Middle Names, Surnames, and Nicknames
910+ Middle Names (with Meanings & Popularity)
Across 46 pages
of 46
Meteor
Word name
A beyond-bold shooting-star name choice, sure to raise some relatives' eyebrows.
Frost
English
"freezing"
Long heard as a last name, as in venerable poet Robert, U.K. talk show host David, British actress Sadie and old Jack Frost, Frost has suddenly entered the scene as a possible first, along with other…
Gray
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…
Grove
Nature name
"grove of trees"
Fresh, evocative choice.
Nairobi
African place-name, Maasi
"cold water"
Kenya is fairly commonly heard as a girl's name, but its capital city makes a much more exceptional choice. The name comes from the Maasai phrase "Enkare Nairobi," which translates to "cold water."…
Jay
Latin
"jaybird"
While Jay has been long used as a stand-alone boy name, it has more recently been used as one for girls. Otherwise, it has largely been seen as a pet form of any J name, or as a singular middle name.
Marvel
English word name
Marvel, now a character name in The Hunger Games series, was a miracle name of yesterday, on the girls' Social Security list until 1941 and reaching a high of 487 at the turn of the last century,…
Liberty
Word name
Less common than other virtue names, Liberty is nonetheless a name with a long American heritage. Liberty is seeing a level of popularity not seen since the end of the First World War, but its heyday…
Italia
Italian place-name
Authentic, melodic place-name for the adventurous, chosen by rapper LL Cool J for his daughter and by TV personality Jessica Graf Nickson for her daughter in 2025. Given to around 80 baby girls in…
Lil
Diminutive of Lillian and Lily, flower name
"lily"
Spunky old vaudeville era nickname name suddenly sounds new again.
Cloud
Nature name
Like Sky and Sunshine, this fluffy name from the hippie 1970s has floated back onto the naming radar. It's similarity of Clyde and Claude help to ground it.
Austen
Literary surname and shortened form of Augustine, Latin
"great, magnificent"
While Austin is a popular boys' name, this spelling, honoring novelist Jane, nudges the name toward gender-neutral, chosen last year for 67 baby boys and 57 girls.
Auburn
Color name
"deep reddish-brown"
A strong, warm name and a strong warm color. Would make an excellent alternative to August or Aubrey.
Mame
Diminutive of Mary or Margaret
Has a dotty, antic feel via dotty, antic Auntie Mame.
Mauve
French
"violet-colored"
Mauve is an offbeat color name whose soft and sentimental Victorian spirit is conveyed by the name. One of the newer color names like Blue, Gray and Plum that are increasingly being used as novel…
Leaf
Nature name
The nature boy version of the Scandinavian Leif, which actually means "heir". In the creative-naming Phoenix family, Leaf is the former name of the actor we know as Joaquin.
Muse
Greek mythology name
Remember, the Muse is passive: someone else's inspiration.
Neal
Irish
"cloud"
An Irish classic for boys that has a streamlined, surnamey, unisex appeal in this spelling.
Neve
Anglicized spelling of Irish Niamh or Italian and Portuguese
"snow"
Introduced to the American public by actress Neve Campbell; it was her Dutch-born mother's maiden name. Neve is an interesting and fresh new possibility, one which Conan O'Brien chose for his…
Kismet
Word name
"fate"
The next Destiny? Kismet seems like it might be fated for increased use.