Names That Mean Meadow

Mama's boy.

With the sprightly "Ren" and "Wren" currently in fashion, and "ley" a productive suffix to create new names, this combination was inevitable, and is chirpy and appealing. Renley has been on the US charts for girls since 2012, and for boys since 2013. It probably got a boost from the Game of Thrones character Renly Baratheon, albeit with a slightly different spelling.

Huntley was best known as Brinkley's news partner several decades ago. With the new genre of girls' names that are unusual surnames ending with the lee sound -- think Mosley, Yardley -- Huntley or Huntlea or Huntleigh might rise for girls.

Better for an Air Force base than a baby.

We can't account for the popularity of this name, for either a boy or a girl, given the first syllable, the tacky connotations with a luxury car, and the range of other options which are more harmonious to the ear. Nonetheless, nearly 200 girls were names Bentley in the US in 2015.

In an earlier time Shirley was used primarily for boys, but the tide turned with the publication of Charlotte Bronte's novel Shirley in 1849, the story of a character whose parents had selected the name for a boy child, then decided to use it anyway when he turned out to be a she.

An English surname used mononymously by the American singer-songwriter and record producer Breland (born Daniel Gerard Breland), who could certainly boost his cool name into the limelight.

A more unusual, if slightly snooty, masculine Bailey alternative.

As a first name, Atlee is a common choice in the Amish community.

An eighties favorite back on the rise for girls. It's used for boys approximately fifteen percent of the time.

This rare vintage name can be an alternative spelling of Abilene, a Biblical place name. It is also a Spanish and German feminine form of Abel.

Prideaux is a Cornish place name and surname that is occasionally attested as a girls' first name. It likely stems from the French phrase "pré de eaux", meaning meadow of waters. For fans of Margaux, Prideaux might be a less-common and very pretty alternative.

Bromley is an English surname-name that's more possible as a first name now than ever before. The -ley suffix has been adopted for many names, and surnames such as Bromley are fashionable.

Undiscovered single-syllable surname option, a friendly alternative to Reed.

And if it's triplets: Pembroke, Pendleton, and Penley.

Timberly emerged on the charts in 1960 as an alternative to Kimberly. It never caught on and has been given to no more than 25 baby girls each year since. These days it may also be seen as an elaboration of Timber, an up-and-coming gender-neutral nature name.

Surname name with feminine final ley. The Welsh name Bryn, though also unisex and veering toward the girl world, is far more attractive.

Another servile surname, this one connected to the go-between character in "Charlie's Angels."

Marilee is one of the cheeriest – if least substantial – combinations of Mary with another name.

Kimberley is a town in South Africa associated with diamonds and with wealth and luxury in general. It was name for Lord Kimberley, whose surname derived from an English place name. Used for boys in the early twentieth century, it re-emerged as a girls' name in the 1940s, usually spelled Kimberly.