Names you should probably not name your baby

Henry

German

"estate ruler"

Henry is well and truly back in style. The classic returned to the Top 10 in the US in 2021 for the first time in over a century, and as of 2024, sits at Number 6. Like James and Theodore, Henry is a…

Benjamin

Hebrew

"son of the right hand"

Benjamin is a biblical name that has enjoyed widespread favor for decades, ranking in the US Top 50 for almost half a century and the Top 10 from 2015 until 2023. One of those golden boys' names that…

Sebastian

Latin from Greek

"person from ancient city of Sebastia, venerable"

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…

Ezra

Hebrew

"help"

Ezra has a lot going for it: the strength of its heroic Biblical legacy, its quirky sound, and its fresh but familiar feel. Ezra is now at its highest point ever, but its intuitive streamlined…

Milo

Latin and Old German

"soldier or merciful"

Milo is most commonly considered to be Germanic name derived from the Latin word miles , meaning "soldier." However, there is evidence to suggest it also may have independently spawned from the…

Fletcher

English occupational name

"arrow-maker"

Fletcher is a common surname with a touch of quirkiness; it definitely fits into the So Far Out It's In category--and moving further in all the time along with other occupational names from Parker to…

Wylie

English, Scottish

"from the Wylye River, from the willow clearing; resolute protection"

Wylie is a friendly rodeo name with the unisex vibe of Riley and the cowboy air of Wesley and Wyatt. Also spelled as Wiley, two forms have been out of the US charts since the 1940s and 1970s…

Leander

Greek

"lion-man"

Leander was once an almost unknown name, however, with the popularity of Leo and the rise of Leandro, it now feels like a perfectly accessible alternative to Leon or Alexander. In Greek legend,…

Calloway

English from Latin

"pebbly place"

Calloway is one of those irresistibly jaunty, animated three-syllable surnames, like Sullivan, Rafferty and Finnegan — but this one has the added attraction of jazzy ties to the immortal "Dean of…

Nikola

Serbian from the Greek Nikolaos

"Victory of the people"

Nikola is generally masculine in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Bulgaria and Macedonia, while in Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia and the Czech Republic it is usually feminine. As a…

Calder

English

"rocky water"

A cool, rugged sounding name, Calder is connected to an ancient Scottish clan, an English village, and a Scottish River, along with the sculptor Alexander Calder, who invented the mobile (as in,…

Arley

English

"from the rabbit meadow; eagle's woodland; noble"

Similar in sound to Harley, Marley, and Arlo, this surname-style name is familiar in Brazil and a Top 1000 choice in England and Wales. Pronounced as AHR-lee in English and ahr-LAY in Latin America,…

Florian

Latin

"flowering"

If Flora and Florence have returned full force, then Florian, with its strong Latinate ending and its botanical meaning in one to watch out for. Popular in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, and…

Baxter

English occupational name

"baker"

An x makes any name cooler, so that Baxter has a bit more pizzazz than the original Baker. Baxter had some currency as a first name a century ago--it was on the popularity lists sporadically from…

Inigo

Basque, medieval Spanish variation of Ignatius

"fiery"

Inigo, almost unknown in the U.S., is an intriguing choice, with its strong beat, creative and evocative sound, and associations with the great early British architect and stage designer Inigo Jones.…

Poe

English

"peacock"

An evocative unisex one-syllable name, Poe is most distinguished by its literary reference. Edgar Allan Poe was an influential American author and poet, credited with inventing the genres of…

Kermit

Irish, variant of Diarmaid/Dermot

"without injunction, without envy"

Kermit was a Top 500 name until the 1960s, not coincidentally the decade in which Kermit the Frog made it a one-person (well, one-frog) name. Derived from the Irish surname Mac Diamada, itself from…

Geordie

English demonym

Though it looks, to the untrained American eye, like a yoonek spelling of Jordy, Geordie actually refers to people from Tyneside in Northeast England and the local dialect there. To give you a sense…

Cabot

French

"to sail"

Cabot is an attractive English surname associated with the daring early Italian-born British explorer known as John Cabot; his birth name was Giovanni Caboto.

Digby

English, Norse

"town by the ditch"

Digby is a place-name in Lincolnshire turned surname turned quirky first name that is starting to get some attention. In fact, it ranked in the UK Top 1000 in a recent year where it fits in with the…