Feature Friday: Christina

Hey guys! So guess what time it is?!?! It’s Feature Friday time! That’s right it’s that time of the week again. This week is a fellow name blogger named Christina. I really enjoy reading her because she puts up unique names that I have never heard of before. Her blog is http://ababynameperday.blogspot.com/. She also has a listography http://listography.com/cristinaslist. I definitely had fun doing this interviewing and talking to someone whose blog I love to read. So let’s get started.

Me: How did you get into baby names?

Christina: Naming characters for stories. I would always pick the most unusual names for my characters, probably due to seeing Zenobia in Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, and Eudoxia in an Anne Rice book. I loved Eudoxia so much that back in the day when there was still AIM (AOL Instant Messager) I used Eudoxia Roan as my screen name.

Me: Haha I would write stories just so I could name the characters. How old were you when you first started liking baby names?

Christina: I was a teenager, probably about 14. At first I had a deeper interest in Japanese names because I was so in love with anime. I liked Yui, Miaka, Yuri, Ren (^_^), Minako, Reiko, Akira and Keiichi. Then my tastes went toward mythology names, and Artemisia and Ceridwen took over my interests for a while. By college I'd exhausted all resources in search of more rare names.

Me: haha Ren is a pretty great name ;P. What are your current favorite baby names?

Christina: I keep my top name super secret because I'm paranoid like that. It just took me forever to find it and it hasn't been used for any kids in the U.S. since before 1920. However, my top ten at the moment are Rasia, Kolfinna, Freya, Eulalia, Quillana, Tabitha, Circe, Theria, Arietta and Tanaquin.

Me: I really like your names! They are very different but pretty. If you remember, what were your first favorite baby names?

Christina: Thanks, not many people like them. Other than Zenobia and Eudoxia, some of my first loves were Francesca, Arianwen, Beria, Raina, Holly, Emeraude and Titania for girls, and Merrick, Atreyu, Mercade, Oberon, Klaus, Stefan and Stellan for boys. I also loved Godiva but knew it would never be usable.

Me: It seems like you have always had a great naming style. Why did you decide to start blogging, join formspring, and/or make list on listography?

Christina: I decided to start blogging about names for fun. My hobby just grew and I needed an outlet. However, I kept blogging about names because I realized there weren't very many blogs that did "name highlights," where the focus is on one name and all the *accurate* information about that name. I was shocked how many sites and blogs listed inaccurate information and neglected to give more background. But moreso, I wanted mine to be about rare and unusual names, and include the number of births for that name for the last year. When you're interested in using a name for your kid, sometimes knowing how many other kids were given that name around the same time can be a deciding factor. And I'm really not interested in popular names - I don't see the appeal of using one, and I think there are a lot of beautiful names getting ignored that I should bring to everyone's attention. Listography is one way, but it was mainly to save space on my computer. You wouldn't believe how many word documents starting with the words "baby names" are on my hard drive.

Me: I love the reasoning behind your blog. What has been the most fun about blogging, formspring and/or listography?

Christina: The most fun part of blogging is searching for the names I want to post about and arranging them so that the name I write about on Monday could be a sibling to the name I posted the day before or the day after. I'm sure not everyone would agree with what I think are good sibling names, but it's a better way for me to organize the posts instead of just throwing them together. I also love themes, like birth stones and Halloween names, and I love the pictures that go with certain names. Most historical names have a lot of art accompanying them.

Me: Researching the names is so fun and I love the order you put the names in. What has been your favorite blog and/or listography list you have done?

Christina: My favorite blog post is probably either Plumeria or Melusine. Plumeria is extremely rare and overlooked as a flower name, so I enjoyed throwing it out there for people to consider, and Melusine was a fascinating subject to write about. My favorite list on the blog is the list of witchy sounding names, and on listography it's the only list of boy names because I admire how short it is. I don't have short lists. This is the only one. 

Me: I didn't know that Plumeria was a flower name but I really like it. Plum is a great nickname. Are you working on any blog post/listography?

Christina: Yes, I was thinking of posting something about the 7 new saints that were recently named, and I have an interview for the end of the month with Anna from Waltzing More Than Matilda.

Me: I can’t wait to read them! What do you love about baby names?

Christina: I love the idea that every child, in theory, could have a name that no one else has, so every time I find a rare name, I love it for someone, so to speak. Like I found a name, am throwing it into the blogosphere, and waiting for someone to find it, fall in love with it, and use it. I love names that could become someone's individuality. I love forgotten names, names waiting to be discovered, names with history.

Me: haha I love the way you think. What types of baby names to do like (ex. Trendy, vintage, etc.)?

Christina: I like whimsical, fanciful, mythological, witchy, rare, unusual, exotic, celestial, historical, literary, nature names.

Me: Nice style. When did you tell your friends and family about your love to baby names?

Christina: My husband found out how much I loved baby names when I joined Nameberry, and he supported my idea to start a blog. My parents found out after the blog was started, and they were not entirely supportive. I'll mention that I have a blog about names when I find out someone is pregnant, which usually gets no response, and I leave it be.

Me: I’m glad he supported you. How did/do your family and friends react to your love for baby names?

Christina: They thought there were better things I could do with my time, like get a second job. Now they think this hobby could lead somewhere, but they still think it's not worth so much time and it's my way of saying I want a baby. Which is not true, for now. I only have a few friends, two male, two female, and none care about the blog or my love of names, but sometimes I can wow them with a fact.

Me: I think it is worth the time! On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your love/addiction/obsession for baby names?

Christina: Ten being a straight-up addiction, can't focus on anything but names, I'd say I'm at a 7. I spend at least 3 hours a day on something name related. I carry a notebook to work and contemplate things like what color nursery a kid named Circe would have, or what color hair best suits a Jessamine. It takes at least an hour to research each blog post, more for names with deeper history like Leocadia, which my mom actually had to translate articles from Spanish for me. I've also exhausted friends and family to the point where they've had to tell me to stop talking about names, so now I rarely mention anything.

Me: I have a notebook too. I think the more time you put into a blog the better it is. What is the reason behind your blog and listography  name?

Christina: My blog title, "A Baby Name Per Day," was really a poor choice. I was searching for something that hadn't been used before, and I think I succeeded in that, but I really didn't understand how much work I'd have to do to literally post each day, and I regret that. Which is why I chose "Rare and Unusual Baby Names" for my Facebook page, in hopes that one day I'll learn how to change my blog title before it gets popular. That, and "Rare and Unusual" fits my blog much better. For other things I usually use my first name.

Me: I agree. My blog has a bad name too. “Rare and Unusual Baby Names” really suits your blog. Do you have a favorite baby namer (YouTube, blog, etc.)?

Christina: I really like Bewitching Names, I love the theme of her blog and the names she covers. I also like Nook of Names - I'd totally let her name my kid, if I gave her my criteria. But I do use Nameberry for most of my naming needs.

Me: I’m going to have to check out those blogs. Do you have a #1 fan on your blog and/or listography or someone who you talk to a lot because of them?

Christina: I haven't gotten any comments on listography yet, but the same commenters on the blog, for the post part. And oh, how I value those comments! Anna, Lou, Ingrid and Ren (you), plus some unknown's. If I didn't get any comments or pageviews I probably would have stopped blogging. Thanks to those comments I've made online friends, given name interviews and have now been the subject of one.

Me: I value every comment too. It makes me realize that people like my blog. What inspired you to make a blog/listography besides baby names?

Christina: I did have another blog before the name one, dedicated to home decorating, which I loved, and still work on, but it didn't end up being as big of a passion as baby names. I can't even remember why I started that one. I think I've just always had an excess of ideas, and blogging seems to be the perfect outlet.

Me: Blog is such a great outlet. Where do you find your baby names at?

Christina: I find a ton of names on Nameberry in the forums. I used to suggest a lot of names, now I just lurk in the shadows and collect lists. Others I find while researching names that I'm already working on for the blog. Say I'm writing a post on Leda, I find out her daughter was Helen, who caused the Trojan War, then Troy leads me to Brad (Pitt), and so on.

Me: That’s so cool how one name leads to another! Do you know anyone in real life that has a formspring/youtube/blog?

Christina: I don't know anyone in real life that has any kind of online...anything. Other than Facebook, of course, which they can't stay away from longer than 5 minutes.

Me: haha me too. Random fact about you?

Christina: Hmm...I am obsessed with tea even worse than baby names. I currently have over 20 different boxes of tea and drink at least 6 cups a day.

Me: Wow! That’s a lot of tea! I didn’t even know they made they many kings of tea! What did you think of this interview?

Christina: I loved it! I'm always happy to talk about names. And thank you so much!

Me: You’re welcome! Is there anything else you would like to add?

Christina: I hate my own name. (Cristina.) I've gotten used to it, but I really, really don't like it. I would have preferred something like Raina (or Ren lol), something a bit more unusual.

Me: haha I would have never guessed that. I actually have a boring popular name (Lauren) but go by Ren online.

So that’s the interview.  It was so fun and I loved talking to Christina. You really need to go check out her blog. It’s amazing! Thanks Christina again for doing the interview. I hope you liked it and don’t forget to comment. Bye for now :). 

Photo Credit:  http://ababynameperday.blogspot.com/