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Guilty Pleasure Names
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Aries
Latin
"a ram"
Better than Capricorn or Cancer, not as usable as Leo, the name of the Roman god of war becomes more possible as a baby name every day, as mythological names take the place of biblical names.
Briar
Nature name, English word name
"a thorny patch"
This word name entered the US Top 1000 for both genders in 2015, though it premiered a little higher for girls. There are still more baby girls named Briar than baby boys -- 594 vs. 361 in 2021 --…
Indigo
Greek
"Indian dye"
Indigo is one of the most appealing and evocative of the new generation of color names. Color names have joined flower and jewel names -- in a big way -- and Indigo, a deep blue-purple dye from…
Emrys
Welsh, variation of Ambrose
"immortal"
Magical and powerful, but gentle and approachable too, Emrys is a Welsh name which may be worth considering if you're looking for something less common that Dylan, Evan, or Morgan. An offbeat epithet…
Vale
Geographical name
Vale is part place name, part nature name -- a poetic term for a type of valley. Today Show coanchor Savannah Guthrie put Vale on the baby name map when she chose it for her daughter, but there's no…
Arianwen
Welsh
"silver, white, fair, blessed"
Rarely heard outside of Wales, Arianwen combines the pretty Welsh element gwen with the silvery arian , giving it a metallic and shining meaning. The name is sometimes listed as one of the daughters…
Chaucer
English
"maker of breeches"
One of the most distinguished names in literature could become a hero name in a family of poetry-lovers -- or be seen as a trendy new occupational name.
Waverly
English
"meadow of quivering aspens"
Waverly, with its literary resonance and lilting three-syllable sound, could well become the next generation's successor to Kimberly. Its upper-crusty surname feel places it among the new stylish…
Calix
Male variation of Calixta or Latin
"chalice"
Calix is once-obscure name that is starting to see some use in the US, where 62 baby boys were named Calix in 2024. An indirect influence is the actress Calista Flockhart, who introduced Americans to…
Echo
Greek mythology name
"echo or sound"
Echo, the pretty, resonant name of a legendary nymph, was the heroine of Joss Whedon's sci-fi series Dollhouse . Nick Hexum, of the band 311, named his daughter Echo Love. In the Greek myth, Echo was…
Hero
Greek
"demi-god"
Despite the possibility of gender confusion, the Hero in Greek myth was a woman. Myleene Klass got that when she chose Hero for her daughter, and Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson used it as their…
Cyrano
Greek
"from Cyrene"
Don't let the long-nose connotations put you off. Cyrano feels so current with names like Theo, Leo, Cypriano and Cyrus finding fans again and even the fictional character has so many redeeming…
Aloisa
German variation of Louisa
"renowned warrior"
Obscure form of an old-fashioned favorite that's poised to make a comeback. This version, which owes as much to Alison as to Louisa, has a stylish A beginning and a multi-syllabic feminine grace.
Zephyr
Greek
"west wind"
If you're looking for a name that's light and breezy, this could be it. A name from mythology: Zephyrus/Zephyr was the Greek god of the west wind, and with its similarity in sound to the likes of…
Cosmo
Italian, English, Greek
"order, beauty, universe"
With a touch of celestial power, a hint of clunky charm, and the totally cool -o ending, Cosmo may well be finally shaking itself free of both the Seinfeld association (which made it a punchline of a…
Zenda
Persian
"sacred"
Anyone who remembers the classic novel or film "The Prisoner of Zenda" would find this an odd choice.