Alli's Favorite Names

  1. Julia
    • Origin:

      Latin
    • Meaning:

      "youthful or sky father"
    • Description:

      Julia was an ancient Roman imperial name given to females in the house of a Julius, as in Caesar. Its origin is shrouded in history, but possible roots include Latin iuvenis, meaning "youthful"; Greek ioulos, meaning "downy-bearded"; or Jovis, a form of Jupiter, which means "sky father".
  2. Keiko
    • Origin:

      Japanese
    • Meaning:

      "happy child"
    • Description:

      Japanese classic with optimistic meaning.
  3. Kenji
    • Origin:

      Japanese
    • Meaning:

      "second son; healthy + second; wise + second; modest second"
    • Description:

      A international feeling name of Japanese origin that could be used to refer to a child's place in the family, Kenji has attracted notice in the US as the name of The Food Lab chef, James Kenji López-Alt, know simply as Kenji. It appeared in the latter end of the US Top 1000 in 2023.
  4. Kagome
    • Kagura
      • Kyoya
        • Lydia
          • Origin:

            Greek
          • Meaning:

            "woman from Lydia"
          • Description:

            Lydia is one of the first place names, after an area of Asia Minor whose inhabitants are credited with strong musical talent great wealth. Always among the US Top 1000 girl names, Lydia is a quietly fashionable classic.
        • Mary
          • Origin:

            Hebrew or Egyptian
          • Meaning:

            "drop of the sea; bitter; beloved; love"
          • Description:

            Mary is the English form of Maria, which ultimately was derived from the Hebrew name Maryam/Mariam. The original meaning of Maryam is uncertain, but theories include "drop of the sea" (from Hebrew roots mar "drop" and yam "sea"); "bitter" (from Hebrew marah "bitterness"); and "beloved" (from the Egyptian root mr).
        • Mei
          • Origin:

            Chinese; Hawaiian
          • Meaning:

            "beautiful; plum"
          • Description:

            Homophonous with Mae and May, the beautiful (literally) Mei is poised to climb the charts. The hero of the 2022 Disney/Pixar film Turning Red is a Chinese-Canadian teen named Meilin "Mei" Lee, which may boost the name ever further.
        • Morgan
          • Origin:

            Welsh
          • Meaning:

            "sea-born, sea-song or sea-circle"
          • Description:

            Morgan has long been a traditional Welsh male name, a variant of the Old Welsh name Morcant, from the Welsh elements mor, meaning "sea" and cant, "circle." The female Morgan is unrelated to the male version—it is a name from Arthurian legend created for Morgan le Fay, King Arthur's half-sister and famed sorceress. Her name comes from Morgen, an Old Welsh name meaning "sea-born," and is related to the Irish name Muirgen.
        • Oliver
          • Origin:

            Germanic, Latin
          • Meaning:

            "elf army; ancestor's relic; olive tree"
          • Description:

            Oliver is an international star, ranking near the top of the charts throughout the English-speaking world and in a host of European and Latin American countries, from Norway to Chile, Slovenia to Switzerland. Why? Because Oliver is energetic and good-natured, stylish but classic, with a meaning symbolizing peace and fruitfulness.
        • Penelope
          • Origin:

            Greek
          • Meaning:

            "weaver"
          • Description:

            Penelope is an unlikely 21st century baby name success story. Off the Top 1000 for 25 years, Penelope jumped back on in 2001 and has been heading uphill ever since, propelled by the trend for mythological names, Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, and some high-profile celebrity babies.
        • Ren
          • Origin:

            Japanese, Latin
          • Meaning:

            "water lily, lotus, romantic love, move forward; reborn"
          • Description:

            A very popular unisex name in Japan, Ren is a concise and versatile choice that could work across multiple languages. A rising star in England and Wales where it ranks in the Top 1000, it is also on the rise in the US where it was give to nearly 90 girls and 200 boys in a recent year.
        • Rosalie
          • Origin:

            French variation of Rosalia, Latin
          • Meaning:

            "rose"
          • Description:

            Rosalie hit its apex in 1938 and then slid straight downhill until it fell off the U.S. Top 1000 completely in the 1980s, only to spring back to life in 2009 as the name of a character in the Twilight series. The beautiful vampire Rosalie Hale has breathed fresh life back into this mid-century name, and the fact that the character is both sympathetic and relatively minor means Rosalie has the chance to thrive again as a baby name without feeling unduly tied to Twilight.
        • Samuel
          • Origin:

            Hebrew
          • Meaning:

            "told by God"
          • Description:

            Samuel has been so popular for so long that it's hard to believe it's still climbing, at its highest point since the 1890s.
        • Scarlett
          • Origin:

            English
          • Meaning:

            "scarlet, red"
          • Description:

            Scarlett Johansson is doing more for this sparky southern name than Scarlett O'Hara ever did. Since the turn of the 21st century, Scarlett has gone from an obscure literary name to one of the most popular girls' names starting with S, right after longtime favorites Sophia and Sofia.
        • Sora
          • Origin:

            Japanese or Korean
          • Meaning:

            "sky; conch shell"
          • Description:

            A simple and pretty multicultural name: as a Japanese name, it's unisex and means "sky"; as a Korean name, it's feminine and means "conch shell".
        • Shiro
          • Shota
            • Theodore
              • Origin:

                Greek
              • Meaning:

                "gift of God"
              • Description:

                Classic and elegant but with boyish charm, Theodore has become hit name in recent years, vaulting into the US Top 10 in 2021 for the first time ever and into the Top 5 in 2024. A favorite in English speaking countries, it also ranks highly across the UK and Ireland, and in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.