Zelda

Today's name: Zelda (which I thought would be perfect to post today since it is a little witchy, and Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D came out just a few months ago)

Pronunciation: ZEHL-dah

Potential nicknames: Zell, Zellie, Ellie, or maybe even Zsa-Zsa or ZiZi

Origin: (1) The German diminutive of Griselda/Grizelda, meaning "dark battle" or "grey battle maiden," but can also come from a word for stone or gravel. (2) Yiddish cognate of German name Salida, meaning "joy" or "luck." (3) Old English variant of Selda, meaning "companion."

Popularity: Zelda first appeared on the SSA charts in 1880 when records of names first started being kept by the Social Security Administration, and it ranked at #834. It worked its way up to #379 in 1911, then worked its way back down to #997 in 1967, where it was last seen. When the first Zelda video game came out there were a handful of babies each year between 1985 and 1991 presumably named for her, but no more than 22 baby girls in one year. Read more about it here. In 2010 there were 69 baby girls named Zelda, zero or less than five babies named Selda, 7 girls named Gricelda, 15 Grisel, 59 Griselda, 5 Griselle, 5 Grissel and zero or less than five Grizelda. In 2011 there were 80 baby girls named Zelda.

Fun fact: (1) Robin Williams and his daughter were featured in the latest Zelda video game commercial because he named his daughter Zelda, after the video game princess. (2) The Zelda in the video game, however, got her name from F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife Zelda, a Jazz Age/Roaring 20's icon and celebrity "flapper," who was a sophisticated and beautiful artist/writer, but was said to have mental issues. (3) "The Patient Griselda" is a well-known folkloric story about a patient and obedient woman, who endures emotionally painful incidents at the whim of her husband or fiancee, depending on which version you're reading. She has been written about by Boccaccio, Chaucer, Marie de France and others. It is interesting to note that while Zelda Fitzgerald became a feminist icon after her death, Griselda was the true "Angel of the Household," a Victorian term meaning "an obedient wife who knows her place." (4) This person is not as well-known but I thought it was interesting enough to mention: Griselda Blanco was a female drug lord for the Medellin Cartel. (5) Due to the video game association, and the connection to Zelda Spellman from Sabrina the Teenage Witch, the name Selda may be more to your liking. Zelda is actually the variant of Selda, not the other way around. And doesn't Zelda seem like the perfect twin or sibling name for Stella, or maybe Phoebe? I think so.

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Halloween Baby Names

Here is my October list of relevant Halloween baby names! Enjoy

Girls:
Persephone (means "to bring death")
Beatrix ("tricks")
Arista (can mean "harvest")
Hallow (All Hallow's Eve)
Elphaba (The Wicked Witch)
Morrigan (meaning "great queen, nightmare queen")
Nerissa (meaning "black-haired")
Zelda & Hilda (Sabrina's witch aunts, also "Broom Hilda")
Sabrina (the Teenage Witch)
Elvira (Mistress of the Dark)
Morticia (The Munsters)
Carrie (Steven King)
Piper, Pru, Phoebe & Paige
(All Hallow's) Eve
Tituba (Salem witch)
Wednesday (Adams)
Wendy (Casper's witch friend)
Rosemary (Rosemary's baby)
Buffy (the Vampire Slayer)
Drusilla (a vampire from Buffy)
Tabitha & Endora (from Bewitched)
Ligeia, Lenore & Rowena (Poe characters)
Jacquelyn (for Jack-o-lantern)
Lilith (meaning "of the night," a she-demon)
Autumn
Stormy
Amber (an orange color)
Jetta (meaning "black)
Lamia (a snake-woman or phantom or witch, who knows, every source says something different)
Sable (meaning "black")
Felina (meaning "cat-like")
Circe (a Greek woman thought of as a witch)
Hecate (Greek goddess of witchcraft, demons, graves and the underworld)
Lilura (Basque, meaning "enchantment")
Medea/Medeia (means "cunning")
Mohana & Mohini (means "bewitching")
Calypso (meaning "she who conceals")
Runa (meaning "secret lore")
Leta (meaning "the hidden one")
Taika (Finnish, meaning "magic")
Lupe, Lupa & Lupita (meaning "wolf")
Ylva (Scandinavian, meaning "she-wolf")
Velvela (Yiddish, meaning "wolf")
Otsana (Basque, meaning "she-wolf")
Ulrica (meaning "wolf power")
Senka (meaning "shadow")
Zilla/Zillah (meaning "shadow")
Twyla/Twila (meaning "twilight")
Cora (from Kore, another name for Persephone)
Elysia (from Elysion, the "good" underworld)
Hazel (seasonal color, also Witch Hazel from Looney Toons)
Desdemona (meaning "wretchedness" or "ill-starred)
Diantha (a character in the Sookie Stackhouse novels)
Theria (possibly meaning "harvest")
Strega Nona (Grandma Witch)
Ursula (the underwater witch in The Little Mermaid)
Scarlet (like the color of blood)
Cruella (De Vil, from 101 Dalmations)
Malificent/Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty, but with non-Disney meaning as well)
Rasputina
Belladonna (the poisonous plant)
Amarantha (means "unfading," an immortal plant)
Candelaria (plant used to shoo evil spirits)
Branwen (meaning "white, blessed raven")
Ember (dying coals, part of a fire)
Medusa (well-known snake-haired woman of Greek myth)
Melanie, Melania, Melaina, Melina (meaning "black")
Melanthe (meaning "black flower")
Nimue (an Arthurian sorceress)
Nightingale
Opal (October's birthstone)
Alcina (a mythological sorceress)
Tempest (a storm)
Sally (from The Mightmare Before Christmas, and Fiona Apple sings "Sally's Song")
Emily (voiced by Helena Bonham-Carter in The Corpse Bride)

Boys:
Bram (Stoker)
Salem
Phantom
Obsidian, Onyx (black stones)
Rasputin
(The Brothers) Grimm
Lestat (Vampire from Anne Rice
Casper (the Friendly Ghost)
Freddie/Freddy (Kruger)
Samhain
Boris (Karloff)
Jack (o-lantern)
Edgar Allen Poe
Roderick Usher (a Poe character)
Crow
Wolf
Damon & Damien
Herman (Munster)
Frank (Frankenstein)
Griffin (a cat-beast with wings, watch Harry Potter to see him)
Alchemy
Talon
Blake (meaning "black")
Hades (god of the Underworld)
Maksim (meaning "enchanting")
Mohan (meaning "bewitching")
Merlin
Rune (meaning "secret lore")
Ralph, Randolph, Randall & Rolf (meaning "wolf counsel" or "wise wolf")
Rudy (meaning "famous wolf")
Kenyon (meaning "little wolf")
Lowell (meaning "little wolf")
Phelan/Faolan (meaning "little wolf")
Wolfgang (meaning "wolf pack")
Anubis (Egyptian god of the underworld)
Devlin (sounds like devil)
Diablo (meaning "devil")
Orpheus (meaning "deprived" or "darkness")
Ichabod (Crane)
Constantine
Wes (Craven)
Igor (from Frankenstein)
Jinx
Binx/Binks (Thackery Binx, or maybe it's Binks, from Hocus Pocus, which I frickin' MISSED tonight on TV...(lol) But thankfully I own it.)
Edward (Scissorhands)
Night

Unisex:
Raven
October
Raz (means "secret")
Blair (Witch Project)
Crimson (like the color of blood)
Midnight (the witching hour)
Grimoire (a witch's book of knowledge)
Nocturne (musical, night)
Oleander (which can be fatal)
Requiem (a mass for the dead)
Charm

Genoveva, Geneva & Genevieve

Today's name: Genoveva, from Geneva and Genevieve
There are also the variants Genovefa, Genevra/Ginevra, Genever, Genevia, and Geneve.

Pronunciation: jehn-oh-VEE-vah, HEN-oh-VEH-vah
Genevieve is also pronounced with the JEN sound in America, while it is either JAHN or ZHAHN in France.

Potential nicknames: Gen, Gena, Genna, Genny, Neva, Nova, Veva, Viva, Eve, Ever, Eva, Evie

Origin: The Spanish variant of either Old French Geneva or French Genevieve (perhaps originally Gaulish), although I am uncertain which it is for sure. Geneva can mean "juniper tree/berry," from either French "Genevrier" or old Dutch "genever, jeniver" or come from a Celtic meaning, while Genevieve can mean "white wave" (from Old German) or Celtic "of the race of women." This meaning is tied to Guinevere, which means "fair, smooth." There are other vague possible meanings. It seems the true origin was either lost in translation or Genoveva is a variant of both Geneva and Genevieve.

Popularity: Genoveva only ranked in the U.S. in 1885, 1894 and 1895. Geneva last ranked every year between 1880 (when the SSA first started keeping track) and 1995. Genevieve ranked at #279 last year. In 2010 there were only 5 baby girls named Genoveva, and 15 in 2011, while there were 149 named Geneva, 6 Geneve, 1,182 named Genevieve, 8 Gennavieve, and 16 Genevive. In 2011 Genevieve jumped up to #232, with 1,356 births. There were also 7 girls named Genavie, 15 Genoveva, 28 Genevie, 48 Genavieve, and 156 Geneva.

Fun fact: (1) Saint Genoveva Torres Morales of Spain, lived from 1870 to 1956. Her feast day is January 5. Saint Genevieve is the Patron Saint of Paris. (2) Genoveva Edroza-Matute was a Filipino author. (3) Lake Geneva, which touches both Switzerland and France. It was first called Geneva in the English language. There is also a Lake Geneva in Michigan and one in Wisconsin, possibly more elsewhere. (4) Geneva, Switzerland (and Illinois, and New York, with possibly more). (5) Fictional country of Genovia in "The Princess Diaries." (6) A good way to honor a special man in your life named Gene. (7) The Geneva Conventions. (8) The baby of Benicio del Toro and Kimberly Stewart is named Delilah Genoveva.

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Intentionally or Creatively Misspelling Names

A note on intentional or creative misspellings of names:

Sometimes made-up names are great because they combine two names from your family tree, such as combining something like Jasmine and Mira – Jasmira, or sometimes the name at least sounds like it could be a legitimate name, such as Kivora, and sometimes the legitimate names sound made-up, such as Doveva (but usually because they’ve been unheard of for so long). But I’m not going to go into the pros and cons of creating a new baby name, I’ll just say this: research any possible associations, and don’t misplace vowels. Say you want to go for Aliyah/Aaliyah and its variants, something new, so you try Alyia. If anything, that letter I should have been placed before the Y. This is beside the fact that both the I and the Y do not need to be there if the Y comes first, only one does. These are the language laws, which dictate that misplacing vowels (and certain other letters) make for a nonsense word or name. Scrolling through the SSA list these past couple of months I have seen Izsabella and Iszabella, Nathalye and Natalye, and many more names where the misspelling does not benefit the name at all. And I think this is why so many of us are against creative, intentional misspellings – because the misspelling turns the name into something confusing and usually adds unnecessary letters or takes away necessary letters. Most of us get a feeling of disgust when we see something like“Honestiy,” “Lushious” or “Catariyna.” My advice is to be respectful of the original version of the name if you are using something familiar. Variations like Christel or Cristal from the name Crystal make sense. Trying to make people pronounce Alyzeebith the same as Elizabeth does not. Most importantly, familiarize yourself with recent studies that prove children with oddly misspelled names have a much harder time learning to read and write, especially if their name defies phonics.

Oberon

Today's name: Oberon

Pronunciation: oh-bur-on

Potential nicknames: Obie, Ober, Ron, Ronnie (a great way to honor a Ronald or Obie in your family tree) Bear, Bearie

Origin: Old German, meaning "royal bear," or "noble, bear-like," coming from the name Auberon (which is equally attractive) an Old French name from Frankish German origins. It is possible that Auberon and Oberon are related to the Germanic name Alberich. If indeed they are related to Alberich, then they are also related to the name Aubrey.

Popularity: I was shocked to learn that there were zero (five or less, as the SSA won't tell you when there is less than five) baby boys named Oberon and Auberon in 2010 and 2011. What a pity.

Fun fact: (1) Oberon was King of the Faeries in Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and he graces the pages of other medieval and Renaissance literature. Since then, a moon of Uranus was named Oberon, as well as Queen of the Faeries, Titania, and those were the first two moons of Uranus discovered. All of Uranus's moons were named after the characters of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope. (2) Author Auberon Waugh. (3) Bell's Oberon Ale (beer).

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Persephone

Today's name: Persephone

Pronunciation: per-SEPH-oh-nee

Potential nicknames: Perri, Persie, Seph, Sephie, Steph, Stephie, Penny

Origin: Greek, possibly with a pre-Greek origin as there were so many ways the Greeks said Persephone's name, including Kore, Persephassa, Persephoneia, and Phersephassa, meaning it could  have been brought to the Greeks by a Proto-Indo-European language. She was brought over to Roman mythology as Prosperina. While Kore, from which Cora comes from, means "girl, maiden," Persephone, in its most literal form from Proto-Indo-European, means "to bring death." Because of this, Persephone is associated with death, destruction, and rebirth, although death and rebirth were not always considered negative things, as we think of death today. Death was a new beginning. I would also like to point out, however, that "phone" in Greek means "sound, voice." Persephone's name is not purely negative, as a commenter pointed out. However, the first part of the name does not come from "perse," (which would mean "dark grayish-blue), it comes from "pertho," which means "to destroy."

Popularity: In 2010 there were 110 baby girls named Persephone, 8 named Persephonie and 9 named Persephanie in the U.S. In 2011 there were 134 girls named Persephone, along with 8 Persephanie, 6 Persephany and 5 Persephonie.

Fun fact: Persephone is often regarded as the personification of spring, nature and rebirth. Once Hades took her to the Underworld, she had to stay there for about four to six months per year, and she could go home for the other months, which symbolizes the rebirth of nature, or spring. They have said that when Persephone returns to the Underworld, winter begins. Persephone was worshipped with her mother, Demeter, as "the maidens" in the Eleusinian Mysteries and by cults. As the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, she is a diety in her own right, and was called a goddess of vegetation and nature, and the seasonal cycle of the death and rebirth of nature. She was captured by Hades and brought to the Underworld, therefore being known as "Queen of the Underworld." (Hades was not a king, nor was Persephone a queen, but being that the God Hades ruled the Underworld, this title from centuries ago fits her image.) Demeter, Persephone, and Zeus were sometimes called "the two mistresses and the king."

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Bram

Today's name: Bram

Pronunciation: brahm

Potential nicknames: While Bram seems more like a nickname itself, it produces feminine nicknames such as Brammie. However, Bram is the short form of Abraham and can be a great nickname for Bertram.

Origin: (1) Scottish, Irish and Gaelic, meaning "bramble," "a thicket of wild gorse," or "raven." (2) As the short form of Abraham, meaning "father of a multitude of nations."

Popularity: In 2010 there were 38 baby boys named Bram, and 5 of the variant Bran. In 2011 there were 5 Bron, 7 Bran, 17 Brahm and 37 Bram.

Fun fact: (1) Legendary Bram Stoker, who wrote Dracula.

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