1450+ English Names

Bates is a fresh version of Bartholomew, and feels more wearable than Bart. Bates could be considered a patriotic choice for American parents - Katharine Lee Bates was an author and professor best known for penning the words to "America the Beautiful".

This name may be related to the Latin Maximus, which means "the greatest," or to a British landowner's name, but for most modern parents, it's one of several ways to get to short form Max.

One of the surname names used more in the last century, à la Milton and Morton.

One of the rare English surname names originally derived from a female given name: Eoforhild (Everild), meaning "boar battle". Also spelled Averill, it's an extremely rare choice today, but shares sounds with fashionable Ava and Avery.

Rider is a rock-and-roll baby name, in every sense of the term, though usually spelled Ryder, as in the sons of Kate Hudson and John Leguizamo.

In 2014, fifteen newborns were named Whisper, all of them girls. We can see the attraction of the name but if you are in Australia be warned - Whisper is a well-known brand of sanitary products, so a teenaged Whisper will find life more embarrassing than usual.

Windsor may have male references, such as Britain's royal House of Windsor and a tie's windsor knot, but this name also has a definite feminine feel, as in Windsor Rose. That seems appropriate, as Windsor is used equally these days for boys and girls.

Twain can be thought of as a modernization (and possible namesake) of the dated Wayne, seasoned with the humor of Mark Twain, who adopted it from a river term.

Last name occasionally used as a first, can be seen as a Lance Armstrong athlete-hero name.

The spelling Pearce softens the name's sharper edges, though we prefer the original Piers. That "pear" snippet could confuse pronunciation, which is just like Pierce.

If it's royalty you're after, stick with Earl or Prince -- this is too deified.

Appealingly boyish a decade ago, less so now.

Sounds incomplete, like a pet form of Miranda.

Slightly more modern than Walter, but only just.

New is a middle name name with meaning: Your baby, after all, is new to the world and you may hope will continue to approach life and experience as if everything is new and exciting.

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.

Riggan found fame as the first name of the hero of the Oscar-winning film Birdman, played by Michael Keaton. Riggan has the two-syllable n-ending surname feel so trendy for boys' names today. It may be a variation of Reagan or Regan or it may be a play on the word rigging. Whatever its origin, we bet this is one fictional name that will find wider use in real life.

Pistol is one of the new names that entered the lexicon in the US in 2013, when it was given to nine babies of each gender. Call it an equal-opportunity badass baby name with an unfortunately violent image.

Innovative architect, inventor, and thinker Buckminster (universally known as Bucky) Fuller makes this vaguely possible.

A heroine in a Victorian novel written with a quill pen, has an unusual, offbeat charm.