Reject Pile (Or is it?)

  1. Fitzhugh
    • Origin:

      English, from German
    • Meaning:

      "son of intelligence"
    • Description:

      All the Fitz names are hard to carry, but this one has a wonderful meaning and might be a good middle name choice to honor a brilliant lineage.
  2. Forsythia
    • Origin:

      Flower name, from English surname
    • Meaning:

      "Forsyth's flower"
    • Description:

      This yellow harbinger spring bloom was named for Scottish botanist William Forsyth, and is even more unusual than such species as Acacia and Azalea.
  3. Friedegard
    • Frydryka
      • Gabrina
        • Origin:

          Hebrew, variation of Gavriela
        • Meaning:

          "God ismy strength"
        • Description:

          Gabrina is a name sometimes heard in the Latino community, could make a distinctive alternative to Gabriela.
      • Gardner
        • Origin:

          English
        • Meaning:

          "keeper of the garden"
        • Description:

          Surely one of the most pleasant and evocative of the occupational options.
      • Garnet
        • Origin:

          Jewel name, for the French
        • Meaning:

          "pomegranate"
        • Description:

          One of the jewel names in use a hundred years ago, for both boys and girls, due for revival along with sisters Ruby and Pearl. But interestingly, Garnet means pomegranate, the fruit who shares a deep red color with the jewel.
      • Gasparo
        • Giuseppina
          • Origin:

            Italian, feminine variation of Giuseppe
          • Description:

            One case where the English version -- Josephine -- is far preferable.
        • Gracinha
          • Guillaume
            • Origin:

              French variation of William
            • Description:

              An everyday name in France, a charismatic possibility here.
          • Gwendolyn
            • Origin:

              Variation of Gwendolen, Welsh
            • Meaning:

              "white ring"
            • Description:

              One spelling variation that's more popular than the original, this somewhat old-fashioned name might be in honor of poet Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African-American to win a Pulitzer prize for poetry, or may be a way to get to the modern short form Gwen.
          • Hagar
            • Origin:

              Hebrew
            • Meaning:

              "flight, forsaken"
            • Description:

              Hagar is an Old Testament name with an unfortunate association with comic strip character "Hagar the Horrible."
          • Hedva
            • Helia
              • Origin:

                Greek
              • Meaning:

                "sun"
              • Description:

                The feminine form of Helios or Helio is occasionally heard in Spain and Portugal. In Greek mythology, Helia is one of the Heliades, daughters of the sun god Helios by Clymene the Oceanid.
            • Hereswith
              • Origin:

                Old English
              • Meaning:

                "Strength of the army"
              • Description:

                Hereswith is a rare name that comes to us from the dark ages. She was a Northumbrian saint, whose more famous sister, Hilda, was the Abbess at Whitby and patron of the first English poet, Caedmon. The name has a soft, lispy sound that is more wearable than its spelling would suggest.
            • Hero
              • Origin:

                Greek
              • Meaning:

                "demi-god"
              • Description:

                Despite the possibility of gender confusion, the Hero in Greek myth was a woman. Myleene Klass got that when she chose Hero for her daughter, and Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson used it as their daughter's middle--and we wouldn't be surprised to see more girls with this heroic name.
            • Hesperus
              • Origin:

                Greek
              • Meaning:

                "evening, evening star"
              • Description:

                Hesperus or Hesperos is a figure in Greek mythology who is the personification of the Evening Star or Venus, the son of the dawn goddess Eos. There's a Longfellow poem about a tragic shipping voyage called The Wreck of the Hesperus. An archaic name that with the revival of many old mythological names might just have a chance at revival.
            • Hiroto
              • Origin:

                Japanese
              • Meaning:

                "great flying"
              • Description:

                A very popular Japanese boys' name whose characters refer to the constellation Ursa Major. Short form Hiro might work better in the West, as may another popular Japanese boys' name, Ren.
            • Hortense
              • Origin:

                Latin
              • Meaning:

                "of the garden"
              • Description:

                Hortense is actually the French feminine form of Hortensia, the name of a strong, politically active early Roman woman. Hortense began to be used in the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. Napoleon had a stepdaughter named Hortense, it was the name of one of the main characters in the film Secrets and Lies and is also associated with novelist Hortense Calisher. As unappealing as it might be to most American parents, Hortense is now Number 155 in France (as of 2021).