1450+ English Names (with Meanings & Popularity)

Some definite downsides: Massive, Messy.

A Middle English form of Adalbert (and therefore of Albert), which was the name of several Saxon kings. Nowadays, Ethel plus Bert is not a fashionable sound, but Albert is feeling fresh again.

Thompson is not as popular as Jackson or Harrison, but a novel way to circumvent Junior for the son of a Thomas.

A rare place name and surname, with possible potential as an alternative to Jaxon. Famous wearers of the surname include biologist brothers Charles Edward and Walter Faxon, and composer Nancy Plummer Faxon.

Streamline it to Marsh, Mason, or Carson.

Quintessentially, stylelessly preppy.

This rarely heard name pares down all the ultrafeminine Dan names to one that's much more powerful, for both boys and girls.

This dignified Old English surname was brought into the modern consciousness by author Armistead Maupin, who wrote the San Francisco stories Tales of the City. There was also a Civil War general named Lewis Armistead.

A better modern solution than Robert Jr. ; known to fiction readers via Canadian novelist Robertson Davies.

Has diverse links to a Groucho Marx character, a bouncing ball, and late performance artist Spalding Gray.

Intriguing alternative that goes beyond Louisa and May, for Little Women fans.

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.

Gently pleasant English family name long associated with 60-Minuteman Morley Safer.

Forster, a variation of Foster or potentially even Forester, is associated with British novelist E.M. Forster, author of A Passage to India, Howard's End, and A Room with a View. But if you choose Forster, you'd always have to force that 'r'.

Possible alternative to Anderson.

An occupation name that sounds odd to the modern ear but enjoyed some use a century ago. May make a comeback as a more genteel brother to the new union of boys (and girls) with worker names such as Mason, Carter, and Bailey.

One way to refer to an ancestral Roy, if not the most mellifluous.

A masculine way to honor a feminine Page -- although that ett ending is typically found in girls' names.