Names That Sound Smart

Updated Thu Nov 29 2012

One of my most vivid memories of writing our very first book, Beyond Jennifer & Jason, is of Linda and me cracking up as we read aloud from our list of what we called Intellectual Power Names. Frances, Ruth, Howard, Norman…

We couldn’t help laughing. We might as well have been making a list of nerd names.

When we reinvented the book as Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana, we abandoned the Intellectual Power names in the book’s Image section to talk more about classic names and unusual names and how those qualities influenced the world’s perception.

And I suppose we felt a bit squeamish about pegging names too closely with qualities like intelligence and attractiveness that have more to do with the person than with his or her name. A Ruby or a Rylee, after all, may easily be every bit as smart as a Ruth.

But sometimes, I see a name and instantly think it sounds intelligent. Makes me expect, if I met that person, that they would be smart — and not just smart, but studious, serious, cultured, intellectual.

So I decided it would be fun to update the Intellectual Power names, Nameberry-style, with a contemporary twist and sensibility.

Many of you may differ with the choices I suggest — and I hope you will. Let us know what names you’d add or subtract.

girls

boys

What names sound smartest to you?

Photo by Alex Ho.

About the Author

Pamela Redmond

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Pamela Redmond is the cocreator and CEO of Nameberry and Baby Name DNA. The coauthor of ten groundbreaking books on names, Redmond is an internationally-recognized baby name expert, quoted and published widely in such media outlets as the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, CNN, and the BBC. She has written about baby names for The Daily Beast, The Huffington Post, and People.

Redmond is also a New York Times bestselling novelist whose books include Younger, the basis for the hit television show, and its sequel, Older. She has three new books in the works.

Introducing the Nameberry App

Find your perfect baby name together with our new mobile app.

Swipe through thousands of names with your partner
Names you match on are saved to your shared list
Get personalized recommendations that learn based on your and your partner's preferences
Partner with friends and family to find names you all love
Backed by Nameberry's 20 years of data around name preferences.

Introducing the Nameberry App

Find your perfect baby name together with our new mobile app.

Swipe through thousands of names with your partner
Names you match on are saved to your shared list
Get personalized recommendations that learn based on your and your partner's preferences
Partner with friends and family to find names you all love
Backed by Nameberry's 20 years of data around name preferences.