British Baby Names

UK Birth Announcements 29/1/18 - 4/2/18

 

 

A round-up of names from birth announcements announced in British newspapers in the last week.

Sources include a national paper (The Telegraph) and a broad range of local newspapers from across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Sibling names are in brackets. 

 

Boys:

Alexander Oliver (Adam)

Benjamin Patrick

Callum (Murren)

Charles Henry

Ernest Walter Fitzgerald (Walter Fitzgerald & Myrtle Primrose)

Gabriel James (Evie & Millie)

George Hector James (Florence & Ned)

Huxley Arthur

Jack Charles Edward

Joseph Perry

Leopold Charles Jacob

Lewis Robert

Orlando William Otto (George, Claudia & Sebastian Michael Duncan)

Oscar George Doyne

Oscar Lalande

 

Girls: 

Brooke Temperance (Ruby)

Claudia Elizabeth Grace (Beatrice Alexandra Cassiopeia)

Elka Marina

Eliza Jemima

Ella Joy (George Henry)

Emily Marie (Oliver Matthew)

Erin Marie 

Georgina Anne (Isabelle Sophia)

Havana Maria (Oakley Alexander)

Isabella Elizabeth Wing (Lewis Robert James "Louie" & Hugo) - Wing is mother's first name.

Isla May 

Lainie Olivia

Liana Jean Fergus (Liam)

Lily Margaret

Louisa Violet (Amber Annabel)

Luciana Mary

Olivia May

Olivia Rose (Thomas Alexander)

Rosamund Frances

Skylar Rose (Olivia Emily)

Sofia Ann

 

 

Name of the Week: Sylvia, Sylvie

 

 

Origin:

Sylvia is the modern spelling (in English, Scandinavian and German-speaking countries) of the Latin name Silvia, the feminine form of Silvius. Sylvie is the French form of the name.  Both Silvia and Silvius derive from the Latin word silva "a wood" and was notable in Rome's founding story. According to the Romans, the Trojan hero Aeneas settled in Italy and founded a Trojan-Latin colony named Alba Longa. His grandson (sometimes son) Silvius became king and established the "Silvian Dynasty." Legend has it that Silvius was born in the woods which was how he came by his name.** His son was named Aeneas Silvius, and grandson Latinus Silvius. From that point, Silvius became a cognomen of all the kings of Alba Longa.  It is by this means that the last king of Alba Longa, Numinor, came to have a daughter named Rhea Silvia who in turn was the mother of Romulus and Remus — the legendary founders of Rome.

Usage:

Though it wasn't prolific, Silvius can be found as a nomen (given name) in inscriptions from Roman Britain.** Records for women in the Roman world are far scarcer, but we can presume that Silvia was in use as a feminine form as per Roman tradition.  Saint Silvia, or Sylvia, (c.515–c.592) is venerated by the Catholic church as the mother of St. Gregory the Great which indicates that the name survived into Late Antiquity.  Silvia came into use in Italy during the Renaissance and it was during this period that the name appeared occasionally in British literature. Renowned Italophile Shakespeare used Silvia for The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1589-93).  In Britain, Sylvia was in regular use by the 18th century, and remained constant through to  the mid-19th century. It particularly grew after the 1860s which may be have been helped a little by Elizabeth Gaskell's 1863 novel Sylvia's Lovers, set in the 1790s. Below is a breakdown of the birth rankings for Sylvia in England and Wales and a comparison of the births per decade of the variant forms Sylvia, Silvia and Sylvie: Birth rankings:   Births per decade:   Sylvia     Sylvia Silvia Sylvie 1850:  1860:  1870:  1880:  1890: 1900:  #213 #212 #205 #179 #169 #137   1840s:  1850s: 1860s: 1870s: 1880s: 1890s: 1900s: 180 278 316 666 1036 2270 4836 68 46 52 64 93 118 143 1 0 7 8 3 12 31 click to enlarge In France, Sylvie was in moderate use in the first part of 20th century, ranking #159 in 1900, #200 in 1910, #188 in 1920 and #200 in 1930. It rose in the 1940s, reaching #100 in 1945. Only ten years later, in 1955, it has risen to #12 and was in the top 10 from 1956 to 1972. Sylvie was at #1 for four consecutive years from 1961 to 1964. Sylvie steadily declined in France during the 1970s. It was out of the top 100 after 1985 and out of the top 500 by 2000. It is still in use in France, but has from 2009, has only had between 10 and 30 births per year.   click to enlarge Having risen to #137 in 1900, Sylvia first broke into the top 100 in England and Wales in 1914 at #82. It grew quickly from then on, peaking at #18 in 1934.  It was last in the top 100 in 1954 at #64 after which it fell out.  By 1996, Sylvia was consistently around the #1000 mark (averaging around 20 births per year). Both Sylvie and Silvia were in consistent use as well, though less common.  From 2004, Sylvia began to make a steady increase in usage. This is also the time, however, that Sylvie overtook Sylvia, rising from #1026 (23 births) in 2003 to #558 (63 births) in 2006. In 2016 in England and Wales, Sylvie ranked #458 with 95 births; Sylvia ranked #693 with 59 births and Silvia ranked #2367 with 11 births.  In 2016 in Scotland, Sylvie ranked #502 with 6 births; Sylvia ranked #675 with 4 births and Silvia ranked #1028 with 2 births.  Sylvia also ranked in the top 50 Telegraph births of 2017.

Famous Bearers:

History: * Sylvia Pankhurst (1882–1960), British artist and suffragette. * Sylvia Ashton-Warner MBE (1908–1984), New Zealand writer, poet and educator. * Sylvia Plath (1932–1963), American poet, novelist, and short-story writer. Contemporary: * Silvia Pinal Hidalgo (born 1931), Mexican actress, producer and politician. * Sylvia Syms (born 1934), British actress. * Sylvia Siddell (1941–2011), New Zealand artist. * Queen Silvia of Sweden (born 1943), the spouse of King Carl XVI Gustaf. * Dame Silvia Cartwright (born 1943), New Zealand jurist who served as the 18th Governor-General of New Zealand. * Sylvie Vartan (born 1944), French singer. * Sylvia McNair (born 1956), American opera singer. * Sylvia Constantinidis (born 1962), Venezuelan-American pianist, conductor and composer. * Sylvie Guillem CBE (born 1965), French ballet dancer. * Sylvie Testud (born 17 January 1971) is a French actress, writer, and film director Literature and Other Media: * Sylvia ou La Nymphe de Diane, a classical ballet with music written by Léo Delibes in 1876. * Sylvia Costas, Assistant District Attorney in the American television drama NYPD Blue. * Sylvie, a character in Charlotte Brontë's The Professor (1857).  Other: * Sylvia, a genus of warbler bird.  * 87 Sylvia, an asteroid.

Variants:

Sylvia (English, Scandinavian, German), Silvia (Roman, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese), Sylvie (French), Silvija (Slavic), Sylwia (Polish), Silvie (Czech)

Pronunciation:

SIL-vee-ə / SEEL-vee [key]

Possible  Diminutives:

Silla, Sivi, Vee

Sibling Names:

Vivienne    Willa     Aurelia     Emmeline     Beatrix    Ottilie  Laurence     Jasper     Rex     Benedict     Felix     Wilfred

Name Lists:

Sylvia: Vintage Names   Victorian Darlings   Saintly and Stylish    Sylvie: Vintage Names   Ripe Renovations   Dulcet Dainties     Silvia: Resonant Roman  Shakespearean Names   Demi-Gods and Mortals of Mythology

 

If you like Sylvie/a you may also like:   Genevieve, Ophelia, Theodora, Cecily, Adeline, Dulcie, Octavia, Theresa, Flora, Viola

Thanks to Jess for requesting this name.

 

Name Musings: January 2018

 




 

Is it just me, or has January been a long month? It feels like an age since Christmas. But, that means plenty of time to consider names. 

 

 

Sada

A friend of mine is expecting a little girl and she is considering the Punjabi name Sada after a great Sikh heroine Sada Kaur (1762–1832). Not only does the name have great religious and cultural significance for them, I was fascinated to find out about this warrior-woman from a part of history I know little about. According to Lakhpreet Kaur:

"Sada Kaur was a military mastermind. Born into a ruling family of Punjab, India, she came to assume the leadership of the Kanhaiya Misl (a region of Punjab) and the loyalty of its 8,000 cavalry members. She was known as a poised and strategic leader, and she joined forces with her son-in-law, Ranjit Singh, in an effort to unite Punjab into one nation-state. To achieve this, she led armies into battle and negotiated at diplomatic tables. Punjab ultimately came together under their leadership—Ranjit Singh came to be Maharaja (King), and she served as the Regent of Punjab."

They are pronouncing is SƏTH-a (a bit like a saying ‘southern’ quickly without the n). I can't find much definitive about the meaning, but Sikh online sources are giving the meaning "everlasting."

 

Falcon

This term, my class are covering the topic Castles and Knights. We had a activity day to launch the topic and invited falconry experts in to talk to the children and show off their magnificent birds of prey. That got me thinking: wouldn't Falcom make for a stylish choice of name? Wolf is uber-cool at the moment, and Fox is rising, then there is Forrest. Plus, Falcon isn't completely outlandish. The Latin Falco was not only used as a Roman cognomen, but also lasted into the Middle Ages. From this source we get the Jewish Falk and English surname Fawkes. 

 

Leanda

This month, I have really enjoyed Helen Castor's new BBC documentary series on Lady Jane Grey. One of the contributing historians interviewed for the show was Leanda de Lise. Beside the fabulous alliteration of the name as a whole, Leanda itself holds appeal. 

I'm a big fan of the romantic Greek Leander, and I appreciate the feminine form Leandra. Despite being such a big fan of the masculine Leander, however, I don't find Leanda unappealing for girls. I think the spelling change makes a big shift in my brain. I find Peta perfectly feminine, even though Peter is solidly masculine to me, and I'm very comfortable with Frances for girls and Francis for boys. 

 

Wrenna

Have you ever had a month where a name seems to follow you around? January has been the month of Wren for me; I seem to have stumbled over it frequently. It's super-fashionable as a name currently, and actress Wrenn Schmidt, for example, is currently on two films on Netflix UK: 13 Hours and The Good Catholic. It is this spelling with the double n that got me thinking. The Old English form of wren is wrenna which I can totally see appealing to parents who love Wren but perhaps have a short surname, or want a longer form. 

 

Rudyard

Another name that seems to have stalked me this month is Rudyard. As in Kipling, but I've heard it in a few other off-hand comments. It has got me thinking of the appeal of it as a name. It has the same elegant surname style as Rafferty and Montgomery; a literary namesake, and would make the perfect longer name for Rudy. 

 

Adonia

Did anyone else see the segment on The One Show the other day where they examined the pioneering plastic surgery work Sir Archibald McIndoe (1900–1960) did with soldiers in WWI? They interviewed his daughter Adonia Montfort Bebb, and she mentioned her sister Vanora. Adonia and Vanora! My ears pricked up at mention of that particular sibset! 

Adonia is essentially derived from the Greek name Adonis -- we could regard it in modern times as a feminine form. The Adonia was an ancient Greek festival where women would take to the rooftop of their houses; dance, sing and ritually mourne the death of Adonis. 

 

Enora

Clare's marvellous Scoop.it page has recently shared this fantastic article listing the most popular names in Rennes, Brittany, in 2017. It's a feast for the eyes and I thoroughly recommend sifting through leisurely with a cup of tea in one hand. One name that immediate jumped out at me was the Breton name Enora which has been rising in use there since the 1980s. Saint Enora was a 7th century Breton saint who was the wife of St Eflam. Essentially, her name is thought to e a Breton form of Honora, but with it's popular E initial, easy pronunciation and similarity to vintage Nora, I can see it being highly apealing outside of Brittany, too.