New Year Names

Aviva is vivacious and memorable, a fresh spin on the Vivian and Vivienne names that have been getting more popular since Angelina and Brad chose one for their twin daughter. Another A-beginning palindrome name: Aziza.

One of the original French names chosen by midcentury parents for their sophistication and je ne sais quoi, Desiree has since become completely assimilated in the US. It ranked in the Top 1000 from 1954-2017, but has since dropped back out.

One of those midcentury shortenings that are starting to sound cool again, though we prefer Van.

In Germanic mythology, Ostara is the goddess of springtime, fertility, and dawn. Her existence as a mythological figure was pieced together by scholar Jacob Grimm, who used evidence such as the German word for April (ostermonat) and parallels to the Anglo-Saxon Eostre. Ostara is also the modern German name for the Easter holiday.

A kindly, virtue-adjacent name, it appears in Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, borne by the peacemaker friend who persuades Romeo to go to the party where he meets Juliet. Alas. A bold choice but with familiar nicknames Ben, Lio, and Bo.

An obscure yet on-trend name with two wonderful meanings associated with it. Neoma is one of the freshest celestial girl names with moon-related meanings, rarer than Luna or Phoebe but with the same fluid sound.

This Nova-offshoot is hot in the Netherlands, where it was recently one of the fastest-rising names of the year. It could eventually see great success in the US as well, and was given to 46 American girls at last count.

Idony was the Norse goddess of spring and eternal youth, and variants of her obscure name could come under consideration with the rest of the fashionable I pack.

More often used in Britain than here, where most names ending in ville fall into the unthinkable class, this might make an exception via fans of the musical Neville Brothers.

Esperanza is a Spanish classic that's found its way onto the national popularity list in recent years. It came into the spotlight not long ago when jazz singer Esperanza Spalding "stole" the Best New Artist Grammy from favorite Justin Bieber. It's also the name of the main character in the novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, about a young Latina growing up in Chicago.

A fairly common Greek name that would fit in well here.

Siddhartha Gautama was one of the real names of Buddha, making this an impressive and weighty name among the Buddhist community.

Jubilee has a joyous and jubilant aura, but it wouldn't be an easy name to carry, what with all that pressure to be a living, breathing, 24-7 party. Jubilee was the name selected by television's Duggars for their miscarried child.

If you're looking for a name with Scandinavian roots, this would make a stronger and more appealing import than Dagmar. With its meaning of "new day," it could make an ideal choice for a girl born around New Year's.

The name of the wife of Alexander the Great, more attractive than the better-known Roxanne. Roxana was first used in the English-speaking world in the 1600s and was popularized by Daniel Defoe's novel Roxana, published in 1724. An underused and attractive possibility and perfect if you're searching for names that mean new beginnings.

Vihaan comes from a Sanskrit word denoting the dawn, but has the symbolic meaning of the beginning of a new age, making Vihaan a wonderful choice for the first baby in a family's next generation.

Named after Isaac. Or Wayne.

Amal is an attractive name with a wonderful meaning that has long been used in many Middle Eastern countries, especially Lebanon (and migrant communities). It is of course getting a lot more coverage now since the fame of international human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin Clooney, who's singlehandedly made this one of the best-known Arabic names for girls.

Revel is a joyous word name that may appeal to parents wanting a non-traditional Biblical choice or simply a name that expresses how they feel.

Kia is a sweet, simple name that is now, unfortunately, associated with a Korean car label. Better today: Nia, Thea, or Keira.