Updated October 2026
Across 7 pages
of 7
Welsh
"sea hill"
Terminally outmoded.
Literature, French
"pointy hill"
The family name of Shakespeare's Romeo, Montague has a touch of old-fashioned grandeur about it. With clunky-cute nickname Monty and similar sounds to Montgomery, it has been used as a given name…
English
"Andrǣd's hill"
A rare surname name that could follow in the footsteps of Harlow, Marlow, and Winslow, Onslow comes from the Old English name Andrǣd , which likely relates to Andrew and Anders. In turn, this could…
Native American, Algonquin
"powwow hill"
Powhatan is identified with the powerful chief and father of Pocahontas; not likely to be adopted by others.
"rye hill"
One way to refer to an ancestral Roy, if not the most mellifluous.
"from the house on the hill"
Seldon was seldom heard as a first name but that may change now that Elon Musk has used it for his 14th child, his fourth with Shivon Zilis. Little Seldon Musk's middle name is Lycurgus, the name of…
Diminutive of Brandon
"broom-covered hill"
A little heavy on the fiber content; we prefer Bram. But Bran is also the Celtic god of the underworld, whose symbol is the raven. It's probably not a coincidence that George R.R. Martin chose this…
French
"over the hill"
A harsh definition to inflict on a baby boy.
English surname
"flat-topped hill"
Embry became viable as a first name when it was used for the (male) werewolf character Embry Call in the Twilight series. But its Em- beginning and -y ending give it a feminine sound, so we call it…
"Sunny hill"
This Welsh name presents some pronunciation/spelling challenges but has a lovely sound and meaning. The name has been used in the South Korean multiplayer game Mabinogi for one of the human healer…
Word name or diminutive of Landon
"long hill"
A down-to-earth baby name—literally. It has great potential as a middle name.
"rye hill; roe deer hill"
Riles is the coolest surname name that nobody's using. Seriously nobody — Riles (and the older version of the name, Ryles) have never been given to more than five American baby boys in a single year.…
Dutch surname
"from the low hill"
The Vanderbilts were America's wealthiest family for almost a century, giving this name a strong association with luxury and industry. The Vanderbilts got their surname from their hometown in the…
"hill settlement; Dodd's town"
The fastest rising boy name of 2022 — thanks to the Dutton family of the hit show Yellowstone — was used for around 20 baby girls as well. It feels in line with trendy unisex name Sutton, which now…
"hill"
In the US, there are a handful of baby girls given the Brin spelling of this classic Welsh gender-neutral names, compared with over 800 in one recent year named Brynn and about 150 called Bryn.
Spanish
The Spanish word for hill certainly has name-like qualities and could make a fresh new Spanish nature name.
"pointed hill"
Diminutive of Montague or Montgomery that has long been used as a standalone for boys – and for a few girls too, especially during the middle years of the 20th century. It has largely fallen out of…
Hebrew
"hill of Assar"
Variant of Thelasar
Possibly derived from Assar, a Mesopotamian god. This Old Testament place name belonged to province in the south-east of Assyria, probably in Babylonia. Some have identified it with Tel Afer, a place…
Welsh, possibly "brow of a hill"
"brow of a hill"
Appealing topographical name that's rare even in Wales. Morus Elfryn was a popular Welsh singer in the 1970s.