English Names

A child named Peale may have to endure more than a few banana jokes, but the Peales were a distinguished family of artists. 

Peale

An ambitious geographical name, associated with mountains and success. In the UK, however, this is a slang term, meaning "bad, disappointing".

Peak

Andrina is best-known as an older sister of The Little Mermaid. 

Andrina

Peabody is a quintessentially Waspy surname that your child won't thank you for -- either the pea part or the body part, or the meaning part. 

Peabody

A rare elaboration of Angela, likely inspired by Elena. As such, you could interpret it as meaning "angel of light" or "bright, shining messenger".

Angelenia

Paterson is a surname-name to continue a line of Peters and also the name of a city in New Jersey, hometown of poets William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg.

Paterson

Anice and Annis are variations of Agnes that have fallen from use, perhaps because of pronunciation issues.  Neither spelling was used for any baby girls in the US in the most recent year counted, though a century ago about 100 girls were called Annis or Anice. Potential pronunciation issues ay keep parents away.

Anice

While Anniston and Aniston may be used more often for girls in the US, this spelling has also appeared in the stats for boys over the years, albeit in very small numbers. Connected to a city in Alabama (named for the founder's daughter-in-law, Annie), to an English surname meaning "town of Anis" or "town of Agnes", and to the F.R.I.E.N.D.S actress, Jennifer Aniston, it sounds similar enough to Anderson, Addison, and Ashton that it could make an interesting possibility. 

Aniston

Patsy has been rarely heard for half a century, for either gender, and we're not expecting that to change in the near future.. 

Patsy

As seen on SNL, Pat is the ultimate <a href="https://nameberry.com/unisex-names"> androgynous name</a>. Stick with long form Patrick, and make sure everyone calls him Patrick. 

Pascoe was popular in medieval times and is definitely deserving of revival, especially for a child born in the Easter season. Other spellings are Pasco and Pascow.

Pascoe

For now at least, Parton conjures up the larger-than-life image of Dolly. For an American boy, Patton or Peyton would probably be a better bet.

Parton

Parr

Parkin

Predominantly used for girls, Annie did rank in the US Top 1000 in the 1930s, perhaps owing to data entry errors. Nevertheless, it could make an unexpected nickname for Andrew, Antonio, or Anthony. 

Annie

Predominantly used for girls in the US, there's no reason this surname-style name couldn't be considered as a unisex option — alternative spelling Aniston is after all. With similar sounds to Addison, Ashton, and Anderson, it's also the name of a city in Alabama which was named for one of the founder's daughter-in-law, Annie. 

Anniston

Strong, friendly surname choice, à la Bailey. 

Paley

Sounds too much like the name of a hotel. 

Ansonia

In the Middle Ages, Anstice was the usual English form of Anastasia (even it was recorded in writing as Anastasia). It survives as a surname, but is so rare as a baby girl name that it has never appeared in the US official data. If you like the pared-down simplicity of Alice, this unique historical name could be for you.

Anstice

An implied spiritual meaning makes this a plausible new name. 

Answer

English names -- names originating in the English language -- rank among the top names in the US, the UK, and other English-speaking countries, along with such European countries as Sweden, Germany, and France.

 in the US Top 300 include Georgia, Juliet, Lily and Olive for girls, and Emmett, Miles, Oscar, and William for boy.

 include Alfie, Lily, Edward, and Ella. In Sweden, the English girls' name Alice ranks near the top of the list, while the English boys' nickname Tom is fashionable in France.



Less conventional English names that rank highly in the US include, for girls, Kendall, Kinsley, Madison, Marley, Peyton, Presley, Sutton, Willow, Winter and Wren, For boys, this group includes Archer, Brooks, Carter, Fletcher, Graham, Huxley, Mason, Reed, Sawyer, and Wilder.

 that carry a lot of style value include, for girls, Araminta, Arden, Azalea, Birdie, Blythe, Clover, Lilac, Lavender, Posey, and Waverly. For boys, unique English names to consider include Birch, Booker, Dane, Garrison, Hale, Kit, Oberon, Shaw, Tobin, and Winston.



Our collection of English baby names also includes surname names such as Lancaster and Huffington, nature names such as River and Marigold, English word names such as Love and Journey, along with place names like Devon and occupational names such as Driver.



Browse Nameberry's complete range of English names for girls and boys, continued, below, or consult our individual lists of 

English names including girl names and boy names of English origin from the English language and culture (Page 135)

English Names (with Meanings & Popularity)