Top 10 Summer Baby Names

It's the height of summer. The peak. The hottest of the hot. If you're about to deliver a baby, it's even hotter. But these summery baby names are perfect for babies born in the middle of July. Maybe kids with summery baby names will keep their cheery dispositions all year long (well, we can dream, can't we?)

1. America

2. August

3. Bay

4. Coral

5. Julian

6. Liberty

7. River

8. Ruby

9. Sky

10. Summer

Star Trek Baby Names

Are you a true trekkie? You want to name your baby after a Star Trek character. It's possible to do this without consigning your child to a life of teasing. For instance, you shouldn't name him Spock. But I have found quite a few names from Star Trek Into Darkness that make pretty fantastic baby names. Take a look.

Girls

Zoe
Dominican Zoe Saldana plays Uhura in Star Trek Into Darkness. She's not a big Trekkie herself, having never seen Star Trek before she auditioned for the role, but she must might be forever linked with the series now.

Carol
Caroline has been a popular name for a decade or so. Maybe it's time to bring back the more simple "Carol." Carol is a Star Trek character played by Bibi Besch in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and it's played by Alice Eve in the new film.

Alice
Speaking of Alice, this baby name is experiencing a serious revival. It's light, pretty, and vintage-y. Alice Eve, who plays Carol in Star Trek Into Darkness, is from London, England but spent part of her childhood in Los Angeles.

Boys

Kirk

How can you have a list of Star Trek baby names without Kirk. Sure, it's not used as much as it was a generation ago, but Kirk is a good, solid name, maybe even a hero name. Chris Pine plays Kirk in Star Trek Into the Darkness, and I bet he enjoyed being called "Kirk" for a while.

Zachary

I told you before, it's not a good idea to name your baby Spock. That's a surefire way to get him to hate Star Trek. But you could name him Zachary after Zachary Quinto who plays Spock in the latest movie. Zachary Quinto survived a serious car accident at age 16, and since then he's made quite a film career for himself.

Chekov

Yes, it's a Russian surname, but wouldn't it make a great and original baby name? Played by Anton Yelchin in Into Darkness, Chekov is a Cold War character that has lasted into the new milennium. If you're a literature fan, it could crossover into Anton Chekhov, giving the name added depth.

What other Star Trek names would make good baby names?

Do you love Jane Austen, Mad Men, and The Hunger Games? This baby name is for you!

If you enjoy Jane Austen, but you wish the characters could wear fashions more appropriate to the Mad Men era, you would love Honey for Tea by Elizabeth Cadell. And if you're pregnant with a baby girl (I know I'm significantly narrowing the field here), you might find a charming baby name within the pages of this book. And if, by fateful chance, you also like The Hunger Games, well, brace yourself for the baby name of a lifetime:

Jendiss

You read that right: Jendiss. Sort of like Katniss but with a more genteel, less violent flavor. Jendiss Marsh is a well-bred British girl who has been in love with Allen as long as she can remember. But Allen has been in love with Jendy's (notice the cute nickname) older, gorgeous sister Nancy for the same amount of time.

Four weeks before the wedding, Nancy calls off the wedding. Jendy is shocked and disappointed in her sister, but really, does this sound like a bad development? No, of course not.

But before I get carried away by this story, which I'm very much enjoying if you can't tell, let's talk about the possibilities of this baby name.

It sounds like a made-up name, which I am firmly against, as you know. So I googled "Jendiss" and came up with one person in the United States named "Jendiss Frizzell," which sounds like a Dickens character. In Elizabeth Cadell's novel, Jendiss is a family name traced back to 1583. That's pretty presumptuous of her, to take a name like "Jendiss" and give it a long and illustrious pedigree. I love presumption in novelists, don't you?

Anyway, I think Jendiss is a great baby girl name. It has a youthful nickname, a feminine sound, a literary bent, and a place all its own on the kindergarten roll.

Your Baby's Name: An Original? Or Everybody's Taste?

This book is out of print, and I haven't yet found a copy of it anywhere, but I plan to. A Matter of Taste by Stanley Lieberson won the 2001 Book Award given by the Culture Section of the American Sociological Association, and it sounds intriguing. Here's the premise: Harvard University Professor Stanley Lieberson studied children's first names to develop an original theory of fashion. He felt that children's names could provide an opportunity to see the pure mechanisms of fashion in action. People don't have to have a lot of money to name a baby the way they have to have a lot of money to buy diamond earrings at Tiffany's, so baby naming is a chance to show your style without buying anything (well, you still have to pay that outrageous hospital bill).

Using his research techniques, Lieberson examines why the names of certain important and attractive biblical characters are rarely chose, what the influence of movie stars and film characters is in baby naming, and how different ethnic groups exhibit their assimilation into broader populations by the names they choose.

I've wondered about these issues myself. Why are there little Aidens (Aydens, Aadens, Adens) running around everywhere and there's nary a George to be found? And how did that Irish name gain such popularity anyway?

If you find a copy of this book, let me know where you found it. I'm dying to read it.

Baby Names from the 2013 Oscars

If you're looking for a glamorous baby name, the 85th Academy Awards have some great ones to choose from. Remember, though, that celebrity-inspired baby names tend to trend, meaning there might be three kids your child's kindergarten class with her very same name. But maybe not, especially if you name her Quvenzhane'.

Boy Names
Grant (Heslov)
Ben (Affleck)
George (Clooney)
Bradley (Cooper)
Daniel (Day-Lewis)
Hugh (Jackman)
Joaquin (Phoenix)
Denzel (Washington)
Christoph (Waltz)
Alan (Arkin)
Robert (De Niro)
Philip (Seymour Hoffman)

Girl Names
Anne (Hathaway)
Amy (Adams)
Sally (Field)
Helen (Hunt)
Jacki (Weaver)
Jennifer (Lawrence)
Jessica (Chastain)
Emmanuelle (Riva)
Quvenzhane' (Wallis)
Naomi (Watts)
Lucy (Alibar)
Adele (Adkins)

Also, check out this article full of iconic Hollywood baby names for more ideas.

Baby Names from Downton Abbey

Photo Source

You love their clothes, but do you love any of their names enough to bestow one on your newborn? Between the characters' names and the actors who play them, there are plenty of baby name possibilities coming from everyone's favorite Masterpiece Theater. Here are a few:

Boys

• Hugh (as in Hugh Bonneville who plays Earl of Grantham)
• Charles (Carson, that is)
• Thomas (I know, he's a bad guy--sometimes, but Thomas is a good, solid name. It's also the actor's name who plays William, if that makes you feel any better)
• Matthew (Crawley, of course)
• Brendan (as in Brendan Coyle who plays Bates)

Girls

• Anna (such a likeable character)
• Mary (played by Michelle Dockery)
• Phyllis (the actress who plays Mrs. Hughes. This name is set for a comeback, I'm telling you)
• Maggie (the beloved Maggie Smith)
• Sophie (as in the adorable Sophie McShera who plays Daisy)

Who did I miss?

Gisele Bundchen's Baby Girl

Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady finally showed off their beautiful baby girl, Vivian Lake. She's a pretty little thing, isn't she? She may just be as pretty as her mom.

As a baby name, Vivian has had a healthy revival, and there are plenty of different spellings for everyone's taste: Vivienne, Vivien, Vivian.

Here'a a picture of a Vivien you probably recognize: Vivien Leigh of Gone With the Wind fame.