We’re often asked to talk about and predict names that are on their way up, but recently someone posed the reverse question, about names that have peaked and are trending downwards.  So here are a few thoughts on some categories of names that have gone from cool to hot to lukewarm, and their possible replacements.

WESTERN PLACE NAMES: Adios to cowboys and girls Dakota, Montana and Sierra, hello to more distant and exotic locales such as Rio, Vienna, Geneva, Sahara, Peru, Kenya

JADEN & CO: Even if it hasn’t quite happened yet, parents are bound to rebel against the megapopularity of all the nouveau Aidan siblings–Jayden, Caden, Cayden, Brayden, Kaden et al–and go back to  the original (now spelled) Aiden, which is rising in popularity all the time.

BIBLICAL GIRLS’ NAMES: Rebecca, Rachel, Hannah  and Sarah may be eternal classics, but many parents feel they have been way overused during the past few decades, and are seeking out  less common examples in the Good Book–Dinah?  Jael?  Salome?  Tamar?  Michal, anyone?–or choosing virtue names like Honor and Verity instead.  Biblical boys’ names, on the other hand, continue to thrive, with Jacob holding fast at Number One.

PREPPY SURNAMES: Upscale nineties favorites, such as the seriously striving Parkers and Porters, Carsons and Carters, seem to have lost their relevence in this changed economy, replaced by livelier, cheerier, unpretentious Irish family names like Sullivan, Brady, Reagan, Riley and Rafferty.  For what it’s worth, though, Cash is on the rise.

With the economy tanking and the presidential campaign getting nastier, what’s a forward-looking, optimistic baby namer, who wants to project a warm, welcoming, positive sense of the world to her innocent little newbie, to do?

First, and most obvious, stay away from bugaboo names like Fannie and Mae and Freddie and Mac and Morgan and Stanley.  And definitely don’t take the Palin path–avoid names like Tank, Trip, Dip, Slip, Slump, Slide, Smash and Crash.  Instead, look on the sunny side, and here are a few ways of doing that.

PICK A NAME WITH A HAPPY MEANING.  There are lots of choices that mean or connote happiness, hope, friendliness and good luck.  These include, for girle, Amy, Beatrice, Bliss, Blythe, Bonnie, Edwina, Farah, Felicity, Gioia, Hilary, Joy, Leticia, Merry, Nadia and Sunshine, and for boys, Asher, Auden, Bellamy, Darwin, Felix and Rafiq.

PICK A NURSERY RHYME NAME.  The innocence of bygone childhood could be re recaptured by returning to a simpler Mother Goosey name.   For girls: Dolly, Jenny, Jill, Lucy, Margery, Mary, Molly, Polly, Rosie; for boys, Georgie, Jack, Peter, Robin, Simon, Tommy, Willie.

PICK A NAME FROM THE LAND OF DISNEY.  If, indeed, Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, what better domain to pick a happy-ending name from?  Among the many to choose from–  Female: Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Bianca, Briar Rose, Cleo, Esmeralda, Fiona, Flora, Jasmine, Lilo, Nala; Male: Buzz, Eric, Gideon, Gus, Hercules, Jafar, Mickey, Sebastian, Timon, Toulouse.

PICK A VIRTUOUS NAME. Despite all  obstacles, you want your child to be truthful, loyal, kind, honest and prudent. You can telegraph that positive message from the get-go by choosing a name such as Amity, Charity, Grace, Honor, Hope, Faith, Justice, Mercy, Patience, Prudence, Serenity, True, or Verity.

PICK A SERENE WORD NAME.  Macho basketball superstar Allen Iverson recently named his fifth child Dream, one of the calm and comforting word names starting to come into favor.  Dream was hardly heard outside the comic book world until rappers Sole and Ginuine used it for their daughter in 2002.  Their other daughter’s name, Story (also used by Jenna Elfman), has a similarly calming, storybooks feel, also shared by such word and nature names as Fable, Haven and Prairie.