Name Spellings, Initials and Sounds
By Sophie Kihm · Updated September 2026
Across 5 pages
of 5
African, Uganda
"second of twins"
Kato gained a lot of attention during the O. J. Simpson trial via witness Kato Kaelin (born Brian). It is also the name of a fictional character in "The Green Hornet." Spelled Cato, it has a lot more…
English
"church settlement"
Unisex name around for several decades for boys and now ripe for girls.
Place name
Kensington is a place name with a number of referents; there are cities by the name in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the UK, and the US. As a girls' name, it entered the US Top 1000 in 2015,…
Variation of Cleo, Greek
"glory"
Khloe : Chloe :: Kleo : Cleo
Variation of Cassian or Kassiani
"hollow or cinnamon"
Kassian may be seen as a Kardashianed spelling of the rising saint's name Cassian, which is a variation of Cassius, but it could also be considered the authentic Greek male form of Kassiani, the name…
Ghanaian, Akan
"born on Saturday"
The Akan people of Ghana and the Ivory Coast frequently name their children after the day of the week they were born and the order in which they were born. Most Ghanaians have a name using this…
Arabic
"beloved"
The lilting name of a range of mythical mountains, with an extensive menu of spellings, and a more unusual way of fitting in with current favorites Lila and Lola.
German surname
"coppersmith"
An interesting new surname option, derived from the German word for "kettle". Kes would make for a cool short form.
"white haired or blond"
Kenyon is a very engaging British surname name, the middle y giving it a kind of southwestern canyonesque undertone. Though Kenyon appears in English records as far back as the fourteenth century and…
English, diminutive of Katherine, Greek
"pure"
Kay, a cigarette-smoking, nightclubbing name of the 1930's, could be ready for a comeback along with cousins May/Mae and Ray/Rae. Kay has been out of sight since the mid-eighties, but was in the…
Spelling variation of Cassia, Greek
"cinnamon"
Kassia is the k-styled spelling variation of rising star name Cassia, an obscure but attractive botanical choice drawn from the cassia tree, which produces a cinnamon-like spice. The biblical Keziah…
"hooded cloak"
Seventeenth-century German polymath Johannes Kepler discovered the laws of planetary notion, along with the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. A handful of parents use his last name for their sons every…
Hebrew
"incense"
Keturah, the Old Testament name of Abraham's second wife, is a possibility for anyone seeking a truly unusual and interesting biblical name; certainly a lot more distinctive than that of Abraham's…
Diminutive of Katarzyna, Polish, Greek
"pure; cassia, cinnamon"
An attractive and intriguing choice with an appealing blend of gentle and sharper sounds, Kasia is a diminutive of Katarzyna, the Polish form of Katherine. Ultimately from Greek, it is generally…
Greek
"most beautiful"
Actress Flockhart popularized the C version, but this works, too.
"dweller at the farm by the stream"
A modern alternative to Shelby.
French nickname and Japanese
"double happiness"
Kiki is one of the Coco-Gigi-Fifi-Lulu bohemian-type French nickname names from the turn of the last century, which have endless energy and sparkle. Artist Kiki Smith is its most well-known…
Hawaiian
"the path"
Keala, also spelled Ke'ala, was a common name in its native Hawaii during the mid-20th century. It's considered unisex, but these days is virtually all feminine in usage.
Hindi, Hawaiian
"lotus or pale red; or, a garden"
A multicultural name that manages to sound soft and strong at the same time, Kamala is also another name for the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. Vice President Kamala Harris, who describes her own name's…
Scottish, Irish
"marsh, thicket; fort; dark, black"
Keir is a single-syllable name that packs a punch, but also has a endearing quality about it thanks to its similarity to the word care . Sometimes used as a short form of the more popular Kieran, it…
