Blade

There's Blaine if you want an 80's preppy feel; Blake if you want a masculine, soap opera-esque feel. But if you want edgy and uber-macho, then Blade is the choice for you.

Blade first appeared on the U.S charts the year that Ridley Scott's cult sci-fi thriller 'Blade Runner' was released. It must have been a sound that people found very appealing, as a Blade Runner is a type of law enforcement role, not the name of a main character. Apart from 1984, Blade has charted every year since.

The movie had a dark, apocalyptic feel, which is a good fit with the menacing and almost threatening nature of the name Blade. This isn't overly surprising for a name the comes from the Old English word for a knife or sword.

Blade took on even more horror-cool cred when it became the name of the main character in the 'Blade' movies. Played by Wesley Snipes, Blade is a half-vampire-half-human vampire killer, determined to take revenge on all vampires for killing his mother. This was back when vampires were still vicious, dramatic and sexy, rather than sparkly, broody and introspective. Blade in particular exuded cool; treading the thin line between monster and good guy. This struggle made him all the more engaging and Blade remains an iconic movie character for many.

The three movies in this trilogy were released in 1998 ('Blade'), 2002 ('Blade II') and 2004 ('Blade: Trinity'). Although they helped increase the popularity of the name - and are credited for inspiring UK parents - it was not enough to push Blade into the top 1000, and it has been slowly decreasing in popularity since.

With vampire, sci-fi and sword/knife connections, it's easy to see why Blade would make for a suitably Halloween inspired name. Although one could always argue that it also makes for a nature inspired name if you look at it from the perspective of a blade of grass. Almost no-one would believe that this was the intention when you choose to name your little tough boy Blade though.

Mavis

Mavis in 'Hotel Transylvania', voiced by Selena Gomez

When I told my husband that I was doing a post about Mavis, his response was "Isn't that a grandma name?" Indeed, this is how this name would be seen by many people. After all, Mavis peaked in the 1920's and 30's, at which time it was in the top 300 in the U.S. It was also used for boys occasionally in those days. These days, Mavis can now be considered to be a "vintage gem", and that usually means hot property.

As character Johnathan says when introduced to Mavis in the 2012 movie 'Hotel Transylvania', "Mavis? That's a neat name!". Of course in this movie, Mavis is a 118 year old vampire, Dracula's "teenage" daughter to be exact. This Mavis has suddenly given the name some cool cred - when I went looking for pictures the suggested Google searches included "Mavis hot" and "Mavis sexy". The words hot and sexy, paired with Mavis? Who would've thought it.

There's a few mixed ideas as to where Mavis originated. Some sources say it is Scottish, some English and some French. From what I've read, it started as the Old French word mauvis meaning 'redwing', also known as a thrush or song bird. It's thought that it was first used as a name by English author Marie Corelli in her 1895 novel 'The Sorrows of Satan' for her character Mavis Clare. She must have been inspired by its' meaning, as the character was said to sing "quite as sweetly as any thrush". As this was the reportedly the first use of Mavis as a name (I say reportedly as it first appeared on the SSA charts in 1893, two years before the publication date), it's often said to be an English name. However as the word mavis was almost obsolete by the 19th century it is thought that Marie Corelli was inspired by one of two other sources.

One possibility is the 1850 love song 'Mary of Argyle' by Charles Jeffrey. The other speculated source is the Robert Burns' 1794 poem 'Ca' the Yowes'. As the Robert Burns poem came first and he is Scottish, mavis seems to have been in common use in Scotland - the song thrush migrates to Scotland in spring and hence is known as a harbinger of Spring in Scotland - and  has led to some sources saying it is a Scottish name.

Regardless of its' origin, Mavis has the potential to experience a resurgence soon. Mavis and similar names Maeve, Mae and Mabel all increased in use in 2012. Maeve and Mae are already in the top 1000 on the SSA charts, and Mabel will most likely join them there in 2013. Positioned at #3667 in 2012, Mavis has a long way to go to join them, but this only means it has a fresher feel. In fact, Mae or Maeve would be cute nicknames for Mavis, meaning you get the cool name and more popular nickname in one fell swoop (bird pun unintended ☺).

Yes, there will still be people out there who think it is a fusty name. But then there are others who think Mavis is stunning, sweet, pretty, adorable, spunky, classic, smart, adventurous and strong. She's a literary, poetic, nature/bird, and now vampire inspired choice. Thanks to 'Hotel Transylvania' she feels youthful again, and with a 'Hotel Transylvania 2' said to be in the works for 2015, she'll be relevant for a little while yet. It's very likely that todays' children will be more likely to think of Mavis as fun and clever rather than old and fusty. Mavis is definitely a name to watch.

Mitchell

Aidan Turner is Mitchell in 'Being Human'

It would be hard and more than a little bit wrong to do a month of Halloween names and not throw in at least one vampire name.

Vampires have been hot property in the literary world for some time, with many of the good ones making it to our movie and TV screens. Think 'Interview With A Vampire' (based on Anne Rice's 'The Vampire Chronicles)', 'The Vampire Diaries', 'True Blood' (an adaptation of Charlaine Harris' 'The Southern Vampire Mysteries') and the mega powerhouse that is the 'Twilight' franchise. Vampires have definitely captured our interest and imaginations. They are usually seen as attractive and seductive, possibly because we are so entranced with the idea of being young (a time many consider to be the "prime" of their life) forever, but with the confidence and self assurance that comes with age and experience. Oh, and it doesn't hurt if they're a little broody too, because - you know - we like to think that vampires would actually feel kind of bad about killing people.

Today's vampire of choice seems to fit the bill perfectly. Mitchell was the main vampire character in the BBC supernatural TV series 'Being Human'. For those not familiar with the show, it is about vampire, a werewolf and a ghost who live together and their struggles to maintain a human appearance when their true appearances would shock and scare most people. If this sounds familiar, the show was also remade for American audiences by the SyFy channel. However the vampire character in that version is named Aiden. As an aside, in the BBC version Mitchell is played by Aidan Turner, so I wonder if this was an intended connection?

Mitchell was "turned" (into a vampire) when he was a young soldier in the first World War, making him over a hundred years old. Apparently he was quite the killing machine at first, but has since had an attack of the guilts and hence spends a lot of time and energy resisting the lure of feeding on humans. Young and sexy? Check. Powerful and broody? Double check.

Technically Mitchell is this characters last name (his first name is John), but he almost exclusively goes by Mitchell. The name Mitchell (pronounced MITCH-el) has quite an established history as a name. It is thought to be a Middle English variant of Michael, based on the French version Michel. Mitchell means 'who is like god' and has been widely used as both a first and a last name.


The original 'Being Human' trio
George, Mitchell & Annie

Mitchell is often seen as quite a strong, masculine name, although it does occasionally make an appearance as a girls name. For the boys, it has been in the 500 names in the US since 1880, peaking at position #71 in 1994. Since then it's popularity has been waning though, and in 2011 it was the lowest it has ever been at #420. Mitchell still remains strong in other countries though - here in Australia it was in the top 100 in 2011, holding position #53. Which still means that while lots of people like the name, you're not necessarily going to encounter a lot of other Mitchell's in your day to day life.

Many people also like Mitchell because it comes with ready made nickname Mitch. As a given name, Mitch is relatively rare (given to just 23 boys in America last year), so it would seem that people much prefer the longer version. I really like the name Mitchell, and it's nickname Mitch, Not just for this character, but also for the humorous but strong and decisive character of Lt Colonel Cameron Mitchell from the later seasons of 'Stargate SG-1', as played by Ben Browder.

But the name does have it's downfalls. The main one being the fact that Mitch rhymes with B***h, the second one being that it sounds very similar to popular girls name Michelle. But if that doesn't bother you, then this is likely to be one name that you won't have too much trouble getting a husband or boyfriend to agree to.

Bram

Cutie Bram - gorgeous photograph by Glow Foto

It's hard to do a month of Halloween baby names and not mention Bram. Firstly, Bram (Stoker) was the famous author of 'Dracula', the most widely recognised (and perhaps the first) fictionalised record of vampires. Second, it's just an uber cool name, and one of my favourites.

Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' is a tale of the infamous Count Dracula. It is written in diary form, from the perspectives of young Johnathan Harker, who first visits the Count at his home in Transylvania, Johnathon's fiancee Mina  (short for Wilhelmina - another great name!) and Doctor Jack Seward. Stoker's version of Dracula has become the traditional, almost standard ideal of the vampire, and many of the ideas we now read about in vampire stories or see in vampire movies are based on concepts from this story. Note that there is no mention of vampire skin sparkling like diamonds in this book. If those are the kind of vampires you like, this original tale is not for you :) I first got around to reading the book earlier this year, and became smitten with the name Bram, thinking how cool it would be on a little boy.

Bram originated as a nickname for the name Abraham, and Bram Stoker himself was indeed an Abraham. Abraham or Abram is a biblical Hebrew name, meaning 'father of multitudes', and hence Bram is thought to have the same meaning. However Bram does actually have a history of being a name itself used by the Dutch and the Gaelic. Reportedly, the Dutch associate it with Bramble, and accordingly the meaning in that part of the world is 'a thicket of wild gorse'. On a different but also nature themed note, Bram apparently means 'raven' in Gaelic, a bird that is traditionally seen as a harbinger of death and also commonly associated with Halloween.

As you can see, Bram can be quite the chameleon. If you prefer it as a nickname and want a longer option for the birth certificate, there are several choices besides Abraham or Abram. These include Bairam, Braham, Bramley, Brampton, Bramwell (with another spooky connection via actor Bramwell Fletcher who appeared the 1932 horror 'The Mummy'), Brigham, Bertram, and Byram.

Bram has slowly risen in popularity over the past 40 years in America, but is still by far a popular name. In the last four years it has been given to just 37-38 boys, which in 2011 ranked it at position #3037. It is however a very popular name in the Netherlands, where it was the 16th most popular boys name in 2011. Other notable Bram's besides Stoker are Bram Cohen, creator of BitTorrent file sharing software, and Bram Fischer, the South African lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela.

With some great namesakes, Bram is one of those names that almost no-one uses, but everyone knows. It's short, strong, and has a Gothic feel to it. It's a versatile name, with both biblical and nature origins. Bram would definitely be a great option, especially if you're looking for a name that stands out but fits in.

Bram Stoker and a modern cover of his tale 'Dracula'