Cool Cat Names

A saint's name with a noteworthy literary background, including uses by Shakespeare in Two Gentlemen of Verona and Much Ado About Nothing, by Ben Johnson, Walter Scott, Longfellow, D. H. Lawrence and Neil Gaiman. In real life, her two most well known representatives are writer Ursula Le Guin and actress Ursula Andress. In literature, there is also Ursula Iguaran, a key, long-lived character in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's major work, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Mirabel is one of those names that's not on the Top 1000 but ought to be, and undoubtedly will be soon following the release of Disney's 2021 Encanto. Mirabel is the film's quirky and highly relatable heroine. Mirabel had a significant rise in 2022, going from 34 births in 2021 to 153 births in 2022. Read more about Mirabel and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.

Despite a return to such feminizations of male names as Josephine, Clementine, and Theodora, starchy Henrietta has not made it into that group. Still, if you look hard enough, you'll see that Henrietta has the same vintage charm.

The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories.

When aspiring British writer Sadie Smith decided to change her name to the more distinctive and zippy Zadie at the age of fourteen, this attention-magnet name was born. But though it might sound like a modern initial-switch, Zadie was actually Number 539 in 1881, remaining in the Top 1000 for almost thirty years.

One of the currently stylish Kaia-Maya-Mia family, deriving either from an elaboration of Kay or an alternative spelling of Kaia, a Scandinavian diminutive of Katarina.

Yes, it's the name of the brightest star in the sky, but can't you just hear people saying, "Are you serious?" Singer Erykah Badu used it as a middle name for son Seven.

The name of a heavenly planet and the Roman goddess of beauty and love was an intimidating no-no until tennis champ Venus Williams put an athletic, modern spin on it.

An interesting unisex possibility, with an air of mystery connected to the Delphic Oracle, the most important oracle in ancient Greece; it was also a major site for the worship of the god Apollo.

Jupiter's partner Juno has entered the mainstream, so it's possible that her divine mate could follow. But not necessarily for boys — Jupiter is currently mostly female in the US, thanks to its similarity to Juniper. Stars including Ed Sheeran and Ashley Tisdale recently welcomed daughters named Jupiter, which could shift the balance even more towards the girls.

Amabel is an older name than Annabel and a lot more distinctive. Amabel was a very common name in the twelfth and thirteen centuries, then was revived during the nineteenth century British fad for medieval names.

Loki is the shape-shifting, gender-bending god of mischief in Norse mythology. Taking several animal forms, from a salmon to a seal to a fly, Loki is alternately friend and foe of the gods.

Evanthe is a pretty Greek name not often heard outside its native culture. With its stylish Ev-begining, Evanthe could make an interesting choice if you're looking for a generic flower name.

Susannah is by far the most stylish form of the classic name now that Susan and Suzanne have retired. Susannah has biblical and musical pedigrees, is impervious to trends, and has an irresistible, flowing rhythm. It can be spelled just as properly with or without the final 'h.'

Quintessentially common last name makes distinctive if problematic first, given to nearly 100 babies in the US in the most recent year counted.

Lucinda, an elaboration of Lucia created by Cervantes for his 1605 novel Don Quixote, is a pleasingly pretty alternative to Lucy. It was subsequently used by Moliere in his play The Doctor in Spite of Himself' (1666). More in tune with the times than Linda, Belinda and Melinda, it could be used to honor someone with one of those dated names.

This softened version is even prettier than the original.

The great American novelist sets this above many other surnames (and nature names, for that matter), but it's still an imposing and adventurous choice. Do nicknames Hawk or Thorne make it more approachable? The timid should stick with Nathaniel.

Anike is an attractive name with ties to several cultures, both African and Scandinavian. The African pronunciation emphasizes the second syllable while the Nordic one emphasizes the first. While there will be inevitable confusion over pronunciation, either form is "correct".

Adventurous parents are starting to look back to names of ancient gods like Mercury, Zeus, and Apollo. This one is also a planet and a metallic element, and has a friendly nickname, Merc. The Roman god Mercury, which derives from the Latin words for trade or wages, is the patron of tradesmen and travelers and the fastest-moving planet in the solar system. Mercury is the planet associated with the sign of Virgo, so this is one of the prime names for Virgo babies.