Names of imaginary childhood friends

Will any English speaker spell your son Aleksander's name right on the first try? Nyet.

Aleksandra is the preferred spelling in many Eastern European languages and cultures, but for English-speakers it's ironically more confusing if also perfectly phonetically clear.

One of the most evenly divided unisex names these days; strong and energetic, if overused, for both genders.

Anna has become the dominant form of the Ann family, offering a touch of the international to English speakers and a bit more style than the oversimplified Ann or Anne.

Barbara is back! Among the fastest-rising names of 2023, Barbara came back from oblivion at the very bottom of the Top 1000, gaining nearly 100 places on the popularity list.

Most Bills today are dads...or grandpas. The younger Williams are usually nicknamed Will, or called by their full names.

A light and pretty pan-cultural name which can be considered a variant of either the Greek name Selene or Selena, meaning "moon", or of the French Celine, meaning "heavenly". An attractive choice that is surprisingly rare in the US: out of the Top 1000 since 2006.

Cindy as a name in its own right made it into the Top 20 in 1957 and remained a Top 200 girls' name until the end of the 20th century. Although it's fallen precipitously since then and left the Top 1000 completely in 2015, Cindy remains a name commonly heard in the US. Today, though, it would more likely be attached to moms or grandmas than to babies.

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

The K makes this slightly more modern than its more traditional original

A lacy, lucky name very popular in the Hispanic community a decade ago, less so now.

Iconoclasts though we may be, we like Fred, we like Frank, and we like George, which was among the Top 10 from 1830 to 1950, when the number of little Georges started to decline. Solid, strong, royal and saintly, yet friendly and unpretentious, we think that George is in prime position for a comeback, especially since it was chosen by Britain's royal couple.

Helena is one of those classic names that just misses making the US Top 1000 girl names for its entire history, falling off for a single year in 1992. Since then it's been drifting lazily up the charts, and makes a perfect choice if you want a name that both fits in and stands out.

Julia was an ancient Roman imperial name given to females in the house of a Julius, as in Caesar. Its origin is shrouded in history, but possible roots include Latin iuvenis, meaning "youthfu"; Greek ioulos, meaning "downy-bearded"; or Jovis, a form of Jupiter, which means "sky father".