Sable

Photo Courtesy of Lisa Visser Fine Art

When we think of Halloween, we think of nighttime and shadows. It's black bats, black cats, black birds and black spiders. And while I wouldn't necessarily recommend calling your child Black, names with dark meanings are a great way to give a nod to Halloween without being cheesy.

Sable fits the bill perfectly. It's dark and mysterious; attractive and strong - great for a boy or a girl. Sable is just that little bit different enough to get people's attention, but not weird enough to make them screw up their faces. And if you're looking for rare, look no further.

Pronounced SAY-bel, this name started as many names did, as a word name. Of Slavic origin, it comes from a small animal that was originally found in Russia, Poland and Scandinavia. It's fur has been highly valued since the early Middle Ages due to it's rich colour and glossy appearance. It is also a unique fur as it retains it's smoothness however it is stroked. The fur is how the word came to England, where it was a favourite among royalty. Henry VII was said to be a particular fan, decreeing that sable fur was only allowed to be worn by nobles.

It's unclear whether Sable originally meant black and was the name given to the animal because of the colour of their fur, or vice versa. It continued to be used as a name for black though, particularly in French and English heraldry.

Although I could see this as a name for either gender, so far it's usage has been mainly female. In the U.S. she charted sporadically until becoming a regular in 1984. It was further boosted by it's appearance as character Sable Scott Colby on 'Dynasty' spin-off 'The Colby's'. She was played by Stephanie Beacham, and in 1986 she boosted Sable to her highest position and one and only appearance in the US top 1000 to date. Other famous Sables include American jazz artist Sable Winters (love this name!) and American model and professional wrestler Sable.

It's not a name without it's problems - I could see a Sable being mistaken for Isabel a lot. And it rhymes with a lot of words, luckily most of them fairly innocuous though, such as table and cable. And hope that they don't have a long face, or kids could get quite creative with some stable jokes. But none of these are major red flags that should prevent a Sable from being quite happy with their name.

I have to admit to being strangely attracted to the intriguing Sable. Possibly it's due to its' sleek simplicity, or maybe its' noble mystique. Most likely it's both. What do you think?

Dragon Names

It's not unusual for people (especially name lovers) to name their toys. Sometimes the toymakers give us a helping hand and name their toys for us. It's hard to deny that we feel more emotionally connected to something that has a name, so this is probably a clever way to make us more inclined to buy a particular toy, even if we choose to give our own toys a different name.

Despite being an adult, I'm still a sucker for a cute stuffed toy. One brand in particular I love is the Nici brand, after my husband bought me one of their dogs a few years ago (I named him Ralphie because he's just so cute, sweet and innocent looking). Nici have quite a few ranges, but one I'm particularly in love with at the moment is their range of dragons.

All of the Nici dragons have some pretty unusual names, which I'm fairly sure have been invented to sound particularly dragon-ish. They're fiery and macho sounding, reminiscent of the environments in which they live. I'm not sure they'd all make great human names, but they're fun to think about.

Arkaai
Arkaai is a new dragon for 2014, a giant blue sea monster who rules the churning waters. To my ears, it sounds like it is composed of the roar a monster would make (Arrrr!), blended with the word Kai. Kai has different meanings in many languages, but perhaps the most commonly recognised is the Hawaiian (and Japanese) meaning of 'ocean'. There's also the element of 'ark' or 'arka' in there, which is the big ship Noah built to withstand the great flood. So all in all, it feels pretty fitting for a sea monster. Would you use it as a name? Probably not, although drop an "a" and Arkai might be more likely, considering Kai has been on the rise for a few years now.

Arock
Orange with red wings, Arock is the volcano dragon from the land of Magmania. He also has the "Ar" sound, this time combined with Rock, probably because volcanoes are made of rock. I like it's appearance, and the name in theory, but in practice it's a little difficult to get your tongue around.

Dracon
The sinister dragon from Dragonia, he's dark grey with red wings. There's always something about that "drac" sound that feels vaguely sinister and menacing, isn't there? Think Dracula, or Draco Malfoy from 'Harry Potter'. It's not a coincidence - Drac literally means 'devil' in Romanian, and in Latin it means - funnily enough - 'dragon'. Although Dracon sounds kind of "namey", personally I'd stick with Drake if I was going down this path.

Iwan
He is the blue, ball dragon from Dragonia, and has a quite different look to the other dragons. This is an interesting one, as it seems in earlier press releases he was called Ivan, but when the Magmania dragons were released he was definitely referred to as Iwan. Ivan has never been out of the top 400 for boys in the U.S, and also has a lengthy history of rare use for girls. Iwan however has only ever charted once, in the 50's. In Germanic (where the company Nici is based) and Slavic languages Iwan is pronounced EE-van and is a variant of Ivan, which is a form of the name John. Iwan also has a history as a Welsh and Cornish name, being a variant of Euan, Ewan or Owen, but pronounced EU-wan. One famous bearer is Welsh actor Iwan Rheon, of 'Misfits' and 'Game of Thrones' fame. Not sure who he is? Here's a synopsis from someone who may be his biggest fan.

Landogar
The red fire dragon from Dragonia. I'm not sure where this name came from - it seems it may be a breed of dog, or maybe a surname in some countries. Alternatively, if we follow the logic behind most of the other names on this list, it could be a combination of the name Lando with another growling sound. Lando is a diminutive of Orlando or Rolando, names meaning 'famous throughout the land'. Which Landogar would be, as one of the three ruling dragons of Dragonia. It's a bit much for everyday use, but would feel right at home in a video game or fantasy story.

Roorkh
Roorkh is the second new dragon for 2012. Blood red with black wings, he rules the wide sky and rugged lands. Again, it might be my imagination but it seems we have another dragon-like "roor" (or roar) as the basis for this name. It also sounds quite similar to the Irish name Roark, meaning 'illustrious and mighty'. Certainly that would be a good description for such a dragon. I'm not sure about this spelling - I think it was an attempt to distinguish it from the below dragon Thorke. I'd prefer Roark or Roarke, but Roorkh is definitely distinctive and fantasy-like.

Thorke
Thorke is the Green Dragon of Magmania. Besides Iwan, this is the name on the list that I think would work the best on an actual person. It sounds like the kind of name you could expect to see on a daytime soap character. Or maybe a Viking ship. It's likely that Thorke is a variation or Old Norse name Thorkell, or Thor, which mean 'thunder'. Thorke has history as a surname, and is also a character in the Italian comic series 'Dampyr'. That Thorke is a demon of the Black Dimension, giving this name quite a dark edge.

Twindrak
I find it a little disappointing that one of the coolest looking dragons has such an obvious and boring name. Twindrak is a blue, two headed dragon from the land of Magmania. Not too hard to see how they came up with this name. I can't ever see this being used for a person, but I guess stranger things have happened.

Zaria

Photo Courtesy of Unposed Kids Photography

Today's nature name Zaria was plucked from Waltzing More Than Matilda's debut book 'International Baby Names for Australian Parents', which is full of good ideas even if you're not in Australia.

Zaria has a few possible pronunciations, which include ZAHR-ee-ah (my favourite), ZAHR-yah; or zah-RY-uh. And just as she has multiple pronunciations, she also has multiple origins in Russian/Slavic, Arabic, Swahili and Hebrew.

In Russian Zaria (or Zarya) means 'dawn' or 'sunrise'. It may also have links to the Zorya, who in Slavic mythology are two (or three) guardian goddesses known as the Auroras. They represent the Morning Star and the Evening Star, the third one being the Midnight Star, who is sometimes omitted. They watch over the doomsday hound who would bring on the end of the world if his chain were to break.

This is not the only link Zaria has to Slavic mythology, either. Zaria (separate to the Zorya) is the goddess of beauty, who was known as "the heavenly bride" and associated with the morning. According to Wikipedia, people prayed to her at dawn and thought her to be "the brightest maiden, pure, sublime, honourable". She was also known as a water priestess who protected warriors and was invoked to protect against death in battle.

Another popular belief is that Zaria comes from the Arabic name Zahrah, meaning 'blooming flower'. Similarly, the Swahili name Zahra also means 'flower', giving this name a lovely floral connection that is far less literal than options like Flora or Fleur or the wide range of floral word names like Rose and Lily.

It's also possible that Zaria is a variant of Sarah, a Hebrew name meaning 'princess'; or perhaps Zara, meaning 'radiance'. Which brings us full circle back to the Russian association with sunrise.

Zaria fits in well with todays' namescape - a little less popular than Zara (who feels quite popular in Australia) but without the "dingoes took my baby" association we Australians have with the name Azaria. In the U.S she was positioned at #857 on the charts in 2012, putting her in company with names such as Lara, Sky, Alyvia and Elliot; all of which seem comparatively much more recognised and/or "trendy" at the moment. So she's popular enough to be liked by many, but not so commonly discussed that she feels like she's much more commonly used than she actually is. Anecdotally, much of it's American popularity seems to be amongst African Americans, as a nod to their African heritage via the Nigerian city of Zaria.

I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking that Zaria has a beautiful, lovely exotic sound and feel. I love the rich history and varied associations - it even has dual nature meanings! Zaria seems to me to be an understated name that nevertheless makes a statement, and a stylish one at that.