910+ Middle Names

Revel is a joyous word name that may appeal to parents wanting a non-traditional Biblical choice or simply a name that expresses how they feel.

Sunshine was seen as a quintessential hippie name of the 70s, reaching as high as Number 536 in 1975. Now such names are making a bit of a retro comeback, seen, for example, as a character on Glee.

Everest has an attractive enough sound and lofty enough meaning to come into style, à la Sierra. George Lucas bestowed this aspirational name on his baby daughter in 2013 and it has been climbing up the charts ever since. Currently in the US Top 1000 for boys, it was also given to around 100 girls in a recent year.

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

A name heard in Puritan times -- Cotton Mather was a minister involved in the Salem witchcraft trials -- which really deserves modern consideration as it blends nature and softness into a really trendy and wearable masculine name.

Calm, straightforward, patrician sounding: Pace is one new-style name that's well-grounded.

Justice is a fashionable word name, used for both girls and boys. Justice has the distinction of being a virtue name without the religious implications of Faith or Grace. It still feels more male than female, perhaps partly due to the classic Roman name Justus, but Justice has become a more common pick for girls in recent years.

So sweet it makes our teeth hurt. It has appeared in the US Top 1000 every year since 2006, though it dropped a significant 136 places from 2014 to 2015, and kept dropping to Number 974 in 2016.

In Buddhism, Dharma embodies the basic principles of cosmic existence--making it a fitting name for the hippyish character on the sitcom Dharma and Greg, whose middle name was Freedom.

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the curve (or trendsetting)—Ireland has been among the fastest-rising names of recent years. Other Irish place names include Shannon, Kerry, Galway, and Dublin.

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."

This color name, spelled either Gray or Grey is rapidly catching on. Actress Jenny von Oy recently called her daughter Gray Audrey.

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

Paz, currently represented by actresses Paz Vega and Paz de la Huerts, would make a sparkling middle name choice. It originated as a title of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Peace, and is one of the names that mean peace, derived from the Latin word "pax".

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

A cool name, representing the Roman goddess of peace and offering a positive message to bestow upon a child. Pax is one of the most stylish new names that mean peace.

Although she declared her independence as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I--Good Queen Bess, Bess now sounds less passé than Beth or Betsy.

Much-used midcentury diminutive, now fallen far from favor even as a middle name.

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.