White Cat Names

Pretty and unusual, Livana may find a lot more fans as parents look for alternatives to Number 1 Olivia. Livana was used for only seven baby girls in the US last year.

The meaning of this ancient Roman god's name relates to transitions, hence its connection to the name of the first month of the new year, a time of fresh beginnings. Janus is usually depicted as a two-faced god facing in opposite directions, since he looks both to the future and the past. It's no surprise then, that Janus is one of the premiere January baby names. The Slavic form Janusz is more commonly used than the English, represented by the Polish cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, who has shot all of Steven Spielberg's films from Schindler's List to Lincoln.

If you discount the connection to the controversial Whittaker Chambers in the days of the Red Scare, Whittaker is a pleasant enough British surname with the preppyish nickname Whit.

Olwen is a Welsh favorite, the name of a legendary princess in what is believed to have been the earliest Arthurian romance, and in fact one of the first recorded examples of Welsh prose.

If you're looking for an unusual alternative to all those Rose names, Rhoswen might be a good choice. This name has the soft sounds we've come to love from the Welsh language but is still not as familiar as Bronwen and Rhiannon.

Finola, the readily accessible version of some of the more problematic Gaelic versions of the name, would make a welcome addition to the stockpot of Irish girls' names.

Long heard as a last name, as in venerable poet Robert, U.K. talk show host David, British actress Sadie and old Jack Frost, Frost has suddenly entered the scene as a possible first, along with other seasonal weather names like Winter and Snow.

This presidential name is in style limbo today - or, some might say, in the the sweet spot of familiar but little-used.

More colorful than Blanche, but blanker than Bianca.

Thanks to two cultural influences, January has joined March, April, June and August as a plausible month name.

Kenyon is a very engaging British surname name, the middle y giving it a kind of southwestern canyonesque undertone.

Among the first wave of word names used in the hippie era, it actually is a legitimate girl's name with a lot of luster.

Despite the light, pretty sound of Bella for a girl, the boys' name Bela has dark and mysterious undertones, thanks to Dracula actor Bela Lugosi. Béla is also the first name of composer Bartók.

Diamond sparkled all through the nineties--reaching as high as Number 150 in 1999. Although its shine has diminished quite a bit, it remains in use.

Diamond sparkled all through the nineties--reaching as high as Number 150 in 1999. Although its shine has diminished quite a bit, it remains in use.

Haitian-born rap superstar and humanitarian Wyclef ("Fugees") Jean has lent this name a powerful musical beat.

Whitman, a namesake surname for poet Walt, would be much more suited to a boy, probably because of that "man" part. Whit or Witt makes an uplifting short form which can be used on its own.

This kind of plainspoken nature name (think River and Sunshine) may still carry a whiff of the hippie, but this one has a nice, airy feel.

An unusual floral -wen name which was the name of an 1878 opera by Welsh composer Joseph Parry.

Western place-name that feels equally appropriate for both genders. Note: Natives say rhyme that second syllable with had, so it's not nehv-AH-da.