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Old Harvard Names
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About this list
The names
Holden
English
"hollow valley"
Holden is a classic case of a name that jumped out of a book and onto birth certificates--though it took quite a while. Parents who loved J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye are flocking to the…
Lionel
Latin
"young lion"
Lionel is one leonine name that hasn't taken off as cousins Leo and Leonardo have, though it did reenter the Top 1000 in 2010 after several years away; it was at its highest point in the 1920s and…
Quincy
French from Latin
"estate of the fifth son"
Quincy is a Presidential surname name that actually sounds both cute and strong when used for a girl. For the first time ever, Quincy joined the Top 1000 roster for girls in 2023, given to over 250…
Hollis
English
"near the holly bushes"
Hollis is a rugged, gentle and quietly used name, given to over 200 boys and 150 girls each year in the US. In 2023, it became one of the newest entries to the US Top 1000, where it fits in with the…
Apley
Bertram
German
"bright raven"
Last in fashion in the 1930s, Bertram might once have been firmly in the best left in the past category, but with sweet nickname Bertie and the cool option of Bram, Bertram might just be one to…
Brattle
Cabot
French
"to sail"
Cabot is an attractive English surname associated with the daring early Italian-born British explorer known as John Cabot; his birth name was Giovanni Caboto.
Canaday
Canaday is an unusual masculine name that originated as a surname before occasionally being adopted as a given name. It likely has geographic associations with Canada, possibly indicating ancestral…
Chauncey
Latin
"chancellor"
A name halfway between its old milquetoast image and a more jovial Irish-sounding contemporary one.
Conant
Conant is an uncommon masculine name with roots as an Old English and French surname. Originally derived from the word 'conan' meaning 'wise' or 'intelligent,' it was typically a family name before…
Cotton
Word name
A name heard in Puritan times -- Cotton Mather was a minister involved in the Salem witchcraft trials -- which really deserves modern consideration as it blends nature and softness into a really…
Dunster
Eaton
English
"riverside"
Eaton's similarity to Eton gives it an upscale Old School feel, though in the U.S. a name that sound like eatin' could have teasin' potential. Eaton could also sound like the much-more-familiar Ethan…
Eliot
Variation of Elliot, English diminutive of Elias
"Yahweh is God"
Sleekened spelling.
Farnsworth
Fogg
Greenough
Houghton
English
"place in an enclosure"
A family name, a bit haughty.
Holyoke