Check what it means before you buy birth announcement cards!

The trend for unusual and exotic baby names shows no sign of slowing down. Last week we overheard someone in a pub talking about their relatives’ children, three of whom are called ‘Geronimo’, ‘Princessing’ and ‘Guvna’. Yes, Guvna. Imagine that on your birth announcement cards!

So what’s in a name? A surprising amount, as it turns out.

Many people choose girls’ names because they sound so pretty. April, for instance. Or Rosie. Or Summer. But girls’ names can be deceptive.

‘Kate’ is a pretty-sounding name. But Kate has three possible meanings. One, a tribute to the Greek goddess Hecate. Two, some scholars say it has Coptic origins. In which case it means ‘My consecration of your name’; a bit of a mouthful. The third option? There’s every chance that the name Kate actually originates from the ancient Greek word for ‘torture’. Not too pretty after all!

Boys’ names fall into different categories. Things like ‘Oliver’ and ‘Charles’ have a classy ring whereas names like Frank and Steve sound slightly more macho. At the far right of macho you’ll find little boys with huge names like ‘Butch’ and ‘Rambo’.

In 2004 England’s top male baby name was Jack. Millions of birth announcement cards went out that year and countless thousands of little Jacks were welcomed into the world. Closely followed by Joshuas, Thomases, Jameses, Daniels, Samuels, Olivers, Williams, Benjamins and, at ten, Josephs… a startling number of traditional biblical names without a sniff of a Darren or a Dwayne.

Apparently once upon a time, back in the ‘80s, every other little girl was called Kylie. The media has been moaning ever since about a veritable epidemic of celebrity naming. Apparently we’re all naming our kids after celebrities.

But do media complaints stand up to scrutiny? Or is the whole celebrity naming thing an urban myth? A couple of years back the top ten girls’ names encompassed gentle Victorian-sounding Emily, Ellie, Jessica, Sophie, Chloe, Olivia, Charlotte, Kaite and Megan. No sign of a celebrity name. Not a Jay-Lo or a Jade or a Paris in sight. What surprises, we wonder, will 2008’s baby name statistics bring?

If you choose a name for your baby before he or she is born, you might find yourself back-pedalling frantically as little Cherry comes out looking exactly like an Annabel. Or little Phillip (which means ‘friend of horses’) turns out to have the undeniable look of a ‘Harry’ about him.

Made up names are great fun. But one piece of advice - if you create a name for your baby from scratch try Googling it before you book the christening. You don’t want to find out too late that your beautiful-sounding made up name actually means ‘Big bum’ in Swahili or ‘Untrustworthy pig face’ in Japanese. And it is always a good thing to check you’re not naming your new baby after a serial killer!

Some names simply hit the nail on the head. In retrospect they seem fortuitous, like magic. Take the name Barack - as in Barack Obama - which means ‘blessing’ in Arabic. Whether he really does turn out to be a blessing is to be seen. But things are looking good so far…

Once you’re sure the name you’ve chosen doesn’t mean anything silly, and it suits your baby to a tee, you’re ready to introduce him or her to the world by sending out your birth announcement cards. Until you’ve done your homework, you’re in dangerous waters!

How high do you score on the posh’o'meter?

You’ve probably heard of Debrett’s. They’re the publishers who, like Burke’s, publish beautiful leather-bound books containing lists of the richest and poshest people in the UK; Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage. 

And boy, are they posh! They describe themselves as ‘the modern authority on all matters etiquette, taste and achievement’. And they say that ‘recognising people of distinction and the finer things in life are true to Debrett’s Heritage’.  They have opinions about all aspects of life from ‘modern’ manners to wedding etiquette to correct ‘form’, etiquette for young gentlemen to advice on every aspect of family life.

Gosh. 

We’ve had hours of fun reading through our copy of ‘Correct Form’. And we were pleased to see that they’ve got some sound advice about announcing the birth of a new baby:

“Birth Announcement cards should be printed or engraved and kept elegantly simple. Photographs of a new baby should never be sent out.“ they proclaim.

“Phew!” we proclaim in response. Thankfully we are not as common as muck after all. Far from it. In fact, from now on you can call us Lord and Lady Muck. We’re as posh as a posh thing.  

How come? Because our simple, elegant, luxurious new birth announcement cards fit the bill perfectly. According to Debrett’s we’ve got it right. Thick, crisp white cards embellished with a delightfully subtle pink or blue bow. And that’s it. You choose the message and text, which sits there looking ever so classy above the bow motif. Debrett’s would be proud of us.

As for their ‘don’t send a photo of your baby’ advice, we think that’s a bit harsh. It doesn’t exactly exude human warmth! So why not include a lovely photo of your new baby in the envelope to accompany your classy, minimalist birth announcement card?

That way you get the best of both worlds. You can be posh and  human at the same time in one big, cosy double whammy. We love happy compromises!

1969 and the Neil Armstrong is the first man to walk on the moon The second man  is Buzz Lightyear (Aldrin). On March 2nd ‘69 Concorde makes it’s first flight of 27mins. Number one hits that year include Tom Jones, The Rolling Stones and Fleetwood Mac, sound familiar? Marvin Gaye sang “Heard it through the Grapevine” and the legendary Rolf Harris  bought a lump to out throats with “Two Little Boys”.

This is landmark birthday, you must celebrate before Hush Puppies become a reality and that Pink Rinse seems to make sense. Be proud of 1969, let everybody know you were born in the Love and Peace year with our 1969 themed invitation.

Maybe you have memories of your misspent youth, Remember the Specials (touring 2009), The first Madness single “The Prince” and the mighty “Three minute hero” from The Selector? All from the Two Tone Lable. This invitation should bring back the glory days one more time!