Dog Names That Start With S

Selby, a rarely heard British surname, feels sleeker and more distinctive than Shelby. Todd Selby, known primarily by his last name, is a hip photographer of interiors.

Sachi, often short for Sachiko, was given to 25 girls in the US in a recent year. While it is technically Japanese, this short form has an unidentifiably international feel and might be a relative of the stylish Sacha.

Stylish surname name which can also be spelled Styles, as in One Direction band member Harry.

Sidda is a name made famous by the heroine of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood; it probably started life as a nickname.

While some sources assign the place-name the romantic meaning "beautiful daughter of the stars," the Virginia region itself says the name is of uncertain Native American origin with many possible but no definitive meaning. No matter: Shenandoah is a lovely name that's rare but usable.

This topographical name, more suited to a girl than a boy--though it would inevitably be confused with SARAH--has some distinguished bearers: famous Spanish missionary to Mexico Father Junipero Serra, and sculptor Richard Serra, known for his challenging large-scale metal works.

Part of a group of similar midcentury names rarely given to babies today.

It has a variety of associations from Smokey Robinson to Smokey the bear, but Smokey still feels a bit comical for a baby.

This cosmological name is given to a handful of boys and girls each year in the USA. Likely to get confused with Stella, but definitely edgier and likely to start a conversation.

Sunita is an easily-translated name brought to the American lexicon by astronaut Sunita "Suni" Williams, who holds the record for most spacewalks by a woman.

A shimmery name with a wonderful meaning; another intriguing variation is Siroun.

A jaunty offshoot of Sullivan, Sully will be associated by kids with the beloved character in the Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc. Rare for a girl, but with a cool surnamey style and echoes of midcentury favorite Sally.

Sister is an old-timey nickname-name for girls, ranking in the Top 1000 as a proper name for girls until the beginning of the 20th century. But more often, Sister was used as a nickname in the truest sense of the word, not a short form ala Kathy but a nickname in the way that Chip and Bud are. Or maybe Junior is a more appropriate name analogy: Sister was sometimes the nickname given to the only girl in a family of boys, so literally a descriptive word name like Junior.

Long synonymous with the American outlaw Harry Longabaugh, aka The Sundance Kid, who got his nickname from the town of Sundance, Wyoming, where he was incarcerated as a teenager. The place name Sundance was taken from the sun dance ceremony practiced by local Native American tribes.

Cute and short name that sounds right on trend with it's V sound.

Alyssa Milano's character on the soap opera Mistresses was Savannah, called Savi.

Selig comes from the Yiddish vocabulary word meaning 'happy, fortunate, blessed.' Most of us are more familiar with its Woody Allen variation, Zelig.

Worldly and evocative.

Sarada is the Japanese word for "salad," and thus, is not a given name in Japan. It was used for the Naruto character Sarada Uchiha. According to Tumblr user @ruineko, "When you say her full name, you get something that sounds like sarada-yu. Sarada-yu means cooking oil, oil is used to light a flame...she is the oil that will start the flame of the Uchiha."

Feisty floral name that would work better as a middle name than as a first, so called because of the flower's resemblance to a dragon's open mouth.

Fervent fans of The Catcher in the Rye might want to consider this as a literary tribute. More mainstream alternative: Holden.