Word Names

Like Sky and Sunshine, this fluffy name from the hippie 1970s has floated back onto the naming radar.

This Puritan virtue name may be unstylish, but it is also sympathetic and appealing in these largely uncomfortable times.

A traditional French male name that could, with American pronunciation, become an admirable word name.

Crescent is an intriguing word name with a pretty sound and links to the moon. Cressie could make for a cute nickname, as used in the Worst Witch children's TV series, short for Crescentmoon.

Dawn's heyday in the US, Canada and the UK came in the 1960s and 70s. It peaked at #14 in the US in 1971, but has since sunk from sight to be eclipsed by other names with the same meaning, such as Aurora, Roxana or Zariah.

One of the new bird names, like Lark and Wren, this one's associated with the billing and cooing sounds of love. Soft and gentle, Dove also has the admirable association with peace.

Singular and serene noun name that's been used by a couple of celebs.

Dune is a name of several layers. It's a modern nature name, like Ocean, Bay and Reef, although rarer, conjuring up images of breezy sand dunes on summer beach days.

Echo, the pretty, resonant name of a legendary nymph, was the heroine of Joss Whedon's sci-fi series Dollhouse. Nick Hexum, of the band 311, named his daughter Echo Love.

Eden is an attractive, serene name with obvious intimations of Paradise, one of several place names drawn from the Bible by the Puritans in the seventeenth century.

Otherworldly.

Though this feels like a new invention, people have used day names such as Morning and Afternoon for centuries -- and so why not Evening too? It's a lovely word with an evocative meaning and makes a perfect addition to this newly stylish group.

Inventive name for the child of a writer.