Dog Names That Start With W

Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain (born Wilton) lends a sort of mythic quality to his name. Few have ventured to use it since it is so tied to the famed Chamberlain, but it could make an inspired middle.

The spelling Woolf inevitably conjures writer Virginia. If you're a fan of Mrs. Dalloway and the Bloomsbury group, Woolf might be a creative way to combine a trendy animal name with an original honor name. Woolf was the surname of Virginia's husband, Leonard.

Should only be used when singing Christmas carols.

A new entry is the fashionable new occupational name category -- and a jolly job it must be -- with the added attraction of relating to the great early 20th century American artist James Abbott McNeill Whistler, of "Whistler's Mother" fame.

Short for Waverly or a fresh twist on Navy, Wavy is a quirky and interesting new word name option.

Wrecker is a new entry to the newly trendy group of badass baby names -- names mostly for boys that sound wild (or Wilder) and summon the kind of kid that races around (Racer), breaking things (Breaker), and yeah, why not, being a Wrecker while he's at it. Actor Cam Gigandet introduced this one, with a more phonetic spelling, when he named his son Rekker.

Wrigley is a fast-rising name for boys and girls right now in the US. You're unlikely to hear it outside of Chicago, though, as most of these parents are huge fans of the Chicago Cubs, who play at Wrigley Field. For a more subtle Cubs-related baby name, try Addison or Clark—two streets that border the ballpark.

Sometimes heard in Scotland, where its heyday was in the times of Robert Burns and Sir Walter Scott, here we would prefer the Germanic version, Wilhelmina, brought into the spotlight by the conniving character on "Ugly Betty."

A bit too self-congratulatory and, understandably, exceedingly rare. Still, if you're looking for a modern virtue name for your daughter, this may be one of the best qualities to exemplify.

Where's Walda? Out of the running.