Pet Names · Dog Names
By Sophie Kihm · Updated October 2026
Across 11 pages
of 11
Irish
"little dark one"
Kiernan Shipka, aka Sally Draper on Mad Men , brings this Irish surname into the girls' column. And, like Kieran and Tierney and Tiernan, it's one of the perfectly unisex baby names . Only 14 girls…
Sanskrit
"dark, black, blue"
Shyam is one of the alternate names of Hindu God Krishna.
Word name
"spell, curse, bringer of bad luck"
Jinx, a James Bond heroine name has an ominous meaning but kinetic energy. In the film "Die Another Day," the actual first name of the character played by Halle Berry is Giacinta. It could therefore…
Japanese, Native American
"stork; night"
A funkier version of Coco that may be more appealing if you have Japanese or Native American heritage. Koko comes from the Blackfoot tribe, native to what is now Montana and Alberta, Canada.
Nature name
If not for Motown founder Berry Gordy, this name would now be totally in the girl group.
English, Dutch, German
"gray, black; hare"
An androgynous alternative to Hazel, Hayes, and Hayden, Hazen is predominantly used for boys at the moment, though it has been given to a handful of girls since the 2000s. Hazen is a variation of the…
Hawaiian or Norse
"leeward or woman, wife"
Kona is strongly associated with the Kona coffee of Hawaii. The Hawaiian word kona means "leeward" or "dry side of the island," and Kona districts are where Kona coffee is grown. It's a unisex name…
French
"black"
Noir is a name that would sound soigne and sophisticated on a 30-year-old, and perhaps too grown-up for a toddler. But with the popularity of so many other color names, Noir feels like a true…
An ubercool and mysterious name, brought to you by director M. Night Shyamalan.
This sophisticated French name was used last year in the US for about ten baby boys and twice as many girls. We can see it having a much bigger future.
English animal name
"roosting bird"
A new addition to the menagerie of animal baby names — Rooster was given to five baby boys in 2019, but did not return to the charts in the following year. The word has American origins — the…
Welsh and Romanian variation of Theodore, Teodor, or Theodoric
"gift from God; ruler of the people"
Known as a British royal family line as well as a style of architecture, this name feels both solemn and formidable, but with an intriguing "dark-academia" feel to it too. Currently in the Top 1000…
"dark, dusty"
A much fresher Ty name than Tyler or Tyson.
English
"peacock"
Hip new middle-name choice, conjuring up the gothic tales of Edgar Allan, and current single-named pop singer Poe. As a first name, it's radically underused, given last year in the US to only five…
Yiddish
"dark, black"
Popular name in Israel, worth considering for a dark-haired daughter with a bit of a bohemian cast.
"ashes, partly burnt coals"
More distinctive than Ella, if you're inspired by Cinderella, a rarer alternative to popular Ember, perhaps, or even a modern spin on Cindy. Cinder is the name given to partially burnt wood or coals…
"young blacksmith"
And this sounds like the synthetic fabric washed with Fabrice.
Italian
"blacksmith"
If you're looking for a really unusual international occupational name, this could be it!
Day name
Though this feels like a new invention, people have used day names such as Morning and Afternoon for centuries -- and so why not Evening too? It's a lovely word with an evocative meaning and makes a…
German
"knight, mounted warrior"
A German surname name deriving from the same root as English Ryder. Traditionally, it was the name of the second lowest hereditary rank of the nobility, roughly equivalent to English Baronet. Notable…
