An Alphabetical List Of Names

Uma is a sweet, strong name for a Hindu goddess... and a Hollywood one. But as popular as Uma Thurman is, other parents have not yet picked up on her name, making it a rarity.

Too close to the name of a bodily fluid.

Victor is one of the earliest Christian names, borne (as Vittorio) by several saints and popes, symbolizing Christ's victory over death. It has been quietly in the Top 200 since 1880, but just recently has taken on a cool edge by fashionable parents in London and seems ripe for a similar reevaluation here too.

Reminiscent of the Old West, with rugged charm and a gentle, easy-going feel, Wesley has long been a staple on the US charts.

An ancient tree that figures in literature from Shakespeare to Harry Potter and is believed to possess magical powers, Willow is a lovely name, as graceful as its inspiration.

X marks the spot in names these days, usually at the middles or ends of names, but here is one that puts it squarely up front.

Xavier originated is use as a given name after Saint Francis Xavier, cofounder of the Jesuit order, who got his name from the Spanish-Basque village where he was born. His birthplace was Javier, the name of which was derived from the Basque place name Etxeberria, meaning "castle" or "new house." Many Americans pronounce the initial X, as in ex-ZAY-vee-er, but it's equally accepted to pronounce the name ZAY-vee-er, closer to the French pronunciation.

This name, whose sweet and fragrant floral essence has always been widespread across the Near Eastern world, has now landed on US popularity lists in a variety of spellings. It's been dropping precipitously over the past few years, though, perhaps due to a combination of tensions in the Middle East and the fading fashion status of Jasmine itself.

Common Russian name familiarized here via cosmonaut Yury Gagarin and a character in Dr. Zhivago, but we don't see it ever gaining permanent resident status.

On the rise as an independent name: Zander and Xander are both widely used can increasingly be found as characters in movies and on TV.

Zoey is a modern spelling variation of Zoe, the Greek Jewish translation of Eve. For a few years, it was even more popular than the original Zoe, but has now dropped back to the second ranked spelling.