Names That Mean Also

Iris has so much going for it. It's a fashionable flower name. It's a mythological name, from the Greek goddess of the rainbow. And it's a classic name, always ranking in the girls' Top 1000 but now at its highest point ever.

You may be surprised to know that Enzo is now a Top 100 boy name in the US and the UK, where it has been climbing straight uphill since the turn of this century.

Cole -- a short name that embodies a lot of richness and depth -- has long been associated with the great songwriter Cole Porter. It's quite popular in Scotland.

A modern, multifaceted name, Sage is short, sweet, and strong. A unisex possibility, it is also a virtuous word name associated with wisdom, and a nature name linked to a fragrant herb.

The name Veronica projects a triple-threat image: at once saintly, sensuous, and strong. The name derives from Berenice, the Latin form of the Greek name Berenike "she who brings victory", with the spelling influenced by the Latin phrase vera icon "true image". Veronica was the name of the compassionate woman who wiped Jesus's face when he was on his way to Calvary and whose cloth was miraculously imprinted with his image: she is now the patron saint of photographers.

Most famous as a Dracula victim (where Mina is short for Wilhelmina), Mina is a name that can stand on its own or be a diminutive of any name ending in -mina, most usually Wilhelmina.

A variation of Greek Dionysius, itself derived from the name of the god of wine, revelry, and dance, Dion gives a nod to mythology while also having historical ties to a student of Plato, to a Greek mathematician and to 1st century writer and historian.

As a contemporary name, it came into popular use in the late 1950s and remained in the Top 1000 until 2006. It has dipped in and out of the charts since then, and is still given to a not insignificant 200 boys each year.

With the popular 'ash' sound and a contemporary feel, Cash is a widely used name in the US. Used occasionally before the 2000s, Cash really took off in 2003, following the death of American musical legend, Johnny Cash.

Vanessa was invented by writer Jonathan Swift for a lover named Esther Vanhomrigh—he combined the first syllable of her last name with the initial syllable of her first. Swift used it in the poem Cadenus and Vanessa in 1713. A century later, Johan Christian Fabricius used Vanessa as the name of a genus of butterfly.

Like its cousin Tessa, Nessa -- a shortening of Vanessa or Agnes or Anastasia among other possibilities -- is an attractive nickname that can stand on its own.

When the Eddie Murphys named their fourth daughter Zola, it affirmed the up-and-coming status of the name, which has African roots, but also literary links to Emile Zola. Zola may also be recognizable to some as the adopted daughter of Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd on the hit, long-running show Grey's Anatomy.

Phoenix is a New Age name symbolizing rebirth and immortality. It's also a place name, a color name, a mythological name, AND an animal name, combining several of today's hottest trends in one appealing package.

The girls have Violet and Scarlet and Ruby and Rose, but for the boys there's a much more limited palette of color names. Gray (or Grey), is one exception, which could make for a soft and evocative--if slightly somber-- choice, especially in the middle. Kaitlin Olson and Rob McElhenney recently named their son Leo Grey.

Isa is a name unto itself as both a Persian name meaning "strong-willed" and as Germanic one derived from the element is meaning "ice". It can also be a short form of Isabel, Isabella, Isadora, Louisa, and similar. Currently popular in Brazil and The Netherlands, it has seen some increased use in the US in recent years, perhaps owing to the popularity of other short names like Ava, Mia, and Isla.

This is a rich, melodic shortening of the popular girls' name Amelia that can stand on its own. There are several figures in Greek myth named Melia, most notably a daughter of Oceanus. The Meliae are nymphs associated with trees.

Troy shot to popularity as a first name in tandem with that of 1960s heartthrob Troy (born Merle) Donahue; its image has now, thanks in part to the Brad Pitt-starring epic, Troy, receded back to conjuring up the ancient site of the Trojan wars.

The name of the longest river in the British Isles rose to the US Top 25 for girls in the 1970s and the Top 100 for boys, but has fallen off the Top 1000 for both genders. At the latest count, the name Shannon was given to about 200 babies in the US, about a third of those boys. As a favorite Irish name, Shannon has now been supplanted by newcomers such as Saoirse and Seanan.

Thanks to Mariah Carey, everyone now knows this name – and is aware that Mariah's pronounced with a long i – just as Maria was in the Jane Austen era. And though Mariah now sounds modern, it was heard as far back as 1550 in Great Britain.

Uma is a sweet, strong name for a Hindu goddess... and a Hollywood one. But as popular as Uma Thurman is, other parents have not yet picked up on her name, making it a rarity.

Among the Top 20 names of the 1990s, today's Courtney is more apt to be the babysitter than the baby. Courtney has dropped since its peak at Number 17 in 1995. Familiar from Courtney Love and Courtney Cox.