British Baby Names

Laird is a Scottish title for the landed gentry – it ranks just below a Baron – with a pleasantly distinctive Scottish burr that must have appealed to Sharon Stone, who chose it for her son.

This unusual and appealing form of Laura is popular in sections of Wales.

It may take another generation or so, but this category of Hettie-Lettie-Lottie names could make a comeback.

Musical association with Igor Stravinsky, but also Dr. Frankenstein's right-hand man.

Its most famous bearer was Prince Osman the First, founder of the Ottoman Empire.

Known as a British royal family line as well as a style of architecture, this name has a forbidding solemnity; schoolmates might also confuse it with tutor.

Hemingway readers will recognize this as the name of Papa's first wife (and, eventually, actress Mariel's grandmother). But in Victorian times, Hadley and Hedley were actually more popular for boys.

Because it's a generic (and often derogatory) term for an Irishman, Paddy fell out of use as a diminutive or given name, though actress Mare Winningham used it not long ago.

Phonetic spelling of Esme, popular in the UK.

Very popular in Wales, this perfectly nice name's only problem is its similarity to the dated Beth Ann.

Passé pasha image.

One of the rarest of virtue names, Clemency could come back along with the more familiar Puritan virtue names such as Hope and Faith. It has a rhythmic three-syllable sound, and offers a more virtuous alternative to the more popular Clementine.

Owain is much more unusual than its brother name Owen, a Welsh original that belonged to one of the Knights of the Round Table as well as the last Welsh Prince of Wales.

Soundalike cousin of Sammy, cute but slight on its own.

Fast-food chain, no longer a baby.

Dawud is a widely-used Arabic name, a version of David that is among the British Top 1000 names for boys.

Overwhelmingly feminine in the US, where parent name Mackenzie is wildly popular, but masculine in the UK, where Kenzie ranks among the Top 1000 names for baby boys.