Arlington National Cemetery Names

All right, so I was back combing through my cemetery names, and on a whim, decided to check out Arlington National Cemetery. This is a better cemetery than most for finding names, because not only are they American soldiers and soldiers' family, but there is an abundance of names to be found! I wrote down all the good examples of vintage names, as well as a few unusual or intriguing names...everything interesting! The ones bolded are some of my favorites.

Dorothea- gift of God- I find this infinitely better than Dorothy. Less Wizard of Oz, more pretty and distinguished.

Virginia- I discourage all use of this name simply for the built in teasing potential of "Virgin," but do think that the nickname Ginny is cute.

Aloysius- (Al-oh-wish-us)

Max- I realize this is insanely popular right now, but I love it.

Mack

Elsie

Audrey

Hazel

Blanche

Ruby- sassy and cute.

Mabel

Loulie

Agnes

Arthur- Classic in the same way as William and Charles, which are coming back into style, and with a way more awesome pedigree. I'm bringing this back.

Lottie

Esther- starting to like a little bit, it's serious and classic.

Eloisa- italian form of Eloise, which derived separately from Louise and means healthy

Gilbert

Forest

Hope

Grover- Vintage and energetic sounding, presidential.

Josie

Iris

Jack- See the comment below for Frank.

Olive

Frank- I love short, vintage names for guys. 

Carlyle (will probably become popular in the Carlisle form due to Twilight)

Pearl

Jess

Lionel- I like this one a lot.

Harlan

Oscar

Winifred (I know I mentioned before that I love the nickname Winnie)

Joseph

Oliver- the love of my life. There is nothing wrong with this name.

Landry

Sylvio

Walter - ruler of the army (Walt is such a great vintage nickname)

Maebelle 

Llewellyn- Welsh, pronounced Leh-well-in.

Louis (strong and classic)

Leo

Harvey (Harvey Dent in Dark Knight helps modernize this a bit)

Alfred (Before you give me a weird look, it means "elf counsel," and comes equipped with two adorable nicknames, Freddie or Alfie. Besides, it's classic, and the name of one of the brothers in "Legends of the Fall.")

Vance (This is a family name...I think it's pretty sweet with the opening "V")

Opal

Theodore

Albert

Ned

Nettie (Nettie Belle)

Hattie (Hattie Lou)

Genevieve (Always stunning)

Helen- This is starting to grow on me, a family name with an ancient history.

Zenas (m)- God’s gift, one of the Apostles of the Seventy (This would be a cool, space-travel Star-Trek choice)

Wallace (Makes me think of William Wallace from Braveheart, which isn't a bad association)

Sylvester- of the forest

Percival

Mortimer (I don't know why, but I think this name is sweet. Morty, Mort.)

Philander- I know this has a negative meaning today, but still quirky and unusual, so thought I'd include it. 

Milo

Susanna

Wesley (I only like this when it's abbreviated to Wes...)

Rosamond

Bertrand- bright rim of shield

August

Clement

Rosemarie/Rosalie

Clark- another family name, short and sweet.

Juliet- ignore the Romeo and Juliet connotation...this is a very pretty name

Aurelia

Rose

Lillie (As Lily, this name is very popular right now, but I still love it)

Adele

Charlie Ezra (Two of my favorite names, combined into one...)

Rosebud! (Yes, Rosebud. Part of me thinks it's awesome, the other half is like what...was that parent thinking. Meant for a My Little Pony)

Archie (appealingly British in this short form.)

Daisy

Rex

Seaborn (I hope they were born on a boat. In the sea.)

Winter (Kind of awesome)

Adelia

Moses (While I'm all for Biblical names, this one would be hard to carry off)

Isobel/Isabelle

Leander (This one is a nice substitute for always-popular Alexander. Means lion)

Beatrix

Bertram- bright raven (I am a sucker for nicknames and I like the nickname Bert. It's cute)

Russell- little red one 

Owen (Know this one's popular, but still love it.)

Hugh

Augustin

Jasper (Jasper Joseph)- treasurer in Persian

Remo- Italian version of Remus.

Political Names: In Honor of the Elections

So, because the political spirit is in the air, I decided to do a blog on the names of candidates running for office, or the names of already-elected officials, because there are some very unusual choices represented there... Here is a list of some of the most interesting ones that I found:

Abel
Ross
Gavin
Charles, goes by "Kit"
Farley
Linnea
Stuart
Noel
Galen
Dixon
Clover (I loved that I found this)
Adelaide (ditto)
Ira
Thad
Ander
Ileana (Ill-ee-ahn-uh)
Lincoln
Buck
Kermit
Harvey
Basil
Art
Grover
Charlotte
Felix
Norm
Seth
Clyde
Rand
Susana
Roscoe
Delia
Simone

Go Green: Use a Gaelic Name

I've always loved Gaelic names. They're exotic, yet useable, and some are already familiar to Americans: Sinead, pronounced (shin-ADE), from the "Nothing Compares 2 U" singer; Siobhan (shi-VAUN), who competed in a season of American Idol, and Sean (Shawn) are some good examples. Some other "Irish" names that are well known in the U.S., but aren't necessarily fresh:

Shannon
Brian
Fiona
Brady
Maureen/Doreen/Eileen, and all the other "eens"
I could go on, but you'd get bored. The exciting Gaelic names, that deserve to be more well known on the U.S.' shores, are:

Girls:

Niamh (Neev)
Sorcha (Soar-ka, or Soar-uh-ka)
Saoirse (Seer-sha or Sare-sha)
Fionnuala (Finn-oo-la)
Grainne (Grawn-ya)
Maeve (Mayve)
Caitriona (Catrina)
Aoife (EE-fa)
Emer (EE-mer)
Bebhinn (BAY-vin)
Aoibheann (EEV-in)
Caoimhe (Keeva or Kwee-va)
Orla (Oar-la)
Nollaig (Null-ig)
Sadhbh (Sive)

Boys:
Oisin (USH-een)
Lorcan
Lachlan (Lock-lin)
Tadhg (TYG)
Breccan
Diarmuid (DEER-mid)
Tierney
Finn
Angus
Fergus
Padraig (PAW-drig)
Piran
Niall (NYE-ul)
Phelan (Fay-lin)
Eoin (Owen)

This is not, of course, a comprehensive list, but it gives a pretty good picture of the awesome names we're missing out on over here! I love Niamh as a middle name, as well as Tadhg, and definitely have soft spots for Aoibheann, Lorcan, and Saoirse as well. What names do you like? Know any great Gaelic names I should have included?

Cemetery Names: Best of the Lonestar State

Every now and then, I like to look up interment.net and browse for names. It sounds a little creepy, but the names I find are so fascinating that I quickly forget that I'm essentially looking at the names of dead people. You can search by state, by county, and by cemetery, and one of my favorite states to look at is Texas. The names I find there are saucy, sassy, and cute. All the names I've found here were born at the latest around 1930; most are from around the turn of the century or earlier. It seems that Texans were fond of nicknames and short and sweet middles, as well as any kind of alliteration. Here are some of the lists I've compiled based on Texas trends...I starred my favorites.

Nickname trend:

Flossie
Sally Annie
Vergie
Nannie
Lillie Hattie *
Mamie
Archie
Aggie
Effie
Ophie
Mettie
Mattie
Elzie
Pearlie *
Winnie *
Texie, Texxie (I think this is funny)
Dessie
Tennie
Letty
Gracie
Gussie * (so tomboy sassy)
Rosie
Rossie
Minnie
Nonie
Verdie
Birdie
Powie (as in the video game sound? this one is perplexing)

The Belles and Maes:

Sallie Belle
Lela Belle * (So much "L sound," so little time)
Nanabel
Cora Mae
Emma Mae
Etta Mae
Lena Mae
Willa Mae
Edna Mae
Maggie Mae * (Wake up, Maggie I think I've got something to say to you... -Rod Stewart)
Burtha (Bertha) Mae
Gladys Mae

Speaking of L sounds, Texans love 'em:

Leila Isabelle
Lula Lee
Lulu
Louisiana
Levi
Lola Maude
Lillian Daisy * (This combo is adorable)
Philip Leonidas (I loved that I actually found an instance of this name)

Then there are the strange, and/or unusual choices:

Hannible (Hannibal)
Ouida
Omadell (Boy or girl? I couldn't figure it out)
Claiborne
Callaway
Pinkney, Pinckney
Garland
Glendora
Houston (Texas pride)
Ausby* (I actually like this quite a lot)
Oceana (born 1831...those parents were ahead of the trend)
Hardy
Peabody (Parents...really?)
Phillippine
Birdsall
Cleo Mignon (Filet anyone?)
Liladon (went by Donna apparently)
Zebulum (My thought was that it was an offshoot of Zebulon?)
Zaragosa (found amidst a plethora of Hispanic names)
Sylvanus
Descema (spin off of Decima?)


And finally, the modern and relevant:

Rosamond Beatrice* (Absolute favorite out of all the names I found)
Silas
Basil
Henry Homer* (Love the alliteration here, love the combo)
Harrison Riley
Nell Beatrice
Colby
Cyrus
Minna
Hermine
Adeline
Zadie
Benno
Wesley Harvey* (Yes to Harvey!)
Hattie Alabama*
Imogene
Iantha
Iona
Genevieve*
Conrad
Moses
Ottilie
Ruby*

So...what do you think? Have any personal favorites? Questions? Insight? Discuss!