Wonderful Word Names for Babies

A surprisingly wearable floral name for a boy.

Cashmere is soft, luxurious -- and way out of the ordinary. One of the unique names found in The Hunger Games series.

Slate, Stone and Steel are on the rise, so why not Shale?

One of the aggressive new boys' names, ala Tracker and Heller, that have become fashionable among parents who are courting trouble.

Fiery sound and uplifting meaning, but it's also among the Top 100 dog names. Spelled Fiyero, it's the hero of the book and musical "Wicked."

Striker is one of the new gang of boys' names that have two syllables, end in -er, spring from words, and have a macho, even aggressive meaning and image. Other examples include Breaker, Heller, and Wilder. Do the world a favor and desist.

If Portia can become Porsche, then Apollo can morph into Polo -- the imprint of designer Ralph Lauren.

Mysterious.

For a boy, Dash is usually short for Dashiell, but as a girl's name it just stands for energetic--and also the stores run by the Kardashian sisters..

An inspirational and aspirational word name that evokes ideas of loyalty, faith, honesty, and accuracy, True is a unisex name, which is just slightly more popular for boys. Like an updated form of Trudy and Prue and with the virtuous feel of Grace, Faith, and Hope, True was given to around 200 girls in 2023.

Provocative word name that may strike the right chord for an adventurous baby namer.

A word name that has sailed onto birth certificates of both genders, especially since Liv Tyler used it for her son. For boys, Saylor and Sailor are used about equally, but were together given to about 100 baby boys last year....and 1000 baby girls.

A surprisingly popular spiritual name that entered the US Top 500 in 2003. As of 2023, it is still a Top 500 choice, where it fits in with similar bold word names like Chosen, Blessing, and Dream. Miracle is a familiar name in Nigeria too, where it is used as a unisex option.

Snow is increasing in usage mostly as a girls' name, but hero Jon Snow of Game of Thrones just might nudge it into the boys' column. Currently, there are 12 times as many girls named Snow as boys, but its usage is much higher in middle place.

Heavily perfumed word name that peaked a few years ago.

Sympathetic new twist on a Puritan virtue name.

Branch is an attractive name with associations both with trees and with branching out into brave new worlds. Baseball's Branch (born Wesley, with Branch as his middle name) Rickey broke the color barrier by hiring Jackie Robinson for the Dodgers. Like Leaf, Branch makes a nice, not-so-obvious, addition to the tree category.

Drummer entered the baby name lexicon thanks to blogger No Big Dill, who chose it for her newborn son, who joins five older sisters. Drummer is right in step with other occupational names in vogue now, from Archer to Gardener. Let's just hope Drummer doesn't prefer to play the piano.

This name has two possible derivations - in Turkish it means hero, in English it is used as a reference to mountains. Either offer a soaring option for a little boy.

Hallow is a word meaning sacred or holy. As the root word for Halloween (orginally All Hallows' Eve), this name might be an evocative choice for a baby born on or near October 31st. It could work well for either a boy or a girl and offers the nicknames Hal and Halley.