Ben, the diminutive of Benjamin or Benedict, can easily stand on its own as a simple, strong, nice-guy choice, though it's somewhat attenuated. Ben is this generation's Bob or Bill.

Sara, the streamlined form of Sarah, makes this ancient name feel more modern, but perhaps a bit lighter weight.

This unpretentious, accessible, and optimistic ("everything's jake" -- meaning OK) short form of the top name Jacob is itself widely used, though more parents these days are opting for the full name Jacob. Jake (born Jacob) Gyllenhall is its most prominent current bearer.

Only if you're madly nostalgic for sixties TV.

In the early eighties, Lindsay, in tandem with Courtney, approached the Top 10.

A unique combination of a surname feel and dainty femininity, Lacey is a favorite in the UK where it ranks in the Top 500. Likely derived from the name of a place in Normandy, it might occasionally be considered a diminutive to Wallace ("Welshman") or Larissa ("citadel").

A huge name in the late 90's and most of the 00's, Kaitlyn's been on a downward trend in recent years. Kaitlyn and its soundalikes have been so well used in the US that they can no longer be seen as fresh, but it's still relatively popular in Canada.

State name Alaska stems from an Aleutian word for the land mass itself. The number of baby girls named Alaska has doubled in the past five years, and is sure to continue increasing as more place names are annexed as baby names. Wilder but as habitable as Dakota or Cheyenne, Alaska is a girls' name choice for the future.

The hurricane blew this one out of the realm of possibility.

With vintage names on the rise and recent data suggesting that the US is following the UK trend of nicknames-as-given-names, Ruthie joined Goldie, Daisy, and Nellie on the US Top 1000 list in 2023.

So far out it's almost ready to be let back in.

One of the surname names used more in the last century, à la Milton and Morton.

The currently preferred replacement for Becky, sometimes used on its own.

Hassan is among the more familiar Arabic choices, and also one with an attractive meaning. It has appeared in the US Top 1000 every year since 1971.