I got my Scottish name (Cameron) from my Danish grandfather, & my mother said she wouldn't have given it to a boy, so that habit is not exactly new... And I, too, chose name that were, in my experience, fairly unusual. But the years they were born Joshua and Jessica were the first place names in the US.

For our youngest, we wanted a name that did NOT start with a J and ended up with Benjamin. I was a bit surprised to find LOTS of them in my husband's family tree.

Friends of ours were trying to find a name for their new son that would fit both in their Russian background as well as their new home in the US. They were trying to decide between Daniel and Valentine. Another friend wsa telling this later and said loftily that she'd told them that NOBODY was named Valentine. I stepped up behind her and said "My father's name was Valentine, and so is my son's middle name".

'Course my husband's father and grandfather were Eston Louden Buster. Fine old American name. There are very regional names in New England. I'd hardly head the name Alden as a first name and now I have a few acquaintances and a nephew with it. Logan is another like that.

I look forward to the wonderful mixed ethnic salad to come. I'd really like to see a bit more of it in rural New England!