910+ Middle Names

Believe it or not, this was a fairly common appellation in early New England, interpreted not in the sexual sense, but more in terms of desiring salvation. In modern times, the French name Desiree, pronounced dehz-ih-ray, would be more acceptable.

Royalty was the hottest name of 2016, moving furthest up the ladder to enter the Top 1000, and is also arguably the trendiest name of the past decade, used a whopping 71 times as often in 2017 as it was ten years earlier. Royalty represents the convergence of two important trends: word names and superlative names such as Legend and King. This is one we'll hear a lot of for a while.

This old-time name for a sofa would not be comfortable as a baby name.

Sociable middle name choice with a Quaker feel.

Spicy.

Not even for Brandy's twin brother.

We call Savvy a Modern Virtue Name, a contemporary version of the Puritan's Hope and Charity, extolling the virtue of shrewdness. And who doesn't want their daughter to grow up to be Savvy in the ways of the world? So far, this name has been used only for girls, perhaps because some parents remember the women's magazine called Savvy.

Like Justice and Peace, this word name makes a very strong statement. Ving Rhames chose it for his boy.

Legend joins cousins Story, Saga and Fable in the baby name pantheon of narrative words. Unlike Story and Fable, however, Legend comes with additional weight, being used for fame ("living legend") and to denote a person who is fantastic "what a legend"). Who can live up to that?

If you like the idea of King and Prince but find them too sophisticated, this might be the name for you.

Christmas is a day name long and quietly used as a name for babies born at Christmas. Prettier and more modern than Noel or Noelle.

A name that's appeared out of thin air, in the same vein as such mystical favorites as Destiny and Nevaeh.

One of the more unusual word names used by Plymouth pilgrims for their children. Fear Brewster is an example of the usage of this name. Definitely one of the historic pilgrim names best left in the past.

There are many lovely day/month/seasonal names -- and this is one of the most intriguing.

If you want to move beyond Maya.

Painter is among the most creative choices in this very fashionable category of names, with a particularly pleasant sound. Whereas most occupational names conjure up physical labor, this one feels like a gateway to the arts.

Adventurous word choice, but still quite a burden for a child to bear.

Nobility names like Duke and Count seem to be forming a minitrend: actor Danny Bonaduce named his son Count Dante Jean-Michel Valentino. Beat that. Or wait: don't.

Eighties star Judge Reinhold (born Edward Jr. , he was given this nickname at the age of two weeks) made this possible, but it could cause a lot of confusion.

Power is one of the new crop -- Justice, Liberty, Peace -- of strong, clear-cut, declarative choices, though this one carries more assertiveness than virtue.