1450+ English Names (with Meanings & Popularity)

Despite Thornton Wilder, playwright of the perennial Our Town, only a handful of baby boys receive this name each year..

fuhgeddaboutit.

Made famous by actress Idina Menzel, of "Rent" and "Wicked" fame.

The name of the mother of Aethelred the Unready was once common among the Anglo-Saxon nobility, and was briefly revived during the 19th century, only to be lost once again to history.

A decade or two ago, we might have stopped with Blake, but today the surname Blakely or Blakeley sounds more modern as a first name.

Like Verity and Amity, this inclusive virtue name used by the colorful British literary Mitford family is ready to join its more popular peers Hope, Faith, and Grace.

British place-name unlikely to evoke much passion in any baby namer.

When Matthew McConaughey and wife Camila Alves chose the old English surname and place name Livingston for their third child, they elevated it from half of a Stanley & Livingston joke to a modern possibility. Kind of. The only other well-known bearer of the name in the contemporary world is singer Livingston Taylor, brother of James, who is called Liv. Given that little Livingston McConaughey's older brother is named Levi, that uplifting nickname may be too close, though his parents apparently like its sound. An original choice.

Joss is more fashionable than Jocelyn or Josslyn. This is a short form that could be used independently, a la the singer Joss Stone. One of a troupe of adorable boyish nicknames newly fashionable for girls a la Lou and Charlie.

A dated fifties surname name that led to the nickname SAndy.

Forever the upstairs neighbor on The Honeymooners.

Chaplin carries two very distinctive images: the beloved Little Tramp and a minister, often to the military. It was the baby-name choice of Ever Carridine in 2010.

Farrar has two separate origins: an occupational name meaning "smith", and a Scottish river name, from a Pictish word meaning "to wind". Barely ever recorded as a first name, Farrar is a blank slate that fits with the surname style that's popular today.

If you use this for a boy, it had better be a family name, hidden away in the middle.

Fleet is one of the uncountable number of new word name possibilities, and a particularly cool choice at that. Connoting speed, Fleet beats Rush any day. Might be short for Fleetwood, but we prefer it on its own.

In Wuthering Heights, Cathy's milquetoast husband; Heath is so much more appealing.

Bobbsey Twins-era nickname name that could find new life via Nan, heroine of The Nanny Diaries. Nan was also the nickname of Annabel St George, the protagonist of Edith Wharton's novel "The Buccaneers".

Even if you're a loyal alumnus, consider something less ultraupright, like Yale or Cal.

Boo as a first name first achieved notoriety as the name of the child-man in Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird. Arthur "Boo" Radley was meant to be frightening, but only in a simple, non-threatening way. More recently, Boo has been used as the middle name of one of chef Jamie Oliver's children and the nickname in the middle of television's Honey Boo Boo. Boo is also the name of the world's cutest dog and of the adorable little girl in Monsters Inc. In a more basic way, Boo is a term of endearment.

This unusual offshoot of Page is one of the undiscovered unique baby names, with lots of energy and charm. Actress Paget Brewster, star of Criminal Minds, presents another spelling possibility. She comes from a family of unique names--her mother is Hathaway, her father Galen.