Greek baby names are becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.

Though you might never meet a Hercules or Aphrodite, the names of Greek gods, goddess, heroes and heroines are steeped in meaning and often inspire Greek parents when they are choosing baby names.

There are many names that come from a Greek root, but are transformed after being passed down through many languages over years. Three of the 10 most popular baby boys names in America in 2008 were Greek names: Alexander, which means defender of mankind; Anthony, which means worthy of praise; and Christopher, which means Christ-bearer.

Baby girls haven't been left out of the Greek-name craze. Three of the 10 most popular baby girl names in the U.S. last year had Greek origins: Ava, which means like a bird; Chloe, which means verdant and blooming; and Sophia, which means wisdom,.

Parents who are looking for lists of popular Greek names and their meanings have various resources available. In addition to combing through Greek mythology books, they can also check out Baby Names Country, which has a list of the most popular Greek names and their meanings.

Other popular Greek baby boy names and their meanings are: Andrew (manly and courageous), Damian (sweet and harmless), Jason (healer), Nicholas (victorious people) and Thomas (twin).

Popular Greek baby girls names include: Irene (peaceful), Phoebe (bright, shining one), Stacey (resurrection), Vanessa (butterfly) and Zoe (life).

Check out more ParentDish coverage of baby names.

Native American names have become popular with parents in recent years. There are many web sites dedicated to helping parents choose Native American names for their children, but not all are reliable sources.

According to Native Languages, many names that are thought to be traditional Native American names are in fact made-up names from books and movies or distortions of genuine names. Some popular Native American names are inaccurately translated and often don't mean what parents believe they do. Other names are mistakenly thought to be Native American when, in fact, they originate from other languages.

Parents wishing to give their child a Native American name should be aware that tribal names have special meaning in Indian culture, and it is considered disrespectful to give these names to children who are not part of the tribe. If you want to give your child a traditional Native American name, you must speak to a tribal elder or religious leader, according to Native Languages. Another option is to give your child a Native American variant of a Hebrew or Christian name or to use a word from a Native American language.

Read more about Baby Names at ParentDish.

Dear Name Lady:

I have a 2-year-old son named John. We just found out that we're expecting another boy, and my husband and I really want to name him Jack. I come from the generation where Jack is Jack and John is John, but others see them as one and the same. Your thoughts?

- J

The idea that Jack is "short" for John may seem odd on the face of it. The names are the same length and have only one sound in common. In this century they're both standalone names, high on the charts. But for hundreds and hundreds of years, almost every Jack was actually christened John.

Dear Name Lady:

We have a very common last name, so we don't want to choose a name for our baby girl that is too common. We've ruled out the current top 25 names. But there are a lot of names that we like (e.g., Annabelle and Eva) that are in the top 100s now and seem to be rising in popularity. Do you have any suggestions -- either of specific names or general trends to look out for -- on how to avoid choosing a name that will top of the charts in a few years?

- Jane


A lot of parents today suffer from "name acrophobia" -- the fear that their favorite baby name will climb to the dizzying top of the popularity charts. Is there any surefire way to avoid picking the next Jacob or Emma?

The Philadelphia Phillies aren't the only ones who got lucky yesterday as they advanced into the World Series for the second straight year -- fans of the 2008 World Series champs are having a mini baby boom and naming their newborns after the home team players.

St. Mary's Medical Center in Bucks County, Pa., reported that Chase, Shane and Ryan are the preferred monikers for babies born in recent months, and that the trend started in August -- nine months after the Phillies took home the 2008 pennant.

New mom Anna Frymier told NBC Philadelphia that her daughter, Chayse, is named after second-baseman Chase Utley. The entire family is made up of die-hard fans, she added, and Chayse's grandfather played for the Minor League team, the Reading Phillies.

Nurse Patty Crocker told the station that the home team's championship lit romantic fires with some of the hospital's patients. "It appears that St. Mary dads were hitting home runs along with the Phillies," she said.

The team was tickled by the trend, and even sent a box of rally towels to the hospital.

Just a warning to hometown fans out there: If the Phillies clinch the series, watch out -- there may be a new little person in your future nine months from now.

Source

I love the name Dominic, nicknamed Nico, for our unborn son, and I've gotten my husband to finally admit he likes it, too. But he won't go for it because he has a very distant cousin named Dominic who he's only met once. Every time the 60-something-year-old cousin is mentioned, the family pronounces it Dominque, the Sicilian pronunciation. So the easy answer is to name the baby, Nicholas, but he flat out hates that name. It's very frustrating! Any other names go with Nico? Any way to convince my hubby to go for Dominic?

- Nico or Bust


Not many boys' names shorten to Nico aside from the two you've already mentioned. (I'll wager that Nicodemus and Nicomachus aren't quite to your taste.) If you're absolutely determined to use the name Nico, then I suggest doing just that. Give the nickname as his full name. In an era of just-Jakes and simply-Sams, your nothing-but-Nico won't ruffle any feathers.

We would like to use our grandfathers' names -- George and Edward -- to name our son but we don't want to call him either of those names. Can you come up with some combinations of those two names for another name to call him?

- Loyal granddaughter

In the great baby name revolution, grandparents have been the biggest victims. Oh, we still love them, and we still want to honor them. But their names? That's another matter.

For centuries, the way to honor Grandpa George and Grandpa Edward was obvious. George Edward. Or Edward George, if you prefer. That's what a namesake is, right?

My husband and I named the oldest of my two sons Quinlan and we call him Quinn for short. My father thinks it's confusing and wacky to spell Quinn Q-U-I-N-N. He thinks it should be spelled Q-U-I-N, the first part of his formal name. Is he right? I sincerely don't think so. But I don't want Quinn to be the kid at school whose name always gets botched. Any advice?

- Mom of Quinn, not Quin

A nickname doesn't have to be a chip off the old full name. Plenty of traditional nicknames look different from their sources. Think of Hank for Henry, or Peggy for Margaret. Back in the day, plenty of folks also answered to nicknames that had nothing whatsoever to do with what was written on their birth certificates. If you met a Buddy or Red, you understood that he was probably also Howard or Francis, and it wasn't a problem.

Someone I know just named her baby girl "Abcde." What do you think of that???

- Julie

Someone you know? Not just someone you heard about? I'm just asking because reports of babies named Abcde outpace real Abcde's by a mile.

That said, this name is not just an urban legend. There are some real Abcde's out there, ranging from babies to young adults. The name is pronounced AB-si-dee, and it seems to be exclusively female. You'll find Abcde's most often in Latino families and in creative-naming outposts like Hawaii and New Mexico.

You can think of Abcde as an extreme version of Nevaeh (heaven backwards, pronounced neh-VAY-uh). It features the same element of wordplay, though without the religious aspect, and it seems to appeal to some of the same parents. Unlike Nevaeh, though, the name has a fatal flaw. No, I'm not talking about the lack of vowels or the fact that the name regularly makes "worst baby name" lists. That's just a matter of taste. Abcde has a concrete, practical problem: It sounds fake.

For every real live girl named Abcde there are dozens using the name as a placeholder or a pseudonym. At presstime, Facebook listed 861 members named Abcde, including Abcde Fghijk, Lmnop Abcde, and Abcde Edcba.

Get the picture?

For a glimpse at the potential problems faced by an Abcde Smith, talk to any John Doe. Yes, there are real men with that name, and they endure endless hassles. The New York Times recently reported on one Mr. Doe's struggles with skeptical landlords, airport security agents and even prospective dates. An Abcde might not face that level of trouble, but it's still a burden other names don't bear.

If you're drawn to wordplay, I'd say stick to the anagrams. Traeh, anyone?

Have you run into any creative names? Share your experiences! And if you have your own question to Ask the Name Lady, drop her a line!

My daughter's name is Caitlin, and I have the hardest time finding anything with her name spelled the correct way. This is the traditional Irish spelling, as noted in baby-naming books. So why do I constantly see her name with a "K?" And worse Katelyn....what the heck is that?

- Melissa (one "L" two "S's")

You're absolutely right that Caitlin is considered the traditional spelling of the name. Why do so many American parents spell it Katelyn? Well, let's turn the question around. Why do you pronounce it Katelyn?

Caitlin is an Irish form of Catherine. It has been an Irish-American favorite for generations, in the Anglicized spelling Kathleen.

Yes, Kathleen is just a phonetic version of Caitlin. Depending on local accents an Irishman might say KAHT-leen or koyt-HLEEN, but not KAYT-lin. That's a modern American reading of the old Irish spelling.

Confusing, eh? It just shows how hard it is to pin down authentic versions of ethnic names. Strictly speaking, the Irish Caitlin should have an accent mark (Caitlín) or even be written in Gaelic script. Things get even more confusing with names that come from a completely different writing system like Arabic. Should you write Mohammad, Mohamed, or Muhammad? There's no one correct answer.

As a parent choosing a name, you should pick the spelling that best reflects what you love about the name. If Irish heritage is important to you, Caitlin is the way to go. If you just like the bright, girlish sound -- an updating of Carolyn and Jaclyn -- then Katelyn is a reasonable choice.

Have you struggled with creative spellings? Share your experiences! And if you have your own question to Ask the Name Lady, drop her a line!

Armani. Valentino. Gianni. Chanel. Today's lineup at New York Fashion Week, perhaps? Not this time. Those four names were plucked off the official listing of America's top 1000 baby names.

Parents have always had grand dreams for their babies, and those dreams have always rubbed off on names. Scan through the popular name charts from the 1800s and you'll find vintage visions of the high life. There are boys named General, Noble and Prince, and girls called Golden, Blossom and Queen, along with the more familiar Ruby and Pearl.

What's changed is the labels. Instead of generic gemstones, parents today aim for brand-name bling.

The breakthrough label was Tiffany & Co., the jewelry emporium that gave us one of the top names of the '70s and '80s. Tiffany is actually a medieval form of Theophania, but who are we kidding? America's love affair with the name only started when Audrey Hepburn went cruising for diamonds in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Chanel was the next to join the ranks of designer baby names. Then, starting in the '90s, luxury-labeled babies took off. There are now more boys named Armani than Harry and more girls name Armani than Barbara. Even Nautica hit the name charts three years running.

Today, it's open season on designer names. The only restrictions are that the name has to sound glamorous (even shoe maestro Jimmy Choo can't do that for Jimmy) and it has to sound like a first name (sorry, Gucci).

So as you check out the fashion week catwalk, put the designers to the ultimate test. Sure, they might do fine in America's wardrobes. But can they make their mark on America's nurseries?

Dear Name Lady,

I love interesting combinations of sibling names. It's so sweet to meet families with multiple children who have intriguing names that go well together. For instance, Sarah Palin caught my interest with her children's names Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig.

However, when it comes to naming my own children, I have long cherished a group of sibling names, but I don't really care for some of the names when they stand alone. It seems foolish, but I can't give up the sounds of the names together, nor can I find equally suitable alternatives. Help!

- Naming in Bunches


I'm a big believer in thinking about siblings when you pick a name. The names don't have to match like a set of china, but they should be equal in the ways that count. For instance, if one child has a middle name, they all should have middle names. It's the same story with wildly creative names, family namesakes and so on. But it's possible to go too far, and you, my dear, are about to cross that line. How do I know? It's simple. You're breaking the Golden Rule of Baby Naming:

It's not your name. It's the baby's name.

Naming babies should be creative fun for parents. Never forget, though, that this isn't really about you. We parents only get to choose the names because babies are, well, babies. A newborn isn't in any position to weigh the benefits of Ella vs. Chloe. So you make choices on her behalf, trying your best to prepare her for a healthy, happy, successful life.

When you start talking about choosing names because of how they sound as a set, you're thinking too much about yourself. I understand the impulse -- believe me. When you love names as I do, naming fantasy families can be irresistible. But this is your child's one and only name and she deserves the best you can give her, siblings or no siblings.

Remember that life is unpredictable. You may start out with a dream of three sons and three daughters, but end up with six sons ... or you may have a single, cherished child. So when your baby is born, celebrate that singular miracle with a name you can love for a lifetime.


Do you keep a list of dream names? Share your experiences! And if you have your own question to ask The Name Lady, click here to drop her a line!

Are you hearing this morning that Emma and Jacob are now the top baby names in America? Do you get the funny feeling you've heard that somewhere before? It's not your imagination.

The Social Security Administration announced the most popular names of the year back in May, including Emma's rise to overtake long-time champion Emily at the #1 spot. A press alert from the SSA has brought that data back to the top of the news cycle. But be assured that it's still the same list of names from back in the spring

In case you missed it the first time around, here are America's top 10 names for boys and girls:

BOYS
1. Jacob
2. Michael
3. Ethan
4. Joshua
5. Daniel
6. Alexander
7. Anthony
8. William
9. Christopher
10. Matthew

GIRLS
1. Emma
2. Isabella
3. Emily
4. Madison
5. Ava
6. Olivia
7. Sophia
8. Abigail
9. Elizabeth
10. Chloe

For a closer look at the trends, check out the fastest rising and falling names of the year from our friends at BabyNameWizard.com.

My little brother's name is Precious. He's starting school next month and I am scared of what other people will say about him. When he gets older I am so sure that he is going to get teased about his name. Our parents are Nigerian so our middle name and our last name are Nigerian names. Please help me help him to deal with it. Do you have any tips?

- Big Sister

You're a caring sister, and it's tough when you see a problem that your parents don't. For centuries, immigrant families like yours have grappled with names that don't fit in smoothly to American culture. The good news is that in most cases, it's getting easier -- Americans today are more open to diverse names than ever before.

I wish I could reassure you that Precious is just another part of our multicultural name tapestry...but you know better. You wrote to me for a reason. Your brother's problem isn't that his name sounds foreign. It's that his name is foreign, but just sounds silly (and feminine to boot).

For those of you thinking "silly is right," here's a little global perspective. Words with uplifting spiritual meanings are as used as names around the world. Americans are accustomed to Joy and Hope, and to Spanish names like Consuelo ("consolation") and Cruz ("cross"). In parts of Africa, names like Precious, Gracious and Rejoice are common choices. Sounds reasonable in that context, right? But here in the U.S.A., a boy called Precious may as well be Sweetpea or Honeybunch.

I assume that you've already raised this issue with your parents, if you feel you can. So what can you do as a sibling to help prepare your brother for life as a Precious? The best thing is to be honest with him. You can warn him that his name will attract attention, but also give him tips on how to respond to that attention. If he can laugh along with jokes and wear his name with pride, confidence and good humor, he may be able to find the coolness in sounding different.

For a backup plan, you can try to equip him with a nickname. If he does end up uncomfortable introducing himself as Precious, a nickname that already feels like part of him can be a useful alter ego. Going by his initials, or "Prez," or even his Nigerian middle name doesn't have to be a rejection of the name your parents lovingly gave him. It's just one more piece of a full, rich personal identity.

Have you dealt with difficult names? Share your experiences! And if you have your own question to Ask the Name Lady, drop her a line!

In a recent column, the mother of a boy named Azure was dismayed to find that name listed under the girls' column in name dictionaries. The issue clearly struck a nerve. Readers flooded the Name Lady in-box with their own experiences in the gender-bending name world.

Some letters were positive, like the mom of a male Kiley who wrote, "Who cares if it's a boy or girl name, if you like it what does it matter? No regrets here!"

But most -- parents and children alike -- seemed frustrated with life in the androgynous lane. Among parents, the most common complaint was discovering that the male name they chose was turning female. Bearers of androgynous names struggled in childhood but came to appreciate their names as adults. Others remained unhappy, or turned to nicknames or even legal name changes for escape.

Here's a small sampling.

"I always hated having what is traditionally a boy's name [Dale]...I don't like cutesy or nutty names, but after being assigned to boy's PE classes and auto shop (of course I didn't see the advantage of this until later) during my younger days, I would rather have been named Sunbeam."

"My name is Sherrill (male). It caused me grief through my entire life. Now that I'm old enough, however, I'm well known as 'Hawk'....Yes, I am a Hawk, not a Sherrill."

"My daughter's name is Houston. She's been mistaken for a male on a number of occasions. She was actually named after a man. She hated it at first but likes it now."

"What these foolish parents don't seem to realize is that it's the children who have the burden of explaining their own names for the rest of their lives. I still remember all of the teasing I got because I have a boy's name. I am 64 and still cringe when I have to tell how, no, I am not a boy and, yes, Billie really is my 'real' name."

"I wanted my son [Keegan] to sound manly, now dumb people who don't care what their child's name means are ruining it for me and my son. Now he will have to defend his manhood."

"My husband at the time said I could name him Beauregard, Hugh, or Ashley. I went for Ashe. I feel really bad that he has to deal with people thinking he's a girl, but when I step back and relax, he wears it so well. He's fine boned, handsome, polite, artistically gifted and never has a problem with the ladies. Can I get off the guilt now?"

Have you dealt with an androgynous name? Share your experiences! And if you have your own question to Ask the Name Lady, drop her a line!