Nameberry's Favorite Names

An attractive, surprisingly uncommon variation of Josiah. To give you an idea of how comparatively rare Josias is, there were about 200 baby boys named Josias in the US last year, versus nearly 6000 named Josiah.

This name of a minor character in the Old Testament, also spelled Atara, has a softly pleasing sound. In the Old Testament, Atarah was a descendant of Judah.

Urban was not an uncommon name through the 1930s (rising as high as Number 435), having been attached to several saints and early popes, but it has completely disappeared from the landscape--both urban and rural. Yet in this era of word name appreciation and trend for 'an'-ending boys' names, we're thinking it might be ready for a return.

More often spelled Nika, this is a well-used diminutive for the Eastern European Veronika, and there's no reason that the same principle can't apply in the West. It makes a venerated saint's name sound fresh and cute.

A multicultural choice with an appealing sound. In Arabic, it means "women" and is the name of the fourth chapter of the Quran (surah an-Nisa).

Whimsy is a new entry to the ever-expanding word name lexicon, sister for Pixie and Bliss. While it has an undeniable offbeat English aristocratic charm (maybe we're thinking of Dorothy Sayers' fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey, whose middle name was Death?), we see this as more fitting for a middle than a first name.

Many baby boys have been named after LA Clippers' basketball player Kawhi Leonard since his 2013 debut. Leonard says his father invented the name because he wanted something that sounded Hawaiian. Kawhi sounds like Kauai, the name of one of the Hawaiian islands.

Shortened form of Zarin / Zareen.

The Irish boys' name Colum, rarely heard in the U. S., makes an interesting alternative to Colin.

This unusual Indian name, which refers to one of the names of Lord Vishnu, has been one of the fastest-growing boys' names of the last decade. It first managed to climb into the US Top 1000 in 2014. The nickname Rey Americanizes it.

Intriguing Old Welsh name being revived there, but would have major pronunciation problems here.

This spiritual word name is rising for girls and boys.

A prominent character name from the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender, derived from an Arabic word meaning "(water) droplet" ⁠— Katara belongs to a water tribe.

A character name from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Azula is one of the two main antagonists of the series: a Firebender who produces blue flames (hence her name, which is derived from Spanish, Portuguese and Galician azul, meaning "blue").

If Erykah Badu can name her son Seven, why can't you name your daughter (or son) this? Eleven has recently gotten a lot of attention via the character on the TV show Stranger Things.

Pop princess Amerie is half Korean, half African-American. Her name may relate to Amelia, Emily, Emery, or Amory, though there's no exact equivalent among historical names. But doubtless there will be more Ameries, starting now.

An evocative word name denoting a rare celestial phenomenon when the sun and moon are aligned so that the moon casts a shadow over the Earth (a solar eclipse), or when the moon is right in front of the sun, showing only a ring of light (a lunar eclipse).

A better idea: how about you choose a name that means handsome, like Beau or Hasan or Irvin?

Is there a more fitting choice for your unique and well, special little girl? For six sets of parents one recent year, the answer was no.