Names of stars and constellations

Lyra is a name with ancient and celestial roots that's found new popularity thanks to its starring role in Philip Pullman's book series, His Dark Materials and its subsequent movie and TV adaptions. Simple yet starry, Lyra is familiar but not overused in the US, where it ranks in the Top 500.

Leo is a strong-yet-friendly name that was common among the Romans, used for fourteen popes, and is now at its highest point ever in the US thanks in part to Leonardo "Leo" DiCaprio.

Orion is a rising star, with both mythical and celestial overtones.

Effortlessly cool with a hint of the mystical, Phoenix rolls a lot of trends into one: it's a place-name and a bird name, it ends in the stylish letter x, it's got in-built nicknames, and it's unisex too. Familiar but not over-popular, Phoenix ranks in the US and UK Top 1000s.

Maia was derived from the Greek word maia, meaning "mother." In Greek legend, she was the fair-haired daughter of Atlas who mothered Zeus's favorite illegitimate son, Hermes. To the Romans, Maia was the incarnation of the earth mother and goddess of spring, after whom they named the month of May. Maya is the more common spelling.

Carina is a pretty delicately feminine name whose fall from popularity is not helped by its similarity to hurricane name Katrina or slang victim Karen.

Another astral name, this one relating to one of the largest and brightest stars in the heavens, is popular in Scandinavia and Spain, where it ranks among the Top 50 girls' names. Although still very rare in the US, we think it has serious potential to follow the likes of Luna and Lyra up the charts.

One of the stellar unique baby names from mythology, Andromeda was the beautiful daughter of Cassiopeia who, like her mother, literally became a star--the constellation that bears her name.The Bohemian Andromeda makes a dramatic and adventurous choice in a time when four-syllable mythological names are gradually making their way into the mainstream.

Yes, it's the name of the brightest star in the sky, but can't you just hear people saying, "Are you serious?" Singer Erykah Badu used it as a middle name for son Seven.

Cassiopeia, the name of a mythological mother who became a stellar constellation, is challenging but intriguing, and has all those softening Cass nicknames available. And with all names Cass-related trending, Cassiopeia may be an unusual route to a stylish name.

Better than Capricorn or Cancer, not as usable as Leo, the name of the Roman god of war becomes more possible as a baby name every day, as mythological names take the place of biblical names.

Vela is one of those rare names that is at once simple, straightforward, authentic, and unusual, at least in the Western World. Besides being an Indian girls' name, Vela is a Southern sky constellation whose name is Latin for sail – originally part of the Argo Navis constellation.

The eleventh brightest star in the sky has a celestial feel, but also could be the name of a commercial airline.

Though the plays by Sophocles and Eugene O'Neill and via the "Electra Complex" proposed by psychoanalyst Carl Jung, this name has, unfortunately, become associated with incest and murder.

J.K. Rowling is a modern master of naming who brought a whole constellation of ancient and celestial names to modern parents. Bellatrix, of one of the stars of Orion, combines fashionable names Bella and Beatrix to make a convivial and original name. The down side: the Harry Potter character Bellatrix, played by Helena Bonham Carter, is a character so evil she's called a Death Eater, killing one beloved character and being murdered by another. And the name Bellatrix is so closely associated with that character that it might be challenging to sidestep the association.

This might sound and look like a blend of Ryan, Riley, and Nigel, but it is in fact the name of the seventh brightest star in the sky. Found in the constellation of Orion, its name comes from the Arabic phrase, Rijl Jauzah al Yusrā, , meaning "the left foot of the central one."

Ara is a unique boys' name that one of the most melodious in the Armenian name pool, familiarized by Notre Dame football coach Ara Parseghian. In Armenian mythology, Ara was a king so handsome that a rival queen went to war in order to make him her own. The name Ara is also known in the Arabic and Hebrew cultures.

For as long as we all shall live, Harry Potter's sneering nemesis.

An evocative ancient word that's used as a first name in the New Testament, among other places. It's also the name of an eagle-shaped constellation.

Adventurous parents are venturing deeper into the garden in search of fresh names, but remember that this also makes for an alcoholic brunch.