User-created list
By maggiethurstons · Updated May 2023
Across 43 pages
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Lydie is a feminine name with French origins, representing the French form of Lydia. The name traces back to ancient times, derived from the historic region of Lydia in Asia Minor (modern Turkey).…
Greydon is a modern masculine name with Anglo-Saxon roots, combining 'grey' (possibly referring to the color or meaning 'watchful') and 'don' (from 'dun' meaning hill or fortress). The name emerged…
Word name and literary name
Everybody knows Huckleberry Finn, the Mark Twain character named, Twain said, for the 19th century slang term for "humble." A few modern parents have put it on a birth certificate, including "Man Vs.…
Compound name, combining May, Mary, Margaret or Maya with Ella
"Maytime fairy; beloved fairy; pearl-like fairy; fairy mother"
A sunny sounding name, Mayella is a smoosh name with various meanings, depending on which etymological root you follow for May . The name is perhaps most associated with Mayella Ewell in Harper Lee's…
Modern invented name
Australian opera singer Nellie Melba—self-named for her hometown of Melbourne—inspired this now-dated name more associated today with a peach dessert and dietetic toast.
Welsh
"maiden"
Morwenna is an ancient Cornish name now being revived in Wales, deriving from a Celtic word meaning "maiden", although the Mor- syllable means that it's often associated with the sea. It's been heard…
Greek
"cloudy"
An enchanting ancient Greek name belonging to the Greek goddess who was created from a cloud by Zeus and so became goddess of the clouds and mother of the centaurs. The name Nephele is not widely…
Vonnie is primarily a feminine name that originated as a diminutive form of names containing the element "von" or as a nickname for names like Yvonne, Veronica, or Siobhan. With Irish and American…
Literary name or variation of Zoe, Greek
"life"
Readers who remember J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey have probably forgotten that the character was male (nee Zachary). Nowadays the somewhat loopy spin on Zoe is associated with actress Zooey…
Place name from Penacook
"beautiful stream with a pebbly bottom"
The name of a city in New Hampshire which takes its name from the Nashua River, named by the Indigenous Algonquian tribe the Nashuway or Nashua. A striking alternative to Joshua.
English place-name
"from the oxen crossing"
High-collared and straightlaced, with the deadly "Ox" nickname.
Variation of Pepin
"awe-inspiring"
Super-sweet name that was the title of a Broadway play -- but best known as a type of apple. The Dutch variation is Pepijn is finding some popularity in that country, where short nickname names are…
German
"brave as a bear"
As dated as the old Pat Boone song.
Blayre is a contemporary feminine name that represents a modern spelling variation of Blair. With Scottish and Gaelic origins, the name traditionally means 'dweller on the plain' or 'field, plain.'…
Norse
"little branch"
Spurgeon entered the mainstream name lexicon when it was chosen for their son by Ben Seward and wife Jessa Duggar, from the US reality show 19 Kids and Counting starring their large family. Spurgeon…
Scandinavian
"Thor's stone"
Shades of Thurston Howell, the effete millionaire castaway on Gilligan's Island.
French variation of Isabel
"pledged to God"
With Isabel getting so popular, parents are searching for new varieties of the name, and Isabeau is one that makes a lovely French twist. Isabeau of Bavaria was the wife of King Charles VI of…
Medieval variation of Margaret, Greek
"pearl"
An old royal name in England and Scotland that's also spelled Marjorie. Popular in the Middle Ages and Tudor period, it was revived at the end of the 19th century, peaked in 1921 and dropped off the…
Flower name; Latin
"healing"
One of the rarest of the floral names, though not without some teasing potential. Peony is a historical 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck.
Fruit name
British-born novelist Plum Sykes has taken this rich, fruity name out of the produce section and put it into the baby name basket. It's more appealing than Apple, more presentable than Peaches. The…
