How picking a baby name works in 2022 ∣ Ervolino

Twenty-six years ago, I called upon Record readers to enter a “Name My Niece” contest.

I did it as a joke, but wound up with a milk crate overflowing with entries — more than 500 in all.

For reasons unknown, people LOVE picking baby names.

At the time, I was keen on Mia. My parents liked Rose. But my brother and his wife were partial to Talia.

The eventual winner: Talia Rose.

(Only one of the entered names, Italia, came close.)

I also suggested “Billie Ervolino,” which I thought had a nice ring to it.

My sister-in-law, Joyce, squinted at me and said, “Billy? You want her to have YOUR name?”

As I was quick to point out, “Billy is ambidextrous. Billy with a Y for boys. Billie with an IE for girls — as in Billie Burke, Billie Dove, Billie Holiday, Billie Jean King…”

(Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish didn’t come along until three or four years later.)

Sadly, they didn’t go for Billie with an IE. Don’t ask me Y.

“Billie” and “Mia” wound up in the reject pile, with practically every other name in the universe.

All these years later, Talia and her husband, Zach, are expecting a baby. This time around, the infant is male. Once again, everyone suggested a name. And I, naturally, offered Billy.

With a Y.

Talia and Zach pretended not to hear me.

“But it’s so versatile,” I said. “You have William, Willem, Wilhelm, Bill, Billy, Billy-Bob…”

I then proceeded to sing a bunch of songs they’d never heard of, ranging from “Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home” to “Billy, Don’t Be a Hero” to “Ode to Billy Joe.”

“Billy who?” Talia asked.

“Billy Joe McAllister,” I said. “He threw something off the Tallahatchie Bridge.”

Last I heard — during Thanksgiving dinner — Talia and Zach seemed to have their hearts set on Hunter. They didn’t seem 100 percent, though.

So, I paid extra attention, a few days later, when BabyCenter, an online media company, revealed the most popular baby names bestowed on children between Jan. 1 and Nov. 1, 2022.

These baby name stories always intrigue me, in part because one generation’s old fogey names often turn up, a generation or two later, as super cool.

According to BabyCenter, the top 10 girl’s names for 2022, in order, were Olivia, Emma, Amelia, Ava, Sophia, Isabella, Luna, Mia, Charlotte and Evelyn.

The top names for boys: Liam, Noah, Oliver, Elijah, Mateo, Lucas, Levi, Asher, James and Leo.

The center also noted a trend toward “wild west” monickers, ranging from Stetson, Waylon, Wyatt and Maverick to Texas, Montana and Arizona.

And Prairie.

(For a little boy? A little girl? A little house?)

I kinda liked Arizona and suggested it to Talia. She said, “I’m not naming my son after an iced tea.”

Most popular middle names drew from mythology, classic literature, crayon colors, outer space and garden plants.

Currently trending: Daphne, Estella, Luna (again), Flora, Lark, Calanthe, Oona, Sienna and Lavender.

That last one, as you know, is both a plant and a color.

Can’t pick just one? How about triplets named Luna, Oona and Maroona?

Chance Bridges’ name made headlines in 2021.

Unusual? Sure. But relatively tame when you consider that her parents are actor/rapper Ludacris Bridges and his wife, model Eudoxie Mbouguiengue.

I thought it was amusing to see Amelia among today’s most popular names for girls, since I grew up thinking it was an “old lady” name.

In fact, my grandmother was supposed to name her youngest child Amelia, after the witch around the corner looked into some hot oil concoction and told her she was carrying a girl.

That girl turned out to be my father, and he was hastily renamed Emilio.

Back in the day, a lot of folks couldn’t pronounce his name, so Dad used his middle name — Louis — on his business cards.

My mother’s father’s name was another Italian lollapalooza: Catello.

When I asked my mother where my brother’s and my names came from, she said that because she had Emilio and Catello dangling over her head, she chose Billy and Donald — “the two most American names I could think of.”

What’s preferable, though? Having a name that is unique and “special” or one that’s just like everybody else’s?

My mother was named after her grandmother Louise — a monicker she shared with several cousins, all of whom received nicknames. My mother was Babe. Another cousin was called Lulu… and so on.

One day, in the late 1970s, Lulu was ill, so my mother went to stay with her, make her some soup and field her phone calls.

Family nicknames usually stay within the family. So, when a woman called and said, “Louise?” Mom replied, “Oh, this isn’t Louise. This is Louise’s cousin Louise. She’s lying down right now. Can I tell her who’s calling?”

The woman on the other end said, “Yes, Louise, can you tell Louise that it’s Louise from next door?”

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: What fits the Bill when choosing a baby name?