There Can Be Only One

Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin's choice of this white-bearded Old Testament name helped bring it into the modern age, along with brethren Elijah, Isaiah and Isaac. User-friendly nicknames include Moe and Mose.

The name of the young hero of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, who was raised by wolves (really) and becomes a genius hunter and trapper, was chosen as a middle name for their son Bronx (really, again) by rockers Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz. Kipling invented the name, whose first syllable rhymes with cow.

A daring middle name possibility for classical concertgoers. Alternatives are Wolfgang and Amadeus.

One of the best known early Nemos was the captain in Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, while the more familiar modern one is the animated little orange fish in the Disney movie. Unusual name well worth considering. By the way, there is also a Shakespearean Nemo and one in Dickens's Bleak House. An enchanting early comic strip by Winsor McCay was called Little Nemo.

The association with the infamous Nero, the fiddling Roman emperor, would be unavoidable. But there was also the detective Nero Wolfe, hero of many mystery stories.

The surname of the 44th US President has been been adopted as a first, for girls as well as boys, by admiring parents around the world. And the O beginning even makes it fashionable. Though Barack Obama's name derives from the Luo people of Kenya, Obama is also a Japanese place name and a surname that means "little beach."

The misspelling that created an indelibly one-person name.

Seen from our vantage point, Pocahontas is a name that will please no one. It's sure to invite playground mockery, and parents without Algonquin ancestry will be engaging in cultural appropriation. In certain circles, the 1995 Disney movie still stirs up bad blood. The name doesn't even present any obvious nickname possibilities to hide behind.

An evocative unisex one-syllable name, Poe is most distinguished by its literary reference. Edgar Allan Poe was an influential American author and poet, credited with inventing the genres of detective and science fiction, which might provide inspiration for parents who are fans. And now its choice as the name of the hero played by Oscar Isaac in the new Star Wars movie is sure to catapult it from literary choice to major favorite.

One of Alexandre Dumas' Three Musketeers, probably better than the perfume-scented Aramis.

This version of the sea god's name may be more ready for prime time than the Roman version, Neptune -- slightly.

Superhero names are fit for humans today, and there's no reason Rambo can't take his place among a generation of babies named Loki, Odin, and Atlas.

It wasn't so long ago that Romeo was considered as outre for an American baby as Casanova or Cupid. But that really changed when David and Victoria Beckham chose it for their second son in 2002, a path followed by Jon Bon Jovi.

This lovely name is a softened French version of Tziporah, the biblical wife of Moses. Unfortunately, in the US, it's become attached to the cosmetics franchise.

No: no Picasso, no Beethoven, and no Shakespeare.

The mononymous Colombian-born singer inspired a popularity blip in the 90s and early 00s.

Actress Sigourney -- born Susan -- Weaver made this unusual name (which she found in The Great Gatsby) famous, if not popular.

Snow definitely works as a name; White, not so much. And Snow White, please don't. Read more about Snow White and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.

Quite common in traditional Greek families, but for others, we think Plato might be easier to handle.

Tesla, the surname of Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla that has more recently been used as the brand name for an electric car, is gaining some use as a first name for girls. Exactly 100 girls were named Tesla in the U.S. last year. You might think of the name as a Tessa/Isla hybrid, though with Tesla the s is not silent. There was also a rock band named Tesla.