Manon

Happy Christmas Eve! Today is the last day of Namemas, sadly, and I can't believe it is over already! If you guys don't hear from me tomorrow I hope you have a great holiday.

French, French, French 
Manon is the French variant of Marie, which is in the same family as Mary. True to her origin, Manon ranked #5 in France in 2015 as well as #26 in Belgium.

The French film Manon of the Spring from the 1980s is about a young girl who works as a shepherd in the countryside of France. She goes on to plot revenge on men who were greedy over her father's land a few years back and caused his death. I have not seen the movie but it does seem very interesting.

Before the film there was a novel called Manon Lescaut written by Abbe Prevost in 1731. It takes place in France and Louisiana and get this one of the main characters is called Manon! Manon's lover disappoints his father and runs away with her. The novel would go on to infuse many other movies and TV shows and even a few Operas.

Christmas Association 
Manon is the last name of Namemas sadly but I can't go without saying why I pricked this lovely name. Manon is in honor of the mother of Jesus, Mary. If you are a fan of catholic and religious names you have to check out Kate at Sancta Nomina. I have seen Manon featured over there a few times.

Drummer

Occupation and Musical
I started Namemas with an occupational name and I am ending the boys names with an occupational name. Just like Decker, Drummer is on trend with top 100 occupational names like Carter, Sawyer, and Hunter but still hasn't caught on. In October, Julia Stiles had a son named Strummer and although the name isn't much more popular than Drummer it has still been given to more than 5 boys within the last 5 years.

Musical names, like Harmony and Lyric, pop up here and there but you don't hear about Drummer. Its the perfect name for a rock fan or someone who loves to play the percussion instrument. Besides being in a band you could find little boys playing drums on the battlefields bringing an image of bravery and innocence.

Blog Baby
The one known bearer of the name Drummer, as a first name, is the son of blogger Katy from No Big Dill. Back in 2011 little Drummer Zion was born and welcomed by 5 big sisters also with great names. Their names? Olive, Clover, Azure, Pearl, and Divine!

Christmas Association
The Little Drummer Boy was originally known as Carol of the Drum when it was written back in 1941 by Katherine Kennicott Davis. It took 10 years to be recorded for the first time by the Trapp family Singers.

The lyrics in the song talk about a little boy who is summoned by the Three Wise Men to Jesus birth. Because the boy was poor and had no gifts to give he played the drum for Mary. In the original story of Jesus' birth in the gospel there is no little drummer boy.

Vesper

What do James Bond, bats, Marvel comics, and Christmas all have in common with the name Vesper? read on to find out! 

James Bond 
In 2006, the modern James Bond film, Casino Royale, came out introducing so many to the name Vesper through Eva Greene's character, Vesper Lynd. The movie was based on the book by Ian Fleming and in both the movie and book James Bond drinks a "Vesper Martini".

In the novel, the character explains that she was born on a stormy evening and that is why her parents named her Vesper. Vesper means evening star in Latin. It is also believed that Fleming based Vesper Lynd on the Polish agent Krystyna Skarbek working for Special Operations Executive.

Starbabies
Vesper Vivianne Ruck (2010) Daughter of Alan Ruck and Mireille Enos

• Ruck was in Ferris Buller's Day Off

Vesper Pearl Farrar (2009) Daughter of Sam Farrar and Stephanie Eitel

• Farrar was a band member in the band Maroon 5 and Eitel is a formal member of the band Agent Sparks

Evangeline-Vesper Lynne Bonner (2009), Daughter of Matt and Nadia Bonner

• Matt is a retired NBA basketball player who played for the Toronto Raptors and San Antonio Spurs

Roman Mythology 
Vesper is the roman equivalent of Hesperus. He was the evening star or the planet Venus at night. He is son to the goddess of dawn, Eos, and brother to the morning star, Phosphorus. Often times Hesperus and his brother Phosphorus are confused and the names are used inner changeably because they are both personifications of the same planet.

Comics, Places, and Animals
In the Marvel world Vesper is a female mutant and she first appeared in Genetic #1. She has telepathic and technopathic abilities and can control machines and computers.

Vesper Peak is a mountain in Washington state. There are also two unincorporated communities called Vesper in Kansas and Oregon.

What do a mouse, a bird, and a bat all have in common? They all bear the name Vesper. The Vesper bat is the largest and best-known bat family out there while the Vesper sparrow is a medium sized bird.

Christmas Association
The story of the birth of Jesus there is a star, the Star of Bethlehem. In the Gospel of Matthew the three wise men follow that star to the stable Jesus was born in the bring him gifts. Vesper is a perfect way to honor the story of Jesus and the three wise men's journey to him.