Names of Rivers from Around the World

This slightly more compact version of Sabina has ties to France and Germany. Unlike its sister name, Sabine has never charted in the United States Top 1000. Today, both names are given to roughly the same number of baby girls in the US, about 70 each year.

Alluring and lovely — and much more distinctive now than Samantha or Tamara. Samara is a city in western Russia, a winged seed like the whirlygigs that fall from maple trees, as well as a bona fide first name that could make a more unusual update on Samantha or Mara. It can also be a variant spelling of the Arabic name Samira or Sameera.

Sassy alternative to Cassandra -- maybe too sassy.

Irish place-name -- it's a river, a town, and an airport -- once popular but now supplanted by such newer immigrants as Saoirse and Seanan.

Actress Jaime King gave her son Leo the middle name Thames, for the famous London river where she and her husband Kyle Newman were married. Thames is pronounced tehms, not necessarily common knowledge in the US. The etymology of the word Thames is uncertain, and may mean dark but more likely stems from an ancient word for river.

Thompson is not as popular as Jackson or Harrison, but a novel way to circumvent Junior for the son of a Thomas.

A 1970s beach boy surfing buddy of Scott, Brad, and Chad, Todd is given to relatively few babies these days.

This strong single-syllable boys’ name has been finding favor with parents since the fifties, though it's been slipping in recent years; it fell out of the Top 500 for the first time since 1959 in 2015. Its main associations have been with the River Trent, whose name dates back to prehistoric times, and with former Mississippi Senator Trent (born Chester) Lott, and Trent Reznor (born Michael) of Nine Inch Nails.

Victoria is the Latin word for "victory" and a feminine form of Victor. It is the name of the ancient Roman goddess of victory, the equivalent of the Greek Nike, and also a popular third century saint.

Vienne came to Western consciousness as the name of the French heroine of the popular 1990s book and then movie Chocolat. Vienne is a variation of Vienna, the name of the Austrian capital that has been used as a first name for centuries. Vienne may also be a short form or variation of Vivienne.