I recently learned that the etymology for the name Avery includes "counseled by elves" and " elf counsel" and "magic counsel." As the person who told me that says, "endlessly cool."

Given my interest in etymology, I am surprised I had never looked that up; we simply named our daughter after my mother, whose middle name was Avery.

There are some good sites out there with the etymology of names; who knows how much is made up (ultimately, I suppose it all is...but it sure can be fun and interesting if you are willing to suspend cynicism for a moment or two.) Try your own name or your kids, by Googling "(name) etymology."

After I learned the Avery etymology, I was looking for more on-line, and happened across the town of Avery, CA, which I had never been to (at least that I recall), but is located not too far from two of the best-named towns in California, both of which I actually have been to--Copperopolis and Angels Camp.

Which of course reminds me of the towns I discovered in our family atlas when I was a child (by looking at the alphabetical list of muncipalities in every state), namely: Joaquin, Texas, and Hartman, Arkansas. Both are real municipalities with populations under 1,000. Someday, probably a very, very long time from now, I would like to visit.