trend (pardon the alliteration) that might be an exception to their theory. The names Bella and Jacob are now top of the list according to the Social Security Administration’s recently released list of Top 10 Names for 2009.  Edward ranked 137th and Cullen leaped up to 485th; an impressive showing for both.

Lots of things influence parents when selecting a name for their baby. Levitt and Dubner had this to say about parents and names, “An overwhelming number of parents use a name to signal their own expectations of how successful their children will be.” Let’s hope the Jacobs, Bellas and Cullens take their moniker to a higher level than their fictional character counterparts.

Isn’t it beautiful? It has a walking trail that goes around the periphery. The hubby and I like to walk the two pooches on this trail. Usually twice a day! (I know, I know. Our dogs are so spoiled.)

The kids flock to the pirate ship playground. Unless you’re at the park early in the morning like I was on this day.

But do you see what I see? The writing on the path?

No, not the arrow. Although that is rather intriguing. It makes me want to look to the right to see if something is coming up next (I’m such a sucker for things like that).

Yes! This is what caught my eye…and made me run home for my camera. (OK, I didn’t technically “run”…but I walked very fast.)

Benten. I haven’t seen this name before. I looked it up on a couple of name trending sites and it hasn’t appeared on the top 1000 boy’s names, well, ever. The Baby Name Wizard did indicate that Benton was on its list, but the popularity of that name died in the 1970′s. The name Bentley shows an uptick beginning around 2007.

My daughter said she’s heard the name Benten (or Benton) in school so I’m just curious if we’re spotting a new trend. Some people like to follow fashion trends. Others follow home furnishing. I guess there’s trends for us all. I love discussing name trends. Have any of you heard this name? Inquiring minds want to know!

The study published in the Social Psychology and Personality Science journal, points to a broader change in culture as the culprit responsible for this new trend in names; and they don’t paint this movement in the greatest of light either. The study analyzed over 300 million baby names and determined the popularity of various names. Here are some results that they found:

• 40% of boys received names from a list of about 10 most popular in the 1880s. Today only 10% of boys receive names considered most popular.
• 25% of girls received names from the top 10 most popular names in 1945. Today only 8 % receive names considered most popular.

The study indicates that Baby Boomers are responsible for a large part of the shift toward more unusual names, but they also point to increasing immigration rates having an impact on names as well. One of the study’s authors, Jean Twenge, of San Diego State University, notes that individualism can have some positive effects on a culture such as increased tolerance for minority groups. However, taken too far, individualism can lead to narcissism. “It remains to be seen whether having a unique name necessarily leads to narcissism later in life,” Twenge said. “If that unique name is part of a parent’s overall philosophy that their child is special and needs to stand out and that fitting in is a bad thing, then that could lead to those personality traits.”

According to an article in The USA Today, some of the top unique baby names of late are: Samara, Kale, Damari, and Kenley. Have you seen some unique names recently? What do you think about this trend toward individualism and names?

According to an article published in the Vancouver Sun, “females with masculine names fare far better in legal careers than females with feminine names.” The article points toward research that studied women attorneys (a more male-dominated field) and compared salaries and potential for career advancement to becoming a judge.

This study suggests that if Sue (a traditionally female name) changes her name to Kelly (a more gender-neutral name)  she improves her chances of becoming a judge by 5%. However, if Sue takes a big leap and changes her name to Cameron (a more predominately male name) she has now tripled her chances of hearing the words, “Your Honor.”

Even when they accounted for family wealth, age and experience, they still found that a “statistically significant wage gap existed in favor of female attorneys with masculine names.”

Bentley Coffey, an economist at Clemson University in South Carolina said this in explaining the results, “When we see a masculine name, something in our subconscious is cued. There seems to be a subtle sexist notion, even if it’s not gender discrimination per se.” That’s interesting, but wait a minute. What kind of name is Bentley? And what about people like Hillary Clinton? Hillary is a rather feminine-sounding name and she’s an attorney that seems to have advanced her career quite nicely. Well, of course, we know in research these things happen; they’re called outliers. Malcolm Gladwell even wrote a book on it.

Coffey himself is convinced of the outcomes of this study and as a result he and his wife named their daughter Collins. Beyond the legal field, the article points out that author J.K. Rowling opted for her initials on her books rather than her name (Joanne) to help increase readership among boys. Female scientists have been known to do the same thing – they sometimes use their initials on papers to avoid an overtly feminine-sounding name.

Of course we could discuss the larger societal need to address sexism, but that could take awhile. In the meantime, the best baby names for girls should have some gender-neutrality to them…at least if you want them to grow up to be judges.

Betty was quite the popular character. A few years later she was given her own radio cooking show. Wow! Betty Crocker was like Rachel Ray (without the Rachel)!

In the 1930′s, the company created an image for Betty Crocker by combining features of several women who worked in the company. Her image changed 7 times between 1930 and 1996; each time showing a more youthful rendition. It appears that General Mills has all but abandoned Betty’s image today, electing to use the logo and accompanying signature.

With holiday baking in full swing, I thought it was important to make note of this entertaining morsel. I don’t know about you, but when I’m baking I’m always imagining that I’ll produce some delectable and beautifully-displayed dish. Something you’d see in a magazine ad (possibly sponsored by the likes of a company like Betty Crocker). My family will sit around the table and pause with open-mouthed admiration before they eat; and I’ll hear moans of happiness as they savor each bite. It’s quite an unrealistic fantasy, but hey, you have to live for something!

In the 1950′s Betty Crocker was like the Martha Stewart of today (except without the Martha). Betty could do it all…and in pearls! Let’s disregard the realness of people like Ann Landers, Rachel Ray, and Martha Stewart (they conflict with the conclusion I’ve come up with). It’s comforting to know that a character like Betty Crocker is fictional. It means I don’t have to live up to some other preconceived notion of a fabulous meal. And during the hectic holiday seasons, there’s enough pressure as it is; we can come up with our own definitions of fabulous!

Women’s names are another story. In 1958 baby girls were given names like Debbie and Barbara. These were names on the top 20 list in 1958, but they didn’t last long. By the mid-1960’s Debbie and Barbara had fallen down to the bottom of the top 20 list and were finally bumped off  by Michelle and Tammy. Very few people today (if any) name their daughters Debbie or Barbara. The result? Women with names like Debbie or Barbara (or Michelle and Tammy…they didn’t stay on the top 20 for very long either) are dated.

In fact, comparing the top 20 names given in 1958 to 2008, shows 8 names for boys that are the same on both lists: Michael, David, James, John, William, Joseph, and Daniel. Comparing these two lists for girls shows a different story: there isn’t even one name in 1958 that also appears in 2008.

But the male naming mileu is changing. First of all, there are more androgynous names – Devyn, Jayden, Jamie, and Dakota are a few examples. And there is more variety in the types of names given boys today. Sure, Michael is still number two  on the top twenty, but the overall variety of names given to boys is changing.

What do you think? Do you like this trend toward more creative names for boys?

• Cholera Peace (born in 1830)
• Loser Louis
• Tuna N. Fish
• Sugar Cane
• Ima Nutt
• Angel Gabriel
• Warren Peace
• Jack Lantern

I’ve read other books about people with interesting names. In the book, “Freakonomics,” Steven Levitt describes people with names like Temptress, Amcher (named after the Albany Medical Center Hospital ER), and Loser Lane. And I have personally met some people with interesting names such as, Chuck Wood and Gil Trout.

There have been studies suggesting predictive powers of bad names; that people with “bad” names have a higher propensity to end up with “bad” lives. To me, that’s like saying people who take the elevator instead of walking the stairs have a higher propensity of being fat; there’s much more to it than that. And as Levitt surmises, “an overwhelming number of parents use a name to signal their own expectations of how successful their children will be.” As I’ve said before, the name says more about the parent than it does the child.

So, with that said, there really aren’t any “bad” names; just different. Do you know anyone with interesting names?  If so, I’d love to hear about them!