When we parse the annual Social Security list, we usually focus on the top names–what’s the new Number One, which names have made it into the Top 25, even the Top 100. But there are many names on the Popularity List that actually aren’t all that popular– certainly not commonly enough used  to deter parents who are looking for a distinctive name.

In the lower depths of the list, there are a number of neglected names that were given to fewer than 350 babies across the country last year, real hidden gems sprinkled among the more unusually configured Cloes, Alyvias and Jovanys.  These are appealing names that are recognizable to all, with real history and meaning, but which would still stand out in a crowd (or in a pre-school).

Among them are:

GIRLS

DIXIE — One of the most engaging of the saucy showgirl nickname names, with an added dash of Southern spice.

GIADA — An undiscovered Italian jewel (it translates as Jade) brought into the spotlight by celebrity chef Giada De Laurentiis.

JUNE — Springtime month name starting to come back into bloom.

JUSTINE –An elegant name with deep Latin roots and a righteous meaning.

LIBBY –The lost Elizabeth nickname, sounding so much fresher than Liz and Beth–not to mention Betsy and Betty.

LILIA — A charming, rhythmic, more exotic spin on the well-used Lily.

LIVIA –Not a chopped-off version of Olivia but an ancient Roman favorite used on its own.

MARIN — A shimmering water name, distinctive and sophisticated.

MATILDA — Sweet and feminine vintage classic, with a choice of appealing nicknames–Mattie, Tilda, Tillie; hasn’t caught on despite highly visible image of Matilda Ledger.

OLIVE — Quieter alternative to trendy Olivia; young heroine of Little Miss Sunshine, and pick of cool couple Isla Fisher and Sacha Baron Cohen.

SLOANE — Sleek executive name chosen by comedian Rob Corddry.

TAMARA –With both Russian and Hebrew roots, has a dramatic, creative image.

TESS — Has a lot more substance, strength and style than most single-syllable names; a good middle name choice too.

THALIA –One of the Three Graces, and the Muse of Comedy, in Greek mythology; does at the moment tend to be associated with single-named singer.

BOYS

AUGUSTUS –Old Roman name sounding less and less fusty, especially when softened by nicknames Augie or Gus.

CASSIUS –A Shakespearean name with the patina of antiquity, plus a choice of two cool nicknames–Cass or Cash.

CONRAD –A solid, serious name with literary cred.

CULLEN — Winning Irish surname name–but in danger of increased popularity via being the surname of Edward in the popular Twilight franchise.

DARWIN –Perfect for the son of scientists, but also appealing to any parent looking for a name with a stylish sound and historic significance.

FLETCHER –An occupational (arrow-maker) name with an abundance of quirky charm.

JENSEN — An attractive, rarely heard Scandinavian surname name, attached to both a spiffy car and a current TV teen idol, Jensen Ackles–there were only 192 baby Jensens born last year.

KILLIAN — Dynamic Irish saint’s name; only possible drawback is tie to the trendy brew.

LUCIAN — Adds a gloss of Continental elan to Luke and Lucas.

MAXIMO –Lively Latin route to nickname Max, meaning ‘the greatest’–sole caveat is a link to a video game.

REUBEN –A neglected Biblical boy, resonant and rich, belonging to the founder of one of the tribes of Israel.

REX — One of the few trendy x-ending boys’ names with a real–even regal–meaning.

SEAMUS — This Irish form of James has way more substance and spunk than the dated Sean.

If you were to go solely by the tabloids, you might think that every celebrity’s baby boy was given the name of a New York borough or a Disney character or was his parents’ quirky Scrabble-letter invention.

Au contraire.

There is a very  healthy segment of show biz parents who are creating a major backlash to this trend–either that or they just like conservative, classic names.  Instead of screaming ‘Hey-look-at-me!’ (and my mama), these names  provide a sort of protective coating against that kind of often mocking attention, a layer of dignity and tradition.

Evidence?  Here, just looking at boys born since the Millenium, are some of the timeless classics, in their complete, traditional forms, that have been recent celebrity choices–not that they always succeeded in making their bearers paparazzi-proof.  (And, by the way, I’d be  interested to know if you think the preference for this kind of name relates to the celeb’s own personal or public image.)

ALEXANDER — Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber, Lauren Holly, Wolfgang Puck

CHARLES — Russell Crowe, Chris O’Donnell, Cynthia Nixon, Emily Robison

CHRISTIAN — Marc Anthony, Pete Sampras

CHRISTOPHER — Chris O’Donnell

DAVID — Mo’Nique, J. K. Rowling

FRANK — Diana Krall & Elvis Costello

FREDERICK — Mayim Bialik

GEORGE — Kristin Scott-Thomas, Eva Herzigova

HARRY — David Letterman

HENRY — Heidi Klum & Seal, Julia Roberts, Emily Robison, Rachel Weisz, Jack White & Karen Elson, Minnie Driver, Norah O’Donnell, Steve Zahn

JACK — Matt Lauer, Joan London

JAMES — Sarah Jessica Parker & Matthew Broderick, Isaac Hanson, Colin Farrell, Kirk Cameron & Chelsea Noble

JOHN — Bono, Vanessa Paradis & Johnny Depp, Bridget Moynahan & Tom Brady, Julie Bowen, Nancy Grace, Lauryn Hill & Rohan Marley

JOSEPH — Tracy Lords, Cathy Moriarity

SAMUEL — Naomi Watts & Liev Schreiber, Jack Black, Elizabeth Vargas

THOMAS — Jack Black, Dennis Quaid

WILLIAM — Kimberly Williams & Brad Paisley, Mary Louise Parker & Billy Cruddup, Clay Walker

In addition–though it’s not quite the same thing–there are the nickname versions, like Kate Winslet’s Joe and Charlie Sheen’s Bob, and the not-so-timeless semi-classics like Rainn Wilson’s Walter. And of course, there are the female equivalents–Amanda Peet’s Frances, Kelly Martin’s Margaret–but that’s for another time.

The recent spate of celebrities having twins (they’re not really just like us, are they?) got me thinking about twin names.  Although the Social Security list of most popular twin names would have you think differently, cutesy pairs like Merry and Joy or Tim and Tom are out.  So how can you find twin names that have a strong unifying element yet are distinct from each other, special in their own right?

One way: Search for names that carry a similar meaning, one that symbolizes something important to you or for your child, and then go on from that list to pick the two most compatible choices.  I love playing with nameberry’s search names by meaning feature, which you should discover for yourself if you haven’t already.  Clicking on any of the larger categories will take you to more specific name meanings: brilliant, for example, or red-haired.  From there you can go instantly to a list of names with twin meanings.

Playing this name game myself led to some surprising and wonderful choices for twins…and beyond.  Here, some great twin name ideas and their joint meaning.  Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, are you listening?

CLARISSA & LEONORA – bright

EWAN & SINEAD – gracious

ASHER & FELIX – happy

FEDERICA & MILO – peaceful

ESME & IMOGEN – beloved (this one is really perfect, I think)

AURELIA & FLAVIA – golden

ARABELLA & CALLISTA – beautiful

BLAKE & FINLEY – fair

JUDE & TAHILA – praise

ORLANDO & LASZLO or RODRIGO – famous

ALDEN or PALLAS & RAMONA – wise

CYRUS & SAMSON or KALINDI & SURYA – sun

CLANCY & KANE or LOUISE & WALTER or SASHA & OWEN — warrior

In case you’re Octomom, or just looking for a broader range of options, some meanings carry a range of compatible names that can be mixed and matched any number of ways.  For instance:

BECAN, KIERAN, GAVIN, LORCAN, REAGAN & RONAN – little

COLTON, DARCY, DELANEY, DONOVAN, LEILA, SULLIVAN – dark

ADA, ALICE, ARTHUR, FREYA, OBERON, SARI — noble

But you don’t need me to spell out the choices for you.  Check out our search names by meaning page and look up some great combinations yourself.  Note your best ones here – we’d love to hear them!

For even more information and a guide to popular and celebrity twin names, go to our twin names advice page.

Guest blogger Teresa Strasser, a comedy writer whose new blog is called Exploiting My Baby, is desperate for one good boys’ name for her son, due in October.  How far will she go to find it?

I know from that stupidly catchy viral “Pregnant Women are Smug” song that pregnant women don’t usually share the names they’ve chosen for their babies.

That may be a smug choice, sure, but I think I get it now. You let the name cat out of the bag, and everyone judges the cat, they swing the cat around by the tail, they project their own issues onto the cat and now you want to put the whole incident in your emotional litter box and bury it so you can still like the cat as much as you used to.

And of course there is the danger of getting name napped. My friends just had a baby boy and named it Laszlo, and I am madly in love with that name. It’s Hungarian, as am I. Victor Laszlo is a character in the movie “Casablanca,” and my surname is also featured in that film. Who doesn’t remember the line, “Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects?” Okay, that Strasser dude was a Nazi, but I still enjoy the classic movie name tie-in, and when you’re looking for magical name signs, anything seems to scream, “This is the one.”

Still, you don’t nap a name.

So we had to let Laszlo go, like Bogey did. And now I have four more months to come up with something.

The first dozen people we told we were thinking of the name “James” were dazzled. “It’s classy and simple,” they said, “It’s not like one of these new fangled Jayden, Aiden, Caden names,” they added. So James shot to the top of the list, but if you tell enough people, someone is going to hate on your name, which is what happened when a former colleague told me that anyone named James would become Jim, and there was nothing I could do about it. Jim. Jims are nice people, they coach girls’ soccer without inappropriately touching anyone, they do your taxes without massaging the numbers too much, they walk your dog when you have to leave town suddenly. I like Jims. I just don’t want one.

The “Jim hater” loved our only other name option so far: Shane.

After we got pregnant, we happened to go to the cell phone store and the guy who helped us had a shiny blue nametag with that moniker. And it seemed right with my husband’s crazy long, consonant rich Polish name. Shane would ride into kindergarten like a Polish cowboy. And all Shanes are hot. But so are Gabes. And Nates. And most Erics.

Once you rule out any names of ex-boyfriends, or names you would be napping from your immediate circle, or names recently used by celebrity moms or names you associate with high school bullies or former evil bosses, the well runs a bit dry. Trust me, when it comes to girl names, the well of adorably androgynous designations bubbles over, but this boy thing is tough.

I’ve been thinking that most parents have a few names in the running before choosing the one. What happens to those perfectly good runner-up names? Can I have them? If you loved your second choice but didn’t use it and feel it shouldn’t go to waste, or if you thought of it only after you screwed your kid with an average name, help a mom-to-be out with a name-me-down you no longer need.

Memorial Day–formerly  known as Decoration Day–was first observed on May 30, 1868, shortly after the Civil War, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, so that the  roots of the holiday were very much entwined with the War Between the States. It’s always celebrated on the last Monday of May–a date close to the day of reunification of the country after the Civil War.

In the course of this deadly and divisive war, there were over a thousand soldiers who reached the rank of general, many of them becoming national heroes, and namesakes for babies born during and after the war. There were countless little Grants and Lees, just as there were Lincolns and Jeffersons and Davises.  Looking at the rolls of officers on both sides, we find some interesting names–both first and last, as well as names attached to battlegrounds– that could still be inspiring today.

UNION GENERALS’ FIRST NAMES

ABSALOM
ADIN
ALBION
ALPHEUS
AMIEL
AUGUST
CASSIUS
CUVIER
DARIUS
EBENEZER
EMERSON
EMORY
ERASMUS
GREEN
GUSTAVUS
ISHAM
JASPER
JEREMIAH
JUSTUS
KENNER
LAFAYETTE
LORENZO
MARCELLUS
NAPOLEON
ORLANDO
ORRIS
PLEASANT
REGIS
ROMEYN
SPEED
SULLIVAN
THEOPHILOUS
TRUMAN
ULYSSES
ZEALOUS

CONFEDERATE GENERALS’ FIRST NAMES

ALPHEUS
ARMISTEAD
BIRKETT
BRAXTON
CADMUS
CARNOT
CLAUDIUS
CULLEN
ELKANAH
EPPA
EVANDER
GUSTAVUS
JUBAL
LEONIDAS
MAXCY (sort of cute)
OTHO
THEOPHOLUS
TURNER
TYREE
ZACHARIAH
ZEBULON

SOME SURNAMES FROM BOTH SIDES

ASHBY
AUGUR
BAIRD
BARNUM
BEE
BERRY
BOWEN
CLAY
CULLUM
DEWEY
DUNCAN
EATON
EGAN
FRAZER
FROST
GRAHAM
LOGAN
MAURY
MAXBY
McCLELLAN
MEADE
PAXTON
PERRY
POE
QUINBY
RIPLEY
ROUSSEAU
SAXTON
SHEPARD
SHERIDAN
SORREL
SPRAGUE
SULLY
SWEENY
TUCKER
VINTON

CIVIL WAR BATTLE-RELATED NAMES

AMELIA (SPRINGS)
ANDERSON
AUBURN
BAXTER
BRISTOE
CHANTILLY
CORINTH
DALTON
DOVER
MARIETTA
McALLISTER
PHILIPPI
SABINE (PASS)
SHILOH
SUMPTER