Wonderful Word Names for Babies

Associated with poetry, pop music, and the Greek lyre, Lyric has a light and zippy sound to it and joins the likes of Melody, Harmony, Cadence, and Aria as musical names that have become baby names. A unisex name, it is currently three times more popular for girls in the US where it sits in the Top 600. It has declined in use since its 2014 peak, but was still given to around 560 girls in a recent year.

Some parents are hoping to bestow good karma on their children with this name, derived from the Sanskrit word for "fate". Associated with the Hindu and Buddhist belief that someone's actions in this life (and their previous ones) decide their future existences, it is more informally used in the Western world to refer to good or bad luck.

West is the most fashionable of what you might call the direction names, with North and East (or Easton and Easter) coming up behind, and South not yet on the map.

Extremely attractive color name chosen by some African-American families for its reference to the West African Ivory Coast; more commonly used for girls.

Names that have not historically been names are not intrinsically gendered, so though we originally pinned Arrow as a boys' name, both starbaby Arrows that have been born recently have been girls. And with Arrow given to 60 girls in the US in 2015 and 94 boys, we call that a pretty decidedly gender neutral name. With its forward-moving, true-landing imagery, Arrow is one of the new inspirational names.

Crash is a particularly calamitous entry in the badass boys' name category, taking Wilder and Maverick one -- or maybe a dozen -- steps further. But we can think of at least a dozen reasons you shouldn't name your baby Crash: crash test dummies, car crashes, economic crash, crashing out, just to name a few

This bold choice soared in popularity from 2008 to 2013, and now seems to have plateaued. But watch out—the character Major Major Major Major in the classic absurdist novel Catch-22 had a terrible time.

A word name with fashionable o-ending that has associations with both the homespun fabric and the mottled cat. Alice Cooper named his daughter Calico decades ago.

Weapon-related names like Saber have been on the rise in recent years. In 2014, ten baby boys in the US were named Saber and five Sabre. The name may also relate to the Arabic Sabir, though to contemporary English-speakers, the reference will more likely be the sword.

Angel is one of those names that has a very different trajectory for girls and boys. As a female name, it was most popular in the US from the 1970s until the turn of this century, almost breaking into the Top 100 at its peak in 2001 but then beginning a long slide down the list.

A distinctive surname that, despite its meaning, has a cowboy swagger, a la Autry.

A sweet and rare spice name, which made its first and only appearance on the US baby name charts in 1969 — the year Neil Young's song "Cinnamon Girl" was released.

With the sounds of Jennifer and Alexis, and the vibes of Eden and Serenity, Genesis is a Biblical inspired choice that has been popular in the US since the 2000s.

A sweet, uplifting and still fairly uncommon modern virtue name. Its single syllable makes it especially good as a middle name, but it would also make a big impact in the first spot; in fact, nearly 90 girls in the US were called Bliss in a recent year.

"Girls Gone Child" blogger Rebecca Woolf made Boheme a first name when she gave it to one of her twin daughters (the other one's name is Reverie). La Boheme -- "The Bohemian" -- is a Puccini opera that was transmogrified into the modern play Rent. Boheme means a literary or artistic person who lives outside conventional society.

If Arrow is too straight for you....

Nice sound, but double meaning -- shady glen or shady character.

Canyon is a unique baby name evocative of natural splendor and the old Steve Canyon comic-strip heroism, making it an intriguing new word-name possibility.

Y-ending color adjectives like Tawny and Rusty are nowhere near as stylish as the more sophisticated Lilacs and Violets.

Colorful, yes, but also probably among the hippiest of hippie names. Holly Madison recently chose it for her little girl.