Middle Names, Surnames, and Nicknames
By Pamela Redmond · Updated September 2026
Across 46 pages
of 46
Japanese
"beauty, flow, lapis lazuli"
Rumi is a Japanese girl name, with a sweet yet substantial sound. Reminiscent of other popular choices in the West — think Ruby, Remy, and Romy — it is currently achieving more notice thanks to…
French word name
"house"
Mason with a French accent. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2012, and it will likely hang on for as long as its brother-in-spelling-variations, Mayson.
Latin virtue name
"ability to accept or tolerate inconveniences, and suffering without anxiety or anger"
Patience is a passive virtue turned engaging name, fresher than Hope, Faith, or even Charity. Its resemblance to the trendy Payton may be one reason that it returned to the US charts back in the 90's…
Spelling variation of word name Kaiser
"emperor"
A regal sounding name with a cool, trendy twist, Kaizer is a variation of the title given to the now-defunct German emperor. Deriving from Caesar (with the perhaps less appealing, hairy meaning), the…
Word name, Biblical
"the origin and formation of something; The First Book in The Bible"
Though Genesis is a Top 100 girls' name in the US, it's by all rights a unisex choice. Derived from Greek, it means "birth" or "origin", making it a word name and a Biblical name, Genesis also shares…
English, diminutive of Rachel, Hebrew
"ewe"
All the old ae/ay middle names for girls are back — Kay, Fay, Mae/May — and Rae is one of the coolest, used as such by celebrities as Mark Wahlberg and Daniel Baldwin. Even more popular in the…
Latin
"new"
Nova might be a much more commonly used a girls' name, but enough parents saw unisex appeal in it for it to debut on the US Top 1000 for boys in 2017. Nova is an astronomical term for a star that…
Botanical names or word name
"herb; regret"
Rue has gone from Golden Girls actress to Hunger Games heroine to a fresh alternative to beloved middle name Rose. This botanical name is also a coincidental double word name, meaning "regret" in…
Place-name
"Capital city of England"
In the US, London is popular for both sexes, though as the name has risen for girls, it's levelled off for boys. Currently given to around 200 boys each year, it is nearly five times more popular for…
"aristocratic"
With parents beginning to show an interest in virtue names for boys, this Puritan favorite just might be revived, for what could be more admirable than nobility in terms of having strength of…
Word name, English
"a place of safety"
Like Harbor, one of the new generation of word names with appealing meanings, though (female) memoirist Haven Kimmel has tipped it decidedly toward the girls' side. There are now more than ten female…
English word name
"the quality of being just, impartial, or fair"
Justice is a fashionable word name, used for both girls and boys. Justice has the distinction of being a virtue name without the religious implications of Faith or Grace. It still feels more male…
"a lord of the realm"
If you're going to choose a noble word name, why not aim higher and pick Duke, Prince...or King. The Donald Trumps picked the Barron spelling for their little princeling.
So sweet it makes our teeth hurt. It has appeared in the US Top 1000 every year since 2006, though it dropped a significant 136 places from 2014 to 2015, and kept dropping to Number 974 in 2016.
"true"
An inspirational and aspirational word name that evokes ideas of loyalty, faith, honesty, and accuracy, True is a unisex name, which is just slightly more popular for boys. Like an updated form of…
Greek
"of the lyre; songlike; a personal, emotive poem"
Associated with poetry, pop music, and the Greek lyre, Lyric has a light and zippy sound to it. Currently more popular for girls in the US, it was in the Top 1000 for boys between 2007 and 2020.…
Word name
Chosen for their daughter by Bruce and Demi (inspired by the To Kill a Mockingbird character), and for her son by Tai Babilonia, an interesting choice for either sex, with overtones of a "good scout"…
English
"valley"
A light and breezy nature name that's currently in style limbo, despite its pleasant meaning, Dale was originally a surname, used for someone who lived near a valley. It was a Top 100 choice in the…
Animal name
Fox is one animal name backed by a longish tradition, and then popularized via the lead character Fox Mulder on X Files . Fox is simple, sleek, and a little bit wild, and could make an interesting…
Color name, also diminutive of Grayson
The girls have Violet and Scarlet and Ruby and Rose, but for the boys there's a much more limited palette of color names. Gray (or Grey), is one exception, which could make for a soft and…
