In the spirit of Taking a Breather From the Hellish Land of Statistics Assignment and Study, here are two names I am loving at the moment.
Atticus
This name is gaining some popularity; birth announcements occasionally surprise me. However, the most frequent comments made by people who wouldn’t use the name is “It sounds too literary”/”It sounds pretentious” or some combination of the two. Most people who did high school English are aware of where this probably stems from: Atticus Finch, one of the characters in Harper Lee’s Too Kill A Mockingbird. According to Wiki:
“Atticus is To Kill a Mockingbird’s most upright character, representing the moral ideal of both a lawyer and a human being: he is brutally honest, highly moral, extremely opinionated a tireless crusader for good causes (even hopeless ones), a virtual pacifist and, for the most part, devoid of any of the racial or class prejudices afflicting the other citizens of Maycomb.”
I would definitely agree with that. I loved his character when I read the book. Based on everything Atticus Finch is, I can see why some people would dislike the name and associate it with parents somehow wanting to bestow all of Finch’s characteristics on their child by way of a name. The argument of it being “too literary” however, really irritates me. Atticus is only considered ‘literary’ because it’s not popular – names such as Jane, Oliver, Juliet and Dean can all be considered literary: Jane Austen and her character Jane Bennet; Oliver Twist in Charles Dickens’ novel of the same name; Juliet from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet; and Jack Kerouac’s Dean Moriarty in On The Road. But all those names are pretty common. If Atticus were as used as any of those are, it would not receive as many of those highly irritating comments. And I probably wouldn’t love it as much! It’s true for me: less popular equals better choice.
Instead of the literary focus, I like the name Atticus because it sounds nice to me! Simple as that, really. I thought it was an okay name when I read To Kill a Mockingbird, but it wasn’t until recently that I actually started to really love it. It means ‘from Athens’ and I’ve always associated Athens with classical times, which I incidentally associate with strength, power and most importantly, knowledge.
It’s a name that I think suits a child as well as an adult, though it’s only real downfall for me is the lack of decent nicknames. I think ‘Atty’ is fine for a baby and child, but there aren’t any other, at least obvious, nicknames. I think ‘Gus’ could work, even though the ‘c’ in Atticus is a pretty hard k-sound. Too bad I don’t like Gus!
Alas, Atticus is a moniker I will probably never use because it is not on the list of names that boyfriend and I agree on. It’s quite disappointing for me because I really think it is the perfect name for a little boy!
Isadora
A very recent ‘discovery’ of mine. Not as in I’d never heard it before, but as in me deciding it was made of perfection. And in researching it, I have come to the conclusion that if I can’t use Tallulah on my own future daughter, Isadora I would like her to be! Of Greek and Latic origin, Isadora is “the gift of Isis” (principal Egyptian Goddess). According to Babynology it means “gift of the moon”, which ties in with Isis because one of the things she is said to be goddess of is fertility.
In terms of popularity, Isadora hasn’t ranked anywhere in the top 1000 in the U.S. for the last ten years. My quick research shows she hasn’t appeared in any of the rounded decades (i.e., I searched 1990, 1980, etc.) since 1900! And even then she was ranked at 992. She may have made an appearance at some point in those years I didn’t search, but according to U.S. social security records, the name has been in decline since at least 1870. This is good news for me, a name that isn’t in the top 1000 and has a decent meaning*.
Probably the most well-known bearer of the name is Isadora Duncan, acclaimed American dancer. She unfortunately died a rather grim death in 1927 when her silk scarf got caught in the spokes of a car which broke her neck. But I’m so weird I actually enjoy that the name has that association, much like how I enjoy that Tallulah reminds me of Tallulah Bankhead, who used to open her door stark naked wearing only pearls, and then perform songs lying on her piano, while still naked.
But, I digress. With the popularity of Isabella and Isabel I am surprised that Isadora hasn’t gained, at least not in the U.S. I think it might have something to do with the ‘Dora’, as Bell and Bella are arguably more ‘girlie’ and pretty than Dora. Dora kind of evokes little old ladies, a down-trodden 1920s housewife or that kids cartoon. That being said, I do think Isadora has more popularity in Britain but I am unsure of any official record-keeping that is available to the public (please give me a heads-up if you know of any). It has certainly featured several times in British birth announcements over the last year and I can only see that trend continuing in the near future as more and more ‘old lady/man’ names make a comeback. I think the Brits tends to me a tad more brazen with naming, at least in some circles. They don’t mind bringing back those old lady names and bestowing a 2010 bub with Betty, Harriet or Dorothy.
*Always sad to discover a name you love has a really awful meaning. For example (though not names I actually like), the sound of “Anne” means poop in Farsi (Iranian language), and Kennedy means ‘misshapen head’. How lovely!
Being the name nerd I am I’m sad it’s over. I totally loved doing this and found it challenging on many occassions because sometimes most of the names were just AWFUL. 
Anyway, I have decided to post all the sets I came up with here. The 
