Trendy Names

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.

This name of a busy British port city -- as well as of several places in America -- has a brisk and bustling air. It will now--and for years to come--be identified as a (female) Sarah Palin name.

Brynn outshines the original Welsh Bryn in the popularity stakes. This simple, brisk name might be seen as a combination of Bree and Lynn, an androgynous-sounding choice that especially in this spelling is not truly unisex: Brynn, for boys, is not even in the Top 1000.

Forget the oil. It's one of the twins that make up the constellation Gemini, and a mythological name on the cutting-edge of fashion; used by Metallica's James Hetfield.

Unlike Amber, which is in decline, this name still has a bit of a glow left -- though confusions between the two will inevitably arise.

Though Embry became famous as the name of a boy werewolf in Twilight, we think its Em- beginning and -y ending make it perfectly appropriate for a girl. You might consider it as an alternative to Emma, Emily, or Aubrey. Embry or Embury is an established English surname. 

You might think of Harper as the hottest name of the last decade, jumping from obscurity to the Top 10, where it remained until last year.

Kaleb is one of several boys' names starting with k that started life as a classic C name, Caleb. Kevin Federline named his boy Kaleb Michael Jackson.

Kendall, as used for a girl, was initially propelled by a soap opera character (Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kendall Hart in All My Children) and reality star and Kardashian sister Kendall Jenner.

A Scottish surname name, more popular as the Presidential McKinley, meaning "son of the fair hero".

Levi, lighter and more energetic than most biblical names, with its up vowel ending, combines Old Testament gravitas with the casual flair associated with Levi Strauss jeans.

An Old Testament name with a Gaelic lilt, Malachi entered the list in 1987.

Traditionally a boys’ name, now increasingly used for girls too, Micah has the potential to be an alternative for Michaela, Mia, or Maia. If you'd prefer something more established as a feminine name, you could try Micaiah, a unisex name from which Micah derives, or the German variant of Mary, Meike, which is pronounced the same. Micah had been in the US Top 1000 since the 1980s, but recently dropped off in 2022. Nevertheless, over 200 girls are still called Micah each year and with increased interest in gender neutral names, it could well be back in 2023. Notable namesakes include Canadian ice hockey player Micah Zandee-Hart, singer Micah Marah, and Olympic swimmer Micah Lawrence Sumrall.

Similar to popular Riley and Ryan and the origin of Rylan, this Old English surname has been in the US Top 1000 since the early 2000s. While it has declined in recent years, it was still given to around 375 boys in 2023 — and to 30 girls.

New York socialite and reality TV star Tinsley Mortimer introduced this name to the mainstream. Following her Gossip Girl cameo in 2008 and the airing of her own show, High Society in 2010, this once obscure choice began to climb the charts. It debuted in the US Top 1000 in 2016 and though 2023 saw it drop from the charts, it is still given to around 250 girls each year.
Derived from an English place name,Tinsley can mean "Tynni's meadow" or "Field of Council', in reference to a town in South Yorkshire. Also used as a surname, Tinsley is in tune with its more popular sister names: Kinsley, Presley, Oakley, Finley, and Paisley, to name a few. Boosted up by these on trend names, Tinsley's rise might also have been helped along by the character, Dawn Tinsley, from the popular TV show The Office and by child actress and social media star, Tinsley Price, who starred in the first series of Stranger Things. The year following release of the show did coincide with a jump in use of the name.