Say goodbye to Michael, Chris, Lisa and Jenny, and hello to Jaden, Aiden, Sophie and Kaylee.
The latter are some of the most popular names picked by new Calaveras and Tuolumne county parents in the past six years. A Union Democrat review of birth records dating from 2006 to 2011 found that the names reflect a national trend of parents picking or creating unique names and spellings for their offspring.
Picking a name is a decision every child will live with for the rest of his or her life, but it is often influenced by trends, traditions and the desire to be unique or meaningful.
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, the most popular baby names for boys nationally are — Jacob, Ethan, Michael, Jayden, William, Alexander, Noah, Daniel, Aiden and Anthony. The most popular baby names for girls are Isabella, Sophia, Emma, Olivia, Ava, Emily, Abigail, Madison, Chloe and Mia.
For babies born in Tuolumne County from 2006 to 2011, another trend is having two middle names, or a combined first name like Gracelynn and Ashlynn.
Names with alliteration are also popular now and the baby name list from the period 2006-2011 is full of babies named similar to Hailey Rae, Chloe Lee, Zoie Kay, Kelsey Faye, Daisy Mae and Cassie Dee.
Marie, Renee, Lynn and Ann are the most popular middle names by a landslide. For boys, modern names are typically followed by traditional middle names. Most Jesses born from 2006 to 2011 seem to be named after the famous outlaw and have the middle name James.
According to Tuolumne County recorder’s office records, between 2006 and 2011 about 1,720 girls were born and approximately 1,796 boys were born.
While the state of California has the final ruling on baby names, the County Recorder’s Office can ask parents to reconsider some names that will obviously be rejected by the state.
“I remember once a couple wanted to name their twin babies Syphillis and Gonorrhea, the state said no,” recalled longtime assistant County Recorder/Registrar Patsy Knox.
Names can not be more than 26 letters and cannot be a pictograph.
“The county may reject it, or the state may send them a letter that they have to rename the baby,” Knox said.
According to Sonora Regional Medical Center staff, a baby doesn’t have to be named by the time it leaves the hospital, but they ask parents to let them know the name within a week’s time. Some take longer to decide or contact the hospital.
Some parents spend months deciding what to name their baby, but many seemingly pick one right away, said marriage and family therapist Stacey Soares, of Sonora.
Angels Camp mom Harmony Skrobecky said that, during her first pregnancy, she spent seven months trying to pick a name before settling on Wyatt. She made lists and thought about possible repercussions the name could have on the child, like in the case of schoolyard teasing.
With her second two sons, she decided to keep short names, Kyle and Caleb, since their last name, Skrobecky, is so long, she said.
Sonora parent Riona Gerton and her husband liked the name Lily at first, but thought it was plain.
They settled on Lilyana Marie — a combination of Lily and Anna. Marie is the middle name of Riona and her other daughter.
“I knew there were a lot of ways to say it or spell it,” Gerton said of Lilyana. “We didn’t want people to shorten it and call her Anna.”
Lilyana will be 5 years old in May and her name, “definitely suits her personality.”
“She likes to dance, sing and is very outgoing,” Gerton said.
Soulsbyville-area mom Tammi Linder and her husband, Josh, melded two names for their daughter Aubree Cianna, 4.
Audrey and Rey were two names she and her husband couldn’t compromise on. “We were, like: fine, we’ll just mix them. We didn’t know Aubree was a name, we thought it was original.”
As for the middle name, she said her husband wanted Cindy and she wanted Anna, so they just combined the two.
“Aubree is a combination of Audrey and Rey, but my name is spelled Tammi, but usually it’s spelled Tami or Tammy,” Linder said. “I wanted it to be special and unique, so I took the ‘y’ off and added ‘ee’.”
The Linders went with a more traditional, yet modern, name for their 10-month-old son, Hunter.
“There’s hardly any original names you can make out of boy names. You can’t mix them. It was hard,” Linder said.
Murphys parent Chaitanya Massella said that, for first time parents, there can be some pressure in choosing a name.
He and wife Monique Hilfer named their daughter Soleil, which is French for sun. They’d once met a woman by that name and liked it. When their daughter was born on a Sunday on a solar eclipse, with red hair, it seemed apt.
Her middle name is Aiyana, which means, “forever flowering” in Hopi.
Their son, Bodhi Sky was named after the Bodhi tree Buddha was born under and means enlightenment.
Hilfer said they considered the meaning of the names, transferring the qualities to the child.
Name meaning was important to Angels Camp parent Keisi Arvin and her husband, when they decided on Keegan, a Gaelic name for “fiery one.”
They decided on it after searching through stacks of baby name books.
Ironically, one of the reasons they liked it was its uniqueness, though after he was born, they met other Keegans. There are multiple ways to spell the name, but they went with the easiest spelling.
The Arvins named their daughter Keiani, which means glorious chieftain.
Names with special meaning are significant to children, especially because children often ask what their names mean, said parenting class teacher Arleen Garland, of Infant/Child Enrichment Services.
“It lets them know you really thought of it, that you actually gave it some thought,” Garland explained. “It’s hard, you have to kind of set your own guidelines for yourself. You can’t please everybody.”
Garland explained some parents can’t agree on a name, or want to try to please other relatives. Parents also should consider what the child will think of the name.
Some families actually wait until the baby is born to see if the name they have chosen fits their new baby’s personality, she said.
Online relationship and advice columnist April Masini said many celebrity baby naming trends trickle down to ordinary people.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple. Comedian Sascha Baron Cohen and his wife Isla Fisher named their daughter Olive. British rocker Bob Geldof named his daughter Peaches. No doubt pop stars Beyonce and Jay Z will start a color craze having named their daughter, Blue Ivy, after not one, but two colors, Masini said.
“There’s so much pressure on new couples sometimes, especially from the extended family who’s expecting a first grandchild, to produce a perfect specimen of humanity, that the couple ends up fighting over the baby’s name and someone’s sleeping on the couch,” she said.
Sometimes it’s a first name, and sometimes it’s a last name. Lots of couples aren’t marrying, but are having babies, so usually one parent wants a traditional last name (the father’s), and one parent wants either the mother’s last name, a hyphenate or even a newly made up last name for all three of them (mom, dad and baby).
“Needless to say this goes over like a lead balloon and I get frantic posts on my website asking for help,” she said.
Masini makes the following recommendations to expectant parents:
• Compromise: He names one baby, she names the next one (or vice versa).
• Make a deal: She names the baby, he gets to keep his two-seater sports car.
• Lottery: They have a romantic dinner and dessert is followed by the top six names (three each) in a hat, and someone picks the winning name.
• Nickname: A legal name doesn’t have to be the nickname. Maxitrillion on the birth certificate can become Max in school and at home.
Contact Lacey Peterson at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
