Modern Christian Baby Names

Fewer letters does not always mean easier—the traditional spelling is the one most people will recognize.

Among the children named Heaven are the daughters of TV personality Brooke Burke and rap singer Lil' Mo, who also has a daughter named God'iss Love. Some parents have taken to using Nevaeh instead—Heaven spelled backwards.

Bird names have taken flight, and Cardinal is a new addition recently used by Cameron Diaz and Benji Madden for their son. The red bird was named for the color of the robes worn by the religious cardinals.

Old Testament book way too heavy to carry.

Kross is one of the new generation of Christian word names with a twist, and joins the ranks of Chozen, Kruz, Zyon, Kannon, and Tru as options for boys. Given to around 20 babies in 2018, by 2019, it was received by more than 100. Now, it is given to nearly 200 babies each year and is more popular than the traditional Cross spelling.

A modern word and virtue name which first appeared on the US baby name charts in 2013, when it was given to 6 boys. By 2018, that had doubled to 12 (plus 8 girls), no doubt thanks to the enigmatic Credence Barebone from the Fantastic Beasts film franchise.

Nazareth, an important place in the New Testament as the hometown of Jesus, is on the rise as a name for both girls and boys. It's one of a handful of Biblical place names, along with Galilee and Jericho, stylish among contemporary Christians.

Could be a sister to Trinity, Genesis, or Heaven.

This name boomed in the 1940s and 50s thanks to the glamorous singer Risë (pronounced REE-sa) Stevens, who inherited her name from her Norwegian grandmother. It's rare nowadays, but when used it's more likely to be the uplifting vocabulary word, rhyming with "eyes". The latter was chosen by Nick Cannon and Brittany Bell for their son, born in September 2022.

Divine seems more proper a name with the rise of Heaven and its turned-around twin Nevaeh. Though superlative names like Divine -- Unique, say, or Precious -- sometimes seems as if they're trying to hard and protesting too much.

Heavenly, the word that's become a name, has been flirting with the bottom of the Top 1000 for a handful of years now. Heaven and cousins like Nevaeh have been well-used so adding the popular -ly suffix, ala Everly, seems like a natural progression.

A warm-sounding word and virtue name used by the Puritans and still popular in parts of Africa, especially in the Favour spelling.

Blessed and Blessing are two new entrants in the word name and virtue name categories, gaining popularity for both boys and girls.

Brother for Heaven or Nevaeh.

Evocative word name that's refreshingly straightforward. Overtones of Christianity and penalty. More subtle option: Cruz.

Seinfeld's George threatened to name his future child Seven, and then singer Erykah Badu actually did it.

Mount Sinai is a place sacred to the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religions, the mountain on which Moses received the Ten Commandments. Sinai is also the name of the peninsula where Mount Sinai is located.

Page, Poet, and Story all get used as names, so why not Verse? Teen Mom's Kailyn Lowry used it as a name for one of her sons.

Spiritual word names are becoming more and more popular – think Peace, Bodhi, Zen and Psalm – and Spirit is among the rarer options, given to a couple dozen baby girls each year in the US. It's the name of the horse in the kids' TV show Spirit.

Fresh and fragrant nature name more apt to be used for a boy.