Creative Baby Names

A short form that could be used independently, a la the singer Joss Stone.

One "bald" name we can get behind, thanks to pioneering African-American author James Baldwin – though the name is now also associated with the Baldwin brothers, particularly Alec.

Worldly, artistic and attractive Slavic version of the name of the Greek god of fertility and farming.

With the current taste for last names first, this sounds a lot cooler than Shawn; it also has creative connections to the great Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw, novelist Irwin Shaw, and Big Band Era clarinetist/bandleader and one-time Ava Gardner husband Artie Shaw.

Sean and Robin Wright Penn chose this name for their son to honor their friend Dennis Hopper; others might associate it with the painter Edward. Couldn't be more spirited.

An architectural take on Noel. Knoll honors Florence Knoll, the Michigan-born modernist architect and furniture designer. Her namesake company still produces her designs today.

A musette is both a dance and an antique instrument, but the name is most associated with the classic opera La Bohème.

Like other stylish choices from Roman to Romy to Romeo, Rohmer is a German surname that relates to both Roman pilgrims and the root word for fame.

The french word vignette literally means "little vine," but in English it is a literary and art term. In literature, a vignette refers to a brief but vivid description, and in art, an illustration or photo that fades into the background, sans border.

This intriguing Scandinavian name is associated with Roald Dahl, author of the juvenile classics James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. You can honor an ancestral Ronald just by dropping that middle 'n'.

Prince rose to its highest ranking in a century in 2015, and the tragic death of its most famous bearer in April 2016 propelled it even higher. The Purple Rain legend isn't its only tie to pop royalty: Michael Jackson chose it for not one but two of his sons. Royal names such as King and Prince, once thought of as canine, have begun to be used by human non-royals for their sons.

Fervent fans of The Catcher in the Rye might want to consider this as a literary tribute. More mainstream alternative: Holden.

This African name, which derives from the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria, is used for both girls and boys -- but in the US, its most notable bearer is (male) artist Kehinde Wiley. Wiley, who paints brown- and black-skinned people in the style of European Old Masters, was born in Los Angeles of an African-American mother and a Yoruba father and was also a twin, thus his name. An attractive and creative choice for either gender.

The name of prize-winning American architect Robert Venturi would make a somewhat awkward first.

The Swiss city of Basel was first Basilia, thought to have been dubbed in honor of the Roman castle of the same name. The castle's name would have derived from Basilius, a Roman personal name from which the name Basil also originated.

Kesey is a possible literary hero name honoring Merry Prankster Ken Kesey, whose characters flew over the cuckoo's nest. Kesey rhymes with easy.

If you want to move beyond Maya.

The spelling Woolf inevitably conjures writer Virginia. If you're a fan of Mrs. Dalloway and the Bloomsbury group, Woolf might be a creative way to combine a trendy animal name with an original honor name. Woolf was the surname of Virginia's husband, Leonard.

A worthy honoree that would place a too-heavy expectation on a child, probably subjecting him to ridicule. Try Pablo instead.