Joy oh joy - it’s a baby girl!! Of course, she’s the most beautiful thing you have ever seen (natch), but now what are you going to name her?
It looks like you now have endless possibilities for baby girl names and the truth is you can call your little precious anything you want – within reason, or course! But a word of warning – something that sounds really cute for a chubby-cheeked 2-year-old with ribbons, could prove extremely uncool for a bad-tempered 15-year-old and may sound downright embarrassing for a 25-year-old trying heading for an executive interview.
Celebrity Baby Girl Names - Weird and Wonderful
You see, the problem is, although we have a tendency to be quite conservative when naming boys, parents often see baby girl naming as an ideal excuse to exercise their more “creative” instincts. But it's very easy to step over into the weird zone where your cute baby girl becomes something of a fashion accessory, like the latest Gucci bag. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the world of celebrity baby girl names; Demi Moore and Bruce Willis have a brood including Rumer Glenn, Scout LaRue and Tallulah Belle, Sly Stallone’s daughter is Sistine Rose, Christie Brinkley has a daughter called Sailor…the list goes on and on.
But the dangers of strange baby girl names are perfectly summed up by a lovely, intelligent young lady by the name of Peaches. Daughter, of the sainted Sir Bob Geldof, the then 16-year-old Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof made a statement in 2005 appealing to all celebrities to stop giving their children ridiculous names. She said “I hate ridiculous names, my weird name has haunted me all my life”. Well said that girl – the perfect warning for all self-absorbed celebrity parents-to-be. Of course, some might think she actually got off lightly – her sisters are called Fifi Trixabelle, Pixie and Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lilly!!
Another interesting example of the constant search for unusual baby girl names is the modern fashion in certain sections of the African American community to give baby girls exotic-sounding names consisting of 3 syllables and ending in “A”, especially “SHA”, or “QUA”. This fashion has grown significantly over the last generation and it’s difficult to trace its origins. It may have something to do with the drive to create African-sounding names - many African names end in the letter “A”. But whatever the reasons, apart from anything else, at least it’s an endless source of material for some of our great African American comedians!
Baby Girl Name Trends
But apart from the more exotic baby girl names, what are the current trends in baby girl naming? In the US, the trends are still for relatively conservative names – although less so than baby boy names. The most popular baby girl names every year for the last 10 years have been Emily (meaning ”Industrious, eager”) and Hannah (”Grace of God”), Madison (“Son of a mighty warrior”), Elizabeth (“Consecrated to God”) and Samantha (“Listens well”) have also remained firmly in the top 10 over that time. Interestingly, Madison has a meaning which is “son of…” but has remained one of the most popular baby girl names for several years. Is this yet more evidence that the females are taking over? They’re even taking our names now!
Even when we go further down the list of most popular baby girl names, there are few surprises. There isn't the same focus on traditional, biblical-based names as with boys, but the list is filled with mainly traditional (and beautiful) names.
Baby girl names – much more than boy’s names – are often subject to the prevailing culture and the influence of famous people. It’s interesting to see that the name Chelsea (“River landing place”) entered the US top 100 in 1984, and rose to its highest level of number 15 in 1992 – the year Bill Clinton first became president. Then after a few years of being quite high in the ranking, it fell out of the top 100 in 1999, as the Clinton era began to draw to a close. Was the brief popularity due to the President’s daughter? Draw your own conclusions...!
But just remember that, when it comes to baby girl names, the “famous name” effect can lead to short-term popularity, but long-term consequences. I'm awaiting the strange spectacle - in a couple of generations to come - when we have hordes of grey-haired old Beyonce’s and Britney’s attempting to shake their booties during the daily exercise sessions in residential homes...!
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