User-created list
Names I Would Never Use
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Magic
Word name
For basketball fans, in honor of Magic Johnson. Or anyone who believes in magic.
Bunny
Animal name or English diminutive of Berenice, Greek
"she who brings victory"
Bunny may be adorable, but is it really enough of a name for your daughter? Plus if Buffy is fluffy, what would that make Bunny? Still, Bunny as a baby name is in the spotlight since Bryan Adams…
Snow white
Literary name
Snow definitely works as a name; White, not so much. And Snow White, please don't. Read more about Snow White and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.
Barnabas
Aramaic
"son of consolation"
Barnabas, whose birth name was Joseph, was one of the earliest Christian disciples in Jerusalem, who undertook missionary journeys with Paul the Apostle, His name is a bit Old World compared to the…
Oprah
Variation of Orpah, Hebrew
"fawn or gazelle"
The misspelling that created an indelibly one-person name. And we mean that literally: Despite Oprah Winfrey's fame and appeal, there were no baby girls named Oprah last year, OR Orpah. The Biblical…
Rainer
German
"wise army"
Rainer is one of those baby names that is still under-the-radar but has been quietly gaining traction: The number of boys who've received the name has doubled in the past decade, to just under 50.…
MCDONALD
Shooter
Word name
"person who fires a gun; member of a sports team who scores goals"
More than 300 babies have been named Shooter in the US since 2002, which, depending on who you ask, is arguably about 300 too many. One of the violent names for boys that have gained traction in…
Nero
Latin
"stern"
The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories. Nero was born Lucius Domitius…
Simba
Swahili or Shona
"lion; strength"
Traditional African name made cartoonish by the Disney character in The Lion King. In Shona it means "strength".
Bronson
English
"son of brown-haired one"
This surname has a modern yet old New England feel, perhaps because of the association with the transcendental teacher and reformer Bronson (born Amos Bronson) Alcott, father of Louisa May. (One-time…
Law
Law is a masculine name with multiple origins and meanings. As an English surname-turned-first-name, it derives from the Old English 'hlaw' meaning 'hill' or as a shortened form of Lawrence, meaning…
Petula
Modern invented name
Swinging London songbird Petula Clark claims that this name was her father's invention; in any case it hasn't seen much copycat usage.
Devereaux
French surname
"from Evreux; riverbank"
Devereaux is familiar to many English speakers as a surname but not as a first. It's a habitational name related to the town of Evreux in France, with the prefix de- denoting it likely referred to a…
France
Place-name
This geographic name has lots of Gallic elan. France Nuyen is a French-Vietnamese actress who starred in the Broadway hit The World of Suzie Wong .
Brunhilda
Norse
"armed for battle"
Variant of Brunhild, still clad in heavy armor. Though the heroine Brunhilda of Quentin Tarantino's recent film Django Unchained may have given this version of the name new appeal.
Cain
Hebrew
"spear; possessed"
Biblical name Cain was, until recently, seldom heard outside of the Old Testament and soap operas. Although Cain's murderous actions will always make this name difficult for some, Cain, Eve and…
Carrie
Diminutive of Carol, English, or Caroline, French"free man"
"free man"
Carrie lives on mainly on the screen, as the new/old antiheroine of Stephen King's classic Carrie , as turn-of-the-21st-century diva Carrie Bradshaw of Sex & The City , and as Claire Danes'…
Glenn
Scottish
"valley"
Glenn appealed to a lot of post-World War II parents for its cool, leafy image, also calling up the Big Band sounds of Glenn Miller and the calm, composed image of actor Glenn Ford, whose name at…
Topanga
Native American
"where the mountain meets the sea"
Used for a free-spirited character on a 1990s sitcom, this name of a beautiful Southern California canyon does have an unconventional aura.