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Hipster Names for Boys and Girls

Pamela Redmond
By Pamela Redmond
Updated Sun Mar 10 2024
Hipster Names for Boys and Girls

Hipster baby names are names that are favored by hip, stylish parents, none of whom want to be accused of using hipster names for their children. That makes hipster names a moving target — as soon as a name becomes identifiably hipster, hip parents start to avoid it.

Hipster boy names finding the most favor today include the literary Ambrose, the quirky Cosmo, and the gender-neutral Kit. Hipster boy names are often off-beat names with lots of history, like Boaz or Phineas, or edgy modern names, like Hopper and Huckleberry.

Hipster girl names often fall along these style lines too. Quirky vintage girl names that qualify as hipster include Agnes, Ida, and Marigold. More contemporary hipster girl names include Nightingale and Nyx.

What qualities are shared by hipster names? They're usually conventional names but never popular ones. They are quirky and edgy but may also have deep roots. Old-fashioned nickname-names, such as Sally and Sonny, often strike a hipster vibe, as do mythological names and boys' names used for girls. The letters O, Q, X, and Z are often found in hipster names, including Opal and Io, Zelma and Ziggy. Along with Opal and Sonny, other hipster names in the US Top 1000 include Cleo, Eugene, Florence, Ira, Langston, Rudy, Stanley, and Zelda. Former hipster names that are now mainstream include Matilda and Clementine for girls, Arlo and Otto for boys. Below, the hipster baby names most often heard around Brooklyn, Austin and Madison these days (though we can't resist pointing out that the names Brooklyn, Austin and Madison are nowhere among them), ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

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  1. Leopold

    • Origin:

      German

    • Meaning:

      "brave people"

    • Description:

      This aristocratic, somewhat formal Germanic route to the popular Leo is a royal name: Queen Victoria used it to honor a favorite uncle, King Leopold of Belgium. Though Leopold sounds as if it might be a leonine name, it's not really a relative of such choices as Leon, and Leonard.
  2. Cosmo

    • Origin:

      Italian, English, Greek

    • Meaning:

      "order, beauty, universe"

    • Description:

      With a touch of celestial power, a hint of clunky charm, and the totally cool -o ending, Cosmo may well be finally shaking itself free of both the Seinfeld association (which made it a punchline of a joke) and the cartoon fairy association from The Fairly OddParents. In fact, it is in the Top 1000 in the UK and a favorite on Nameberry.
  3. Phineas

    • Origin:

      English, Egyptian

    • Meaning:

      "the Nubian"

    • Description:

      Phineas is the English variation of Phinehas, a Hebrew name likely derived from the Egyptian name Pa-nehasi. Pa-nehasi, meaning "the Nubian" can also be translated as "the bronze-colored one." The Egyptians distinguished themselves from their Nubian neighbors through differences in skin tone.
  4. Roscoe

    • Origin:

      Norse

    • Meaning:

      "deer forest"

    • Description:

      Fairly popular a hundred years ago but out of sight now, the quirky Roscoe deserves a place on every adventurous baby-namer's long list. It joins Rufus, Roman, Remy, Romulus, and Ray as one of the R names that sound fresh again after too many years of Robert, Richard, and Ronald.
  5. Wilbur

    • Origin:

      German

    • Meaning:

      "resolute, brilliant"

    • Description:

      Wilbur is a stylish name in the UK whose merits are just starting to be discovered in the US. Wilbur, the loveable pig who Charlotte of the Web called Some Pig, is an inspirational hero. And Wilbur and Orville Wright were early aviationists.
  6. Kit

    • Origin:

      English, diminutive of Christopher

    • Meaning:

      "bearer of Christ"

    • Description:

      Actor Kit Harington, aka the dreamy Jon Snow on Game of Thrones, has given this nickname-name new style and appeal for boys. Actress Jodie Foster used it for her son back in the 2000s, while actor Kit Connor of Heartstopper fame may have introduced it to a wider audience.
  7. Ambrose

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "immortal"

    • Description:

      Gentle but grandiose and beloved by British novelists including Evelyn Waugh and P. G. Wodehouse, Ambrose was a fast rising name in 2022. Entering the UK Top 1000 for the first time and proving popular among Nameberry users, its elegance, softness, and vintage style means it fits in with popular Theodore, Sebastian, and Jeremiah.
  8. Cleo

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "glory"

    • Description:

      Cleo, one of the few girls' names to boast the cool-yet-lively o ending, is of course short for Cleopatra, the name of one of the most powerful women in history.
  9. Ottilie

    • Origin:

      German, French

    • Meaning:

      "prosperous in battle"

    • Description:

      Ottilie is trending in the UK, where the pronounced T helps the name sound pretty and delicate, rather like Amelie and Elodie. Ottilie is less popular in the US, where many Americans pronounce it as a near-homonym for "oddly".
  10. Casper

    • Origin:

      Dutch form of Jasper, Persian

    • Meaning:

      "bringer of treasure"

    • Description:

      This ancient name, also spelled Caspar, is finally shedding its ghostly image and moving into the 21st century. Popular in the Netherlands and Scandinavia, where it's sometimes shortened to Cas, Casper could ride the style coattails of cousin Jasper.
  11. Florence

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "flourishing, prosperous"

    • Description:

      Florence is back, returning to the US Top 1000 girl names in 2017 after a nearly 40 year absence. Other English-speaking countries have been quicker to welcome Florence back into fashion.
  12. Romy

    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Rosemary, Roma, Romana, Romilly etc.

    • Description:

      Austrian actress Romy Schneider seemed to be the singular bearer of this international nickname name until it found new style currency in the past decade, entering the US Top 1000 for the first time ever in 2024.
  13. Enid

    • Origin:

      Welsh

    • Meaning:

      "life, spirit"

    • Description:

      This Celtic goddess and Arthurian name may sound terminally old-ladyish to many ears--but so did names like Ella and Etta not so long ago. So Enid is yet another forgotten four-letter E-possibility: she's has been M.I.A since 1954.
  14. Agnes

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "pure, virginal"

    • Description:

      Agnes is the Latin variation of the name Hagne, which itself derived from the Greek word hagnos, meaning "chaste." In medieval times, St. Agnes was a very popular saint, leading to its popularity as a girl's name. Agnes Grey is the title of one of the two novels written by Anne Brontë.
  15. Ira

    • Origin:

      Hebrew, Sanskrit

    • Meaning:

      "watchful one; wind"

    • Description:

      Succinct and sharp, Ira is one of the shortest Old Testament names, belonging to one of King David's thirty 'mighty warriors.' It was widely used in the US from the 1880s to the early 1930s (it was Number 57 on the Social Security list in 1881), but fell off completely in 1993, only to return in 2016. Currently, it is in the latter half of the US Top 1000, given to around 260 boys each year.
  16. Alistair

    • Origin:

      English spelling of Alasdair, Scottish version of Alexander

    • Meaning:

      "defending men"

    • Description:

      With many British names invading the Yankee name pool, the sophisticated Alistair could and should be part of the next wave. It debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016. You have a triple choice with this name--the British spell it Alistair or Alastair, while the Scots prefer Alasdair--but they're all suave Gaelic versions of Alexander. Adopted by the lowland Scots by the seventeenth century, the name didn't become popular outside Scotland and Ireland until the twentieth century.
  17. Marigold

    • Origin:

      Flower name, from English

    • Meaning:

      "golden flower"

    • Description:

      Marigold, once found almost exclusively in English novels and aristocratic nurseries, is beginning to be talked about and considered here. It has a sweet, sunny, quirky feel. The marigold was the symbol of the Virgin Mary.
  18. Sybil

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "seer, prophetess"

    • Description:

      The image of the lovely Lady Sybil, tragic youngest daughter of the Crawley family on Downton Abbey is likely to go a long way towards reviving this almost forgotten name, off the list since 1966 and most popular in the 1920s and '30s.
  19. Odette

    • Origin:

      French, from German

    • Meaning:

      "wealthy"

    • Description:

      Odette is the good swan in Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake, a role for which Natalie Portman won an Oscar ---and it would make a particularly soigne, sophisticated yet upbeat choice, unlike some of the more dated other 'ette'-ending names.
  20. Maude

    • Origin:

      English and French diminutive of Matilda, German

    • Meaning:

      "battle-mighty"

    • Description:

      Maude, also spelled Maud, is a lacy, mauve-tinted name that was wildly popular a hundred years ago, but has been rarely heard in the past fifty. Some stylish parents are starting to choose it again, especially as a middle.