Cool Colours

Ivory was last popular a hundred years ago. In 2013, it finally began to regain some momentum in the female rankings, reentering the Top 1000.

Energetic choice that bounces off the tongue.

Striking and accessible choice.

Lavender lags far behind sweet-smelling purple-hued sister names Violet and Lila, but is starting to get some enthusiastic attention from cutting-edge namers along with other adventurous nature names like Clementine and Marigold.

Though it sounds like a chopped-off variation of Olivia, which means olive, the distinctively attractive Livia has been an independent name since the days of the ancient Romans, when it belonged to Livia Drusilla—the powerful wife of the Emperor Augustus—and is still commonly heard in modern Italy.

Magenta is a vivid Crayola color name, that could make a vivid, colorful choice. It was named in 1859 after the Napoleonic Battle of Magenta, a town in Northern Italy.

Mauve is an offbeat color name whose soft and sentimental Victorian spirit is conveyed by the name. One of the newer color names like Blue, Gray and Plum that are increasingly being used as novel middle names.

Euphonic hybrid of the sounds of Melissa and Laura. Melora Hardin is an actress who was featured on The Office.

In Japan, color names symbolize human qualities (in this case, fame); name of gifted violist Midori, but also a Japanese melon liqueur.

This name has been in the Chilean popularity charts for a while. Millaray makes a good choice for those looking for a feminine floral name that manages to look and sound fresh and modern.

Intriguing derivation, though people will assume it's a simplified form of Maura.

Named for its snowcapped mountains, Nevada is a state name which, unlike Carolina, Montana, and Dakota, has been relatively undiscovered. Warning: today's unvisited place-name could become tomorrow's trampled tourist attraction.

A sweet, simple Sanskrit name which would work in many languages and has an sparkling, colorful meaning.

Ochre is an exceedingly rare name, found only a few times since the nineteenth century, and not showing up in any current data. Yet it means much the same thing as popular Sienna (another clay coloured with iron oxide) and sounds similar to fashionable Oakley. A strong earthy nature name that is both unusual and evocative.

Omaira is an intriguing Middle Eastern possibility.

A calm and gentle multicultural choice. Oran is popular in Ireland, where its Gaelic form is Odhrán, meaning "little green one". In Scottish Gaelic, the name means "song", and in Hebrew, it's a combination of Or "light" + Ran "singing".

Pretty Victorian-feeling cousin of Ariel; also, more prosaically, a kind of bay window.

Intriguing name that's a Top 100 choice in Spain and virtually unknown outside that country. But has definitely possibilities for the adventurous baby namer.

This Irish saint's name sounds like a lopped-off Lorna.