2000+ Cat Names

Diminutive of Dillon

Short for Samuel or long for Sam, Sammy is a sweet midcentury nickname name that we can see coming back.

Popular name in Israel, worth considering for a dark-haired daughter with a bit of a bohemian cast.

While the most famous Dusty, Dusty Springfield, might be female, Dusty as a boys' name is derived directly from Dustin. And there are about twice as many baby boys named Dusty as baby girls -- 33 to 14 last year, so a fairly rare name for either sex.

A rare Welsh name with a wonderful meaning, Cadfael is the name of the detective monk character in Ellis Peters' medieval murder mysteries. It's usually pronounced CAD-vyle in Welsh, although Peters intended the character's name to be pronounced CAD-vel.

Ancient martyr name that sounds totally modern, but perhaps too close to rumor.

As its parent name Roland comes back into style (yep, it’s happening), could there be an uptick in baby Rollies? Certainly as a pet form.

Striking and glamorous, though perhaps just plain Zara is intriguing enough.

Simple and sweet name for a son that feels on-trend in this era of Kai.

The spoiled only son of the richest family in town in a fifties movie.

Bean is a unisex word name with a cute and quirky feel. Early reader series Ivy and Bean features a young girl named Bean, short for Bernice Blue. It has appeal as a casual nickname or middle name, but it's harder to imagine as a given name.

The "Tz" beginning of Tzofia represents the Hebrew letter tzadi, which is pronounced more like ts. So Tzofia sounds like Sofia with a light t at the beginning — intriguing, but a difficult sound for a native English speaker to reproduce. While Tzofia is a distinct name from the megapopular Sophia and Sofia, many people will hear it as a cognate and pronounce it the same...or like Zofia.

Mosley, former best known as the surname of author Walter, has been put in play as a first name for girls by football great Peyton Manning, who used the name for his twin daughter, sister of Marshall. Alternate spellings are Moseley and Mosely and the first syllable rhymes with Rose.

Thebe is the name of more than one daughter of Zeus, according to some myths, and is also the name of a moon of Jupiter. Thebe rhymes with Phoebe and may appeal to lovers of that name.

Peach is one of those names that, a generation ago, would have been placed in the wacky celebrity baby name category. But now with the proliferation of word, nature, and yes, food names, Peach sounds adorably baby-ready.

Sean and Robin Wright Penn chose this name for their son to honor their friend Dennis Hopper; others might associate it with the painter Edward. Couldn't be more spirited.

Charleston is one of those baby names that may become more popular thanks to its nickname Charlie, now used about equally for boys and girls. If you want to call your daughter Charlie but believe she needs a more formal name, you might try Charleston instead of Charlotte. And Charleston is a lovely city in South Carolina.

Albertine and Alberta are old-fashioned feminizations ala Geraldine and Roberta. This is the kind of name that sounds very dowdy until a hip celebrity chooses it, at which point we don't know how we missed its coolness all this time.

Jeter, which of course is used as a first name only because of Yankee star Derek, rhymes with Peter and may be derived from the French surname Jette, which was often bestowed on foundlings because it means "thrown out," or the German Jetter, an occupational name meaning "weeder." If your husband insists on Jeter, counter with Percival.

There was an ancient Saint Fort, and this is a modern, original way to convey a powerful meaning, especially in the middle place.