Names That Mean Wise, Intelligent, and Smart

Sunita is an easily-translated name brought to the American lexicon by astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams, who holds the record for most spacewalks by a woman.

Sophina is an English elaboration on the internationally popular Sophia, borne by American actress Sophina Brown.

A li'l hell-raiser name in the Ryder-Rogue-Rebel vein.

One of the few Korean names to migrate to Western culture, via supermodel Hye Park.

One of the 99 names of Allah, according to Islamic tradition.

Wisdom is a rare modern virtue name that might increase in use as this whole category becomes more mainstream. Wisdom is one of the gender-neutral names now on the table for both boys and girls.

Move over Maia, Mia and Mara - there's a new melodious M name on the block! Maiara has a great meaning and a soft flowing sound which fits in with current trends.

Hutchings, rarely heard as a first name, is a semi-patronymic denoting 'son of Hugh'. What it's got going for it is cute nickname Hutch, a cousin of Hitch and Huck.

Unusual alternative to Roman, chosen for his son by Matthew Modine.

Hugh plus.

This name belongs to the eponymous heroine of Rossini's opera; 'Zelmira' (1822) about a (fictional) princess of Lesbos who saves her father and husband and her kingdom.

This name has been off the USA Top 1000 list since before 1900, but it has some great musical credentials: consider American blues singer Alger "Texas" Alexander and country music legend Pat Alger.

All the Fitz names are hard to carry, but this one has a wonderful meaning and might be a good middle name choice to honor a brilliant lineage.

Undiscovered Irish surname with a lot more bounce and masculine dash than Shannon.

Tanya with a G.

A pretty Arabic possibility which would work well in many languages.

Talib is a North African name with an admirable meaning, associated with rapper Talib Kweli.

Magee became one of the first gender-bending Irish surname names so popular today thanks to New York television newswoman Magee Hickey. In case you don't know, the g is hard, as in Maggie, but with the opposite emphasis.