6000+ Dog Names

Daenerys is yet another girls' name invented by "Game of Thrones" author George R. R. Martin that is beginning to gain some traction in real life. Daenerys was used for 67 baby girls in 2013 while one of the character's titles, Khaleesi, was given to 241 baby girls. And the name Arya, also from the hyper-popular series, is one of the fastest growing girls' names in the country.

This is an eighteenth century elaboration of Honor found in Charles Dickens (Bleak House) but rarely heard here and now.

As Theo and Thea get more popular, so do Teo and Tea, short forms of the Latinate variations of Theodore and Matthew -- which include Dorotea and Mattea. But like Theo and Thea, Tea can stand perfectly well on its own and blends seamlessly into any Anglophone or European culture, if that is your aim. Some may argue that the Tea version is the prettiest and it's certainly the sleekest.

Great Irish middle name choice for Shakespeare lovers.

A cutesy short form of Jordan that's never been overly popular. Pro Bowl wide receiver Jordy Nelson is one famous bearer.

Divine seems more proper a name with the rise of Heaven and its turned-around twin Nevaeh. Though superlative names like Divine -- Unique, say, or Precious -- sometimes seems as if they're trying to hard and protesting too much.

British habitational surname that calls to mind the Connecticut capital

Sophisticated French choice. Or toxic petrochemical.

Though it looks, to the untrained American eye, like a yoonek spelling of Jordy, Geordie actually refers to people from Tyneside in Northeast England and the local dialect there. To give you a sense of what it implies to Brits, Geordie Shore is British MTV's long-running answer to Jersey Shore.

Intriguing, when seen as a water name a la River and Ocean, but too close to cultural appropriate if used as a reference to the Creek tribe of Native Americans. Another downside is its resemblance to creak, as in creaky bones or floorboards, and to unappealing words like creep and creak.

Sweet, modern descriptive name, but perhaps a little too cute for its own good.

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

Prince rose to its highest ranking in a century in 2015, and the tragic death of its most famous bearer in April 2016 propelled it even higher. The Purple Rain legend isn't its only tie to pop royalty: Michael Jackson chose it for not one but two of his sons. Royal names such as King and Prince, once thought of as canine, have begun to be used by human non-royals for their sons.

The name of the ferrymen of dead souls to the Greek underworld and the name of Pluto's desolate moon, Charon makes an interesting, if somewhat macabre, choice for a baby. There are two pronunciations of this name, depending on whether you're referring to the ferryman or the moon. While the Greek version is pronounced with a hard "k" sound, the astronomer who named the moon did not know about the Greek myth - he named the moon after his wife Charlene, so many astronomers pronounce it with a "sh" sound.

Vintage surname that's fallen out of use, but perhaps deserves a revival.

Once too tightly tied to the aging musical clan featuring Donny and Marie, Osmond may now be able to escape that association and join the cooler group of Os and Oz names, which include Osgood, Ozias, and even Oswald.

An appealing name almost unknown in our culture but with roots in several others; worldlier than cousins Celia and Delia.

Many African tribes have a tradition of naming children for the day or time they were born -- Friday, Afternoon -- a practice finding new life in the Western world as word names become more popular.

In the Japanese culture, this name suggests a sense of independence and is one of the popular names for December babies.

This short form has been pretty much replaced by Frankie, however, it could fit in with other clunky but charming names, like Peggy, Bess, and Enid.