Latin Names

Vivien (Scarlett O'Hara) Leigh was born Vivian. Some sources give Vivien as a relative of the Irish goddess name Bebinn and a literary name invented by Tennyson. Others say it's related to the Latin-based Viviana, meaning life. This spelling of the name is as legitimate as many others.

This suffix is used as an independent name, but doesn't your little girl deserve more?

Valerius is an ancient Roman family name turned first name. While Valerius is more familiar as its derivatives Valerie and Valerian, the rise of Roman names ending in S for boys may inspire a revival of this strong choice.

While Jay has been long used as a stand-alone boy name, it has more recently been used as one for girls. Otherwise, it has largely been seen as a pet form of any J name, or as a singular middle name.

Marine is an extremely popular and fashionable name in France that's virtually unknown here — and is ready to set sail. Marine feels more contemporary than Marina and less hippie-esque than Oceane, another popular name for girls in France.

In this form, or as Sebastian or as Bas, Bastien is a fashionable Euro name with a possible future in America.

Leta has hipster cred as the daughter of cool mommy blogger Dooce. Related to the Greek mythological Leda, a great beauty who mothered another great beauty, Helen of Troy, Leta is a name that's as unique as it is historic: Only 14 baby girls were named Leta in the US last year, and 18 were named Leda. Pronunciation is lee-tah.

Aviana is a name that's kinda like the megapopular Ava, and kinda like the popular Ariana, and not quite as widely appealing as either of them. But it's on everyone's scope now as the choice of actress Amy Adams for her new daughter -- ironic as she was quoted as saying she wanted a "normal" name. Turns out that Adams was born in Aviano, Italy, explaining the mystery. The first syllable of the name can be pronounced ah, ay, or (most commonly) to rhyme with have.

The ancient name Albus has modern currency as the first name of the headmaster of Harry Potter's Hogwarts, more formally known as Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore. Can Albus work if you're missing the long white beard and the magic wand? Maybe, though it might be a heavy mantle for a Muggle child to wear.

A rare and delicate choice, Lelia is a modern variation of an ancient Roman family name. It came to Britain in the mid-nineteenth century, following the publication of George Sand's popular romantic novel titled Lelia in 1833.

Minimalist nickname via XXX star Diesel (born Mark Vincent).

The line should end with Junior Soprano. While most would expect this to be a nickname rather than an actual given name, Junior has always ranked in the US Top 1000, hitting its peak in 1925 at Number 116.

Short and slight, with great potential now that names like Ava, Ida and Orla are popular. Ora Beach is a tourist destination on Seram Island, Indonesia.

Branch is an attractive name with associations both with trees and with branching out into brave new worlds. Baseball's Branch (born Wesley, with Branch as his middle name) Rickey broke the color barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson for the Dodgers. Like Leaf, Branch makes a nice, not-so-obvious, addition to the tree category.

Hortense is actually the French feminine form of Hortensia, the name of a strong, politically active early Roman woman. Hortense began to be used in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. Napoleon had a stepdaughter named Hortense, it was the name of one of the main characters in the film Secrets and Lies and is also associated with novelist Hortense Calisher. As unappealing as it might be to most American parents, Hortense is now Number 155 in France (as of 2021).

Septimus is one of the more dashing of the birth-order Latin number names that were revived by the Victorians. So even if you don't anticipate son number 7, you might be bold enough to consider this relic, certainly preferable to sixth-son name Sextus.

More likely to be spelled Constantine, this was the name of the first Christian emperor of the Roman empire, as well as three Scottish kings. Previously thought of as too bulky and unwieldy a name for a modern child, these days it would be perfectly acceptable.

Said to refer to either Jupiter or Venus, either of which would be preferable as a name.

Timaeus is an ancient name that appears in both Plato's Dialogues and in the New Testament. Might make a so-old-it's-new-again version of Timothy. The feminine variation is Timea.