English Last Names

Looking for a Texas name more distinctive than Austin and Dallas? Houston is a lanky, roguish place-name, right in style with its Texas accent and cowboy image.

One of the many El- names for boys that boomed in the 1910s and 1920s, but has long been out of fashion. This surname/place name has an aristocratic flavor, and a creative namesake in the artist Ellsworth Kelly. Polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth also gives it an adventurous connection.

As Levi becomes more common, we're noticing parents turn to more creative alternatives such as Levitt.

Ancient saint's name used for cowardly cartoon lion.

Hardy is a spirited and durable un-Germanic German surname that is starting to be used in this country.

Lander is a name that straddles two trends. It's an er-ending surname name, ala Cooper and Carter. And it's also, more subtly, a green name, in the manner of Fielder or Reed.

An attractive North Carolina unisex place name, Raleigh's soft sound is particularly appropriate for a girl.

Mini names beginning with R are a trend to watch for both sexes. Recently, celebrities have been loving names like Ren, Rue, and Ro(w). The four-letter spelling, complete with a silent E, makes Rowe feel like a complete package despite its single syllable.

This elegant surname has great potential to turn into an unusual first name, especially with its literary associations to both Stephen and Hart Crane.

Proper Bostonian.

An early unisex nature name that has been surpassed by others, Dale is still a simple, sylvan and serene option.

Morrison is one of the more uncommon patronymics; it could be used to honor an ancestral Morris, or one of the well-known surnamed Morrisons: Toni, Jim or Van.

Asking for trouble.

Adley made the Top 1000 at Number 735 in 2012 on the heels of sister name Hadley, only to vanish again in 2013. But now, with the popularity of Adelaide and Adeline, it has leaped upward and entered the Top 1000 once again. Adley feels in step with name trends of the moment, but will it survive the ages? Other such mashups have not.

Randolph is a timeworn classic that had its last hurrah in the 1940s, when Randolph (born George) Scott was starring in westerns, but then was probably done in by its tricky nickname Randy (which, strangely enough, was itself a Top 50 name in the fifties and sixties).

Unless it runs in your family, or Alexander Hamilton is your particular hero, you might consider something less imposing -- and without the teasable nickname Ham.

More familiar and melodic to the American ear than either Hans or Hansen, and some might attach it to the three-brother pop-rock band called Hanson.

Gibson is an undiscovered patronymic surname, with some appealing nicknames. It also brings to mind the popular brand of guitars.

Feels akin to Brooks and Rivers, two other boys' names that double as plural nouns. It's been used as a first name for centuries, including by a two time governor of Virginia.

Unfortunate identification with an army of rats in the movie of the same name.