Names that Peaked in 1883

Currently in the Danish Top 50, Milas blends the trendiness of Silas with the old-school bookishness of Miles. Milas might derive from Latin roots, meaning soldier, or from Slavic roots meaning great/powerful.

Albertine and Alberta are old-fashioned feminizations ala Geraldine and Roberta. This is the kind of name that sounds very dowdy until a hip celebrity chooses it, at which point we don't know how we missed its coolness all this time.

Jules Jephtha "Jep" Robertson, one of the stars of A&E's Duck Dynasty, is singlehandedly reviving this obscure nickname name. It's also allegedly been used as a nickname for Geoffrey and a little coterie of Scandinavian names, like Jeppe and Jepsen, though there, it would most likely be pronounced "yep."

A boy with this name is certain to be bombarded with "What's up, doc?" every day of his life. Even Doctor would be preferable.

A popular American name in previous centuries in honor of famed Harvard President, Charles Chauncy. This name is burdened by an incredibly pompous sound and best left in the past.

Old English name as outmoded as the use of the word maid for a young girl.

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.

This variation of the more well known Alvin adds an unusual and feminine touch to the original. It sounds a bit more like what it means--"elf friend."

Ivey can be considered an alternate spelling of the botanical name Ivy, but it also has separate origins as a surname. For the Anglo-Saxon Ivey line, Ivey means "son of Ive," while for the English-Norman Iveys, it means "person from Ivoy," a commune in the Cher department of France.

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".

The addition of the h makes it more Old World, which is not the direction you want to push Matilda in.

World War II stamped a permanent verboten on Adolph.

Pleasingly quaint and dainty New Testament possibility; the nickname Dru modernizes it.

If it's not too phlegmatic for you, this surname and name of a Scottish clan could honor a number of people, especially Alexander Fleming, the father of antibiotics, and Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.

Cleora is a now-extinct name (there were no babies named Cleora recorded in the U.S. in 2012) that achieved some standing in the early 20th century thanks to the craze for all things Egypt-related. A range of Cleopatra diminutives, including Cleo, Cleora, Cleona, and Cleola, made the Top 1000 then as the ancient tombs were opened in Egypt.

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.

Eighties star Judge Reinhold (born Edward Jr. , he was given this nickname at the age of two weeks) made this possible, but it could cause a lot of confusion.

Intriguing twist on several familiar names, though many people will mistake this for Elsa, Eliza, and so on.

An invention of the eighteenth-century romantic poet James Macpherson, in his epic cycle about Ossian, a legendary Celtic hero. In Poland, where it was popular at the start of the 20th century, the spelling is Malwina, and it's also had some use in other Eastern European countries.

This name is usually seen as a surname, but could be used as a first in the tradition of Cooper, Sawyer etc.