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 I need look no further than my own family to prove my point. My three grandchildren's given names are Taylor, Mackenzie, and Bailey.Â
Surnames as given names used to be unusual. Nowadays, though, the world is bursting with little boys and girls named Jackson, Carson, Harrison and Riley.
People who want to use family names now choose Nelson after Grandpa Nelson, instead of naming the baby Walter or Francis. Many babies have their mother's or grandmother's maiden name as a first or middle name.
And people are also choosing surnames as first names just because they like the sound of the name. T.V. shows have made the trend of using surnames as first names even more popular, by either having a popular character called by his last name, or having a popular character's given name be a surname.
Because of this trend, some of the most popular given names are surnames. In the top 100 names for boys we see Austin, Mason, Chase, Jackson, Blake, Dalton, Tanner, and Spencer.
In the top 100 list for girls we find Madison, Taylor, Morgan, Brooke, Jordan, Mackenzie, Bailey, Kelsey, Kelly, and Cassidy.
And those are just some of the more common. The list is really far more extensive. For instance, Bailey currently has a friend named Hudson and Holly had a childhood friend named Wheeler.
Nonetheless, Biblical names still top the list as the most popular choice. Â There are over 700 names from the Bible that people choose.
Here are just a few of the more popular ones:Â Jesse... Thomas... Oprah... Naomi...Levi... Abigail... Tabitha...
Neariah... Rebekah... Nathan... Matthew... Shiloh... Michael... Zemira...
Abner... Jacob... Noah... Andrew... Sheva... Samuel.. Imlah... Eden...
Hannah... Hodiah... David... Jarah... Nicholas... Mahlah... Barnabas...
Joshua... Zebina... Silas... Peter... Caleb... Jonathan... Dinah... Philip...
Linus... Candace... Gabriel... Lydia... Sharon... Uriah... Timothy... Leah...
Elijah... Ascah... Benjamin... Phoebe... Aaron... Zia... Joanna... Rufus...
Seth... Luke... Eli... Josiah... Chloe... Priscilla... Kenan... Cyrus...
Rachel... Keren... Elizabeth... Saul... Sarah... Korah... Susanna...
Some people prefer ethnic names in reference to their heritage. My son-in-law is named Bevan; his two brothers are Gavin and Sean. Bevan and Gavin are Gaelic; however, Sean is Irish. His mother goofed on that one. (She never was the brightest cookie in the cookie jar).
Finally, there's even a trend back to the names of my grandmother's generation. Bevan's brother and one of his nieces named their daughters "Ruby" and "Hazel" is making a comeback as well (Not that I care for it, because I don't).
I personally think naming a child is one of the biggest responsibilities a parent has. Picking a name that is unique without being ridiculous can be a difficult task.
Some people, particularly celebrities, seem to think that the more outrageous the name, the better. I don't hold with that. That child has to live with the parent's choice the rest of his life.Â
When I named my children, I wanted to give them a name that was not overly-used but still not something that every kid on the block had as a name.Â
When she was a child, Kenna, in particular, hated her name because she didn't know another child with her name. Now that she is an adult, she truly appreciates that fact and often receives compliments on her name.
Holly has also come to appreciate her name as an adult, although it is not quite as unique as Kenna. It still is not a name that one hears everyday.
https://www.ballina.net/babynames/
https://www.angelfire.com/id2/heathersnamepage/surnames.html
is a name I have always loved so she is Linda Gail. Her father wanted to
name her Oklahoma Gale but I wouldn't allow it.