Names That Mean Free

Lighthearted, spirited Irish-accented name. Works particularly well with an O' surname, as in 'Darby O'Gill and the Little People'. Patrick Dempsey chose it for one of his twin boys.

Kermit was a Top 500 name until the 1960s, not coincidentally the decade in which Kermit the Frog became well known, proving that it isn't easy being green, even for a name. But we think it's time for some of those appealing Sesame Street names--Kermit, Elmo, Grover--to be taken out of that context and be considered on their own.

Lotte is a short form of Charlotte and a name used in its own right in Scandinavia as well as Dutch- and German-speaking countries. It’s unlikely to catch on in the US, where even Lottie hasn’t reached its full potential. Unisex Charlie will remain Charlotte’s nickname of choice for the foreseeable future.

Carrie lives on mainly on the screen, as the new/old antiheroine of Stephen King's classic Carrie, as turn-of-the-21st-century diva Carrie Bradshaw of Sex & The City, and as Claire Danes' Emmy-winning character Carrie Mathison of Homeland. In real life, however, Carrie dropped off the Top 1000 a handful of years ago and, while the name retains some charm, shows no signs of making an imminent comeback. Try Cara instead.

A classic Italian name still heard in the Italian-American community. Once tainted by the association with the Spanish dictator, it's now more likely to call up actor James Franco.

Dermot is an appealing, relatively undiscovered Irish mythological hero's name long popular in the Old Country, and imported into the American consciousness by actor Dermot Mulroney. We see it in the next Celtic wave following Connor and Liam.

Charlene is a Charlotte variation that, along with similar names like Arlene and Marlene, spiked in popularity in the 1940s and fifties, reaching a high of Number 100 in 1949. Most parents today would prefer one of the note classic versions -- or even nickname Charlie.

Charlize is a name that owes its very life to a star: elegant blond South African actress Charlize Theron. She was named after her father, whose name was Charles. Charlize jumped onto the popularity lists in 2004, the year the actress won the Oscar for lead actress in Monster.

The phonetic Carolyn spelling, which was very popular from the 1920s to the '60s, has been steadily on the wane while Caroline herself has stayed strong.

Franz is the German equivalent to Francis, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a Franz outside of countries with Germanic origins. In America the name is often associated with celebrated author Franz Kafka, who was born in Prague.

Carlotta has a large measure of finger-snapping charm and substance — despite being a not too pleasant character in The Little Mermaid. Carlotta is also the diva/prima donna in The Phantom of the Opera, and there was an Empress Carlotta of Mexico.

Deriving from the same East Asian root as Malaysia and Malay, Malaya is a name that recalls the more popular Maya and the name of 2014 Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai. It first appeared in the US Top 1000 in 2006.

A peppy nickname name associated with Lolo (born Lori) Jones, American track and field champ.

This authentic form of the name of an Irish mythological hero with the power to make women fall instantly in love with him would work far better here as the Anglicized Dermot.

Upper-crusty nickname occasionally used in Britain, particularly in 1930s novels featuring significant garden party scenes, but eclipsed here by Carrie et al.

This short form has been pretty much replaced by Franny, Fanny. and especially Frankie.

There have been manly men called Fran, like football great Fran Tarkenton and Hannah's boyfriend in one season of Girls, but that doesn't mean it works for babies anymore of either gender. Pope Francis may have inspired many little namesakes, but they're called Francis or Frances or Francesca....or maybe Frank or Frankie or Franny. Not Fran.

In France it's sometimes bestowed as a patriotic gesture; in English-speaking places it has an air of genteel sophistication.

As this word is less often used to mean derriere, it becomes more possible to view Fanny as the kind of appealingly quaint nickname name, like Josie and Nellie, that many parents are favoring now.

Frisco is a frisky, roguish semi-place-name (San Francisco natives never call it that) that could make a lively, unusual o-ending choice.