910+ Middle Names (with Meanings & Popularity)

Royal names are on the rise. Along with names such as King, Prince, and Royal, why not Palace? Why not indeed.

In the Plymouth Colony of the seventeenth century, Thankful was the third most popular of the abstract word names. It disappeared after 1700 and has virtually no chance of returning.

But what happens when Jeune grows vieille.

Gruff is a name that gets used on a handful of boys each year, in both the US and the UK.

With the first name True receiving a Kardashian dose of popularity for girls, Truth is gaining in visibility too. Though its still more popular for boys two to one, the truth is that the name works equally well for both genders -- but may inspire a lot of puns.

Upstanding to a fault.

North and West are easier on the ear, but this works fine if it has some significance for your family. Could be lengthened to Easton.

An admirable quality to impart; Pleasant was used by Charles Dickens in Our Mutual Friend and in modern times is known via American Girl dolls creator Pleasant Rowland.

Name that makes a strong philosophical statement -- but might ironically be a lot for a child to carry.

Actress Shannyn Sossamon used this as the middle name for her son Audio; one of the most do-not-try-this-at-home combos we've heard.

Cool and casual, a la humorist Ring (born Ringgold. ) Lardner.

Loyalty is one of the Modern Virtue Nameson the rise for both genders, but in this case mainly girls. About 85 percent of the babies named Loyalty are female and 15 percent male, but there's no reason this upstanding name can't work equally well for both.

Remarkable Pettibone was a self-important housekeeper in James Fenimore Cooper's The Pioneers. Such names were not uncommon in early America, with such choices as Remember and Experience showing up in the records along with Puritan virtue names such as Chastity and Patience.

Your daughter will like this better at twenty than she will at fifty.

Explorer is one occupational name destined to seek and find greater things.

Gives the message that you want your daughter to keep her eye on the prize.

Maybe if you're planning to have only one child -- and iffy even then.

Moroccan is a name newly minted by Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon for their newborn twin son. Meaning a person who lives in Morocco, Moroccan was used by the couple as a nod to the Moroccan Room in Carey's Manhattan apartment, where Cannon proposed to the singer. Place-name Morocco is another choice for either sex, as is music name Maraca.