French word names

A small selection...

Fleur - flower
Blanche - white
Etoile - star
Belle - beautiful
Beau - handsome
Bijou - jewel
Elle - she
Boheme - Bohemia
Miette - small and sweet
Reve - dream
Reverie - daydream
Soleil - sun

Violetta

Two of the easiest (only?) ways to get Letty as a nickname are Elettra and Violetta. Violetta (vee-oh-let-ta) is a more elegant, romantic and European version of the trending and popular Violet, and while both of them mean "purple," it is a very distinct shade of purple they refer to - the shade violet, as in the flower. It is of Latin origin but used in several countries.

One of the most well known namesakes of Violetta is from Giuseppe Verdi's opera "La Traviata," which was originally titled "Violetta" after the main character. The story in the play was adapted from Alexandre Dumas junior's novel The Lady of the Camellias. (Side note: I had no idea Alexandre Dumas was part Afro-Carribean Creole until I saw "Django Unchained.") In the opera, Violetta is a respected courtesan who abandons her lifestyle when she falls in love with a man named Alfredo. A few events and misunderstandings unfold, Violetta breaks off their relationship, and... well, I won't ruin the ending for you. But I kind of love this play and Violetta's character, because even though she is a courtesan, she is highly respected and loved.

I once read that there was a Saint Violetta of Verona, Italy, but cannot find any record of her.

What's shocking is that Violetta only ranked once - in 1884 at #849. In recent years it has been very rare. 46 girls were given the name in 2011, and no more than 30 since 1884. In most years it was given between 5 and 20 times.

Carlo

Why did I decide to highlight Carlo and not Carl or Carlos? Besides a really unpleasant association with a Karl, it's a very dated name, while Carlos, in the US, is very region and culture specific. And Carlo is my cousin's name. Carlo, on the other hand, is less tied to any one thing or person. This Italian, German and Spanish variant of Charles means "free man," and ranked on the top 1000 until 2009, from 1905. Yet, it's still a name you don't hear often. If not for my cousin, I would have never met a Carlo. Although this name has European charm, it would fit right in with American kids today, hundreds of which start with a hard C or end in an O. (Camden, Cleo, Milo, Indigo, Leo, Shiloh, etc.)

Carlo also has a saintly namesake - Saint Carlo Borromeo, also known as Saint Charles, who died in 1584, and whose name day is November 4th. Saint Carlo was cardinal archbishop of the Catholic Church in Milan, Italy, and is now Patron Saint of many things, including apple orchards, bishops, spiritual leaders, starch makers, and stomach problems. Four kings of Spain also bore this name in the form of Charles as we know them today. Carlo Alberto Amedeo was the King of Sardinia in Italy between 1831 and 1849. Napolean Bonaparte's father was also named Carlo.

Fans of Sophia Loren might like to know that her son was named Carlo. Other namesakes include Nobel Prize winner Carlo Rubbia, six professional painters, two Olympians, an actor, and a historian. Many may also think of the Monte Carlo hotel and casino.

In 2011 there were 190 boys named Carlo, ranking slightly below the top 1000, as compared to about 140/150 in the 90's, and just 5 in the early 1900's. There are many carl- variants, such as Carlton, Carlos, Carl, Carlson and Carlito. Carlo is less popular than Carlos, which was given to 4,158 boys in 2011, and less popular than Carl, which was given to 420 boys in 2011. Carlos ranked #91 and Carl #591.

Sylvie, Sylvia, Silvia

Miike Snow - Silvia

I was going to include Silvana and Silveria, and the male forms of the name, in this post, but I think I'll save them for another time and just mention that all Syl-/Sil- names share the same meaning, "[from the] woods, woodland, forest." Silvanus was the Latin god of the forest. More rare variants include Sylvette, Sylvina/Silvina, Silvania/Sylvania, and Sylva/Silva. Silvia is the major Latin version of the name, while Sylvia and Sylvie/Silvie are the variants. In fact, the spellings with a Y are generally understood to be the English equivalents, while the traditional Latin spellings retain the I. Sylvie is usually thought to be French, but can also serve as a nickname. All forms have a silvery, gilded, romantic and sophisticated image, while still being quite childlike and playful.

While Sylvie has never ranked, Sylvia ranked from 1880 (and likely well before that) until now. In 2011 Sylvia ranked at #554, and has been in the 500's for the last decade. It has been slowly falling since it was #50 in 1937, which was its highest rank, and had stayed above #200 before that. The alternate spelling Silvia also ranked from 1886 until 2005, but was not as popular. The highest rank for Silvia was #497 in 1974. In 2011 there were 187 girls named Silvia, 156 named Sylvie, and 523 named Sylvia. Though Sylvia is now more popular, Silvia was the original spelling.

Rhea Silvia in mythology was an ancient nature goddess, the mother of Remus and Romulus, the founders of Rome. (Mythological names connected to these are Evander, Arcadia, Lavinia, Aeneas and Pallas.) Saint Silvia was the mother of Pope Gregory the Great. Queen Silvia of Sweden is still reigning in Sweden. Sylvia Plath was the tragic poet and novelist whose works are now studied nationwide in advanced English courses. Sylvia Pankhurst was the Suffragette who formed leftist and communist parties after WWI, sister to Christabel, whose mother was Emmeline. Shakespeare used the name Silvia in his play "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," and both Silvia and Sylvia can be found in many more works of literature and on several more namesakes. Recently, celebrity Jason Bateman named his daughter Maple Sylvie (which directly translates to "maple forest").

New Label: Princes and Kings

Go check it out!  I had a "Princesses and Queens" label, and thought it high time to add one for the boys.

Viggo

(VIGG-oh) Viggo Mortensen, who is actually a junior, may be the first and only person that comes to mind with this name. The actor has been known for his roles in "Hidalgo" and "Lord of the Rings." Many don't know about Prince Viggo of Denmark, Count Viggo of Rosenborg, who gave up the wonders of being a prince for his American wife in the 1920's. 

This Scandinavian name meaning "war; thunderbolt" should be way more popular than it is. It's got the trendy V and O sounds, a short and peppy sound, an actor namesake... so how come in 2011 there were only 31 boys given the name and in 2010 only 41? This Old Norse name dates back to the time of the Vikings and is very popular in Sweden (#32), a bit dated (I'm not so sure - it's #288 there) in Norway. It was even catchy enough for Taylor Hanson and his wife to use for their fourth child (the others are Jordan, Penelope and River), once they found it on Ancestry.com. The most similar sounding name out there is Vega, which is also quite rare.

Lavinia

 

Italian actress Lavinia Longhi, who looks just like my mom

Lavinia (lah-VIN-ee-ah) is a Latin name possibly meaning "purity," but the name is so old that no specific meaning can be given. It could simply mean "woman from Lavinium," which was an ancient town in Rome/more ancient than Rome/Etruscan. Lavinia was known as the "Mother of Rome." In Virgil's Aeneid, Lavinia was betrothed to a man named Turnus, King of the Rutuli, but when the hero Aeneas came to town her father, King of the Latins, changed his mind and wanted Lavinia to marry Aeneas. The two men then fought for her hand, but Aeneas won. Aeneas then built the town of Lavinium for her. Shakespeare had Lavinia as a character in Titus Andronicus, but her story is an unfortunate one not worthy of repeating and not true to Virgil's Lavinia. Ursula le Guin later wrote more in depth about their relationship in her 2008 novel Lavinia. And she's been a character in many more stories, including The Hunger Games. In all likelihood, Lavinia was probably created to explain how the town of Lavinium came to be.

Aristocrats used this name in medieval times, then it boomed in the 18th century, which is now why Lavinia is considered very vintage. Back then it could be found in various forms, from Louvenia to Lovina. Vinnie could be one nickname, but Lavie gives it more of a European flair. Lavinia probably ranked well before 1880 when records started being kept as we know them today, but she was officially on the charts between 1880 (starting at #360 and the highest ranking she had) and 1929 (never to be seen again). In 2011 the name Lavinia was given to 39 baby girls, not including various other spellings. This mythological Victorian name is ready for a comeback! (Think: Olivia, less popular.)