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A List of Trendy Old Fashioned Names

  1. Alaska

    • Origin:

      Native American

    • Meaning:

      "great land"

    • Description:

      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.
  2. Pomeline

    • Origin:

      French, related to "apple"

    • Meaning:

      "apple"

    • Description:

      A rarely heard--even in France--name, most prominent as the third name of Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi, the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco and granddaughter of Grace Kelly.
  3. Howie

    • Description:

      Howie is a masculine name that originated as a diminutive form of Howard, though it's now often used as an independent given name. Howard derives from the Old Norse name Hávarðr, meaning "high or chief guardian." Howie carries a friendly, approachable quality typical of nicknames ending with the -ie suffix. The name reached its peak popularity in the United States during the 1950s and 1960s, aligning with the success of figures like musician Howie Day and television host Howie Mandel. While retaining a certain boyish charm, Howie has declined in usage in recent decades, giving it a distinctive retro quality that might appeal to parents looking for a friendly, unpretentious name with historical roots.

  4. Lynette

    • Origin:

      French elaboration of Lynn or Welsh

    • Meaning:

      "idol"

    • Description:

      Linda begat Lynn which gave way to Lynette, which peaked in the late 1960s. Lynette has been off the Top 1000 for a couple decades now, and the Lynn variations finding the most favor are those that put the "lyn" part at the end: Evelyn, Madelyn, Brooklyn.
  5. Bliss

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Description:

      A sweet, uplifting and still fairly uncommon modern virtue name. Its single syllable makes it especially good as a middle name, but it would also make a big impact in the first spot.
  6. Maribel

    • Origin:

      English combination of Mary and Bel, or Spanish short form of María Isabel, "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + beautiful"

    • Meaning:

      "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + beautiful"

    • Description:

      This modern name gathers some steam from the wildly popular Isabel.
  7. Odie

    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Odell, Otis; English, German

    • Meaning:

      "of the valley; wealthy"

    • Description:

      This old-timey nickname for Otis and Odell is strongly tied to Garfield’s canine companion in the Garfield comic, movie, and TV franchise.
  8. Gallagher

    • Origin:

      Irish

    • Meaning:

      "descendant of foreign helper"

    • Description:

      Gallagher is, like so many of its genre, friendly, open, and optimistic. Some might associate it with the fraternal members of the band Oasis, Noel and Liam Gallagher.
  9. Georgie

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "farmer"

    • Description:

      A spunky boyish diminutive in the vein of Frankie, Billie and Charlie, but far less popular in the US. Georgie could be a nickname for Georgia, Georgette, Georgina or Georgiana – or just use it as it is, as over 90 sets of American parents did in 2021.
  10. Pippi

    • Origin:

      Norse variation of Philippa

    • Meaning:

      "lover of horses"

    • Description:

      Pippi may be cute but isn't very practical. In addition to being forever Pippi Longstocking, there is that variant pee-pee spelling to consider. Try Pippa instead.
  11. Gale

    • Origin:

      Nature name

    • Description:

      Gale for boys is more a storm name than a short form of Abigail. Since Gale has resurfaced as the name of Liam Hemsworth's daring character in The Hunger Games, it has new force for boys.
  12. Maxim

    • Origin:

      French variation of Maximus

    • Meaning:

      "greatest"

    • Description:

      Although often connected to the men's magazine title, Maxim is a chic and powerful name for a little boy. It's proving moderately popular too, having been in the Top 1000 in the US since the year 2000.
  13. Milou

    • Origin:

      Combination of Marie and Lou or Louise

    • Description:

      Milou and her near-identical twin Malou are adorable names popular throughout Europe; they're contractions of Marie or Mary and Lou or Louise. The Malou spelling will probably be easier for English speakers to pronounce; Milou may be conflated with Milo.
  14. Channing

    • Origin:

      English or Irish

    • Meaning:

      "people of Cana or wolf cub"

    • Description:

      Channing is a sophisticated surname name whose use is probably linked to actor Channing Tatum and Channing Crowder, former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins.
  15. Vince

    • Origin:

      Short form of Vincent, Latin

    • Meaning:

      "conquering"

    • Description:

      Vince is not a short form that often stands alone on the birth certificate, the way Jack or even Joe does, but it has certain credibility as the name always used for football great Vince Lombardi. And as a diminutive for Vincent, it's a far sight better than Vinnie or Vinny or even Vin.
  16. Mimi

    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Mary, Miriam, and others

    • Description:

      Sweet, nicknamey name belonging to the tragic heroines of both La Bohème and Rent. Mimi might feel too slight for many parents to use on the birth certificate, but as a short form, it's one of the cutest of the cute baby names.
  17. Elke

    • Origin:

      Dutch, German, and Frisian diminutive of Adelheid

    • Meaning:

      "noble"

    • Description:

      Though she has long stood on her own, Elke has many longer cross-cultural connections, to the Dutch/German/Scandinavian Adelheid and Alice and the English Adelaide, as a feminine version of Elkanah and as a Yiddish form of Eleanor.
  18. Peony

    • Origin:

      Flower name; Latin

    • Meaning:

      "healing"

    • Description:

      One of the rarest of the floral names, though not without some teasing potential. Peony is a historical 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck.
  19. Dot

    • Origin:

      English, diminutive of Dorothy

    • Description:

      Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.
  20. Ferdinand

    • Origin:

      German

    • Meaning:

      "bold voyager"

    • Description:

      Ferdinand is a traditional name among Spanish royal families and also appears in Shakespeare's The Tempest, borne by the handsome young prince shipwrecked on Prospero's island. Bold, daring, and poetic, it was a popular choice in the US in the 19th and early 20th century, but the 1938 movie Ferdinand the Bull has left it with a lingering clunkiness and it has been out of style since the 80s.