Some parents favour unique baby names

Liam and Sophie may be New Zealand's most popular baby names for 2010 but some parents are choosing the unique and unusual over the more traditional.
In the Western Bay of Plenty, midwives in Tauranga last year delivered children named Gypsy Blue, Kizzy-Blue and Nevaeh (Heaven spelt backwards).
Lakes/Bay of Plenty Plunket clinical leader Lynn Carter said names on Plunket's books currently included X-Quisite, Purity-anne, Patience Unique and Nightshade.
Tauranga midwife Michelle Lasslett said there was a contrast in baby names in the city, from the one-of-a-kind to the traditional.
"Ruby for girls, I have seen heaps of.
"Whenever you're working, there's always a couple of Rubys in the ward, and there's always a couple of Liams.
"Georges, Henrys, and Jacks. They are family names that are coming back into fashion. The very old, traditional names are very popular," she said.
"Girly" names such as Poppy, Lulu, and Pippa were also popular.
This most popular boys' name for 2010, Liam, ranked seventh in 2009.
Liam jumped to the top to overtake Jack, which had been the most popular name since 2005. Jack was fourth on the list in 2010.
Sophie remains the most popular name for girls and has been atop the list since 2008.
There are three new entries in the top 10 lists for boys' and girls' names. Jacob and Lucas are the most popular newcomers for boys, coming in at eighth and tenth. Chloe made the jump into the girls' top 10 after being ranked 11 last year.
The new names entered the lists at the expense of Daniel and Thomas for the boys and Amelia for the girls.
Mrs Lasslett is yet to have children of her own, but was already favouring the names Oliver, Jack and Millie.
"I wouldn't call my kids really strange names," she said.
While midwives in Tauranga had come across names influenced by the media in the past, Mrs Laslett said she had not noticed that trend recently.
Mums and dads decided on their baby's name as soon as they fell pregnant, she said.
"Very rarely are they without a name if they know what they're having.
"They tell you at 22 weeks what they're having and what their baby is called."
Sandy Clancy, of Midwives by the Beach, said when she was pregnant with her second son, she had desperately wanted to call him Maungo.
"I just loved it... but no one else did."
She instead settled on Max, her eldest son is Ryan, and her daughter is Frankie.
"I'm yet to have anyone name their baby after me. I'm trying really hard," she joked.
"I've tried for Clancy and that's not working either."
Ms Clancy said names in 2010 were "very English" and "very traditional." She delivered a Noah last year, describing the name as "lovely."
Bay Births midwife Pat Shanks said biblical names had been "hanging in there" in 2010.
"Those traditional names have come back to the fore. We went through a phase about five years ago, when people made up their baby's name. They wanted something different - they'd put their and their partner's name together, or they'd spell a name differently. Everything in life does its cycles."
The full list is available on the Department of Internal Affairs website, www.dia.govt.nz