Names that end in y

Scottish actor Dougray (born Stephen) Scott made us aware of this name when he took on his French grandmother's surname as his stage name.

Sóley is the Icelandic word for the buttercup flower, derived from the words meaning "sun" and "island." It is also used on the Faroe Islands as a short form of Sólja.

This name of the glamorous mean girl in "High School Musical" is a euphonic spin on the dog breed Shar Pei, a brilliant name joke skewering the practice of picking a name for its sound without considering what it means. Other examples: Cliche, Hooker.

Naming a child Cornelius or Nelson feels increasingly ahead of the curve in today's vintage name-loving climate. But keep Nelly for a nickname (even the rap star was christened Cornell).

Actor Farley Granger set it in motion, now could be a gentler alternative to Harley.

Taken from a Scottish town, a Scots surname, and the name of an intricately patterned fabric, Paisley means "church" or "cemetery." It ranks highly for girls and is in US Top 100. It may feel a little swirly to ever catch on for boys, but with gentle names like Rowan, Teddy, Casey, Emery, and Trace rising in the US, and Hadley, Oakley, McKenzie, and Presley ranking in the UK, Paisley might one day be considered for any gender. Paisley Currah, a political scientist, professor, author and advocate for transgender rights, is a notable bearer of the name.

Somewhat light and silly on its own.

Transferred use of the surname Vianney, in reference French saint Jean-Marie Vianney. It is generally masculine in France, Belgium and French-speaking Africa, but in Latin America it is mainly feminine and sometimes spelt Vianey.

Thanks to two cultural influences, January has joined March, April, June and August as a plausible month name.

Nickname name hep in the era of Grease.

Alvie is the spelling parents tend to prefer, and may rise along with Archie, Alfie, and Albie. The Alvy variation is strongly associated with Alvy Singer, Woody Allen's character in Annie Hall.

Although it looks like an English placename, the surname Crowley is an anglicization of the Irish O Cruadhlaoich. A famous bearer was the occultist Aleister Crowley, and it also appears on characters in Supernatural and The Walking Dead. It has started to get a little use in recent years, as part of the new wave of names ending in -ley.

The Shirley of the 1950s. Shelley Winters was born a Shirley.

It's difficult to imagine anyone using the first name Jonesy -- and in fact, in the most recent US tally, there were nearly 100 babies named Jones but none named Jonesy. Still, this is a name that many people with Jones for a name, last or first, end up being known by, and as a nickname, it's sorta cute in a Skip, Chip, Bitsy kind of way.

Montgomery is an increasingly popular name for boys, especially in the UK, and now it's being used for girls as well in the US, where more than 50 baby girls were named Montgomery last year.

This color name, spelled either Gray or Grey is rapidly catching on. Actress Jenny von Oy recently called her daughter Gray Audrey.

This variation adds a second n to the more popular Finley, presumably to provide a more direct link to nickname Finn. Both spellings create a distinctly unisex name. The Finnley version, however, entered the US Top 1000 for boys in 2014, and it remains unranked for girls.

A bit too bad-boy (think bars, beer, Harley) for us, as well as being the name of a grain.