Fun names site

Since I'm so short on time, what with the holidays, and cooking and shopping and wrapping and stressing out and all, tonight I'm just going to pass on a link, instead of some new names. Baby Name Genie is a random name generator. I just found it tonight, and I like it because of the theme (the Genie) behind it, and the general simplicity of the site. If you're actually looking for name suggestions, or if you're terribly bored and you need something to do, check it out. Whatever holiday you celebrate, may it be a happy one, and if you're not celebrating any holidays, just have a great weekend.

Ginger

Ginger as a name has several possible sources. In the case of Ginger Rogers, it was a nickname for Virginia. Ginger is also a spice, and because the spice has a reddish-brown color, Ginger has also been used as a nickname for someone with red hair. Ginger as a given name in its own right is a fairly new entry to the name game. It was used some during the middle decades of the 1900's, but has never been really popular. What Ginger has been used for alot is as an animal name. Anyone who read the book Black Beauty by Anna Sewell will remember the horse named Ginger, and plenty of horses have had the name because of the color of their coats. I've also personally known a cat who was named Ginger because she had a "spicy" personality, and a dog named Ginger for no apparent reason. Then again, I also know a woman named Ginger. She doesn't have red hair, but she does have a pretty spicy personality. Other than Ginger Rogers, the most famous human bearer of the name Ginger might well be Ginger "the movie star" from television's Gilligan's Island.

Clifton

If you know anything about how words become other words, and if you think about it for a moment, you'll know pretty much where Clifton came from, and what it means. But if you don't want to do all that thinking, here you go: Clifton is from clif, which means exactly what you think it does--a cliff or a slope, and ton, which is basically "town." So, Clifton means a town by a cliff, or on a cliff, or somehow or another associated with a cliff. Clifton is a surname that became a first name. Ask Oxford suggest that it might have been chosen for use as a way to expand the name Cliff without using Clifford. That makes sense, but the only Clifton I know is nearly always called Clifton, and only very rarely is he called Cliff. This name is one that's neither a very good choice for a baby nor a very bad choice. If you really like it, use it. If you don't, don't. The popularity for the name has fallen steadily since the early 1900's, and its well on its way to becoming extremely rare, but due to its status as a surname, it most likely will not disappear entirely.

Tony

Tony, as most people already know, is a short form (nickname) of Anthony, but the name Tony is used fairly often as an independent name on its own. This was done especially often in the 1970's and 1980's, leading to Tony (independently of Anthony) being a top 100 name for boys in those decades. If you really like this name, and I always have, it's still a great name to give to your baby boy--but I'd strongly recommend actually naming him Anthony and then calling him Tony. The reason for this is to give him the opportunity to choose for himself when he's older whether he wants to use the informal Tony or the more formal Anthony, which might be better for a business career. Tonys who are famous as "Tony," whether or not they are really "Anthony" include Tony Blair, Tony Bennett, Tony Danza, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, and accoustic guitar genius Tony Rice, to name only a few. The lesson to be learned here is that despite my previous advice about naming a kid Anthony, obviously being called (or named) Tony doesn't seem to hurt a person's chances of rising to the top of the heap in politics, acting, sports, or music. Name him Anthony anyway.

Bruce

It's pure coincidence that Bruce is the name I'm listing here right after having listed Morris--to me these are both cat names, but that's not why they're listed together. Alright, on to Bruce. According to Ask Oxford, Bruce was originally a Norman baronial name. Behind the Name says that it comes from the place name Brieuse in France, but Ask Oxford says there are other candidates for the place the name its taken from. So I guess no one really knows for sure. The Bruces were a Norman family that became powerful in Scotland. A member of that family, Robert the Bruce, became King Robert I of Scotland and ruled from 1306 to 1329. If you've seen the movie Braveheart you are familiar with Robert the Bruce, but that movie is not historically accurate in many respects. Popularity-wise, Bruce is not used as much as it was in the mid 1900's, but is still far from rare. The famous include Bruce Willis, Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Lee, and of course, Bruce Wayne--the alter-ego of Batman. The Cat Connection: I've been acquainted with not one but two cats named Bruce. They were both huge. In fact, they were the largest domestic housecats I've ever seen. So if you want your new kitten to grow really large, feed him well and name him Bruce. It can't hurt.

Morris

Morris is a variant spelling of Maurice. It makes for a fun and quick bit of name tracking through history. First, we have Maurice. Maurice, like so many names, was brought to the English by the Normans around the time of the Norman Conquest. Once in England, we have some people who spell it the way it sounds to them, and we get Morris from Maurice. During the Middle Ages, Morris was used fairly frequently as a given name, but after the 17th century was used rarely if at all. It was used often enough in the Middle Ages to spawn surnames though--Morris, Morrison, etc. Later, Morris came back into limited use because of its status as a surname--for instance, a common practice has been to use the mother's maiden name as the middle name for the son. The name did not become fashionable or popular again though, so today, we tend to think of Maurice as a French name, and Morris as a cat. Incidentally, 9Lives is the only canned cat food our cat will eat, and the only variety he will eat is the veal, which isn't always easy to find. Our cat looks a lot like Morris, but his name is Cat.

Walter

Walter comes from the Germanic name Waldhari, which meant, essentially, "ruling warriors." The form Walter was brought to England by the Normans. The English already had their own form of this name, Wealdhere, but since the two names apparently meant the same thing, came from the same original source, and sounded much the same, Walter eventually became the version that was used. Walter was quite popular with the Normans, and then with the English in Medieval days. It has been in constant use ever since and was a top 20 name in the U.S. in the first few decades of the 20th century. Its popularity has dropped since then, but since this name has been around for so long, it will probably continue to be used, and will probably see other peaks in popularity as time goes on. Walter is a relatively common surname, but in this case, the first name came first and the surname came last. Famous Walters include Walter Cronkite, Walter Brennan, and Walter Pidgeon. Incidentally, Walter is wonderful name for a dog.

Wanda

I have several sources that I check for information about names, their histories, meanings, or any other interesting things. None of them really agree about Wanda. One source says that it didn't come into real use until after the 1940's. Another source shows it as being quite popular in the first half of the 20th century. When I went to check this information at Social Security Administration's Baby Name Database, it informed me that Wanda wasn't in the top 1000 for any year. Doubting that, since I know several Wandas, I queried the database with the name Jennifer, and was told that that also wasn't in the top 1000 for any year, which confirmed my suspicion that something there isn't working properly today. At some point I'll need to be reminded to go back and recheck Wanda's popularity. Unfortunately, none of my sources really agree about Wanda's meaning or origin either. Ask Oxford, whom I consider to be the real authority--for the most part--just comes right out and says that Wanda is "of uncertain origin." I'll go with that. We don't know what Wanda means. If your name is Wanda, then Wanda means you. How's that? In any case, Wanda is not as popular as it was in the 1970's and 80's. That's my guess--one day maybe we will see if I was right, if I remember to look it up. How's that for a pointless entry?

Morton

Morton is a surname that made the transition to given name. It comes from an English place name that means (not surprisingly) "town on a moor." Morton has appeared as a given name on a mostly occasional basis since the 1850's, but hasn't appeared in the U.S. top 1000 names since the 1940's. According to two sources-- Ask Oxford, and a book called The Facts On File Dictionary of First Names, Morton has been used by Jewish families as an English approximation of the name Moses. That's great, but I'd love to know how the heck they got Morton out of Moses. And, why not just use Moses as the name? Its really no odder than Morton, is it? Hmm. When I think of Morton, I think of salt.