The Orange(ry) Awards

Apparently a certain mobile telephone company have taken the Orange Awards. Anyway, these are the Orangery Awards for real-life uses of good names from Daily Telegraph Birth Announcements Jan-May 07. Or rejoice! Not everyone is calling their child Neveah (yes, eah), and people have found ways for punchy combinations without resorting to using Tiger or Rex.

I find these names elegant, classy and a cut different from the William, Thomas, Alice, Elizabeth, Isabella that seem to haunt the Daily Telegraph. It's also credit to the great style that Daily Telegraph Birth Announcers have, that I had to cut my list back.

Best Cornish:
Our first category comes about due to the not exactly vast, but sizeable numbers of Cornish names I had on my list.
Shortlisted:

Annabel Morwenna
I frequently refer to Morwenna as a pretty alternative to Morgan, and here it is, complementing the frilly Annabel nicely.

Daisy Charlotte Loveday
Little Loveday is a name that is frequently overlooked, however, it fits nicely into the middle name spot without being too embarrassing.

Winner: Veryan Dorothy
Veryan is a Cornish place name - from St Veryan from St Symphorian. The sheer audacity of using it as a first name, coupled with the lovely, homely Dorothy gives Veryan Dorothy the Orangery Cornish Award.

Twins and More Award
There are only four names in this category - I didn't realise that I was going to create it until I'd finished it, and then it was a bit too late.
Shortlisted:

Atalanta Constance & Algy Gordon
Atalanta is an empowering name, whilst Algy is softer. Should it be the other way round? Either way, Constance and Gordon as middle names are spot on.

Winner: Annabel Poppy Clementine & Oliver Henry Ptolemy
Yes, Annabel again. Anyway, two middle names may be excessive for some, but it works here. Annabel and Oliver are strong, leaving most of the frilliness to the middle names.

Special Sibling Award:
This a special, sort of lifetime achievement award. Getting one child's name right is great, but getting it right again and again?

Winner: Delphine Octavia
And siblings: Georgina, Christopher, Charlie, Clementina, Gabriella, Montgomery, Cordelia, Angelina, Seraphina and Decima. Phew! Delphine fits in perfectly here, though the middle name is slightly out (I get the feeling that I can be picky about that sort of thing when it can actually apply).

Brave Award:
For names that could have backfired horribly, but in my eyes work well.

Boys winner: Digby Peregrine
My general feeling with Digby is that you need a solid middle name to fall back on, something slightly more normal...Is Peregrine that? Certainly, not normal, but it seems to fit with the quirky Digby.

Girls winner: Circe Mary
Now Circe is a name that could be horrible - sorceress, Odysseus' lover - but Mary gives it elegance, decorum and class.

Simple Award (aka KISS Award):
Keep it simple, stupid seems to be an easy rule to follow. Lots of the announcements however, had five names plus a family surname and it all seemed too much. This award recognises those who showed restraint and kept it stunning.

Shortlisted:

Lua May:
Very simple, this almost got the girls vote. Lua is Portuguese and means 'moon', it's not a traditional name, but has all the trapping of one. May is a delicately simple middle name choice, and complements Lua superbly.

Hugh Alfred:
Hugh is a name that can feel very young or very old - it's changeable, Alfred however, gives this an immediate feel of wisdom, age, tradition and strength. It's a 'pillar of the community' choice.

Iris Honor:
Iris is your grandmother, or she's this young girl - it's coming back into style. Honor gives this strength, sagacity and serenity. Shame it's not spelt the English way.

Boys winner: Ezra Leo
Ezra Leo is the epitome of restraint, simplicity and is all the better for it.

Girls winner: Anais Clare
Anais is a sweet choice, and Clare fits in the middle. Lovely.

The Orange Award:
No, not the final award but the award to the most orange name. Serious contenders were Clemmy Elizabeth, Clemence Audrey Marie, (attempting to be Clementine but failing), Romilly Saffron (too yellow) and Annabel Poppy Clementine (conflicting colours).

Thus the winner is : Frieda Clementine
The certainly orange Clementine fits well with the less fussy Frieda. A deserving winner.

The Orangery Award:
For the names that just seemlessly fit together.

Shortlisted:

Jemima Penelope
The very English Jemima turns heads with the flashy Penelope.

Finnian Henry
Little Finnian is given a manly leg-up by the strong Henry

Scarlett Christina
An interesting choice for me - I'm not the world's biggest Scarlett fan, but when I saw this I caught my breath. I don't know why, but it works.

Barnaby Hector
Gentle Barnaby doesn't need a flashy middle name, and strong, dependable Hector is a perfect match.

Ottilie Lucia
Ottilie isn't seen much these days - shame because it can be both frilly and fascinatingly down-to-earth. In this case, frilly - Lucia is a splendid middle name choice.

Winner: Sebastian Elliott Tadeusz
Three dashing, slightly eccentric but entirely swoon-worthy choices. A worthy winner!