Potential Character Surnames

Padmé Amidala, played by Natalie Portman, was one of the main characters in the Star Wars prequels, the mother (with Anakin Skywalker) of Luke and Leia. Enough time may have passed for it to be conceivable as a first name IRL.

Paquito's minimizing ito ending could make your child feel insignificant.

Pascoe was popular in medieval times and is definitely deserving of revival, especially for a child born in the Easter season. Other spellings are Pasco and Pascow.

Once an obscure, surname-inspired option, Payton (and Peyton) hiked up the charts back in the 90s, likely inspired by the football star Peyton Manning.

Occasionally heard in England, rarely here.

With its bubbly sounds and stylish feel, Pepper joins a small but distinctive group of names inspired by the spice rack: Saffron, Juniper, Cassia, Sage, Ginger, and Rosemary. Enough like Pippa, Piper and Penelope that it feels usable, Pepper has appeared every year in the US stats since the 60s.

It's a long time now since this casual but suave name was linked to velvet-throated, cardigan-sweatered singer Perry (born Pierino, son of Pietro) Como's day... and this could be the moment for a reassessment. Other Perry associations are designer Ellis and the fictional Perry Mason and Perry White. There is also the option of taking the long way round to Perry via the more substantial Peregrine or Percival.

Kaiser, Rex, Kingsley, and Prince have become increasingly popular in recent years and Pharaoh is one of the more unexpected members of this regal family of names. Used as the title of ancient Egyptian rulers, it was also given to more than 200 babies in 2019.

Chosen by Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher as the middle name of their son Dimitri.

Posey is fashionable in England, a country of gardeners, but this pretty bouquet-of-flowers name is only starting to be heard here.

Some names referring to expensive things -- Tiffany, Armani, Porsche -- are in fact declasse, but Price transcends that label with its simplicity and strength.

See QUADE.

Queen has seen a revival in recent times, reaching its record high in 2018 with 280 births — it has remained steady since then. Previously, Queen saw a peak in the 1920s, but its origins go back even further than that. Queen was a noted name among enslaved people in America, along with other royal choices such as Duke, Squire, and Prince.

Quirky in the way that all Q names are quirky, Quincy was once a buttoned-up, patrician New England name, an image countered in recent years by the talented and ultracool musician Quincy Jones (middle name: Delight; nickname: Q).

Both this form and Quentin are authentic modern forms of the Roman family name Quintus. Your choice. In the US, this spelling lags behind Quentin and Quinton.

Quirinus is the Roman god of thunder and lightning, believed by some to be the Sabine god of war. While this is an intriguing and distinctive classic name, it also might provoke some middle school teasing.