Wren, a lilting songbird name, could be the next Robin. Wren entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2012 and is among the new wave of popular English names for girls.

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 mid-century choice, Jay was in the Top 100 from 1956 to 1970. In the last couple of decades he was replaced by such more elaborate forms as Jayden, Jaylen, and Jayce. But Jay could make a comeback in tandem with cousins May, Kay, Fay, and Ray.

Bird name Raven, once a symbol of pride for both African-American and Wiccan parents, is finding new life as a superhero name. Raven Darkholme is the real name of Mystique, heroine of the X-Men films played by Jennifer Lawrence. And there is another Raven superheroine in Teen Titans. Some parents may still choose Raven to signal black pride or mystical powers or maybe even Edgar Allan Poe fandom, but we are guessing most inspiration is coming from the comics.

Birdie was until recently a middle-aged Ladies' Club member wearing a bird-decorated hat --but now it's just the kind of vintage nickname (think Hattie, Josie, Mamie, Millie) that's coming back into style in a big way. Actress Busy Philipps named her baby Birdie (inspired by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson), as did soap star Maura West.

After a 60 year slide down the popularity ladder, Robin made a turnaround in 2020 and began climbing back into favor for baby girls. One reason may be its new status as one of the most evenly-divided gender neutral names.

Gentle but solid, as much of a word as it is a name, Robin is a rising star in the US, and a favorite in Belgium, France, Czechia and Switzerland. With memorable namesakes like Robin Hood, Robin Williams, Christopher Robin, and Robin the Boy Wonder, a recent year saw Robin feature as a gender neutral choice in the US, ranking at #703 for boys and #704 for girls.

Weaver, which made an appearance as a first name on the U.S. Top 1000 in the late 19th century and then vanished, may rise again along with its occupational brethren, from already-popular choices such as Cooper and Parker to au courant ones like Archer to occupational hotties of the future, including Booker and Sayer.

A name that's unusual in that changing the i to a y -- as in Byrd -- makes it more masculine.

One of the new bird names, like Lark and Wren, this one's associated with the billing and cooing sounds of love. Soft and gentle, Dove also has the admirable association with peace.

Rough and rugged, Talon is often associated with birds of prey, though more generally, it refers to any large claw, whether that's physical, metaphorical, or fantastical. The name has appeared in the video games League of Legends and The Legend of Zelda, in DC Comics' Teen Titans, in the Star Wars franchise (twice), and in the movies Transformers and Ratatouille.

This name of the famous fifth-century sorcerer and mentor of King Arthur may or may not be a bit wizardy for a real-life modern child. Its most noted modern bearer: football star turned actor Merlin Olsen, whose father was named Merle.

Wren may not be as time-honored a bird name choice as Robin or even Lark, but it's more fashionable and fresh, with a gentle and earthy vibe.

Make that bird name, and while it does work for both genders, it's far more popular for girls, via Raven Symone.

As Doris is to Dora, Loris is to Laura. It's virtually never used for babies of either sex. That said, it's not a bad name and might make a good honor name for an ancestral Laura or Lawrence.

This elegant surname has great potential to turn into an unusual first name, especially with its literary associations to both Stephen and Hart Crane.

From Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore, the story of a boy named Kafka -- crow in Czech.