Can Linus lose its metaphorical security blanket and move from the Peanuts page onto the birth certificate? We think it has enough charm and other positive elements going for it for the answer to be yes.

This name is common in New Zealand and Australia, with famous bearers including TV producer Ngaire Fuata and academic and author Ngaire Woods. It is pronounced ng (like the end of sing) -EYE-ree.

In Wuthering Heights, Cathy's milquetoast husband; Heath is so much more appealing.

This name has more substance than you might imagine: it's the name of a small, pink-breasted songbird (whose favorite food is linseed), it's also a medieval French form of the Welsh name Eiluned, and in the Lynette spelling appeared in Arthurian legend as the love object of Gareth.