Ginger

Gingerbread Tutu Dress
from Mya Papaya Boutique

"On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine ladies dancing"

I was watching a recent episode of 'Glee' tonight where Mr Schue has a discussion with Sue about what a great dancer Ginger Rogers was. She was able to lead her dance partner backwards in high heels. I don't know how true that actually is, but her dancing made her a star overnight and a screen legend. It also seemed very fitting as a Christmas name. Gingerbread men, houses and even villages are a popular treat at this time of the year, so this spicy name could be a cute seasonal name.

It is the ginger (pronounced JIN-jer) root that is used as a spice for culinary and medicinal purposes. It's a hot, fragrant spice, and  ginger is often a term used in English that means 'spirit, spunk or temper'. This was probably the meaning that Geri Halliwell had in mind when she adopted the name Ginger Spice while in the group The Spice Girls. It may have also been a reference to her red hair, as people with red hair are often called "gingers" in reference to the red colour that some types of ginger has.

This reference is what leads most red heads to advise against calling a red-headed child Ginger. There are a lot of jokes out there about red-heads (there's even a website dedicated to them), and the colloquial term "red headed stepchild" refers to someone who is treated less favourably than others. So calling a red-haired child Ginger can seem like a double whammy.

This also leads to another comment that Gingers say they hear a lot - many people call their cats, dogs or even horses Ginger, in reference to their red coat. Not great, but at least it means that people think of the name fondly if they associate it with their beloved pets.

There is indeed plenty of love for the name Ginger out there. It was actually a top 1000 name for girls in the U.S from 1933 to 1989, peaking in 1971 at position #187. The popularity of Ginger Rogers (birth name Virginia) would have helped with this. Another famous Ginger during this period was the movie star character that was shipwrecked with Gilligan on the 60's TV show 'Gilligan's Island'.

Together with Ginger Roberts, they gave this name a glamorous air. This impression endures, although the before-mentioned Spice Girl updates this image with an added  feeling of fun and spunk. Main characters named Ginger in the childrens' shows 'As Told By Ginger' (2000-2009) and 'Zeke and Luther' (2009-2012) give it some freshness and youth. And if your first thought when you hear the name is of Gingerbread, you may also feel this name has a certain sweetness to it. Cute nicknames Ginny or Gigi also work well with Ginger.

Ginger may have taken on some negative connotations since the hey day of Ginger Rogers, but it would be nice to see this dancing ladies' name on the rise again.

Teen Crushes: Cinnamon, Kitana & Savannah

Kitana with her deadly fans from the video game 'Mortal Kombat'

For many people (especially girls it seems) an interest in names usually starts early. For some it's as simple as an "I like your name" to a new friend when you're at school. For others it means long lists of names they hope to one day use, and still others just know early when they've found "the one" - the name they will use no matter what.

When naming is a hypothetical dream you can be as outlandish as you like, and sometimes we are. This is never more so than when we are teenagers - we're establishing our own identity, and our tastes in names can be an extension of this. Are we the type of person who likes classic names, quirky names or modern names?

Sometimes the names we love at this stage will stick with us, sometimes not. After all, tastes change. But regardless of whether we still love a name with the same fervour, chances are that you look back on those names with fondness.

At least, I know I certainly do. So here are three of the names that enchanted me the most as a teen in the nineties.

Cinnamon
Cinnamon was a fanciful "what if" name for me. I was reading a novel - I have no idea which one now - where the main characters were sisters named Sage and Thyme. I really loved this theme, and while Sage "made sense" as a name, I had never really thought or heard of Thyme as a name before. This got me to thinking what other herbs and spices would make great names, and Cinnamon was the one that gave me a light bulb moment. I absolutely loved the sound of it, it felt so earthy yet exotic. But I remember sharing this thought with other people and being told that Cinnamon is not a name. So it became a guilty pleasure name for me - one I loved but could never use.

When I first discovered Nameberry and the SSA charts, I just had to look this one up. The description at Nameberry pretty much confirmed what I'd already been told - that Cinnamon as a name is a bad idea - but I was tickled pink to discover that Cinnamon actually charted in the US from 1967 to 2010! These days my heart lies with Sage, but I'll always have a soft spot for under-appreciated Cinnamon.

Kitana
This is the name that inspired todays' post. Last night as I was heading to bed, the movie 'Mortal Kombat' was just starting on TV. It's a bad, bad movie. But it brings back fond memories of playing the video game with my brothers and sister. And one of the things I especially loved about the game franchise (apart from the super cool fatalities and the legendary phrase "Finish Him!") was that it introduced me to the name Kitana.

Kitana was created for the game by combining the Japanese words Kitsune and Katana to come up with a name that creator John Tobias thought would sound "generically Asian enough". It therefore doesn't have a defined meaning. In Japanese Kitsune means 'fox' and a Katana is a type of Samurai sword known for it's sharpness and strength though, so you could probably draw some meaning from a combination of these elements. Possibilities could include "sharp as a fox", "strong fox" or maybe even "fighting fox", which seems the most fitting considering the character it was coined for.

I'm not the only one to be attracted to this name - Kitana first charted in the U.S. in 1994, around the time MKII ('Mortal Kombat 2') was released. It has charted every year since then, ranked #3045 in 2012 when it was given to 55 girls. While I still love the sound of Kitana, it's similarity to Katana when spoken puts it in the "do I really want to use weapon-like names for a person?" category for me. And of course since it was created for the game there would always be that association. I can't deny it isn't tempting though.

Savannah
In 1996 Aaron Spelling shows were instant hits, and one of my absolute favourites was 'Savannah'. It was set in the town of Savannah, Georgia, and centred around three female friends named Lane, Peyton and Reese. It was full of scandal, intrigue and southern accents, and I loved it. And as much as I liked the names of the three main characters, it was Savannah that captured my imagination the most. To me, it felt classy, soft, fresh and different - just the type of unique, slightly exotic sounding name that I was into at the time.

I laugh now when I remember thinking it was "exotic" sounding, because to many people it's not. But at the time - and in Australia - I hadn't really heard it on a person before. It's still not exactly a popular name here, although in the US it's been a top 1000 name since 1983, and a top 100 name since 1993. Savannah is a Spanish name meaning 'flat tropical grassland' and has gained popularity due to it's prettily feminine sound and slightly spunky feel.


I find it interesting now, looking back on these as a set rather than individual names that I liked at separate times. It strikes me that they could possibly pass for sisters. They all feel slightly exotic to me, have three syllables, and a "nah" sound in them. And each still holds a special charm for me. Maybe they're more indicative of what I like in a name than I first thought.

What were (or currently are) your teen crushes? When you look at them do you think they help you understand your style better? Or are they just memories that you look at fondly, knowing you'll never feel the desire to re-visit them?

Saffron

Today's name was in part inspired by a post on 100 Best Fall Baby Names. Yes, I'm on the other side of the hemisphere and therefore it's more timely for me to be thinking about Spring names right about now. But when I noticed this gem at the number 14 position on the girl's list, I was reminded of how much I have liked Saffron for a long time.

There were two main reasons that Saffron popped onto my radar as a teenager in the 90's. The first inspiration came in the form of the long suffering daughter on the British comedy classic 'Absolutely Fabulous'. Saffron - often better known as Saffy or "Saffy Darling" - was the daughter of PR maven Edina (played by Jennifer Saunders). Edina was crazy, outrageous and incredibly selfish. She liked to overindulge in drugs and booze, and I think it was always assumed that the name Saffron was a result of her drug induced, hazy hippy days. Saffron herself however was anything but dippy. She was the calm, sensible one attempting to bring normalcy to their lives and counterbalance the effects of Edina's crazy friend Patsy (played by Joanna Lumley). Saffron was played by Julia Sawalha, who I already loved from her days in the show 'Press Gang'. At the time Saffron seemed like such a far out, 'hippy' name and at such contrast to the sensible on-screen character that I was intrigued.

And then not long after 'Absolutely Fabulous' hit the screens, I fell in love with a movie called 'Circle of Friends'. Well worth a watch if you haven't already seen it - I love to pull this off the DVD shelf from time to time. But without going too off-track here, one of the stars of this gem was the then relatively unknown Saffron Burrows. And suddenly Saffron went from being an 'interesting but a bit of a strange, hippy name' to being a beautiful, sophisticated and unique name for me.

Saffron still strikes me as an elegant name, and slightly quirky in-a-good-way. As a spice name, it feels like a more modern alternative to other spice names such as Rosemary and Thyme. Saffron is arguably the rarest and most expensive spice (it can only be collected by hand), making it feel very special and unique. It is also a colour name - this bright yellow spice is used to dye the robes that monks of some eastern religions such as Buddhism a bright yellow orange colour. And Saffron is a flower name, as the spice Saffron comes from the purple crocus flower.

While I think the nickname Saffy used in 'Absolutely Fabulous' is cute, I understand that actual Saffrons don't necessarily feel the same way. Real life Saffrons have also reported that people seem to associate this name with India, possibly due to the prevalent of the spice in Indian food, despite it being a name that seems to have originated in England.

However I think one person who commented on the babyname wizard website summed up my feelings on the name Saffron most eloquently with this insightful comment: "I think this is a perfect name to give a baby if you believe your child is worth her weight in gold (or even more than her weight in gold)". Ditto from me.