Birthday Names
Halloween Names
Across 6 pages
of 6
Crane
English surname
"crane"
This elegant surname has great potential to turn into an unusual first name, especially with its literary associations to both Stephen and Hart Crane. Crane is a surname that originated for a tall…
Cullen
Irish
"holly tree"
Cullen is an appealing Irish surname name that upped its cool factor considerably when it became the Twilight family name of Edward et al. It's considerably less popular than it was at its peak in…
Draco
Greek from Latin
"dragon"
For as long as we all shall live, Harry Potter's sneering nemesis.
Edwina
Feminine variation of Edwin, English
"wealthy friend"
Edwina may still be taking tea in the parlor, but we can see her joining friends like Matilda and Josephine for a comeback, especially if pronounced like Edwin rather than Edween. She had a very…
Eglantine
French and English botanical name
"sweetbriar"
This name for the sweetbriar shrub is a bit too reminiscent of eggplant, but it does have literary creds, having appeared in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales . The French form Églantine appeared in the…
Elly
Elly is a charming feminine name that functions both as a standalone name and as a diminutive for several longer names including Eleanor, Elizabeth, Ellen, Eloise, and Eliana. With English and Greek…
Elsa
German diminutive of Elisabeth
"pledged to God"
Lost in limbo for decades and decades, Elsa now stands a good chance of following along in the progression from Emma to Ella to Etta, thanks to the ice queen heroine who "Let It Go" in the wildly…
Elvira
Spanish
"white, fair"
Before there was the campy TV Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Elvira was the long-suffering wife of Don Juan, and remnants of those negative, gothic images still cling to it, though they are fading.…
Faun
Faun is a delicate feminine name derived from Roman mythology, where fauns were woodland deities or nature spirits, often depicted as half-human, half-goat creatures similar to the Greek satyrs. The…
Freddy
Diminutive of Frederick
"peaceful ruler"
Another old-school nickname getting new attention thanks to TV's Mad Men . Names like Fred, Pete, and George have been out so long it's time for them to come back in. It reentered the US Top 1000 in…
Gillian
Feminine variation of Julian
"youthful"
Gillian is a name that was in common usage in Great Britain until the 1970s, when it dropped out of the Top 100 and is yet to return. Until recently, it had not crossed the Atlantic in significant…
Glinda
Literary name
Glinda is famous as the name of the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz, invented by author L. Frank Baum. but has there ever been a real life, non-fictional Glinda? Not in the US last year. The name may…
Hamlet
Anglicized form of Danish, Amleth
The "To Be or Not to Be" jokes, via Shakespeare's tortured prince, will get old by Month Two.
Hannibal
Punic and Assyrian
"grace of Baal, god of fertility and fortune"
These days, it's thought of less as the name of the great general and more as the first name of Lecter the fictional cannibal. Either association is too heavy for a child to bear.
Herbert
German
"bright army"
Names ending in bert have long been in limbo, but with the return of Albert, maybe there's hope for Herbert. who could share the Bertie nickname. Herbert is a name that's been used by English…
Hitch
Diminutive of Hitchcock
The charming Hitch played by Will Smith in the eponymous movie put this into the lexicon. Also known as the nickname of director Alfred Hitchcock and writer Christopher Hitchens, who titled his…
Ichabod
Hebrew
"the glory is gone"
Ichabod, an eccentric Old Testament name, is forever tied to the character of Ichabod Crane -- and worse, the teasing possibilities of "icky bod." Even its original meaning is a negative. Skip…
Lamia
Arabic, Greek
"shining, radiant; throat"
Lamia is a name with two very different images: from its Arabic roots, it is a bright yet gentle choice with a glowing meaning. As a Greek name however, Lamia appears in mythology as a child-eating…
Laurie
English, diminutive of Laura
"from Laurentum or bay laurel"
Laurie morphed into the more streamlined Lori in the sixties but now feels dated for a girl in either spelling. Update Lauren has been renovated as Laurel or Laura itself.
Lavender
English color and flower name
"purple flower"
Lavender lags far behind sweet-smelling purple-hued sister names Violet and Lila, but is starting to get some enthusiastic attention from cutting-edge namers along with other adventurous nature names…