With Bear and Fox becoming hot baby names, why not Panda? Why not indeed. Both the name and its animal namesake are adorable. And Pan is a nickname right in line with the mythological name trend. The word panda comes from the Nepali word ponya, meaning "bamboo eater" for the panda's favorite food.

Perkin sounds a bit Hobbit-ish as a full name, but it might make a good honor name or nickname for a boy called Peter.

The revival of long-dormant Roman names would put this back in the lexicon if it wasn't so connected to a telecommunications network.

Prince rose to its highest ranking in a century in 2015, and the tragic death of its most famous bearer in April 2016 propelled it even higher. The Purple Rain legend isn't its only tie to pop royalty: Michael Jackson chose it for not one but two of his sons. Royal names such as King and Prince, once thought of as canine, have begun to be used by human non-royals for their sons.

Le Pew. We don't think so, although it's a megacommon nickname name in Latino countries.

Peace may be an admirable sentiment to convey in a child's name, but the translated and thus more subtle versions, like Pax or Placido, might work better as first names.

Associated with the "Star Trek" commander of the USS Enterprise.

A worthy honoree that would place a too-heavy expectation on a child, probably subjecting him to ridicule. Try Pablo instead.

While patriot Thomas Paine is a worthy honoree, the mere association with the word 'pain' knocks this name out of bounds.

Pancho is a bit more problematic than such similar names as Pablo and Paco because of the Pancho Villa association.

Strictly for the girls.

Coined in the 1960s to define the smallest photographic element of a televised image. It's a portmanteau of "picture" + "cell" or "element".

There's a football player called Pepper (born Thomas and given the childhood nickname for sprinkling pepper on his cereal) Johnson -- but the name has yet to make waves for boys. Given to around 5 boys each year, the musical link to The Beatle's album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club might appeal to some.

Pom is a shortened word name that's not much used in France, but cute and familiar here as one of Babar (the Elephant's) triplets. Pom, pommy and pommie are (non-derogatory) terms sometimes used by Australians, New Zealanders and South Africans to denote a person of English heritage. 

Patton is an attractive name in the fashionable Haden-Peyton mold, though there is that association with the severe wartime general.

Peanut Kai is the crazy celebrity baby name of the son of General Hospital star Ingo Rademacher and his fiance Ehiku. Cute but not recommended.

This uppity name has been a fast climber in recent years, but we still think it's a bit much. Even abroad, where the connection to the prestigious university will be weaker, any name beginning with "Prince" will sound pretentious.

Likable choice for history-minded parents who might want to honor Irish patriot Charles Parnell.

Sixties-style short form that sounds cool again -- though the unscrupulous Pete on "Mad Men" is not a character to emulate.

Primo is number one among the Latin birth-order names--Octavius et al--and the one most likely to be used in these days of smaller families. It has that jaunty 'o' ending and Italian flavor that many modern parents like so much. And what little boy wouldn't appreciate being prime?