User-created list
By clr116 · Updated January 2020
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Old French form of archaic German Amal
"work"
Emmeline is an Emma relative and Emily cousin that is destined for greater use in the wake of the megapopularity of those two names. A recommended Nameberry fave, Emmeline hopped onto the US Top 1000…
Hebrew, Greek, and Latin jewel name
"blue"
Sapphire goes waaaaay beyond Ruby and Pearl. This September birthstone, occasionally used a century ago, might be worth a reappraisal, perhaps as a Sophie/Sophia alternative. Sapphire is the…
Egyptian
"with strong eyesight"
Osiris is the name of Egyptian mythology god-king who died and was reborn every year. Emerging from centuries of obscurity, Osiris has several ingredients for success in the modern world: Roots in…
English word name
"always, constantly, eternally"
Similar in sound to Evan and Everett, Ever is an evocative word name that's currently on the rise. Used by Alanis Morissette and Souleye back in 2010, Ever was given to more than 200 boys in 2024,…
Welsh, variation of Ambrose
"immortal"
Magical and powerful, but gentle and approachable too, Emrys is a Welsh name which may be worth considering if you're looking for something less common that Dylan, Evan, or Morgan. An offbeat epithet…
Greek
"beautiful"
Calla is a botanical name that is much more distinctive than popular Lily or similar Callie. Rarely heard today, it did appear in the popularity lists in the last decades of the nineteenth century.…
Swedish
"twinflower, lime tree"
Linnea is an attractive Scandinavian name that derives from the renowned 18th century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who developed the Linnean system of classifying plants and animals. Linnea is…
English surname and American place name
"Anis' town; Annie's town"
A name with plenty of celebrity glamor and contemporary flair, Anniston has a variety of origins. On one hand, it's a place name, deriving from a city in Alabama of the same name. Founded in the late…
Feminine variation of Cecil
"blind"
Cecily is as dainty as a lace handkerchief. Cecily has a wide assortment of namesakes. One Cecily was the mother of King Richard III, whose beauty gained her the title "the Rose of Raby," Cecily…
French literary nickname
"little thing"
Cosette is best known as the heroine of Les Miserables . In the Victor Hugo novel, Cosette was the nickname given to the girl named Euphrasie by her mother. Although Hugo invented the name, some…
English
"small bay"
Cove is an up-and-coming nature name whose cool sound and peaceful image saw it rising for both sexes until COVID-19 hit. It decreased slightly for boys in 2020 and remained steading in 2021, but it…
Norwegian place name, Old Norse
"meadow at the foot of a hill"
Oslo, the capital city of Norway, makes for an intriguing new place name, especially with its bookended O's, as in Otto and leads to cool nickname Ozzie. One Berry has already used it and we predict…
"citadel; weary; my light"
Lilting and light, Liara is a contemporary choice with a well established sound. First appearing in the US stats back in the 90s,it took off in 2012 when the final game in BioWare's Mass Effect…
Hebrew
"follower of Marduk"
Mordecai, although it has a noble heritage, has never caught on in this country, because of its rather weighty image. Nevertheless, with parents searching for rarer Biblical names that work as…
Greek, Germanic
"behold the sun; work, labor"
A pretty, if unusual choice for a summer baby, particularly a girl with an ancestor named Ida. An epithet of the goddess Aphrodite, Idalia is derived from the Greek place name Idalion. It may also be…
English or Gaelic surname
"descendent of the champion"
Talented actress Rooney Mara (originally born Patricia Rooney) has single-handedly transformed this Gaelic surname into a wearable and elegant girls' name. Often said to mean "red-haired", the…
English, Norse
"deer forest"
Fairly popular a hundred years ago but out of the US charts since 1978, the quirky yet edgy Roscoe feels very much in step with the trending o-ending boy names popular now, such as Milo, Hugo, and…
"hallowed stone"
This choice feels more familiar than other hall-related English surnames, thanks to designer Halston, the single-named disco-era society playmate of Liza and Elton.
Japanese
"young"
Taya has recently jumped into the mainstream name pool, perhaps because of kinship with Maya and Kaya. After five years outside the US Top 1000, it reentered in 2015. Taya Smith is an Australian…
English flower name
"first rose"
A quaint and quirky flower name, until recently considered a bit too prim for most American classrooms but brought back to life in recent years by the attractive character of Primrose "Prim" Everdeen…
