Elven names

Unusual and lush Roman name adopted, improbably, by the Puritans.

Mordecai, although it has a noble heritage, has never caught on in this country, because of its rather weighty image.

Writer Anne Tyler gave this apt name to the hippie child in her novel Amateur Marriage, but she wasn't the first -- it was also used by the Puritans. Today it would be quite a loaded choice.

Sounds like a Hobbit.

Super-sweet name that was the title of a Broadway play -- but best known as a type of apple. The Dutch variation is Pepijn is finding some popularity in that country, where short nickname names are stylish.

Sleek and smart, with a hint of mystique about it, Silas is a recent addition to the US Top 100. Both mythological and Biblical in origin, Silas joins the ranks of Isaiah, Atlas, Elias, and Sebastian: polished and contemporary feeling names with plenty of history.

Despite the reputation of the sagacious ancient Greek lawmaker, this name hasn't moved to the modern world.

This gentle Scandinavian name, soft and sensitive, is being discovered in a major way by parents in the US. It's most closely identified with the nineteenth century philosopher Soren Kierkegaard, but there have been modern fictional Sorens as well, in The Matrix Reloaded and the book series Guardians of Ga'Hoole, Charlie and Lola, and Underworld.

Thurston Howell was the snooty millionaire on Gilligan's Island, but these days such surname names don't have the same elitist air.

An ancient tree that figures in literature from Shakespeare to Harry Potter and is believed to possess magical powers, Willow is a lovely name, as graceful as its inspiration.