An inspirational and aspirational word name that evokes ideas of loyalty, faith, honesty, and accuracy, True is a unisex name, which is just slightly more popular for boys. Like an updated form of Trudy and Prue and with the virtuous feel of Grace, Faith, and Hope, True was given to around 200 girls in 2024 (and about 225 boys).

Undiscovered musical form melodious enough to be a hit on the name charts.

The nature boy version of the Scandinavian Leif, which actually means "heir". In the creative-naming Phoenix family, Leaf is the former name of the actor we know as Joaquin.

Tempest is one of those names that could go either way. Cool, evocative modern word name? Or asking for trouble? Your call, but if you decide the former image is dominant, be warned that some people will see it as the latter.

From Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, the story of a boy named Kafka -- crow in Czech.

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, while it was selected more recently by influencer Paige R Williams for her daughter in 2025.

Pretty sound, provocative meaning, but a little over-the-top.

An ubercool and mysterious name, brought to you by director M. Night Shyamalan.

While still very rare, the name Valiant was given to six baby boys in the US last year. And it's an inspiring choice.

Remember, the Muse is passive: someone else's inspiration.

Could be the next Nova, now that celestial baby names are in the ascendent.

Mysterious.

Mandolin may seem like an outlandish choice for a name, but since BANJO has been used as a baby name, all the instruments in the band seem to be auditioning for a place on birth certificates. This one comes with a real name nickname, MANDY.

One of the jewel names in use a hundred years ago, for both boys and girls, due for revival along with sisters Ruby and Pearl. But interestingly, Garnet means pomegranate, the fruit who shares a deep red color with the jewel.

Striker is one of the new gang of boys' names that have two syllables, end in -er, spring from words, and have a macho, even aggressive meaning and image. Other examples include Breaker, Heller, and Wilder. Do the world a favor and desist.

Make that bird name, and while it does work for both genders, it's far more popular for girls, via Raven Symone.

Though this may be thought of as a short form of the legitimate name Jetta, that one's gone to the cars. This sounds more modern if a bit supersonic. In the Netherlands, it's in the Top 100, originating as a short form of -ette ending names such as Henriette and Mariette.

With other bird names such as Lark and Phoenix on the rise, why not chirpy Sparrow? Nicole Richie and Joel Madden named their son, born in 2009, Sparrow James Midnight.

Dune is a name of several layers. It's a modern nature name, like Ocean, Bay and Reef, although rarer, conjuring up images of breezy sand dunes on summer beach days.

Glimmer is shimmery but a little too showy, as is Glitter, a character on a TV sitcom-- while Glimmer appears in The Hunger Games.