Names that Peaked in 1914

Theron is best known these days as the surname of actress Charlize, but it does have a long history as a first name, ranking in the Top 500 in the early part of the 20th century and only dropping out of the Top 1000 in the early 1990s. Theon is a similar name made familiar by the popular series Game of Thrones: Might it and Theron rise in tandem?

An aromatic, unconventional name.

Carmel is a biblical place-name heard much more frequently in Ireland than in the U.S. and is considered a particularly Catholic name. It is given in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and is the name of a mountain ridge on the Mediterranean near Haifa in Israel, mentioned in the Old Testament, famous for its lush vegetation and said to have been often visited by Mary and the Infant Christ.

Possibly related to the Ermin- names (which gave us Emma and her variants) or to Herman OR to the Persian/Kazakh/Armenian names Arman or Armen, this is an unusual choice which fits current trends.

This is the second-to-the-original spelling of a name that's part Jersey Shore, part upper-crust British. Dominick gets you more directly to nickname Nick.

A name that relates to Concepcion and the Virgin Mary, but feels a good deal more secular.

Much fresher and more energetic than Dominique.

For better or worse, this name is still firmly attached to the TV series Gilmore Girls. It's one of a number of Scottish and Irish surname names beginning with Gil, meaning "servant". In this case, it's "servant of Mary", making it a subtle male Marian name.

Palma is an appealing Latin name that's both geographical -- it's the romantic city on the Spanish island of Majorca -- and botanical, relating to the palm frond. Sometimes given to girls born on Palm Sunday.

The progenitor of the English name Guy, Gaetano has a lot more gusto.

Attractive Italian form of Xavier, originally a Basque place name most notably borne by St Francis Xavier, a Jesuit priest and missionary.

Annette Bening and Warren Beatty bestowed this name on their daughter in honor of his mother.

See VALDA.