Names for Sochi '14

As a name nerd and a Canadian hockey fan, Tuesday was a day I’d been waiting for for months. What happened Tuesday? I’ll give you a few hints: it happens only once every 4 years, it involves over 20 names to look at and it relates to hockey! If you guessed the announcement of the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team roster, you got it! Because there are just so many names, I decided to pare it down a little. In this post, I’m going to talk about my top 3 and the 3 most interesting names on the Sochi ’14 roster.

My Favorites

Name: Corey

Rank*: 351

Meaning: unknown meaning

My Thoughts: Cory right now is one of my top girl names (which I know is not most people’s deal), but I love it on a boy too! Although Corey is the original, the less popular Cory just looks cleaner to me. I think it’s a really energetic sounding, not to popular choice!

Name: Duncan

Rank*: 835

Meaning: brown warrior

My Thoughts: Duncan is one of those names I’ve always loved, but will probably never love enough to use. Duncan basically has all those things that make a name a winner. For those who don’t love popularity, it’s pretty low ranking. For those who like common sounding names, it has a lot of the same elements as hugely popular names. It has the Shakespeare pedigree and could honor a Scottish heritage.

Name: Drew

Rank*: 282

Meaning: short form of Andrew (man of a man)

My Thoughts: Although Andrew is a cool name, I’ve always been able to get behind its two biggest nicknames (Andy being the other) way more than just Andrew itself. With Andrew being a top 20 choice, Drew is probably much more popular than its ranking would suggest, making it not a great pick for unique name lovers. If that kind of thing doesn’t bug you, Drew is definitely substantial enough to be its own name.

Most Interesting

Name: Roberto

Rank*: 308

Meaning: bright fame

My Thoughts: I promise before I began this post I did not know Roberto was more popular in the US than Corey and Duncan. I’m also gonna just chalk this one up to a difference in geography as I’ve known multiple Corey’s/Cory’s and a Duncan, but would be shocked to meet a Roberto. Anyway, I think Roberto sounds worlds more modern and interesting than just Robert and could be a cool choice for people looking to honor Italian, Spanish or Portuguese heritage.

Name: Pernell

Rank*: n/a

Meaning: unknown

My Thoughts: I try not to think about this name, which is a lot easier as the owner chooses to go by his initials (PK) and not his actual name. The best I can do for any kind of history would be the feminine name Parnel which is derived from an ancient Roman male name. I’d definitely advise against this name, but my love for PK Subban comes out in full force during the Olympics. As a member of the Montreal Canadians, I’m legally obligated to hate PK (or at least not talk about loving him as much as I do). Thankfully, during the Olympics, we all play for Canada!

Name: Shea (pro. Shay)

Rank*: n/a

Meaning: admirable

My Thoughts: I really love this name. The soft sound and Irish roots are particularly appealing to me. The only Shea I’ve ever met is a girl who uses the phonetic spelling, and although it’s a name that I can see as unisex, I’d love to meet a male Shea.

*even though these players are Canadian and were born 20-30 yrs ago, I used American ’12 rankings

So there are my favorite names and the most interesting names from this roster. I have to throw out a couple more mentions though. Matt Duchene, who grew up in my hometown, will also be repping Canada in the games. Finally, there are three boys from my Leafs who made their own Olympic teams, so here’s hoping Phil Kessel (US), James Van Riemsdyk (US) and Nikolai Kulemon (Russia) also have a fantastic Olympics too.

Hayl