Percy

Logan Lerman plays Percy (Perseus) Jackson

Since the release of the Percy Jackson books and then the movie 'Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" (released in 2010) Percy has started to become a more attractive option to modern day parents. Admittedly, I have an extra reason to like Percy, as it was the middle name of one of my great grandfathers.

Back in the 1890's, Percy was hot stuff. It peaked at #111 in America, much more popular than the longer Percival that people often assume the name is derived from. Since that time, Percy has slowly slid into almost non-existence, not even mentioning a rating on the American charts in the 1990's.

There is some debate as to the origins of the name Percy. The main theories are:

1. It is a short form of the French name Percival, which means 'valley piercer'
2. It was an aristocratic Norman surname, which started as a place name from Perci-en-Auge
3. The name is from the Greek Perseus, which is derived from pērtho (to destroy).

It is the third alternative that is used in the Percy Jackson series, helping to give Percy the tougher image that it sorely needs. For some reason, over the past hundred years Percy gained a reputation as being a wimpy name. The negative comments I've seen about this name are:

• It has been used as a name for men's genitalia (I had never heard this - oh the joys of the Internet)
• And unfortunately also sounds similar to a slang word for a females genitalia
• "for some reason Percy Filth was used at college as a euphemism about having it off" (I assume this is related to the first point?)
• It reminds people of Percy Pig (I think this is a confectionery brand?)
• People think of the wimpy Percy character in 'The Black Adder' TV series
• Percy is the name of a train in 'Thomas the Tank Engine'
• The Harry Potter character Percy Weasley was a nasty, supercilious traitor
• The most famous Percy was Percy Bysshe Shelley, an English romantic poet
• Percy is an effeminate, "sissy" name

This conclusion is quite surprising when you consider the earliest examples of Perseus and Percival. Percival was one of King Arthur's Legendary Knights. He was the only knight virtuous enough to be able to retrieve the highly coveted Holy Grail, making him a hero. Likewise, Perseus was a great hero in Greek mythology, credited with killing the famous snake-haired Medusa. Perseus has recently been depicted not only in the Percy Jackson series, but also by the very easy to look at Australian Actor Sam Worthington, in the movies "Clash of the Titans" (2010) and "Wrath of the Titans" (2012).

I'm sure that it is due to these dual Perseus depictions that the shorter Percy is suddenly back on the radar. It now has a tough image longer form, and a lot of people are really love Greek mythological names. Perseus is one that has flown under the radar for a long time, so it has a certain cool and unique factor about it. And as with many names, it will soon lose a lot of it's negative tarnish and be considered cool again. People have already started comparing it to Archie, Alfie, Perry, Freddie, Artie and Charlie. Could Percy possibly be the next big thing in the nickname-as-name trend? I think it could.

Your Favourite Letter

Name Magnets Available from Three Button Designs

Most people put a lot of thought into naming their children, or characters in a story. Amongst the lists of "rules" that many people have when choosing names, choosing a name for its first initial - and consequently how the initials of their given names will work with their surname - is a consideration for most people. Here are some of the most common factors people care about in relation to initials:

• They don't want more than one person in the family to have the same first initial, to avoid confusion with mail, at school, on labelling etc
• They don't want all of their children to have the same first initial so they can avoid "Duggar Style" naming. Or Kardashian style naming for that matter.
• If the first two children have different initials, the third one can't have the same initial as the other two to avoid the one with the different initial feeling "left out"
• Conversely, they prefer all children to have the same initial - either because the first two happen to have the same one and they don't want subsequent children to feel like the odd one out, or because they like the children to have a common bond (beyond belonging to the same family)
• Perhaps the most important one - their initials must not spell out any undesirable words. i.e. Freddie Ulysses Kramer = not good.

However here's another thing worth considering - how would you feel if their first initial became their nickname? Some people deliberately choose first and second names to get a cute nickname, such as J.P. or D.J. On the other hand, others choose names specifically because they feel it doesn't have any usable nicknames. On first appearances, would you think Blair has any obvious nicknames? No? How about the character Blair on 'Gossip Girl'. Her best friend Serena calls her B, which further translates to her famous reputation as "Queen Bee".

This all crossed by mind the other day when dealing with someone at work who loves to use this method of nicknaming. Luckily my first name starts with B, which I think works well as a nickname. And I've heard him call a Helen "H", which I guess is OK. But I started to wonder when Felicity (Flick to most people) became "F". What do you think? Which letters work best for this style of nicknaming? And how would you feel about carefully choosing a name you love that seems to have no nicknames, only to have that name reduced to just a letter?

Azura

The Shrine of Azura in 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'

Azura is one of my favourite names. It is an elegant and understated name, without being snobbish or trashy. It also has a slightly exotic feel, which is largely thanks to its' "z". Azura is pronounced ah-ZYUR-ah, and is a form of the word French Azure, meaning 'blue'.

Azura may be a colour name, but could also be considered to be a gemstone inspired name. Have you ever seem some of the ancient jewellery from any Ancient civilisations, such as the Egyptians? You may have noticed a beautiful blue stone used for a lot of inlay work on various items, and in some of their most intricate jewellery. That blue stone is called Lapis Lazuli, which translates to 'stone of azure'. There is also a carbon mineral called Azurite, named for its similar clear, deep blue colour. Azurite has been used as a pigment in dyes and paints for centuries.

Both Azura and Azure are fairly rarely seen as given names, which seems strange considering it seems most people find them both to be very pretty names. I first became aware of it on actress Azura Skye. Yes, this combination literally means 'blue sky', a somewhat "hippy" sounding name, but the use of Azura makes it subtle and somehow magical. I'm not the only one who must think so, as at least one other parent gave this combination to their daughter according to one For Real Baby Names post last year.

The other variation of this name I've seen is Azhure, a major character in the fantasy novel series' "The Axis Trilogy" and "The Wayfarer Redemption". In fact, Azura has quite some presence in the fantasy world. She is The Lady of Twilight in the game 'The Elder Scrolls', a superhero in the Marvel comics universe (also known as Thena), a character in a Canadian fantasy animated TV show called 'Di-Gata Defenders'; and an island fortress in the game 'Gears of War 3'. This is great for people like me who love their fantasy and sci-fi names. But if fantasy isn't your thing, the name Azura also appears in the bible, as the wife of Seth.

Most Azuras love their name, and it's hard to find a lot of teasing potential for young girls named Azura. Possible nicknames if you're looking for one could be Az, Zuzu or Zulie. I'd be tempted to go with the simple but lovely Blue though (despite the possible Blue Ivy connection). As people are often looking for the next almost-fantasy-inspired but little-known "established" name,  Azura could possibly become a lot more popular once it is "discovered". My advice is, if you love it get in early before others cotton on to just what a gorgeous name it is and Azura becomes the next Aria/Arya or even Zelda.