Celebrity Gossip, Celeb News And Fashion Tips : hercast.com

Last time I gave out a little challenge: can you find a distinctive name ending tied to each decade from the 1880s to today? Ok, maybe that challenge isn’t SO little. Not many of us today can tell the trendy names of 1890 from the hot new creations of 1910. But even back then, 20 years was a long time in fashion terms–and a lot of the fashion action came at the end of names. In the 1870s-80s for instance, about a fifth of all American girls were given “-IE” names. By the 1910s the number of -IEs was cut in half, replaced by the likes of -LMA.

Today’s trends work both ends of the name. Our Mc/Mac/Mak- and Kay/Kai/Kae- names are more than matched by our -Lee/Leighs and our…well, you’ll see.

120 years of trendy name endings:

1880s: Girls named -TTIE

1890s: Girls named -LDA

1900s: Girls named -OLA

1910s: Boys names -STER

1920s: Boys named -AND

1930s: Girls named -LENE

1940s: Boys and girls named -ONNIE

1950s: Girls named -EEN

1960s: Girls named -RI

1970s: Girls named -NYA

1980s: Girls named -ANY/ANIE

1990s: Girls named -TNEY/DNEY

2000s: Boys named -DEN/DYN/DIN

Original post by lwattenberg

For the three of you who keep close tabs on this blog and may have been wondering where the heck I’ve been (well, my mom knows what’s up, so it’s really just the two), my apologies. Not only have I been sick–sadly a flu shot did not make me immune to the bug that’s been sweeping the country, and I was taken down hard by it–but, to be honest, I was resting a bit after my last post, which garnered no less than (at least check) 38 comments! A delightful moment in a blogger’s life, let me tell you.

What was perhaps less delightful was actually reading the comments. Don’t get me wrong, I’m totally down with the folks who called me out on typos (John Belushi, not Jim — where was my mind?) or poor research. What distressed me were the gals (seemingly, at least) who called each other out. Man, are mothers a judgemental bunch of coconuts.

Mostly it was the teetotaler moms who berated the wino moms (yes, I exaggerate for effect) for drinking in front of their kids; some were upset that parents drink at all. (I don’t recall any of the “moms who drink” challenging their sober counterparts to chugging contests or calling them losers for abstaining, but, as mentioned, please do correct me if I’m wrong. I can take it.)

Listen, do what you like, folks, but why go nuts on other moms for doing what they like? Is it some fear that you might drop your child off for a playdate and return a few hours later to find the parent in charge passed out on the floor? That would of course be grounds for trouble-making, but I’d shift a bit of the blame on oneself for not noticing that your kid’s friend’s mom is an alcoholic. Although that’s neither here nor there. The point is that maybe this anger and judgemental attitude is about control — a desire to control absolutely the environment in which your child grows up. If you think drinking is wrong and you can get everyone in the world to agree with you, then your child will be that much safer. And if commenting on a blog that purports to agree a bit more with the one-glass-of-wine-is-okay mommies will help make the world a safer place for said child, then a parent’s gotta do what a parent’s gotta do.

Don’t get me wrong: I don’t want y’all to stop commenting on this (or any other) blog. I was just disheartened by the harshness of some of those comments, and I’m trying here to deconstruct the reasons behind them. ‘Cause that’s what I do. I just gotta.

Original post by Sally Tusa

Quick, what do these five girls’ names have in common?

Kaya
Kayden
Kayli
Kaylah
Kaylynn

Not exactly subtle, is it? That opening Kay- makes them all peas in a pod. But the five Kays share another distinction too: they’re all names from the 2004 top 1000 that didn’t make the charts 15 years before. It’s that kind of sound-based trend that makes the NameVoyager compelling. Type in KAY- and you’re looking at last month; type in ED- and you’re looking at a time gone by .

There’s more to sound style than just openings, though. For a counterpart to the KAY- names, take a look at the -LEEs and -LEIGHs:

Name endings like these play a powerful role in defining the sound of the times. To demonstrate that power, here are three girls’ names I just made up. I’ll bet you can assign one of them to a birth year in the 1920s, one to the 1960s and one to the current decade.

Cardene
Cardi
Cardyn

So here’s a challenge: can you think of different ending sounds to peg the style of each decade from the 1880s to today? (Hint: girls’ names change the quickest, so they’re usually the best place to look.) There are many possible answers…I’ll give you one set next time.

Original post by lwattenberg

is to start drinking heavily, or so said John Belushi in Animal House, and it’s advice we have all taken to heart at some point in life when things have gotten outta hand. I mean, we’re all adults here, right? And sometimes a cocktail is the only thing that will take the edge off. Don’t squint your eyes and peer down your nose at my blog; you know what I’m talking about.

And so, apparently, do a few moms out there, according to “Cosmopolitan Moms”, an article in today’s NY Times. They’re combining playdates with something one often does on an actual date: drink alcohol. Not Bluto-sized portions, mind you — a glass of wine here, a martini there. Hey, I bet it makes Elmo just that much less annoying.

And why shouldn’t mom take a nip? If she’s responsible enough to have a kid, I think she’s responsible enough to handle a glass of chardonnay while said kid is playing with his toys. And I know somebody is going to excoriate me for writing the following, but I also think that handling a glass of chardonnay while said kid is still in the womb ain’t the end of the civilized world, either. (Might even make it slightly more civilized.) I’m not advocating keg stands. I just think that going cold turkey isn’t necessary, and I think the research would back me up on this, although no one’s yet really found anything definitive either way, as far as I know.

My point: Relax already. Be a grown-up. Have fun with your kids, and have fun with yourself. Don’t drink heavily, but do lighten up.

Original post by Sally Tusa

Above, pix of my dear friend (we met in 4th grade!) Charlotte, nickname La, Ginger (et al), pregnant with her first baby, due 2007. Her hub John is the silly happy fella to her left. These two are life-embracers with big hearts and big amounts of enthusiasm and energy for anything that comes their way. Just as an example, they took a three-week bike tour through Japan for their honeymoon (and the pictures from that tell their own incredible story).

Speaking of pictures, Charlotte is an amazing photographer, so check out her website here. She’s been looking at the world through a camera lens ever since I can remember, following in her father’s footsteps, I think. She and her parents took me to Europe for the first time when she and I were about 13 or so, and she was snapshotting all the way through. My photos from that trip were taken on a point-and-shoot Kodak; hers were probably on a fancy Leica even then!

All this is to say that I’m so excited for these two to be parents as I know they and their babe will have so much fun every single day, and I know this baby-to-be’s life will be very well-documented. Of course I will post any pictures she sends my way!

Original post by Sally Tusa