Modern Christian Baby Names

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 Trudy and Prue and with the virtuous feel of Grace, Faith, and Hope, True was given to around 200 girls in 2023.

Blessing is among the Top 1000 girls' names in the UK and recently joined the ranks in the US as well. With modern spiritual names like Shiloh, Chosen, and Halo trending upwards, Blessing is likely to continue to rise in popularity.

Glory sounds fresh and uplifting and a lot more modern than Gloria (which is definitely feeling the stirrings of a revival, though some might still view it as a terminal Old Lady name). Glory, as in "Glory Be" and "Old Glory," has both a religious and a patriotic flavor.

Omega is an unusual name used now equally for boys and girls, though the a ending is conventionally feminine. More popular boys' names, like Omega, end in the a sound these days: Joshua, Noah, Micah.

Omega is a perfect choice for a youngest child.

Palmer is a Top 300 choice in the US for girls and has more recently been on the rise for boys, but what about the shorter form, Palm? A spiritual name, a word name, and a nature name, it comes from the Latin palma meaning "palm tree" or referring to the palm of the hand.

Fortitude is the kind of virtue name the Puritans favored that could feel rather heavy for a modern boy. Nevertheless, with options such as Sincere, Chosen, Messiah, and Valor on the rise, perhaps in coming years, it might not seem so hefty after all, though for now, we think it would be best reserved for the middle spot.

This name boomed in the 1940s and 50s thanks to the glamorous singer Risë (pronounced REE-sa) Stevens, who inherited her name from her Norwegian grandmother. It's rare nowadays, but when used it's more likely to be the uplifting vocabulary word, rhyming with "eyes". The latter was chosen by Nick Cannon and Brittany Bell for their son, born in September 2022.

Page, Poet, and Story all get used as names, so why not Verse? Teen Mom's Kailyn Lowry used it as a name for one of her sons.

A word name linked to music and spirituality, Requiem could have the more familiar nicknames Remi or Emmy. Associated with remembrance, Catholic Mass, and music for the dead, it more literally means "rest". It has never been used as a name (yet!)

Kyrie elieson is one of the oldest religious refrains, meaning Lord, have mercy. As a first name, though, Kyrie is less a name of God and more a nickname-name that might be short for Kyra or a diminutive that stands on its own, a la Kylie. The best-known Kyrie is the male basketball player Kyrie Irving, who pronounces the first syllable to rhyme with my rather than fear. He has inspired more than 1000 baby boys to be given this name one recent year in the US, while it was given to 178 baby girls. Impressive numbers.

Transferred from the geographical name, Jerusalem is a sacred city in many religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It is given to around a dozen babies of each sex per year in the US.

With its sharp Z initial and similar sound to Ryan, Zion has shot up the charts in singer Lauryn Hill used it for her son in 1997. Following on in its footsteps, spelling variant Zyon entered the Top 1000 in 2019 and was given to around 270 babies in a recent year.

Blessed and Blessing are two new entrants in the word name and virtue name categories, gaining popularity for both boys and girls.

Nazareth, an important place in the New Testament as the hometown of Jesus, is on the rise as a name for both girls and boys. It's one of a handful of Biblical place names, along with Galilee and Jericho, stylish among contemporary Christians.

Mount Sinai is a place sacred to the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions, the mountain on which Moses received the Ten Commandments. Sinai is also the name of the peninsula where Mount Sinai is located.

Brother for Heaven or Nevaeh.

Heavenly, the word that's become a name, has been flirting with the bottom of the Top 1000 for a handful of years now. Heaven and cousins like Nevaeh have been well-used so adding the popular -ly suffix, ala Everly, seems like a natural progression.

With the first name True receiving a Kardashian dose of popularity for girls, Truth is gaining in visibility too. Though its still more popular for boys two to one, the truth is that the name works equally well for both genders -- but may inspire a lot of puns.

Spiritual word names are becoming more and more popular – think Peace, Bodhi, Zen and Psalm – and Spirit is among the rarer options, given to a couple dozen baby girls each year in the US. It's the name of the horse in the kids' TV show Spirit.