At the beginning of July, I was lucky enough to go to Bath for a weekend break to celebrate a good friend’s 30th birthday.
No trip to Bath is complete – to my mind at least – without a trip to the fabulous Roman baths.
Among many other treasures I noticed this carved block bearing the name “Cornelianus.” The impact and finality of the stone struck me for a moment; how one name, carved centuries ago indelibly into rock, has survived and is still seen today. Cornelianus may no longer be used as a given name, but for this particular Cornelianus, his name endures.
Sol
Back when the Roman baths were at their apex, the great temple courtyard featured two buildings, facing each other across the altar dedicated to the moon goddess Luna and the sun god Sol. Lovely Luna is at #146 in England and Wales, #110 in the USA and on the rise. Sol, in contrast, languishes down at #988 over here and not even in the top 1000 in America.
In many ways this is surprising, especially given that Seth is in the top 100 and Solomon is at #320. It’s a short and punchy name which are very fashionable at the moment but isn’t entirely unheard of as to make it weird.
Perhaps the current generation of parents associate the name too strongly with the character Sol Patrick in the teenage soap Hollyoaks from 1997–2001.
Godiva
I live in Coventry, a city famous for its comprehensive bombing during WW2 and for being the place in which Lady Godiva, Countess of Mercia, rode naked through the streets to save the people from unjust taxation. July is the key month of the year for us Coventrians when we host the “Godiva Festival,” a weekend-long music and arts festival which is free to all.
The festival is simply shortened to “Godiva” locally. It is even common at this time to hear locals use the name almost as a verb: “Are you going Godiva?” or “Did you go Godiva yesterday?”
Like the Cornelianus’ block, Godiva is a name that has also been preserved and used across thousands of years, even though it is very rare as a given name. It is both a common name and an extremely rare one at the same time. Not only is it inextricably linked to the Lady of Mercia herself, it is synonymous with a festival here in Coventry; is a brand of chocolate throughout America, and is loudly sung at parties when Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now is played.
In other words, its use as a proper noun has diminished, to be replaced by its ascendancy as a common noun.
Coco
The beginning of July coincided with the Wimbledon Championships. I'll be honest, I pay little attention to tennis itself (despite having a tennis-obsessed boyfriend!), but I am always fascinated by the names. This year it was American player Coco Vandeweghe who caught my attention. Her full name is actually Colleen, which shows how versatile a nickname it can be. Any Co/C-o name will work: Colette, Chloe, Cordelia, Constance, Coralie, Coraline, Cosima, Corinne, Corisande, Cosette, Courtney, Constanza…
Coco alone doesn’t rank in the US top 1000 at all, and languishes down at #740 in England and Wales.
Reeva
July was also the month that Britain reached a fever-pitch of excitement as Wales national soccer team reached the UEFA EURO semi-finals.
The spotlight was shone on the squad itself, the players and, more importantly, their families. Not only had young Alba Bale enchanted crowds previously, Joe Ledley’s daughters Layla and Reeva were also brought out on to the pitch post-match to melt hearts.
Joe Ledley’s youngest daughter, Reeva Iggy Ledley, was born in 2015 after it made its break out into the charts in England and Wales in 2013 – the highest rising name that year inspired by South African model and paralegal Reeva Steenkamp who was tragically killed that year in a high profile case.
It’s an interesting case of a celebrity baby being given a name directly inspired by another celebrity.
Reeva rose again to #589 in 2014 in England and Wales, and looks set to rise much, much further. Internationally, its usage, however, is still very rare.
Cybi
During the Euro-fever, many celebrities (especially Welsh ones) were taking to social media to show their support. Former ‘Steps’ band member Ian “H” Watkins, shared a sweet picture of his new twins, Macsen and Cybi, wearing babygrows to support the team.
Both Macsen and Cybi are Welsh names which have ancient heritages. Macsen having reached #78 in Wales, is the mainstream choice in its native homeland (though outside the top 1000 in England, Scotland and the US). Cybi, on the other hand, remains extremely rare.
Cybi (pronounced CUB-ee) is the name of a 6th century saint who was the son of the king of Cornwall and later became a bishop, founding several churches and monasteries in South Wales. The Cornish form of the name is spelled Cuby, but is also extremely rare.
Clova
It’s funny how a name first heard or seen can immediately spark different interpretations. A few years ago, while trawling through old birth registrations, I came across the feminine name Clova. It’s a rare name – one that has only been registered a handful of times in the English-speaking world since the 19th century – but makes a very pretty and accessible choice.
For me, Clova is a twist on the floral name Clover with a Celtic and place-name heritage. Clova is a village in Glen Clova in Angus, Scotland. ‘Glen Clova’ itself is also a popular raspberry variety, so the nature theme perpetuates.
However, for others, Clova is a feminine form of Clovis, as I was reminded while perusing name dictionaries in the library recently. Clovis is a shortened Latin form of the kingly Frankish name Chlodovech which later became Ludwig and Louis.
File Clova then as a nature name, place-name, Gaelic heritage choice and sister to Louise and Louisa.
Elwen
As we say goodbye to David Cameron as our Prime Minister, so we saw a farewell of his family from Downing Street with Mr Cameron saying: “I want to thank my children – Nancy, Elwen and Florence, for whom Downing Street has been a lovely home over this last six years.”
Elwen? Who’s Elwen? I thought. In my ignorance, I had assumed that the Camerons’ nine year old son, Arthur Elwen, was simply Arthur. Apparently, however, he is known more commonly by his unusual middle name. His sisters are Nancy Gwen (12) and Florence Rose Endellion (5), who both go by their first names and older brother Ivan Reginald Ian who sadly passed away in 2009.
Elwen is a variant of Elwin and Alvin, medieval forms of three Old English names Aelfwine “elf friend,” Aethelwine “noble friend” and Ealdwine “old friend.”
Zaidee
As David Cameron moves out of Downing Street, so Theresa May moves in. Our new Prime Minister ’s name, like her predecessor’s, may be comfortingly ordinary, her mother was the intriguingly named Zaidee Mary.
Zaidee is a rare form of Sadie, itself a diminutive of Sarah. It has been speculated that her name indicates Middle Eastern origins, but the reality is that Zaidee’s mother Violet chose it because of its biblical associations.
Zolestine
Thinking of Zaidee brings my mind to another uncommon Z name: Zolestine. I’ve long been musing about this one, and how exotic yet surprisingly accessible it is.
Zolestine – or more properly Zölestine – is a German variant of heavenly Celestine, also found as Zolestina, which reflects the German pronunciation.
Albie
This month I came across my first celebrity (albeit D-list celebrity) name-stealing debacle, an issue all name nerds are very familiar with. It seems that Life on Marbs reality star Alex Weaver was very put out when Hollyoaks actress Stephanie Davis announced that she was going to name her unborn child Albie if it’s a boy after her grandfather Albert.
Albie is the name of Ms Weaver’s three month old son and in her new! magazine column she wrote, “Finally, Stephanie Davis has come out and confirmed her pregnancy this week, revealing the bump in a magazine. To top it off, she's said if it's a boy she'll consider calling it Albie! I'm not joking since I called my baby Albie about five people have followed suit. It's annoyed me because I called him that because it was original and there wouldn't be any Albie's in his class....,” which sparked a Twitter-war between the two celebrities.
Alex Weaver should have asked us name nerds. We could have told her that Albie was already red hot in Britain before she picked it. Not only is it very close to popular Alfie, it’s also been climbing rapidly in England and Wales since 2002. In 2014 it ranked #117, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it reaches the top 100 when the 2015 stats are released.
Berty/Bertie
I have a new addition to my extended family! Meet Bertie, my sister’s new dog. Her elderly neighbour, Angelo, could no longer look after him, so Miranda and Scott have stepped in as his new owners. And he’s adorable!
His own name is rather a sweet story. Originally, he had the name Ollie, but when Angelo got him, he renamed him after his recently deceased brother (who we assume was called Alberto). In her messages, my sister kept spelling it Berty which jarred with me. The visual seemed off. After all, sweet Victorian Bertie was at #328 in 2014 and rising, hot on the heels of Alfie, Teddy and Reggie. Berty did not rank at all.
Eventually, I couldn’t help blurting out to her on the phone, “seriously, though. Why do you spell Bertie with a ‘y’? What’s up with that?”
“I don’t know really. I just spelt it that way,” came the nonchalant reply. I could almost hear her shrug. “His collar has Bertie with an ‘ie’ though.”
But then I thought about it a little. Does it really matter how Miranda chooses to spell it, especially if it a name mostly spoken and rarely written down? No, not really. I think we all visualise names in our heads, so if Berty looks right in Miranda’s mind, who am I to nit-pick?
N.B. He now has a new collar which sports the name "Bertie."
