Pet Names · Dog Names
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 370 pages
of 370
Dutch place name
"wooded land"
Holland is one of the coolest geographical names, unadorned and elegant, evocative of fine Rembrandt portraits and fields of pink and yellow tulips. It first entered the US Top 1000 for girls in…
Feminine variation of Fernando, Spanish and Portuguese version of German Ferdinand
"bold voyager"
Fernanda is very popular in the Latino community, with a lot more charm than its male counterpart. The standard nickname is Nanda, and variations include Ferdinanda and Fernandina. Oscar-nominated…
Turkish, Bosnian, Arabic
"prince, ruler"
Emir can be a title of honor in Arabic-speaking nations. In Turkey and the Balkan countries, Emir is one of the fairly popular Arabic names for boys .
Spelling variation of Geoffrey
"pledge of peace"
The mostly Americanized version of Geoffrey was a trendy mid-century hit, with nickname Jeff the epitome of cool. Jeffrey entered the pop list in 1934 and was a Top 20 name from the mid-fifties to…
Diminutive of Frances, Latin
"from France; free man"
Frankie is a vintage nickname name for girls, with a down-to-earth country feel. It's one of the hottest boyish nicknames for girls, in the forefront of that trend. This renewed interest placed…
Variation of Emery, English from German
"industrious"
Parents of female Emerie's would argue the suffix -ie makes it more feminine. It may also add a feeling of French flair. Clearly, there are enough thinking this to popularize it—the name entered the…
Diminutive of Andrew
"strong and manly"
Drew, which projects a polished, somewhat intellectual impression, is rapidly becoming the Andrew nickname of choice, replacing the past favorite, Andy. It is fully capable of standing on its own,…
English surname
"people's spear; book of recordings"
Ledger, another surname-turned-first name, carries associations of the great and late Australian actor Heath Ledger. It appeared on the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2017, perhaps bolstered by…
Greek
"defender"
Alexis, a one-time exclusively- boys’ name , was more popular than its sister Alexandra for quite a while, but in recent years Alexandra has overtaken it once again. Alexis was a Top 20 girls’ name…
Spanish or Basque
"high place or end"
This pretty and uncommon Basque name is all but unheard of in this country. Amaya is a spelling variation as well as a similar Japanese name meaning "night rain." With the newfound popularity of…
English variation of Cameron, Scottish
"crooked nose"
As a Top 600 name for girls for more than 20 years, Kamryn has become a widely-accepted version of the original Cameron. It also ranks just below the Top 1000 for boys too, though it is used three…
Spanish, Italian and Portuguese form of Herman, German
"soldier"
Armando takes the flat-footed Herman and makes it romantic. This is another of the Latin names we expect to be seeing more of.
Hebrew
"prayed for"
Jewish parents in particular may be drawn to this quiet, composed name of the first king of Israel and the name of Saint Paul before his conversion. In modern times, it has been associated with Nobel…
French, feminine diminutive of Jacques
"supplanter"
Jacqueline originated as a feminine form of Jacques, the French variation of James, and therefore Jacob. Jacob was ultimately derived from the Hebrew name Ya’aqov, and gets its meaning, "supplanter"…
"lion of God"
Despite its distinguished pedigree and popularity in Israel, Disney's Little Mermaid cartoonized Ariel in the US, at least in some people's minds. But it was used for a male character in…
Welsh
"sea-born, sea-song or sea-circle"
Morgan, once split evenly between the sexes, is a strong and attractive Welsh favorite, still a common boys’ name in Wales. Morgan is now more often a girls' name in the U.S. – about 2000 girls were…
French, diminutive of Margaret
"pearl"
Margo and Margot sound exactly the same, so why has the Margot spelling hopped back onto the Top 1000, outpacing Margo in numbers more than two to one? (Over 350 baby girls were named Margot in the…
English from French occupational name
"doorkeeper or carrier"
It may surprise you to know that surname name Porter was fairly popular in the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries, then went underground for 40 years only to reemerge at the turn of this century…
French
"songbird"
Mavis, another word for the song thrush, is also a relative of the Welsh word for strawberries, mefus . Mavis has something of a British World War II feel, a friend of Beryl and Doris, but it was…
"messenger, servant"
This name was transposed from the word for a church officer to a baby name when Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe chose it for their son, after a baseball player ancestor, and Don Johnson followed…
