Caspar

After half a century, this otherwise feasible name has at last started to lose its link to the friendly ghost; it certainly didn’t scare model Claudia Schiffer, who chose it for her son, as did Atomic Kitten Jenny Frost. Iconoclastic namer Jason Lee switched genders and called his daughter Casper. Also related to the revived Jasper, Caspar seems headed towards the path to a similar resurgence.

Caspar is the name of one of the Three Magi who brought gifts to the infant Jesus—-Caspar of Tarsus was the one who brought the gift of gold.

In the Casper spelling, the name was quite popular in the US near the end of the nineteenth century, peaking in 1889 at Number 332, but it dropped off the list completely in 1933. It still retains its popularity in Scandinavia and Belgium.

Actor Casper van Dien was the tenth generation in his family to bear the name of his Dutch ancestors, continuing the tradition with his son Casper Robert Mitchum.