Monday, January 4, 2016

Happy Birthday, Sterling Holloway!

Hello, readers!

Today I'm celebrating the birthday of Sterling Holloway, one of the most well-known Disney voice actors of the mid-20th century. He passed away in 1992, but his characters will live on forever in the hearts of his audiences.


Here are the names of some of his most popular characters - would they work for a child today?

Sterling
Meaning "silver penny" or "high quality", this retro name has been shooting back up the popularity list. It's currently at #508 - not bad for such a unique-sounding name! There are plenty of fictional and real-life namesakes other than Mr. Holloway - even Mad Men had a Sterling or two. 

Waldo
It's got the trendy o-ending and a long history, but it may not be able to shake the Where's Waldo? connotation. Waldo means "to rule", and was also writer Ralph Emerson's middle name (what a fun literary sibset!) If your child has the confidence, though, Waldo could be magnificent.

Flower
If Lily and Violet are too mainstream, why not try a direct nature name? The cute nickname Flo is also a plus. It's also been rarely seen in name data - 5 babies were named Flower in 2013, but less than that in 2014. It would also make a daring middle choice!

Winnie
Holloway was the original voice of the favorite children's character, Winnie the Pooh. Winnie dropped off the official top 1000 in the 1950's, but has seen a comeback recently in celebrity baby naming. It's a great nickname for a variety of longer names, too - Gwyneth, Winifred, etc. 

Buck
Although the short and strong sound gives this name a lot of oomph, the rhyming possibilities make it all but totally unusable. Try Brock, Tucker, Burke, or Jack.

Let me know what you think of these names in the comments!

No comments:

Post a Comment