Cool Surnames as Firsts

A collection of my favourite baby names taken from surnames. I had to select a gender but many of these are unisex. I hope it inspires you!
  1. Abbott
    • Origin:

      Hebrew, Aramaic
    • Meaning:

      "father"
    • Description:

      Abbott is a neglected masculine surname with religious overtones as the head of a monastery. Though the feminine nickname Abby could be a slight drawback, Abbott is still an attractive offbeat possibility.
  2. Adair
    • Origin:

      English and Scottish
    • Meaning:

      "shallow place in a river near oaks"
    • Description:

      This undiscovered unisex name has lots of flair. It was first noticed as a girl's name, starting in the 1980's, on the long-running daytime drama Search for Tomorrow, with the character Adair McCleary, who had ahead-of-their-time brothers named brothers Hogan, Cagney and Quinn. But since Adair has yet to find many takers, it would make a fresh and appealing choice.
  3. Adler
    • Origin:

      German
    • Meaning:

      "eagle"
    • Description:

      Adler is a German-Jewish surname that is beginning to be used occasionally as a first and is among the stylish new German names for boys. Among the distinguished bearers of Adler as a last name are Freud colleague Alfred Adler, actress and influential acting teacher Stella Adler and Guns N' Roses drummer Steve Adler.
  4. Arden
    • Origin:

      English
    • Meaning:

      "valley of the eagle; high"
    • Description:

      Arden, the name of the magical forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It, is a stylish A name with a strong, straightforward image. Another reason to love Arden: its similarity to "ardent." Arden is solidly unisex, with the current gender distribution running about 60 percent girls and 40 percent boys.
  5. Barrett
    • Origin:

      German
    • Meaning:

      "bear strength"
    • Description:

      Barrett is one of many surname names that are up and coming for boys in recent years. Barrett joints Bennett, Beckett, and others in the trend of "-tt" ending boy names taking over the charts.
  6. Bennett
    • Origin:

      English, medieval form of Benedict
    • Meaning:

      "blessed"
    • Description:

      Bennett is Ben with a bow tie, kind of a cross between Benjamin and Beckett. It's been trending up on the popularity charts in recent years, and its choice by The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt's Jane Krakowski could shoot it even higher.
  7. Brewer
    • Origin:

      English, occupational surname
    • Description:

      Brewer is a surname turned first name that comes from the occupational name for someone who brews beer. Definitely a cool guy name.
  8. Bronte
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "thunder"
    • Description:

      This lovely surname of the three novel-writing sisters, now used as a baby name, makes a fitting tribute for lovers of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. While the original name took an umlaut over the e, modern English speakers may find that more trouble than it's worth.
  9. Cleary
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "cleric"
    • Description:

      This Irish surname-name certainly feels brighter and fresher than the English equivalent, Clark.
  10. Collins
    • Origin:

      Surname derived from Nicholas or Colin
    • Meaning:

      "people of victory or pup"
    • Description:

      Collins is a surname name that has made the girls' Top 1000 thanks to its use for the daughter of the real-life Blind Side heroine. As of 2019, Collins climbed into the US Top 500. This derivation of the Greek Nicholas—which means "people of victory"—or the Irish and Scottish Colin—which may itself be a Nicholas derivation or an Anglicization of the word for pup—has a stylish feel made more so by that final s.
  11. Connolly
    • Origin:

      Irish
    • Meaning:

      "love, friendship"
    • Description:

      Energetic Connelly variation that works better for girls than for boys.
  12. Castle
    • Davis
      • Origin:

        Surname derived from David, Hebrew
      • Meaning:

        "beloved"
      • Description:

        Davis is a fresh way to say David. Some sources define it as "son of David," but we see it as a surname spin on the original. While David is an everyman name, Davis has some creative edge -- and still gets you to the classic guy nickname Dave.
    • Dawson
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "son of David"
      • Description:

        Dawson was scarcely heard as a first name before the debut of Dawson's Creek in 1998, at which point it leaped up more than 550 places in one year. The character Dawson Leery, played by James Van Der Beek, was a teen favorite until the show's demise in 2003.
    • Devereaux
      • Origin:

        French surname
      • Meaning:

        "riverbank"
      • Description:

        Devereaux is familiar to many English speakers as a surname but not as a first. It's a habitational name related to the River Eure in France. Mick Jagger has a son with this name in a different spelling, Deveraux.
    • Edison
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "son of Edith or Adam"
      • Description:

        This rhythmic last-name-first-name projects the creativity and inventiveness of Thomas Edison. It's an English surname deriving from either Adam or Eda, a medieval diminutive of Edith.
    • Fallon
      • Origin:

        Irish
      • Meaning:

        "leader"
      • Description:

        Fallon is one of several boyish surname names introduced in the over-the-top 1980s nighttime soap Dynasty: they sounded cutting-edge at the time, but no longer.
    • Fisher
      • Origin:

        Occupational name
      • Meaning:

        "fisherman"
      • Description:

        As a member of two trendy name categories, animal and occupational, this name broke into the Top 1000 in 2004 and would make a nice tribute to an angler Grandpa.
    • Fitzgerald
      • Origin:

        Irish and Scottish
      • Meaning:

        "son of Gerald"
      • Description:

        Made famous by F. Scott Fitzgerald and John Fitzgerald Kennedy; still works best as a middle name.
    • Frost
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "freezing"
      • Description:

        Long heard as a last name, as in venerable poet Robert, U.K. talk show host David, British actress Sadie and old Jack Frost, Frost has suddenly entered the scene as a possible first, along with other seasonal weather names like Winter and Snow.