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Coolest Baby Names That Aren't Really Names

Sophie Kihm
By Sophie Kihm
Updated Tue Jan 21 2025
Coolest Baby Names That Aren't Really Names

The coolest baby names sometimes aren't names at all, as the mostly unisex names on this list attest. Words as names are a relatively recent yet very hot trend, with Navy, Seven, and Legacy among the fastest-rising baby names of the moment.

Along with Navy and Seven, other baby names that aren’t really names in the US Top 1000 include Blessing, Creed, Crew, Dash, Forest, Halo, Journey, and Winter. The Kardashians are especially talented at turning words into hit baby names — Dream, Reign, Saint, and True made incredible leaps in popularity after being endorsed by the famous family.

There are an uncountable number of words turned cool baby names, beyond the scope of any one source. The only limits are your reference books, your imagination, and your taste.

Here are some of the coolest and most evocative of the group, ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

RELATED:

Cool Unique Names

Word Names

WILDCARD:

Middle Names

  1. Wren

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "small bird"

    • Description:

      Wren, a lilting songbird name, could be the next Robin. Wren entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2012 and is among the new wave of popular English names for girls.
  2. Juniper

    • Origin:

      Latin tree name

    • Meaning:

      "young"

    • Description:

      Juniper is a fresh-feeling nature name -- it's a small evergreen shrub -- with lots of energy. A new favorite of fashionable parents, Juniper joins such other tree and shrub names as Hazel, Acacia, and Willow.
  3. Zephyr

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "west wind"

    • Description:

      If you're looking for a name that's light and breezy, this could be it. A name from mythology: Zephyrus/Zephyr was the Greek god of the west wind, and with its similarity in sound to the likes of Stefan or Seth, its zippy Z initial and cool Y, it is primed to rise up the US charts.
  4. Onyx

    • Origin:

      Word name

    • Meaning:

      "gem stone; claw, nail"

    • Description:

      Unlike Pearl and Ruby and more like Jasper, this gem name works well as a boys name. With its strong final X, it feels similar to Alex, Phoenix, Jax, and Rex, while the shiny black quality of the stone feels reminiscent of Orion. Chosen by musician Iggy Azalea for her son in 2020, it has accelerated up the charts and now sits just outside the Top 300.
  5. Crew

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "a band or force of armed men"

    • Description:

      Crew is yet another word name that was added to the baby name lexicon when this one was chosen by The Young and the Restless star Joshua Morrow for his son. It debuted on the Top 1000 in 2010. We've also heard spelling variations Cru and Crue.
  6. Bean

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "an edible seed, typically kidney-shaped"

    • Description:

      Bean is a unisex word name with a cute and quirky feel. Early reader series Ivy and Bean features a young girl named Bean, short for Bernice Blue. It has appeal as a casual nickname or middle name, but it's harder to imagine as a given name.
  7. Lark

    • Origin:

      English bird name

    • Description:

      Lark is getting some new and well-deserved attention as a post-Robin and Raven bird name. Although it was first recorded as a name in the 1830's, it has never appeared on the Social Security list.
  8. Scout

    • Origin:

      Word name

    • Meaning:

      "one who gathers information covertly"

    • Description:

      Scout, a character nickname from To Kill a Mockingbird (her real name was Jean Louise), became a real-life possibility when Bruce Willis and Demi Moore used it for their now-grown middle daughter, followed by Tom Berenger a few years later.
  9. Winter

    • Origin:

      Word name

    • Description:

      Fresher, brisker and, yes, cooler than Summer or Autumn or Spring, Winter is now a full-fledged female choice, especially since Nicole Richie and Joel Madden used it for daughter Harlow's middle name, and Gretchen Mol picked it as her daughter's first, as did media mogul Sean Parker. Winter continues to be the preferred spelling and has risen in popularity significantly over the past few years.
  10. Haven

    • Origin:

      Word name, English

    • Meaning:

      "a place of safety"

    • Description:

      Haven is a recently invented safe-harbor name that appeals to an increasing number of parents who don't want to voyage quite as far as Heaven.
  11. Creed

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "I believe; statement of belief"

    • Description:

      Cool, solid, and often spiritual, Creed derives from the Latin word credo meaning "I believe". It appeared sporadically in the US Top 1000 back in the late 19th century, but remained only quietly used the 2000s. By 2016 it was back in the charts, and as of 2023, Creed is given to around 400 babies each year.
  12. Navy

    • Origin:

      English, word name

    • Meaning:

      "fleet of ships; sea-based branch of the armed forces; dark blue"

    • Description:

      When R & B singer Nivea made this highly original choice for her daughter's name back in 2005, she claimed to have thought of it in terms of the color and not the seagoing armed service. As a word with multiple meanings, however, it could easily work as a nod to a naval officer in the family or to someone who enjoys sailing.
  13. Echo

    • Origin:

      Greek mythology name

    • Meaning:

      "echo or sound"

    • Description:

      Echo, the pretty, resonant name of a legendary nymph, was the heroine of Joss Whedon's sci-fi series Dollhouse. Nick Hexum, of the band 311, named his daughter Echo Love.
  14. Cadence

    • Origin:

      Latin

    • Meaning:

      "rhythm, beat"

    • Description:

      The musical word name Cadence, seemed to come out of nowhere to zoom up the charts; it rose over 700 spots between 2002 and 2004, and showed up in the Top 200 in 2007. It's gone down in the popular names list since then, though. Some might see it as a feminine relative of the popular Caden. Kadence and Kaydence are also rising.
  15. Cricket

    • Origin:

      Nature name

    • Description:

      Nickname name from the era of Father Knows Best, though we can see it making something of a comeback, a la Clover and Pippa. Cricket has new potential especially since it has recently been chosen by Busy Philipps. Still, it's one of the quirkier girl names starting with C.
  16. Forest

    • Origin:

      French occupational name

    • Meaning:

      "woodsman or woods"

    • Description:

      The Forest variation of Forrest, used by actor Whitaker, nudges the meaning more toward the woods and away from the woodsman.
  17. Quill

    • Origin:

      Irish, diminutive of Quillan or Quiller; also English word name

    • Meaning:

      "lion, scribe, writer with a quill pen"

    • Description:

      Quill is a unique possibility for the child of writers -- even if they do use computers rather than pens; could also serve as a rhyming tribute to an ancestor named Gil, Phil, or Bill (or Jill).
  18. Dash

    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Dashiell, meaning unknown

    • Description:

      Dash is a nickname that can stand on its own and sounds, well, dashing. Connected these days with Kardashian enterprises.
  19. Cedar

    • Origin:

      English and French from Latin tree name

    • Meaning:

      "cedar tree"

    • Description:

      Cedar is, like Ash, Oak, Pine and Ebony, one of the new tree/wood names that parents are starting to consider; this one is particularly aromatic.
  20. Jet

    • Origin:

      Mineral and word name

    • Description:

      This super-charged variation of Jett is on the rise -- along with the unlikely newcomer Jetson.