NAME OF THE DAY: Billie

The surprisingly girlie name 📛Billie is originally a boy's name, the variant of 📛Billy (which is a diminutive of 📛Bill that originates from the name 📛William) — Behind the Name breaks down.

Nameberry says Billie is of English origin meaning "resolute protection." Billie is a "tomboy nickname name, part of the growing trend for using boyish nicknames for girls. To track its path from blue to pink, Billie was 100% male in 1880, was 55% female just a decade later, in the girls' Top 100 by 1928, and is now overwhelmingly female," Nameberry explains. Billie is #694 on the Most Popular Baby Names of 2024 list. The most Billies reside in 📍Texas and 📍Oklahoma.

I like the name 📛Billie for a girl, it's cute enough but... I like it way more when it's combined with a second name a la: 📛Jean, 📛Ann/Anne etc. The second name gives it that oomph 👌🏾 and makes it just a bit more feminine. 💗

📌📛Nameberry🍒 Forums on 📛Billie: ➡🤔WDYT: Billie & 📛Name Billie for a girl? 👶💗

📌👀Reddit 📛namenerds 👌 Community Thread: ➡"Thoughts on Billie as a girl's name?" 👶💗📛

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛BILLIES:

📛Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan) 🎤 (jazz singer)

📛Billie Jean 🎼 (woman sung about in the song Billie Jean by Michael Jackson)

📛Billie Jean King 🎾 (tennis player)

📛Billie Eilish 🎤(singer)

📛Billie Piper 🎤/🎥 (singer & actress)

📛Billie Burke (born Mary William) 🎥 (actress who played 🧙‍♀️✨Glinda in the original The Wizard of Oz)

📛Billie Lourd 🎥 (actress & daughter of actress Carrie Fisher of 🌟Star Wars)

📛Billie Dane (💗daughter of late actor Eric Dane & actress Rebecca Gayheart)

📛Billie Boullet 🎥 (actress)

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Billie: 

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/B/BI/BILLIE/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Billie: 👍 OR 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗/ 10 

NAME OF THE DAY: Holiday

With the holiday season here, today I will be discussing the festive name: 📛🎀Holiday 🎉

Holiday is a word : "from the Old English hāligdæg meaning "holy day" as it was originally used to mark religious festivals and celebrations," Nameberry explains.

Nameberry recognizes 🎀Holiday as a girl's name and points out 🎀Holiday has been "a quietly used option since the 50s" and "in a recent count, just 21 girls were called 🎀Holiday in the US, making this a rare choice that doesn't sound too out there." But Behind the Name proclaims Holiday as a masculine name as well. However, Holiday is more so used as a surname.📛  

Other forms of 🎀Holiday include: 📛Holliday, 📛Holidae, 📛Holidaye & 📛Holladay

Nameberry's say on 🎀Holiday: "A fun and confident choice, Holiday is a celebratory name, particularly associated with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah, and New Year, and with rest, leisure, and vacations more generally. Fitting for a winter baby, but totally sunny too." The most Holidays live in 📍California and 📍Wyoming. 

The name 🎀Holiday made it onto the 📛Nameberry🍒 Baby Name Trends 2026 📃list as a 

✨Showgirl Name📛: "Showgirl names appear to be all about glitz and glam, but scratch the surface and you'll find a wealth of strength behind them."

I really love the name 📛🎀Holiday. 💗 It's a very pretty, 🦄 special, 😃 happy name. I do like it more so as a girl's name because of the 'Holi' part in it — but it being a boy's name could work — if the 'Day' part was used as a nickname. 👌🏾

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛🎀HOLIDAYS:

📛Billie 🎀Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan) 🎤 (jazz singer)

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛🎀Holiday:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/H/HO/HOLIDAY/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛🎀Holiday: 👍  OR 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗/10

NAME OF THE DAY: Tilly

Like AI artist Xania Monet, Tilly Norwood is going viral for being an AI actress. So today I will talk about the titillating name 📛Tilly.

Tilly is a diminutive of the name 📛Matilda: "from the Germanic name Mahthilt meaning "strength in battle", from the elements maht "might, strength" and hilt "battle"." Variants of Tilly include: 📛Tillie and 📛Tilda.

Nameberry says, "As a stand alone name, Tilly is cutesy but not flimsy, a favorite in England and Wales where nicknames as given names are very much the norm. Tilly has the potential to catch on in the US, given its similarity to the popular Lily and Ellie and the rising stars Millie, Billie, Kallie, and Nellie." Tilly was #165 on England's most Popular Baby Names list for girls in 2024. Meanwhile in the US, Tilly was #953 on the most Popular Baby Names list for girls in 2024. Nameberry notes Tilly has been "racing up the US charts." Tilly is also a surname 📛 a la actress sisters Jennifer and Meg Tilly.

The most Tillys live in 📍California fittingly followed by 📍Rhode Island surprisingly.

I am undecided about the name 📛Tilly... 🤔 I don't hate the name but I don't like it as in I'm not crazy about it. 😖 It does have a flirty 😘 vibe to it that I do like... I am a bit taken aback 😦 Tilly is in the top 1000 most popular baby names for girls in the United States actually. I really did not know Tilly was such a popular name. 🤷🏾‍♀️ 📛Matilda, the name Tilly originates from, is #410 on the most Popular Baby Names list in 2024. And that makes sense. It is pretty cool the original name and nickname made it to ⬆top of the 📛name charts 📈 together.

To me, 📛Tilly sounds just like an old-fashioned name an old-school 🎥 movie star ⭐would have, therefore I think it's an unconvincing name choice for the new AI actress in Hollywood — Tilly Norwood — to have. 😒

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛TILLYS:

📛Tilly Bagshawe 📚 (author)

📛Tilly Ramsay 👩‍🍳(chef and daughter of Gordan Ramsay)

📛Tilly Keeper 📺 (actress)

📛Tilly Edinger 🦴 (paleontologist who founded paleoneurology)

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Tilly:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/T/TI/TILLY/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Tilly: 👎/👍 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  

NAME OF THE DAY: Harvest

The name 📛Harvest is from the word 'harvest' meaning: "the gathering of crops" —  "from Old English hærfest" —  and is transferred use of the surname Harvester📛.

Harvest has been used as a first name since the 18th century and started off as a unisex name, Nameberry explains, "in the US data for last year was starting to lean more female, given to 29 girls and 11 boys." Behind the Name however states, "SSA data also shows that Harvest is used as a boy's name 53% of the time." 🤔 The states where there are the most Harvests are in 📍California and 📍D.C.

I love the name 📛Harvest. 🥰 I think it's a gorgeous name and I never knew it is used for a first name until recently. 😮 I prefer Harvest 💗more for a girl's name but I see why Harvest 💙 can be unisex and for a boy — because it looks/sounds similar to the name 📛Harvey. 

📛Harvest made Nameberry's 🍂Autumn Names📛 📃list of and is described as: "pleasantly archaic, rich and ripe." ⌛👌🍇

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛HARVESTS:

📛Harvest Prude 📰 (journalist)

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Harvest:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/H/HA/HARVEST/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Harvest: 👍 OR  💓 💓 💓 💓 💓 💓 💓💓💓/ 10 

📰📛Harvest made it onto the ☔IRN📛 🏆 The Best & Worst 👎👎 📛Names of 2025 📃list!:

https://itsrainingnames.blogspot.com/2025/12/its-raining-names-best-worst-names-of.html

Why Ariana Grande Goes by Her Full Name: Ariana Grande-Butera in Wicked: For Good Film Credits

"Technically, it's my little-girl name. It’s technically little Ari’s name. I just feel like this experience was such a homecoming for me. I feel like I came home to myself in a lot of ways through what I learned from Glinda, from Elphaba. That was my name when I went to see the show when I was 10 years old, and it felt like a really lovely way of honoring that. It felt really full-circle, and it just felt like something I wanted to do," Ariana Grande explains in a PEOPLE article.

I'll be honest, I thought 📛Grande was Ariana's stage name. 🤦🏾‍♀️ But Grande is the 🎤singer's mother's last name and 📛Butera is her father's. 

📛Ariana is of Italian origin meaning 'most holy.' Behind the Name says it a form of the Greek name 📛Ariadne and "this name [Ariana] steadily grew in popularity in America in the last few decades of the 20th century." 

Ariana is almost in the top 100 most Popular Baby Names for girls in 2024, it is #103. I didn't realize Ariana was so sought of as a name. 🤔 

I'm ambivalent about the name 📛Ariana. 🤷🏾‍♀️ It is a pretty sounding name (Nameberry describes Ariana as "smooth and attractive") on one hand... but on the other hand, it's not jaw-droppingly beautiful or super unique — nor is it boring. 🥱 Nameberry proclaims 📛Ariana is "on the rise." 📈 I don't doubt that. I'm sure it will make it into the top 100 baby names at some point, especially with Ariana Grande's star rising even more with Wicked. ✨ 

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Ariana:

 https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/A/AR/ARIANA/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Ariana: 👍/👎 OR 💗💗💗💗💗/10

 

How to pronounce Cynthia Erivo's full name: Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo

Acclaimed actress of Wicked, Cynthia Erivo's entire name is an astounding seven names! 🤯

Erivo's first name 📛Cynthia is of Greek origin meaning: "moon goddess or woman from Kynthos" and Nameberry proclaims it "an attractive name." A tidbit to consider: "Cynthia always qualifies as a nature name. Two-flowered cynthia is a yellow wildflower in the aster family."

Behind the Name says, "Cynthia was not used as a given name until the Renaissance, and it did not become common in the English-speaking world until the 19th century. It reached a peak of popularity in the United States in 1957 and has declined steadily since then." 📉 In 2024, Cynthia was #826 on the most Popular Baby Names for girls. 📍California and 📍South Carolina have the most women named  Cynthia.

The rest of Erivo's six names are Nigerian. She shares the meaning of her names in a recent interview [▶0:50]: 

Zach Sang: "Your real name is seven names altogether. It's beautiful."

Cynthia Erivo: "Thank you very much."

ZS: "I don't want to butcher... Please..."

CE: "I'll say it. So it's Cynthia Chinasaokwu Onyedinmanasu Amarachukwu Owezuke Echimino Erivo. But there's a confirmation name Perpetua in there as well."

ZS: "Can you explain the origin of that and the history it's tied to?"

CE: "They're all Igbo Nigerian names. I really only know the translation for like two of them. Because maybe my memory is the worst. My mother gave me Chinasaokwu, it's God is always watching, as in taking care. And Onyedinmanasu is hard to translate exactly but it's like, you look forward, it doesn't matter what people are saying behind you cause you can't see it if you look forward that's the thing that matters."

You know your full name is a mouthful and truly something to behold when you don't even know all the meanings of them! 😅 Cynthia Erivo's names are all wonderful 👌🏾 (my favorite is 📛Perpetua) and it's great she's so proud of them all. 

I like the name 📛Cynthia — even though it's a bit of a boring name (also the name of an old best friend of mine growing up and the name of an ex's mother once upon a time) honestly... but something about it makes it 🔊sound pretty to say (I like the 'Cyn' part of it best). 🤔

📛Cynthia can be considered a classic name for as long as it's been around (the 19th century) and it's still on the name charts (just under the top 1k names) so it has longevity. I disagree with Nameberry that its popularity has peaked. 👎🏾 In time, especially with Erivo's popularity peaking, I don't doubt that 📛Cynthia will be cemented on the name charts in the top 📈 500 popular baby girl names. ✨

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Cynthia:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/C/CY/CYNTHIA/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Cynthia: 👍 OR 💚💚💚💚💚💚/10 

TV CHARACTER NAME OF INTEREST: Monet

📛Monet is the hip, chic name played by 🎤Mary J. Blige — as a ruthless 👑queen pin — on the 📺 tv show Power Book II: Ghost. 👻

Monet is of French origin according to Nameberry and is a "favorite of the Bohemian set." Behind the Name says Monet is: "from a French surname that was derived from either Hamon or Edmond. This was the surname of the French impressionist painter Claude Monet."

The most Monets live in 📍California and 📍District of Columbia. 

Monet reminds me of the name Monroe, being it is a last name that doubles as a first name too and 🔊sounds similar. And just like with Monroe, I like Monet more so for a girl over a boy (it is #1131 on The Bump 👶 Boy 💙 📛Names list 📃) being named. 👌🏾

I really love the name 📛Monet. It's a pretty name but also a bougie name. 👃🏾💁🏾‍♀️ It really does have an 'upper class' 💭 feel to it as pointed out on Behind the Name in the comments. With how fashionable Monet is, I'm very surprised 🤨 it's not on the most Popular Baby Names list via SSA as of recent (although it is in Nameberry's Top 1000 chart 📊). 

⭐FAMOUS & 📝NOTEWORTHY 📛MONETS:

📛Monet Mazur 🎥 (actress)

📛Monet Bell 📺 (reality tv show from Married at First Sight)

📛Monet Lerner aka 📛Monet Monico 🎤/ 📺 (singer & actress)

📛Monet Tumusiime 📺 (tv show character on American Horror Story)

📛Victoria Monet 🎤 (singer)

📛Xania Monet 💻🎤 (AI singer)

📛M aka Monet St. Croix  🗯❌ (comic book character in the X-Men)

📛Monet X  ❌ (personality from RuPaul's reality show Drag Race)

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Monet:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/M/MO/MONET/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Monet: 👍 OR 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗/10

NAME OF THE DAY: Xania

With AI music artist Xania Monet going viral, today I will discuss the extremely interesting 'X' name: 📛Xania

Namedary describes Xania as: " a feminine name with Greek origins. It is considered a very rare name that has not gained much attention in popularity recently." (⬅needs to be updated!)

Name Discoveries says on the name Xania: "is of Greek origin and is derived from the name "Xanthe," which means "golden" or "yellow-haired." Xania is a variant spelling of Xanthe and carries the same meaning. It is a feminine name that symbolizes brightness, warmth, and radiance, often associated with the color gold."

📍California is the state where most Xanias reside, according My Name Stats. 

I'm not a big fan of the name 📛Xania (🔊pro. Za-nigh-uh for Xania Monet. I see it as Za-knee-uh because of the 'Nia' 🤦🏾‍♀️). 🤷🏾‍♀️ The only thing I like about it is that it's an 'X' name (yet usually pronounced as a 'Z' name) because I think X names look really futuristic (an 'X' name is definitely the perfect choice for AI artist Xania). 🌌 The downside of X names however is that they remind me of names of 💊 drugs / medicine (i.e. Xanax, Xiidra). 😬

📛Nameberry🍒 has a 📃list: ❌Factor Baby Names stating: "The letter X seems to all by itself create cool baby names."

📌STATS ON THE NAME 📛Xania:

https://www.mynamestats.com/First-Names/X/XA/XANIA/index.html

☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Xania: 👎/👍 OR 💗💗💗💗💗/ 10 

NAME OF THE DAY: Birgundi

Color first names are always really fun and cool. 😎 Nameberry has a lot to say on colorful names: "Color names for babies have been around for a while, with Amber, Violet, and Rose the longest-standing members of the genre. Today, though, there are a 🌈rainbow of color names for both girls and boys, many of them gender-neutral names. Color names for babies range from the obvious -- Blue and Scarlett -- to the most exotic, from Azure to Zinc. The top color names for babies are mostly for girls, with Ruby, Scarlett, Hazel, and Violet all popular in the US. Unique color names for babies that strike the right tone include Amethyst, Blue, Clover, Gray, Indigo, Lavender, Lilac and Steel."

Speaking of unique color names that can also be a first name, is the deep, wine 🍷 color: 📛Burgundy. Better yet, the name 📛Birgundi. Birgundi is a real name (Birgundi Baker is an actress, singer and dancer who wears this beautiful name) — a variation of the color/place (France ) /name 📛Burgundy. 📍Louisiana and surprisingly 📍Hawaii are the states where the most Burgundys live. 

I love the name 📛Birgundi (or the original 📛Burgundy) — the 'i's' (📛Burgundi with one 'i' is another variation) in it gives it a more playful feel. 🤗 Birgundi really is a one-of-a-kind name 👌🏾 and I'm sure Baker's 📛name story 📕 is a truly rich one.

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

📰 📛Birgundi made it onto the ☔IRN📛 🏆The Best & Worst 👎👎 📛Names of 2025 📃list!:

https://itsrainingnames.blogspot.com/2025/12/its-raining-names-best-worst-names-of.html

You have such a wonderful name.

I wanted to share a 😁 nice 📛name compliment I received recently. 🥰

I wonder however, how the agent would have 🔊pronounced 📛Sidra... 🤔