Lori Cooper - 75,000+ Baby Names for the 21st Century

for the Lori Cooper Copyright 2001 by Lori Cooper First Published in Australia by Lothian All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote passages in a review. Published by Taylor Trade Publishing An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706 www.rlpgtrade.com Distributed by NATIONAL BOOK NETWORK Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cooper, Lori. 75,000+ baby names for the 21st century. 1. I. Title. II. II.

Title : Seventy-five thousand plus baby names for the twenty-first century. 929.4403 ISBN-13: 978-1-58979-595-2 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 1-58979-595-4 (cloth : alk. paper) The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Infonnation SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992. Manufactured in the United States of America.

Acknowledgements I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to the following people for all their assistance and support and without whom this book would not have come together with such ease: Joshua, Stephanie and Duncan Marshall; John Cooper; Graeme Hearn and Kamilo and Ite Ali.

Special thanks to Bill Ligakis at Acropolis Computers Wagga Wagga for your kindness, assistance and for keeping me sane. This book is dedicated to the following: The Great Spirit and the Angel who inspired this book, Alona. Joyce and Myra Cooper; Sharon, Chloe, Christopher and Jan Hearn; Georgina Papaioanou; Josh and Cassie Dickinson; Craig Glasson for his kindness; my family and friends and my dogs Shaman-Brave-Bear (Shay-Bear) and Nebraska.

The aim of 75,000+ Baby Names for the 21st Century is to give new parents a culturally diverse and imaginative range of baby names with easy-to-understand meanings and the widest array of spelling variations available. The world is increasingly becoming a cultural melting pot. The heritage of many Australians, New Zealanders, Americans, Canadians and Europeans may once have originated from simply Irish, Scottish, English, French and German stock, but as we enter the new millennium, it has become apparent that our families are now more influenced by cultural diversity.

Our traditional heritage is now being influenced by Greek, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Spanish, Koori, Maori and many other bloodlines. This book celebrates this wonderful diversity by giving you the opportunity to reflect your familys cultural heritage in the naming of your children. In creating the contents of this book, names have been taken from 220 different languages, from large continents such as the United States of America, Australia and Africa and from small island civilisations such as Western Samoa and Fiji.

Many parents are highly influenced by tradition. The names in the Top 50 Most Popular Female and Male Names reflect this trend. Tradition plays an important part in choosing a name for a child.

Some people name their children after a much-loved grandmother, grandfather, great aunt, great uncle, from the Bible or even from royalty. Traditional names such as Emily, Sarah, Elizabeth, Amy, Jack, Michael, Matthew and James feature prominently in classrooms around the world. This old-fashioned influence is a steady one, but keep in mind when you are choosing a name for your child that they may share a classroom with a number of children with that very same name.

As a result of cultural diversity, names have lately become much more exotic. Once names such as Ann, Mary, Katharine, Margaret and Elizabeth were commonplace, but multiculturalism has brought us a greater variety of fresh names such as Georgia, Mikayla, Brianna, Tamara, Zoe, Shania, Tahlia, Denzel, Zachary and Jared. Our spiritual beliefs also play an important part in choosing the name of a child.

The Bible contains the names of a large quantity of good God-fearing men and woman as well as angels, saints, feast days and celebrations. Jewish children are often named after a beloved one who has passed over. In Africa, a childs name may be kept a secret and first whispered to him or her before it is announced to the rest of his or her family. In some other areas of Africa, a grandparent gives the child a name at birth and after six weeks the parents will choose a name that is inspired by the birth, a relative, an event or from nature. African-Americans are now recognising their cultural heritage and are reclaiming this by naming their children traditional African names. As they journey through life, Native Americans often change their names with each different cycle they encounter.

Traditionally, babies were named after an elder, inspired by nature or feats of war and peace. Native Americans are also reclaiming their pride by choosing traditional Native American names for their children. The Chinese also sometimes change their names as they move from babyhood, to school age, to marriage. They also give their children average names that will not attract the attention of evil spirits. The Japanese give their sons names that reflect their birth order or names that mean longevity or wealth. The girls are given names that reflect the high moral standards of the Japanese people or that come from the natural world.

Hispanic Americans like to name their children after saints. Traditionally, Greeks name the first-born child after a grandparent. Muslim boys are often named after the prophet Mohammed, which is why it is the most common name on the planet. Girls are named after virtues, positive characteristics or nature.

A large percentage of children are given middle names. Middle names are usually inspired by a grandparent and allow the parents to follow the tradition of giving family names to their child without letting the confines of old-fashioned names hinder their childs self-esteem.

While names like Brunhilda, Wilhelmina, Winifred, Matilda, Ulfred and Vladislav might honour a much-loved family member, they may be more appropriate as middle names rather than first names. By using a middle name, parents can keep everyone happy; they can give a modern first name but still keep the family traditions alive with a middle name. Old-fashioned names can also give a lovely flow to a more modern name. For example, Lucy Belle, Katrina May, Chantelle Elizabeth, Sophie Beth, Drew Harrison, Kyle Marcellus. Middle names can be very handy later in life, as your child might not be happy with his or her first name. Also, in todays expanding population you can only begin to imagine how many Jessica Stevens, Sara Williams, Matthew Taylors and James Coopers there are out there.

However, with the addition of a middle name, your childs name can stand out from the crowd. For example, Sara Parker can become more imaginative with the addition of Bree: Sara Bree Parker. Troy Peters can become more imaginative with the addition of Harrison: Troy Harrison Peters.

Your children are individuals, so why not give them names that reflect their own uniqueness? This book is especially tailored to meet the demands of parents seeking such a unique spelling for their favourite names. For example, why not spell Rebecca Rebekka, Susanna Suzanna, Tanya Tanja, Taylor Taylah, James Jaimes, Kevin Keven or Sean Shaughn?