Name Spellings, Initials and Sounds
Cool Baby Names That Start with P
Across 5 pages
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About this list
Peter, Paul, and…uh…Patty are three of the names that made P such a ubiquitous first initial at the middle of the last century. It's been keeping a low profile for a while now, but there are a lot of cool baby names that start with P. The most popular P name for girls is Penelope, while Parker holds the title for boys. Along with Penelope and Parker, other cool baby names that start with P in the US Top 1000 include Palmer, Paloma, Paxton, Pearl, Poppy, Pierce, Phoenix, and Preston. Vintage P names due for revival include Percy, Phineas, Polly, and Prue. The initial P lends itself to many interesting names, most of them quite uncommon. Here, our picks for the coolest baby names beginning with P.
The names
Penelope
Greek
"weaver"
Penelope is an unlikely 21st century baby name success story. Off the Top 1000 for 25 years, Penelope jumped back on in 2001 and has been heading uphill ever since, propelled by the trend for…
Paisley
Scottish
"church, cemetery"
For a name related to a Scottish town, a patterned Indian fabric, and a country singer named Brad, Paisley has seen remarkable success. After appearing, seemingly out of nowhere, it is now an…
Parker
English occupational name
"park-keeper"
One of the first generation of surname names, along with Porter and Morgan, Parker's still one of the most appealing and remains firmly in the Top 100 for boys. About three times as many boys as…
Piper
English occupational name
"pipe or flute player"
Piper is a bright, musical name that entered the list in 1999, one year after the debut of the TV series Charmed , which featured a Piper, and it's been a consistent riser since. Piper Kerman is the…
Phoebe
Greek
"radiant, shining one"
Bubbly, bright, and versatile, Phoebe is a name with mythological, biblical, and literary ties. Used since the 17th century, it fell out of fashion in the US during the '60s, only to be revived after…
Presley
English
"priest's meadow"
Presley is a much more popular name for little girls than you might think, entering the charts as a girls' name in 1998 and hovering around Number 200 for the last decade. Presley is one of a large…
Palmer
English surname and occupational
"he who holds the palm; pilgrim"
With a soft sound, a preppy feel, and a unisex style, Palmer is a last name that's been climbing up the charts for girls in the US. Having entered the Top 1000 in 2018, more recent stats place it in…
Patrick
Latin
"noble, patrician"
Patrick, long tied to a hyper-Irish image, is enjoying something of a renaissance as a stylish classic, as it has long been considered in England. Along with such choices as Charles and George,…
Poppy
Flower name, English from Latin
"red flower"
Poppy, unlike most floral names which are sweet and feminine, has a lot of spunk. Long popular throughout the rest of the English-speaking world, Poppy is finally starting to rise toward the top in…
Preston
English
"priest's estate"
Britney Spears put this old-fashioned surname name back on the map when she chose it as her son Sean's middle name, which the family uses as his first. One of the most popular names of its genre,…
Phoenix
Arizona place-name and Greek
"dark red"
Effortlessly cool with a hint of the mystical, Phoenix rolls a lot of trends into one: it's a place-name and a bird name, it ends in the stylish letter x, it's got in-built nicknames, and it's unisex…
Paxton
Latin and English
"peace town"
Paxton stands out from a lot of other two-syllable surname names for two reasons: the dynamic letter X in the middle, and its admirable peace association, providing the great nickname Pax. One well…
Pablo
Spanish variation of Paul
"small"
Pablo, the commonly used Spanish version of Paul, has the added bonus of some fantastic artistic bearers: painter Picasso, cellist Casals, and poet Neruda. Pablo has been consistently in the US…
Priscilla
Latin, diminutive of Prisca
"ancient"
Despite her somewhat prissy, puritanical air, Priscilla has managed to stay widely used for well over a century -- it reached as high as Number 127 in 1940 -- appreciated for its delicacy and solid…
Persephone
Greek
"bringer of destruction"
Magical and earthy, sophisticated but off-beat, Persephone appears as the daughter of Zeus by Demeter in Greek mythology. After she was kidnapped by Hades to be Queen of the Underworld, it was…
Penny
English, diminutive of Penelope, Greek
"weaver"
Like Peggy and Patsy, Penny is a peppy vintage nickname that fell out of favor (and the Top 1000) for a while, but has recently rebounded by reentering the charts in 2013. Expect it to continue…
Pearl
Latin gem name
"pearl"
Pearl, like Ruby, has begun to be polished up for a new generation of fashionable children after a century of jewelry box storage. The birthstone for the month of June, Pearl could also make a…
Paulina
Spanish, feminine variation of Paul
"small"
More stylish than either Paula or Pauline, it was given a glamour gloss by model Paulina Porizkova in the nineties.
Pandora
Greek
"all gifted"
Pandora has occasionally been used by the British gentry (for girls with brothers who might be called Peregrine) and is now starting to be heard in the US too: It was given to 34 baby girls last…
Paloma
Spanish
"dove"
Paloma is vibrant and ruby-lipped a la jewelry designer Paloma Picasso, but it also suggests peace, as symbolized by the dove. Paloma is a highly recommended striking but soft name, one of the best…