Appellation Mountain

Channel Description:

Latest Articles in this Channel:

07/22/10--03:22: Baby Name of the Day: Tracy (chan 2126631)

Is it a boys’ name appropriated by girls?  A diminutive for the saintly Theresa?  Or a gem from Hollywood’s Golden Age? Thanks to One Saucy Dish for suggesting the terribly misunderstood Tracy as Baby Name of the Day. Tracy occupied the US Girls’ Top 100 from 1960 through 1984.  If you hear Tracy on a [...]


appellationmountain

07/23/10--03:23: Baby Name of the Day: Deborah (chan 2126631)

She’s a Baby Boomer staple with a surprisingly steady history of use. Thanks to Kelly for suggesting Deborah as Baby Name of the Day. In the Old Testament, Deborah is a female prophet, the one who urged Barak to lead an Israeli uprising.  Barak eventually agreed only if Deborah would go into battle by his [...]


appellationmountain

07/24/10--09:11: Reader Baby Name Story: The Toughest Baby to Name – So Far! (chan 2126631)

Today’s Reader Baby Name Story comes to us courtesy of Fran, the mother to four beautifully named children. But this is the story of her youngest – the most difficult to name! My daughter’s name is Lenora Marguerite Rose but generally she just goes by Lena.  She is a little sister to Genevieve Katherine Alice [...]


appellationmountain

07/25/10--11:25: Sunday Summary: 7/25/10 (chan 2126631)

First, Happy Birthday to me.  Well, actually, my birthday is tomorrow.  And so I’ll be doing something I haven’t done since shortly after I started writing Name of the Day posts in May 2008 – I’m choosing the names.  All week.  And I’m starting with my discarded given name tomorrow. But enough about that.  The [...]


appellationmountain

07/26/10--03:26: Baby Name of the Day: Amy (chan 2126631)

In honor of my 37th birthday, our Baby Name of the Day is the one I shed: Amy. Amy was the Zoe of the 1970s: brief, complete and not new, but enjoying her most popular moment. She has an irresistible meaning, too – from the Latin amata, beloved.  The name appears in Medieval France in [...]


appellationmountain

07/27/10--03:27: Baby Name of the Day: Madelon (chan 2126631)

Parents by the thousands have gone mad for Madeline in recent years. Today’s Baby Name of the Day is an intriguing, all-but-forgotten variant: Madelon. I met a little Madelon, and I rolled my eyes.  It was a few years ago, pre-AppMtn.  I could, in my snobbish way, countenance Madeline.  But Madeleine was, I was certain, [...]


appellationmountain

07/28/10--03:28: Baby Name of the Day: Huxley (chan 2126631)

He fits in perfectly with current trends.  Could Huxley be the next big thing? I’ve written before about my affection for this name, thanks to writer Aldous Huxley and his oh-so-very accomplished British family of scientists and artists.  Patriarch Thomas Henry Huxley was known for his work as a biologist, and for promoting Darwin’s theory [...]


appellationmountain

07/28/10--06:56: Starbaby News: Welcome Marcello (chan 2126631)

Writer Diablo Cody, of Juno and United States of Tara fame, is a new mom. She and husband Daniel Maurio welcomed son Marcello Daniel yesterday. Marcello has never charted in the US Top 1000, but could he follow other celeb-inspired, ends-in-o names like Harlow and Marlo into more common use?  Or is the o-craze just [...]


appellationmountain

07/29/10--03:29: Baby Name of the Day: Sally (chan 2126631)

She’s Charlie Brown’s little sister, Lightning McQueen’s best girl, and Don Draper’s  damaged daughter. She’s also the person who helped me set up my very first blog.  Our Baby Name of the Day is Sally. The Biblical Sarah has a long history of use.  While her status as a Top Ten choice is a twentieth-century [...]


appellationmountain

07/30/10--04:30: Baby Name of the Day: Romy (chan 2126631)

She and BFF Michele went to their high school more than a dozen years ago.  Today you might just find her on the playground. The name I have in reserve for a (no-I’m-not-pregnant) second daughter is today’s Baby Name of the Day: Romy. Romy has been a staple in Germany for decades.  I’m guessing she’s [...]


appellationmountain

Romy by Manfred Werner

07/31/10--09:01: Reader Baby Name Story: A Nightmare, a Blog & a Book (chan 2126631)

Today’s Reader Baby Name Story comes to us from Angel.  Catch up with her on her personal blog here, where you can also find snapshots of her darling daughter. What is your child’s name? Emmeline Rhapsody, pronounced EM UH LINE, as opposed to EM UH LEEN which is another option I’ve heard. When did you [...]


appellationmountain

08/01/10--09:36: Sunday Summary: 8/1/10 (chan 2126631)

Every once in an odd while, it occurs to me that you might enjoy a glimpse of Aly & Clio.  Yup, they’re sitting in a hand chair.  Nope, it’s not at our house.  It is our fabulous local brew pub/restaurant/general store Franklin’s.  Happily, it’s just a few blocks from our house.  It was Franklin’s that [...]


appellationmountain

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

08/02/10--03:02: Baby Name of the Day: Hypatia (chan 2126631)

She sounds like an exotic botanical or a minor goddess, but her story is far more intriguing. Thanks to UrbanAngel for suggesting Hypatia as Baby Name of the Day. The Greek hypatos is a superlative.  It means the supreme, the highest.  Hyper comes out of the same soup.  Hyper has a certain meaning today, but [...]


appellationmountain

08/03/10--03:03: Baby Name of the Day: Quinlan (chan 2126631)

If you love Riley and Finn, but want something less expected, here’s a contender. Thanks to Stephanie for suggesting the kelly green Quinlan as Baby Name of the Day. Finn has Finley and Fintan and Finnigan, too.  Parents seeking a longer option for Quinn can choose from Quincy and maybe Quinton.  But Quinlan seems like [...]


appellationmountain

08/04/10--03:04: Baby Name of the Day: Dacia (chan 2126631)

If boys can be Bentley and girls can be Kia, why not this Romanian automotive appellation? Thanks to Elta for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Dacia. Should you ever go car-shopping in Bucharest, you could easily buy a Dacia.  The Dacia Logan is among the more popular cars in Eastern and Central Europe; [...]


appellationmountain

08/05/10--05:05: Baby Name of the Day: Wade (chan 2126631)

He’s a little cowboy with an outdoorsy vibe to boot. Thanks to Alta for suggesting Wade as Baby Name of the Day. Cade, Slade, Gage and Wyatt are all the rage.  If Wade hadn’t been big in the 1960s, doubtless he’d be catching on right about now. But Wade was big in the 1960s and [...]


appellationmountain

08/06/10--03:06: Baby Name of the Day: Rudy (chan 2126631)

With his mix of indie cool and athletic can-do, why isn’t this name faring better? Thanks to Liliane for suggesting Rudy as Baby Name of the Day. It would takes guts for modern parents to revive the classic Germanic Rudolph for a son today, knowing that he’d hear about Santa’s sleigh on a daily basis [...]


appellationmountain

08/06/10--11:58: Starbaby News: Welcome Abel James (chan 2126631)

Did I recently say there were no exciting celebrity births anticipated this summer?  How could I forget Amy Poehler and Will Arnett? They’ve welcomed son Abel James.  Yes – Abel, a little brother for Archie. Congratulations to the family!  Readers, what do you think of the name Abel?  Wonder if they’ll call him Abe …


appellationmountain

08/07/10--08:42: Parker Lewis vs. Parker Posey (chan 2126631)

Parker has a long history of occasional use as a given name.  Originally an occupational surname for a gamekeeper or geographic name for someone who lived near parkland, he’s charted as a boys’ given name in the US most years since 1880.  In 2009, he entered the US Top 100 at #96. Just like Larkin [...]


appellationmountain

08/08/10--09:29: Sunday Summary: 8/8/10 (chan 2126631)

It doesn’t matter if I’m at the dentist or the drugstore or Disney World, I’m always listening for names. One of my favorites namespotting locations is Franklin’s, our local brewpub/restaurant/toy store – is there any better combination? – because, of course, we’re all chasing our children around while we wait for a table.  The other [...]


appellationmountain