Wacky Word Names
- Unity
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"oneness"Description:
Like Verity and Amity, this inclusive virtue name used by the colorful British literary Mitford family is ready to join its more popular peers Hope, Faith, and Grace.
- Urban
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"of the city"Description:
Urban was not an uncommon name through the 1930s (rising as high as Number 435), having been attached to several saints and early popes, but it has completely disappeared from the landscape--both urban and rural. Yet in this era of word name appreciation and trend for 'an'-ending boys' names, we're thinking it might be ready for a return.
- Valentine
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"strength, health"Description:
Valentine is an attractive Shakespearean name with romantic associations, but those very ties to the saint and the sentimental holiday have sent it into a decline, one which we think may be about to turn around.
- Valley
Origin:
English word nameMeaning:
"valley"Description:
A natural phenomenon that makes a stylish baby name. Teen Mom's Kailyn Lowry used it for her daughter, twin to Verse.
- Valor
Origin:
Word nameMeaning:
"courage and bravery"Description:
This modern virtue name gives a nod to ancient chivalry and could also work as an updated form of the classic Victor. A bold choice, but one that an increasing number of parents have been making in the last decade.
- Vegas
Origin:
SpanishMeaning:
"meadows"Description:
Viva Las Vegas? What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas? We think not. Maybe Vega, the name of an actual heavenly star?
- Velvet
Origin:
English word nameMeaning:
"a fabric characterized by a short soft dense warp pile"Description:
Velvet is a name that couldn't possibly be softer or more luxuriant. Many people have fond memories of it via the character of Velvet Brown, played by the young Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, an intrepid young woman willing to masquerade as a boy to race her horse in a dangerous steeplechase.
- Venus
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"love, desire"Description:
The name of a heavenly planet and the Roman goddess of beauty and love was an intimidating no-no until tennis champ Venus Williams put an athletic, modern spin on it.
- Verbena
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"sacred foliage"Description:
This name of a showy, lemony plant makes an unusual entry into the name garden.
- Vermilion
Origin:
Color nameDescription:
This vivid reddish orange color name is an undiscovered possibility -- kind of a female equivalent of Cerulean for boys.
- Via
Origin:
Nickname nameDescription:
Could be a short form of Sylvia, Olivia, or any other similar name. Or a vivid Italian word name.
- Victor
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"conqueror"Description:
Victor is one of the earliest Christian names, borne (as Vittorio) by several saints and popes, symbolizing Christ's victory over death. It has been quietly in the Top 200 since 1880, but just recently has taken on a cool edge by fashionable parents in London and seems ripe for a similar reevaluation here too.
- Victory
Origin:
English word nameMeaning:
"victory"Description:
A winning unisex word name, fresher than Victoria or Victor.
- Viola
Origin:
LatinMeaning:
"violet"Description:
Viola has several positive elements going for it: the rhythm of the musical instrument, the association with the flower, the trending 'Vi' beginning and its leading role in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
- Violet
Origin:
English from LatinMeaning:
"purple"Description:
Violet is soft and sweet, yet with a vivacious edge.
- Viridian
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"blue green color"Description:
Unusual and beautiful blue green color and name possibility, a la Cerulean.
- Vanilla
- Walker
Origin:
English occupational nameMeaning:
"cloth-walker"Description:
Walker is both a Waspy surname name—as in the W in George W. Bush—but it also has a gentle ambling quality and a creative connection to such greats as writer Walker Percy and photographer Walker Evans, whose father was also named Walker.
- Webb
Origin:
English occupational nameMeaning:
"weaver"Description:
This pleasant single-syllable surname might be especially appealing to someone involved with the internet (and who isn't?)--even if some others might see it as a drawback.
- Wednesday
Origin:
EnglishMeaning:
"Woden's day"Description:
Name made famous by the macabre character Wednesday – middle name: Friday – Addams is taken from the name of the day dedicated to the Anglo-Saxon god Woden, who relates to Mercury. Cartoonist author Charles Addams was said to choose the name because "Wednesday's child is full of woe."