UK Baby Names

For Grandpa Vincent.

Common in Wales, but would really stand out here. One of the middle names of Stella McCartney's daughter Reiley; Dilys Powell was a well-known British film critic, Professor Dilys Derwent a Harry Potter character., a witch who worked as a Healer at St. Mungo's Hospital, and was a celebrated Headmistress of Hogwarts School..

Mama's boy.

There aren't many Glendas under forty.

Sounds like a variant of Heidi or Hailey, but Haidee is actually a separate name with a literary history, used in Byron's epic poem Don Juan.

Nice Scottish sound, but too tied to sweaters and socks.

British place-name unlikely to evoke much passion in any baby namer.

If girls have adopted Ray, why not Roy.

Rochester was Jack Benny's famous valet and sidekick, played by early African-American comic Eddie Anderson.

A beautiful English and French flower name deriving from the Latin word for dove. Sadly, in America this name is now forever linked with a tragic terrorist attack on a Colorado high school.

The Biblical Simon has been rediscovered and this appealing short form, an alternative to Sam, might be a way to make your Simon even more special.

One of the surname names used more in the last century, à la Milton and Morton.

Efficient feel.

This is a Scottish pet form of John, the equivalent of Jack in England. Has long been used as a generic name for a Scotsman, here it's a generic name for a--well--jock.

Like Marvin and Melvin, Sheldon has been perceived as about as far out as you can get, though there are very pretty towns in Devon and Derbyshire that inspired it. Sheldon Lee Cooper is the lead (male) nerd character on the TV hit The Big Bang Theory, giving the name a brainy image. Nickname Shelly is sweet and naturey, in a retro kind of way.

In 2014, fifteen newborns were named Whisper, all of them girls. We can see the attraction of the name but if you are in Australia be warned - Whisper is a well-known brand of sanitary products, so a teenaged Whisper will find life more embarrassing than usual.

One of the rare English surname names originally derived from a female given name: Eoforhild (Everild), meaning "boar battle". Also spelled Averill, it's an extremely rare choice today, but shares sounds with fashionable Ava and Avery.

Sounds incomplete, like a pet form of Miranda.

This name may be related to the Latin Maximus, which means "the greatest," or to a British landowner's name, but for most modern parents, it's one of several ways to get to short form Max.