Maybe we’ve been going about this name business all wrong. Did you know “Ava” means “bird-like?” Now that we’re thinking about names again, I’ve been considering how Ava is like a bird. She’s not, really. I don’t think we ever really made the bird connection in the first place, we just liked the name. And we thought it was relatively rare. There were 91 babies named Ava in 2003, the year before our daughter was born; that was the 28th most popular name. 2004? 116 and 18th place. 2005? 188 for 5th. 260 and 2nd place in 2006, and last year, all the way to the top spot with 281 baby girls named Ava in Iowa.
It makes you wonder how these names come into the public consciousness. I have a theory that Ava’s rise in popularity tracks basically in line with Reese Witherspoon’s rise to fame since 2000. See, Reese has a daughter named Ava, who was born September 9, 1999 (cool birthday, huh?). Anyway, Reese is in the news more (Legally Blonde, Election, Walk the Line), and there are more mentions of her family, including little Ava. Seems plausible enough.
So my idea this time around is to do a totally plain first name and just let my rare last name carry the day. Maybe John. Or Susan. Or Bill. Or Jane. It’s future proof.