Good Surnames

As sturdy as Oak, but with stronger roots as a first name, Oakley ticks lots of boxes for modern trends. With its unisex vibe, it's nature-based meaning, it's surname-y feel, and it's popular -lee ending, it's not wonder Oakley is on the rise.

Oakley, with its nature name roots and its Annie Oakley charm, is a hot name for both genders but more than twice as popular for girls. This name made it into the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013, one of only four girl names starting with O to rank that high. A decade letter, it's aiming for the Top 100.

This name seems to foresee a future CFO. Not a bad thing. Osgood Perkins is the name of both the father and son of actor Anthony. Oz is the enlivening nickname.

Padgett is a last name turned first name, from the occupational term for a page or attendant. No babies of either sex were given the name in the US last year.

Sleek and sophisticated single-syllable choice that has NEVER been in the Top 1000, though sister name Paige has ranked since the mid 1950s. Though off her peak, Paige is still in the Top 200. Along with Poppy, Patience, and Plum, Page is one of the girl names that start with P that are also words.

This rarified Greek name -- in classical mythology Pallas Athena was the goddess of wisdom and the arts -- might appeal to literary-minded parents. Among the raft of stylish girl names that start with P, Pallas is one rare choice that is often overlooked....but shouldn't be.

Palmer is a name that derives from the fact that pilgrims often carried palms, thus the double meaning. It's a fresher sounding twist other surname style names, such as Spencer, Carter, Porter and Parker.

Better suited to a stuffy school than a little boy.

And if it's triplets: Pembroke, Pendleton, and Penley.

This simple, elegant name offers something for many kinds of parents, from writers and history buffs to photographers to Pennsylvania dwellers. Most famous bearers are comedian Penn Jillette and Gossip Girl hottie Penn Badgley, both of whom were given this distinctive name at birth. Long obscure, Penn seems destined for greater usage.

Actor Pierce Brosnan brings a strong helping of charm to this name. Pierce was actually a popular name long before Mr. Brosnan came along, from 1880 to the end of the 1930s.

Piers was the first version of Peter to reach the English-speaking world, via the Normans, but it's never made it in the US, despite its large measure of understated panache. This might change due to the high visibility of TV personality and former news editor Piers Morgan.

If used at all these days, it would be to honor artist Jackson, whose first name would be far preferable.

Chosen by Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher as the middle name of their son Dimitri.

Prideaux is a Cornish place name and surname that is occasionally attested as a girls' first name. It likely stems from the French phrase "pré de eaux", meaning meadow of waters. For fans of Margaux, Prideaux might be a less-common and very pretty alternative.

In France, pronounced PRO-spare, Prosper is a fairly common name; here it presents a worthy aspirational message for a child.

This strong name and its variations are well used in Israel.

Radical Bradley.