By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 47 pages
of 47
English
"rope maker"
Cowboyish occupational name that's one of the hottest choices below the Top 1000, increasing in rank more than 5000 places since the year 2000. Roper may not be a unique choice much longer.
English occupational name
"knife maker"
Cooper would be a more engaging C-starting occupational choice.
"baker"
An x makes any name cooler, so that Baxter has a bit more pizzazz than the original Baker. Baxter had some currency as a first name a century ago--it was on the popularity lists sporadically from…
English and Scottish
"treeless hill"
Unless it runs in your family, or Alexander Hamilton is your particular hero, you might consider something less imposing -- and without the teasable nickname Ham. Scottish curler Hamilton McMillan Jr…
English, diminutive of James
"supplanter"
Peaked in the 1940s, but still an amiable classic, a la Joe and Tom -- though rarely used on its own.
Word name
Hard and shiny, Steel projects an image that's smooth, macho...and cold to the touch.
Place-name from Dutch
"marshland"
It may be the hippest of hispter neighborhoods, but as a baby name Brooklyn is now on the decline: down from a peak of 120 births for boys in 1999, and over 7000 births for girls in 2011. The most…
English, diminutive of Emmanuel
He can get it for you wholesale.
English surname derived from Tobias
"God is good"
Tobias-related name that makes an attractive and modern-sounding form of the biblical original. It was recently chosen by Karolina Kurkova for her son.
"from the walled city"
This stuffy English surname and hotel name took on Twilight cool when attached to vampire Carlisle Cullen. Inspired by the character, it's more popular in this spelling than as Carlyle and more…
"wealthy ruler"
Formerly in style limbo, Edric has recently started to see more use by parents. It could be because it sounds medieval yet accessible - which George R. R. Martin took advantage of for several…
"Ella's hill; old friend"
A name with old-fashioned charm, akin to Elton, Elwin, and Elwood, Elden is a variation of two Old English names, Eldon or Alden. Meaning "Ella's hill" or "old friend", it combines strength and…
Variation of Marlow, English
"driftwood"
While Marlowe (and Marlow and Marlo) are surname names that are not intrinsically or traditionally gendered and so in theory work equally well for boys and girls. About 10 percent of the babies named…
"fighter's town"
Patton is an attractive name in the fashionable Haden-Peyton mold, though there is that association with the severe wartime general.
"from the valley"
An All-American, surname style Dale relative that finds place amongst similar names like Cullin and Hamelin as well as the more common Allen and Dylan. It is borne by Youtuber Dallin Lambert, of…
Jazz as a full name is used slightly more often for boys than girls and has a distinctive, well, jazzy feel. Jazz is also occasionally used as a nickname for Jasper, much more often for Jasmine or…
"town of the keels"
This unusual two-syllable K name relates to shipbuilding.
Diminutive of Arthur
"noble one; bear man"
Though short and brisk, no nickname name could have a more creative image. Comic actor Chris O'Dowd named his son Art, as in his native Ireland it's used as a name on its own, separate from Arthur.,…
"son of John"
No competition for Jackson.
"white field"
If you discount the connection to the controversial Whittaker Chambers in the days of the Red Scare, Whittaker is a pleasant enough British surname with the preppyish nickname Whit.
