Edith/Maddie here, with another August Wicked Wednesday.
August is an unusual but not unheard-of name. I know of two young men, one in his twenties and one age eleven, named that. One was born in August, one wasn’t. And my Brazilian friend Guta’s real name is Augusta (pronounced ow-GOOST-uh, more or less).
Wickeds, have you met someone named after another month in the year – June, May, April, July, maybe – or or have you named a character after a month? What are your favorite unusual character names in your books? (Now I have the urge to name a little girl December.)
Barb: I know two little boys named Julian, ages 3 and 5, so clearly that’s coming back. And a June, age 9. (And one my age.) I don’t know anyone named May, but I know lots of Marys and Marias who are nicknamed May. (When you marry into a large Italian family you are bound to know lots of Marys and Marias.) I just put an April in a new book. She only gets two scenes, but they’re important ones. And, of course, Gus and Mrs. Gus, Augustus and Augustine.
Liz: Edith, I have a friend who named her daughter December! I also knew a woman named September at a previous job. I don’t think I’ve named anyone after a month, but for unusual names, Stan Connor in my Pawsitively Organic series got a lot of attention for her name (it was a nickname, but all she used). I also have a female character named Reagan in another book I’m working on.
Sherry: I knew a girl named April growing up. She was rather shy. And there is a May on the name quilt my grandmother made.
Julie: My grandmother was born May Alberta Evans, but she changed it to Mae so that her initials matched her name. (That branch of the family is an ancestry nightmare. They were always just changing names and getting shady with dates.) I also know a June, an April, and an August. More than one person has thought I spell my name July. BTW, I agree, December is a wonderful name.
Jessie: My very first novel has a character named Augusta! I don’t believe that I know anyone in life named after a month, but I am rather partial to the idea of naming someone January.
Edith/Maddie: Look at all those month names! When I lived with my family in West Africa, my son had a friend named Talia. Her father was American and her mother from Niger, and Talia means Tuesday in Tamashek, her mother’s language. I always loved the sound. I have a fan named April who uses my Quaker Midwife mysteries in her college women’s studies course.
Readers: What’s your experience with month names for people?
My cousin’s name is April. I knew a May, a June, and an Augusta.
April is such a pretty name.
My Mom had a friend named June and I worked with a woman named April and we became work friends as we were the only women there on 3rd shift.
June seems like a more old-fashioned name.
I don’t know anyone with month names, but I’ve heard of lots of Summers and Autumn’s! I like flower names, too – Rose, Lily, Daisy.
I’m fond of Rose, of course!
Not months, but seasons. I know an Autumn and a Summer.
I wonder if anyone is named Winter or Spring.
I have a friend whose daughter’s name is Winter.
I’ve met any number of Aprils in my life. I can’t remember if I’ve met any real life Mays or Junes but there’s always Aunt May from Spider-Man and actresses June Billingsley and June Lockhart. Oh and actress January Jones from Mad Men. I’ve known a couple of Autumns, including one that I coached in basketball. And Olympic swimmer Summer Sanders is another season I am familiar with.
Off the top of my head that’s it though.
January Jones – never heard of her!
The only relative that comes close was my Granny whose middle name was Mae not May. I had a friend named June and April in places we have lived.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Interesting, Kay!
I have a co-worker who has a son named August.
I guess it’s not an uncommon name for males.
My mom had friends named May and June
Those names sound old-fashioned, a bit.
There’s a fabulous narrator/actress named January LaVoy and I narrated a book by Sara November (a pen name, to be sure). I also know brothers who are Augustus and Julius (both are in their early twenties). As for seasons, I know a Summer Busch, an Autumn McConnico and there’s author Winter Renshaw.
Fun!
I was a Monkees fan when they had their television program back in the sixties. At that time, the only married Monkee was Mike Nesmith. His wife’s was Phyllis, but he called her by the name of April! I never knew the reason.
I didn’t know that!
I’ve known some Aprils. I feel like I’ve met some Mays as well, but I can’t think of who specifically at the moment.
I worked with a woman named Reagan one summer while I was in college, Liz.
April feels more common.
I’ve known a lot of people with strangely spelled names, but only one June. No other months that I can think of. I seem to know a lot of females with names that are generally thought of a male. Two friends, Kendall and Josepha, come to mind.
A lot of children 35 and younger have last names as first names: Mackenzie, Jordan, Hayden.
I had a friend named June and my two younger sisters who are Fraternal twins were born in March so they were born under the sign Gemini.
One of my friend’s mom’s name was Mae. I went to school with an April. I am not sure of anyone else. Thank you for sharing. God bless you.
I have a neighbor whose twin granddaughters are May and Mary. My husband had an Aunt June. When I was in junior high school, we had some classmates named Toy, Hazel and Boy (too many in his family and they ran out of names). My name isn’t the most usual especially in 1948–Madeleine Brooke. My favorite character’s names are from Kate Carlisle’s Bibliophile Mysteries as her parents named every child after the town they were conceived in: Brooklyn Wainwright, London, China, Savannah, Jackson, and Austin.