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

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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?

7 Baby Names for Spring

If the weather has been as gray and dreary in your neck of the woods as it has been here, you're probably craving spring. That's what inspired these baby names for spring. Whether it feels like it or not, spring is right around the corner, and if your baby is set to arrive in the next few months, consider one of these spring-inspired names.

Girls
Mae: French name meaning "goddess of spring growth"
Rose
Ivy
Primrose (newly famous, thanks to The Hunger Games)

Boys
Kelby: Gaelic name meaning "place by the fountain or spring"
Maxwell: Scottish name meaning "Magnus' spring"
Denver: English name meaning "green valley"

Baby Name of the Day: Conrad

This handsome young man is Conrad Aiken, and he was a poet. From his calm demeanor and nicely combed hair, you might think his life was predictable and comfortable. Well, it started out that way. His parents were wealthy, socially prominent New Englanders who had moved to Savannah, Georgia. His dad was a respected brain surgeon. But then something happened to his father, and no one could ever find out exactly why. The father's behavior became increasingly erratic and violent until early one February morning, he murdered his wife and killed himself. Young Conrad was only eleven years old at the time, but he was the one to hear the gunshots and discover the bodies.

He seems to have recovered. He went to Harvard where he worked on editing with T.S. Eliot, and by 1930 (at the age of 41) he had won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. During his long life, he wrote or edited more than 51 books. He was also largely responsible for establishing Emily Dickinson's reputation as a major American poet.

Conrad's a good solid name for a little boy. I know a young Conrad myself, and he's always the only Conrad in his class. It's charming, a little vintage, and definitely strong.

Baby Name of the Day: Alden

You may be hearing this lyrical boys' name a little more later on this month when you can see Alden Ehrenreich in Beautiful Creatures.

As "Aiden" grows old and weary as a baby name, Alden becomes a nice alternative. It's an Old English name that means "old friend." Originally, it was a surname, but it's a somewhat popular first name as well. It seems to have hit its peak in popularity around World War I, so it's ripe for a comeback.

Notable Aldens include:

Alden Ehrenrich, actor
Alden Carter, author
Alden Dow, architect
Alden Jenks, composer
Alden Barber, chief executive of the Boy Scouts of America

Top Baby Names in Different States

The United States of America is a big country, with many different regions and cultural influences. I thought I'd take a look at the differences in popular baby names in different parts of the country. Here are the top 10 baby boy names from two different parts of the country.

Oregon Baby Boy Names, 2011
1. Mason
2. Liam
3. Logan
4. Jacob
5. Alexander
6. Samuel
7. Daniel
8. Jackson
9. Ethan
10. Noah

Mississippi Baby Boy Names, 2011
1. William
2. James
3. Jayden
4. John
5. Christopher
6. Elijah
7. Jacob
8. Mason
9. Joshua
10. Ethan

There are a few names that appear on both lists (Mason, Ethan, Jacob), but the rest are all different. In both lists, I see the trend of boy names that end in -n. If you want to look up your own state's most popular baby names, take a look at the Social Security website.

Boy Baby Names: Names from Cartography

Cartographers are like explorers. They set out to make the unknown explorable and accessible for other people. If you're looking for a traditional name with a little adventure, try one of these boy baby names from well-known cartographers:

Abel (Abel Buell, 1742-1822, published the first map of the new United States created by an American)
Alexander (Alexander Wilbrecht, 1757-1823, Russian geographer)
Dirck (Dirck Rembrantsz van Nierop, 1610-1682, cartographer, mathematician, and astonomist)
James (James Cook, 1728-1779, naval chart maker and navigator)
Max (Max Eckert-Greifendorff, 1868-1938, German cartographer)
Murdoch (Murdoch McKenzie, 1712-1797, Scottish cartographer and hydrographer)
Philip (Philip Johan von Strahlenberg, 1676-1747, Swede who drew maps of Russia)
Rafael (Rafael Palacios, 1905-1993, prolific map drawer for U.S. publications)
Thaddeus (Thaddeus Mortimer Fowler, 1842-1922, American pictorial cartographer)
Thomas (Thomas Jefferys, 1710-1771, geographer of good old King George III)
William (William Bligh, 1754-1817, ship master during Bounty mutiny)

Which of these baby boy names are 21st-century appropriate? Would any of you use the name Murdoch?

Trendy Baby Names: Aiden Derivatives

Just a few short years ago, Aiden Quinn was the only Aiden people had ever heard of. Aiden was a quaint Irish name--so Gaelic, so wise-sounding, so remote.

Well, Aiden is remote no longer. Aiden is every other preschooler in the classroom. And if he's not Aiden, he's some derivative. Something like one of these names actually attached to little American boys:

Braden
Caden
Jayden
Aeden
Auden
Hayden
Linden
Brendan
Evan
Gavin
Edan
Eidan
Aydan
Aedan

It appears from this graph from thinkbabynames.com that Aiden is going nowhere for the time being.

But if you're expecting a little boy, give him a break and give him a name that places him in the Aiden herd.

What are your thoughts on the name Aiden?

Baby Names to Live By

This isn't an ordinary baby name book. You won't find hundreds of thousands of arbitrary names listed by meanings or syllables--because you don't want to give your baby just a name. You have higher hopes for your child than just a melodious sounding name. You want to give your little one a namesake, someone to look up to and be inspired by. From Audrey Hepburn to Isaac Newton, you'll learn about the fascinating people behind the names.

Naming a baby is a big deal. It will consume much of your thinking time while you’re pregnant because you want the name to be just right. You want it to fit the child you haven’t even met yet, and yet it’s also a reflection of you as parents. In modern Western culture, parents often choose names based on how they sound.

This book is full of alternatives: people who are admirable in many ways and also have names that are timely, interesting, and full of potential.

Baby Names to Live By is the perfect book to read while you're pregnant. The mini biographies are short enough for reading in the waiting room while you wait for your appointments and interesting enough to keep you from speculating on whether or not that woman over there is carrying twins.

Get it from Amazon today. It's only $2.99 for the Kindle version.