NAME OF THE DAY: Golden

The 🏆winner of the 152nd Kentucky Derby was 📢announced as: 🐎Golden Tempo. The polished name grabbed my attention. 👀 But I quickly remembered that name is familiar because there is a well-known human named: Golden — Golden Brooks — the actress known for her feisty role as Maya Wilkes on the ⏪00s 📺tv show Girlfriends 👩🏽👩🏽👩🏾👩🏿. So today I will talking about the brazen color name: 📛Golden. 

Golden the word is of English origin meaning: "bright, metallic or lustrous like gold; of the color of gold; yellow." Behind The Name believes it is from Old English gyldan "made of gold" or the surname Golden, originally given as a nickname to someone with blond 👱‍♀👱 hair. Several examples of 📛Golden have been noted from late 19th-century records, and one occurrence in 1915. Modern form of the name, very rarely used, appears to be 📛Goldie and 📛Golda.

📛Nameberry🍒 says, "like Silver, Golden is a shimmering, metallic color name. It could work as an unexpected route to the vintage nickname Goldie or a less floral alternative to Marigold." 📛NB🍒 also says, "around 100 babies were called Golden in the latest stats, when it appeared as a gender neutral choice." It is currently #977 on US Top 1000. 

📍Sunny California (where Golden Brooks was born) fittingly and 📍Utah are where the most Goldens live.

I like the name 📛Golden – it's 🔆bright and bold. 💥 I remember when I first heard of Golden Brooks decades ago, I thought her name was a stage name. 🤦🏾‍♀️ I like 📛Golden more so for a 💗girl's name than a boy but a 💙boy named 📛Golden is still gold. 👌🏾

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛GOLDENS:

📛Golden Raye (💗daughter of ⚽soccer team owner Brittany Mahomes) 

📛Fawnie Golden (💗daughter of 🤳🏽influencer Nara Smith) 

📛Golden 📙 (🐎horse character in the book Silver Brumby by Elyne Mitchell)

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Golden:
https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/G/GO/GOLDEN/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Golden: 👍 OR 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛/10 

Madd About Maxx

I'm not a sports fan but recent 📰news about NFL 🏈football player 📛Maxx Crosby made me do a double 👀👀 take — due to the two '✖✖'s in his name. 

How did Crosby gain an extra 'x' in Maxx? A bio tells the origin of, "Crosby's first name is indicative of just how big he was at birth. He weighed in at 11 pounds, 9 ounces at birth. His mom had already decided on a name for him. He was to be Max. And with his XXL birth size, she made him a Maxx."

That is such a great 📛name 📖story. 🤗 I was never aware that there were Maxs with two 'xx's in their names until now. 🤯 📛Maxx is a variation of 📛Max. Max derives from "the formal" 📛Maximilian" — which comes from 📛Maximus: a "Roman family name that was derived from Latin maximus 'greatest.'" Max's rank is pretty great at #175 in the US Top 1000. 📛Nameberry🍒 warns: Max has long been among the most popular dog names (Max is #4 for boy💙 dogs🐶)." Max also "coincides with the informal word max, short for maximum." 

I love 😍 the name 📛Maxx. Now, 📛Max the original is a nice enough, cool 😎 little name (I've always liked the longer 📛Maximilian / 📛Maximillian / 📛Maximillion 💰 however) but — the two '✖✖'s are definitely what make Maxx more magnanimous and yes — greater. 🏅 

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛MAXXS:

📛Maxx Hamilton (💙son of Olympic skater Scott Hamilton)

📛Maxx Williams 🏈 (former NFL football player)

📛Maxx Danziger 🎶🥁 (drummer in band Set It Off)

📛Maxx Morando 🎶🥁 (drummer in band Liily & 💍fiancé of 🎤singer Miley Cyrus)

📛Marco "Maxx Paradox" Ciro Pastore 🎤 (singer)

♀️Female Version of 📛MAXX:

📛Maxxine 

💭I didn't know a Maxxine with two ✖✖'s existed! 😮 But I love 😍 it! Maxxine a bit more extra & risque than the original, sophisticated Maxine — which makes it all the more appealing to me. 👌🏾 

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Maxx: 👍 OR 💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙/10

NAME OF THE DAY: Penny

With news of the production of the US penny not being made anymore, I will discuss the antiquated name: 📛Penny

Behind the Name notes on Penny as a first name: "Diminutive of Penelope. It can also be given in reference to the copper coin (a British pound or an American dollar are worth 100 of them), derived from Old English penning."

Nameberry on Penny: "Like Peggy and Patsy, the kind of zesty moniker young Judy Garland would sport in her early let's-put-on-a-show flicks. A Top 200 choice in England and Wales, Penny could be considered a word name, as in the copper coin used in England and the US, and as a musical choice, thanks to The Beatles song, Penny Lane."

Penny is a pretty popular name for girls and women in the states of 📍Maine and 📍California. 

Name nerds' comments on Penny on Behind the Name include: "classic" "youthful" and "simple."

Penny was #747 on the most Popular Baby Names in 2024 for girls. Nameberry is hopeful for a resurgence of the old-fashioned name: "It fell out of favor (and the Top 1000) for a while, but has recently rebounded by reentering the charts in 2013. Expect it to continue gaining traction on the heels of Penelope."

I disagree with Nameberry that 📛Penny will rise in popularity. 📈 I think it'll stay where it's at on the name charts or drop in popularity. 📉 Penny is a cute enough (though plain), unproblematic name (although... why name a kid a name that means one cent? 🤦🏾‍♀️There's plenty more worthy 💰money names📛 like: 💵Cash/Kash, 💵Wealth, and even 💵Million (mainly boy names but could be for a girl too) ) but I don't think it cuts it in 2025 or beyond — to dramatically become more used as a first name (in the US at least), and go above #747. 

Penny for your thoughts💭: 🤔Perhaps 📛Penny is a bit too simple for modern parents to embrace and give the passé name to their child... and that's perfectly okay. 👌🏾 

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛PENNYS

📛Penny Pritzker  (former US Secretary of Commerce)

📛"Penny" Fuller [born Penelope Fuller] 🎭 (Broadway actress)

📛"Penny" Jordan [born Penelope Halsall] 💘📕 (romance author)

📛"Penny" [aka Penelope Hofstadter] 📺 (tv character from The Big Bang Theory)

📛"Penny" Crone [born Barbara Crone] 📺🎤 (former tv reporter)

📛Pennywise [aka Robert "Bob" Gray] 🤡🎈 (clown character from Stephen King's book It)

📛Penny Tration [born Tony Cody] 📺 (personality from RuPaul's reality show Drag Race)

📛"Penny" Hardaway [born Anfernee Hardaway] 🏀 (ex-basketball player)

📛"Penny" Rimbaud [born Jeremy Ratter] 🎨 (artist) 

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Penny:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/P/PE/PENNY/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Penny: 👍 OR 🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎🤎/ 10