Baby names for the elite
March 25, 2010
Francine Kopun
FEATURE WRITER
It must be exhausting, being elite.
There's living in the right nabe to worry about, driving the right car, having the right clothes, diet, friends, appliances and eyewear.
Then there are the baby names.
The elite need something original, that doesn't smack of effort or sound absurdly invented.
The authors of the baby-naming book that started it all in 1988 (Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana), last year launched a website, Nameberry, that now gets 200,000 unique hits a month, 25,000 of them from Canada, according to co-founder Pamela Redmond Satran.
Using Google analytics, Satran and her partner have analyzed their audience and tracked their searches and come up with this: Users are a literary lot; they draw their naming inspiration from art and literature and not so much from popular culture.
They're more likely to choose Atticus, after the humanitarian lawyer in the classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, or Harper, after the book's author, Harper Lee.
They're less likely to name their children after Britney Spears' son, Jayden.
Here is Satran's list of the most-searched boys' and girls' names at www.nameberry.com. Satran tells prospective parents to make sure the name they choose has meaning for them.
And to keep it to themselves until the baby is born or risk inviting unwanted advice.
fkopun@thestar.ca
Most popular names for boys on nameberry.com:
1. Henry
2. Finn
3. Oliver
4. James
5. Asher
6. Jack
7. Jasper
8. Max
9. Kai
10. Atticus
11. Liam
12. Jude
13. Felix
14. Owen
15. Quinn
16. Noah
17. Michael
18. Milo
19. Sawyer
20. Phineas
21. William
22. Harper
23. Leo
24. Auden
25. Silas
Most popular names for girls on nameberry.com:
1. Charlotte
2. Seraphina
3. Olivia
4. Elizabeth
5. Lucy
6. Isla
7. Violet
8. Sophia
9. Alice
10. Maisie
11. Ava
12. Scarlett
13. Laura
14. Caroline
15. Grace
16. Claire
17. Lily
18. Amelia
19. Imogen
20. Harper
21. Ella
22. Matilda
23. Stella
24. Jane
25. Emma
Toronto Star