Adjective Names

Honor-related names are climbing in popularity, such as Honesty, Honor, and now Honest.

Saint came into the celebrity baby spotlight by way of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's son and joined the Top 1000 on the boys' list in 2018. Saintly could be a way to transition this virtuous title name to the girls' side.

If you want to give your child the gift of...gab.

Hallow is a word meaning sacred or holy. As the root word for Halloween (orginally All Hallows' Eve), this name might be an evocative choice for a baby born on or near October 31st. It could work well for either a boy or a girl and offers the nicknames Hal and Halley.

As the popular 80s and 90s Angelica falls more and more out of favor, word name Angelic is feeling extra fresh. Fitting in with the trend of grandiose and ethereal word names such as Legend and Dream, Angelic feels more than useable today — especially with similar sounding Angelique being one of the fast-rising names of 2022.

A big name to bestow upon a baby, but in line with word names that are becoming increasingly fashionable, such as Legend and Royal.

Not the most aspirational word names you could give to a child, although it does work as a nickname. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's daughter Chicago is often called Chi, pronounced "shy." Model Adwoa Aboah has a daughter named Shy.

For if you're anticipating a wild child.

Despite fitting in with the modern word name trend, Glorious has been in use since 1925, when it first appeared on the charts for girls. At peak usage, it was given to 15 baby girls in 1948, although we expect this could rise now that model Jessica Hart used it for her son.

In the Plymouth Colony of the seventeenth century, Thankful was the third most popular of the abstract word names. It disappeared after 1700 and has virtually no chance of returning.

A sixties-style name that might work best as a middle.

One of a number of religious word names that have started to see some use since 2000.

As Ireland becomes fashionable as a place name, bouncing on and off of the US girls charts thanks to Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin choosing it for their daughter, some parents may start to consider the adjective form Irish.

Moroccan is a name newly minted by Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon for their newborn twin son. Meaning a person who lives in Morocco, Moroccan was used by the couple as a nod to the Moroccan Room in Carey's Manhattan apartment, where Cannon proposed to the singer. Place-name Morocco is another choice for either sex, as is music name Maraca.

An admirable quality to impart; Pleasant was used by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend and in modern times is known via American Girl dolls creator Pleasant Rowland.

A funky new word name possibility with an enthusiastic appeal.

In 2014, six little girls in the US were given the name Starlit. Starlit has a sweeter meaning than the similar Starlet, and a better ring than Starlight.