Elite Baby Names

[waxing lyrical]

Elite baby names

Baby name expert Pamela Redmond Satran recently compiled a list of what she''s calling the top 50 "elite baby names." She included it in a slightly snobby Daily Beast article, which I''m assuming was meant to be somewhat tongue-in-cheek.


Shutterstock/Kuzmin Andrey

Is this babe a Charlotte or a Finn or a Claire?
These aren''t the Emily and Jacobs that soared at the top of last year''s social security list. No these are up-and-coming names that are "as classy as a sterling teaspoon, as cool as vintage Balenciaga, as hard to locate as a wood-framed cottage in Manhattan--yet just as desirable," Satran writes.

These are the names you choose if you summer in the Hamptons and send your kid to a preschool on Bank Street.

Bay Area translation: These are the fancy monikers you might consider if you have waterfront property in Belvedere or 20 acres in Woodside or push a Bugaboo stroller down Sacramento Street or frequently join the lunch crowd at Rosie''s on Union.

And now for what you''re all waiting for: Satran''s list, which she compiled using her Web site Nameberry.com.

Girls:

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


Boys

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

Article

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Thoughts?

I think it''s nice to see more classic names resurrected, but I wouldn''t want them to become so popular or common.

Our kids'' names are:

Grace Elizabeth Katherine
Evangeline Lily Marie
Duncan Lewis Garibaldi
Henry Allen Greyson

Duncan and Evangeline are still very uncommon. I only know of two other babies named Duncan and three little girls named Evangeline. Oliver and Quinn are on our short list if our next is a boy. I also love Benjamin. For a girl, Annabel, Isla, Penelope, and Carolee. I love Imogen, but DH doesn''t care for it.

 

[jewelz617]

Olivia, Emma and Jane surprised me on the "elite" list.

I was considering "Elaine" and "Eloise" for our daughter but my husband said they sounded "uppity" which I don''t see at all.

 

[E B]

A lot of my husband's and my favorite names are on these lists, and we don't own a home in the Hamptons or a single Balenciaga!

I hope this list scares away all of the people who find the "elite" label a negative one (like "feminist"). Takes me back to the '08 elections.

Date: 4/11/2010 1:05:04 PM
Author: PinkAsscher678

I was considering 'Elaine' and 'Eloise' for our daughter but my husband said they sounded 'uppity' which I don't see at all.

Eloise is one of my favorites for a girl.

 

[Dreamer_D]

LOL. I think her list is behind the times. Anyone read Freakonomics? I think that most of those names have already "trickled down" the social classes and are being used by the plebs now. Like EB

 

[E B]

Date: 4/11/2010 1:50:17 PM
Author: dreamer_d

I think that most of those names have already ''trickled down'' the social classes and are being used by the plebs now. Like EB

You wanna take this outside?

 

[taovandel]

Ha!

A lot of the names are on our list for the next one....If only my income and lifestyle matched their theory....

 

[Puppmom]

Elite? I don''t know about that but I do *like* a lot of the names and I live in a Boro with a 711 within walking distance

 

[waxing lyrical]

Date: 4/11/2010 2:11:29 PM
Author: taovandel
Ha!


A lot of the names are on our list for the next one....If only my income and lifestyle matched their theory....

Yep. We are far from elite.

 

[jas]

I love so many of those names; however if their popularity among commoners is indeed increasing, I shall be forced to name my child Snooty Von Uppitystockings.

 

[jcrow]

seems like most of these names are in the top 10 in popularity... so i''m not sure how elite that can be.

 

[E B]

Date: 4/11/2010 3:50:34 PM
Author: jcrow
seems like most of these names are in the top 10 in popularity... so i'm not sure how elite that can be.

It seems like it, but I just checked the SS website and only four girl names and two boy names from the lists are Top 10.

 

[Mara]

lol it''s funny that Emily and Jacob are ''out'' because they still top popularity lists on almost every site i looked at! also love the french version as Emilie.

many of the snobby names are classic...just ressurected. kind of like 80''s leggings.

i loved owen and noah but greg didn''t.

kai? i have never heard that one before.

 

[April20]

Date: 4/11/2010 4:05:44 PM
Author: Mara
lol it''s funny that Emily and Jacob are ''out'' because they still top popularity lists on almost every site i looked at! also love the french version as Emilie.

many of the snobby names are classic...just ressurected. kind of like 80''s leggings.

i loved owen and noah but greg didn''t.

kai? i have never heard that one before.

I know at least three or four kids born within the last few years with this name. Most of those kids are a little older now, so maybe it''s already peaked and on it''s way down....

 

[swingirl]

I really hope the "elite" trend of girl's names for girls and boy's names for boys grows. And using a surname for the first name is a trend I'd like to see go away. Using someone's family name as a first name seems to trivialize their heritage. It seems to have become a popular trend as people strive to be unique.

 

[Po10472]

Elite!!! What a lot of kack!!

She''s not much of an expert is she, these are commonplace names in Europe as I''m sure in Oz and the US too. The majority of my family names are included in these lists and I can assure you we are not the elite.

 

[Mrs Mitchell]

Date: 4/11/2010 4:05:44 PM
Author: Mara
lol it''s funny that Emily and Jacob are ''out'' because they still top popularity lists on almost every site i looked at! also love the french version as Emilie.

many of the snobby names are classic...just ressurected. kind of like 80''s leggings.

i loved owen and noah but greg didn''t.

kai? i have never heard that one before.

When I had Amelia there were three other babies born in the hospital on that day. All boys, all named Kai.

DH told me that his family name is supposedly Von Paris, but his (great?) grandfather changed it when he moved to the UK. Amelia Von Paris sounds nicely eliite and I''d almost have considered changing my name for that one!

 

[Puppmom]

Date: 4/11/2010 4:22:01 PM
Author: swingirl
I really hope the ''elite'' trend of girl''s names for girls and boy''s names for boys grows. And using a surname for the first name is a trend I''d like to see go away. Using someone''s family name as a first name seems to trivialize their heritage. It seems to have become a popular trend as people strive to be unique.

Aw, Swingirl - I like surnames as middle names - especially when they wouldn''t be carried on otherwise. A family name in DHs family ended with his parent''s generation so we''re strongly considering it as a middle name. It''s not a very unique name though.

 

[Blenheim]

Before you ladies (ahem Jas

) get upset that the commoners may be interested in these names, did any of you take a look at her methodology? She just took the 50 names that got the most search hits on her nameberry.com website. It makes sense that some names that are high on the SSA list would get more hits, as they''re just more popular in the US in general. Same with names that celebs have named their kids (hello, Violet, Seraphina and Matilda) or are showing up in pop culture right now (that lists includes names from Twilight, Glee, and Lost, off the top of my head).

As far as how they are elite, from the author, here:
"I was using the term elite to mean discerning, sophisticated, intelligent — in other words, the kinds of parents who visit nameberry vs. all the other naming sites with basic, not-very-accurate information."
I''m not sure what the leap from using her website to vacationing in the right places and carrying the right handbags is, personally.

But I''d think that EB qualifies as elite if "discerning, sophisticated, and intelligent" are the criteria we are using.

 

[Pandora II]

Lol - most of those are in the top 50 in the UK!

A friend of mine just named her daughter Elysia which I think is very pretty.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 4/11/2010 10:57:09 AM
Author:waxing lyrical
Girls:
5.LUCY
17.LILY

Does this meant that two of my bettas will be attending Harvard?

 

[curlygirl]

Well, I always knew I was amongst the elite!!!

My daughters are Lily and Lucy and they are very classy!

 

[jas]

Date: 4/11/2010 6:43:32 PM
Author: Blenheim

Before you ladies (ahem Jas

) get upset that the commoners may be interested in these names, did any of you take a look at her methodology? She just took the 50 names that got the most search hits on her nameberry.com website. It makes sense that some names that are high on the SSA list would get more hits, as they''re just more popular in the US in general. Same with names that celebs have named their kids (hello, Violet, Seraphina and Matilda) or are showing up in pop culture right now (that lists includes names from Twilight, Glee, and Lost, off the top of my head).

As far as how they are elite, from the author, here:
''I was using the term elite to mean discerning, sophisticated, intelligent — in other words, the kinds of parents who visit nameberry vs. all the other naming sites with basic, not-very-accurate information.''
I''m not sure what the leap from using her website to vacationing in the right places and carrying the right handbags is, personally.

But I''d think that EB qualifies as elite if ''discerning, sophisticated, and intelligent'' are the criteria we are using.

I was only playing...but I think I''m going to keep the name Snooty Von Uppitystockings just the same. At least s/he will probably be the only one in his class.

 

[E B]

Date: 4/11/2010 6:43:32 PM
Author: Blenheim

But I''d think that EB qualifies as elite if ''discerning, sophisticated, and intelligent'' are the criteria we are using.

Right back at ''cha!

 

[steph72276]

Date: 4/11/2010 3:07:06 PM
Author: jas
I love so many of those names; however if their popularity among commoners is indeed increasing, I shall be forced to name my child Snooty Von Uppitystockings.

Haha, love it...and it can be used for a girl or boy!

 

[Blenheim]

EB - aw, thanks!

Jas - Yup, I gathered that.

Snooty Von Uppitystockings definitely has its positive points, but we''re considering Reginald Von Hoobie Doobie for our next (DH is lobbying for Regina Von Hoobie Doobie for a girl, but I think that Reginald does fine for both personally). We stole the name in its entirety from a children''s book about a dinosaur who didn''t know she was extinct, and so it does have a literary reference going for it that Snooty Von Uppitystockings does not have.


I''m kind of bummed that both Beatrix and Beatrice made it onto her top 100 searched girls names list. They are MINE, darn it. My precioussss.

 

[PumpkinPie]

Date: 4/11/2010 7:33:35 PM
Author: jas

I think I''m going to keep the name Snooty Von Uppitystockings just the same. At least s/he will probably be the only one in his class.

I love it jas - not only will you tramatise your child irreparably, but you''ll give his/her teacher one of the best stories of his/her career!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Jas and Blen you are cracking me up with Snooty and Reginald etc.

EB Guaranteed I am more common that you, so that means I can take you in fight outside no problemo. Its on!

 

[Callisto]

Date: 4/11/2010 3:07:06 PM
Author: jas
I love so many of those names; however if their popularity among commoners is indeed increasing, I shall be forced to name my child Snooty Von Uppitystockings.

What?!?! You can''t go and just steal my baby name! I must have posted 100x on here that I''m planning on naming my first Snooty Von Uppitystockings... Don''t tell me you also like Pompous Betterthanyou...

Haha seriously though this seems a bit ridiculous. I like a lot of those names cause they are unique. However Phineas? All I think of when I hear Phineas is Phineas Cage the famous Psychology case who got a rail iron through his head and became a big jerk because it destroyed a lot of the better personality parts of his brain. Not sure I''d want my kid associated with that.

 

[jas]

Blen, are you out snootying me by naming a fictitious child after something literary?

Well, now my other fictitious kid will be Hamlet Snuffleupagus McHoity Toity.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

I guess we''re uppity with a son named James!

Hahaha!