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Last Names That Are Adorable First Names

Last Names That Are Adorable First Names

Last names as first names have been growing in popularity for boys and girls too over the past few decades. Last names as first names are among the top gender neutral names.

Harper is the top last name for girls in the US and Jackson is the top last name baby name for boys on the US popularity list. Nameberry parents also favor such last names as first names as Archer, Sawyer, and Hudson.

Along with Harper and Jackson, other popular last names as first names include Carter, Madison, Riley, Addison, Lincoln, Hudson, Everly, Hunter, and Kennedy. Celebrity surnames are an especially hot subcategory of surname baby names, with Anniston, Bowie, Dempsey, and Winslet among the most stylish choices.

Trending last names as girl names include Irish surnames such as Clancy and Flannery along with last names that end in S such as Hollis and Ames.

Last names as boy names trending now include s-ending surnames such as Oakes and Rhodes and er-ending names such as Foster and Baker. Surname names of heroes are also trending, including King, Edison, and Wilde.

For last name baby names, anything goes, so look for long-lost surnames in your family or even search the phone book for something you love. Or search this list for more unusual surnames used as baby names.

The last names used as first names here are ordered by their current popularity on Nameberry.

RELATED:

Top 100 American Surnames

Gender Neutral Names

  1. EverettHeart
    • Origin:

      English variation of the German Eberhard
    • Meaning:

      "brave as a wild boar"
    • Description:

      Everett is a statesmanlike, wintry New England name whose recent leap in popularity can be credited to its similarity to trendy girls’ names such as Eva and Ava. Its high point was about a century ago, when Everett was a Top 100 name.
  2. GrahamHeart
    • Origin:

      Scottish
    • Meaning:

      "gravelly homestead"
    • Description:

      Well used in England and Scotland since the fifties, the smooth and sophisticated Graham is catching on here.
  3. ArcherHeart
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "bowman"
    • Description:

      Archer is an Anglo-Saxon surname that feels more modern than most because of its on-target occupational and Hunger Games associations. And it's a nice way to bypass the clunky Archibald to get to the cool nickname Archie.
  4. BeckettHeart
    • Origin:

      English and Irish
    • Meaning:

      "bee hive, little brook or bee cottage"
    • Description:

      Beckett is one of the big baby name hits of the decade.
  5. SawyerHeart
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "woodcutter"
    • Description:

      Sawyer is a surname with a more relaxed and friendly feel than many others, and is one of the hottest occupational names right now, with the Nameberry seal of approval. Sawyer is becoming one of the top unisex names. Both Sara Gilbert and Diane Farr used Sawyer for their daughters, while it was given a boost as a boys' name by the character Sawyer on Lost, an alias for the character really named James Ford.
  6. HarrisonHeart
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "son of Harry"
    • Description:

      Harrison, a name made viable by Harrison Ford, is increasingly popular with parents who want an H name that's more formal than Harry or Hank but doesn't veer into the stiff Huntington-Harrington territory.
  7. LoganHeart
    • Origin:

      Scottish
    • Meaning:

      "small hollow"
    • Description:

      Logan originated as a Scottish surname which was derived from a place of that name in Ayrshire. The place name came from lagan, a Scottish Gaelic diminutive of lag, meaning "hollow." Alternate spellings include Logon, Logen, and Logyn, which is more common among girls.
  8. ArdenHeart
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "valley of the eagle; high"
    • Description:

      Arden, the name of the magical forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It, is a stylish A name with a strong, straightforward image. Another reason to love Arden: its similarity to "ardent." Arden is solidly unisex, with the current gender distribution running about 60 percent girls and 40 percent boys.
  9. QuinnHeart
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "descendent of Conn"
    • Description:

      Quinn is the Anglicized version of the Irish patronymic surname Ó Cuinn, meaning "descendent of Conn." Conn has two possible derivations—the Old Irish cond, meaning "intellect," or cenn, meaning "chief." One of the most notable Quinn clans was from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.
  10. DylanHeart
    • Origin:

      Welsh
    • Meaning:

      "son of the sea"
    • Description:

      Dylan still feels poetic and romantic after years of popularity. It still ranks highly on the charts, among the top boy names starting with D, so if you choose it, be aware that yours may not be the only Dylan in his class.

      dy and llanw, meaning "sea." In Welsh mythology, Dylan was a legendary sea god who prompted all the waters of Britain and Ireland to weep when he died. The name came to prominence via the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, whose name Bob Dylan adopted in tribute.
  11. PercyHeart
    • Origin:

      French surname from place name Perci-en-Auge
    • Description:

      Percy is an adorable old name that is finally shedding its pampered Little Lord Fauntleroy image in this new era of boys with soft yet traditionally male names like Jasper and Elijah. Originating as an aristocratic Norman name, Percy became fairly widespread in England--and to some extent in the US--as an offshoot of the fame of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley.
  12. HudsonHeart
    • Origin:

      English place-name and surname
    • Meaning:

      "Hugh's son"
    • Description:

      Hudson has risen quickly up the charts over the past 30 years, getting a lot of its style value from New York's Hudson River. That makes it a nature name and a place name that's also got the fashion gloss of New York City.
  13. SullivanHeart
    • Origin:

      Irish surname
    • Meaning:

      "black-eyed one"
    • Description:

      Sullivan is a jaunty Celtic three-syllable name, with a real twinkle in its eye. It was immortalized in the 1930s classic film Sullivan's Travels and was chosen for one of Patrick Dempsey's twin boys. Nickname Sully is equally jaunty.
  14. HayesHeart
    • Origin:

      English surname and nature name
    • Meaning:

      "hedged area"
    • Description:

      One of those simple, straightforward English surnames -- and with a presidential pedigree -- that's easy to translate into a first. It was recently chosen by both Kevin Costner and Jessica Alba for their sons, which can likely be credited for its spike in popularity in the past few years. Surname names and nature names like Hayes, which qualifies on both counts, along with occupational names all make up the new generation of stylish English names for boys that go far beyond Harry and Edward.
  15. FlynnHeart
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "descendant of the red-haired one"
    • Description:

      Flynn, a charming Irish surname, is still used only quietly, despite its easygoing, casual cowboy charm, unlike Finn which is a star of this genre. Flynn was the choice of Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr for their baby boy, and is also the middle name -- used as his first -- of a son of Miranda's fellow supermodel Elle Macpherson, of Gary Oldman's son Gulliver and Marley Shelton's daughter West.
  16. BrooksHeart
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "of the brook"
    • Description:

      Surname name, nature name, and word name, with a more masculine slant than Brook or Brooklyn. Brooks Robinson was one of the greatest third basemen ever, playing for the Baltimore Orioles from 1955 until 1977. Brooks might be considered one of the new wave of stylish English names for boys.
  17. HarperHeart
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "harp player"
    • Description:

      You might think of Harper as the hottest name of the last decade, jumping from obscurity to the Top 10, where it remained until last year.
  18. WilderHeart
    • Origin:

      Surname or word name
    • Description:

      New to the US Top 1000 in 2015, Wilder is on many parents' possibility lists, one of the new generation of bad boy names growing in popularity. Wilder got a big boost in interest through Goldie Hawn's grandson, born in 2007, via son Oliver.
  19. AveryHeart
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "ruler of the elves"
    • Description:

      Avery is a hugely popular name in the US, especially for girls. But while nearly four times as many girls as boys are named Avery today Avery's popularity is starting to soften for girls while it continues to strengthen for boys.
  20. SloaneHeart
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "raider"
    • Description:

      Sloane is a sleek, sophisticated surname name that has gradually morphed over to the girls' side. Sloane is definitely a name that's going to continue to rise. Spelled without the final "e," Sloan joined Sloane in the Top 1000 for the first time in 2011.