Young Canadian pop singer Alessia Cara has given this spicy-sounding name a new lease on life, propelling it into the Top 1000 in 2016. (It was one of the year's fastest-rising girls' names.) The main risk is that it feels so close to Alexa, Alicia, Alexis and Alyssa-- all becoming overused -- that it could be mistaken for one of those more familiar names. 

Alessia

Austin is one of the most attractive <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/572/names-for-city-babies">city names for babies</a>, with an appealing southwestern feel and place-name panache.
 Austin has been an Anglo-Saxon surname and a first name since medieval times. Austin reached the Top 10 in the 1990s, but in 2022 slipped out of the US Top 100 for boys. 
 Literary namesakes include Austin Sloper in Henry James' novel Washington Square, and there have been several Austins in soap operas and films.
 The Austen spelling is also used fairly evenly for boys and girls, sometimes as an homage to Jane Austen.

Austin

Macho to the max.  But with the rise of x as a fashionable letter anywhere it appears in a name, ala Jaxson or Maxon, we may be hearing more of Axton.

Axton

Beaudan

Daxen

Creative gem perfect for an architect's son, in tribute to modern Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen. 

Eero

While substituting a C for a K is a modern trend, Erik is in fact the traditional spelling of the name, derived from the Old Norse Eiríkr and introduced to the English speaking world in the Anglo-Saxon period. Now, Erik is popular in Scandinavia and throughout much of Central and Eastern Europe, where it ranks in the Top 100 in Germany, Slovenia, Hungary, and more.

The Erik form remains on style in the UK where Eric feels outdated and both Erik and Erick are preferred in Spain, Latin America, and among Spanish Speakers in the US.
 
Erik is the least popular form of the name in the US charts, outranked by Eric and Erick - however, all three remain in the Top 500, and when you add all the Eric/ks together, it begins to feel like a name that ranks just outside the Top 100, in tune with August, Myles, Nicholas and Xavier. 
 
Love the Scandinavian feel of Erik? Magnus, Ivor, Ivar, Henning, Halsten, Emrik, or Torkel might provide some further inspiration.

Erik

Eloura

Gisella

K-beginnings are often substituted for Cs, and this spelling is definitely finding favor with many parents, among them skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. However, sometimes the original is the best - we suggest sticking to the still unusual Cadence.

Kadence

An evocative name brought from Hawaii to the mainland by Keanu Reeves, who was born in Beirut to a part-Hawaiian, part-Chinese father. It moved into the Top 1000 for the first time in over a decade in 2016. Keanu ranks among <a href="https://nameberry.com/popular-names/us/state/hawaii> hawaii's top 100 baby names</a>.

Keanu

As the softer-looking Cora of Downton Abbey fame charted highly in the US and the UK, some parents were looking for a way to make this name a little less common, a bit more trendy or far more Germanic by using a "K". We prefer the C version, but Kora is still an elegant name.

Kora

Kailen

Kolohe

Larissa is a nymph name that's daintily pretty and a fresh alternative to Melissa or Alyssa. Though this is the more common variation in the Western World, the original is actually Larisa.
 And though it may sound like a typical Edwardian/Victorian appellation, Larissa was hardly heard here before 1967, which was two years after the release of the hit film Doctor Zhivago, whose heroine was Larissa, called Lara, the inspiration for the haunting 'Lara's Theme.'
 In Greek mythology, Larissa or Larisa was a nymph who was a daughter of Pegasus and loved by Mercury. In 1991, her name was given to a moon of Neptune, in honor of the nymph.
 Today, Larissa is a very attractive yet underused choice that might appeal to parents who like such <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">feminine names</a> as Melissa and Marissa but are seeking something a bit fresher.

Larissa

Leonie is a chic French and German form of a name that exists in a range of variations from Leona to Leonia to Leon to Leo to Lionel, all newly fashionable after a couple of generations in style limbo. 
 Pronunciation can be confusing: The first syllable can be pronounced as lee or lay, the second as on or own, and the accent can be on either the first or the second syllable or be evenly distributed over all three syllables of the name, so that it sounds like the male name Leon with an ee at the end. Take your pick, but know that others might often pick differently.
 Aunt Leonie is a major character in Proust's Remembrance of Things Past. Leonie Hemsworth is the mother of Liam and Chris and Leonie is the name picked by Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassel for their daughter.

Leonie

Maharlo

Multicultural option, equally intriguing as, but more unusual than, Maia. 

Naia

Phoenix is a New Age name symbolizing rebirth and immortality. It's also a place name, a color name, a mythological name, AND an animal name, combining several of today's hottest trends in one appealing package.

The name Phoenix is associated with an immortal bird from Greek and Egyptian mythology, which having lifted for several centuries would catch fire, then rise from its own ashes. This cycle would endlessly repeat, and therefore, Phoenix is tied to fresh starts, rejuvenation and beginning again after loss. Phoenix is also linked to the US city in Arizona, named as such because the area was abandoned when settlers found it, and it was seen as a new city born from the ruins of another. 
Statistically, Phoenix does lean slightly to the boys' side with 1200 boys receiving the name in 2023 compared to 900 girls. Nevertheless, it shares sounds with the familiar Phoebe, Beatrix, and Fiona, as well as Phillip and Felix, and so it doesn't feel out of place on any gender. 
 A celebrity favorite, Scary Spice Mel B, rugby player Mat Rogers, fashion designer John Richmond, and actress Tammin Sursok all chose Phoenix for her daughters.

Phoenix

Vivienne Kate 

Fresher, brisker and, yes, cooler than Summer or Autumn or Spring, Winter is now a full-fledged female choice, especially since Nicole Richie and Joel Madden used it for daughter Harlow's middle name, and Gretchen Mol picked it as her daughter's first, as did media mogul Sean Parker. Winter continues to be the preferred spelling and has risen in popularity significantly over the past few years.
 Although Winter entered the U.S. Top 1000 in 1978, it was been used as a first name as early as the seventeenth century.
 Some interesting international words for winter: Aeneva (Cheyenne, Native American), Cole (Chinook, Native American), Hima (Sanskrit), Jara (Hindi), Saradi (Hindi), Vandi (Kashmiri), Zaya (Old Persian) and Zima (Russian, Bulgarian). Here's a more complete look at <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/89/winter-baby-names">winter baby names</a>.

Winter

Xander is a diminutive of Alexander, the Latin variation of the Greek Alexandros. Its meaning, "defending men," is taken from the Greek roots aléxein, "to defend," and andros, "men." Zander, pronounced the same way, is an alternate spelling.
 
One of the newer short forms of Alexander, Xander is a spelling that first saw the spotlight via Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and then as Vin Diesel's character in XXX. Mad Men star January Jones named her son Xander Dane.
 
Even shorter forms Xan and Zan are now also being used on their own. Xan is a character in the P. D. James novel The Children of Men and is a favorite choice of computer game creators.

Xander

Zarlia

Bunnyk's list "Names considering" of 23 great name ideas: Alessia - Zarlia!

Names considering

A list of names we are considering for a boy or girl. Something different but with a familiar sound. 
(We ended up with a gorgeous little girl. "Zarlia Leonie Anne")