New York Baby Names

Truman is an upstanding presidential name that radiates an aura of integrity and moral truth, values any parent would want for a child. It seems definitely headed for a revival.

Judson remained in the US Top 1000 every year until it dropped off in 1987. In 2014, the named rejoined the list. With Hudson gaining in popularity, Judson—a possible alternative to Justin—could follow its path.

Bryant has a longer history as a first name in the US than its father name Brian, ranking among the Top 1000 since the list began in 1880 while Brian only jumped on in 1925.

Ebenezer is the name of a biblical place --the stone set up by Samuel to mark his victory over the Philistines--rather than a person. It was adopted by the British Puritans as a first name and then exported to America, where it had some early popularity, even entering the Top 1000 in the 1880s.

Eustace was originally popularized by St. Eustace, who was born a Norman nobleman and is said to have been converted to Christianity by seeing a crucifix between the antlers of the deer he was hunting. It was introduced to England by the Normans, and can be found in medieval legend. In literature the name appears in the person of Eustace Clarence Scrubb in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia.
The image of Eustace today is as sedate and stuffy as the monocled Eustace Tilly character on The New Yorker magazine covers. Its diminutive Stacy became a unisex hit.

Ramon is a common Latin male name, but Ramone would clearly be in tribute to the early punk rock group--each of whose members took on the last name Ramone.

A felicitous combo of two sweet names; also a Queens, New York neighborhood.

Rockers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz put a new baby name on the map when they chose this downscale New York borough name for their son. The Bronx, the place, was named for early Dutch settler Jonas Bronck. Might Bronx become the next Brooklyn? We'd be surprised if it did.

Mercer is one fashionable occupational name that can work as well for girls as boys, perhaps because of the soft c or the conventionally feminine nickname Mercy.

Presidential surname adopted as a first by numbers of midcentury African-American parents.

Looking for a Texas name more distinctive than Austin and Dallas? Houston is a lanky, roguish place-name, right in style with its Texas accent and cowboy image.

Foppish name with a distinguished forebear, French general Marquis de Lafayette, who fought in the American Revolution. It accounts for the L in L. Ron Hubbard. Old-time short form: Fayette or Fate.

Known as a British royal family line as well as a style of architecture, this name feels both solemn and formidable, but with an intriguing "dark-academia" feel to it too. Currently in the Top 1000 in England and Wales, it is also used in Romania and Moldova.

This name was consistently in the boys' Top 200 until WW2. It's a name with so many dimensions to it: the hyper-masculine meaning, the surname-as-firstname trendiness, and the softer sound and connotation since homophone Carol was favoured in the 1940s and '50s for daughters. We think it's time for a resurgence of Carrolls amongst the boys.

One of the surname names used more in the last century, à la Milton and Morton.

Out-of-the-way place name (it's an antiquated holiday spot on England's south coast) that might make a brilliant choice. Actor/director Jon Favreau named his daughter Brighton Rose.

A saucy Latin name that also defines a trendy New York area north of Little Italy.

This would be an intriguing choice for an illustrator's child, thanks to Norman Rockwell and Rockwell Kent. But most babies called Rockwell today are named after Porter Rockwell, a companion of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

This is an outside possibility for opera-lovers, with the additional eco/color factor.

A royal name in ancient Egypt that's never quite made it to the modern world, though nickname Cleo is widely used. Other now-extinct Cleopatra diminutives, including Cleora and Cleola, achieved some popularity in the early 20th century when there was a crazy for all things Egypt-related as the ancient tombs were opened and artifacts displayed. In the US, Cleopatra became a popular silent film in 1917 starring Theda Bara.