Pokemon Crystal

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

Hey, Mikey! Old school short form with a certain vintage charm, but it's one nickname you don't want to stick past, say, fifth grade.

Attractive but slight Asian alternative, with a 1970s nickname feel.

Miller is an up-and-coming choice in the stylish occupational genre, among the fastest-rising names for both boys and girls in the US in 2023.

The Play Misty for Me jokes will get old really fast.

This saintly name--she was the mother of St. Augustine--plummeted after the double whammy of Lewinsky and the demise of Friends.

Naoko is a common Japanese name with an admirable meaning, which, depending on how it's written, can translate to obedient, straight, honest, or green child. Naoko can also be spelled Nahoko.

Very much in style, especially after its starring role in Six Feet Under, Nate is one of a new generation of nicknames that go directly on the birth certificate. Other similar names: Sam, Jack, Mack.

Nathan is an Old Testament name that's ranked among the Top 100 names for boys for 50 years, and could well stay there for another 50. Strong, solid, and attractive, It's a name familiar to every schoolchild through Nathan Hale, the Revolutionary War spy.

Always the less common spelling of Irish classic Neil, Neal has been on a fifty-year slide, and now doesn't even make the Top 1000. It has a streamlined, surnamey appeal in this spelling.

The classic strong-yet-friendly nickname name, much used for charming movie characters.

Nico is one of the great nickname names, full of charm, energy and effortless cool -- a neo Nick.

Nicole was derived from Nicholas, the English variation of the Greek Nikolaos, composed of the compounds nike, meaning "victory," and laos, "people." The variation Nicole arose in the Middle Ages in France to honor St. Nicholas. Names related to Nicole include Colette, Nicolette, Nika, Nicola, and Nicolina.

Nikki was the it-girl name of the 1970s and '80s as both a short form of Top 10 favorite Nicole and as a given name itself.

Noland exists as a surname among the Irish and the French. In Ireland, it's a variation of the much more common Nolan. As a French surname, Noland is derived from Germanic components not, "need" and land.

Norman, perhaps because it sounds so much like the word 'normal', conjures up the image of a normal-looking guy with a normal kind of job-- not necessarily an image many modern parents seek for their sons. But though it's been off the national popularity list for several years, Norman is Number 694 on Nameberry. It was a Top 100 name for more than half a century, hitting a high in 1931 at Number 36, but today it's nowhere near one of the most popular boy names starting with N.

Olivia, a lovely Shakespearean name with an admirable balance of strength and femininity, is the Number 1 name for baby girls in the US and one of the top girls' names around the world.