UK Baby Names

Related to the word bourgeois; actor Burgess Meredith put this surname in first place.

The great-great-aunt in the purple hat, singing jazz.

The Mc and Mac surnames are asserting themselves as first names and this is one of the most popular. Though outside the U.S. Top 1000, it's among the fastest rising names for boys.

For now at least, Parton conjures up the larger-than-life image of Dolly. For an American boy, Patton or Peyton would probably be a better bet.

Double whammy: the expression "Seward's folly" and inevitable sewer jokes.

Surname doomed to remain a surname.

Randall Jarrell was an important mid-20th century poet; his surname makes a pleasingly soft name for a girl.

Family name best used in the middle, especially since it was seen as the portly postman in Seinfeld.

Fresh way to pass down Roger.

A name you would probably want to use only if it's in your family history. The first syllable moves it miles away from the softer Whitney.

Pompous and pretentious.

While this has a distinguished male namesake -- astronomer Edmund Halley and his comet -- it still strays too close to the superpopular feminine Hailey family to work for some parents for a boy. Fewer than five baby boys were given the name last year, but that could change as formerly-female names become more acceptable for boys.

Might make a good middle name for the child of a musician, though people could think you were honoring your BMW.

Gentle and southern-inflected, redolent of the North Carolina landscape.

Interesting possibility for the son or grandson of a Gregory.