910+ Middle Names

For basketball fans, in honor of Magic Johnson. Or anyone who believes in magic.

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

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.

African-American and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth was born as Isabelle into enslavement. She adopted her new name when she began traveling and preaching abolition in 1843. Sojourner is a heroine name that may, with the rise of spiritual word names such as Journey and Genesis, finally be ready for prime time.

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.

Spicy.

Toni Morrison, the modern master of literary names, made this one famous as the title character of a novel. But things didn't work out so well for that Beloved.

The name of the most renowned of the Old Masters is a potential option for families who put an emphasis on the creative. Rembrandt Peale was a member of the Peale family of painters, all named for famous artists.

As the former stage name of TLC founder Perri Reid and the name of the youngest member of the animated Flintstones clan, it's got some pop culture cache. But it'll be too cutesy by half for most parents.

An offbeat word name referring to the speed of a piece of music.

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

A lyrical choice with a similar feel to Story and Posy and a similar sound to Penelope. It might refer to either a work of poetry, a collection of poems, or something that is comparable to the beauty often associated with poetry as a form.

Not even for Brandy's twin brother.

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.

More a concept than a place -- or a name.

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.

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

Tornado first meant thunderstorm and only later came to mean whirlwind, the common modern meaning. More recently, Tornado is the first name of a tennis-playing teen whose sister is called the equally attention-getting Hurricane. Both names work for either gender, if you think you can withstand the storm jokes.

The name of the teenaged son on the dear departed television show "Huff."

Poppy is the most widely-used seed name, opening the door for Sesame. While Sesame has a pretty sound, it is not often used as a name -- fewer than five baby girls were given the name in the US in 2021. In kids' minds, this might be overly associated with Sesame Street.