World War II stamped a permanent verboten on Adolph. 

Adolph

Affrikah

The popularity of legendary names, such as Legend, Legendary, and Legacy, has led to the creation of new names in this genre — meet Alegend (and ALegend and A'Legend). Phrases as names are slowly filtering into the mainstream, with choices like AKing, MyLove, and AMillion garnering more and more use each year.

Alegend

We think, probably, most parents who name their sons Alias are using it as a variation of Elias.

Alias

Alleeceea

Amerika

A meeting of two trends — compound names a la Myking and Alegend and money-related -illion names such as Million and Billion.

Amillion

Anis

Antwohnette

Sure, Arson is a crime, but anecdotally, many of the parents who choose this name do so because Arson = "our son."

Arson

Asser

Baby

Bachellor

Bald

Dashing middle name choice for admirers of the French author. 

Balzac

Permanent property of that devilish little Simpson kid. 

Bart

Better yet, find a name with the same meaning: Belle, Cosima, Indira, Uilani, Zeynep.

Beauty

The second most common numerical -illion name, after Million. Probably because of the outdated nickname Bill.

Billion

Birt

BloodRayne is a series of action-adventure video games, but the heroine's name is actually Rayne, a much more usable appellation for a non-vampire, non-animated child.

We hope no-one uses this for their child.

Bloodrayne

Kids love Bob the Builder, but do they want to be Bob the Builder? Bob and Bobby have been out of style since the 1960s, but as vintage nickname-names -- Fred, Archie -- come back into vogue, Bob may tag along.  Charlie Sheen used it for one of his twin sons.

Boo as a first name first achieved notoriety as the name of the child-man in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Arthur "Boo" Radley was meant to be frightening, but only in a simple, non-threatening way. More recently, Boo has been used as the middle name of one of chef Jamie Oliver's children and the nickname in the middle of television's Honey Boo Boo. Boo is also the name of the world's cutest dog and of the adorable little girl in Monsters Inc. In a more basic way, Boo is a term of endearment.

Boo may have started out as a nickname for the male character Arthur "Boo" Radley in To Kill A Mockingbird and these days may be closely associated with another male Boo, the "world's cutest dog" or with the adorable little girl in Monsters, Inc. 
 A couple of other contemporary female references: reality television's Honey Boo Boo and chef Jamie Oliver's daughter Daisy Boo Pamela. And it's an equal opportunity term of endearment and near the top of any list of <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/507/cute-baby-names">Cute baby names</a>.

Brain is not a name, it's a misspelling of the long-popular Brian.  What's really astonishing is not that it made the Top 1000 at all but that it hung on there for 25 years, from 1965 through 1989, Brian's heyday.  All we can say is: sad.

Brain

Buttler

Although this name literally means disaster, the use of Calamity as a descriptor of Martha Jane Cannery, aka Calamity Jane, was meant to signal that she was a good person to have in troubled times. Calamity Jane was well regarded as a frontierswoman and nurse, someone who was said to be extremely generous and compassionate to the sick and troubled.. Calamity's connection to the American West gives this a roguish name a sort of windswept charm about it. Indeed, the most controversial aspect of this name is its connection to the frontier wars that led to the dispossession of Native American peoples. 
Controversy aside, you really don't want to name your daughter Calamity. There are plenty of other uncommon <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/c">girl names starting with C</a> that don't sound like jokes.

Calamity

Attractive ancient name borne by several saints but sullied by association with yeast infection. 

Candida

Not a great idea to associate your newborn with drug lords.

Cartel

Chaos

Chloris

Old and aristocratic European name that would be tough for an American kid to pull off. 

Clotilda

A beautiful flower name deriving from the Latin word for dove. Sadly, in America this name is now forever linked with a tragic terrorist attack on a Colorado high school.

Columbine

This Puritan virtue name may be unstylish, but it is also sympathetic and appealing in these largely uncomfortable times.

Comfort

Cookie is most often used as a dog name, and it should stay that way.

Cookie

Cornie

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

Prime example of the aggressive word names that are an off-the-grid branch of the new macho names.  Makes Cannon, Maverick, and Ranger feel almost soft and sensitive by comparison. 

Danger

You know what — Lucifer would actually be the better choice here.

Demon

Dick was a once-common short form of Richard; replaced by Rick or Richie, and finally by the full name itself.   Rude meaning -- make that two rude meanings -- pretty much knocks this one out of consideration.

Dick

Dieter is a classic German name that got lots of satiric exposure via Mike Myers on "Saturday Night Live" a few years back. If mispronounced, it could conceivably be read as someone on a diet. 

Dieter

Ding

Dink

Once a birth order name, now might work as a cool x-ending nickname. But be warned that it sounds very close to an unfortunate slang term.

Used for the first time in 2020. At least he could always go by Dom.

Dominance

One of the oft-mocked Zappa kid names; it supposedly was a nickname his father had for his wife's pinkie toe. 

Dweezil

Yet another noble name to join King, Prince, Princess, et al.

Empress

Still not far enough removed from one of the seven deadly sins.

Envi

Fearghas

Santes Ffraid is the traditional Welsh name for St Bridget, the Irish national saint and legendary miracle worker. The connection becomes clearer through the Scottish form of the name, Bride. It's worth noting that it sounds like the English word "fried".

Ffraid

Flash Gordon makes this a superhero name, but Flash might just appeal to modern parents looking for one of the new active boys' names, ala Ace and Breaker and Ranger.  We'd recommend something more pulled-together as a proper name with Flash as a nickname or middle name.

Flash

Flem

Freek

A very small number of boys are given this intense and aggressive name each year.

Furious

It's a gamble that your child will grow up to appreciate the name Gamble.

Gamble

The meaning of this word flipped from "cheerful" to "homosexual" during the twentieth century, and it's now almost certainly too loaded to sit comfortably as a baby name. Which is a shame as sound-wise it's very appealing, just a short step away from Gray, Gale and Guy.

Gayleen

Best left on the old southern plantation, sipping his mint julep. 

Gaylord

Gearoid

Although it has no doubt been used as a name by someone somewhere, Girl likely appears on the US extended baby names list most years as a kind of holding term, where parents have not yet decided on the name so the baby is instead recorded as "Girl", "Boy" or "Unknown".

Girl

Girlie

Glanda

Makeup artist to the stars Gucci Westman has made this Italian fashion name a first. 

Gucci

The patron saint of comedians and dancers (also known as St Vitus) has a name that is both the ultimate everyman, and has a hint of British aristocracy. In the States, Guy was most popular in the 1950s. Now he hovers steadily below the Top 1000, in the sweet spot of familiar but not overused. With the meteoric rise of Kai, Guy may have potential with parents looking for a more classic name with a similar sound.

Gypsy, long associated with the intellectual stripper Gypsy Rose Lee and the musical that was made about her life, was used by Drea de Matteo and Shooter Jennings as the middle name of their daughter Alabama. Be aware, however, that the word gypsy is now considered an ethnic slur when used for the Romani, or Roma, people.

Gypsy

Gayland

Gorgeous

Not a viable option if your baby is going to speak English.

Harm

Chance has risen far on the baby-naming charts, but Hazard has a considerably more dangerous edge.  It was the middle name of famed US naval commander Oliver Hazard Perry.

Hazard

Heavynlie

Honestee

Hooker

Howl joins the wild new gang of names with attitude to spare: We're talking Rebel, Rogue, Wilder, and Wiley. Howell makes it much more genteel.

Howl

Hung

Hyman was commonly used by first-generation Jewish immigrants to Anglicize Chaim, but similarities to terms like heinie and hymen have taken it out of the realm of modern possibility. The original Chaim would be preferable to Hyman.

Hyman

One Puritan virtue name unlikely to thrive in the 21st century.

Increase

Indian

The calming variety of marijuana, used as a baby name every year since 1992.

Indica

This marijuana-themed name broke into the charts in 2020.

Indyca

Isis has gone from magical, feminist name on the rise to the forbidden list because of the extremist terror group called ISIS, an acronym for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. Unsurprisingly, Isis was one of the fastest-falling names in 2014, dropping 130 ranks to reach #706.
 Before the rise of the political group, Isis was best known as the name of the supreme Egyptian goddess of the moon, sky, magic, motherhood and fertility, revived by feminists and others willing to cross into arcane territory. And with the mini-craze for names that start with Is- -- Isabella, Isla -- it was not so surprising that Isis was joining the I crowd.
 The ancient Isis, wife of Osiris (who happened to be her brother), was worshiped beyond Egypt into the Greco-Roman world. According to myth, the Nile river floods every year because of Isis's tears of sorrow for the death of Osiris.
 In popular culture, Isis has been a character on Stargate and Battleship Galactica, an opera, the title of a Bob Dylan song and the name of several rock bands.
 The Isis is the name given to part of the River Thames.

Isis

Surname known as the last name of the other side of the Kardashian clan. 

Jenner

Jermajesty is a slightly bizarre name created by Jackson brother Jermaine, making his son a royal version of himself.

Jermajesty

Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab in the Hebrew Book of Kings, has long had a bad girl reputation. But in the modern secular world, this is somewhat mitigated by the feminist perspective of her as a strong woman, the power behind the throne. Previously avoided as a baby name, Jezebel is now, along with the also previously avoided Delilah and Desiree, coming into use, helped by its relation to other 'bel' name such as Isabel and Bella.
 
The popular feminist celebrity blog Jezebel upped the name's cool factor. Jezebel is the title of one of Bette Davis's best known early films.

Jezebel

Debuted in 2020, when it was used for six baby boys. All the same, gambling isn't an appropriate theme for a baby name.

Kasino

Undoubtedly there's a parent out there who sees this as the ultimate cool name.  It's anything but.

Kool

In India, Kovid is a rare but established name, coming from the Hindi for "wise, learned, scholar". Post-pandemic, it unfortunately calls to mind the coronavirus, but that didn't deter the seven sets of American parents who named their pandemic sons Kovid in 2020. Covid, the actual spelling of the disease, was unranked.

Kovid

Krown broke through the charts in 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Corona means "crown").

Krown

This spelling variation of Crystal rose all the way up to #53 in the US in 1985.

Krystal

Rappers Cardi B and Offset gave the truly unique word name Kulture to their daughter in 2018. Its message is more inclusive and artistic than such elevated <a href="https://nameberry.com/fameberry">celebrity baby names</a> as Saint, Reign, and Sir. Kulture may refer to a creative culture or a social culture. The baby's middle name is Kiari, which is dad Offset's birth name.

Kulture is one of the most <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/666/unique-celebrity-baby-names">unique celebrity baby names</a> of recent years.

Kulture

Kunta Kinte is the hero of the Roots series of books and TV series, which stem from a novel by Alex Haley. The character -- a Gambian man captured and sold into slavery in America -- is a model of strength in the face of terrible cruelty, and an icon of modern American fiction. Though some may find him too iconic to use his name for a child, others will be drawn to the name's strength and cultural ties. The origins of the name Kunta and the character who bears it are shrouded in controversy. Haley claimed to have based him on a historical account, but others have said that he is mostly invented.

Kunta

Both Currency and Kurrency appeared on the charts in 2020, following the bold trend of money-related names for babies.

Kurrency

Though mountain climbers may want to honor the famed Central Asian mountain range known as the Hindu Kush, associations with marijuana and Jared Kushner make this a hard sell.

Kush

A name used mostly in the 1980s, incorporating the Russian nickname name Dasha.

Ladasha

Latrina

Don't come crying to us when your son is breaking all the rules.
 
Lawless returned to the charts after a 90-year gap in 2020 when it was given to six baby boys.

Lawless

Lettice is still occasionally heard in upper-class British families, but we fear it would cause too much salad-green teasing to be considered in the U.S.  Calling your little Lettice Lettie could help make the name more user-friendly, or go all the way to the original Letitia. 

Lettice

FractalShadow's list "Humiliating names" of 173 great name ideas: Adolph - Zero!

Humiliating names

This is a list of names that are simply not good [at least in the English speaking world]. They may work for characters or pets, but for human children these are names that might be a bit much, though some have potential. These tend to be names that are: misspelled words, contain double-entendre or inescapable connotations, have an insulting or degrading meaning, impossible pronunciation, or hideous sound symbolism.