My Favorite Names

Credit the award-winning single-named British singer for taking the girls’ name Adele from a quiet semi-retirement back into currency. Adele reentered the US Top 1000 popular baby names in 2011 and has remained there ever since.

Adelina is back in the Top 1000 after an absence of nearly a century, thanks to the meteoric rise of her sister name Adeline -- along with Adelaide, Adele, and Ada.

Boyish nickname name that first heard in the Ricki/Terri era but finding new favor among parents who love names like Billie and Frankie, Scottie and Stevie. It was among the fastest-rising names in the US on the 2023 names chart.

Cayden is one of the many spellings of this popular name, made all the more popular when they're counted together. According to our annual playground analysis, sound-wise at least, Cayden is the 13th most popular name in the US, given to more than 10,600 baby boys.

Charli may be the new Charlie, which is the cooler Charlotte. British singer-songwriter Charli (born Charlotte) XCX, creator of the hit album Brat, and TikTok star Charli D'Amelio popularized the Charli spelling.

Emma has now been among the top girl names in the United States for several years, claiming the Number 1 crown in 2008 and again from 2015 to 2018 before dropping back to second place.

After decades of disuse, soft and feminine Evelyn has returned to the baby name stage in a huge way. It reached the Top 10 for the first time in 2017. Evelyn has now surpassed its former heights, joining a legion of contemporary little Evas, Avas, Eves, Evies, and Evelines.

Hunter has been dropping a bit for the past few years but is still one of the leaders of a distinctive band of boys' names that combines macho imagery (Hunter, Austin, Harley) with a softened masculinity. Hunter was for years attached to gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson; Josh Holloway used it for his son.

This variation of Jordan entered the Top 1000 in 1989. Jordyn as well as Jordan trended throughout the 90s and early 2000s, but are beginning to fall slightly on the girls' side. While the Jordan spelling reached the highest point in popularity out of the 2, making it into the Top 50 in the late 90s and early 2000s, today Jordyn has taken the lead.

Landon is a popular surname name; it's been dropping slightly in recent years but has surpassed its once more popular rhyming cousin Brandon. For some it may bring back nostalgic memories of Little House on the Prairie 's understanding Pa, played by Michael Landon.

Peyton is a unisex surname that rose to fame in the 90s, with parents drawing inspiration from football star, Peyton Manning, and, oddly enough, from "Peyton Flanders", the villainess of the 1992 film, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle. Combining gentle sounds with contemporary style and the naughtiness of Peyton Place, the name remains a popular choice in the US today.

Shay has an old-fashioned feel due to its association with the word for a kind of horse-drawn carriage and at the same time seems modern thanks to its simple straightforwardness. Use Shay as a phonetic equivalent of the Irish surname Shea or the Hebrew male name Shai, or as an abbreviated form of such names as Seamus or Shane.

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.