Horse Names

Elmo, like fellow Sesame Street characters Kermit and Grover, has a hard time being taken seriously. (It isn't easy being red either.)

Comedian Roseanne Barr chose this macho nature name for her son. In the 18th century it was used to describe a dashing, fashionable dressed man. Buck fits in well alongside names like Beck, Jack and Huck.

Homer is a name that has traveled from the ancient Greek scribe of the great classical epics to Bart Simpson's doltish dad, and has also become the surprise hot celebrity pick of such parents as Richard Gere (his father's name), Bill Murray, and Anne Heche. Simpsons creator Matt Groening has both a father and a son named Homer.

Castor's twin in the constellation Gemini. That final x makes this name modern and cool.

This name of a giant tree, itself named for a nineteenth-century Cherokee who invented a way to write his tribe's language, makes a strong, stately statement.

Unspecific place name with a wonderfully wide-open, spacious, western feel; used for a character in Thomas Pynchon's novel Vineland.

When actress Susan Ker Weld changed her name to Tuesday, she opened up a whole calendar of possibilities. This was decades before the arrival of Sunday Rose Urban.

In Arthurian legend, Lancelot was one of the most dashing of the Knights of the Round Table who eventually had an affair with Queen Guinevere: it makes for a romantic story-- but perhaps overly romantic-- name.

Like Penn Jillette, you can have your own little brash babe.

More unique than Cooper, and a favorite among pet parents. Copper was the loveable bloodhound from Disney's Fox and the Hound. Keep in mind that Copper is also slang for a policeman.

A distinctive surname that, despite its meaning, has a cowboy swagger, a la Autry.

Though most Buttercups are of the bovine persuasian, this humble flower name was given to the lovely princess in "The Princess Bride." If Buttercup still feels too lowly for you, you might consider Clover, Daffodil, or Daisy.

The name of a divine immortal talking horse in Greek mythology – son of the gods Poseidon and Demeter. The name Arion was also borne by a Greek singer and poet, inventor of the dithyramb.

Abilene is a rarely used place name, mentioned as such in the New Testament, that combines the cowboy spunk of the Texas city with the midwestern morality of the Kansas town where Dwight D. Eisenhower spent his boyhood. Abilene is a much more untrodden path to the nickname Abbie/Abbie than the Top 10 Abigail.

Fiery but slight middle name choice; much more apt to be a redhead's nickname.

Angel is one of those names that has a very different trajectory for girls and boys. As a female name, it was most popular in the US from the 1970s until the turn of this century, almost breaking into the Top 100 at its peak in 2001 but then beginning a long slide down the list.

A fragrant herbal and color name that could make a sensitive, distinctive choice.

Asking for trouble. Rebel Wilson is a hilarious Australian actress who puts a female spin on this contemporary badass baby name. Still, we think this name is truly gender neutral – though hardly neutral in any other way. Rebel is undoubtedly one of the edgiest girls' names starting with the letter R.

Alfonso was a royal name in Spain as far back as the 7th century, but it is rarely heard outside the Hispanic community in the US.

In Scottish folklore, selkies are mythical creatures that resemble seals in the water but assume human form on land.