The names we gave to our newborn babies

Supplied by the Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, the most popular names given to baby boys and girls born in this state have appeared in print. I realise this is a somewhat biased sample of baby names, given that 26% of Australian citizens were born overseas. So don’t expect too many Anastasias and Antonios.

However of those babies born here, the most popular names are usefully divided by decade, facilitating comparisons over the century since Australia became an independent, federated nation (1/1/1901). Below I have given the top ten names, for boys and for girls, for selected decades.

Girls 1900s
Ethel   Amy  Ida  Mary  Myrtle  Charlotte  Elsie  Eva  Florence  Grace

1940s  (I was born and named Helen, along with half my class at school).  Margaret  Judith   Helen   Patricia   Lynette  Barbara   Pamela   Lorraine   Beverley  Jennifer

1970s  (my children went to school, filled with Lisas and Melissas).  Michelle  Nicole  Lisa  Melissa  Kylie  Rebecca  Sarah  Amanda  Joanne  Belinda

2000s  (my grandchildren started school, with heaps of Chloes and Mias. Soft endings with vowels seem de rigueur, for girls).  Olivia  Emily  Chloe  Ella  Jessica  Isabella  Charlotte  Mia  Grace  Sarah

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The boys names were more predictable and somewhat less changing. Anglo-Saxon names were more popular for the first 50 years, then much loved Biblical names remained popular for the next 60 years. Almost every male name ends in a consonant.

Boys 1900
George  Ernest  Alan  Arthur  Harold  Jack  James  John  William  Alfred

1950s
Peter  John  Robert  David  Michael  Stephen  Ian  Gregory  Paul  Gary

1990s
Matthew James Daniel Joshua Michael Thomas  Nicholas Jack  Benjamin  Luke

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I think we can classify 110 years of baby names into three groups. Firstly some names like Charlotte, Amy, Grace, William and James never lost their popularity, decade after decade. Secondly some names were very popular 100 years ago and have re-emerged only recently eg Ruby, Sarah. And thirdly some names were extremely popular at the turn of last century but have faded away. These days very few babies seem to be called Arthur, Horace, Florence, Mabel or Ethel.
 

Environmentally-specific names, eg Moonbeam or Tigerlily for the children of flower power parents, did not seem to catch on. This was probably true, even in the wild 1960s. Film and sports stars' names did not gain popularity either - there won't be very many children in Australian primary schools in 2020 called Phoenix, Ashton, Javier or Cruz. Finally I had expected to find girls being given names that represented Christian virtues, at least in the early days of Australian Federation. But the names Prudence, Charity, Constance and Mercy did not become extremely popular with parents of newborns. Grace was the exception.

The Australian Jewish News recorded the most popular names for Jewish babies in 2010 as well. Although there were no New Testament names (Luke, Matthew or James), Old Testament names were the most likely to be chosen for newborn boys. Jacob, Benjamin, Asher and Zachary were clear winners. For newborn girls, parents felt totally free to give non-Biblical names. Mia, Ashley, Tali, Zoe and Romy were the runaway favourites.

How predictable parents are. I feel a PhD thesis coming on :)

The Ultimate Cultural Experience: Leonardo and Michelangelo

Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan is the most complete display of Leonardo’s rare surviving paintings ever held. The exhibition brings together wonderful international loans never before seen in the UK, or never seen anywhere in such an impressive single location. Inspired by the recently restored National Gallery painting, The Virgin of the Rocks, this exhibition focuses on Leonardo as an artist, rather than as an inventor or scientist. In particular it concentrates on the work he produced as court painter to Duke Lodovico Sforza in Milan in the late 1480s and 1490s. The exhibition is the penultimate cultural experience.

Orient Express's elegant dining car

The ultimate cultural experience is in turn inspired by the National Gallery's Leonardo exhibition. The Orient Express tour begins on 16th May 2012, but be prepared to spend your children’s inheritance now.

Day 1 Meet a National Gallery expert and visit the British Museum in London for a private viewing of selected drawings by Leonardo & Michelangelo. Then visit the National Gallery in London, to view the Leonardo's altarpiece painting The Virgin of the Rocks and the gallery’s two paintings by Michelangelo.

Days 2-3 Depart on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express for a luxury train journey to Verona. Explore Verona. Then travel to Milan.

Days 4-5 Visit the 15th century Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, home to Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece, the Last Supper. After lunch, tour the Ambrosiana Library to see Leonardo’s Codex Atlanticus. In the evening dinner is arranged at one of Milan’s most famous restaurants, Savini (naturally!). In the morning visit Castello Sforzesco, home to Michelangelo’s late Pietà, before an afternoon tour of the Brera Art Gallery.

David, by Michelangelo, in Florence

Days 6-8 Drive to Florence with a stop en route to visit Villa San Donnino. Arrive at Villa San Michele for 3 night stay. Enjoy dinner on the terrace overlooking Florence. The next morning, tour Florence commencing with a visit to Chiesa di Ognissanti to view Ghirlandaio’s Last Supper and later the Accademia to view the statue of David by Michelangelo. After lunch, visit Santa Maria Novella. The next day, tour the world famous Uffizi Gallery. After lunch, visit the Church of San Miniato al Monte. On the final morning, guests fly home.

I suggested to my beloved that this would be a great tour for us to enjoy, since we both love art, architecture, Italy and fancy train trips. He agreed that it would be great, as soon as we win the lotto. If you can persuade your beloved, go to Venice-Simplon Orient Express.

Last Supper, by Leonardo da Vinci, Milan

Portmeirion, Wales - a delight for all

Portmeirion is located on a peninsula, just south of Porthmadog in North West Wales. From the hotel, the visitor can see Tremadoc Bay, nestling in the far larger Cardigan Bay. The River Dwyryd passes the village, leaving a wide sandy expanse at low tide. At high tide, the waters reach right up to the coastal paths, changing the cut-off land into an island.

The small settlement that existed on the peninsula was called Aber Iâ. When a mansion was built there in c1840, it took the place's name, Aberia.

Portmeirion from the air

The English-born and educated, Welsh architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis (1883–1978) bought Aber Iâ from his uncle, Sir Osmond Williams. As a professional architect, Clough’s goal was to take a naturally beautiful location and develop it, without spoiling the landscape, river, sands, coastal paths and views that made the site so special. Inspired by the Mediterranean-like setting, like his favourite Italian resort Portofino, Clough was passionate about the protection of national parks and the preservation of fine old buildings.

The Hotel Portmeirion

Clough started to establish Portmeirion as a Mediterranean coastal hotel resort in 1925. The splendid 19th century mansion was converted into The Hotel Portmeirion which opened in 1926 to Clough's design and has been the focal point of the village ever since. The curvilinear entrance, that housed the reception area, was added in the 1930s.

Clough soon began building or converting some extra cottages, to give additional accommodation. The Mermaid and White Horses cottages were improved and the main building programme continued until WW2. The remains of the semi-derelict harbour structure Fort Henry still exists, having been designed by Clough for bathing, boating, suntanning and socialising.

Castell Deudraeth

After WW2, construction continued for 20 years so today there are many more buildings within the Portmeirion village. There was a fortified Victorian mansion called Castell Deudraeth, near the hotel complex, that Clough would have liked to incorporate into the village. Alas it didn’t happen until after the original dreamer’s death – Castell Deudraeth underwent major renovation in the 1990s and re-opened in 2001 as an 11 bedroom hotel and restaurant. Its architectural heritage has been preserved, including the welsh oak and slate floors, baronial stone fire surrounds, oak panelling and plasterwork cornices.

However Clough did live long enough to be knighted for his services to architecture and the environment, in 1971. Portmeirion’s grounds are now designated a Conservation Area and most of the buildings have been Grade II registered.  The Ship Shop, for example, was originally the stable block for the Aber Iâ estate, built c1850.

But this is no ordinary village. Virtual Tourist says the place was built to a slightly smaller scale than was usual with inter-war developments, and although the self catering cottages are all real and the exquisite little shops and tea rooms are open for business, nobody actually lives there. Employees staff it and tourists throng to it, but residential guests are the only visitors Portmeirion allows overnight. At night the gates are shut and paying guests are free to roam through their own private dreamland. It's wonderfully romantic and is a splendid base from which to explore North Wales.

Portmeirion village and gardens.

I have run into the Williams-Ellis family in my research twice before, in totally different contexts. Firstly Clough’s wife, Amabel Strachey, was a cousin of author and Bloomsbury figure Lytton Strachey. Her parents were friends of other members of the Bloomsbury Group and Rudyard Kipling was godfather to one of the children.

Secondly Clough Williams-Ellis and his wife had a number of children. Their elder daughter, Susan Williams-Ellis, used the name Portmeirion Pottery for a ceramics company that she created with her husband in Stoke-on-Trent in 1961. To tie Susan’s history back to Portmeirion village, visitors will find a shop specialising in Portmeirion Pottery. Susan and her husband Euan also designed and painted the colourful mural of vines and cupids with a fountain and white doves on the courtyard side of one of the village's buildings, the Ship Shop.

I recommend the book Portmeirion, written by Jan Morris, Alwyn Turner, Mark Eastment and Stephen Lacey.  Published by the Antique Collectors' Club in 2006, it aimed to cover the whole story of Clough Williams-Ellis, the village, the extensive gardens both at Portmeirion and at the Williams-Ellis family home and Portmeirion Pottery.
                  

The Ship Shop (above)   Portmeirion beach and tower, by Christine Matthews (below)

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