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Type-inspired baby names?
Posted by Jennifer in
29 May 2008 — 1:42pm
29 May 2008 — 1:42pm
Here's a semi-serious idea that actually could happen, depending ..
Two of my oldest friends are 5ish weeks away from having their first baby, and they're nowhere near a sense of what to name the lil pup. They're both designery and bookish, and quite like type. In fact, she's sitting across from me and just exclaimed "Pica! We'll name it Pica! Or .. Franklin!"
So, if you had to choose a type-inspired name for a baby, boy or girl, what would it be?
All the reasonable guidelines apply, for example nothing unpronounceable or humiliating. Like, not 'Slug'. :)
thanks!
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29 May 2008 — 1:55pm
Pica is no good..it is also "a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for largely non-nutritive substances (e.g., coal, soil, feces, chalk, paper, etc.)" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(disorder)
how about:
Chase
Em
Bezier
Aldus
Hrant
Ula (EULA)
Ogonek
Pi
29 May 2008 — 1:56pm
pica would be cute as a nickname, but can you imagine getting to grade 1 and finding out the meaning of your name:
pica, 1/6 of a inch, an archaic form of measure.
wow, great.
if I could name a little bundle of joy after type-related things I'd consider:
Cooper
Eric(a) (as in Gill, as in Gill sans and Eras)
29 May 2008 — 1:57pm
And pika the homonym is a little rodent!
I like Em and Ogonek. :)
29 May 2008 — 2:05pm
Lest we forget the obvious . . . Mark . . .
And personally we were very seriously considering the middle name Pilcrow for one of our own . . .
Didn't make the cut . . .
:D
29 May 2008 — 2:54pm
If 'Slug' is out, then so is 'Creep'? (Daddy: "Where is my little Creep? There is my little Creep!")
How about Cicero or August?
One of the leader linguists from France is Pierre Pica -- as a last name, that calls for a "Cicero Pica". Can't think of anything with the metrics system. "Millipica" ... sounds like a kind of bug -- the insect type.
29 May 2008 — 3:29pm
Bonefolder.
Edit: Sorry, that's a bad answer, but I couldn't resist. I'll put some better choices here as I come up with them.
29 May 2008 — 3:27pm
Cicero and Agate!
29 May 2008 — 3:28pm
'Bonefolder' has considerable humiliative qualities!
29 May 2008 — 3:29pm
Chancery?
29 May 2008 — 3:35pm
Dingbat, when naughty
:)
29 May 2008 — 3:39pm
Dot
29 May 2008 — 3:41pm
Serif
29 May 2008 — 3:59pm
River
Ascender
Kern > Kerner > Kerny
Typo
Case
j a m e s
29 May 2008 — 4:09pm
Kerny! :)
Lubalin
Willow
Velvet
Kepler
29 May 2008 — 4:46pm
I would just call him Font and for a nickname fontfont.
29 May 2008 — 5:05pm
Our second son is named Dash.
-=®=-
29 May 2008 — 5:07pm
or foot foot…
29 May 2008 — 5:34pm
Kernelius
29 May 2008 — 6:05pm
Verdona
Sansie
Python
Helveta
Zapffy
Hyphen
29 May 2008 — 9:54pm
I always though Galliard would be a nice boys name.
Cheers, Si
30 May 2008 — 12:03am
Adrian
Renner
Fedra
Jenson
Oz
Lino
Mistral
Caslon
dr
30 May 2008 — 12:14am
My favorite so far is Kernelius! How about Shifty Kernelius?
Tilde
Glyph
Iota
Breve
Eta
Ellipsis (Ellie or Ella)
Ampersand (a fine middle name, no?)
Akkadian
Nineveh
Trema
Umlaut
30 May 2008 — 1:24am
Typo
for parents who wish they weren't going to be parents
30 May 2008 — 3:43am
Well, there is this story that Gerard Unger's Flora was named after his daughter, as it had been suggested by Hell, the company who initially published it.
What's almost unbelievable is that a few years later he met someone who told him they had named their daughter Flora, like his font, after looking for inspiration in a type specimen book!
30 May 2008 — 4:49am
Kennerley or Kennerly. Please, no Pica :-) If a boy, Cícero. Congratulations for the parents.
30 May 2008 — 6:12am
Lydia[n]
Arial
Palatino/a
Finial (Finn)
In a few days we'll be naming our first daughter Johanna. Sadly, not a) after the font Joanna, b) after Gutenberg, c) after Johanna Bilak. Though I might tell her a combination of those things when she's older.
Her middle name will be Margaret, and a few people have pointed out we could very well nickname her JPEG.
30 May 2008 — 7:14am
I teased Tiffany that she should name her kid EULA - it comes from Faulkner as well.
30 May 2008 — 8:17am
Tympan, Tympani
Brayer
Verso
Gute
30 May 2008 — 11:41am
If twin boys - Cooper and Bookman. They could be a crime-fighting team when they grow up.
30 May 2008 — 12:06pm
Love these:
Finial
Nineveh
Sansie
Russell has a son named Dash! I'm impressed!
To my ears: Cooper = Pooper Scooper. :)
30 May 2008 — 12:48pm
Pronounce the double 'o' in Cooper like the double 'o' in foot. Cooper.
30 May 2008 — 12:57pm
Clever
30 May 2008 — 12:58pm
Platen
30 May 2008 — 1:17pm
Caron
Macron (Mac for short)
Trajan
Hint
Sans
Oblique
The last reminds me of the movie Runaway Bride (which, um, my girlfriend likes) where Richard Gere's journalist had a cat named Italics! :)
30 May 2008 — 1:23pm
Oh, I think that Paica, or Pyca, is a substitute to Pica.
30 May 2008 — 1:23pm
oh thats the best. hee! :)
imagine yourself in the lane, banging on a tin of tuna with a fork, calling 'Italics! Itaaaaalics!'
and whose cat is named Bembo? Jim Rimmer?
30 May 2008 — 1:44pm
Sluggo from the old Katzenjamer kids cartoon.
ChrisL
30 May 2008 — 1:47pm
Majiscule has a very royal sound to it
30 May 2008 — 2:17pm
the father-to-be has just suggested Lucida, Lucy for short
brilliant!
31 May 2008 — 2:43am
or akzidenz?
31 May 2008 — 7:02am
>the father-to-be has just suggested Lucida, Lucy for short
Lets hope the baby isn't too tubby - Lucida Grande - not so good. ;-)
31 May 2008 — 8:55am
Trajan kind of works because you could call him Trey for short.
31 May 2008 — 10:45am
"or akzidenz?"
Middle name would be Grotesk?
31 May 2008 — 5:48pm
sweetie, you *were* planned, we just *liked* 'akzidenz'!
1 Jun 2008 — 2:52am
Caron > The Caron Carpenter Story
j a m e s
1 Jun 2008 — 6:48am
Kis
Goodchild
Serif
Freight
1 Jun 2008 — 6:27pm
Great post!
If it weren't for my level-headed wife, our three daughters would be named: Serif, Zuzana and… Orphan (she doesn't like me very much).
2 Jun 2008 — 4:14am
Auntie Em.... Auntie Em .....
2 Jun 2008 — 5:06am
You could tell us the surname so we could fit them better together (kerning-wise too).
I'll try going through Bringhurst's glossary of characters (some serious, some joking):
Cedilla (for a girl, perhaps)?
If the baby was redhead you could call him/her Dumb Caret (not sure it's “^” or another one I'm missing)!
Or maybe Dumbquotes! :P
Dyet (“Đ”)? :P Dyet Coke!
Ethel (“œ”)!
Hedera (ivy leaf fleuron)!
Háček (caron, inverted circumflex like over the lc C) or Kroužek (ring), a nice pan-european feel to it…
Solidus (fraction bar)?
Well, not Sputnik…
Nor Swung Dash!
(Going through to the glossary of terms)
Well, not Bastarda!
Bitmap? :P The other day I was suggesting Pixel for a friend's cat.
Well, certainly not Lettrine! xD
Quaint is kind of nice and original…
Well, then you've got names of designers and their typefaces… if they have any preferences, they could try and go with those. I really like Columbus, for example, designed by Patricia and David Saunders and Robin Nicholas. But I guess calling a kid Columbus would be a little too “cumbersome”.
2 Jun 2008 — 7:49am
"Tympani " I love it!
Emma, Enna, Delta, Small Fry,
Colon, Branch, Gee-Gee, Sweet Pie.
Cheers!