Your friendly next-door neighbor...not your baby. Although Larry was once one of the most popular boys' names starting with L, that title now belongs to Liam.

Every other little kid's name in 1957 but few Jameses are called Jimmy today; they're more often James or Jamie.

Ben, the diminutive of Benjamin or Benedict, can easily stand on its own as a simple, strong, nice-guy choice, though it's somewhat attenuated. Ben is this generation's Bob or Bill.

Jude may be a popular boys' name, thanks to Jude Law, but boyish nicknames for girls - like Frankie and Teddy - are on trend and Jude is also a new way to spin Judy or Judith. It's long been used quietly for girls as well as boys, and may start to pick up steam, though as of 2024, it was given to just shy of 90 girls in the US compared to over 2000 boys.

The ultimate midcentury nickname, retaining a good measure of retro charm, was chosen for her son by Mira Sorvino.

Massimo is a Latin charmer and while it might feel like a big name for a baby (or anyone, really), it has a touch of gentleness about it too, owing to the S sounds. A charismatic member of the Maximus/Magnus family, Massimo means "greatest" and has been a enduring favorite in Italy, where it has remained in the Top 100 over the last two decades

The Play Misty for Me jokes will get old really fast.

Long in our category of so-far-out-it-will-always-be-out category, once seen as a gum-cracking 1940's telephone operator, we think it's time to reassess Myrtle, and look at is as a nature name, a plant with pink or white aromatic berries. Ruled by Venus, myrtle is a plant associated with love, peace, fertility and youth.

Vivien (Scarlett O'Hara) Leigh was born Vivian. Some sources give Vivien as a relative of the Irish goddess name Bebinn and a literary name invented by Tennyson. Others say it's related to the Latin-based Viviana, meaning life. This spelling of the name is as legitimate as many others.

Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.

Originally a short form of Odell, a place name turned surname that hails from England.

Wisecracking waitress name stuck in the luncheonette. Started as nickname for girls named Regina -- queen in Latin -- now mostly a canine choice.

Pronounced a la Bette (Betty) Davis or Bette (Bet) Midler, a twentieth-century relic. Though if the equally vintage Betty comes back, Bette may be close behind.

Has diverse links to a Groucho Marx character, a bouncing ball, and late performance artist Spalding Gray.

Bobbsey Twins-era nickname name that could find new life via Nan, heroine of The Nanny Diaries. Nan was also the nickname of Annabel St George, the protagonist of Edith Wharton's novel "The Buccaneers".