Cat Names That Mean Curious

In the past few years Ellery has gone from middle-aged male detective -- from old school fictional hero Ellery Queen -- to a plausible girls' name, a la Hillary.

Parents who have tired of Sean are now contemplating Seamus, the Irish form of James, which has a lot more substance and verve.

Erasmus has long retained the image of the bearded and bespectacled Dutch philosopher, but could be one that the audacious baby namer just might dare to dust off.

An evocative unisex one-syllable name, Poe is most distinguished by its literary reference. Edgar Allan Poe was an influential American author and poet, credited with inventing the genres of detective and science fiction, which might provide inspiration for parents who are fans. And now its choice as the name of the hero played by Oscar Isaac in the new Star Wars movie is sure to catapult it from literary choice to major favorite.

A predominantly male name in the US until the late 1950s, the name continued to rise for both sexes for both sexes for a further decade, before starting to decline for boys. Despite dropping out of the boys' Top 1000 in 2002, Kelly retains a rugged Irish 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.

Drew is an elegant formerly male-only alternative to Andy that joined the stylishly upscale Paige-Brooke-Blair sorority, thanks largely to Drew Barrymore. Barrymore comes by her first name legitimately: it was the maiden name of her paternal great-grandmother, Georgiana 'Georgie' Drew Barrymore, one of many esteemed actors in her family history.

Ned is a gently old-fashioned Nancy Drew-Bobbsey Twins-era short form for Edward that sounds cooler than Ed and is enjoying a small style renaissance.

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.

European royal name, and to Americans a place-name evoking the majestic mountain in Washington state.

Irish place-name -- it's a river, a town, and an airport -- once popular but now supplanted by such newer immigrants as Saoirse and Seanan.

Ellery is a rhythmic three-syllable boy's name that is familiar and yet rarely used--and just waiting to be discovered. It's long been identified with Ellery Queen--which was both the pen name of two cousins, Frederic Dannay and Manfred B. Lee, and the detective they created.

For girls, typically used as a nickname for names such as Georgia and Georgiana, although Orange is the New Black stars Samira Wiley and Lauren Morelli recently used it as a full name for their daughter George Elizabeth.

As a member of two trendy name categories, animal and occupational, this name broke into the Top 1000 in 2004 and would make a nice tribute to an angler Grandpa.

Juni is the Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, and Finnish form of the month name June. While Juni feels cute and fresh, most Americans would assume it was a nickname or a Joni variation. We prefer Juna or the English June.

Kendall, as used for a girl, was initially propelled by a soap opera character (Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kendall Hart in All My Children) and reality star and Kardashian sister Kendall Jenner.

An Ethiopian place-name and multicultural diminutive for many names, including the Slavic Tatiana and the Spanish Cayetana. Tana is also a rare Frisian name, meaning "thought", as well as a masculine name meaning "sweetheart" in the Turkic Karachay-Balkar language.

Noam is an underused modern Hebrew name with any number of attractive attributes attached to its meaning; it doesn't have the biblical weight of Noah, but could make a more distinctive alternative to that popular choice. Noam is a Top 10 boys' name in Israel.

If ever there was a one-person name, it's probably Sherlock. But Sherlock Holmes the character has arguably never been hotter: he's been played by Robert Downey Jr., Ian McKellen, Jonny Lee Miller and, most memorably, Benedict Cumberbatch, in various film and TV adaptations over the last few years. So you never know.

Boris is one of the old Russian names being revived by chic Europeans; it hasn't quite made a comeback yet in the U.S., but it does have potential.