Potential Character Surnames

As Legacy heats up for girls, new variations are being put into play — chief among them is Legaci.

Legend joins cousins Story, Saga and Fable in the baby name pantheon of narrative words. Unlike Story and Fable, however, Legend comes with additional weight, being used for fame ("living legend") and to denote a person who is fantastic "what a legend"). Who can live up to that?

A rare Finnish name which is used for both sexes, but more often for girls. It is usually found in the middle spot.

Lennox is one of the hottest unisex names of recent years, and this spelling retains the appealing surname vibe and cool -x ending. This form does distance the name slightly from the literary and boxing associations of the original, linking it instead to a tableware manufacturer, a 17th naval ship, and several American places.

This concise one-syllable name, has two possible derivations and two positive meanings associated with it. In Hebrew, it means "heart", while in Russian it means "lion". So strong and simple Lev has both a soft and a fierce side.

A rare Finnish word name with a fiery meaning.

A lovely name with a lovely meaning ("amusing, charming, graceful" in Sanskrit), Lilavati is a rare Indian name with a handful of historical namesakes. Notable bearers include the daughter of great 12th century mathematician Bhaskara, who named one of his mathematical treatises after her, and a 13th century Sri Lankan queen who was only the second woman to rule the country as sovereign in her own right.

In the early eighties, Lindsay, in tandem with Courtney, approached the Top 10.

Groovy Mod Squad name that still sounds retro cool.

In the US, London is popular for both sexes, though as the name has risen for girls, it's levelled off for boys. Currently given to around 200 boys each year, it is nearly five times more popular for girls, however, it been on decline across the board since its peak in 2013. Conjuring up images of Big Ben, red phone boxes, and the London Eye for some, but perhaps the rush hour commute and grey skies for others, London is far less popular in the UK and other English-speaking countries.

Sweet Lorraine might just be old enough to be ripe for reconsideration. This French place name has moved in and out of fashion in the few hundred years it's been used as a girls' first name, somewhat influenced by the alternative name of Joan of Arc--Saint Joan of Lorraine. It was quite popular from the 1920s to the fifties, but has pretty much been in limbo since then.

In the Anglophone world, Love is more likely to be perceived as an English word name than the Swedish form of Louis.

Pretty, delicate and crystal clear, with the readymade nickname of Lucy.

The name of the Roman goddess of the moon, Luna is derived straight from the Latin word for moon, luna. Luna may be the name most likely to surprise someone from an older generation by its Top 10 status in the US and its widespread international popularity.

Once restricted to evangelical Protestants honoring the ecclesiastical reformer and theologian Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant revolution. In more recent times it has been favored by parents wishing to honor civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. Luther was a Top 100 name at the turn of the last century, but fell off the list in the early 1990s.
Luther Burbank was an eminent botanist and Luther Vandross was a popular R&B artist. It's the name of a main character on the Disney series Zeke and Luther. The name was given a shot of contemporary energy via Idris Elba's dynamic performance in the eponymous BBC crime drama.

Lux, one of the light-filled names that include Lucy and Lucian, broke onto the scene as a girls' name but now it's decidedly gender neutral. In fact, at the last count there were slightly more boys named Lux than girls: 140 to 120. But that's pretty close, making this a truly nonbinary name.

This form of Liam ranks in Puerto Rico's Top 100, and is also popular with French-speaking parents in Europe and Canada.

A variant form of the surname MacLaine or MacLean, Macklin feels more wearable as a first name: a cool and current way to nickname Mack.

The popularity of handsome Welsh surname Maddox led to the creation of this spelling variation, connected to baseball great Greg Maddux.

Mason with a French accent. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2012, and it will likely hang on for as long as its brother-in-spelling-variations, Mayson.