Names from Whats My Line

Australian opera singer Nellie Melba—self-named for her hometown of Melbourne—inspired this now-dated name more associated today with a peach dessert and dietetic toast.

A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany. In the US, it is a unisex name, while in Germany and the Netherlands, it is predominantly feminine.

Derived from Aku, the name of the Babylonian god of the moon. In the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament this is the Babylonian name of Mishael, one of the three men cast into a furnace but saved by God. Meshach Taylor is an actor who has been featured on several sitcoms.

Michael was the Number 1 American boys' name for almost half a century. While Michael has moved out of the Top 10 baby boy names, it's still widely used.

One of those quintessentiallyFrench names still wearing a beret, also too tied to the image of tires.

Pugnacious and spunky like the young Mickey Rooney and the original Mickey Mouse, but virtually never given to babies today.

Mickey is a nickname-name redolent of the mid-20th century and best-known as a mouse name. While this spelling works for either gender, the girls' version is more often spelled Micki.

Sixties-style nickname which is also the name of a small biting insect, particularly prevalent in Scotland.

Unlike Jake or Sam, few parents put Mike on the birth certificate.

When scientists do research on the effects of an unpopular name, we're afraid that Mildred is one of the examples they cite, often in tandem with Bertha and Gertrude. But with cute nickname Millie on the rise, anything's possible.

Once an upper-class British surname conjuring up the epic poetry of John Milton, it then descended to the antics of "Uncle Miltie" Berle, and now has left the stage completely.

If you are looking for an unusual way to honor an ancestral Mary or Miriam, Mirja might make a good choice. Zero baby girls were given this name in the US in 2014. The rising popularity of Anja has schooled English speakers that the j is pronounced like a y.

Molly is one of the original nickname names, ALWAYS ranking among the US Top 500 girl names since statistics began, in 1880. Molly peaked in 1991 only to rise just as high again in 2011, and though softening retains a good measure of popularity and charm.

Mona had more than a moment in the sun, peaking in 1950 at Number 230 but falling off the Top 1000 completely in the late 1980s. Its similarity to the word "moaner" undercuts the appeal of its simplicity. In one recent year, fewer than 100 baby girls received the name, and we don't see it reviving any time soon.

The sort of oh-so-French name that's falling out of favor now.