Kerry

Kerry is a name that is used for both girls and boys. According to Ask Oxford it is a recent addition to the name pool. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration's Popular Baby Names website, however, Kerry appered in the top 1000 names for boys as early as 1934 and for girls in 1943, which isn't that recent, really. Kerry is a county in Ireland, and in most instances, that is probably what inspired the use of Kerry as a first name. It is important to remember, though, that Kerry is also a surname (as in John Kerry, whose website is the first result you get currently if you simply search for "Kerry" on Google.) Although Kerry enjoyed some popularity in the U.S. in the 1950's through the 1970's, it began to lose popularity swiftly after that, and has lately been completely out of fashion for both girls and boys. Any current lack of popularity of the name may or may not be due to the fame of John Kerry.

Payton

Payton is a surname that's now being used as a given name. Sometimes it's spelled Peyton, but this is a simple variation. Peyton is a place in Sussex, and according to Ask Oxford, the original name was probably " 'Paega's settlement'. This makes it related to surnames such as Paignton and Packington. This name, in both spellings, has been creeping up the rankings of top names for babies in the U.S. since the early 1990's. The thing here is that it's being used for both boys and girls, so even though it's hanging out between the top 250 and the top 175, it's doing it for both genders simultaneously. If this continues there are going to be a lot of Paytons, and probably at least a few Paytons who marry other Paytons, and folks, this would just get confusing. So stop it. Now. At least agree on something reasonable; for instance, let's give Payton to boys and Peyton to girls. Or something. Payton is a great name for a dog, and a so-so name for a cat. I don't know why, but it's true. Test it for yourself. Let me know how it goes.

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.

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.

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.

Ashley

Ashley comes from the Old English aescleah, meaning "ash wood." This was a common place name--for obvious reasons--which became a surname. Ashley began to be used as a given name in the 1860's, possibly inspired by Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, who was a well known 19th century social reformer. It is also more than possible that the use of Ashley as a given name came from the common practice of giving a child the mother's maiden name as a middle or second middle name. "Ashley Wilkes" was a major character in Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone With The Wind, which provided a popularity boost to the name. Until the 1960's Ashley was mainly used for baby boys, but once it began to be used for girls, it caught on quickly. Ashley entered the top 10 names for baby girls in the 1980's and it remains there today. As the use of the name for girls rose, baby boys named Ashley became fewer and fewer, and the name disappeared from their top 1000 list after 1994. Alternate spellings of the name will be listed seperately at some point, but include Ashlee, Ashleigh, and Ashlie.