Telegraph Baby Names 

Most parents today would prefer the softer-sell Stella. But Star has symbolic power related to Christmas, so this could make one of the perfect <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/577/names-for-december-babies">names for December babies</a>.

Star

Once a popular choice in for boys in the Middle Ages and again during the 19th century, Aubrey has mostly been used for girls in the US since the 1970's. With its arty, surname-y, and sophisticated feel, however, it is rising up the UK charts for both boys and girls. 
Derived from the Auberi, an Old French variant of Alberich, Aubrey means "elf ruler". Up until the 50's, it was relatively well known for boys in the US, but with the release of the song "Aubrey" by Bread in 1972, the scales tipped. 
Despite this, there are still memorable male bearers of the name, including rapper Drake, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham; the 19th century illustrator Aubrey Beardsley; and the central character of John Polidori's novel The Vampyre. 
Used on only a tiny handful of boys each year in the US, in the UK, Aubrey is currently in the Top 250 for girls, but also the Top 600 for boys. This means it is given to boys 5 times more often in the UK, than it is the US. 
Gentle, cool and handsome, Aubrey fits in with the recent interest in softer boys names and in surnames-as-given-names. Plus, with Ellis, Mckenzie, Hadley, Casey, and Oakley in use, Aubrey might see further gains.

Aubrey

Minerva is the long-neglected name of the Roman goddess of wisdom and invention, the arts and martial strength, one of the <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/325/mythological-baby-names-for-girls">mythology names for girls</a> that might appeal to adventurous feminist parents. With Juno and Jupiter, she made the Capitoline triad, whose worship was at the very center of Roman religion.
 
Minerva Pott is a character in Dickens's novel Pickwick Papers. In Harry Potter, Minerva McGonagall is a Witch and Deputy Headmistress of Hogswarts, and in the Artemis Fowl books, Minerva Paradizo is equally intellectual. There's also a series of kids' mystery books centering around a Minerva Clark.
 
Minerva was a Top 500 name through the early 1920s, last appearing on the list in 1973. It's well liked on Nameberry though—currently at Number 417. Nickname Minnie fits right in with the other currently stylish vintage nickname names. Curiously, though, actress Minnie Driver was not born Minerva, but Amelia.

Minerva

With its relation to Mount Olympus, home of the Greek gods, and to the Olympic games, this name has an athletic, goddess-like aura, making it the perfect Olivia substitute.
 A well-known art reference is the famous 1865 painting of a reclining nude by Edouard Manet titled Olympia. Contemporary bearers include former Maine Republican Senator Olympia Snowe and actress Olympia Dukakis.

Olympia

This name of three early popes has been associated in recent years with a cocky cartoon cat ("Thufferin' thuccatash!") and the Italian Stallion hero of the Rocky and Rambo movies (who was born Michael) — and yet we think it just might be ready to move further back into the mainstream.
 
Sylvester was at its height in the 1920s, when it was in the Top 200, and hung on in the lower rungs of the ladder until 1994. Lately the name has been most visible as a surname — that of Sue Sylvester on Glee. Model Emily Ratajkowski named her son Sylvester Apollo in 2021.
 
Trivia tidbit--in the 1935 movie Sylvia Scarlett, the young Katharine Hepburn disguises herself as a boy named Sylvester — until she meets Cary Grant!

Sylvester

To the American ear, Jordi seems like a nickname for Jordan, which means this popular name from Catalonia could certainly cross cultures.

Jordi

Effie is the old-fashioned short form for Euphemia. It shares a vintage charm with Hattie and Letty although is much rarer than either. Effie is a character in The Hunger Games and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

Effie

If you're looking for a fresher belle name than Isabelle, Mirabelle is lovely, and we also like the extra flourish of Mirabella. And if you want a nature tie, Mirabelle is also the name of a delicate French plum.
 Steve Martin chose the name for the heroine of his novel Shopgirl, Mirabelle Buttersfield. And the Mirabel spelling was used for the likeable heroine of the Disney animation Encanto.

Mirabelle

Clement, the name of fourteen popes and several saints, has a pleasantly, positive, slightly antiquated feel, like the phrase "clement weather." 
 Clement C. Moore wrote the poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas," Clement Attlee was a prominent post-World War II British Prime Minister, and Clement Greenberg was the art critic who promoted Abstract Expressionism.
 The hero of Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native is Clement Yeobright, known as Clym rather than the usual Clem.

Clement

Lavinia is a charmingly prim and proper Victorian-sounding name which actually dates back to classical mythology, where it was the name of the wife of the Trojan hero Aeneas, who was considered the mother of the Roman people.
 Later literary bearers include the protagonist's daughter in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus (which has the line "She is Lavinia, therefore must be lov'd"), the heroine of G.B. Shaw's Androcles and the Lion, and characters in David Copperfield, Henry James' Washington Square, and the contemporary The Hunger Games and Downton Abbey--and Lavinia was also used by Thackeray, T. S. Eliot, and by Ursula Le Guin for an eponymous novel.
 Trivia tidbit: Lavinia was Ava Gardner's middle name.
With its vintage nickname Vinnie, Lavinia might well appeal to parents who favor lavender-tinged names like Amelia and Matilda and Maude.

Lavinia

Leonie is a chic French and German form of a name that exists in a range of variations from Leona to Leonia to Leon to Leo to Lionel, all newly fashionable after a couple of generations in style limbo. 
 Pronunciation can be confusing: The first syllable can be pronounced as lee or lay, the second as on or own, and the accent can be on either the first or the second syllable or be evenly distributed over all three syllables of the name, so that it sounds like the male name Leon with an ee at the end. Take your pick, but know that others might often pick differently.
 Aunt Leonie is a major character in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. Leonie Hemsworth is the mother of Liam and Chris and Leonie is the name picked by Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel for their daughter.

Leonie

An alternative to the no-longer-fresh Molly, the initial 'P' gives Polly a peppier sound, combining the cozy virtues of an old-timey name with the bounce of a barmaid. 
 Associated with Tom Sawyer's aunt, 'Polly, put the kettle on,' parrots, Polly Peachum, Nirvana and Kinks songs, and the movie Along Came Polly, as well as characters in Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes, C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia and now on the Netflix show Orange is the New Black, Polly never achieved the comeback that her cousin did, perhaps because she sounds too Pollyanna-ish. 
 
Although she has been off the Social Security list for decades, Polly sits in the middle of the Nameberry's own Top 1000. We'd love to see some new baby Pollys!

Polly

Jacobi is a masculine name derived from Jacob, which has Hebrew origins meaning "supplanter". This form represents a Latin genitive case of Jacobus, essentially meaning "of Jacob" or "son of Jacob." Particularly used in Germanic and Jewish naming traditions, Jacobi carries scholarly and religious significance. 

While less common than Jacob or Jakob, Jacobi (also spelled Jacoby) has gained modest popularity in recent decades as parents seek distinctive variations on traditional names. The name projects intelligence and sophistication while maintaining connection to the biblical patriarch Jacob. Jacobi Jupe is the young star of Hamnet.

Jacobi

Coco came to prominence as the nickname of the legendary French designer Chanel (born Gabrielle) and has lately become a starbaby favorite, initially chosen by Courteney Cox for her daughter Coco Riley in 2004. At first it was the kind of name that the press loves to ridicule, but we predict Coco's heading for more broad acceptance and even popularity.

Coco

Angus is a traditional yet stylish choice in the UK, especially in Scotland. And it's a cool choice for US parents too, particularly those whose roots go back to Glasgow. The ancient Celtic form Oenghus has important historical overtones in Scotland, and the Gaelic form Aonghas is associated with two distinguished modern poets. In Irish folklore, Angus Og is a chieftain-lord who used his magical powers for the pleasure and prosperity of mankind--and in Irish myth, Aonghus was the god of love and youth.
 These days, Angus is even more popular in Australia than Scotland, possibly due to the fame of Scottish-born Australian musician Angus Young, lead guitarist and co-founder of the seminal rock band AC/DC.
 Other pop culture references: Angus was the first name of TV's McGyver and the young actor who plays the half man on Two and a Half Men is Angus T. Jones. Angus Wilson was a noted British novelist and short story writer.

Angus

Honor is a somewhat more straight-laced virtue name than Hope or Grace, placing a high standard on any girl carrying it, but it's a goal worth setting. By choosing Honor for her daughter, Jessica Alba brought it very much into the modern world. 
 
Honor has become popular as a nonbinary name, given to nearly equal numbers of girls and boys but not ranking in the Top 1000 for either.
 
Probably the best known bearer is British actress Honor Blackman, remembered for her roles in The Avengers and the James Bond Goldfinger.
 The more feminine Honora is also pretty and a fresh route to Nora. In another variation, Honoria Blake is a character in the Dickens novel Bleak House, Honoria Brady is the hero's cousin in the 1844 novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by W. M. Thackeray and Honoria Glossop, a character in the Jeeves stories by P. G. Wodehouse.

Honor

Familiar through the similarly pronounced TV Warrior Princess, Xena, this name ultimately derives from the Greek Xenia, meaning "guest, foreigner, hospitality". Familiar in the early 19th century in the US, it may also be used as a short form of Alexina, Rozina, Zenobia, and similar. 

Zena

This Latin word used for evening spiritual services was introduced to baby namers by the Eva Greene character Vesper Lynd in the modern James Bond film Casino Royale in 2006, based on the Ian Fleming novel, and is just now beginning to provoke interest among namers, with its spiritual reference and soft, whispery sound.
 On a more earthly note, the 'Vesper Martini' is the famous drink ordered by James Bond in both the book and the movie Casino Royale.
 A name likely to enter the Top 1000.

Vesper

Marguerite is a classic French name with a remnant of old-fashioned Gallic charm; and is also a variety of daisy. Chic again in Paris, it's definitely ripe for revival here. 
 Another reason you might want to consider it: Saint Marguerite was an adventurous 17th century nun who set up schools throughout wilderness Quebec. Marguerite has also been a French royal name.
 Marguerite was in the Top 100 in this country from 1890 to 1921.
 Probably its most famous fictional bearer is Marguerite Gautier, tragic heroine of the Alexandre Dumas novel La Dame aux Camelias, known in film as Camille and played most notably by Greta Garbo. Marguerite is also the heroine of Gounod's Faust and the Scarlet Pimpernel novels.
 Marguerite Duras wrote many novels, plays and films, most notably the bestselling L'Amant (The Lover,) which became a successful film, and she also was the screenwriter of Hiroshima mon amour.
 Maya Angelou was born Marguerite; it was her younger brother who shortened it.

Marguerite

Rye has the potential to become the masculine version of Rue—a short and sweet name for nature lovers (and whiskey fans too!). Rye might be short for Ryder or Riley or Rylan or any Ry-beginning name, but increasingly it stands on its own. It can also be considered a place name, after the town in England.
 
Country artist Hailey Whitters and her husband, Jake Gear, chose this name for their son in 2025.

Sometimes referred to as the poshest British baby names, Telegraph Names are those that feature in the London-based Telegraph newspaper. 

Associated with the so-called upper-crust society (including lords, ladies, judges, members of parliament, solicitors, and wealthy business owners), these names range from familiar, popular, and classic, to dramatic and long, totally old-fashioned or totally quirky. 

This list features a selection of both first names and middle names that have appeared on the Telegraph Birth Announcement pages in recent years. 

Posh upper-class rich-sounding baby names from Britain's Telegraph birth announcements (Page 12)