Names That Mean Freedom

Manly almost to the point of macho.

An Asian favorite.

Both Karla and Carla are sliding down the ranks, though Karla remains far more popular in the USA than Carla.

This authentic form of the name of an Irish mythological hero with the power to make women fall instantly in love with him would work far better here as the Anglicized Dermot.

Charley is, at this point, an old-fashioned spelling for the most popular short form of Charles, better known these days as Charlie. But Charley is a classic and relates more directly to Charles.

Corliss, eccentric yet well-established, has an independent and artistic air.

Scheherazade -- or Sheherazade --is a legendary Persian queen immortalized as the narrator of all one thousand stories in the One Thousand and One Nights. Her story is even more remarkable than the tales she tells.

This short form has been pretty much replaced by Franny, Fanny. and especially Frankie.

There have been manly men called Fran, like football great Fran Tarkenton and Hannah's boyfriend in one season of Girls, but that doesn't mean it works for babies anymore of either gender. Pope Francis may have inspired many little namesakes, but they're called Francis or Frances or Francesca....or maybe Frank or Frankie or Franny. Not Fran.

This unique baby name is stronger, more distinctive than April or Avril.

Frisco is a frisky, roguish semi-place-name (San Francisco natives never call it that) that could make a lively, unusual o-ending choice.

This name is the feminization of mythological name Lysander, which is best known to English-speakers as a character in Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream.

An Arabic name with a powerful and alluring meaning, in Islamic tradition, Isra refers to one part of the Night Journey that the Prophet Muhammad, in which he led other prophets such as Ibrahim, Isa, and Musa in prayer. Popular in Belgium, the UK, and the Netherlands, it is climbing the US charts.

As this word is less often used to mean derriere, it becomes more possible to view Fanny as the kind of appealingly quaint nickname name, like Josie and Nellie, that many parents are favoring now.

An uncommon surname name with that energetic -er ending. Might appeal especially to baseball fans.

Shortening Francisco somehow makes it sound even cooler. Cisco is also the name of a digital security company.

Eleftheria is derived from the male saint's name Eleutherios/Eleftherios. The national motto of Greece is Eleftheria i thanatos, "freedom or death".

Charlie in all its forms has been a popular gender neutral name since the early 2000s and is now given almost equally to girls and boys. While it did once lean more (statistically) masculine, it has been used on girls too since the before the 20th century.

Hippolyte is the name of an Amazonian princess AND her son, both unfortunate mythical figures. The name Hippolyte, later borne by several saints, is a not an uncommon boys' name in France, but has barely set foot on American soil and is unlikely to do so. It was the middle name of famed French playwright Jean Giraudoux.

If Frances and Fran are too serious for you, and Fanny too saucy, you might like Franny, still identified by some with J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey stories.