the unique baby name guide by the world's leading experts

Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana

« POETIC BABY NAMES

Z NAMES: Beyond Zoe & Zachary »

NEWEST BABY NAMES: Clara Is This Year’s Claire

Love a name but fear it’s overused? Think one name is stylish, yet want something even more stylish?

start You’re not alone. Many parents are looking for names that are like those that have been popular and fashionable in recent years….but different. Something with a similar look and feel, but in an updated model.

We wrote about this a few months back, in our post Is Felix the New Oscar? Since then, we’ve encountered a lot of other fresh versions of recent favorites. For example:

ADELAIDE or ADELINE are the new ADDISON

BYRON is the new BRIAN

CHLOE is the new ZOE

CHRISTIAN is the new CHRISTOPHER

CLARA is the new CLAIRE

CORA, DORA, and FLORA are the new LAURA and NORA

EDISON is the new ADDISON

EMILIA and EMMELINE are the new EMILY

EVELINE and EVELYN are the new EVA

EWAN is the new EVAN or OWEN

FRANCES is the new FRANCESCA

GEMMA is the new EMMA

HAVEN and EDEN are the new HEAVEN

IDA is the new AVA

IRIS, LILA, and MILLIE are the new LILY

JOSIAH is the new JOSEPH

JOURNEY is the new TRIP (OK, maybe we’re just being clever here)

JULIET is the new JULIA

JULIUS and JULES are the new JULIAN

JUSTICE is the new JUSTIN

LOUISE is the new LUCY

LUKE is the new MARK

MACK is the new MAX and the new JACK, which is the new JAKE

MATILDA is the new MADELINE

MOSES is the new NOAH

OTTO and OMAR are the new OSCAR

PEARL is the new RUBY

POLLY is the new MOLLY

SARAI, SERA, or SAHAR are the new SARAH

SCARLETT is the new BLUE

SUNDAY is the new FAITH

VERONICA is the new VICTORIA

ZANE is the new ZACK

Tags: cool baby names, fashionable names, hot names, hottest baby names, new baby names, newest baby names, newest names, stylish baby names, stylish names

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 9:24 am and is filed under baby name popularity, name ideas, name style, name trends, trendy baby names, unique baby names, unusual baby names . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

17 Responses to “NEWEST BABY NAMES: Clara Is This Year’s Claire”

Alicia Says:

April 14th, 2009 at 2:49 pm

oh how I love Moses, but I can convince so few of his good qualities.

Lola Says:

April 14th, 2009 at 4:18 pm

Julius, Otto & Frances make me swoon!

Alicia, I agree, Moses is top notch. I used to know a guy, surname Moses, waaaay cool dude, he went by Moses/Moe. And I’ll take Scarlett over Blue any day. Blue depresses me, red is one of my favorites!

Kelley Says:

April 14th, 2009 at 6:08 pm

All my favorites are the “new”. I’m only 18, but already a huge name fanatic, which means that by the time I get around to actually having kids, my favorite names will be the “old”

Alicia Says:

April 14th, 2009 at 6:54 pm

Sadness. Several of my names are on the “new” list… by the time I get pregnant and actually have someone to name they will all be terribly overused and i will hate them. *sigh* (the ones on our top list are Clara, Juliet and Gemma.) I’m like I don’t know a single person with these names…. and… I’m sure my kid will..

JNE Says:

April 14th, 2009 at 9:00 pm

Surely Luke was the new Mark for years now? I know so many Lukes ranging from 1 to 4 years in age. I have not met any little Marks in years.

Love Adeline and Adelaide. Ewan’s another that I love. But there are still many names that I dig on the “has-been” side of the equation and I’m OK with that.

Em Says:

April 14th, 2009 at 10:19 pm

Noooooo I don’t WANT to see our names as “the new”! We’re going with Adelaide because it’s not popular and I hope I’m not wrong about that! My husband liked Addie, so suggested Addison, I said NO WAY do I want such a trendy name plus it sounds a bit too masculine for my tastes, so I suggested the lovely traditional Adelaide.
Come on people, name your kids Addison (or Edison) and leave Adelaide to me!

cardigangrl Says:

April 15th, 2009 at 12:24 am

I really hate seeing Emmeline (my name choice) all around here… makes me sad!

NJ Says:

April 15th, 2009 at 3:49 am

I’m 16 and none of my favorite names are in the top 300 (or on this list)….which, like kelley, makes me think my faves will be in the top 100 by the time I have kids.

I’m sure all of us will use our love of names to come up with “new” alternatives when the time comes. Good luck!

rosie Says:

April 15th, 2009 at 11:09 am

wow 16 year olds read this site?

salifer Says:

April 15th, 2009 at 4:51 pm

It seems like some of the names that were just introduced are now has-beens! Is it me, or was Blue recently added to the name pool?

Well, just goes to show you how fast the trends change.

Verisimilitude Says:

April 15th, 2009 at 9:55 pm

rosie– I’m 17. Name sites definitely aren’t just for moms.

Anyway. I can’t see EDISON being the new Addison. Not on a girl, anyway. All the current surnames have girly nicknames (Addie, Maddie, Emmy). Edison has… Eddie. Not Edie (ee-dee), but Eh-dee. Not cute.

Can’t see Dora coming up for a while either, not with The Explorer.

;P And Christian and Christopher are so high on the charts, they both need replacement.

Jillian Says:

April 17th, 2009 at 10:48 pm

shhhhhhhhhhh stop telling everyone about Gemma!

Alicia Says:

April 18th, 2009 at 2:52 pm

I don’t have kids yet, I just love names and thinking about them for the future. Name sites are my addiction. I find it intriguing. I’m sure if I’d know about them at 16 I would have still read them. . And I agree. Stop telling everyone about these great new names.. lol

Anna Says:

April 18th, 2009 at 9:45 pm

I LOOVe Dora

Pencils Says:

April 20th, 2009 at 11:56 pm

I’m just glad Aurora isn’t becoming popular. Yet. My boss has kids named Zoe and Lily who are 22 and 18; she never thought those would be popular. I don’t want tht to happen to me!

Laura Says:

May 12th, 2009 at 12:10 pm

I’m just getting started with blogging and have learned some nice techniques from your site. Thanks!

Elle Says:

July 6th, 2009 at 7:58 pm

Well I’m fourteen going on fifteen and I am a writer and this cite helps me better understand my character names. Go Namberry!