100 Vibrant Color Names for Your Baby

Fits many criteria sought by modern parents: it's short and strong, with intimations of wisdom as well as fragrant herbal properties. At this point, Sage is given about a third of the time to boys.

Nickname name hep in the era of Grease.

Sapphire goes waaaaay beyond Ruby and Pearl. This September birthstone, occasionally used a century ago, might be worth a reappraisal, perhaps as a Sophie/Sophia alternative. Sapphire is the pseudonym of Romona Lofton, who wrote the book Push, which was turned into the movie Precious. Sapphire entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2022, and is proving to be one of the freshest gem names for girls. Another intriguing variation is the lovely Sapphira.

Scarlett Johansson is doing more for this sparky southern name than Scarlett O'Hara ever did. Since the turn of the 21st century, Scarlett has gone from an obscure literary name to one of the most popular girls' names starting with S, right after longtime favorites Sophia and Sofia.

Sienna has been a Top 100 choice in England & Wales since 2005, the year after Sienna Miller's acting breakthrough in the hit movies Alfie and Layer Cake. In the US, it also got a big boost in the early noughties, before dropping slightly then rebounding to reach an all-time high in 2022.

Among the first wave of word names used in the hippie era, it actually is a legitimate girl's name with a lot of luster.

Sky is an ambigender nature name that was first legitimized as the character of Sky Masterson in the 1950 musical Guys and Dolls, played in the film version by Marlon Brando. It's a name we appreciate for its clear, wide-open feel, less hippyish than others like Rainbow and Starlight, and makes an appealing middle name possibility.

One of the more unusual of the current crop of strong, single-syllable boys' names, evoking the images of both old-fashioned blackboards and modern stepping-stones and countertops.

There's definitely a cold front of names for winter babies moving in, with Summer, Spring and Autumn giving way to Winter--plus North, January, Frost--and Snow. This name feels brisk, fresh, pure, evocative -- and magical. A haunting middle name choice.

Hard and shiny, Steel projects an image that's smooth, macho...and cold to the touch.

A name with some sterling qualities, most associated with the British currency and silver markets. Sterling has several recent TV associations, with characters Roger Sterling (on Mad Men) and Sterling Archer (on Archer), and actor Sterling K. Brown (on This is Us).

Though some may find such names rather harsh and severe, increasing numbers of parents are gravitating toward this kind of flinty, steely, stony single-syllable name.

Stormy is on the rise following the birth of Kylie Jenner's daughter Stormi, although the starbaby's spelling has taken over the lead.

Upbeat nickname-name that can't help but make you smile. You might want to use it as a short form for a more "serious" name such as Sunniva, but Sunny is undeniably, well, sunny.

Sunshine was seen as a quintessential hippie name of the 70s, reaching as high as Number 536 in 1975. Now such names are making a bit of a retro comeback, seen, for example, as a character on Glee.

Y-ending color adjectives like Tawny and Rusty are nowhere near as stylish as the more sophisticated Lilacs and Violets.

As a name, Topaz is sophisticated and sultry; as a golden gem, it's said to have healing and energizing properties and also to bring good luck-- and being the birthstone for November it's one of the perfect names for November babies, with that final 'z' giving it some extra sizzle.

Conjures up the rich brown colors of raw and burnt umber, but it may be too close to girls' Amber.

Unusual and beautiful blue green color and name possibility, a la Cerulean.