Future

Long more associated with the New York Waldorf- hotel and the neighborhood in Queens than as a baby name, Astoria is finally beginning to emerge from their shadow and find favor with parents looking to move beyond Brooklyn. The name Astoria is drawn from the surname of titan of industry John Jacob Astor, theorized to mean "hawk."

In keeping with other short names like PO/POE and BO, Coe is a surname that could easily move into first place. It has a sports hero factor as well, in Olympic runner Sebastian Coe--who later became a Member of Parliament.

Dariel is one of many similar forms and variations of different names—Dara, Dariela, Daria and Darya—that are all unusual and pretty if not quite authentic-feeling.

This variation of Jordan entered the Top 1000 in 1989. Jordyn as well as Jordan trended throughout the 90s and early 2000s, but are beginning to fall slightly on the girls' side. While the Jordan spelling reached the highest point in popularity out of the 2, making it into the Top 50 in the late 90s and early 2000s, today Jordyn has taken the lead.

While Larkin takes this name from girlish bird to boyish surname, there are actually more female Larkins these days than male, and it's a name that works as well for either gender.

Shot to fame as the middle name of Brangelina's daughter Shiloh Nouvel, after French architect Jean Nouvel.

Odessa, a Ukrainian port city, was given its name by Catherine the Great, who was inspired by Homer's Odyssey. It would make an original and intriguing choice.

Currently in the US Top 300, Saylor finds the middle ground between the popular and unisex Taylor, and the more unexpected, wordier Sailor. In fact, it is currently used more often than either of its sound-alikes.