Strong OR Sound Names

The goddess name Aurora has consistently been on the US popularity list since the nineteenth century, but has really taken off in the past 30 years. Aurora also enjoys remarkable international popularity, ranking in the Top 100 throughout the English-speaking world as well as in Italy, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, and several other European and Latin American countries.

With place names extending their range, this is an unmapped possibility, though a bit stiff. Baltimore, Maryland was named after Cecil Calvert, the 2nd Baron Baltimore. Baltimore is ultimately derived from the Irish Baile an Tí Mhóir, meaning "town of the big house."

Eleanor's straightforward feminine image combined with its royal medieval history is striking just the right note for parents in search of a girls' name that combines substance and style.

Fiora is a lost name that's now been found, a sleeker version of the antique Fiorella. There's an Italian river called the Fiora as well as a character in the video game League of Legends: Fiora is known in that game as "The Grand Duelist".

The Greek name of sixteen popes and fifteen saints, the gregarious Gregory became big in the United States with the emergence of admirable actor Gregory Peck (born Eldred) in the late 1940s. From 1950 to 1973, it was in the Top 30, with nickname Greg becoming a Cool Dude name.

Ivory was last popular a hundred years ago. In 2013, it finally began to regain some momentum in the female rankings, reentering the Top 1000.

Early 1980s sitcom (Family Ties) name that has been well used ever since, with an upbeat three-syllable sound and a slightly tomboyish edge.

In Japan, color names symbolize human qualities (in this case, fame); name of gifted violist Midori, but also a Japanese melon liqueur.

Orlando, the ornate Italianate twist on the dated Roland, with a literary heritage stretching back to Shakespeare and before, has appealing book-ended o's, and is open to combination with almost any last name, a la British actor, Orlando Bloom.

A common epithet of Christ, frequently heard in the Hispanic community, Salvador could also be a great choice for artistic parents, given the continuing popularity of Dada and Surrealist painter Salvador Dalí. (If Monet and Raphael get a look in, why not Salvador?)

As unlikely as it may seem, Theodore is a hot new hit name, vaulting into the Top 10 in 2021 for the first time ever and rising three more points last year to rank at Number 7.