Modern Baby Names

Honesty is one of the modern virtue names, which along with Justice and Destiny are picking up where Faith, Hope, and Charity left off. Is Honesty the most appealing name ever? No, and it's also sure to spark lots of tiresome jokes. Still, Honesty is a positive quality and a lot more appealing than negative word names such as Pistol and Rehab (which both, yes, were given to five baby girls in the US last year).

Bridges is one of the new last names as first names ending in S that are so fashionable right now, joining Brooks, Wells, and Banks.

Alternative to Princess or Queenie.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

A nouveau creation inspired by Paisley.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

A variation of Riley with an added -lynn suffix, this girl name is bubbling right underneath the Top 1000.