Irene

Irene means "peace." It comes from the Greek eirene. Irene, or Eirene, was a Greek goddess of peace, and as one of the Horai (Seasons) she personified spring. (Her Roman equivalent was Pax, which is Latin for "peace.") Irene, along with other "classical" names from mythology and other sources, began to gain popularity in English speaking countries in the 19th century. It had reached the top 100 of names for new baby girls by the 1880's, and peaked as the 16th most popular name in 1918 and 1919. Irene remained popular, staying in the top 100 until the 1940's. Since then it has declined in popularity, falling out of the top 500 in recent years. One interesting thing to note; Irene was originally pronounced with three syllables ( i-REE-nee,) but now is generally pronounced EYE-reen in the U.S. and some other English speaking countries. The name is a classic and will surely return to popularity once it is no longer associated with the "older generation." Whether it will return as a two syllable name or a three syllable name is anyone's guess.

Brooke

Brooke comes from the surname (Brooke, Brook, Brooks,) and means exactly what you'd expect it to mean; the surname originally described someone who lived near a brook or a stream. It comes from the Old English word bróc. Brooke is currently an extremely popular name for girls in many English speaking countries, including the U.S., Scotland, and Australia. Part of its popularity is due to the fame of actresses Brooke Shields and Brooke Adams. In the U.S., Brooke has been a top 100 name since the 1980's. This means there are currently a lot of Brookes running around out there. This being the case, new parents might want to look for a name that is somewhat less over-used. New parents should also be aware that although most name dictionaries, etc., list Brooke as being a feminine OR masculine name, it is generally the spelling Brook that is considered more masculine (and occasionally Brooks.) Brooke has been so popular for girls that I'd hesitate to give a boy even the "masculine" versions of the name. His life will be much easier without the perception by his peers that he's got "a girl's name."

Shane

Shane is a variation of the Irish name Sean; basically just a matter of spelling it the way it sounds when pronounced in areas of Northern Ireland. Currently Shane is a quite popular name in Ireland, but less so in Northern Ireland--which makes sense when you think about it. It is a top 50 name in both cases, anyway. In the U.S., Shane began to be used to name baby boys in the 1950's, almost entirely due to the success of the movie Shane. Shane was a top 100 name during the 1970's and 1980's, but in the 1990's it started to slip in the rankings. It has dropped a little each year since the mid 1990's, but is still currently a top 200 name. Shane is normally a boys name, but is very occasionally (very!) used as a girl's name.

Lamont

Lamont comes from the Irish and Scottish surname, and its use as a given name has been mainly confined to the U.S. The surname is derived from Lagman which was a given name used in medieval times. Lagman comes from the Old Norse combination of log ("law") and madhr ("man"). This gives a resulting meaning for Lamont of "lawman" or "law giver." Lamont began to appear in the U.S. top 1000 names list in the 1940's, and its popularity peaked in the 1970's--though it never was a really "popular" name, at any time. Use of the name has declined steadily since the 1970's, and in 2004 the name was still in the top 1000, but barely. The first thing many of us think of when we hear the name Lamont is that it was the name of Fred Sanford's son in the Redd Foxx television show, Sanford and Son.