AerieEerie's Character Name Bank

This name of an Old Testament king is reminiscent of the woodsy nature name Hazel.

Gentle meaning and bona fide Hebrew history, but feels old-mannish, like Herman and Menashe.

In the New Testament this was exclaimed by those around Jesus when he first entered Jerusalem. An exuberant choice!

Can Linus lose its metaphorical security blanket and move from the Peanuts page onto the birth certificate? We think it has enough charm and other positive elements going for it for the answer to be yes.

This cool and quirky short form of the suave Ludovic could be an even-more-adventurous spin on Nico and Hugo.

Mabel is a saucy Victorian favorite rising in popularity in the US over the past decade, after a 50-year nap If you love offbeat old-fashioned names like Violet or Josephine, only sassier, Mabel is one for you to consider.

An Old Testament name with a Gaelic lilt, Malachi entered the list in 1987.

Balancing femininity, vintage charm, and fantasy nerdiness, Marceline is one to watch. Marceline the Vampire Queen from the 2010-2018 animated TV series Adventure Time brought her elaborate French name back into public consciousness. It re-entered the Top 1000 in 2020, after an 86 year hiatus, and rose into the 700s in 2021. Nicknames Marcie and Marcy are rising in popularity as well. Marceline may appeal to parents who like frilly, traditional, and sophisticated names such as Josephine and Genevieve.

Mavis, another word for the song thrush, is also a relative of the Welsh word for strawberries, mefus. Mavis has something of a British World War II feel, a friend of Beryl and Doris, but it was quite popular in the U.S. a couple of decades earlier, peaking in the Roaring Twenties. With the renewed interest in names ending in 's' — and in bird names — Mavis could make a return, especially with the new interest in Maeve, and in fact, it reentered the US Top 1000 after a 50-year absence in 2016.

This Hebrew water name has two main popular associations: Mayim Bialik, who played the title role in the early 90s TV series "Blossom," and the popular Israeli folk dance, "Mayim, Mayim."

This adorable fish name debuted on the baby name charts in 2020, inspired by a young girl character in the Netflix movie Love and Monsters. Minnow resembles well-established girl names Minnie, Willow, and Marlowe.

The oldest-known form of Mary, serious and solemn Miriam has been a particular favorite of observant Jewish parents. But we can see it extending beyond that sphere into the next wave of Old Testament names post-Rachel, Rebecca, Sarah, Hannah, and Leah. Miriam is currently the Number 1 girls' name in Israel.

This jaunty Celtic surname -- the most common family name in both Ireland and the US -- is totally viable as a first. The arguably most famous Murphy is TV's Murphy Brown, and indeed the name is twice as common for baby girls as for baby boys today. But still, it's solidly gender neutral and works equally well for all sexes.

Charming nature name made even more appealing by the connection to iconic nurse and statistician Florence Nightingale.

Only if you're an aviation buff or seriously addicted to popcorn.

The Roman god of the underworld, the former ninth planet, a cartoon dog...but not a baby.

Presidential surname adopted as a first by numbers of midcentury African-American parents.

A French surname turned Spanish masculine given name, Rosamel likely derives from the combination of rose + Greek mel "honey".

This masculine floral name literally means "burning bush", and is the Bulgarian word for the dittany plant. The name derives from the highly volatile oils produced by the plant, which can actually catch fire in hot weather. A notable bearer of the Bulgarian-form of the name is Rosen Plevneliev, a former President of Bulgaria.