Finding New Names in Vintage Categories

Finding New Names in Vintage Categories

Maybe there are certain kinds of names that you really like–flower or color names, say, or virtue names– but you’re reluctant to use one of the more obvious examples, the epidemically popular ones, attractive though they may be.  Well, there’s no reason you have to limit yourself to those few; more and more parents are digging deeper into those appealing categories and coming up with  newer sounding choices.

Take flower names. If you want to move beyond Rose, Daisy, Lily and even Poppy and Violet, you might consider these more exotic blooms that are beginning to come into their own:

AMARYLLIS

ASTER

AZALEA

HYACINTH

IRIS (not exotic, but long neglected)

JONQUIL

LILAC

LOTUS

MARIGOLD

PRIMROSE

TULIP

Similarly with gems–Ruby, Crystal and Jade aren’t the only jewels in the case.  Consider:

AMETHYST

EMERALD

OPAL

PEARL

SAPPHIRE

TOPAZ

TURQUOISE

And speaking of Turquoise, there are also some richly hued colors beyond Scarlet and Siena:

AQUA

AUBURN

AZURE

CITRON

FUCHSIA

HAZEL

INDIGO

LAVENDER

MAUVE

OLIVE

RUSSET

SILVER

TITIAN

UMBER

Perhaps you like the idea of an avian name, but are tired of Robin and RavenHow about:

ALOUETTE (lark in French)

AVIS

BIRDIE

DOVE

LARK

ORIOLE

TEAL

WREN

And finally we come to Virtue Names.  Hope, Faith and Grace certainly aren’t the only righteous names out there–also worthy of consideration:

AMITY

CHARITY

CLARITY

HONOR

JUSTICE

MERCY

PATIENCE

PRUDENCE

SERENITY

TRUTH/TRUE

VERITY

About the Author

Linda Rosenkrantz

Linda Rosenkrantz

Linda Rosenkrantz is the co-founder of Nameberry, and co-author with Pamela Redmond of the ten baby naming books acknowledged to have revolutionized American baby naming. You can follow her personally at InstagramTwitter and Facebook. She is also the author of the highly acclaimed New York Review Books Classics novel Talk and a number of other books.