Last names used as first names is a trend that has been growing in popularity for boys and girls too over the past few decades, making it one of the prime classes of <a href="https://nameberry.com/unisex-names">gender neutral names</a>. Harper is the top last name as first name for girls and Jackson is the top last name baby name for boys.
 
Along with Harper and Jackson, other last names that appear as baby names in the US Top 100 include Carter, Madison, Addison, Lincoln, Hudson, Everly, Hunter, and Kennedy. <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/425/Celebrity-Surnames-as-Firsts">Celebrity surnames</a> are an especially hot subcategory of surname baby names, with Anniston, Bowie, Dempsey, and Winslet among the most stylish choices.
 
For last name baby names, anything goes, so look for a long-lost surname in your family or even search the phone book for something you love. Or look through this list for more unusual surname baby names.

Last Names as First Names

Radburn

Mosley, former best known as the surname of author Walter, has been put in play as a first <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">name for girls</a> by football great Peyton Manning, who used the name for his twin daughter, sister of Marshall. Alternate spellings are Moseley and Mosely and the first syllable rhymes with Rose.

Mosley

Revere is a word name meaning to admire or esteem, an appealing meaning. In the USA, however, Revere attracts further connotation as the surname of Paul Revere, one of the celebrated patriots of the American Revolution. As a surname, the meaning of Revere might be river or robber.

Six baby boys were named Revere in the US last year.

Revere

Music legend David Bowie lends his adopted surname considerable charisma to this stylish <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/472/scottish-names-for-girls">Scottish name for girls</a> and boys. Born David Robert Jones, he changed his name to avoid confusion with The Monkees' Davy Jones. 

Another famous reference: Jim Bowie, an American hero of the Alamo, and the bowie knife's namesake. 

With girls answering to musically-inspired surnames like Marley and Lennon, Bowie has slowly started to appear on girls' birth certificates, too. Actor Jackson Rathbone has a daughter called Presley Bowie, and Dale DeHaan and Anna Wood named their daughter Bowie Rose.

Bowie

Booker would make for a very cool name, for writers, reformers, R & B fans and those wanting to pay tribute to Booker T. Washington.

Booker T. Washington, born into enslavement, became a dominant figure in African-American history. Musician Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. and the M.G's, was named for Booker T.Washington. "Booker" was also the name of a short-lived TV crime drama series, spun off from "21 Jump Street".

Another reference plus for literary-minded parents, beyond the obvious book: the U.K. Man Booker Prize, awarded annually to the best novel.

 No longer on the US popularity list, it was as high as Number 177 in 1910 and would make for an old-school cool option today. In fact, it has nearly doubled in use in the last five years and was given to around 175 boys in 2023. With Brooks and Walker both popular choices, it may well continue to climb.

Booker

While Austin is a popular boys' name, this spelling, honoring novelist Jane, nudges the name toward gender-neutral, chosen last year for 67 baby boys and 57 girls.


Austen

This lively, springy, rarely used surname name has an interesting history. For the English, German, Dutch and Ashkenazic Jews it was a nickname for a lively person or traveling entertainer, deriving from the words springen/springhen/shpringen, and in English it's also a topographical name for someone living near the source of a stream. An unusual option if you're seeking an out-of-the-ordinary 'er'-ending name.  Though for some it might bring to mind Jerry Springer, or a Spaniel.

Springer

The poetic, soft-spoken Auden has recently started to be considered as a first name option, used for both sexes, appreciated for its pleasing sound as well as its link to the distinguished modern Anglo-American poet W.H. Auden.

Auden

Similar to the floral name Aster, this spelling derives separately from Old Provençal astur "hawk") and from the Icelandic name elements as ("god") and þor ("thunder"). As a surname, it has several notable bearers from the world of business and politics, such as Nancy Astor: the first woman to serve as a Member of Parliament in the UK. As a first name, Astor was used for a (female) character in Dexter.

Astor

Even if it is the Number one surname in the U.S.--with more than 2.5 million bearers--we still think that Smith would make a cool first or middle name, whether or not it has family history.
 Though Smith was in fairly regular use until the 1920s--reaching as high as Number 326 in 1885--it would make a totally distinctive, sophisticated choice today.

Smith

last names as first names

Last names used as first names for baby girls and baby boys, with meanings, origin, and popularity of surnames that are commonly used as baby names. (Page 28)

Last Names That Are Adorable First Names