Pixel & Other Technology Inspired Names

Pixel a.k.a. Pixie

A couple of months ago my brother and his wife bought a gorgeous new pet cat, who they named Pixel and nicknamed Pixie. It struck me as such a cute idea - my brother's a bit of a computer geek so Pixel was obviously his idea, but then they have a the cutesy name Pixie to use too. Plus, kittens and cats can often be mischievous little imps, just as pixies can be.

Then I turned on the TV today and lo and behold, what should I see but a cartoon called 'Pixel Pinkie'. It's an Australian show about two girls, one of who has a phone with a character called Pixel Pinkie in it that grants the girls wishes that then go terribly wrong. So chances are that this name would not seem to weird to children in today's world.

Considering 'Pixel Pinkie' this morning (which I took as a kind of sign) and the events in the past couple of weeks,  I figured today was the right time to profile Pixel as a name for a person. One of the events I refer to is the recent uproar created when it became known to the world that a baby girl was named Hashtag. The second is the report that the name Apple is also on the rise (for boys). When viewed together, many are once again claiming that "technology" names are an up-and-coming a trend. And if  the below stories and the comments they have attracted are any indication, this trend is not for everyone:

• Parents name baby 'Hashtag' & set her up for a lifetime of misery
• 'Hashtag' is just the beginning of ridiculous technology-inspired baby name trend
• Hello Hashtag? Parents give baby girl a Twitter-inspired name 

While I'm not personally a fan of Hashtag as a name (or Facebook, Like or Google, which have also been given to actual children), I'm not sure I see a massive problem here. People have often been inspired by famous figures, movies, books, characters, TV shows, current events etc when looking for names. If it's reasonable to think that Hurricane Sandy will spark a spate of Sandy related names, why couldn't the technology that we use every single day also provide inspiration for people?

The trick is to be a little more selective in how you do it - which means subtle and creative sounding. Hashtag and Google are too in-your-face. The reference is obvious, and they don't "sound" like names. They're not even creative variations on the names we already know and like. One of the reasons I love Pixel is because it is so closely related to Pixie, and sounds similar to several other established names such as Nyx, Nixie, Dixie and Trixie. It's cute for a girl, and could also work for a guy, especially if used with tougher sounding nickname Pix.

There are many other technology inspired names that could easily (or even at a stretch) meet this "subtle and creative" criteria. If you are intrigued by the idea of a technology age baby name but aren't sure where to start, here are my favourite ideas. Some are brands or companies, some are programs, some are languages, and some are just common terms. But all are names that aren't already well known "normal" ones that I think could pass with raised eyebrows rather than rolled eyes from your friends and family.

Acer
Adenine
Alef
Argus
Asus
Averest
Axum
Batch
Bing
Camino
Cel
Chrome

Poster for 'Pixel Pinkie'

Dart
Delphi
Esterel

Explorer
Euphoria
Fantom
Fortran
Haskell
Haxe
Jako
Java
Limnor
Linux
Lynx
Magma
Maple
Maquette
Matrix
Maxima
Mesa
Mirah
Neko
Nexus
Oriel
Perl
Pico
Quanta
Raster
Reia
Scala
Timber
Torrent
Unix
Vector
Vuze
Wistron
Zeno

Zimbra

Raviva

Miles (Diego Boneta), Daphne (Sarah Habel), Sophia (Michelle Ang),
Raviva (Ingbar Lavi) and Lou (Jared Kusnitz)

Are you watching the new MTV show 'Underemployed'? If you are, you will recognise Raviva as the name of one of the main characters. The show is about a group of young college graduates finding that they're not exactly taking the world by storm the way they thought they would. Raviva - played by actress Inbar Lavi) originally headed to LA to make it big in the music scene, only to discover that she is pregnant with her ex-boyfriend Lou's baby. So she returns to Chicago to have her baby (which she names Rosemary) and adapt her plans to the unexpected turn her life has taken.

My ears definitely pricked up when I first heard Raviva's name. The rest of the main cast are also nicely named - Sophia, Lou, Miles and Daphne - but Raviva (pronounced ruh-VEE-vuh) is the standout by far.

I can't really find any history on this name. There are a handful of people on facebook with the name, but that's about it. My best guess is that it's a cross between Ravi and Aviva. Ravi is an Indian name meaning 'sun', for the Hindu God of the sun. In India it is usually used for boys, but apparently in Thailand and Cambodia it is used mainly for girls. Aviva (based on Aviv) is a Hebrew name meaning 'springlike, fresh, dewy'. If we put these together I guess you could say the meaning of Raviva is something along the lines of 'sunshine in spring'. Such a happy and gorgeous image!

This could be said to be true of the character on 'Underemployed'. She's free-spirited, wild, passionate and she loves life. I wouldn't be surprised if this one pops up on the US charts (meaning it is given to 5 or more babies) in the next year or two. Raviva is a new name to keep your eye on.

Zared

By panyangitz at deviant art

As you may have been able to tell from some of my previous posts, I'm a bit of a fan of fantasy novels. One of my favourites is Sara Douglass. By a happy coincidence I found out that she was actually born in the same small country town as I was, which I thought was pretty special considering the town had a population of just 1,317 people at the time of the 2006 census. Sara sadly passed away last year of ovarian cancer at the age of 54, but hopefully her books will remain fantasy favourites for generations to come.

I love some of the names she has used in the novels of hers that I have read. I'll no doubt feature more of these in future posts, but today's name is one from The Wayfarer Redemption trilogy. This trilogy contains three books - 'Sinner', 'Pilgrim' and 'Crusader' - and follows on from the The Axis Trilogy. The character of Zared appears in this as an uncle of the hero of our story, although they are roughly the same age. One of the things I found appealing about this character is that the reader is often left questioning whether he is a "good" or "bad" man. Like several of the characters in this book, when a chapter is told from their perspective we see that he honestly believes that his actions are for the best, whereas when shown from another characters perspective we come to question his motives and personality. This adds an extra layer of dimension to a character, and makes them feel more like real people with real weaknesses to the reader.

Zared's name immediately caught my attention as a very cool name. To be honest I was convinced that this was a case of a fantasy writer taking a somewhat common name - in this case Jared - and jazzing it up with a Z to make it sound more fantasy like. Kind of the way I'm semi-convinced some futuristic/fantasy writers add an unnecessary Y, V or X to make names more "interesting".

So I was surprised to find that Zared is actually an old Hebrew name. There is a little contention as to what the name means. Most sources state that it means 'trap' or 'ambush', but I've also seen 'verdant, of strange descent', or that it means 'brook', as there is a brook called Zared (or sometimes Zered) in the Torah. As my name is Brooke, I can't help but be inspired to think that this would be an interesting way to honour any Brook's (or it's variants) in your family. Just a thought.

If you want to name your son Zared (or daughter, if you're feeling super adventurous) I have a feeling that you'd probably get similar reactions to my first ones. Although in my case the end result was "I love it", and if more people thought that there would be more Zared's in the world that there currently are. In the U.S. it first appeared on the charts - i.e. was given to five or more boys - in 1991. It has never been given to more than 9 boys in any one year. Jared meanwhile has been in the top 1000 every year since 1950, and was a top 100 name from 1975 to 2002. Another similar name is Zarek, which has also been a quiet presence since 1991, but each year has been given to about four times as many babies as Zared has been.

Zared has a lot of cool qualities which could potentially make it a very appealing name. It starts with a Z, which is often seen as a trendy "alternative" letter (think Zander rather than Alexander, Zeke rather than Ezekiel). It sounds like the long popular Jared, which is now falling as people look for a fresher alternative. But belying it's modern look and sound, Zared is a name with history and biblical connections. It may take a while, but I like to think we may see more of this name in years to come as more people "discover" it.