Elmer

Elmer comes from an Old English name which was comprised of the elements ædhel ("noble") and maer ("famous.") Although Elmer was not used much as a given name after the Norman Conquest, but it did survive as a surname. When Elmer is used as a given name today it represents an instance of a surname being used as given name. The practice of using surnames as given names, particularly for boys, and especially the use of the mother's maiden name as a son's given name, was particularly popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and Elmer's popularity coicides with this practice. Elmer seems to be a rare name today, but in the first two decades of the 20th century, Elmer was a top 50 name for boys in the U.S. From the 1920's onward, Elmer's popularity steadily declined until the 1980's, when it more or less stabilized without ever dropping out of the top 1000. Elmer is still given to newborn baby boys enough today that it remains in the top 1000, but it shows no signs of regaining popularity. Elmer's early popularity could have led to its decline in use, due to overuse, and the eventual perception of the name as old-fashioned, but Elmer has more working against it than that. The popularity of Warner Brothers cartoon character Elmer Fudd keeps the name in the public conciousness, while also discouraging its use for babies. Elmer Fudd is so famous and so beloved that Google even has a feature that sort of allows you to search the internet like Elmer Fudd would. Famous and beloved, yes, but still not a character most people would choose to name their sons for. In addition to reminding everyone who hears his name of Elmer Fudd, a child named Elmer might also have to contend with another famous close association with his name, Elmer's Glue. Although Elmer is unlikely to regain much popularity as a name for a child as long as Elmer Fudd is well-known (which we can hope is always,) its still a great name for a pet, particularly for a dog, (or maybe a snake or hamster.)

Sylvia

Sylvia is a variant spelling of Silvia, but of the two, Sylvia is now more often used. Ultimately, it comes from the Latin word silva which means "woods" or "forest." Sylvia was one of the "classical" names that enjoyed popularity in the late 19th century, and into the early years of the 20th century. From 1909 through 1923 the name was in the top 100 for girls in the U.S., and it was again in the top 100 through most of the 1930's and 1940's. Consequently, Sylvia is currently considered a somewhat old-fashioned name, and is in the bottom half of the top 1000. The most well-known Sylvia was probably Sylvia Plath. Sylvia is both pretty to the ear and to the eye, and will most probably return to popularity in the next decade or so. In the meantime, Sylvia is also a wonderful name for a cat.

Clarence

In the 14th century a son of Edward III was married to the heiress of Clare in Suffolk. The title of Duke of Clarence was created for him, and has been held by various British princes in the years since. Clarence began to be used as a given name in honor of one of these, Prince Albert Victor of Wales, who was the popular eldest son of Edward VII, and became Duke of Clarence in 1890. Clarence was an extremely popular name from the late 19th century into the early decades of the 20th century. It remained in the top 100 in the U.S. until the 1950's, but has declined slowly in popularity since then. Today it is still in the top 1000, and hasn't quite become "rare," but because it was so heavily used in early decades, it's considered a bit outdated. Since Clarence is a relatively new entrant to the name game, it is anyone's guess whether it will ever regain any of its popularity of the early 20th century, or if it will turn out to have been a "trend" of its time.

Ada

Like many very short names, Ada comes from more than one original source. It is considered to be a short version or nickname for several names, including Adelaide, Adele, and Alexandra--pretty much any name that has an 'A' and a 'D' and more than one syllable. In other cases it is considered to be essentially the same name as the biblical name Adah (which means "adornment" in Hebrew.) Ada was a popular name in the 19th century, and although that popularity continued into the early 20th century, it declined steadily. Ada finally disappeared entirely from the U.S. top 1000 names after the 1970's. The name began to make a comeback in 2004, and it will be interesting to see if it begins to regain its former popularity. Relatively speaking, Ada is not an "old" name--it only began to be widely used as a name in its own right in the late 18th century, but many of us perceive it as being an old name, because of knowing or having known an Ada from an earlier generation. Over the next few decades we will find out if Ada is to be a "new classic" name, or simply an occasionally remembered trend from earlier times.

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.

Gary

Gary has several origins, which mostly all reach back to the same base origin, which is the Germanic element gar, which means "spear." Many names, such as Gareth, Garret, Garland, and Garfield, begin with this element, and Gary was originally a nickname or short form for those names. Widely used nicknames often become given names in their own right, and they also often spawned surnames. Both of these happened with Gary, so today, Gary can be a nickname, a name in its own right, or a transferred use of the surname as a given name. Gary was a very popular name in the U.S. from the 1930's through the 1960's, probably largely because of the fame of actor Gary Cooper. The name is still used, and is still in the U.S. top 500, but has been steadily dropping since the 1970's. Other famous, or at least well-known, Garys include Gary the snail, from the popular Spongebob Squarepants cartoon; actor Gary Dourdan, who plays Warrick Brown on television's CSI; Gary Levox, the lead singer for the country group Rascal Flatts; actor Gary Oldman; and the town, Gary, Indiana. Although this name is still suffering somewhat from its extreme popularity in the 20th century, and not being helped by having a famous snail using the name, Gary will most likely make a comeback and return to popular use eventually.

Ruby

Ruby means exactly what you think it means; the red gem, ruby. The word ruby comes from the Latin word rubeus, which means "red," so by association, ruby also means "red." Gem names, such as Ruby, Pearl, and Beryl, were popular during the 19th century, and into the early years of the 20th century, after which point most of them faded in popularity considerably. Ruby fared better than some--remaining in the top 500 names for girls in the U.S. throughout the 1900's. Over the past few years it has been creeping upward slightly in popularity, possibly due to a revival in gem names in general. Ruby hasn't enjoyed the popularity that two other gem names, Amber and Jade, have enoyed, but currently both those names are sliding downward in popularity, while Ruby continues to rise slightly. The name's popularity in the U.S. may be boosted also by the fact that it is currently a very popular name in England, Australia, and Scotland. Ruby has occasionally been used as a given name for boys. These uses are probably not examples of Ruby as a gem name, but rather, Ruby as a surname being used as a given name. In any case, the use of Ruby as a masculine name has been very rare if not non-existent since the 1930's.

Eva

Eva has (at least) three sources. One is as a form of the name Eve. Another other is as an English form of the Gaelic name Aoife, and another is an English form of the Irish name Éabha. Despite being a derived form of another name (in either case,) Eva has become quite popular as a name in its own right, and was particularly popular in the U.S. in the first 3 decades of the 1900's. Unlike many other names that were popular during that era, however, Eva has not become "old-fashioned" and is still in regular use. Eva is sometimes pronounced EE-vah, and sometimes pronounced AY-vah. Very occasionally Eva is pronounced EH-vah, but this is rare in English-speaking countries.

Wilbur

Wilbur comes from the Old English will ("will, desire") and burh ("fortress.") Wilbur is a surname which in the U.S. is sometimes used as a given name. The name was popular enough to be in the top 100 in the U.S. in the second decade of the 1900's, but fell steadily in popularity after that, dropping out of the top 1000 entirely after the 1970's. Wilbur as a given name is famous/notorious in at least two instances, one of which might account for its complete disappearance as a given name for baby boys. First, there was Wilbur Wright, who along with his brother Orville, became famous for inventing the first airplane that worked. Second, Wilbur was one of the main characters in E.B. White's famous children's book Charlotte's Web. For those few people out there who have never read the book, or seen the movie, or at least heard of Charlotte's Web, the Wilbur in the book is a pig who befriends a very resourceful and intelligent spider named Charlotte. Parents are probably wise to avoid naming their boys Wilbur, because sooner or later nearly every child is required to read this book for school, and while Wilbur is indeed one terrific pig, he's a pig, nonetheless.

Barbara

Barbara is the Latin form of the Greek barbarus. The Greek word comes from bar-bar, which was sort of a Greek version of "blah blah" and referred to the language of foreigners which sounded like no more than "bar-bar" (or blah blah) to them. Therefore, barbarus came to mean "foreign," and Barbara means "foreign woman." The word barbarian comes from the same source. Other meanings related to the word are sometimes given for Barbara, including "strange," "exotic," and "untamed." Barbara is a saint's name: Saint Barbara is the patron saint of stonemasons, architects, and artillerymen, among other things. Barbara is currently somewhat out-of-fashion as a name for baby girls. It was extremely popular during the first half of the 20th century, and was a top ten name in the U.S. for most of the three decades (the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's.) Because of this, many many people have mothers, grandmothers, and even great-grandmothers named Barbara. Often when this happens a name starts to be associated with the "older generations" and goes out of fashion until the older generation has passed. Barbara has not fallen completely out of use, but its popularity has been on a steady decline since the 1960's, and it currently isn't even quite in the top 500. Barbara is a classic name, however, plus a saint's name, so it is doubtful that it will become obssolete. The name can be expected to eventually experience a resurgence in popularity. Barbara is a versatile name, but its versatility is another reason for its decline in popularity; one of the main nicknames for Barbara is Barbie and that name has been virtually taken over by its association with Barbie Dolls. Other nicknames for Barbara are Babs, Babette, and Barb, and Bobbie. The variant spelling Barbra is sometimes used, but I'll deal with that as a name in its own right at some point.

Jewel

Jewel means, well, jewel. That is, a precious stone or gem. Back in the 1800's it was fashionable to use gem names as names for babies--mostly for girls, but in some cases for boys. Jewel is one of these names (though others were more specific, such as Ruby or Beryl.) The popularity of the name Jewel carried over from the 1800's into the 1900's, and the name was somewhat in use in the United States through the 1960's. After that, it disappeared from the U.S. top 1000 baby names until 1997, when it shot suddenly to #667. The reason for the reappearance of the name is most likely due to the popularity of the singer Jewel. The revival of the name hasn't been overwhelming, and its use has been declining steadily since 1998. Many people, rather than thinking of Jewel as a name in its own right, tend to think of it as a nickname for Julie or Julia, but by the same token, there is really no reason that a girl named Jewel could not use Julie as a nickname.

Luna

Luna means "moon," or can mean "moon goddess." In Roman mythology, Luna was the goddess of the moon. Her Greek counterpart was Selene. Luna as a given name for girls has a certain current trendiness. It's not exactly popular, but has been used enough in the past 2 or 3 years to earn itself a place in the U.S. top 1000. Interestingly, the name is also currently very popular, as in top 10, in Belgium--or so says Behind the Name. I was mildly surprised to find that Luna was in use as a given name in the early 1900's, but I haven't yet found information about its history as a name before that--still looking. What was more surprising to me is that it didn't fade back into the top 1000 during the 1960's through the 1980's. I'd have thought that Luna would be a prime candidate for trendy popularity during those years. Go figure. I have mixed feelings about this name. On the one hand, I love the sound of it, and the meaning is good. On the other hand, as cruel as kids are, any little girl named Luna is going to be at serious risk of being called "Looney Luna." The fact that it rhymes with "tuna" probably doesn't help. So I think that even as much as I like the name, I'd have to recommend against it for a new baby. Luna is a great name for a fictional character, and I might use my newfound knowledge that the name was in use in the early 20th century myself one of these days-I love things that seem "wrong" until you find out that they aren't. I also think that Luna is a great name for a dog, but this is probably because I play The Sims and when the Unleashed expansion pack was released, it included as a character a cute little dog named Luna. That dog is now the first thing I think of when I hear or see the name. The second thing I think of is a character from the soap opera One Life To Live who was named Luna. She was cool, but she was definitely quite looney.

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?

Frances

Frances is the feminine form of Francis. Up until the 17th century, Francis was a unisex name, like Terry or Chris. Why "they" suddenly decided that a girl ought to have an "e" in her Frances is just one of life's little mysteries. The name has been in steady use since the 17th century, but is currently in a popularity slump. It was a top 100 name for baby girls in the U.S. until the 1960's. One notable Frances was Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint. Another was author Frances Hodgson Burnett, who wrote A Little Princess and The Secret Garden. Yet another was Frances Farmer.

Donald

Donald is a Scottish name that comes from the Gaelic name Domhnall. Since I'm working from several sources here that almost but don't quite agree on things, it appears to mean something like "almighty ruler of the world." This makes it an awesome name for a cat. The folks at Disney apparently thought it was also an excellent name for animated water fowl, and Donald Duck is probably one of the first mental associations people make with this name. Donald Trump also comes to mind--a good example of someone at least attempting to live up to his name. Donald is not as common as it was in the first half of the 20th century, but is still widely used. One reason for its continued popularity is that it is a versatile name. A child named Donald can also be called Don or Donnie.

Lacy, Lacey

Personally, I think this is a really interesting name, that is really two names with two different reasons for being used as a given name. Lacy is a surname that made the transition to use as a given name. It was mainly used for boys, and was reasonably common in the 19th century, and continued to be used for boys until the 1940's. In this capacity it was usually spelled Lacy. In the 1970's it began to be used more often as a girl's name--usually spelled Lacey but sometimes spelled Lacy as well. In some cases this was probably related to other surnames that were drafted into use as given names for girls, such as Ashley, Morgan, and Bailey. This brings us to the other reason for the use of Lacey as a given name. The word lace makes Lac(e)y a fairly obvious feminine name, since lace is associated with femininity. This meaning probably actually works agains the name's popularity with the same parents who choose names like Morgan and Ashley for their daughters--names that aren't traditionally considered too "girly."

Jane

Jane is ultimately considered a feminine form of John, and is related to Jean and Joan. The main problem with Jane as a name is the fact that it rhymes with "plain," which has caused "plain jane" to be a phrase many people think of automatically when they hear the name. In reality, Jane is no more "plain" than any other one-syllable name. Jane has been a regularly used name since at least the 16th century, and was extremely popular in Britain thoughout the 18th and 19th centuries, and enjoyed a peak in popularity in the U.S. in the early 1900's as well. Jane has been somewhat less popular in more recent decades, for various reasons. There seems to be a trend recently of parents looking to traditional names for their children. Jane has that traditional quality, and it has simplicty, and at least a small amount of versatility (nickname Janie) going for it. I would expect to see at least a small rise in popularity for the name in the next decade, either for Jane as a first given name, or a resurgence in the use of it as the second name in combination names like Sarah Jane.

Neal

Neal is in some cases simply a variant spelling of Neil, and is also a surname that is sometimes used as a given name. This version of the name was used fairly often through the beginning of the last century, but began to be used less after the 1960's, and in the past few years has fallen out of the top 1000 names for boys in the U.S.

Dale

Dale is a surname that means "dweller in the valley, or dale." It began to be used as a given name in the 19th century, probably often in honor of the maiden name of the child's mother. Dale has mainly been a masculine name, but was fairly common as a girl's name from the 1930's through the 1960's, probably heavily influenced by the popularity of Dale Evans. Since the 1960's Dale has almost exclusively a masculine name, used often enough to not be considered "odd," but not overused, either. Famous Dales include Dale Carnegie, and two NASCAR giants, the late Dale Earnhardt, and his son Dale Earnhardt Jr.