More names that I like

Originally a unisex nickname for a redhead -- red hair is called "ginger" in Britain -- or for the name Virginia, Ginger perennially wears pink gingham and spike heels.

Most parents today would prefer the softer-sell Stella. But Star has symbolic power related to Christmas, so this could make one of the perfect names for December babies.

Windswept and dramatic, but perhaps asking for trouble. Quite popular in Denmark and Sweden, where it derives from Stromr, which is a fairly common surname. Storm Thorgerson is a famous bearer of the name - he designed iconic album covers for Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, the Cranberries, Anthrax, and Pink Floyd.

A modernization of the Hebrew Rivka, which doesn't sound so modern anymore.

When actress Susan Ker Weld changed her name to Tuesday, she opened up a whole calendar of possibilities. This was decades before the arrival of Sunday Rose Urban.

Looking for a Texas name more distinctive than Austin and Dallas? Houston is a lanky, roguish place-name, right in style with its Texas accent and cowboy image.

Sunshine was seen as a quintessential hippie name of the 70s, reaching as high as Number 536 in 1975. Now such names are making a bit of a retro comeback, seen, for example, as a character on Glee.

It would be easy to dismiss this girlish name as invented fluff, but it has roots in several cultures with evocative meanings and references. Shani refers to the "scarlet thread" or theme of a story. Shani is also the name of a Hindu god and the Sanskrit word for the planet Saturn. And it's a Swahili name also found in other African cultures that means marvelous.

This once-cool nickname-y name now belongs to the grandma generation.

This Ashley-like surname name actually made the US Top 1000 around the turn of the 20th century. Used very quietly today in equal numbers -- about a dozen each -- for boys and girls. Ashby is a major thoroughfare in Berkeley, California.

A jaunty diminutive of Job, or simply a soundalike to Toby, Koby et al.

Animated Gaelic name popularized by singer Sheena Easton, also brings to mind Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, the Amazonian comic book and TV series heroine. Sine is considered to be and English equivalent of Jane or Jean.

Spaniards use Pax and Paz, Hebrew speakers Shalom, for Greeks it's Irene, so why can't we make the English word Peace a name? Peace Adzo Medie is the author of the novel His Only Wife.

See NATASHA.

In the 1940s, Toni began to surpass its progenitor, Antonia, but it peaked in 1960 and has since dropped back below the US Top 1000.

Dacey is a delicate and lacy Irish name with real possibilities.

Attractive British place-name with a sense of humor. Fun fact: John Wayne played five characters with the first or second name of Kirby.

One of the original techno-punk bands of the late seventies, but even the most devoted fan has to admit that was a long time ago.

Weapon-related names like Saber have been on the rise in recent years. In 2014, ten baby boys in the US were named Saber and five Sabre. The name may also relate to the Arabic Sabir, though to contemporary English-speakers, the reference will more likely be the sword.

If this name makes you think of Victorian novels, it's because Fairfax was part of Mr Rochester's name in Jane Eyre, and the surname of a minor character in Jane Austen's Emma. It has a distinctly aristocratic feel, despite its straightforward meaning. Fairfax is also a city in Virginia.