Posted: 08 Jan 2010 06:58 AM PST

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Baby names inspired by star power - Brisbane Times

Posted: 07 Jan 2010 07:26 PM PST

Can Queenslanders feel comfortable naming their children after US trends and celebrities?

Yes, we can - at least if the state's sole Barack born in 2009 is any indication.

Young Barack was just one of a number of baby names in the past year inspired by celebrities.

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Queensland's top 10 boys names
Queensland's top 10 girls names
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The Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages recorded 37 children named Cruz in 2009, a moniker which shot to prominence in 2005 thanks to David and Victoria Beckham.

There were 13 Shilohs, who will share the name of the daughter of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, if not her inheritance.

Shiloh's older brother, Maddox, also has some Queensland namesakes, with eight boys so labelled in 2009.

But only one set of parents followed Nicole and Keith in naming their daughter Sunday in 2009.

Parents also looked to fiction for inspiration - the Twilight craze led to 121 Bellas being born in Queensland last year.

Rather than just following celebrities, however, Queenslanders have also taken notice of names that have become trendy in the US.

Top of that list is Nevaeh (heaven, spelt backwards) which has taken the US by storm in the past decade, going from outside the top 1000 names in the year 2000 to number 34 by 2008.

Christian rock star Sonny Sandoval is credited with the rise of the name, after he appeared on MTV's Cribs in 2000 and revealed the name of his new baby girl.

There were 30 Queensland Nevaehs born in 2009, compared to three in 2005.

Destiny is another girls name popular in the US top 50 which has resonated with Queensland parents, with 21 born last year.

Other unusual names in 2009 included Blade (18 children), Rainbow (1), Rusty (2), River (6), Fox (2), Slate (1) and Blaze (5).

But it wasn't all new age names, a few more traditional names appeared as well, including Hazel (8), Mildred (1), Cyril (1), Eugene (3), Cecil (1), Clementine (1) and Winston (4).

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Thirty years on, that name's not so groovy, baby - Brisbane Times

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 01:53 AM PST

Picking the latest trendy name for your new son or daughter is all well and good, but how will that name fare when they're an adult having children of their own?

A comparison of Queensland's most popular baby names from 1979 and 2009 reveals just how fickle we are when it comes to labelling our children.

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Top 10 boys names in:
1979
1999
2009:
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Not a single moniker from the top 10 boys and the top 10 girls names in 1979 made the corresponding lists for 2009.
Boys names, however, fared much better than girls names when it came to standing the test of time.

Only one girls name from 1979's top 10 recorded more than 50 hits in 2009: Sarah.

But the 149 Sarahs were still well below the 346 girls named Chloe, 2009's most popular girls name.

There were 214 Sarahs in 1979.

Some other girls names that were once commonplace have become surprisingly rare.

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Top 10 girls names in:
1979
1999
2009
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There were only three Kylies born in Queensland last year, five Lisas and seven Melissas.

This was less than the 13 babies that share the first name of Shiloh Jolie-Pitt or the 30 girls named Nevaeh (heaven, backwards).

Anyone named Michelle, Amanda, Nicole, Kelly or Angela also had less than 20 namesakes in 2009.

By contrast, eight of the top 10 boys names in 1979 recorded more than 50 hits last year.

The most timeless was Benjamin, which came in seventh on the 1979 list with 373 boys, and still recorded 233 last year.
This was followed by Matthew (214 last year) and Michael.

However, the 118 boys named Michael was a long way down from when it was the number one name in 1979, with 626 boys.

By contrast, last year's most popular name - Cooper - recorded just 480 hits.

And spare a thought for 1999's most popular boys name - Lachlan - which recorded 623 hits just a decade ago but couldn't crack this year's top 10.

By contrast, 1999's top girls name was Chloe - the same as this year.

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Amy Adams 'likes traditional baby names' - Digital Spy

Posted: 08 Jan 2010 07:35 AM PST

Rex Features

Amy Adams has revealed that she is attracted towards a "traditional name" for her unborn baby.

The Night At The Museum 2 star recently confirmed that she is expecting her first child with fianc Darren Legallo this spring.

Speaking to Us Weekly, she said: "I think I really have to meet the person before I'm going to know the name, but I tend to be attracted to more traditional names."

The actress added: "[I'm] so excited. I think we're just enjoying the moment... [I'm] getting a lot of sleep."

Adams and Legallo, who met during an acting class in 2001, became engaged in June 2008.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.