Compilation of N names

Related to Nia and Naia, Naya was new to the US Top 1000 in 2014 and benefits from the short and simple pronunciation that many parents are seeking in fresh names. It also has obvious similarities to popular Mia and Maya.

Ned is a gently old-fashioned Nancy Drew-Bobbsey Twins-era short form for Edward that sounds cooler than Ed and is enjoying a small style renaissance.

Nelle, pronounced as the one-syllable Nell though some may think it's Nellie or Nella, is the elegant form of the name used by author Nelle Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill A Mockingbird. With whatever spelling, Nell/Nelle is a charming old-fashioned nickname name -- it was originally short for Ellen, Eleanor, or Helen -- that never took off the way sisters Molly and Maggie did.

Named for its snowcapped mountains, Nevada is a state name which, unlike Carolina, Montana, and Dakota, has been relatively undiscovered. Warning: today's unvisited place-name could become tomorrow's trampled tourist attraction.

Introduced to the American public by actress Neve Campbell; it was her Dutch-born mother's maiden name. Neve is an interesting and fresh new possibility, one which Conan O'Brien chose for his daughter.

Highly unusual name of a small, tranquil island in the Caribbean; chosen for her daughter by singer Nelly Furtado.

Short but energetic and substantial, Nia has special meaning for African-American parents, as it's one of the days of Kwanza. Nia also benefits by its similarity to (yet differentness from) the megapopular Mia.

Noah is nearly a patriarch of popular baby names at this point, going from Old Testament graybeard to Top 10 name in 2009, hitting Number 1 in 2013, and now settled into second place in the US for the past seven years.

Noelle is the feminine variation of Noël, a masculine given name derived from the French word for "Christmas." As a word, Noël originated as a variant of nael, which evolved from the Latin natalis, meaning "birth." Noelle and Noel have traditionally been given to children born around Christmastime, particularly in the Middle ages.

A lot of attention was drawn to this name when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West announced it as the name of their baby daughter, making it instantly unisex.

Nova has the feel of both newness, from its meaning, and great energy as an astronomical term for a star that increases suddenly in brightness before fading.