Superhero Names

A highly uncommon boys' name inspired by the elements.

Broadening your horizons when choosing a name for your baby may lead you here. Horizon feels like the cousin of names like Meridian, Geo and Stellar - scientific spins on nature names. Rize is the usual nickname for this choice.

Though Shuri is a well-established unisex name in Japan, most parents considering it now will be thinking instead of the iconic Princess Shuri from Marvel's Black Panther, memorably played in the 2018 movie by Letitia Wright. The movie character, sister to King T'Challa, is strong, smart and winning enough to make a great namesake -- and it's worth noting that in the Black Panther comics, Shuri eventually becomes Black Panther.

Technically a boy's name, but certainly one that would work in the Western culture for a girl, especially after the release of Black Panther, in which it was the name of Lupita Nyong'o's fiery character. Nakia lies outside the Top 1000 but is among the fastest-rising names for both girls and boys.

Lyja was created as a name for the Marvel Comics superhero in 1984. Her name has not caught on, but its similarity to names like Lila and Leah makes it a plausible choice, although pronunciation could be an issue (we would say LYE-uh).