Apple, Kiwi, Lemon, Bananas, Annoying Orange, and Pear. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I was driving with Anneliese (7 years old) and Gracie in the car after dropping the eldest girl off at middle school and were on the way back home to get them onto the bus.  Out of nowhere, Anneliese deadpans:

“Sometimes people are just too nice.  It’s so annoying.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nice people annoy me.  You know, when people are ‘tooooooo niiiiice?’ That’s annoying.  It makes me want to slap them and then walk away.” *~*

“Why would you say that?”

“Boys.  All the boys that like me are SO NICE TO ME it’s annoying.  They’re mean and rude and silly until they decide they’re in love with me and then they’re so nice it’s annoying.”

::after picking my jaw up from the floor in my head:: “Would you rather they pull your hair? ‘Oh hey, I like you so I’m going to punch you in the face and get your attention that way! Maybe you’ll punch me in the stomach and that’ll mean you like me too!’ Is that what you want? Or is this better… ‘Oh Anna, I love you so I’m going to stop trying to yank your skirt and give you chocolate instead! I won’t hurt you anymore, I’ll just try to make your butt fat! But that’s okay, I’ll love you whether you’re fat or skinny!”

She collapsed into giggles, and kept asking me to play both sides of the annoying-nice/loving-nice fence.  I foresee very bad teen and college dating years.  She’s going to go after the bad boys, isn’t she?

*~*DISCLAIMER: The Mister and I do not go around slapping people, each other, or our children.  We don’t go around saying people are “too nice” and emphasize that people should be nice to each other and discourage violence.  Just sayin’.  ;-)

Unsurprisingly, given our shared outlook on things, Isadora Vega at Bewitching Baby Names has featured some absolute gems. But my favorites have to be:

• Icie — sweet and simple, but very seasonal — and it has that a la mode “-ie”
• Madrigal — I’m amazed this had passed me by until now, particularly as I sang in a madrigal group at school, and Abbey at Appellation Mountain featured it in 2008. Ah well. That’s the joy and pain of names! The word “madrigal” first entered the English language in the late sixteenth century as the name of a type of secular part-song for several voices, usually sung without accompaniment — and this remains its principal meaning today. The song had originated in Italy, where it was called a madrigale, and it derived ultimately from the post-classical Latin matricalis meaning “maternal,” “simple,” and “primitive,” deriving ultimately from mater “mother.” What a fabulous Pagan name, if there ever was one!
• Ulalume — the title of an evocative poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Very otherworldy.
• Virelai — a type of song or lyric poem originating in fourteenth century France. The usual British English form is Virelay, which is just as nameworthy. There’s also the Middle English Verelai and Verilay — although that is getting a bit close to Verily… not that that’s necessarily a bad thing…

Elea at British Baby Names and I also seem to share similar tastes. The wonderful names I’ve encountered there this year have been overflowing, but I warm to these most of all:

• Argantel – Breton girl’s name meaning “generous silver.”
• Argantlowen – Breton girl’s name meaning “joyful silver.”
• Elestren – Cornish for “iris.”
• Elowen – Cornish for “elm.”
• Finlo – Manx name meaning “white/blessed Lugh,” or the Manx form of Finley “white/blessed champion.”
• Gwenlowen – Breton name meaning “joyful white.”
• Izambro – a wonderful Victorian rarity, which Elea found in the 1847 BMDs. It would seem to be a variant of Isambard.
• Morgelyn – Cornish for “sea-holly”
• Orixa – the name of a plant, Orixa japonica, native to China and Japan. It also happens to be an alternative spelling of the Yoruba Orisha, described by Wikipedia as “is a spirit or deity that reflects one of the manifestations of Olodumare (God) in the Yoruba spiritual or religious system.”
• Zereth – another of Elea’s finds of 1847, Zereth is biblical and means “span.”

Abbey at Appellation Mountain‘s provided plenty food for thought as always, but these are the ones I think have the most Pagan hearts:

• Katniss — a name from the Science Fiction teenage novel The Hunger Games; makes a fresh change from the usual sci-fi girls’ names.
• Merrilees – a surname, borne by a British celebrity female chef called Merrilees Parker. Although it got a mixed reception at Appellation Mountain, I think it’s a great name, an interesting alternative to Anneliese.
• Sequioia – the only Sequoias we get in the UK are in arboretums, but they are widespread and beloved in America, and best known as “redwoods.” They take their name from a Cherokee called Sequoyah, who invented a syllabary for writing Cherokee.

From Lou at Mer de Noms, I particularly warmed to:

• Fortuné – the French form of Fortunatus.
• Swansea – well, if Chelsea can be used as a name, why not Swansea?
• Tellou – Lou’s French friend; in her case, it’s a pet-form of Estelle.

Zeffy at Baby Names from Yesteryear has also has many a gem. My favorites were:

• Ardalion – a saint, particularly now revered, it seems in the Russian Orthodox Church; it is from the Greek ardalion “water-pot,” and “water-trough.”
• Ozro – the marvelously named Bladen Ozro Capell (1897-1959) brought Ozro to my attention. Its a curious name, of uncertain derivation, and one I intend to investigate more thoroughly in the new year. Is it a form of the biblical Ozer, or Russian Ozero? Or does the fact it says Ozra on his gravestone offer a clue? We shall see!
• Tiece — a medieval French woman’s name.

Dorcas at Names from the Dustbin likewise has many a gem; these are the ones which sparkled most for me:

• Betzabel — I agree with Dorcas that this is probably a variant of Bathsheba, possibly Occitan or Provençal (since that’s where Elizabeth — the biblical Elisheba, which shares the same second element as Bathsheba turned into Isabel).
  
• Creedence — apparently there’s a band of the name; and while I shy away from this spelling, I do think Puritan Credence has distinct possibilities.
  
• Fenway – to what extenct Fenway is associated in America with the Red Sox outside Boston I honestly can’t say; but in the UK I doubt there are many that would make the connection.
• Freelove – this Puritan museum piece didn’t have quite the same sentiments behind it as the 1960s take on it!

Kristen’s Marginamia is aways a visual feast as well as a treasure trove of distinctive, off-beat names. Narrowing down to just a few is difficult!

• Boheme — I didn’t know Girl’s Gone Child until the names of her twins were announced, and it was at Marginamia I read about it first!
• Luumu –Finnish for “plum”
• Rosegold — we have Marigold, why not Rosegold? Especially for those with Welsh connections, as rose gold is particularly associated with the land of song (and Russia).
• Spindle — immediately conjures images of fairy tales and spindle trees. I hadn’t considered it before, but when I saw it at Marginimaia, I thought, yup, that could work.
• Valo — the beautiful name of one of Kristen’s daughters, meaning “light” in Finnish (and “eight” in Malagasy).
• Verabel — seems to be just a combination of Vera and -bel; Verabel is best known as an American artisan jeweler.
• Vrai — “true” in French. Gorgeous.

Rowan at Eponymia has also provided me with lots of name inspiration — it’s been a particular joy browsing all those Olympic lists! Again, there’s been so many interesting discoveries, but these are my picks:

• Badou — a Gambian name; I think I like names ending in “oo” even more than those in “o”!
• Cadeau — French “gift”; very much a “why not?” kind of name…
• Crake  – best-known as the corn-crake today, the word was once used — and can still be found — as a dialect word in parts of the North of England meaning “raven.”
• Draško – a Slavic name, arising as a pet-form of names with the element dorgu meaning “precious.”
• Siarhei — the Belorusian form of Sergei.

Sarah’s For Real Baby Names is always a source of inspiration and delight, where I get many a thrill from seeing unusual names actually being used out there — for real — as well as joy in adding new names to my collection! These are just some the gems I’ve added this year from For Real:

• Geo — presumably inspired by the use of the prefix geo- forming words like geography and geophysics, it defiitely falls into the “why not?” category, especially for Nature lovers and Gaiaists. The prefix derives from the Greek gê “Earth.” Geo also works as a short-form of George…
  
• Monet — the surname of the great French impressionist; soft, cultural and still quite unisex. Nice.
• Renegade — I do like a good “word name,” and I love this one. Makes a great alternative to Maverick.
• Tutu — whether its the ballet skirt or the South African bishop commemmorated here (or even the class of a degree), I warm to Tutu; it’s got that same chirpiness as names like Lilou and Lulu, and particularly makes a great, quirky middle name.

And last, but by no means least, Anna at Waltzing More than Matilda introduced me to some of Australia’s quirky innovations:

• Alira, Alirah — almost certainly an Australian take on Aleera, a name which featured in the 2005 film Van Helsing, which, for some reason, has recently captured the Australian imagination.
• Colebee — I love the “-bee” ending! A suburb of Sydney, named after a nineteenth century Aboriginal guide.
• Kirrily — an Ozzie innovation, probably in essence a variant on Kerry-Lee, but there are some nice Maori and Aboriginal options which may have inspired the spelling.
• Taiga — actually Japanese, I love this name’s meaning and sound — pronounced both the Japanese and English ways.

What delights will 2012 bring? I can hardly wait! Happy New Year!

Score one for Mommy’s Instincts and score one for listening to your six year old when she tells you she thinks she needs to have something checked out.

Let’s also score one for our insurance because all I have to pay is the exam copay.  The glasses are completely covered and we don’t have to pay a dime out of pocket.  She picked out the sweetest pair of purple glasses with little flowers on the sides.  Anna is very excited about getting them and not at all nervous.  She was very disappointed that she couldn’t take home a “working pair” today.  She says she’s looking forward to seeing better and “looking cool geek.”  She’s also excited that she’ll “get to be more like Mommy.”    And it turns out that a couple of her friends and other classmates at school wear glasses so there isn’t any sort of social stigma to wearing them.  That’s a huge bonus.

Of course as soon as Gracie heard that Anneliese was getting glasses and was about to choose frames we heard her pipe up,

“Mommy! I’m seeing fuzzy! I need a big eye test!”

Silliness aside, I did schedule an eye exam for both Gracie and Juliana for next Friday after school.  Hopefully neither of them need glasses but there’s a good chance that Juliana needs them, and I’m doubtful that Gracie needs them.  She’ll be heartbroken if she doesn’t, the weirdo.

Coat of Arms of Scotland; Image via Wikipedia

At first glance, she seems invented – maybe even misspelled.  But she’s actually an obscure Scottish option.

Thanks to EK for suggesting the intriguing Merrilees as our Baby Name of the Day.

For every name that comes out of nowhere and climbs steadily into the Top 100, there are others that come out of nowhere and go … nowhere.  Or not enough of a somewhere to make it into our collective treasure trove of given names.  Samantha is a good example of an invented name that feels like it has always been with us; Merrilees is a great example of the opposite case.

My first impulse was to check if Merrilees was a smoosh of Mary and Lee or Lisa, possibly influenced by Anneliese.  In some cases, that guess is probably right – I’ve found women named Marilee, and her similarity to the word merrily would probably appeal to some parents.

But what explained the spelling?  I was stumped, until I realized that Merrilees is sometimes spelled Mirrlees.

Mirrlees, with several variant versions, was a Scottish place name.  It is part of the West Lothian council district today, and Mirrlees has all but disappeared from the map.  She lingers on in small places – a street in Glasgow, another in Stockport.  It’s a mystery exactly where Mirrlees comes from – I thought she might be Pictish, but if she is, her origins are lost to time.

She’s also a surname, and is worn by a few notable figures, with various spellings, in both the first and middle spots:

• Scottish economist and Nobel Prize recipient Thomas Mirrlees;
• Chef/television personality Merrilees Parker;
• J.B. Mirrlees, a co-founder of the engine manufacturing company that would become known as Mirrlees Blackstone – and, given its production facility in Stockport, probably also inspired the street name.

The name’s most notable bearer might be Hope Mirrlees, the visionary writer known for 1926′s Lud-in-the-Mist.  Her fantasy novel isn’t set in Scotland, exactly, but a fictional place called Dorimare, just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Faerie land.  Do faeries make good neighbors?  At least in the novel, things are tense.  The residents of Dorimare initially tried to deny the existence of faeries, even though everyone knows it isn’t just a tale.  Instead, eating fairy fruit is a crime and it’s just plain bad taste to speak about the neighbors.  Then the mayor’s son takes a bite of the forbidden fruit, and their quiet little world is forever changed.

There are two additional literary uses that might appeal:

• Sir Walter Scott used the name Meg Merrilies for a gypsy in Guy Mannering, his 1815 bestseller.  Meg was based on a real figure;
• The poet John Keats heard about Scott’s figure, and based his own poem, “Meg Merrilies” on Scott’s character.

All together, Merrilees is a rarity, even an oddity – there’s just not much like her, even though she sounds an awful lot like some very popular monikers.  If you’re after an obscure Scottish appellation with literary overtones, then Merrilees might just be the name you’re seeking.

Image via Wikipedia

She’s a medieval rarity that would be right at home in today’s Top 100.

Thanks to Christina for suggesting Annora as our Baby Name of the Day.

Between the seventh and thirteenth centuries, a quartet of popes used the name Honorius.  There were also two saints, a Roman emperor, and possibly a medieval magician, too.

Honorius shares his roots with the Latin honorem, the source of our word honor.  Variant Annora surfaces in the Middle Ages:

• Annora of Saint-Valéry married Robert III of Dreux in the 1100s.  Her name is also given as Aenor, which links the name to Eleanor and suggests that more that one name might’ve contributed to Annora;
• Maud de Braose, Lady of La Haie and an heiress in her own right, married a powerful baron and defended their lands.  She also incurred the wrath of King John and paid with her life.  Among her sixteen children were daughters called Flandrina, Loretta, and Annora, who entered religious life;
• In the thirteenth century the Scottish Earl of Buchan gave the name to his fifth daughter and youngest child, though the girls’ names are listed inconsistently.  Elizabeth is also Elizabetha, Emma is sometimes Agnes, and Annora appears as Margaret, too.  I’m not sure if that’s due to inconsistent recordings, or a difference between their baptismal names and those used in daily life;
• But the real story of Annora’s endurance has to do with the Pierrepont family.  Sir Henry Pierrepont’s ancestors were part of the Norman invasion.  Henry married Annora de Manvers, heiress to Holme, a town near Nottingham, England, in 1281.  Holme Pierrepont has been the village’s name ever since, and you can still visit the family’s ancestral home, pictured above.

In fact, the Pierreponts should get credit for preserving Annora:

• In the early nineteenth century the 2nd Earl Manvers named his daughter Annora Charlotte.  She married Charles William-Wynn;
• In 1853, the 3rd Earl – Annora’s brother – named his daughter Emily Annora Charlotte;
• Maud Annora Williams-Wynn married Lord Harvey of Tasburgh in 1920.  I’m not positive of the connection, but there’s that name again, still standing, just like Holme Pierrepont.

Honora and Honoria are also in use.  Honoria has a particularly distinguished history, from Ancient Rome to the novels of Charles Dickens and PG Wodehouse.  Annora could succeed because she fits with so many trends:

• She’s a virtue name, as gentle as the Top 20 Grace, but distinctive without venturing into the new-agey vibe of choices like Serenity;
• There’s always a place for Ann names.  Hannah and Brianna had their day. Annabelle, Anneliese, and frilly Lilianna are current now.  Annora can even feel like an elaboration of Anna;
• Nora has made a comeback, but some parents are debating if Eleanor is the right formal name, or if Nora can stand alone.  Annora is a nice compromise; it is also a smoosh of Ann and Nora, if you’re trying to honor two grandmothers;
• Lastly, let’s not forget impact of starbaby Honor – she and daddy Cash with their trend-setting noun names could prompt more parents to flip to Annora in their baby name book.

But mostly, Annora remains undiscovered.  That’s good news if you’re looking for something a little bit different that your daughter won’t have to share, something traditional that isn’t common.  She could also serve as culture-spanning choice – remember the Arabic Noor?  Anura is a variant form.

With nicknames from the cute Annie to the elegant Nora, her medieval pedigree, and a great, undisputed meaning, Annora makes for that most elusive of finds: a truly wearable rarity.

Get best deal Anneliese Bench at present. Low Price guarantee, Check the price Anneliese Bench now before the time runs out !

Anneliese Bench

Anneliese Bench : 4352 The Bank traditionally inspired wooden Wayborn is the perfect piece for rooms of worship, halls and corridors is. Anneliese With the theme of this piece has incredible hand-carved details. This beautiful wooden bench is handy and be sure to get a few talented connect ‘to the room together. Features: Anneliese main theme of hand-carved wooden bench completely finished dimensions: 39”W x 21”D 44”xa with a smooth surface H-shaped. – Anneliese Bench (Check price before time runs out !!)

Anne Marie d'Orléans, duchess of Savoy, Image via Wikipedia

She’s a traditional compound name, but she’s fallen out of favor in recent years.

Thanks to Stephanie for suggesting Annemarie as Baby Name of the Day.

The challenge with Annemarie, or Maryanne, or most compound names, is that they’re not recorded in a consistent fashion.  Mary was the #1 name given to baby girls born in the US from 1880 into the 1940s, and again from 1953 to 1961.  But doubtless many of those Marys answered to Mary Anne or Mary Sue or Mary Beth or Mary Ellen.  Ann and Anne also spent decades in the Top 100.  Anna was a Top Ten choice into the 1920s.

So while we know that Annemarie peaked at #500 in 1968, and only appeared in the US Top 1000 between the 1950s and 1980s, that says nothing about girls named Anne Marie or Anne-Marie, who would’ve been counted as just Anne, at least in the US.

Many compound names with Anne in the first place tend to lean German.  Think of Annegret or Anneliese.  While the French normally put Mari- first – and Marianne is the personifcation of the French state – there’s something vaguely français about this name.  (Though Annemarie is as rare in Paris as she is in Portland.)

Maybe it is because of a few early bearers of the name:

• Born into the French royal family, Anne Marie d’Orléans was Queen of Sardinia and grand-mère to Louis XV of France;
• The Blessed Anne-Marie Javouhey was born in the late eighteenth century.  She’s remembered for helping priests hide during the French Revolution, for her humanitarian work in Africa, and ultimately for founding the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny.

More modern references include:

• Oscar-nominated French costume designer Anne-Marie Marchand;
• Anne-Marie Walters was a World War II spy, code name Colette;
• The current queen of Greece is Danish-born princess Anne-Marie;
• A minor X-Men character is called Anne-Marie Cortez;
• There’s also fictional Anne-Marie, Lady Byrne, from the BBC’s Holby City;
• Two actresses wear the name – Anne-Marie Duff was Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen, and Anne-Marie Johnson was Althea Tibbs on In the Heat of the Night.

Today, you might expect Annemarie to be your mom’s friend from church .  But compound Ann- names are having a resurgence.  The US Top 1000 for 2009 included Annabelle (#156), plus Annabel, Anabelle, Anabella, and Annabella, as well as Annalise (#648).

Other variants of Anneliese, are often heard on message boards, along with an infinite number of ways to spell Anna Lee, from Annaleigh to Annalie to Analy.  (Need I add that this is good place to opt for the double n spelling?)  Annabeth got a boost from the tween novels and film adaptation of Percy Jackson & the Olympians.

Overall, Annemarie is a smoosh composed of two flawless, evergreen names.  She’s just the tiniest bit dated today, but she’s far from unwearable.  In fact, with all of the Annabelles out there, she might be just a few years away from a comeback of her own.

Creating delicious apple juice at St Nick's Apple Day, 16.10.10

… and apple haiku writing, which was my preserve.

This way for my apple haiku workshops!

It was all go on the apple haiku front! Visitors wrote a total of 42 haikus in 3 hours – which I work out to be about one haiku every 4 minutes! They were written in 4 languages (English, Italian, Spanish and French) by people ranging from a 4-year-old girl to a retired professor. Some haiku writers came from down the street, others from across the world, including as far afield as Minnesota, USA and Argentina!

The highlight of the day for me was when my Mum was announced the winner of the prize for the most beautiful apple pudding! Richly deserved!

It was great to see friends there from our local Fulford Community Orchard, with an array of  jams and chutneys made from the orchard’s apples,  plums and pears.

Congratulations to all haiku writers (most of whom were complete novices), and to everyone at St Nick’s (especially Ivana) for putting on such an enjoyable and worthwhile event.

Some Apple Day haikus at St Nick's, York, 16.10.10

If you fancy some community haiku writing for your event, email me!

Anneliese Emmans Dean – www.theBigBuzz.biz

the first episode is full of interviews, featuring Baby Blue and Dj Insite, with magic from Steve Mac and a live performance by Sharlene Klarice

TAZ, nicknamed ‘The Black Simon Cowel’ even goes through his favourite mixtapes of the month, including my personal favourite, Jimmy Screech‘s Yard Food

I love watching her eat, maybe I will say more about that sometime, but I do love it.  What she likes is laughing at me.  I don’t know what it is, but I can’t eat lunch without getting something on my shirt. Every meal at some point ends up with something on my shirt. It’s happened so often now that it’s a joke. So I ordered tomato soup with basil. It was delicious, and I was very careful. 

I managed to spill a drop of soup on my arm. I managed to drop some on my salad. But It wasnt until the very end of the meal, but I dropped one single drop that caught the edge of the table and two tiny drops, each no bigger than a period, reached my white shirt. DAMN. So she won.

The soup also have feta cheese sprinkled on the top and she told me to eat all of that away because she hated it and wanted a taste of my soup.  No problem.  But when she took a taste, there must have been a tiny piece of cheese there.  She got a look on her face that made me laugh out loud. I thought she was going to wretch.  Sorry I though it was funny. I felt bad but she was cute. I’ve never seen such a strong reaction to a little bit of cheese. 

We talked and had a great time. One of her friends came an sat with us for just a moment and she introduced us. She refers to me as here “Dayboyfriend”. I like it.  That’s one of the things about Anneliese I love, she is just so charming.  She has a way of making you feel so important, and I dont want to be called a friend. Nothing against that, but it’s just so bland a title for what we are. What we are? That’s another topic I need to cover.

As we were leaving she asked me why I was with her. It was not a serious question, more a comic aside. But that is “the” question and it has no simple answer.

Wrote that during a time I though I would never see her again.

Watch our preview video here!

Buzzing! at the Edinburgh Fringe, 9-14 August at the Royal Botanic Garden

You can find out more, and book your tickets now from edfringe.com. Or telephone 0131 226 0000.

Musician John Rayson will be coming with me to perform live music in the show, and I’m particularly excited as I’ve found the perfect place to perform Buzzing!: the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh!

We will be performing in a stunning, brand new building at the Botanic Garden. It’s called the John Hope Gateway, and it only opened last Autumn. Ours will be the first Fringe show ever to be performed there!

So, do come along and be amazed, amused and afraid by our Buzzing! show … and then walk out into the fabulous botanic gardens that await you right outside!

Book your tickets now from edfringe.com, or telephone 0131 226 0000.

Stop press: How did our run go? Find out here

She says: We have the middle names for both, Luke and Clara, but we need first names. For the boy we like Alexander, Salim, Matthew, Gabriel and Edwin and for the girl we like Beatrix, Amelia, Eliza, Rachel, Mildred and Katrina, but we’re not sold for any of them.

Hannah didn’t say anything about the type of name she likes, other than she wants them to have nicknames, so I tried to find  patterns. For the boy names I found that each name has an “a” in it (other than Edwin), so I looked for names that had “a” in them:

Andrew, Arthur, Charles, David, Donald, Edward, Harvey, James, Joshua, Marshall, Maxim,  Michael, Nicholas, Patrick, Richard, Ronald, Thomas, William.

Their nicknames (in order respectively):

Andy, Art, Charlie, Dave, Donny, Ed, Jim, Josh, Marsh, Max, Mike, Nick, Tricky, Rich, Ron, Tommy, Will.

For the girls names I did the same thing and found that each name had an “i” (except Rachel) so I looked for names with the letter “i”. Here’s what I found:

Alice, Anneliese, Caroline, Catherine, Edith, Elizabeth, Genevieve,  Irene, Isadora, Josephine, Lillian, Louise, Lucille, Marjorie, Miriam, Nellie, Nicole, Patricia, Victoria, Virginia, Zina.

Their nicknames (in order respectively):

Ali, Annie (Lisa, Lee), Carrie, Cathy (Cath, Kate, Katie), Edie, Beth (Betty, Betsy, Ellie), Gen (Eve), Ree, Isa (Izzy, Dora), Josie (Effie), Lilly (Lily, Lia), Marge, Mary, Nell, Nikki (Nicky), Trish (Pat), Vicky (Tori), Vi, Zea.

Congrats!!

This is probably the last show i’m going to review for this month, so I thought I would end May on a high note with Amnesia Amnesia’s final performance all the way in their home of Belleville, Ontario with Anneliese, King Cobra, Moira Darling, Aimless Endeavor and Longshot. The entire day for me was a pretty big adventure, as I normally don’t travel so far for shows. Normally the farthest I go is Toronto, which is epic in itself, but going all the way to Belleville was a treat. It is honestly one of the most beautiful cities i’ve ever been too.

For the most part this show was mix of the Hardcore Punk revival sound, and the newer Hardcore/Post-Hardcore kind of stuff. It was kind of a weird mix, but it surprisingly meshed together very well. The night was a very steady progression from meh to balls to the wall fucking insane, which is generally rare at a show i’ve found thus far. Usually its a mix of good and not so good bands, but I will say that every band that played that night knew what they were doing and can definitely put on a good show. Albeit sound wise some of said bands were lacking in that department.

The show was held at The Parkdale Community Center, which was in the middle of a giant field surrounded by neat little houses. It was actually one of the coolest places i’ve visited so far for a show, very reminiscent of the show I attended in Lindsay, just, ten times better. It was very organized, which is easily one of the most important things to have at these smaller shows. Apparently the head count was around 200 though, a definite accomplishment for Amnesia Amnesia and the other bands that played.

Speaking of bands that played, first up was Longshot from Ajax, Ontario. I was very curious to hear what these guys sounded like in their second incarnation of Zombie Riot sans Tristan, and I have to say I was alittle disappointed with the result.

Longshot consists of Kurt on Vocals, James on Bass, Jordan on Guitar and Mitch on Drums. I never saw Zombie Riot live, so I can’t really make a comparison between the 2 bands as a live performance. Sound wise, it is fairly the same as what Zombie Riot produced as a band, and what I reviewed on their EP We Were Wrong back in April. There were a few new tracks I caught, but they were fairly similar to the pre-Longshot songs.

In our scene, Longshot is one of the figureheads of the Hardcore Punk revival, which I have fairly mixed feelings on. Personally I think it would be better to try and create something new, instead of bringing back something from 30 years ago, but I still respect the ethic and message behind old school Hardcore. I don’t know if said ethics and messages are relevant to this day and age though, as even the creators of original Hardcore have said themselves; “It’s dead, stop trying to bring it back.” I still enjoy the sound personally though, if it is executed properly I.E. King Cobra.

Longshot put on an energetic show though, and props to them for that. I did not find their sound very appealing though, especially vocals via Kurt. After a few songs it was clear to me that Kurt is nowhere near the range of Tristan vocally; Love him or hate him, Tristan could put on a great show, and from what I heard on the EP Zombie Riot did, his vocals are superior. Kurt live is alittle inconsistent, and incredibly repetitious. The “WOP WOP” high pitched belts he was producing were not appealing in any sense. Guys, lose that vocal style, please.

The instrumentals were decent I might add. I would say that so and so and this and that was repetitious, but Hardcore Punk is generally a repetitious form of music. It was executed well though, and for Longshot as a performance, it was definitely the redeeming factor of their set.

Also for the future guys, it might be a smarter idea to sell your shirts online or some way else, because that was the reason EVERY band that played after you kept calling you Zombie Riot.

Aimless Endeavor was up next, all the way from Ottawa! They were a definite change in sound from the previous band Longshot, playing more of a modern Hardcore sound, with synth too. The synth I felt was completely and utterly useless, as they only used it a few times throughout their set.

Aimless Endeavor consists of Ivan on Drums, JJ and Joe on Guitar, Wes on Bass and James and Waylon on Vocals/Synth. For the most part I enjoyed Aimless Endeavor’s set, but there were a few things that irked me, specifically the dual vocals. It basically seemed like one of the singers, the one who can actually sing aswell, was doing 3 times more work than the other dude was just screaming here and there and playing a few keys on the synth whenever. The synth I think could be a really cool aspect of these guys if they had one single person dedicated to it, instead of 2 people doing a 1 person job. I was actually heavily reminded of Charge the Gates when I heard and watched these guys, and they had the same problems that Aimless Endeavor has minus the 2 singers.

I think Aimless Endeavor would be much better with only the 1 singer, and have the other dude play the synth and throw in a scream here or there, or completely axe the synth in general along with the dual vocals. It really makes the music sound “crowded” if that makes any sense, as it is not layered very well. I do think these guys are very talented though, and they have potential to become a very prominent band. This is just my oppinion though, there will definitely be people who completely disagree.

The clean vocals I was expecting to be sub-par, but they were infact amazingly executed. Even the growling that the multi-talented vocalist did was good. The instrumentals were really tight, especially whoever was doing leads. The light show I wasn’t a big fan of personally, along with the smoke machine. It just seems like something a cheesy metal band would do, or Abandon All Ships.

Hopefully I can check out Aimless Endeavor again in the future though!

So far we’ve had a Hardcore Punk revival band, a Electronic Hardcore band, and now we have Moira Darling. When these guys came on I had no idea what to expect from them. At first glance I was expecting some form of heavy metal music, but I was actually treated to something much better. These guys had a really sick old school ETID/dare I say Glassjaw with a southern twist type sound, that I was NOT expecting. It was for the most part, a step up in terms of song writing and creativity at this show, and I knew that the rest of the show would only be just as impressive as Moira Darling’s set.

Moira Darling consists of Chris on Vocals, Chris on Bass, Joel and Chris on Guitar and Jeff on Drums. So many Chris’s and names that begin with J.

As a live performance, these guys had it all; Great stage presence, captivating songs, and they also knew how to get the crowd into them, which is something alot of bands fall short on. Moira Darling was also a native Belleville band, so they probably had fans prior to the show, but i’m positive they have converted some new ones. Its awesome to see that out there, musicians are actually writing amazing music that isn’t layered with 7 breakdowns in a row. I need to move here, for real.

This was the part of the show where I realized almost everyone was using that 5150 Peavey head, which is infamous for the “djent” sound [djent is stupid btw, stop using that word people] To my knowledge at least, I know at this show specifically I was hearing that tone a shit load of times, in nearly every band that played after Longshot. It’s awesome though, I would love to pick one up myself, but like everything else on the planet, they are expensive as balls.

Got off topic alittle bit there! But Moira Darling is definitely a musical act worth checking out and seeing live. I am fairly positive they are doing a show in Toronto sometime soon, I will definitely trek out to see these guys again, and so should you! They have a track up on their Myspace you can check out, and as always, I will post the link to their site at the end of the review. Of course you can just skim to the bottom and go look now…but, don’t do that, read the rest of the review!

I have talked alittle bit about the Hardcore Punk revival in this review; In my honest oppinion, King Cobra is the perfect example of the RIGHT way musicians have approached this. Still a strong punk rock ethic, mixed with modern Hardcore elements. Not to the point where either of these things are overdone, or not done enough, like one of the bands that has been reviewed so far.

King Cobra is Randall and Ricky on Guitars, Garth on Vocals, PJ on Bass and Aedan on Drums! King Cobra seems to be a fairly popular band these days, appearing on ALOT of bills around Ontario; Last night I was there to witness why. They were one of the most energetic bands of the night, and they were able to get the crowd really involved with their music, which alot of the opening bands had alittle trouble with.

Like I mentioned before, King Cobra are approaching the HCP revival properly with a nicely blended integration of old and new. When you are digging up the grave of a musical corpse, and trying to poke hooks through its limbs to try and make some kind of terrifying genre ventriloquist dummy, you really have to think of a way to properly blend it into the music scene of the now, instead of helplessly holding on to a form of music that is no longer relevant to people. You can always argue “old school or no school” but what it really boils down to is creativity and execution, and even in the past 10 years music has made huge advancements in sound and in structure.

I just realized how terrifying ventriloquism REALLY is. I’m sorry I used that as a metaphor, also defiling graves is wrong too!

But back to King Cobra, these guys put on an amazing show that I will not soon forget. Their cover of Enter Sandman by Metallica was surprising to say the least, but i’m glad it wasn’t a “traditional cover” but more of a satirical one. Obviously every Metallica song needs 5 less minutes and 5 more breakdowns.

You can catch King Cobra out and about Ontario, go visit their Myspace for dates!

This next band was my absolute personal favorite of the night [save for maybe Amnesia Amnesia] they were a complete surprise in terms of sound and basically everything else. This band is called Anneliese. These dudes had a surprisingly and pleasantly might I add, Sludgey sound that I haven’t heard since KTO’s last show. Sound wise though, Anneliese takes the fucking cake, and they are all the nicest dudes on Earth.

Anneliese is Patrick on Vocals, Mike on Guitar, Dylan on Bass, and Mike on Drums. They also provided the incredibly limited Amnesia Amnesia shirts that were up for purchase at the last show, I was lucky enough to grab one! Along with a sweet Anneliese shirt.

Onto the performance though!

Most of the bands that played lacked that sense of danger you sometimes get when you watch a band play, that sort of destructive sense that radiates off of the stage. I haven’t had that feeling since the last time I saw one of my all time favorite bands I Hate Sally play at The Dungeon back in 07 and 08. With Anneliese, that feeling came hurdling back at me like a pointy nostalgia spear right through the brain.

Vocalist Patrick was not shy with the crowd, grabbing, pushing and kicking whenever he had the chance. Not in a mean sense, or a “IM GON FUCK YOU UP” kind of way, but more of a playful “get into our music or I will destroy you” way! As far as I know, they had a fill in bassist or a completely new guy playing with them, and he was as insane as Pat in terms of stage presence. I was able to take a video of one of their songs, and that will do the talking for me. If you ever get a chance to see Anneliese, TAKE THAT CHANCE.

The sound is as far as I can describe, kind of like a Metalcore meets Sludge sound, which is RIGHT up my alley. It may not be for everyone, but it is definitely fresh and well written enough for anyone with a taste in music to appreciate. The crowd at AA was definitely feeling Anneliese though, and even demanded an encore after their last song, but being the nice guys they are, Anneliese knew it was Amnesia Amnesia’s night and they didn’t want to take the spotlight away. And I think they had played all of their songs. It was also sweet to hear Anneliese’s cover of The Ace of Spades by Motorhead, a legendary song in its own rite, and a well executed cover. It seems like the 80′s were quite alive in Belleville that night.

Needless to say, Anneliese was one of the most impressive bands of the night, and I will be following them closely and basically turn into their creepy number 1 fan with the home made shirts.

The band of the night, Amnesia Amnesia is up next, and for the last time at that. These dudes booked the whole show to my knowledge, and rounded up a bill of bands that they have toured with in the past or have played with in general that have had some kind of impact on them. For Amnesia Amnesia as well as the people in attendance, it was a very special and meaningful night, and also a sad night.

Amnesia Amnesia consisted of Jordan on Bass, Shayne and Graham on Guitar, and Jayson on Drums. They are not an instrumental band, but you could say for their final show they had 2 fill in singers that covered various points of their career as a band. For their old songs, they had Todd, who really represented a completely different side of this band, a sound that was still growing into what it ended with that night. For their newer songs from their EP The Eating Disease, they had Dev from the band Fox Fight, who came all the way from Tillsonburg, Ontario for this show.

The show started off with an older incarnation of Amnesia Amnesia, which you could tell from the overall sound, the vocals, and the way the members played. It was definitely a less matured sound than what is featured on The Eating Disease, but good none the less. They played quite a few songs from the EP VS The Bear as far as I know, and it was awesome to see most of the crowd singing along with former vocalist Todd. With any band, you will always have divided fans; some like old, some like the new, and then you have the diehards who like it all. The crowd tonight was definitely full of all of the above.

Unfortunately half way in, bassist Jordan’s bass amp gave out, so there was a fairly long pause in between songs. So far every last show I have attended has had some sort of technical difficulty, maybe i’m just bad luck or something? hahaha

Anyways, while Jordan tried fixing his amp and getting power back, the rest of the band bought time by talking to the crowd, thanking the audience and bands for showing up and playing, and even some free stylin‘

Once power returned, Amnesia Amnesia finished up their set with Todd, and gave him a proper send off while they tuned down for material featured on The Eating Disease with Dev of Fox Fight filling in for their recently departed vocalist, Tyler.

This is the other side of Amnesia Amnesia, and my personal favorite at that. The music displayed has a very heavy Botch vibe to it, which is a massive compliment if there ever was one. Amnesia Amnesia definitely amped up their writing in these newer songs, which are more friendly to the fans of Metalcore, rather than to the softer ears of the Post-Hardcore listeners. I liked both sets, but I am more partial to The Eating Disease material, as well as Dev’s vocal stylings. I was alittle disappointed that there were no clean vocals provided by anyone other than the crowd, but it was still an intense set.

I just want to add that the transition to the track The Eating Disease was actually bone chilling. I don’t remember which song they played prior to it, because the setlist was not in the EP tracklist order, but the transitions were amazing, and that one specifically I will remember for the rest of my life, no lie.

I was also happy to see a dedication to Francis Allard of promos4awareness, who is an avid listener and supporter of Amnesia Amnesia.

After pounding off nearly every track of The Eating Disease, Amnesia Amnesia decided to call it a night and end things off strong with the track Skin, also one of my personal favorites from this band. There was something eerie about watching these guys play one more song, you could tell they were really putting their hearts into it. Everyone got into this, there were throw downs, crowd surfing, head banging, whatever you like. When you know a band is not going to play again, you better damn well give them your best.

It seemed as if the show was over, instruments were put down, hugs were given, but the crowd wanted one last song.

Todd came back on stage, and Amnesia Amnesia played one of their oldest tracks for the finale. I have said track on video, and I will be posting it along with many other videos from the night on the official TRBP YouTube page, along with an interview I was able to do with Jordan and Shayne after the show.

I would just like to thank Amnesia Amnesia for having me at this show, it was truly one of the greatest performances i’ve seen in a long time and I can’t wait to see what you guys end up in next. I’d also like to thank Francis Allard for making this review possible in the first place, if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have even been able to attend this amazing show in the first place, or have even heard of this amazing band at that.

You can check out every band listed above @

http://www.myspace.com/zrpunk

http://www.myspace.com/aimlessendeavormusic

http://www.myspace.com/wearemoiradarling
http://www.myspace.com/wearekingcobra
http://www.myspace.com/anneliesethat
http://www.myspace.com/amnesiaamnesia

-Andy

This month’s Name of the days were: Elizabeth, Anneliese, Anastasia, Susanna, Benjamin and Margaret. I hope you enjoyed them. May’s topic was “Traditional”. June’s topic will be “Overly Popular”.

Now, names from the neighborhood:

• I went to Target the other day, and saw the name of three staff members: Traedon, Shawma and Carmelita. Compared to Shawma and Traedon, Carmelita seems almost calm…
• I live in a big apartment building which has a pool, and it just very recently opened, and I went there. Three  of the lifeguards are Russian: Marya, Svetlana and Lyudmila, and two are Polish: Agnieszka and Beata.
• Abby brings us Beth, nickname to Bethany and Elizabeth. She asks, yes or no? Vote: here.
• I was looking at everyone’s blogrolls, checked Nameberry out, and found this list of Memorial Day Names.

Okay, that’s all for today, and tomorrow I will be here, with a very “overly popular” name of the day. See you again!!

Anyway. File Anneliese under “Lorelei to Hannelore”

Nicknames:

Annie, Liese (pronounced “Leeza”), Ann, Anna

Variant Forms:

Annelise, Annalise. Annaliese are popular, however, I’ve met an Annilise and an Annilis, pronounced “Ann- uh- leez- uh” and “Ann- uh- leez”, respectively.

Our first stop on this whirlwind tour of international names is… Germany!

Known for beautiful architecture, a highway with no speed limit and a slightly, how you say, clunky language, it may surprise some that it also has some of the most elegant, fluid names in the world. So, if you’re looking to honour German heritage, a German friend or just have a penchant for German names, here are a few for your consideration:

Jungen:

• Kaspar – This breezy name is a German cognate of Jasper, which means “treasurer” in Persian. Most will probably associate the names Kaspar / Casper with Casper the Friendly Ghost; however, children born in today’s generation would probably have no knowledge of the cartoon, so I doubt teasing should be a concern for parents considering the name. And one benefit of Kaspar’s cartoon connotations is that the name is pretty familiar to most adults, yet isn’t at all common or remotely popular.
• Christoph – A legitimate alternative to the ever-common Christopher, Christoph has a slightly French sound, though it is in fact German, meaning (quite obviously) “bearing Christ”. I personally have a soft spot for it, since it’s the name of my second-favourite actor of all time and I think has a more elegant, refined sound than Christopher.
• Hugo - Hugo has Spanish, Portuguese, English, Dutch, German and Scandinavian origins, but its root form, Hugh comes from the Germanic element hug, meaning “heart, mind, spirit”, which is certainly interesting.
• Mathias – Another great alternative, this time for Matthew (meaning “gift of God”), which has been in the top ten most popular names in the US for nearly forty years. In Germany and France the name is pronounced “mah TEE ahs”, which may be a problem for some people, but I doubt it would take long for them to get the hang of it. Mattias is an alternate spelling that may be easier for some to grasp.
• Oskar - Probably an out-there choice for a lot of parents (even the more familiar Oscar is a bit of a stretch for most) but if you’re looking for something classic and historical, yet aesthetically modern, Oskar may be the way to go. It would be pretty difficult to come by someone who hasn’t heard of Oscar Wilde or Oskar Schindler from the movie Schindler’s List, so the name may not be as “weird” as today’s parents seem to think. Possibly means either “deer lover” or “god spear”.
• Wilhelm - Another well-known name that most parents are hesitant to use. Wilhelm (a variant of William, meaning “will helmet”) would likely be best suited as a middle name, to honour someone with a Wil- name.
• Fabian – Medieval and extremely underused, Fabian is derived from the Roman Fabius, meaning “bean”. Awesome meaning, huh? Though it barely made it into the top 300 names in the US last year, Fabian was the 7th most popular name in Austria in 2006.
• Klaus – No, not like Santa Claus. Klaus rhymes with “house”, and is a German short form of Nicholas, hence Saint Nicholas being refered to as Santa Claus. A lot of people would be familiar with the name because of the Series of Unfortunate Events books by Lemony Snicket, in which one of the main characters is named Klaus. This seems to be a name that not many people care for, but I happen to think it has a lot of personality and is due for some use outside of Europe.
• Maximilian - As someone who dislikes Maxwell and Maxim, but loves the nickname Max, I see Maximilian as a perfect solution. Since Max is so popular as a full name, many parents are looking for ways to still have Max, yet avoid its popularity, and I think Maximilian is a great way to do that. Yes, it’s a bit long  and yes, it may take some getting used to, but Maximilian ranked 300 on the SSA’s top 1000, so it looks like people are finally seeing what I’m seeing – yay! It was derived from Maximus, which means “greatest”.
• Florian – One of the few male “flower” names, this German, Polish and French name was that of Saint Florian, the patron saint of Poland and Upper Austria.

Mädchen:

• Aloisia - At first glance Aloisia [ah low EE zee ah] may look odd and unfamiliar, but if you think about it, she’s quite similar to Louise / Louisa, Eloise and Lois, all of which are nothing if not well-known. A distant cousin from Ludwig, Aloisia means “famous warrior”. Personally, I think it would fit in seamlessly with the names of today - especially with the nickname options of Ally, Zia, Louise, Lou, Lulu and perhaps Wheezy.
• Eleonora – With the sudden popularity of Eleanor, Eleonora [el ee on OR ah] shouldn’t be as “out-there” as it once was. Both Eleonora, and its alternate, Eleonore are both obviously variants of Eleanor, which is of obscure meaning, but may mean “pity”.
• Hannelore - One of many “combination names” that seem to be popular in Germany, Hannelore is a mixture of Hanne and Eleanor, pronounced [han ah LOR ah].
• Maike - Evidently a form of Maria, Maike [MIE kah] just might be a great alternative for parents who like the boy name Micah on girls. As odd as it looks on paper, the sound is pretty and I love the fact that it is completely feminine, unlike Micah. It can also be spelled Meike.
• Anneliese – This gorgeous gem is currently #2 on my personal top ten list, so forgive me if I’m a tad biased. A  combination of Anna (“favor” or ”grace”) and Liese (“my God is an oath”), Anneliese can be pronounced either the German / Dutch way, [ah nah LEE zah] or the English way [AH nah lees], both of which I find beautiful.
• Isa - I haven’t so much listed this name for use as a full name, as I have for a new nickname suggestion for Elizabeth or Isabelle / Isabella, which don’t seem to be declining in popularity. I have heard that many Elizabeths are growing tired of Lizzy and Beth, and Bella can only stay cute for so long, so if you’d like to spice up a slightly plain monkier, try Isa [EE sah] for a European twist.
• Kasimira – The female version of Kasimir, Kasimira [kah zee MEE rah] has an unfortunate meaning – “to destroy peace”. However, if meanings are, well, meaningless to you, Kasimira may still retain some elegance for you.
• Adelheid – Meaning “of noble kind”, Adelheid [AH del hide] is a variant of such names as Alice, Adele, Ada and (obviously) Adelaide. It may also serve as an alternative to Addison, a masculine name that has been taken over by girls in the last few years, a selling point for some being the nickname Addie (which is just as easily derived from Adelheid, Ada, Adele, etc)
• Gisela - Gisela comes from the Germanic word gisil, meaning “hostage” or “pledge”, along with its variants, Gisele and Giselle. They all possess a fragile elegance, and for some reason always make me think of gold and riches.
• Leonie - I’m a big fan of Leo- names myself, and Leonie is no exception. And like most (if not all) Leo- names, Leonie means “lion”. A nice change from Leona, Leonie has a dainty, almost French-sounding quality to it.

So, have I sold you on any of these names? Like? Dislike? On the fence? Comment and share your thoughts! ’Til next time! :)

I’ve done a good job staying away from Yahoo! Answers baby name boards, but I got sucked into a vortex when I stumbled across MTV’s Remote Control blog question “Do you have your baby names already picked out?” The responses were predictable: Daylin, Tatyana Vanity, Egypt Kinsley Rain, Xa’Kaevyan Kohelre, Brance, Kendrix Olivia, Jurnee Ella Greer.  Here’s hoping that each of the posts was written by someone many years away from parenthood.

And one more from reality TV.  Tori Spelling turns her literary attentions from tell-alls to kidlit with children’s book called Presenting Tallulah. Is Tallulah the next Stella?

Elsewhere online:

• By now, you’ve probably seen Lisa Belkin’s article on Baby Name Regret at the New York Times’ Motherlode. It’s an interesting article, but I’m especially fond of the trivia point she mentions early on – Scarlett O’Hara, the intrepid heroine of Gone With the Wind, was initially called Pansy;
• 4real spots a Tidus Jay and a Penelope Thistle;
• Sebastiane covers the intriguing Eglė;
• Nancy brings us the saintly Casilda;
• Linda at Nameberry turned up some fabulous finds from women in aviation history, including Marvel and Bessica;
• And I say again for the 500th time:  No, they’re not stealing your baby name. Delilah, Lilah and Lyla are white hot, along with Lily, Lola and lots of other lovely L-intensive names;
• The March stats are out at Nymbler. The Top Ten are Charlotte, Amelia, Ava, Benjamin, Oliver, Grace, Henry, Ella, Jack and Ethan.  And the new, never dull names? Calleigh, Kyson, Lillith, Kensington and Petal;
• Elisabeth at You Can’t Call It “It” brings us a list of NYC baby names, including a double dose of Lola.  I’m hearing Lola more and more here in DC, too, and Nola appears to be rising fast.  Could Zola follow?

In starbaby news:

• Hoop star Lisa Leslie welcomed a son, Michael Joseph II. They’re planning to call him MJ;
• Byron Allen has welcomed a daughter, Olivia Rose. Olivia joins big sis Chloe Ava at home;
• I agree with Celebrity Baby Names Blog on this one: Robin Thicke and Paula Patton have done a great job naming new son Julian Fuego.  The first name is a conventional masculine pick circa 2010 and the middle?  Is sheer daring.

But let’s face it, most of my energies this week have gone to the Top 100 lists at Nameberry for boys and girls.  Which reminds me – Imogen is on their girls’ list, and a friend recently spotted this rarity on his family tree: Imojune.

That’s all for this week.  As always, thanks for reading and tune in tomorrow!

Thanks to Bek for suggesting Hannelore as Baby Name of the Day.

Purists may insist that Hannelore is a four-syllable name.  They’re correct, of course.  Just like fellow Germanic compound name Anneliese sounds more like Annalisa, Hannelore might be simplified Hannalora.

Except that, much like Emmeline and Vivienne, Eleanor and Allison, there’s plenty of room for three-syllable feminine choices ending with a consonant in English.  And han eh LOR sounds slightly more current – at least to my ear.

Maybe that’s one of the reasons I think she could appeal to American parents circa 2010.  She feels like a smoosh of the popular Hannah and the modern classic Lauren, though she’s actually a mash-up of Hanne – a nickname for Johanna, and Eleonore, the German version of Eleanor.

While short names are stylish, like Heidi Klum’s Lou, longer names show no signs of surrender – think of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s Seraphina or 20th century staples like Samantha.

While her usage is Germany, most notable bearers of the name are in the past.  She’s definitely not in German Top Ten, though many familiar names, including Sophie, Mia and Emma, do chart.

Notable Hannelores include:

• Hannelore Kohl, the late wife of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, born Johanna Klara Eleonore;
• Another former German first lady, Hannelore Schmidt, nicknamed Loki;
• A smattering of athletes, actresses and others.

But the most memorable Hannelore’s story makes for a grisly tale.  In October 1979, Hannelore Schmatz successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest, only to die of exhaustion on the trip down.  It’s a sad tale, but here’s the worst part: her remains were stuck, lodged along the southern route. Any climber ascending the same path would see her remains, eyes open.  At least one expedition intent on retrieving poor Hannelore failed, and the climbers lost their lives, too.

FIGHTWITHBEARS
http://www.myspace.com/fightwithbearsband

THUNDERHAWKS
http://www.myspace.com/thunderhawks

ANNELIESE
http://www.myspace.com/anneliesethat

MAJESTY
http://www.myspace.com/maj3sty

AMNESIA AMNESIA
http://www.myspace.com/amnesiaamnesia

WASTECASE
We dont have myspace

HALF BEAT
http://www.myspace.com/halfbeatmusic

PHOTOS

Order: Half Beat – FightWithBears

Photos of people from the show to come!

Thanks to Rachel for suggesting the Ancient Roman Annia as Name of the Day.

The evergreen Anna has been in use for centuries.  But this name is linked not to the Hebrew Channah, but to the Latin Antonius and the equally classic Anthony.

Head back to Rome around the time of the Second Punic War.  You’ll find members of the Annia family rising to important roles as early as the 300s BC.  By 153 BC, Titus Annius Luscus was a consul.  For the next few centuries, the Annii were among the movers and shakers of the ancient world.

Well-born women who wore the name included:

• Annia Aurelia Faustina, wife of Roman Emperor Elagabalus in 221;
• Her mother, Annia Faustina, wife of Roman Consul Tiberius Claudius Severus Proculus;
• Her mother, Annia Aurelia Galeria Faustina, wife of Roman Senator Gnaeus Claudius Severus;
• Go back another generation, and she’s related to none other than Emperor Marcus Aurelius, via his sister Annia Cornifica Faustina.  Two of his daughters were called Annia, too.

Marcus Aurelius was considered the last of the Five Good Emperors.  Among other things, the quintet chose their successors for their capabilities rather than blood relation.  (Then Marcus Aurelius went old school and named his son, Commodus, successor.  But that’s a topic for another site.)

Back to Annia.  Expectant mothers didn’t loll about their villas with debating whether Cornelia was becoming too popular or if Lucretia would hate her name.  Names were dictated by family tradition.  Just like George Foreman called all his kids George, in Ancient Rome, siblings shared names.  In fact, in a guest post by Nephele at Nameberry, she explains that daughters were sometimes referred to by the equivalent of One, Two and Three.

While plenty of Ancient Roman names have made it into the 21st century, Annia has faded into obscurity.  She’s never appeared in the US Top 1000, and notable bearers are quite difficult to find.

One famous Annia is Annia Hatch, a member of the 2004 US women’s gymnastics team.  Hatch won silver in Athens, after several years of struggle.  As if it isn’t tough enough to make it to the top of your game, Hatch was born in Cuba, started her competitive career there and found herself tangled up in international diplomacy when she left her home country.

Here’s the hang-up with Annia.  Her pronunciation should be either the three syllable ahn EE ah or AN ee ah. But it is tempting to see Annia as a respelling of the Slavic diminutive Anya/Anja, pronounced AN yah.  (After listening to multiple snippets on YouTube of Annia Hatch’s 2004 Olympic performance, I’m convinced that the name flummoxed broadcasters, too, as I hear it pronounced both ways.)

If you’re looking for a more elaborate version of Anne, Annia might not go far enough.  Annika, Annabel, Anneliese and Annamaria are all options that add a few more sounds into the mix.  And yet ancient Annia does sound surprisingly fresh and current in the twenty-first century.

And one reason that’s trivial for him, dead serious for me: we could never agree on a name.

We do have a few candidates, scraps from the cutting room floor.  I’ve mentioned them in comments from time to time, but I thought a round-up was in order.  

Our girls’ list is first; I’ll post the boys’ list later.

1.  The frontrunner: Rosemary, nicknamed Romy

My grandmother was born Maria Rosa and known as Rose Marie.  I adored my grandmother and miss her constantly.  Rosemary/Romy works with the kids’ names, too – Alexander, Claire Caroline and Rosemary.  Alexei, Clio and Romy.  Aly, Clio and Romy.  Alex, Clio and Romy.

The only trouble?  We’d have named two daughters after my female relatives, while Arthur’s side of the family is out in the cold.

2.  Grace Genevieve, nicknamed Gigi

This was our long-time second name for a daughter.  It mirrors the pattern of Clio’s formal name and honors Arthur’s mother, Grazyna.  (It’s a Polish name that sounds something like this – grah JZIN ah.  My mother still can’t say it.  I’m not sure that I can, either.)

Trouble is?  I don’t much care for Grace.  Neither does my mother-in-law.  When she first came to the US she actively resisted others’ attempts to Anglicize her name as Grace.  I love Gigi, and instantly think of the musical with Maurice Chevalier singing “Thank Heaven for Little Girls.”  But I can see it is the kind of diminutive that you’d want to shed before, say, clerking for a circuit court judge.

I’ve also toyed with Hanae or Hannelore on the theory that they mean grace, but that’s a stretch.

3.  Helena, nicknamed Laney

This is another name plucked from Arthur’s family tree, but this time far enough back that we weren’t even aware of it until Arthur’s mother mentioned the name.  It works nearly just as well as Romy with the other kids’ names – Aly, Clio and Laney.  Alex, Clio and Laney.  Alexander, Claire Caroline and Helena.

4.  Penelope, nicknamed Polly

It’s a name I’ve long loved, and a way to connect to another family name – Paulina, Arthur’s cousin and Aly’s godmother.  But somehow Clio and Polly don’t sound like sisters to me.  There are also two little Pollys in our ‘hood already.

5.  Georgia, Olwen

George is a family name on my dad’s side, as is Olwen.  I’d probably reserve Olwen for the middle spot, and I don’t think Georgia pairs well with Clio.

6.  Margaret, nicknamed Daisy or Marguerite, nicknamed Daisy

Arthur’s aunt is Małgorzata, the Polish form of Margaret.  I like Marguerite much better than Margaret, partially because I had a Great Aunt Griet.  (I assume she, too, was baptized Margaret.)  So yes, I’m using a Polish formal name and a Dutch nickname (that I can’t explain, because no one in my family is Dutch, at all, though there was a pair of wooden shoes in my grandmother’s house) to arrive at a French name.  Which we’d put aside in favor of a botanical nickname anyhow.

8.  Diana, nicknamed Daisy or Anya

My eye-poppingly strange maiden name was Niadna, which can be anagramed to spell Dianna.  Arthur wouldn’t go for a variant spelling, but he likes Diana.  Neither nickname follows naturally, but I think both work well.  Anya also reminds me of my great-grandmother Anna.

9.  Cordelia, nicknamed Delia, Adelaide or Avalon

My nickname for Arthur is Del, and so I’ve long looked for feminine names that incorporate the element.  Adelaide was an early front-runner, but could we really have an Abby and an Addie in the same house?  Plus I’m convinced that Addie is going to supernova by 2012.

Cordelia is another option, one I like quite a bit, especially with the nickname Delia.  Alexander, Claire Caroline and Cordelia.  Aly, Clio and Delia.  Alex, Clio and Delia -  hmmm … it does raise the question of whatever happened to Baby B.

In Arthurian legend, Avalon is paradise.  It’s a subtle connection to Dad’s given name, but one that I quite like, especially in the middle spot.

10.  Isabeau

I’ve long loved this medieval variant of Elizabeth.  My little sister answers to the nickname Bo, so Isabeau seems like a fitting choice.

Once upon a time, I toyed with incorporating Boadicea, the first century warrior queen of the Iceni, in a child’s name for the same reasons.  But the more accurate spelling is probably Boudica, and there’s debate about whether the pronunciation begins with a boo rather than a bo.

11.  Iris

For my grandmother Irene, though it doesn’t sound great with our last name.  Too bad, because Clio and Iris sound like sisters, and I think she works with Aly and Clio nearly as well as Romy.

12.  Ellery

For my stepgrandfather, Irene’s husband, a thoroughly good egg.  I’ve considered it in the middle spot for a daughter or a son.

13.  Noor/Nora/Elinor and Lucy/Lucia/Luca/Lucienne

Claire means light, so names that share a similar meaning have always appealed.

14.  Veronica or Frederica

Do all name aficionados worry about naming twins, up until the ultrasound confirms that there’s only one baby on the way?

Had Alexander had a twin sister, two possible names were Veronica or Frederica, both to honor my dad, Eric, without poaching the name from my brother, Eric Jr.  Erica was also a contender, but seemed a little too close – even though my brother answers to Rohn.

15.  Sofia/Zofia/Sophie

My mother-in-law’s first middle name is Zofia.  In Polish, it gets a two-syllable pronunciation – ZAWF yeh – but I’ve heard Polish-Americans say it more like Sophia with a Z.  Zofia nicknamed Zoe was a contender for a while.

16.  Josephine, Catharine

Both choices from my mother’s family tree – Joseph was her grandfather, Catharine her aunt.  I don’t remember Joseph, but Great Aunt Catharine was one of my favorites.  Because her Manhattan apartment overlooked the Hudson, her grandson nicknamed her Grandma Boat.  Years later, Aly misunderstood Aunt Bo as Aunt Boat, so there’s a story there.

I’m fairly certain Catharine’s spelling is a nod to the Italian Catarina.  In any case, it is my favorite spelling and the only one I would consider.

Both names offer nicknames aplenty, but none of them sing to me.  That’s probably why they’re down here at #16.

17.  Anna/Anya, Anneliese nicknamed Anya

For the great-grandmother mentioned in #8.  But any of the Anna choices would make Clio the only family member without an A- name.  Too bad, because Anneliese Olwen would honor three of my dad’s relatives in one swoop.

18.  Linden and Sarai

For my aunts, Linda and Sarita.  (Sarita was named after her maternal grandmother, my great-grandmother Sara.)  I love both names, but again, there’s something awkward about skipping my husband’s family entirely.

Rosemary Linden Beau was long a favorite combination.  But I’m not wild about Beau on a girl, and two nature names is far too botanical for a family that ventures no closer to camping than shopping REI.

19.  Amalia, Kester

Amalia is from my husband’s family.  It’s a great name, but again, we can’t settle on a nickname and she’d be the fourth A, leaving Clio out in the cold.

Kester is also – in a very roundabout fashion – from my husband.  His mother’s maiden name translates to Christopherson.  My husband’s middle name is Christopher.  I don’t care for any of the feminine variants, though Christabeau is one that I’ve considered.  Kester is a medieval diminutive for Christopher, and reminiscent of my beloved Hester.  Of course, Kester also brings to mind Jester.  So never in the first spot.  But maybe in the middle.

20.  Hermione nicknamed Minna, Octavia nicknamed Tavy, Harriet nicknamed Hattie

Three names we just plain like.

1300 words later, you’re probably thinking what I’m thinking: yes, we could name a daughter, possibly three. 

But there’s an equal chance we’d have a boy, that’s where we are truly at sea.