English Names

Ellington's popularity may be inspired by jazz great Duke, but the name is used slightly more often for girls today, perhaps because of its trendy El- beginning. Like a host of other El- names, from the familiar Ella to Eleanor to the more niche Elodie and Elula, Ellington carries the popular Ellie nickname.


Ellington

Until recently Ward was, like Wally, a Cleaver name, but today's parents are seeing it as a cooler nickname for Edward than Eddie, and are also beginning to use it on its own. 

Ward

Winston meets Marlow in this surname-style choice, blending old-fashioned charm and a hint of stuffiness with a bit of modern edge and breeziness too. Borne by the distinguished American landscape painter Winslow Homer, it could make a creative and unexpected choice, though some may be put off by the 'slow' ending.
 
Derived from Old English, it likely means "hill belonging to Wine", in whichWine is a given name meaning "friend". The name of a town in England and various places across the US, it has been in use as a masculine name since the 19th century, however, it has been climbing up the charts for girls since the 2010s. 
In a recent count, 44 boys and 199 girls were called Winslow, with an additional 6 girls given the Winslowe spelling. As such, the name is currently split around 20:80.

Winslow

This artistic and aristocratic surname is a bold and daring choice, but with nature inspired names like Wren on the rise, and surnames-as-first-names being in vogue, Wyndham has seen a shift up the charts during the 2020s, with a recent count seeing it given to 44 boys — and 7 girls.
 
Notable namesakes include the artist (and founder of the Vorticist movement) Wyndham Lewis, and the author John Wyndham, who wrote The Day of The Triffids — however, it is unlikely to have been either of these two who inspired the rise in young Wyndhams.
 
Instead, this increase is most likely down to the American golfer, Wyndham Clark, who won both the Wells Fargo Championship and the U.S. Open in 2023, which may have brought visibility to the name.
 
Windy might be an intuitive nickname option, but opinion is divided on whether it's breezy and cool, or, well, just a bit gassy. Wyn might be a concise and gentle alternative, or even "Dub" which is Wyndham Clark's nickname, short for W (double-you/dub-uh-you).

Wyndham

A floral and celestial choice, Aster is the name of a daisy-like flower, with a star like shape. Derived from the Greek word for "star", Aster entered the Belgian Top 200 in 2021 for boys inn 2021.
 
In the US, Aster has been used quietly and sporadically for girls and boys since at least 1912, however, it began to climb for girls in the 2010s. A more recent year saw it leaning more neutral again, given to 57 girls and 43 boys, perhaps owing to its similarity to Asher, Aspen, Adler, Atlas, and Alistair, as well as to Astrid, Juniper, and Astoria.
 
Actress Bonnie Wright and her husband Andrew Lococo named their son Aster Sky in 2026.

Aster

Cliff is a familiar, timeless short form -- never too popular, yet widely known -- that you might also think of as a geographical name ala Vale or Field.

Cliff

One of the most classic smoosh names around, and very international, too.

 The meaning of Marie is uncertain, but theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew roots mar "drop" and yam "sea"); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah "bitterness"); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr).

Annemarie

Sunshine was seen as a quintessential hippie name of the 70s, reaching as high as Number 536 in 1975. Now such names are making a bit of a retro comeback, seen, for example, as a character on Glee.

Sunshine

Alea is a genuine <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' name</a> as a sleeker variation of Aleah, a name with both Arabic and Persian roots that means exalted or God's being. But in Italian, Alea means risk or hazard, so it can also be considered an Italian word name...but a risky one.

Alea

Prescott is one of several distinguished, upper-crusty surnames beginning with P.
 There are several historical surnamed Prescotts, including William, a Massachusetts Minuteman and commander at the battle of Bunker Hill, and Samuel, a Revolutonary patriot who traveled with Paul Revere on the night of his famous ride. Prescott is also the first name of the father and brother of George H.W. Bush.

Prescott

Variation of Kaylee and Kali with the popular "-leigh" suffix.

Kaleigh

One of those names like Pamela, Vanessa and Wendy, Lorna was invented for a particular literary character--the protagonist of the 1869 novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore--and then perpetuated as the name of a shortbread cookie. 
The author claimed to have based it on the Scottish place-name, Lorn. In baby name limbo for quite some time, it was chosen by Judy Garland for her younger daughter, Lorna Luft. Lorna Simpson is an important contemporary American artist. 
While not strictly from Scotland, many consider Lorna to be one of the most tradtional <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/472/scottish-names-for-girls">Scottish names for girls</a>

Lorna

Wells is a hot new star name and Welles....makes it more complicated. While the Welles version arguably makes this more of a name and less of a word, it also will prove endlessly confusing in terms of spelling and even pronunciation. Is it well-ess or well-ez? Simplify your and your child's lives and spell it Wells.

Welles

Actor couple Chyler Leigh and Nathan West added this one to the lexicon when they adapted the surname of actress Jennifer Aniston as their daughter's first name, Anniston. With its similarity to both Addison and Anna and its relationship to the star, Aniston is taking off and was given to just shy of 70 girls in a recent year, while Anniston was chosen for around 160.
 
The name itself comes from an old English surname, meaning "Agnes's town", or "Anis's town", to use the Medieval form of the name. Alternatively, however, you could connect it to the city in Alabama, which was named for the founder's daughter in law, Annie.
 
In the F.R.I.E.N.D.S star, Aniston was actually Anglicized from the Greek Anastasopoulos, likely meaning "descendent or offspring of Anastasios".

Aniston

The spelling Loren turns Lauren or its male form Laurence into a gender-neutral name. Last year 75 baby girls were named Loren in the US vs. 60 baby boys, making this name a good nonbinary choice.

On the meaning, all the names related to Laurence and Laura are originally Latin, meaning "from Laurentum", but that Roman city's name means "bay laurel".

Loren

Lander is a name that straddles two trends. It's an er-ending surname name, ala Cooper and Carter. And it's also, more subtly, a green name, in the manner of Fielder or Reed.

Lander

A provocative word name that may strike the right chord for an adventurous baby namer, Reason has begun to sound, well, more reasonable as a name in recent years. While it did first feature in the US stats back in the early 20th-century, it only began to rise in the 2020s. 
 
In tune with Chosen, True, Ledger, and Justice, Reason, associated as it is with explanation, motivation, and justification, was given to 41 boys in a recent year, while spelling alternatives Reasyn and Reazyn also featured in the stats in smaller numbers.
 
One to watch out for, perhaps, nicknames might be Reese, Reesey, Sonny, or Ree.

Reason

Southern name still occasionally heard in a male context (author Shelby Foote and the son of singer/sitcom star Reba McEntire), but it's much more associated with girls. 

Shelby

Though it has some distinguished political and tennis world associations, most modern parents would go for the more contemporary sounding Holden.  Tilden Park is a beautiful hillside wilderness in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tilden

Auria is a highly unusual choice with a pleasant aura.  As cousin names Aurelia and Aurora become more prominent, Auria is getting some attention too. About 50 baby girls were called Auria in the US last year.

Auria

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 46)

English Names (with Meanings & Popularity)