Last Names That Are Adorable First Names

Preppy surname name that originated as a nickname for a highwayman.

While Austin is a popular boys' name, this spelling, honoring novelist Jane, nudges the name toward gender-neutral, chosen last year for 67 baby boys and 57 girls.

This single syllable, plural-sounding name evokes ideas of travel, of standing and looking up to different skies. With its sharp sounds and sweeping meaning, it feels like it could fit in with Ocean and Atlas, or with Kai and Silas. Plus, while the Sky- names are currently more popular for girls in the US, the surname style of Skyes could perhaps lend it a slightly more masculine quality, as in the case of Brooks vs. Brooke.

Associated with two prominent American families — New York's Stuyvesant family, for which streets and parks on Manhattan's East Side are named, and the Fish family, who used it as a given name. Stuyvesant Fish, the first president of the Illinois Central Railroad, was named after his paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Stuyvesant.

Townes entered baby name consciousness — as a girl name, at least — in 2024 when Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma chose it for their daughter, Townes Meadow. Townes is a more established choice for boys, among whom it's often associated with the late musician Townes Van Zandt.

Stylish way to name your son after basketball great Walt -- though Walt is sounding fresh again too.

Used as a first name for a handful of girls every year, Joplin could be seen as a distant cousin of other -lin names, like Caitlin, Brooklyn and Braelynn. We think it works even better as a musical middle name possibility for fans of Janis... or Scott. Both great connections — albeit very different from one another.

This traditionally male surname name could find new life for girls thanks to its similarity to the popular Abby and Abigail.

Jagger, made famous as the surname of Rolling Stone Mick, gets an entry in the girls' column thanks to Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross, who chose it for their daughter. For either gender, this name rocks...but a bit jaggedly. Currently, there are nearly 20 times as many baby boys than girls are given the name Jagger. That balance may shift, making Jagger a more truly gender neutral name.

Sander would be an unconventional short form of Alexandra, variation of Sandra, or surname-name for girls. It was given to 41 baby boys in the US last year but no girls, but it certainly can be a gender-neutral choice.

Selby, a rarely heard British surname, feels sleeker and more distinctive than Shelby. Todd Selby, known primarily by his last name, is a hip photographer of interiors.

An old money surname passed down in notable American families. Christopher Plummer's middle name was Orme.

The discoverer of this lovely bright blue gemstone named it after his daughter Larissa and the sea (mar), hence Larimar. Despite the feminine origins, the harder -mar ending makes this work for boys too, similar to Delmar and Elmer.

Potential alternative to Piper. Streamlined Fifer would probably be the preferred spelling if it wasn't for high-profile actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

A well-to-do English surname with a comedic undertone, thanks to the Griswold family of National Lampoon's Vacation.

A surname name, most popularly associated with actor Heston, has a blue-blooded ring to it. Charlton is also a more unusual pathway to evergreen nickname Charlie.

This French last name is often written as Dupont, but can also be rendered as Du Pont, DuPont, duPont, or du Pont. In the US, it's commonly associated with the du Pont family — one of the wealthiest old money American families whose fortune arose from manufacturing gunpowder.

A surname style choice that could get you nicknames Bear and Ozzy, which is pretty cool. It comes from the Old English variant of the Old Norse Ásbjǫrn, which was introduced to England after the Norman conquest and used occasionally as a given name ever since. Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell used Osborne for a character in her final novel, Wives and Daughters while it is also famously associated with Osborne House, the former royal residence of Queen Victoria on the Isle of Wight, and with musician Ozzy Osbourne.

Summer, Summers, Sommer, and Somer are used nearly exclusively on girls, whereas the literary Somerset reads as more masculine. Perhaps the surname style of Somers might be a compromise.

Peabody is a quintessentially Waspy surname that your child won't thank you for -- either the pea part or the body part, or the meaning part.