UK Baby Names

An undiscovered option among occupational names, as of 2023, Banner has never been used for more than 100 baby boys in a single year. It does have charm however, much due to its associations with fêtes and phrases like "a banner year". 
 
Originally given as a surname to someone who carried a flag, it might now appeal to Marvel fans, as in Bruce Banner, and as a patriotic choice, in reference to "The Star-Spangled Banner", the US national anthem. 
 
Actor Jesse Eisenberg has a son named Banner, born in 2017, and other parents are following in his footsteps. The name was chosen for 66 boys in 2023 (along with 7 girls), which is more than double the number given the name a decade earlier.

Banner

One of the surname names used more in the last century, à la Milton and Morton. 

Fulton

Despite the success of so many O-starting <a href="https://nameberry.com/boys-names">boys names</a>--Oliver, Owen, Otis, Oscar--Oswald has not yet shown any signs of resurrection, though he does have the animating nicknames Ozzie/Ozzy and Oz. The name has some literary cred--in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, Shakespeare's King Lear and a novel by H. G.Wells--and there was early cartoon character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Oswald

A cool, engaging surname, Keaton might feel like a fresh spin on Katelyn, Keeley or Katherine. While it is used ten times more often for boys, 27 girls were still given the name in a recent year.
 
Keaton derives from the name of a number places, which has led to a variety of different meanings, depending on which etymological root you follow. These meanings include: "place of hawks" from the Old English cyta; "river town" from the Old English ea; "hedged town" from the Cornish kee; and "Káti's (or Catta's) town", from an Old Norse given name, which ultimately means "merry, happy".
 
Notable bearers of the surname include silent film star Buster Keaton, actor Michael Keaton, and actress Diane Keaton, while in fiction, it was used in the 80s TV comedy, Family Ties.

Keaton

Full name that sounds more like a short form; more likely to be spelled Kip. 

Kipp

Hot star Ashton Kutcher is pushing this unisex choice toward the boys' camp, but its variation Ashtyn is on the rise. 

Ashton

Associated with the first light of the day, and more figuratively with new beginnings and fresh starts, Dawn's heyday came in the 1960s and 70s in the US, Canada and the UK. It had been in the charts since around the end of the First World War but really began to take off in the 1950s.
 
Derived from the Old English dagung, the name peaked at peaked in 1971 in the US, when it was given to more than 14,000 girls and sat within the Top 20. Shortly after, however, it began to decline and has since been eclipsed by other names with the same meaning, such as Aurora or Roxana, or by options with similar sentiments, like Nova or Alba. 
 
Given to 108 girls in a recent year, Dawn hasn't faded entirely from sight, and if you put aside its dated image, it could one day be a meaningful word name again.

Dawn

A variation or short form of the popular Biblical boy name Jacob that has a totally different feel to it. Contemporary, modern, and zippy, it blends the cool air of Kade, Kai, Kace, and Karter, with cosy Toby and Alby.  Popular in the UK where it ranks in the Top 500, other forms include Coby and Kobe, which are also high ranking in England and Wales. In the US, only Kobe makes the charts. 

Koby

Though still being used, Deanna peaked many decades ago. 

Deanna

Supermodel Karlie Kloss lends this spelling variation some style. Having appeared in the US Top 1000 since 1991, it was in trouble of dropping off completely when it ranked Number 992 in 2009. Since then, however, it has made modest strides back up the list.

Karlie

Buckley

Chet is an old-fashioned short form of Chester, that like Ned, Mac, Ted, and Wes, it has the potential to sound cool again. Country singer Luke Combs and his wife Nicole, certainly thought so as they chose Chet Wiley for their son in 2026, a sibling to Beau Lee and Tex Lawrence. 
 
Notable Chets include guitarist Chet Atkins, musician Chet Baker, footballer Chet Brooks, and basketball player Chet Holmgren, while fictional Chets have appeared in Fallout: New Vegas, The Fairly Oddparents and Turbo. In some cases, it has been a full name, while in others, it has been short for Chester and Chesney.
 
The name may also be considered a Thai name, meaning "mind, thought, idea"

Chet

A retro short form of Marina, dated to the era of the Hitchcock movie that made it famous, Marnie is beginning to feel fresh again — or rather, it is in the UK. Appearing in the Top 100 there in a recent year, parents may have been inspired by British singer Lily Allen, who gave it to her second daughter in 2013, or by the character in the hit TV show Girls.
 
Friendly and gentle with the the popular sounds of Annie, Marley, Maisie, and Marcy, Marnie manages to be sweet without feeling cutesy. With the added bonus of a sea-inspired meaning, Marnie is also seeing quiet shifts up the US stats, with 85 girls given the name in a recent year —the highest number of Marnies born in a single year since the late 1970s.

Marnie

When aspiring British writer Sadie Smith decided to change her name to the more distinctive and zippy Zadie at the age of fourteen, this attention-magnet name was born. But though it might sound like a modern initial-switch, Zadie was actually Number 539 in 1881, remaining in the Top 1000 for almost thirty years.
 
Currently given to around 115 girls in the US each year, across the pond in England and Wales, Zadie is making moves up the charts. A mash up of two popular choices, Zara and Sadie, which a hint of Jodie and Zoe thrown in, Zadie makes a distinctive but very wearable choice.

Zadie

The name of a British town on the Thames that hosts a famous regatta, so it could be an appropriate middle name for the son of boat-lovers. 

Henley

This still attractive place name was one of the first to gain popularity, though it now probably owes some of its favor to the similar Aisha. Asia ranked as high as Number 195 on the US <a href="https://nameberry.com/">baby names</a> popularity list in 1997. 
 In Greek myth, Asia is the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and mother of, among others, Atlas and Prometheus.
 One of the best known modern bearers of the name is Italian actress, singer, and director Asia Argento, who is probably responsible for its popularity in Italy, where it ranks Number 35. Asia Monet Ray is a dancer featured on the hit television shows Dance Moms and Abby's Ultimate Dance Competition.

Asia

Usually adding an e to the end of a name makes it more feminine, but Locke is at most recent count used only for baby boys. Still, this stylishly strong one-syllable name is theoretically gender-neutral.

Locke

An English surname-turned-first-name whose most famous bearer is former US president Lyndon B. Johnson. His appointment in 1963 caused a huge spike in use for his unusual name the following year, pushing it to its historical peak of #347 in 1964. However, the year after his exit from the Oval Office, it dropped back below the Top 1000.

 If you like the sound, nature name Linden is a fresher and more politically neutral option to consider.

Lyndon

Similar to Brielle and Riley, this name lags quite far behind these more common variations. It peaked at Number 622 in 2009 in the US, but it is now descending the ranks. It coincides with the surname Briley, a contracted form of  Brierley, which might be an interesting alternative.

Briley

A softer take on Hunter. Huntley could be considered a truly neutral name in the US, where it was given to 102 girls and 98 boys in 2024, making the split 51:49. Borrowed from a place name in South West England, Huntley could be considered cool, tough, and preppy at the same time, or, it may remind some of a a high-profile English murder case. 

Huntley

Baby names from the UK include names with origins from through the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, along with Manx and Cornish names from those corners of the kingdom. UK baby names encompass a wide range of styles, from some of the most popular names throughout the English-speaking world, such as Jennifer and Mason, to such unique baby names as Nolwenn, Pembroke, and Sholto. There are hundreds more UK names that are just as unusual.

They along with all the names in the Nameberry database that originate in the English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish and Manx languages and cultures appear on this master list of UK baby names. 

Baby names from the UK include names with origins from through the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, along with Manx and Cornish names from those corners of the kingdom. UK baby names encompass a wide range of styles, from some of the most popular names throughout the English-speaking world, such as Jennifer and Mason, to such unique baby names as Nolwenn, Pembroke, and Sholto.  (Page 46)