Names That Mean Barrel

The genial yet upscale and preppy Cooper was one of the first occupational last names to catch on -- and Cooper remains a pleasing option.

Strong and modern, Cade shot up the popularity lists around the millennium—it was as high as Number 201 in 2001. Now, it has declined in popularity slightly, but nevertheless remains in the US Top 300, given to around 1200 babies each year. Combined with all the baby Kades, Cadens, Kaidens and Kaydens however, it might feel even more popular that it actually is.

Cooper is one of the American names used for both genders, but much more often for boys.

Kiefer is a strong occupational surname associated with "24" star Kiefer Sutherland, but one that could well join the other 'er' surnames currently in favor. Keifer is a German surname transferred to first name use, derived from two old Germanic words, kien and forhe, both of which mean "pine tree."

This spelling of the popular surname ranks just inside the Top 1000.

Caliber belongs to the class of tough boy names — along with Shooter, Wesson, and Trigger — that are given to a small but notable number of boys each year. We generally discourage parents from using such violence-promoting names — there are better routes to the nickname Cal.

Spelling it with a K doesn't do much to separate Kaliber from Caliber's violent image.

Kooper is more popular for boys than it is for girls, although the ratio of male to female usage is lower for Kooper versus Cooper. That could be a selling point for Kooper if you like the sound of Cooper for a daughter, but not the automatic assumption of "it's a boy!"