Potential Character Surnames

Aarav is derived from the Sanskrit root "rav," which is related to peace and music. Aarav is also associated with the concept of wisdom. It has traditionally been a common name among Hindus, who intentionally select names to inspire particular values in their children.

A mathematical possibility, but the odds are against it.

This neglected Biblical name--it was the name of the commander of Saul's army and appears twice in the New Testament--is ready to flee Dogpatch. It was regularly used in the nineteenth century, but was pretty much demolished by the long-running hillbilly comic strip L'il Abner, which began in 1934 and ran through 1977. A more respectable namesake is Abner Doubleday, who has been credited with inventing baseball.

This Spanish month name has been quietly used for several years now in the US.

Acacia is an attractive, rarely used Greek flower name enhanced by its popular beginning-and-ending-with 'a'-construct, and is gradually beginning to catch on as a new member of the stylish girl names starting with A.

No longer tied to the hapless Ace Ventura, this jaunty, high-flying nickname name is starting to take flight among celebrity and other parents, with its countless positive references to doing well in tests and poker games, on the tennis court and golf course, and in the air.

As a variant of Adeline, Adilynn fits into a popular family of names with many alternate spellings—Adalyn, Adalynn, Adaline, Addilynn—all of which are higher on the popularity charts than this one. While the name will sound familiar to most, it will undoubtedly bring about spelling confusion at some point.

Adira is one of those rare names that's both little-used and simple, and crosses languages easily. Pronounced ah-DEER-ah, Adira is given to only a handful of girls in the US each year and could make a worthy substitute for such overexposed favorites as Ava and Ariana.

Adley made the Top 1000 at Number 735 in 2012 on the heels of sister name Hadley, only to vanish again in 2013. But now, with the popularity of Adelaide and Adeline, it has leaped upward and entered the Top 1000 once again. Adley feels in step with name trends of the moment, but will it survive the ages? Other such mashups have not.

This is a name from ancient Britain: St Adwen was one of many fifth-century Welsh saints of whom little more is known than their name. It survives in St Adwen's Church (also known as Adwena or Adwenna) in the village of Advent in Cornwall. The origin looks like gwen ("fair, blessed") plus possibly a prefix meaning "again". Alternatively, it could be related to the Welsh word addwyn, meaning "fine". Although rare, Adwen has a pleasing simplicity, and the stylish Ad- sound gives it potential as an alternative to names like Ada and Adelyn.

Gorgeous and definitely wearable for a Western baby girl.

Agostino is the Italian form of this increasingly popular ancient name.

This variation of Ahmad is one of the most popular Arabic names among Muslim families the world over and is now the most used spelling in the USA.

Energetic but mellow.