Millennial Names

One of the hot two-syllable T names of the nineties (along with Tyler, Trevor, and Taylor), and well represented on soap operas; Tanner is still widely used, but its popularity is declining.

Though Shelby was trendier ten years ago, it's still a widely used choice.

Mike Tyson put a twist on his own name by naming a son Miguel. It's the first name of Cervantes, the great Spanish novelist and poet who wrote Don Quixote.

This saintly name--she was the mother of St. Augustine--plummeted after the double whammy of Lewinsky and the demise of Friends.

Thanks to Mariah Carey, everyone now knows this name – and is aware that Mariah's pronounced with a long i – just as Maria was in the Jane Austen era. And though Mariah now sounds modern, it was heard as far back as 1550 in Great Britain.

Luis has long been one of the most popular Hispanic names in America — it was in the Top 100 every year from 1980 to 2014, though it's dropped a bit in popularity. It's familiar, yet would add a worldly touch to a basic surname.

This spelling of Jillian is now much more popular than the original, maybe because the G version invites pronunciation problems.

Kendra was once seen as a feminization of Kenneth -- but it's now firmly established as a standalone. American parents can't seem to make up their mind about it though: it was one of 2013's fastest-rising names, entering the Top 200 for the first time since 2000, but then it tumbled again.

Former teen idol name, now middle-aged. This name has been on a steady decline since the early-1990s.

Thanks to its dashing British image and c-initialed two-syllable sound, Colin/Collin has enjoyed a long run of popularity.

This name found in both Celtic and Scandinavian mythology has gone from all-boy to almost all-girl, retaining a strong, unisex quality. However, it has dropped following its three-decade heyday from the 1960s to the 1990s.

A lacy, lucky name very popular in the Hispanic community a decade ago, less so now.

An English surname name, Bradley has a long history, dating way back to at least 1086, but as a first name it actually succeeded in the US before it reached England--though Dickens used it in his novel Our Mutual Friend. Bradley Cooper is one namesake.

Chelsea is still being used, with about 400 baby girls named Chelsea in the US last year. But it was much more popular a few decades ago, peaking at Number 15 in 1992.

This sweet and loving name, favored in recent years by a mix of Hispanic-American parents and Bob Dylan fans, was chosen for her daughter by TV actress Melina Kanakaredes.

Jose is as widespread in the Hispanic community as Joseph and Joe are elsewhere in the U.S., though its numbers here are starting to decrease somewhat. Jose is one of those Spanish baby names that has never crossed over into the Anglo naming culture.

While substituting a C for a K is a modern trend, Erik is in fact the traditional spelling of the name, derived from the Old Norse Eiríkr and introduced to the English speaking world in the Anglo-Saxon period. Now, Erik is popular in Scandinavia and throughout much of Central and Eastern Europe, where it ranks in the Top 100 in Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, and more.

According to Irish legend, Saint Brendan the Voyager was the first European to touch American soil, and his name has been established here for decades, peaking in the late 1990s.

Brittany first arrived on the US popularity list in 1971, and rapidly zoomed up the charts, in the Top 100 a decade later. By 1986 it had entered the Top 10, becoming the third most popular girls’ name in the country by 1989.

Peaking at #9 in 1982, Crystal's popularity in the 70s and 80s stems from its sparkling natural namesake and several notable bearers, like country music singer Crystal Gayle and Dynasty character Krystle Carrington. But it has since lost some of its luster for American parents, now ranking in the mid-600s. Ruby, Gemma and Pearl are fashionable alternatives, but nowadays Crystal could actually be a more unexpected choice for your little gem.