UK Baby Names

Romany is a melodious name referring to the Roma or Romani community and their culture, which makes it a potentially controversial choice for a baby not of that heritage. Romany Malco is an actor who appeared on the television show "Weeds." Other similar ideas: Roman, Romano, or Romeo.

If girls have adopted Ray, why not Roy.

A heroine in a Victorian novel written with a quill pen, has an unusual, offbeat charm.

Perhaps if there's a Putnam in your background.

A simple, self-possessed, somewhat serious surname, which might work better as a middle.

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.

Wheeler is one of the most energetic of the newly stylish occupational names, all those 'e's giving it a friendly, freewheeling sound.

Slightly more modern than Walter, but only just.

Twain can be thought of as a modernization (and possible namesake) of the dated Wayne, seasoned with the humor of Mark Twain, who adopted it from a river term.

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.

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.

Sounds incomplete, like a pet form of Miranda.

The spelling Pearce softens the name's sharper edges, though we prefer the original Piers. That "pear" snippet could confuse pronunciation, which is just like Pierce.

New is a middle name name with meaning: Your baby, after all, is new to the world and you may hope will continue to approach life and experience as if everything is new and exciting.

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.

An English surname originally given to the illegitimate sons of a monarch. Might be a nice middle name choice to honor an ancestral Roy.

Though Davy Crockett is a childhood hero, a frontiersman, soldier, politician, congressman and prolific storyteller. But be aware that "crock" is American slang for a lot of nonsense or something broken.

King Joffrey Baratheon, the petulant biological son of siblings Cersei and Jaime Lannisters, is perhaps the most notorious villain in the entire Game of Thrones canon. His name is practically a byword for sadism among fans of the show and George R.R. Martin's books. As such, we think it's probably a name best avoided IRL.