Wild Names

Now that it's no longer fashionable for girls, Robin is rising for boys again. Robin Hood, Robin Williams, Christopher Robin, and Robin the Boy Wonder are all male namesakes, after all. It reentered the US Top 1000 boys names in 2015 for the first time since 1999 and continues to bounce around the lower end of the Top 1000.

In Africa, Safari is often used a name for a baby born during a journey. Americans and more likely to think of riding in Jeeps, taking photos of giraffes, lions, and the like. Nevertheless, Safari is an intriguing name, although one best reserved for the middle.

With other bird names such as Lark and Phoenix on the rise, why not chirpy Sparrow? Nicole Richie and Joel Madden named their son, born in 2009, Sparrow James Midnight.

Unusual choice that was the original name of children's illustrator Tasha Tudor, but is an interesting elaboration of Star, taking it into avian territory.

Y-ending color adjectives like Tawny and Rusty are nowhere near as stylish as the more sophisticated Lilacs and Violets.

Made familiar as a baby name via Tiger Woods, whose birth name is Eldrick. The golf star has made it a viable option for baby boys, and a handful of girls are also given the name each year in the US.

The final -e takes this from a daring word name to a literary honor name, for the inimitable Irish author, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, infamous for his wit and flamboyance.

Rugged, outdoorsy, and full of energy, Wilder entered the US Top 1000 back in 2015. Part bad boy, part Western, part preppy, and part nature-loving, Wilder is given to nearly 800 babies each year.

Wolf is a name with a split personality. It can be seen as one of the fierce animal names, like Fox and Bear and Puma, with a touch of the werewolf, or it can be viewed as a quieter, Wolf Blitzer kind of name, fairly common in German (where is pronounced Vulf) and Jewish families, sometimes as a short form of Wolfgang, or even Wolfram or Wolfhart.

Wren may not be as time-honored a bird name choice as Robin or even Lark, but it's more fashionable and fresh, with a gentle and earthy vibe.

The longer form of Xia is more rhythmic but also more problematic.

Zev is a short, simple, animal name that may relate to the Old Testament Ze'ev -- except he was a villainous character.

Readers who remember J. D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey have probably forgotten that the character was male (nee Zachary). Nowadays the somewhat loopy spin on Zoe is associated with actress Zooey Deschanel.