August started out on holiday on a little cruiser on the Norfolk broads with my family and has ended in a new classroom -- half completed before thirty children descend next week -- but has offered up plenty of interesting names.
Camellia
Being on the Norfolk broads, away from civilisation, my main source of name-spotting was the names of other boats. One that particularly caught my eye was Camellia.
Camellia is the name of a pretty flowering plant with pink or white flowers. It got its name from botanist Georg Josef Kamel whose name in turn is most likely a form of Camillus.
In 2015, 4 girls were given the name Camellia in England and Wales. But with Amelia, Olivia and Emily occupying the top 3, I think there is so much potential for Camellia
Clorinda
With no internet and very little phone signal on the boat, it was the perfect opportunity to indulge in summer chic-lit, happily commandeered from my came-prepared mum. This section from Katie Fforde's Summer at Sea really tickled me:
Now, I can't work out whether Ms Fforde was being ironic here and having a little chuckle at the desperation of some parents to have a "unique" name choice, or the way parents can often pick up on a "hot" new name and be heartbroken when there are several other children with the name at their nursery or play group. Or... perhaps not.
Clorinda -- which hasn't ranked at all in England and Wales in at least two decades -- is a literary name coined in the 16th century, possibly from the Greek Chloris "pale green, youthful, fresh."
Aibne
You may remember this Name Help post where Scottish Adrian and half-French Eloise were stumped for girls' names. Well, I'm delighted to share with you that they welcomed a little boy named Aibne Keziah Ferguson.
Aibne (AYB-nee) is the Scottish form of the Old Irish name Aibhne (EV-nyə). The meaning is uncertain. Aibhne is the modern genitive for of the Irish word abhainn "of the river," but this could be coincidence. It may be connected to the Old Irish aoibh "smile."
Kezia
And while we are on the subject, Aibne's middle name, Keziah, hit headlines this month with the announcement that Scottish MP Kezia Dugdale has resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour party.
Kezia(h) is a biblical name, traditionally borne by one of the daughters of Job, meaning "cassia tree." In both France and Britain, the name is occasionally given to boys thanks to Nigerian guitarist Keziah Jones.
Traditionally, Keziah is pronounced kə-ZĪ-ə (rhyming with Mariah ala Carey), however, in Britain, we tend to favour KEZ-ee-ə -- especially with the spelling Kezia.
Temperance
I absolutely love antique virtue names: Patience, Prudence, Virtue, Verily, Verity, Mercy, Clemency, Amity... I could go on. Temperance is definitely on that list and I just delight to see it used, even on centuries-old records. Imagine my pleasure, then, to see this video by Help for Heroes featuring veteran Simon Brown and Temperance Pattinson, aged 5½.
At the beginning of the video she says: "I'm called Temperance Pattinson, but everybody calls me Tempy, and I don't mind which one you call me. I like my real name best, but you can still call me Tempy."
How adorable is she? I love how she prefers her "real" name (i.e. full name) but accepts that people like to shorten it.
Then she goes on to explain why she swam 100 metres and completed a triathlon to raise money for Help the Heroes. Quite an amazing girl! It makes me love the name Temperance even more.
Cormoran
The BBC has recently aired the first adaptation of J.K. Rowling's detective Strike series: The Cuckoo's Calling. Rowling wrote under her nom de plume Robert Galbraith, but in true Rowling style, the names are a delight for name-nerds.
The series focuses on private investigator, Cormoran Strike. Cormoran is a name which comes from Cornish folk-lore as the name of a giant who built St Michael's Mount. The surname, Strike, "she came across by accident, the surname of the author of a book on Cornwall she happened across, immediately recognising it as right."
In the novels (and new adaptation) Cormoran is a son of a rock star. His name -- Cormoran Blue Strike -- certainly echoes this rockstar child vibe.
Personally, Cormoran reminds me of the cormorant bird, and I wonder whether Rowling thought of this given that his right-hand woman is Robin.
In further swoon-worthy name-i-ness, Robin's full name is Robin Venetia Ellacott and other characters include Lula, Jago, Ursula, Cyprian and Leda to name a few.
Kythe
Whenever I do a Sibling Spotlight, I can go a little "screen blind" flicking through thousands of census records attached to a particular name, generally with the same names repeated over and over. "John, Sarah, William, Mary.... Sarah, Mary, John, Elizabeth....William, Mary, John..." You get the idea.
Then, every now and then, a truly unusual name will leap out at me, and the sheer glee I feel makes the hour after hour of trawling all worth it.
One such name from this month's Sibling Spotlight for Hector was Kythé.
Kythé Caroline Mackenzie was born in 1833 in Scotland, granddaughter of Sir Hector Mackenzie, 4th Baronet of Gairloch. Funnily, she's not the only Kythé or even the only Kythé Caroline. Not only were two of her granddaughters later named Kythe Caroline, Kythé Caroline Wright, daughter of John Wright, Justice of the Peace for Nottinghamshire was born in 1834 and Kythe Caroline Watson was born in Gairloch in 1835.
The name Kythe most likely comes from the Scots word kythe meaning "to reveal, show, prove". The accent of the e, I believe, is a 19th century affectation to make the pronunciation of the 'e' apparent.
Tephi
Another pleasing find from the Sibling Spotlight for Hector was Tephi.
Tephi is a pseudo-Biblical name (said to derive from the Hebrew taph "little one"), much talked about by 19th century British-Israelite authors. It's all very complicated, but apparently, Princess Tea (whose nickname was Tephi) was the daughter of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. This Tea-Tephi was brought to Ireland by the prophet Jeremiah, married an Irish king and thus founded a line of Davidic kings that the current British royal family is descended from. The story is still hotly debated.**
Nevertheless, the exposure in British-Israelite literature saw that three little girls were given the name in England and Wales in the 19th century: 1883, 1885 and 1892.
Regardless of the validity of this legend, I think Tephi has a very sweet and appealing vintage sound. Part Tilly, part Effie. Today, Tephi is associated with designer Chessie Grievson's London fashion label, Tephi, recently worn by Pippa Middleton at Wimbledon. As Chanel, Kenzo and Dior are all used as "luxury" names, why not Tephi?
And, on a complete side note, I also went down the rabbit hole of the internet recently and ended up looking up Gabriella Wilde's family (the actress who plays Caroline Penvenen in Poldark). She has two sons with balancing androgynous first name/colour middle names: Sasha Blue (b. 2014) and Shiloh Silva (b. 2016). She has a sister named Octavia, half-siblings Olivia, Arabella, Georgiana, Isabella and Jacobi, plus "unofficial stepsisters" Pandora and Cressida. Quite a name-y bunch!
