word names

An undiscovered option among occupational names, as of 2023, Banner has never been used for more than 100 baby boys in a single year. It does have charm however, much due to its associations with fêtes and phrases like "a banner year".

Great Irish middle name choice for Shakespeare lovers.

A bit too bad-boy (think bars, beer, Harley) for us, as well as being the name of a grain.

If you're going to choose a noble word name, why not aim higher and pick Duke, Prince...or King. The Donald Trumps picked the Barron spelling for their little princeling.

Although Greek in origin--in the fourth century, a bishop by that name established the principles of the Greek Orthodox Church--Basil for years took on the aura of aquiline-nosed upper-class Britishness of Sherlock Holmes portrayer Basil Rathbone, then spiced with the fragrant aroma of the herb that entered with the Pesto generation.

One of the most usable of the pleasant, newly adopted nature/water names (like Lake and Ocean), especially in middle position. It's gentle, slightly whimsical, but grounded by its similarity to May or Rae.

Bear has suddenly lumbered onto the baby name landscape. Perhaps inspired by British adventurer Bear Grylls (born Edward Michael), first celebrity chef Jamie Oliver used it as the middle name for his boy Buddy, and Alicia Silverstone called her son Bear Blu, followed by Kate Winslet's Bear Blaize.

We've seen Beatrice and Beatrix climb in popularity, along with traditional nickname Bea. And now there's Bee, giving it a buzzy nature world spin, plus a tie to popular late night TV''s Samantha Bee, not to mention Aunt Bee on the old The Andy Griffith Show TV show. Bee can theoretically be short for any girl names starting with B.

Literally meaning "beautiful lady" in Italian, Belladonna is the name of a poisonous flower also known as nightshade. This connection gives an otherwise flowery name a darker, more dramatic edge.

With the recent arrival of fruit names like Apple and Plum, this more traditional example, symbolic of fertility, might rise in popularity. Photographer Berry Berenson was born Berinthia.

Birch is a rarely used nature name that calls to mind the lovely image of the tall, strong but graceful white-barked tree.

Reese Witherspoon's Deacon has opened this churchy direction for occupational names. It reentered the US Top 1000 in 2015.

One of the new crop of boys' names that manage to be unconventional and macho at the same time — though Blade verges on the threatening.

Originally a form of the saint's name Blaise, though now more likely to be a hot word name used for both sexes, though heavily weighted toward the boys. It has been in the boys' Top 1000 since the year 2000. On the pop culture side of things, Blaze Bayley is a singer and musician who has been connected to the bands Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden.

A sweet, uplifting and still fairly uncommon modern virtue name. Its single syllable makes it especially good as a middle name, but it would also make a big impact in the first spot.

Now that parents have picked virtually every name in the garden, from the common Rose to the captivating Zinnia, some are reconsidering the old, more generic names like Flora and Posy and Blossom — which was last in favor in the 1920s and still has a Floradora showgirl aura.

Among the coolest of the cool color names, particularly popular with celebs as a unisex middle name.

Blythe is Nameberry gem — one of those names that visitors to the site are often searching for, despite the fact it's never ranked in the US charts as a given name.