Word Names

Plausible word name, denoting strength and stability.

These days, it's more likely you'd call your daughter the popular Belle or Bella.

A new name with the potential for spanning across a far-reaching future. Bridges and Bridger are other possiblities.

Drop the C and arrive at an established biblical name.

This recently coined respelling of Cole darkens its image.

Fleet is one of the uncountable number of new word name possibilities, and a particularly cool choice at that. Connoting speed, Fleet beats Rush any day. Might be short for Fleetwood, but we prefer it on its own.

There was an ancient Saint Fort, and this is a modern, original way to convey a powerful meaning, especially in the middle place.

Gage was part of the craze for one-syllable surnames, with associations to tasty green gage plums and the mathematical gauge.

Festive name of the wife of Salvador Dali. In Spanish, Gala comes from the Roman name Galla, a feminine form of Gallus meaning "rooster" or "a person from Gaul".

Garland is fragrant and celebratory, and also has a celebrity-tribute tie to the star of The Wizard of Oz.

A simple, self-possessed, somewhat serious surname, which might work better as a middle.

If you like names that are not really names -- some say, the wave of the future -- Harbor has an attractive sound as well as an appealing meaning and image.

Haven is a recently invented safe-harbor name that appeals to an increasing number of parents who don't want to voyage quite as far as Heaven.

A name with vision.

Jubilee has a joyous and jubilant aura, but it wouldn't be an easy name to carry, what with all that pressure to be a living, breathing, 24-7 party. Jubilee was the name selected by television's Duggars for their miscarried child.

Some names referring to expensive things -- Tiffany, Armani, Porsche -- are in fact declasse, but Price transcends that label with its simplicity and strength.

The old word name Temple has gained some recent notice as a girls' name via admired autistic writer and inventor Dr. Temple Grandin (born Mary Temple), subject of an acclaimed biopic, in which she was played by Claire Danes.

While nature names, even those of fierce animals and mountain peaks, are used for children these days, architectural features like this somehow seem a bit cold.

Doting parents have begun to use names like Precious and Treasure, which are sweet for a baby, but might not hold up over the years. Treasure was used for nearly 300 baby girls in one recent year.

This began as a nickname, usually for someone who was a "third," as in William III. But in an age where any noun goes, this could be thought of as representing a little voyager -- hopefully not into psychedelic realms.