Cordelia

 

Princess Cordelia Abidaoud and Hilary Clinton

Today's headline: "Grab it while it's hot!" If the amount of labels under this post are any indication, Cordelia's a modestly rising, historically rich, beautiful trend-setter. The first time I saw Cordelia (kor-DEEL-ya, kor-DELL-ee-uh) was in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and I'm sure most people in my age bracket can say the same. However, these days I'm seeing the name everywhere online. It's become a very popular option for new parents, and has a long list of namesakes, both in real life, literature and media. From the comic book character Cordelia Swan to the real life Phoenician princess Cordelia Abidaoud, it should be a lot of fun looking through all the various Cordelia's out there, past and present. Nameberry reports that two "Babyberries" named Cordelia were born just recently.

Cordelia is a Latin name most likely meaning "heart," from the names Cordula (as in Saint Cordula) and/or Creiddylad, although Creiddlad supposedly has a meaning that relates to the sea according to this source. Cordelia last ranked in 1950. Our records start in 1880, when it ranked at #204, which was it's highest recorded placing and suggests that she once ranked even higher. The short name Delia comes from Cordelia, as do the longer names Cordelle, Cordella, Cordellia and Cordia. In 2011 the name was given to 177 baby girls, the largest amount ever given. Nicknames do not have to be limited to Cordy - Cora, Corda, Delia, Della, Coco, Lia and Cory can be nicknames as well.

Cordelia dates back to about 1100 AD. From King Lear she was the sympathetic daughter, the youngest, and her father's favorite. The two other daughters have less desirable names - Goneril and Regan, and are also dishonest and greedy. Cordelia is killed at the end of the original play, but has reconciled with her father. Cordelia of Britain was a legendary and brave queen often confused with the character from the play because her father's name is Leir, and although there are bold similarities, the story line is much different, and is the original story Shakespeare and Spencer based their versions of King Lear on. She supposedly ruled around the late 8th century. Early Welsh mythology has their own Cordelia, spelled Creiddylad. In these stories she is a lady in King Arthur's court, and said to be the most beautiful girl in the British isles. Two of Arthur's knights fight for her for eternity. Creiddylad has been compared to Persephone and her story compared to the Holly King myth. I mention Creiddylad also because some scholars believe Geoffrey of Monmouth based his Queen Cordeilla on Creiddylad, and Shakespeare on Monmouth's queen. Other scholars believe he took the name from Hollished's Chronicles, where the name originally came from Monmouth anyway. Supposedly, Cordelia was not used as a given name until Shakespeare's play.

Cordelia also features in Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh and Cordelia by Winston Graham. In real life, the town of Cordele, Georgia was named for Cordelia Hawkins, daughter of the president of SAM railroads, and there was an American suffragist, philanthropist and physician named Cordelia Agnes Greene in the 19th century. In 2005, a woman named Cordelia Scaife May was recognized as "the single most generous person in the United States." One last mention is that Anne of Green Gables wanted to be called Cordelia.

Other than Saint Cordelia, this is also a moon of the planet Uranus, the name of an asteroid, and a genus of butterfly.

Mercade

Mercade (murr-KAYD) is quite the interesting boy's name. It was used by Shakespeare in "Love's Labour's Lost." The character Mercade is a lord who attends the princess of France, and he has a total of four lines (I believe), but Shakespeare chose his character's names well, so Mercade is not just any afterthought. There is a book called Shakespeare's Comic Commonwealths that tells us his name is no coincidence: "Several critics have noted connections between Mercade and Mercury," the author says, "as the messenger of the gods and the god of oratory, but they have not commented on Mercury as the divine messenger recalling people to their social responsibilities." The similarities between the character Mercade's messenger duties, the importance of his message, and the affect of his message, even being only four lines total, is not a coincidence - Shakespeare most definitely intended him to be a Mercury-like character.

From Latin mercatus, meaning "trade," then Latin mercado, meaning "marketplace," and finally mercader, meaning "merchant," it could have been an ancient occupational name, as I said, used in Shakespeare, that unfortunately never got picked up. It is so rare, and no babies were given this name in 2011 or in recent years.

Ingela

Ingela is a variant of Angela in some countries, like German (from engel), but means "Ing's protection" or "guarded by Ing" in Scandinavian/Old Norse. Ing, the Norse goddess, was also the foundation for Ingrid, meaning "Ing's beauty." Ingela dates back to at least 1692 in Northern Europe, but world wide may date as far back as any record of Angela. There were no babies named Ingela in 2011 or 2010, and my guess is you won't find more than a small handful of Ingela's in U.S. records of birth, and even White Pages tells us there are only 118 in the U.S.

Ingela Olsson was a Swedish actress from the 90's, Ingela Forsman a popular lyricist, and Ingela Klemetz was responsible for an art gallery exhibit on Northern Women in Chanel. There was also Ingela Gathenhielm, known as the "Shipping Queen," a Swedish privateer and pirate during the 1700's with her husband Lars. There actions were sanctioned by King Charles XII of Sweden.

Interview with Shawn

I decided to do a quick name interview with my husband. Although his name, Shawn, is not as popular as it once was - #27 in 1973, people still might want to consider it. Other variants are still popular, such as Sean and Shaun. All three spellings are Irish variants of John, meaning "God is gracious." Sean is the Irish version, while Shawn and Shaun are the Anglicized versions from Irish. In 2011 Shawn ranked at #248, Shaun at #588 and Sean at #125.

What is your name? (Include middle if you’d like) Shawn Anthony

Do you have any nicknames? As a child, Shawnie

What is your ethnic background? Polish
What decade were you born in? mid 80's
How did you feel about your name growing up? I liked it
How do you feel about your name now? It's alright
How often do you run into other people with your name? Not too often, but it happens

What are some names of your family members? Mitch, Eddie (not Edward, just Eddie), Cynthia, Brian, Rochelle
If you have any kids, what are their name(s)? If no kids, do you have any names you know you’d like to give to future children? Whatever my wife wants
What is the name of your best friend? Tony
What are some common names for your age group? Mike, Adam, Anthony, John, Luke, Ryan, Brian
If you had to give yourself a new first name, what would it be? I can't think of anything

Are people ever confused about your name? Spelling - Sean, Shaun

Would you suggest someone give your name to a new baby? Yes, I'd say go for it
What do you think of my baby name hobby? I think it's great to have a hobby, but sometimes you drive me nuts.
(My reply: Your Xbox drives me nuts.)

If any of you have questions for him regarding his name, please feel free to comment and he will respond.

Christmas Baby Names Roundup

December remains rare as a baby name, but parents do sometimes use it --33 times in 2011. It probably helps that Ember, a top 1000 name, can be its nickname. The same can be said of November, but Nova would probably be the go-to nickname for that one.

Season is another word name turned rare baby name, used only 6 times in 2011, but it would make a great alternative to overused Christmas names, while still being appropriate all year long.

Angela is being heard less these days, but also consider Angelia, Ingela, Angelus and Argelia. You might want to avoid Angel for a few reasons.

Rudolpha at first seems to scream "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," but it actually seems very sweet and wholesome. It's also good for parents looking for frilly, feminine names with masculine nicknames: Rudy.

Emmanuelle could make a great alternative for Noelle this time of year, and it has a religious meaning fitting for Christmas.

Natale is much less heard than Natalie, Natalia and Natasha, which all share meanings.

Balthazar was one of the three wise men, along with Melchior and Caspar. 

Shepherd is a nice name loosely connected to Christmas, but Shepherdess is a great female spin on the occupation baby name, brought to my attention recently.

Poinsettia is the Christmas plant, and while names like Rose and Lily remain eternally popular, rare plant names never get used. 

Cardinal is the poinsettia of the bird world. The Christmas bird, since its bright red stands out dramatically in the snow.

Garland is one part Judy Garland, one part Christmas garland, and one part surname.

Carol hasn't ranked in a while, yet remains very Christmas appropriate. Caroline seems to be more in favor.

Tuquoise and Fairuza may seem like summer stones, but they're December's birth stones.

Evangeline (and Evangelia, Evangelista and Evangela) are the classy and gorgeous girls of the season.

Winter is doing very well and getting more popular than ever, but Snow is picking up attention as a middle name, and North is becoming a little more popular for boys in the first and middle spot.

Eirawen and Gwyneira are not to be missed if the meaning "snow white" is perfect for you.

Aspen is popular for girls, but not for boys. 

Bellamy could make for a nice "Christmas Bell" name, or the simple beauty Belle.

Nicolai is the rare variant of Nicholas, perfect for honoring none other than St. Nick himself.

Vesper has been in the news lately, but the "evening star/evening prayer" meaning is perfect for this time of year.

Eve, Gioia, and Felicity/Felice/Felicienne/Feliciana are other options.

Also, be sure to check out this list of names that mean "star," and then this list of peaceful names.

Other names that end in -ilda

Yes, Matilda. We're all aware of her popularity. But what other names end in -ilda? The list is fairly long.

Quenilda
Casilda
Hilda
Clotilda
Gilda
Marilda
Otthilda
Romilda
Serilda
Swanhilda
Somerilda
Estrilda
Sunilda
Thorilda
Reinhilda
Gunilda
Farilda
Lovilda
Merilda
Tilda

The Best Rare Baby Names of 2012

Goodbye, 2012. You've brought the world some amazing baby names, and some amazingly bad baby names. Let's take a look at some rare names that made the headlines this year...

Severine - the name of the latest Bond girl gets more use in France, as well as the name of the actress that plays her - Bérénice Marlohe, but I'm just a tiny bit surprised that hardcore Harry Potter fans didn't show interest in it as an alternative for Severus, as they both mean...

Matilda - for the simple reason that this name is everywhere, but also the new magazine.

Malala - this poor girl was shot by the Taliban for wanting girls to have equal education rights, but unfortunately her name means "grief stricken."

Blake - Lively. Debuted at #815 in 2011 for girls.

Grey - first name, middle name, boys name, girls name, mothers are going nuts for Grey ever since 50 Shades of Grey came out and took over the world. In 2011 Greysen made the top 1000 at #940. Christian has also been seeing some new popularity, for reasons just stated, plus Christian Bale and the "Dark Knight."

Gatsby - the new movie will soon be here, and parents are pondering the name Gatsby.

Sandy - despite the hurricane, Sandy isn't all that bad, for a name. As a nickname for Sandrina or Sandrine (but maybe not Sandra) Sandy could have a revamped future.

Maple - celebrity baby Maple Sylvie was refreshing, and made parents consider more unusual nature names. Snow seems to be all the rage right now for middle names.

Aria/Arya, Sansa, Theon - obsession over Game of Thrones led to name lovers entertaining the idea of these three names. Aria is the only one that won't get immediately connected to the series, and it was also used in Pretty Little Liars, but Theon is also a legit name.

Adele - the world seems to be fascinated by not only Adele, but her name as well - and the name of her newborn. What is the baby's name, anyway? I was more fascinated by Clary, the name of the baby's father's ex. Clary should be getting more attention when the movie version of Mortal Instruments comes out.

Nova - worth a mention, it appeared on the charts in 2011 at #884 and has been the talk of the town. Well, some towns.

Rosalind - the first name of Uma Thurman's newborn, who has a ridiculous amount of middle names. Rosalind is unfortunately very ignored as a first name, sitting quietly at the bottom of the SSA extended list.