ultimate faves!

Rosalind has a distinguished literary history – used and popularized by Edmund Spenser and Shakespeare via one of his most charming heroines, in As You Like It. Along with a bouquet of other Rose names, Rosalind might be ready for a comeback.

Could Hal be the Jack, Max, or Gus of the future? It just might happen in the new nickname environment, especially with Cal and Cy feeling cool, and with the interest in vintage, cowboy-esque choices, considering Hal ranked in the US Top 1000 in the first half of the 20th century.

Zora is a meaningful literary heroine name honoring Zora Neale Hurston, an important black writer and leader of the Harlem Renaissance.

Andreas is a beautiful name, with the patina of an Old Master painting, one that could make a dashing namesake for an Uncle Andrew.

Though Loretta has long ago lost its Latin flair, fashionable Sarah Jessica Parker's choice of it as the middle name of one of her twin daughters freshens it up a bit. It's one of several such names, like Anita and Rita that we can envision making a comeback.

Vital and vivacious, Vita is stirring back to life along with many of her V-themed sisters -- Vivian, Vivica -- and is becoming a new celebrity baby favorite.

Thora, related to Thor, is the ancient Norse thunder goddess name that's much softer and gentler than its meaning suggests. A noted bearer is actress Thora Birch.

Aphra would make an interesting choice-- especially since it's the name of the first professional female writer in English, the seventeenth century's Aphra Behn. Born in 1640, she was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration, and a spy.