Even in this era of streaming, TV still sticks to having seasons in which new shows are launched.  We’re now in the thick of Fall Season debuts, and so I thought I’d do a name search of those that have either debuted or are about to, to see what prospective hot new names we could find.

One of the most anticipated show is The Morning Show, starring Jennifer Aniston, in her first TV outing since Friends. She was Rachel then—perfect for 1994—and this time she is—perfect for 2019—Alex.  But much more interesting is the name of her partner in crime/antagonist played by Reese Witherspoon—BRADLEY Jackson. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall in that writers’ room session.

Let’s look at some of the other unexpected TV character names of this season:

Hot New Names for Girls on TV

ALASKA—This one is right in the title of the show, Looking for Alaska, based on John Green’s bestselling novel. The teenaged male protagonist is the on-trend Miles.

ASTRID—In the starry political satire The Politician, we not only have a featured character named Astrid, but Gwyneth Paltrow as Georgina and Jessica Lange as hard-to-picture Dusty.

INFINITY—The most startling name on The Politician is Infinity Jackson, who is played by Zoey Deutch (lookalike daughter of Lea Thompson).

DEX– In Stumptown, based on a series of graphic novels, protagonist Dex Parios, played by Cobie Smolder, is a strong and sharp Army vet who becomes a private eye. A new to us nickname name for girls.

JULES—Two lady Jules(es): one played by lead Kat Denning in Dollface, and another in Euphoria. So no longer just a nickname for Julia/Julie.

LAVINIA– In Dickinson, the real-life series based on Emily Dickinson, Lavinia (called Vinnie)—a vintage name and nickname we love—is her younger sister who was instrumental in the posthumous publication of Emily’s poems.  She’s portrayed by Anna Baryshnikov. Also in this series is the female ABIAH, the unisex biblical name of the poet’s friend and correspondent

MONA LISA—Seriously? Well, Daybreak is presented as a post-apocalyptic high school comedy-drama complete with evil jocks and zombie-like Ghoulies. Almost as out there as the child called  SANTAMONICA (sic) in Mixed-ish, the spin-off of Black-ish, which again features Rainbow Johnson.

PIPER is the age-appropriate name of a young character in the ABC series Emergence. Her bright and zippy name entered the list in 1999 (soon after the debut of Charmed) and is now at #88.

RUE—In the high school drama, Euphoria, Rue is played by Zendaya, her character name plucked from the Hunger Games playbook.

Hot New Names for Boys on TV

ANSEL-Another Stumptown character is Ansel Parios.  Ansel seemed to be a quasi one-person name tied to photography great Ansel Adams until Adams became the namesake of young heartthrob Ansel Elgort, son of a photographer. The trendy GREY also inhabits Stumptown.

BURR —Daybreak, features Matthew Broderick as cheerful school principal Burr. Unfortunately for us, Burr may well be his surname.

DION—The title character of Raising Dion, a web TV series about a young boy with superpowers (illustrated). An ancient name with contemporary cool, had a walk-on in Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, gained a doo-wop vibe in the 50s, and was used by Golden Age Hollywood’s Barbara Stanwyck for her son..

DEACON–What We Do in The Shadows is a mock-doc about four Staten Island vampires named VIAGO, VLADISLAV, PETYR and Deacon. Deacon became a baby name after Ryan Philippe discovered it in his family history and he and then-wife Reese Witherspoon used it for their son,

NICO-In the new crime procedural/family drama Prodigal Son, there is a character named Nico Stavros. Nico is one of the most dashing o-ending boy (and girl) names, now at #382.

OCTAVIO— In the upcoming sci fi web series For All Mankind, Octavio Rosales is a recurring character. A Spanish numeral name meaning eighth and deserving of the kind of attention Octavia is getting, it has a distinguished namesake in Nobel Prize winning poet Octavio Paz.

OLLIE –In The First Wives Club, a loose remake of the 1996 film with a black cast, Ollie Washington is an adorable child character.  With all the baby Olivers around, Ollie is bound to break off on his own.