Guest Blogger: Hayley

Today our guest blogger is Hayley!  Please welcome Hayley and enjoy this post from her :)

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As a guest poster, I thought that the best way to start my post would be to introduce myself to those of you who do not know me. My name is Hayley. I’m a 19 year old full time student living in Ontario, Canada. As a member of this community, I love names. As a fairly stereotypical Canadian, I love hockey. As some of you may know, labour disputes have forced the NHL into a lockout this year leaving me sad and without hockey. Thankfully, the holidays bring with them the World Junior Championships.

As I write this, my family is sitting in our living room watching the Canada World Juniors team take on Russia. The players in this tournament were born between 1993 and 1995. Predictably, this means the roster is peppered with Ryans, Jonathons, Tylers, a Jordan and a Jake. However, there are some very unusual names as well. As the World Juniors has been the only thing on my mind lately, I decided that it’s the only natural topic of my guest post. I am going to go into depth on 6 names; my 3 favorite and the 3 most unusual.

Favorites

• Xavier – Xavier Ouellet is a 19 year old defenseman from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. The inspiration from this post came from an offhand comment from my mother saying Xavier is a “pretty cool name”. I agreed. Xavier is derived from a place name meaning the new house. Although it is ranked 22 in Australia, it is less popular in Canada (70) and even less popular in the United States (77). Xavier is currently trending up, but x names sound so original that I don’t think it matters!

• Morgan – Morgan Reilley is an 18 year old defenseman from the Western Hockey League (and Toronto Maple Leaf prospect!!). Morgan comes from old Welsh and is believed to be made up of old Welsh words meaning sea and circle. In the US, Morgan is ranked 75 for girls and in the 500’s for boys. In Canada, it does not make the top 100 for either gender. As Morgan the girl name trends down very quickly, it could make a unique and interesting choice for a boy. I’d especially recommend it for someone with Welsh ancestry.

• Nathan – Nate Mackinnon is a 17 year old forward in the QMJHL. Although Canada’s other 17 year old is having a far better tournament, Nathan wins the consolation prize of having by far my favorite name on the team. Nathan comes from Hebrew and means he gave. Nathan is immensely popular in France (1) and Belgium (2). It is also in the top 10 in Canada where it ranks 7th. Nathan is less popular in the States (28), but still one unique name lovers should shy away from. For those unconcerned with popularity, it’s a classic name with a lovely meaning and great nicknames options (Nate and Tate are my personal favorites).

Most Unusual

• Boone – Boone Jenner is a 19 year old forward in the OHL. (I’ve seen him play live when his Oshawa Generals soundly crushed my Kingston Frontnacs). Boone is conventionally a surname and derived from an English nickname for those who come from the Bohan region in France. I can’t say it’s a name I’d recommend as I think it would fit a pet better than a person, but Mr. Jenner wears it well and it could be an interesting choice for a braver namer.

• JC – JC Lipon is 19 year old forward from the WHL. What makes JC (also sometimes spelled as J.C.) interesting is that his initials are his full name. Since learning this, I’ve entertained myself by making combos I think could have been great names with those initials. I’m really not sure why one would choose just initials for their child’s name, but it’s certainly provided me entertainment for between periods. (For the record, I’d have named him Jacob Cole)

• Griffin – Griffin Reinhart is an 18 year old defenseman from the WHL. Griffin comes from the Greek word gryps and was adopted into English to reference a creature with the body of a lion and head and wings of an eagle. Griffin is ranked 228 in the United States and is not in the top 100 in Canada. Both the meaning and the name are very cool and ultra masculine. Griffin sounds more main stream than it is and would fit right in with the Ethans and Aidans likely to be in his class. It’s a perfect name for conservative namer trying to branch out or a brave namer trying to reel in a little.

I hope you enjoyed my picks and analysis’ of favorite and most interesting names on Canada’s World Junior roster. For my mother’s benefit, I’m giving an honorable mention to goalie, Malcolm Subban, whose name she just defended from the criticism of my father. She’s now saying she wished she considered Malcolm for my brother. Apparently, my love of discussing names runs in the family too. Hope everyone else has a great holiday filled with family, names and hockey. <3