Bodhi

Photo Courtesy of Mali Workman

If you're a celebrity baby name spotter, you may have noticed that a particular name popped up twice in the past week - Bodhi. On February 12th Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green welcomed second son Bodhi Ransom to the world, while on 17th February Australian actress Theresa Palmer and husband Mark Webber welcomed son Bodhi Rain.

While some may label Bodhi as just another "bizarre name of celebrity offspring", Bodhi has actually become a fairly popular name among celebrities, taking it from a strange once-off name to an on-trend baby name on the upswing. Other than Bodhi Ransom and Bodhi Rain, Oliver Hudson has given his mum Goldie Hawn a grandson named Bodhi Hawn, and actress Amy Brenneman and husband director Brad Silberling have a Bodhi Russell. Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio also chose Bodhi as a middle name for son Luka Bodhi. And Australian celebrity couple Cameron Daddo and Allison Brae bestowed it on their daughter, Bodhi Faith.

Those who have discussed their choice of Bodhi have said that they chose it for it's spiritual meaning. Bodhi (pronounced BO-dee) is best known in the context of Buddhism. although it is also a concept in other Indian philosophies and traditions. Bodhi is the understanding possessed by Buddha regarding the nature of things. The legend is that Buddha achieved enlightenment (or Bodhi) while sitting under a large and very old sacred fig tree located in Bodh Gaya, India. This tree came to be known as the Bodhi tree, a name that is also used for any current trees that are a direct descendant of the original tree. They are planted in close proximity to every Buddhist monastery and a Bodhi tree is recognisable in religious art by its' heart shaped leaves.

The word itself comes from the Sanskrit roots of budh, meaning 'to awake, become aware, notice, know or understand' and bodha meaning 'knowledge or intelligence'. Translated to English Bodhi means "enlightenment" or "awakened".

Bodhi is an interesting name to consider. Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the way it sounds, although nickname Bo is quite handsome, and I love the sentiment and symbolism behind this name. It feels like a rather zen name, and I've seen quite a few people say it makes them think of a laid back skater or surfer type dude. This impression may have been influenced by the surfer character named Bodhi played by Patrick Swayze in the 1991 movie 'Point Break', and maybe the appearance of a character called Bodhi in 'The Simpsons', who is a fourth grader interested in surfing.

One thing is for sure, there is plenty of love out there for Bodhi. Nameberry named it as the third fastest rising boy name on their site in 2013. That's for page views, not actual use, although the U.S SSA charts tells us those numbers are reflected in actual use. In 1992 - one year after 'Point Break' - Bodhi appeared on the charts for boys in position #4124. By 2010 it had entered the top 1000, and in 2012 it was positioned at #894. It will be interesting to see how much further it rose in 2013 when those figures are released in May. It's likely that the two recent celebrity births will push it even further in 2014, and may also lead to increased use for girls, which is currently quite rare.

Buddha under the Bodhi Tree

Baby Name Pondering and the 2012 SSA Lists

Photo courtesy of Teri Yover Photography

We name nerds are going crazy at the moment, because the SSA 2012 name data has just been released! Even though I'm from Australia, I have to admit to a real fascination with the SSA data. IT's much more comprehensive, not to mention the sheer variety of names to discover. Here's a couple of fast facts to show what I mean:

• For newbies, the SSA lists include all names that were given to five or more children of one gender that year.
• In 2012 the girl's list covers 1,743,626 baby girls and includes 19,380 different names. This is 166 fewer names than the 2011 list, despite covering 1216 more children. Is this the start of a shrinking of the almost fantastical variety of girls names? Probably not.
• The boys 2012 list has 14,162 names, covering 1877705 baby boys. This is also fewer than the 2011 list by 
• 96 names - but then again, there were 2928 fewer births included in the 2012 list.

Now, you'll see much talk about what names in the top 1000 were the biggest movers (Arya for girls, Major for boys), but it's outside the top 1000 that we really see some big mover and shakers. Maybe because (for girls) to go from position 1000 to 1 is a difference between a name being given to 250 girls or given to 21,695 girls, whereas the 2000th name would only have to be given to 152 more girls to get to position 1001. Which shows just how popular a name has to be to get to the top 10.

So, since a lot of the names I've featured on here fall outside the top 1000, I thought it would be a bit of fun to look at how the names I profiled in 2012 fared in 2012.

 Looking at the girls list, I'm excited by how many increased in popularity. I'm pretty sure that if Sutton continues its current path, she'll be a new entry to the top 1000 in the 2013 list. I am however a bit surprised to see Lawson climbing so much for girls, admittedly because I most often think of it as a boys name. Maybe the tide is changing for this name? It's definitely catching up to the boys.

Easily the most exciting thing about this list is that 'Hunger Games' name Finnick has burst into the charts for the first time. As a character that first appears in the second book, we are yet to see this character on the big screen. But with hype already building for the next movie 'Catching Fire', which is due out this November, Finnick stands to gain a fresh wave of fans. Katniss also entered the charts for the first time in 2012 at position 9,329. In real numbers, Katniss was given to 12 girls and Finnick to 9 boys, so it'll be interesting to see if they manage to gain more ground over 2013.

I didn't do a table for them, but several names appeared on both the boys and girls lists above. Of these, Matisse was easily the biggest mover for both boys and girls. Dresden, Sutton, Lawson and Hunter also increased in popularity for both genders. Cameo was a big mover for girls, but dropped off the boys list altogether. And Mitchell fell for both, dropping off the girls list.

Finally, for the truly rare names - those I've featured but didn't make it onto either the boys or the girls list in 2012. Admittedly, I have had some real flights of fancy at times so some aren't all that surprising.

The ones that have appeared at least once in the past are Florinda, McKaley and Yarrow. The rest are:

• Alcide (Although Alcides is ranked 10,751 for boys )
• Boo
• Fillion
• Mockingbird
• Musidora
• Obsidian
• Raviva (I'm sure this one will appear in the 2013 list though!)
• Six (but Sixto appears at #6,215 on the boys list)
• Thackery
• Titanium

Well I guess that just about covers it! Have you had a look at the 2012 data yet? How did your personal favourites fare? And what surprises did you find? If you're expecting a 2013 baby, will the results influence your naming choice?

Emeralda

For the designers, decorators and artists among you, you may already be aware that Emerald is the Pantone colour of the year for 2013. If you're not sure what that means, basically it means that the colour Emerald will feature strongly in most designs, decorating schemes, soft furnishings, clothing, products and whatever else you can think of this year. Pantone usually pick a colour that they feel connects with the current spirit of society. Or maybe with two 'Wizard of Oz' movies coming out this year, they simply thought that when audiences saw those gorgeous images of the Emerald City they would have a renewed love of all things Emerald.

Of Emerald, Pantone says that it is "Lively. Radiant. Lush. A color of elegance and beauty that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony". And also that "Most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, the perception of Emerald is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous, magnificent hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. Also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity, no other color conveys regeneration more than green."

This reminded me of a name I heard a little while back that I had been keeping note of - Emeralda. What I love about Emeralda is that it is so similar to Emerald, the gemstone, but sounds a little more "namey", like Esmeralda. And at the same time it manages to sound just that bit fresher and spunkier than either of those. Esmeralda and Emeralda are in fact different versions of Emerald, which is a Persian word for the gemstone, meaning 'green'.

All three are pretty rarely used. Emerald appeared in the American top 1000 for girls from 1991 to 2001, peaking at #766 in 1994. It has also occasionally been used for boys. Esmeralda has also been used a similar amount of times for boys, but has been more popular than Emerald for the girls. It's been in the top 1000 since the fifties, and in 2011 was #332. By contrast, Emeralda has only shown in the charts in 1991, when it was given to just 5 girls.

 A few other reasons why you might want to choose an Emerald themed name include:

• wanting to honour an Irish background (as in the Emerald Isles)
• for a child born in May, under the sign of cancer, or on a Tuesday or Friday (as the Emerald is the birthstone for these times)
• to honour someone else born at those times
• to honour someone whose favourite gemstone is/was Emerald, or favourite colour is/was green
• to honour someone with an "Em" name, such as Emma or Emory.

Emeralda would be a rare, exotic choice, with the benefits of not sounding too strange. And it's easy to associate all of those great things that people think about Emerald with Emeralda. With so many great reasons to use Emeralda, it would be a very fashionable name to use in 2013.

Tutu dress from Little Dreamers on Etsy