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By BreezyBear · Updated May 2023
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Hebrew
"father of multitudes"
Abraham is among the most classic baby names that's still widely-used today, popular for its references to both the Bible and American history. The Biblical Abraham was the first of the Old Testament…
Diminutive of Margaret
"pearl"
Maggie is a cute, earthy short form that has been in style for several decades now, still sometimes used as an independent name by such parents as Jon Stewart. First used in Scotland, it got a large…
Latin
"jaybird"
Though this feels like a modern invention, Jay has been in use for centuries. Early Jays often were named in honor of founding father John Jay, whose surname derived from the jaybird. A popular…
Norman
"man power"
This image of this distinguished Anglo-Scottish surname, drawn from the French place name of the ancient castle of Saint Foi de Montgomery, is rapidly shifting from fusty and formal to cool. And…
English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian
"pledged to God"
Elvis naming his daughter Lisa Marie and Nat King Cole's hit song "Mona Lisa" conspired to catapult one of Elizabeth's many offshoots to a high of #4 in 1970. It has largely fallen from favor in the…
English
"fox"
A 1970s beach boy surfing buddy of Scott, Brad, and Chad, Todd is given to relatively few babies these days.
"rejuvenation, delight"
Edna is one of those names that, until what it seemed like a few minutes ago, felt so terminally frumpy that no one could imagine a parent choosing it for an innocent modern baby girl. But with the…
German
"godly helmet"
Selma has recently been given a more youthful spin via actresses Selma Blair and Salma Hayek. But while Selma has not yet become popular again in the US, it is widely used in both Sweden and Norway.…
Greek
"security, hostage, pledge"
Homer is a name of two halves, associated with the ancient Greek poet of the epic Odyssey and with the (often) doltish patriarch of The Simpsons . So does that make Homer a classic and scholarly…
English, diminutive of Edward
"wealthy guardian"
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. Usage of Ned in literature goes back to a Ben…
Compound name, a blend of Lou and Ann
"strong in battle and grace"
A vowel heavy compound name with sounds that are familiar but seem unexpected and interesting when placed next to each other. Louann did feature at the latter end of the US Top 1000 between the 30s…
Jojo is a playful, gender-neutral name often used as a masculine name in its own right or as a nickname for names like Joseph, Jonathan, Jordan, or Johannes. Its repetitive structure gives it a…
Diminutive of Patricia
"patrician"
Replaced Patsy as the midcentury's popular, peppy babysitter.
Short form of Margaret, Greek
Marge used to be as common as Maggie or Megan, ranking on its own in the girls' Top 1000 from 1900 until right after World War II, when so many Old School names fell off the list in favor of a new…
Diminutive of Bartholomew, Hebrew
"son of the earth"
Permanent property of that devilish little Simpson kid.
English, diminutive of Roderick and Rodney
Macho-er than thou.
