With international flair and elegance, Sebastian is a saintly, Shakespearean and Disney-inspired choice: refined, classic-yet-unconventional, and totally in tune with other popular choices like Theodore, Oliver, and Alexander. Recent data has seen it rank in the Top 20 in the US, while across the globe it sits in the Top 100 in England and Wales, Czechia, The Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Austria, Norway, and Puerto Rico.

This word name entered the US Top 1000 for both genders in 2015, though it premiered a little higher for girls. There are still more baby girls named Briar than baby boys -- 594 vs. 361 in 2021 -- but it's rising in popularity for both. Briar fits the trend for nature names, and it also offers a fresh option for honoring a Brian.

Valentine is an attractive Shakespearean name with romantic associations, but those very ties to the saint and the sentimental holiday have sent it into a decline, one which we think may be about to turn around.

While Alucard has the sound of names like Alaric, Arnoud, and Ealdwine, it is in fact literally Dracula spelled backwards. Used in various bits of media over the years, it is perhaps best associated with the character in the Japanese game franchise, Castlevania or with the manga series HELLSING by Kouta Hirano.

Archimedes of Syracuse was a famous Ancient Greek thinker, especially in the fields of mathematics and sciences. He made important contributions to geometry and calculus. His name was a perfect choice, meaning "master planner" or "master thinker".

Like Sky and Sunshine, this fluffy name from the hippie 1970s has floated back onto the naming radar. It's similarity of Clyde and Claude help to ground it.

Variation of Fenrir.

Jinx, a James Bond heroine name has an ominous meaning but kinetic energy. In the film "Die Another Day," the actual first name of the character played by Halle Berry is Giacinta. It could therefore be a playful nickname to Ginevra, Jessica, Genevieve, Gianna, Josephine, or Georgina, or a bold choice for those wanting some sparky and witchy.

Lucifer is the name of the archangel cast into hell and while theologians disagree on whether he and Satan are separate beings, it long been on the list of forbidden names for religious and non-religious parents alike. With connotations of hell and devilry so strongly attached to it, the name is officially banned in some places, including New Zealand.

Though you may pray to the god of sleep for your baby to slumber through the night, a drowsy image is not the greatest one to inflict on your little boy.