Names that Peaked in 1881

Emry is an abbreviated form of Emery but might also be considered a relative of the Welsh Emrys. Emry was used for only 35 baby boys in the US last year and about 150 girls, placing it well below the Top 1000.

A short form of Alexandra and Alice used everywhere from Russia to Spain. A fresh alternative to Allie.

A simple, self-possessed, somewhat serious surname, which might work better as a middle.

Katharina is an attractive form of Katherine and a great way to update a classic. But English speakers may want to choose the Katerina or Katarina spelling to avoid pronunciation confusion.

It's hard to believe, via a 21st-century sensibility, that Fannie was ever a Top 50 name. But Fannie was even more popular than Fanny in its late 19th-century heyday, and stuck around much longer, staying on the Top 1000 until the 1960s while Fanny fell off in 1940. Today, however, Fannie sounds antiquated at best, and rude at worst.

In the 21st century, Exa is best known as the given name of Grimes and Elon Musk's daughter Y, a sibling for X Æ A-XII. The celebrity parents were inspired by the supercomputer terms exaFLOPS, which is the "ability for a supercomputer to perform 1 quintillion floating-point operations per second."

Sounds elven in every sense of the word.

Pryor is for those in search of an unusual occupational name...or in memory of comedian Richard.

Although this was the surname of a rugged World War II admiral, these days it has a feminine feel.

Most color names, like Scarlet and Violet, are definitely female, but not this one. Brown is as rich and warm as the tone it denotes, though we must admit the Italian version Bruno has more spark and substance.

The singer known as Pink (born Alecia) brought this hue onto the name-possibility palette, especially as a middle choice. Could Pink be the next Blue?

A sweet and simple nature name that could also be short for the surname name Odell, the vintage name Della, or the obscure saint's name Endellion.

The name of the teenaged son on the dear departed television show "Huff."

Claribel improves on its mother name Clarabelle by distancing itself from the clown and the cow.

Once a cowboyish old man name, Clem is now more commonly heard as a nickname for the fashionable Clementine, meaning "merciful one". Clemency, Clemence and Clementia are other possible long forms.

One of several surnames beginning with New that nevertheless sound anything but.

A common Chinese surname that made the Top 1000 in 1881.