One of the most fun things about running nameberry, as opposed to being a visitor, is that you get to peer behind the scenes and see which names people are actually searching for.  Some of the most visited names on nameberry are ones you’d expect: Ava and Aidan, Lucy and Logan.  And then there are the stylish nameberry favorites as detailed in a recent blog: Beatrix, Penelope, Atticus.

But a bit further down on the list, we’re noticing less expected names that our visitors seem to be inordinately curious about.  These are the choices that are not on any popularity list – not even a sophisticated, fashion-forward one like nameberry’s – yet are attracting more than their share of attention.

Our conclusion?  These are names to watch.  It may be only the more adventurous baby namers who are actually using them at the moment, but we predict that in a decade, most will feel more familiar – perhaps way more familiar – than they do now.

These names of the future include:

Girls

ANAIS

ANASTASIA

ANNABEL

ANWEN

ARDEN

(more…)

We’re noticing a lot of V’s — as in vivacious and vibrant — popping up in cool names these days. There’s Vivienne, of course, the name of Brad and Angelina’s twin daughter, and also the name of Rosie O’Donnell’s youngest child.  Then there’s Olive, the name of Isla Fisher and Sasha Baron Cohen’s daughter; Viggo, newborn son of Taylor and Natalie Hanson; River, the son of Keri Russell; and Ever, the name of model/designer Milla Jovovich’s baby.

Name hotties with Vs in the middle include Olivia, Nevaeh, Ava, and Eva. Other rising stars (and starbabies) include Savannah, Evan, Devon, Avery, Heaven, Haven, and Violet. Many names that start with V have been out so long they’re starting to come in again: Veronica, Virginia, Valentina, Victor, and Vincent, which definitely took on a new sexy glow thanks to Entourage’s leading man Vincent Chace and real life leading man Vince Vaughn. Like Z, X, and O before it, V seems to be the cool name letter of the moment.

Some other V-inclusive names you might want to consider:

CALVIN

CLOVER

EVELYN

FLAVIA

GENEVIEVE

GROVER

HARVEY

JOVIE

MINERVA

OCTAVIA

SEVERINE

SYLVIA

WEAVER

XAVIER

And then of course there are several less obvious but still attractive names that start with V:

VALERIA

VAN

VENN

VERA

VERENA

VERITY

VERNON

VILLARD

VIRGIL

VIVECA

VIVIA