A List of Trendy Old Fashioned Names

Cadeau

French

"gift"

Cadeau puts a decidedly French-ified twist on the word name trend, but don't be surprised if you encounter ponies and poodles with the same moniker.

Calico

English word name

"cotton cloth imported from India; a blotched or spotted animal"

A word name with fashionable o -ending that has associations with both the homespun fabric and the mottled cat. Alice Cooper named his daughter Calico decades ago, while it was selected more recently…

Cameo

Word name

This evocative term for a stone or shell carved in relief could make a striking first name for a girl, though she would have a starring role in her story, rather than a cameo.

Camera

English word name

"an optical instrument used to capture and store images or videos"

The late tennis great Arthur Ashe (whose wife was a photographer) pioneered word names when he used this for his daughter. It would make an interesting first or middle name possibility for parents…

Candace

Latin

"white, pure, sincere"

Candace, an ancient title of a dynasty of Ethiopian queens mentioned in the New Testament, is associated both with actress Candice Bergen and Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell. Both spellings…

Candie

Candie is a feminine name that emerged as a diminutive form of Candace or Candice, which ultimately derives from the title of ancient Ethiopian queens, meaning "queen mother" or "clear, pure." The…

Cantrelle

French

"song"

Vocal name seldom heard, with most elle-ending names these days dropped in favor of the more straightforward Elle and Ella.

Cara

Latin, Italian, Irish, Spanish, and Portuguese

"dear; friend; face"

Cara is a simple, sweet, Italian endearment that enjoyed its greatest popularity from the 1970s through the 1990s, reaching a high of Number 189 in 1977. Despite the rising celebrity of English…

Caralie

Caralie is a feminine name with French influences, possibly derived from combining 'cara' (dear or beloved in Latin) with the French suffix '-lie.' The name has a graceful, melodic quality with its…

Carly

English feminization of Carl, German

"free man"

Though a couple of its more "creative" spellings—Carli and Karlee, for example—are still on the rise, this feminine form of Carl, popularized by singer Carly Simon in the 1970s, could by no stretch…

Carmella

Italian and Spanish variation of Carmel, Hebrew

"garden"

Most familiar as the name of Tony Soprano's wife, but she spelled it Carmela. In the contemporary US, both Carmella and Carmela are used in near-equal numbers, given to a total of about 300 baby…

Cascade

English word name

"waterfall"

A nature name evocative of rushing waterfalls and flowing water, with a plausible, name-y sound thanks to it similarity to Cassie, Cassidy, and Cade.