Hipster Approved Baby Names

Enough parents have found naturalist Charles Darwin, the father of the theory of evolution, a worthy hero to keep Darwin relatively consistently in the Top 1000. It has a lovely meaning too—"dear friend."

Forget the furry blue Muppet, forget corpulent President Cleveland (not too difficult), and consider this name anew. We think it's spunky, a little funky, and well worth a second look.

Pixie is a cute -- quite possibly too cute -- name that suddenly feels possible thanks to the craze for names that contain the letter x. Though its origin may be uncertain, a pixie is internationally recognized as a sprite or fairy: tiny, sometimes green, usually pointy-eared.

Benji is undeniably cute, much in the way of a — yes, an adorable movie mutt. Ben is the handsome traditional short form of Benjamin, but Benji makes a more unexpected nickname

Starbaby name that might prove too supercharged for real life, but if like director Robert Rodriguez you're interested only in boys' names starting with R, you may need to add Rocket (and Rebel and Racer) to your list.

Indiana is one of those place-names (think Camden and Trenton) that sounds cooler than the place that inspired it. Its fashionable -ana ending certainly sounds eminently name-like, and Indie/Indy/Indi is one of the hottest nickname names for girls right now.

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

This bold choice soared in popularity from 2008 to 2013, and now seems to have plateaued. But watch out—the character Major Major Major Major in the classic absurdist novel Catch-22 had a terrible time.

Fifi is a perfect name -- for a French poodle. But Fifi may seem more child-friendly as names like Coco and Lulu rise. Fifi in its fluffiness also balances the seriousness of such full names as Josephine or Federica.

Zero has been documented as a given name before, but it's largely familiar as a stage name (such as Zero Mostel, born Samuel Joel Mostel) and comic book and anime characters. Seven boys were called Zero is a recent year.

Pippi may be cute but isn't very practical. In addition to being forever Pippi Longstocking, there is that variant pee-pee spelling to consider. Try Pippa instead.

Popular in Norway and Denmark, but familiar across Europe, Amalie can be pronounced as a-MAHL-yah, much like sister Amalia. A variation of Amelia, it shares the same Germanic element, amal meaning "vigorous, unceasing, work".

Though it's close to the German and French form of Matthew, Mathis, this name of the great artist can work as well for girls.

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".

A new favorite of the bohemian set, brought to light by actress Monet Mazur, daughter of the artist who designed the Rolling Stones' mouth logo.

Randolph is a timeworn classic that had its last hurrah in the 1940s, when Randolph (born George) Scott was starring in westerns, but then was probably done in by its tricky nickname Randy (which, strangely enough, was itself a Top 50 name in the fifties and sixties).

Yes, though it seems so extreme, girls were actually sometimes given this name a century ago; now it is so uncommon it would make a strong springtime statement. Biggest obstacle: the nickname Daffy.

Win is an upbeat, can-do name that can be a short form of one of the buttoned-up British choices above or can stand on its own. Welsh Wyn is another possibility.

One of the rarest of the floral names, though not without some teasing potential. Peony is a historical 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck.

This old-fashioned word for poetry has some antiquated charm but doesn't exactly roll off the tongue.