Names that Peaked in 1889

Anatole is one of the unique boys' names with an unusual-ish feel but an uncertain provenance, with a meaning related to sunrise and thus to fire. While it's Greek in origin, it is associated more closely with France. Anatole Kuragin is a dashing, roguish prince in Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Like Friends, Ross is off the air and into syndication as a baby name, having plummeted from its zenith in the late 80s to fall off the US Top 1000 in 2013. Today, Ross is more likely to be a dad name than a newborn name.

This name of three early popes has been associated in recent years with a cocky cartoon cat ("Thufferin' thuccatash!") and the Italian Stallion hero of the Rocky and Rambo movies (who was born Michael) — and yet we think it just might be ready to move further back into the mainstream.

Long a royal nickname in England, it's coming back there along with Archie and Alfie. British singer Kate Bush calls her little boy Bertie.

We love this partly for purely personal reasons, since it is one of our surnames. We used it as the middle name of a son –and it can make a good first choice too. Redmond – also found as Reamann or Raemonn – is the Irish form of the Germanic name that occurs in modern English as Raymond.

A sweet-meaning and sounding name dating back to the Roman Empire, and later found in the antebellum South, Dulcie has in the modern era been heard most often in Australia.

One of those pan-European nickname names much more familiar in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe than in the US, though related name Mina is making a comeback here. Light and bright, it could be an alternative to Mila, Minnie, or Millie.

Franz is the German equivalent to Francis, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a Franz outside of countries with Germanic origins. In America the name is often associated with celebrated author Franz Kafka, who was born in Prague.

Levin, known in the U.S. mostly as a surname, is a Top 100 boys' name in Germany. There have been saints with variations of this name, whose meaning relates to love.

Ing was a powerful Norse god whose name inspired several modern variations -- though Inga has become a caricatured Scandinavian choice.

Leta has hipster cred as the daughter of cool mommy blogger Dooce. Related to the Greek mythological Leda, a great beauty who mothered another great beauty, Helen of Troy, Leta is a name that's as unique as it is historic: Only 14 baby girls were named Leta in the US last year, and 18 were named Leda. Pronunciation is lee-tah.

This bold choice soared in popularity from 2008 to 2013, and now seems to have plateaued. But watch out—the character Major Major Major Major in the classic absurdist novel Catch-22 had a terrible time.

After a century of association with horses and cows, this name just could be ready for revival by a fearless baby namer -- after all, it did happen to Jessie and Becky.

Laid-back and humble, with a distinctive down-home charm.

Branch is an attractive name with associations both with trees and with branching out into brave new worlds. Baseball's Branch (born Wesley, with Branch as his middle name) Rickey broke the color barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson for the Dodgers. Like Leaf, Branch makes a nice, not-so-obvious, addition to the tree category.

Old Norse name that lives on more appealingly in modern times as Jalmari, short form Jari.

This surname-name oozes Southern charm; nevertheless, its most famous bearer was a New Englander, Rhode Island senator Claiborne de Borda Pell, who sponsored education legislation leading to the much beloved Pell scholarship programme. That connection alone instills this name with intellect as well as style.

Ada, yes. Ida, maybe. But Oda, a Scandinavian version of Odelia, not really. To English speakers, it sounds too much like "odor".

This is a name you get stuck with, not (we hope) one your parents choose for you.

Another meaningful word name that actually dates back to pre-Emancipation days.