Maeve is a short and sweet name that has become one of the most stylish Irish names for girls in the modern US. It joined the Top 100 for the first time in 2023 and now ranks at Number 75.

Riley—an upbeat, friendly surname name—is red hot for girls and still going strong for boys. If you haven't been spending much time around babies recently, you may be surprised to learn that Riley is the most popular girls' name starting with R and also the Number 1 Irish name for girls in the US.

Since we wrote a book called Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana, encouraging parents to move beyond overused names, it's no secret what we think of this trendy surname name, inspired by a mermaid named Madison in the 1980s movie Splash.

Newly fashioned but familiar and with an on-trend, unisex feel, Addison seems like the perfect solution for anyone who can't decide between Madison, Adeline, and Alison.

Haven is a recently invented safe-harbor name that appeals to an increasing number of parents who don't want to voyage quite as far as Heaven.

Nevaeh: an already bold word name with the unusual twist of being spelled backwards; a nightmare for those who love traditional, classic names; a divisive option on name forums across the internet; and a spelling and pronunciation that aren’t quite intuitive at first glance.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the curve (or trendsetting)—Ireland has been among the fastest-rising names of recent years. Other Irish place names include Shannon, Kerry, Galway, and Dublin.

Candice is the spelling of this ancient name used by actress Candice Bergen. Candice is a form of Candace, an ancient title of a dynasty of Ethiopian queens mentioned in the New Testament.

One of the original so-weird-it's-cruel celebrity baby names doesn't sound quite so impossible with the resurgence of virtue names. But be charitable and choose Charity instead.