Manon

Happy Christmas Eve! Today is the last day of Namemas, sadly, and I can't believe it is over already! If you guys don't hear from me tomorrow I hope you have a great holiday.

French, French, French 
Manon is the French variant of Marie, which is in the same family as Mary. True to her origin, Manon ranked #5 in France in 2015 as well as #26 in Belgium.

The French film Manon of the Spring from the 1980s is about a young girl who works as a shepherd in the countryside of France. She goes on to plot revenge on men who were greedy over her father's land a few years back and caused his death. I have not seen the movie but it does seem very interesting.

Before the film there was a novel called Manon Lescaut written by Abbe Prevost in 1731. It takes place in France and Louisiana and get this one of the main characters is called Manon! Manon's lover disappoints his father and runs away with her. The novel would go on to infuse many other movies and TV shows and even a few Operas.

Christmas Association 
Manon is the last name of Namemas sadly but I can't go without saying why I pricked this lovely name. Manon is in honor of the mother of Jesus, Mary. If you are a fan of catholic and religious names you have to check out Kate at Sancta Nomina. I have seen Manon featured over there a few times.

Drummer

Occupation and Musical
I started Namemas with an occupational name and I am ending the boys names with an occupational name. Just like Decker, Drummer is on trend with top 100 occupational names like Carter, Sawyer, and Hunter but still hasn't caught on. In October, Julia Stiles had a son named Strummer and although the name isn't much more popular than Drummer it has still been given to more than 5 boys within the last 5 years.

Musical names, like Harmony and Lyric, pop up here and there but you don't hear about Drummer. Its the perfect name for a rock fan or someone who loves to play the percussion instrument. Besides being in a band you could find little boys playing drums on the battlefields bringing an image of bravery and innocence.

Blog Baby
The one known bearer of the name Drummer, as a first name, is the son of blogger Katy from No Big Dill. Back in 2011 little Drummer Zion was born and welcomed by 5 big sisters also with great names. Their names? Olive, Clover, Azure, Pearl, and Divine!

Christmas Association
The Little Drummer Boy was originally known as Carol of the Drum when it was written back in 1941 by Katherine Kennicott Davis. It took 10 years to be recorded for the first time by the Trapp family Singers.

The lyrics in the song talk about a little boy who is summoned by the Three Wise Men to Jesus birth. Because the boy was poor and had no gifts to give he played the drum for Mary. In the original story of Jesus' birth in the gospel there is no little drummer boy.

Vesper

What do James Bond, bats, Marvel comics, and Christmas all have in common with the name Vesper? read on to find out! 

James Bond 
In 2006, the modern James Bond film, Casino Royale, came out introducing so many to the name Vesper through Eva Greene's character, Vesper Lynd. The movie was based on the book by Ian Fleming and in both the movie and book James Bond drinks a "Vesper Martini".

In the novel, the character explains that she was born on a stormy evening and that is why her parents named her Vesper. Vesper means evening star in Latin. It is also believed that Fleming based Vesper Lynd on the Polish agent Krystyna Skarbek working for Special Operations Executive.

Starbabies
Vesper Vivianne Ruck (2010) Daughter of Alan Ruck and Mireille Enos

• Ruck was in Ferris Buller's Day Off

Vesper Pearl Farrar (2009) Daughter of Sam Farrar and Stephanie Eitel

• Farrar was a band member in the band Maroon 5 and Eitel is a formal member of the band Agent Sparks

Evangeline-Vesper Lynne Bonner (2009), Daughter of Matt and Nadia Bonner

• Matt is a retired NBA basketball player who played for the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs

Roman Mythology 
Vesper is the roman equivalent of Hesperus. He was the evening star or the planet Venus at night. He is son to the goddess of dawn, Eos, and brother to the morning star, Phosphorus. Often times Hesperus and his brother Phosphorus are confused and the names are used inner changeably because they are both personifications of the same planet.

Comics, Places, and Animals
In the Marvel world Vesper is a female mutant and she first appeared in Genetic #1. She has telepathic and technopathic abilities and can control machines and computers.

Vesper Peak is a mountain in Washington state. There are also two unincorporated communities called Vesper in Kansas and Oregon.

What do a mouse, a bird, and a bat all have in common? They all bear the name Vesper. The Vesper bat is the largest and best-known bat family out there while the Vesper sparrow is a medium sized bird.

Christmas Association
The story of the birth of Jesus there is a star, the Star of Bethlehem. In the Gospel of Matthew the three wise men follow that star to the stable Jesus was born in the bring him gifts. Vesper is a perfect way to honor the story of Jesus and the three wise men's journey to him.

Adino

Biblical Man 

In the Old Testament, Adino was a solider in King David's army. As an officer under his army, Adino was said to be in charge of 24,000 men. Besides being in King David's army he was also chief of the Three Mighty Warriors. During my research I found out that while being chief he was also called Jashobeam.

Christmas Association 

Adino means ornament and the reason I included the name in this years Namemas. I came across a few other names with the same meaning (Adi, Fancy, Avid) but Adino just happened to be my favorite for a number of reasons. O ending boy names are a trend I personally liked and see more and more of. Adino is short and sweet with that ending. Its easy to spell and say and looks familiar. 

Amaryllis

Flowers and Poetry 

Amaryllis flowers are in the same botanical family as Lilies but the name is definitely less popular. A thought I had while writing this was maybe Lily could work as a nickname for Amaryllis. The end of the name sounds very much like Lily. As fort he flower itself, it comes in many different colors but red is the one you will see around Christmas time.

Before the flower there was a heroine named Amaryllis, which is who the flower was named after. Latin poet, Virgil, wrote his poem Eclogues sometime between 33 and 44 BC. You could say the name has a little bit of history around it. 

Christmas Association 

Amaryllis is one of the names on this little countdown that has 2 Christmas associations. The first being as another Christmas flower in hand with poinsettias. The second association has to do with the name meaning, to sparkle. Like I mentioned in my post about Tindra Christmas has look of sparkly things such as lights and glittery snowflakes.

Mongo

O ending boy names have been a trend for a few years now. It's always nice to find a new and unique name that many would not think of. You can pick from one of three great spelling, Mongo, Mongoe, and Mongow, but only one is the Christmas association.

Famous Mongo's

Mongo Santamaria is one of the most famous Mongo's out there. Sanatamaria was a Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist in the 1950s all the way through to the mid 1990s. He was born Ramon and I have read that either his father or grandfather gave him the nickname Mongo after a tribe in South Africa. 

Christmas Association

Gingerbread men and houses are a popular Christmas cookies so I was curious to know if any famous fictional gingerbread men had names. The only name I came across was the giant gingerbread man from Shrek 2.

Mitzi

A vintage nickname with not one but two Christmas associations. What more could be better?! 

Nickname

Mitzi is a German diminutive to the name Maria which comes from Mary, much to my surprise. I tried to find more history on the name but wasn't able to find exactly what I was looking for. One thing I was able to find was full names for Mitzi. The obvious ones are Maria, Marie, and Mary but I know thats not the only ones out there. Other names that work too include Michelle, Dimitri, Carmita, Marietta and Myrtle. Personally I feel like any M name could work here. 

Population 

Starting in 1930 all the way to 1979 the name Mitzi ranked in the top 1000. It didn't get much higher than 430 in 1955. Because of the years it was most popular you can feel the vintage nickname feel it has. It fits perfectly with Dottie, Minnie, Fanny, and Birdie, all names I think need more attention. 

Christmas Association

I originally picked Mitzi for Namemas because it is the name of Rudolph's mom in the animated show by GoodTimes. Then I went and started my research and found out immediately that Mitzi is related to the name Mary and Mary is the mother of Jesus. If you have been reading along throughout the week than you might remember I featured Decker and made the association between the name and Joseph. The biblical associations are just making me so happy. 

Buddy

I'm sure you all know the Christmas association for the name Buddy but I am featuring the name because it is rarely used for little boys in the States.

Nickname

Buddy is one of those nicknames that could be used for just about any name. Some famous Buddy's were born Charles, George, and Samuel while others were born Bernard and Bartolo. Personally, I would go with a name that begins with a B for the nickname Buddy. My favorites being Boden, Baldwin, and Bartholomew. Another cute option is using Buddy for a junior or third. 

Famous Name Bearers

It seems like the name Buddy was given to a ton of musicians of all different genres. There's Buddy Holly and Buddy Wayne Knox, two rock musicians. Buddy Rich was a jazz drummer and Buddy Guy could be found singing the blues. Buddy Jewell belongs to country fans while Buddy Clark was all pop. 

The name doesn't just belong to singers and musicians. NASCAR driver Buddy DeSylva was born George Gard. My personal favorite Buddy is Cake Boss' Buddy Valastro, who was born Bartolo, and has a son with the same name. This post wouldn't be complete without me mentioning Jamie Oliver and Juliette Norton's son Buddy Bear Maurice, a name that fits perfectly with his sister's. 

Popularity 

In the United States, Buddy hasn't been ranked since 1988 (#940) but in England and Wales it was last ranked in 2016 (#262), the most recent year of data. The name sure does scream English man to me and you can see why. The Untied States is always behind in naming trends and takes years to catch up to England but I hope that Buddy is one of the names we adopt. 

Christmas Association 

"Buddy the Elf, What's your favorite color?" I'm sure just about everyone out there knows this line. It seems like the movie, Elf, is one of the most quoted Christmas movies, at least around me. An image of a jolly, quirky person comes to life when I hear the name Buddy and thats something I'd wish on any little boy. 

Tindra

We are 4 days into Namemas and 9 days away from Christmas! I feel like not only is this month flying by but so is the year. Today I have a name that a fellow namer introduced to me a long, long time ago. Tinder was Alexia Mae's first name on her name instagram some years ago! And now I will always think of her when I read the name. 

Foreign Popularity 

Tindra has not caught on in the States but it has over in Sweden. The name first appeared in the 1980s   and was ranked in the top 60 in the early 2010s. In 2015 the name was ranked at #83 but dropped below the top 100 in 2016. Could the popular dating app Tinder have a hand in the falling popularity? Is Tinder popular in Sweden? After a quick google search it seems that Tinder is used in Sweden. 

Musical 

The only famous Tindra I could find was a Swedish folk musician named Asa Tindra Jinder Otter and it doesn't seem like she goes by Tindra as a first name. On an unrated note there is also a folk band called Tindra in Norway composed of three women. Since it is a Norwegian band they all have cool names, Åshild, Jorun, and Irene. I had trouble finding information on these famous Tindra's because all of the information is in a different language. 

Christmas Association 

The holiday season is full of sparkles and glitter. There are always a ton of Christmas lights decorating people's lawns, windows, and trees. Not a single room in my house is safe from the lights including the bathroom. Glitter may be a nuisance every other time of the year but there is just something about having glittery snowflakes in the window or Santa with a glittery red suit sitting on a shelf that adds to the magic of the holiday. 

Melchior

Today's name is a name that is familiar to the Christmas season but definitely not a common name. 

Three Wise Men 

Melchior is one of the three wise men who visited Jesus after his birth. Out of the three names I would have to say that this one is the least used. The only name rankings I could find were from 1901 and 1916 in France. Other than that the name is virtually unheard of outside of the Christmas season. 

Famous Name Wearers

To my surprise there are quite a few famous Melchior's out there, all of which are from foreign countries such as Germany and Austria. The royal family of the Czech Republic had a Melchior in their family. He was the son of Prince Maximilian and Princess Alina Lobkowicz. In Poland there was a saint wearing the name. Painters, novelists, and even a mountaineer can be found around the world and history with this unique name. 

Pop Culture

A rock musical on Broadway called "Spring Wakening" has a main character named Melchior Gabor. The story takes place in Germany so its no surprise there that you can find the name on a character. Another fictional Melchior can be found on the anime tv show, Teen Titans as a villain. Almost the complete opposite of what the biblical Melchior is. 

Plum

If the sweet name Clementine can be used and loved why not the shorter, just as adorable Plum be used just as much? Personally, I adore the name so, so much.

Fruit

Before you think of Christmas you probably think of the juicy fruit when you hear the name and word Plum. There are many variants of plums out there but two of the types have normal and useable names for girls, Victoria and Mirabelle. Now this many be a long shot but a little Victoria could very well go by Plum! The French word for plum is Prune, another great name, but in English the word prune is recognized as dried plums. 

Famous Name Bearers

To my surprise there is at least one person out there that goes by the name Plum and that is Plum Sykes, a British novelist. She was born Victoria and her nickname comes from, get this, the variety of plum. Other famous wearers of the name are children of celebrities with the sweet moniker in the middle spot. Moon Unit Zappa has a daughter Matilda Plum as well as blogger Miss James of Bluebird Vintage with Milla Plum.

Color 

In 1948, Crayola introduced the color plum to its crayons and you can still find the purple color in your crayon box today. I personally see the deep color hue as a fall and winter color, perfect for the colder months. The first time the word plum was used as a color was in 1805 

Clue

My favorite board game growing up was Clue. I am a huge fan of mysteries and crime and it still carries into today. Professor Plum is a character of the game introduced back in 1949 in the UK. He is depicted as an intelligent man, a characteristic that carries throughout all the different variations of the game since the beginning. 

Christmas

By now you are probably all wondering how in God's name the name Plum is associated with Christmas. The Sugar Plum Fairy is a character in The Nutcracker, who is seen for a short amount of time when she welcomes the Nutcracker Prince and his love Clara to her lands. I have never seen The Nutcracker so for me the name Plum and Christmas time bring to mind the poem, Twas the Night Before Christmas. 

"The children were nestled all snug in their beds, 

While visions of sugar plums danced in their beads"

Decker

Happy first day of Namemas! Last year I started out with the girls so this year I am starting out with he boys. Like I promised in my welcome blog post I am going t be bringing you unique and unexpected Christmas names. 

Occupational Name

In German the surname Decker means roofer, carpenter, or builder. The reason for Christmas is the birth of Jesus. Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, was a carpenter! What a discrete way to honor the religious side of the holiday. With occupation names being a trend for boys, Hunter, Sawyer, and Cooper are all in the top 100, I can see Decker catching on with time.

Name Wearers 

Rocker Nikki Sixx named his son Decker Nilsson in 1995. When it comes to Decker as a surname you can find it on NFL Titans wide receiver Eric Decker and his country singing wife, Jessie James. They also have two children, Vivianne and Eric II, with another on the way. Because of the Decker family, when I hear the name I think of southern, preppy boy. 

Christmas 

If you are looking for a modern and discrete name for your Christmas baby, Decker is the way to go. I chose to include Decker in Namemas because it reminds me of decking the halls and the christmas song. After doing my research I realized the name also had a religious connection like I mentioned above. Not many people are going to get the associations right away, if at all. 

Namemas {Vol 2}

How is it December already?! Better yet, how is Christmas right around the corner?! This year has really flown by faster than I could have ever imagined and I'm hoping I'm not the only one feeling this way. Before the year is over we have to celebrate Christmas (or Hanukkah, Kwazaa, or any other holiday you celebrate). If you were around this time last year, whether it was as a blog reader or an instagram follower/instanamer, than you may remember Namemas, a 12 day Christmas name countdown. A bunch of namers participated in this fun challenge last year and since I loved it so much I wanted to bring it back this year! Starting December 13th I will be posting a Christmas inspired name for you over here on the blog as well as featuring it on my instagram.

This year I gave myself a little challenge. First, I would not be featuring any names I talked about last year and second I am going to use names that are unique or don't necessarily scream Christmas. You don't have to follow these rules are all! I just want to challenge myself.

If anyone would like to play along feel free to! I would love to read or hear or see what names you like for Christmas. All social media platforms are welcomed and don't forget to tag your pictures, tweets, blog posts or videos #namemas2017.