Modern Baby Names

The unique O-ending makes this name memorable, especially for someone with ties to Texas.

As with many other names, the y seems to make this name more girl-appropriate for some parents. About three-quarters of the babies named Austyn are female.

One of the new literalist religious names, like Blessing, Heavenly and Neveah. More male than female, but essentially unisex.

Grace, meet Grayson. The stylish classic girls' name Grace -- it's in the Top 20 -- and the trendy boys' name Grayson or Greyson, a member of the Jason-Mason-Cason club, combine to create the girls' name Gracen. For a little girl, we'd stop at Grace.

Just when we thought Paisley couldn't get trendier, this -ee suffix showed up. Although it's not our favorite, parents are choosing this spelling more and more often.

The popular -leigh suffix is clearly an attempt to feminize this traditionally boyish nickname -- and it works. There were about 550 baby girls named Charleigh in the US last year -- and zero baby boys.

More common than steamlined Tahj, thanks to actor Tahj Mowry, brother of Tia of Tamara.

With the rise of Cameron, we've seen more and more spellings join the Top 1000—Kamryn, Camryn, and Kameron are just a few, with Kamron, Camron, Kamren, and Camren also seeing reasonable use.

This contemporary creation plays on a couple of trends by applying the attractive Z to the rhyming family of names including Hailey, Bailey, and Kayley. The -ee suffix is the icing on the cake. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2015.

This alternate spelling of Amora rose over 1000 places in 2019, making it the fastest-rising girl name of the year. It continued to rise steeply in 2020, but has fallen a little since.

Soul fans may wish to use this unusual name as a reference to singer Jimmy Ruffin and his younger brother David, one of the lead members of The Temptations.

The campion is a pretty woodland plant with pink or red flowers, whose common name derives from Old French champion "champion". The plant is so called because in classical times, the rose campion was fitted in garlands used to crown victors.

Devony is a highly unusual girls' name that is occasionally found. While there were no baby girls named Devony on record in recent years, the name has been used over time for a handful of females. It may be a variation of the British county name Devon or a made-up name. Pronunciation follows the same rhythm as Stephanie.

A nouveau creation inspired by Paisley.

The Kimberly of the current age, but currently less popular than either Ember or Everly.

The American appetite for new names ending in the letters "yn" knows no bounds. This one, a close relative of popular Jaxson, was among the fastest-rising boys' names of 2017.

Girl names ending in lani are one of the hottest trends of recent years, thanks to the lilting and lyrical Hawaiian name Leilani. Leilani has inspired a number of offshoots, including Kehlani and Meilani.

Oakley is one of the truest unisex names for babies, achieving a 56-44 gender distribution, favoring girls. Oaklee is 80% female and may serve as a clearer identification of sex, if that’s what you’re interested in.