Unnamed List

Wren, a lilting songbird name, could be the next Robin. Wren entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2012 and is among the new wave of popular English names for girls.

Wyatt has been hot, which is to say cool, for several years now. With its easy Wyatt Earpish cowboy charm, it's relaxed but still highly respectable.

Xander is a diminutive of Alexander, the Latin variation of the Greek Alexandros. Its meaning, "defending men," is taken from the Greek roots aléxein, "to defend," and andros, "men." Zander, pronounced the same way, is an alternate spelling.

Any of the Y forms, which also include Yasmeen, Yasmin, and Yasmina, make this name more unusual and distinctive.

On the rise as an independent name: Zander and Xander are both widely used can increasingly be found as characters in movies and on TV.

Zara has multiple origins, but most notably is a variation of Zahrah, a name derived from the Arabic zahrah, meaning "blooming flower." Zara can also be a diminutive of the Bulgarian name Zaharina, a feminine form of the Hebrew Zechariah. Today, Zara is heavily associated with the Spanish fast-fashion empire of the same name.

Zoe is one of those surprising names that has been on the Top 1000 nearly every year since 1880, but it's only since the turn of this century that it's ranked in the Top 100.

This unusual and alluring choice was used by David Mamet for his daughter, who is now grown and an actress on the hit show Girls.