Pixar Baby Names

When Harrison is too much, but Harry isn't enough, try this stylish surname name with a touch of British flair. It briefly reentered the US Top 1000 for the first time since 1988 in 2016, but has since dropped just below the radar again.

In Celtic lore, Fergus was the ideal of manly courage, making it a charming, slightly quirky Scottish and Irish favorite.

A doubly Presidential name, via Pierce and Roosevelt, Franklin was given an initial boost via the fame of Benjamin Franklin. It also has a literary tie to the main character of the Wilkie Collins classic The Moonstone.

Mack, when "formalized" with the final k, makes an engagingly amiable choice, a far more uncommon alternative to the ubiquitous Max and Jack, with a nice, every-guy feel. Mack entered the popularity list in 2009 for the first time since 1989 and continues to climb. However, it's still far from its peak — it was a Top 100 name in 1900.

Hank is a midcentury guy nickname (which actually dates back to the seventeenth century) of the Al/Hal/Dick school, which has been on recess from the playground for decades. Now it's just beginning to be given on its own again, appreciated for its earthy, sportsguy cool. Hanks Aaron and Greenberg (born Henry) and Hank Williams (born Hiram) Sr and Jr. are worthy namesakes.

Joy is from an older generation of word names, which also included Merry, Bliss, and Glory -- all of which exert a certain amount of personality pressure on a child. One interesting name that means the same thing: Chara.

How many decades will it take for Rocky to triumph over its association with Sylvester Stallone's battered but not beaten boxer? The moment may have come, now that Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. have named their son Rocky. It helps, too, that Madonna's son Rocco helped make the name child-appropriate again.

Cultured and cultivated in an old-style, Old World way. Sometimes associated with the classic writer Anton Chekhov. Al Pacino has a son with this name.

A sassy, spunky name for the bold parent who doesn't remember Mrs. Ed Norton on The Honeymooners or who's into the nicknames-as-given-names trend sweeping the UK and returning to the US.

You'll probably be hearing more of this name thanks to the newest Pixar film, featuring Princess Merida, the first Pixar princess--a feisty, athletic, independent medieval Scottish girl with wild red hair. Her name, however, is not Scottish, but a Spanish place name found in both Spain and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

Jessie has never been used as much as Jennie/Jenny, partly because it's a boys’ name as well (spelled Jesse), but it does have a friendly and unpretentious pioneer feel. In Scotland, it's found as an Anglicized form of Teasagh, itself a form of Jean, and is used as a full name. And in the rest of the world, Jessie may be short for Jessica or used on its own.

Dash is a nickname that can stand on its own and sounds, well, dashing. Connected these days with Kardashian enterprises.

Honest and sincere, laid-back and creative, Emmet is a male cognate of the megapopular Emma and Emily, but the more common spelling is Emmett. Emmet dropped off the US Top 1000 in 1934 and reentered the list in 2014; Emmett, on the other hand, has never been off the charts.

Nickname of yesteryear now saddled with all manner of unattractive associations. Any Leonard of today would be called Leo, or maybe Leon or Leonard (or much more fashionably, Leonardo).

A short, bright name which originates as a short form of names including Tiana, and Tatiana. Not as popular as Mia – a plus if you're seeking a short and pretty but less common name. In Spanish and Portuguese tía/tia is a word meaning "aunt". In Haida culture in indigenous Canada, Tia is a goddess of peaceful death.

A jaunty offshoot of Sullivan, Sully will be associated by kids with the beloved character in the Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc. Some notable real-life namesakes are French poet and essayist Sully Prudhomme, the heroic pilot "Sully" Sullenberger, and Sully Erna, lead vocalist of Godsmack.

Mike Tyson put a twist on his own name by naming a son Miguel. It's the first name of Cervantes, the great Spanish novelist and poet who wrote Don Quixote.

Since female cousins Mitzi and Fritzi have entered the realm of possibilities, there's a chance that Cousin Fritz could as well. Fritz is the name of several notables, from early German-born film director Lang to early footballer Fritz (born Frederick) Pollard, the first African-American to play in the Rose Bowl in 1916.

Edna is one of those names that, until what it seemed like a few minutes ago, felt so terminally frumpy that no one could imagine a parent choosing it for an innocent modern baby girl. But with the great upswing in names honoring ancestral family members, several of them being other four-letter, e-ending names, we wouldn't be so sure.

Earl is a title name - brought to England by the vikings - that's out of fashion right now, unlike King and Duke. Its peak popularity was in the 1920s, which gives it a dusty great-grandpa feel, but there are also younger Earls in pop culture, like the reformed criminal in "My Name is Earl".