Multi-Cultural Names

Originally a form of the saint's name Blaise, though now more likely to be a hot word name used for both sexes, though heavily weighted toward the boys. It has been in the boys' Top 1000 since the year 2000. On the pop culture side of things, Blaze Bayley is a singer and musician who has been connected to the bands Wolfsbane and Iron Maiden.

A popular name in Denmark, in this country Bo has some cowboy swagger and a lot of substance in its minimal two letters. In Mandarin Chinese, Bo means "wave".

This is one Basque name that is very transferable to the American context — and it has a great meaning, too. The feminine version is Eider or Ederne.

This Welsh nature name that can be pronounced exactly like the male Ira. Or, to avoid confusion, you could just name her Snow.

Honest and sincere, laid-back and creative, Emmet is a male cognate of the megapopular Emma and Emily, but the more common spelling is Emmett. Emmet dropped off the US Top 1000 in 1934 and reentered the list in 2014; Emmett, on the other hand, has never been off the charts.

Many things to many peoples: a flower name, also spelled Hanae, to the Japanese; a Czech and Polish short form of Johana; and an alternate form of the biblical name Hannah in the US. It also means "craft, work" in Hawaiian and "glow" in Maori.

A name that crosses cultures, Idris was virtually unknown before the emergence of the charismatic Idris Elba, first on The Wire and then depicting Nelson Mandela in the acclaimed film.

A name that's unknown in the US and Britain but is popular as a nature name in Finland. May also be known as a Hungarian variation of Amelia and a Spanish form of Wilhelmina.

Succinct and sharp, Ira is one of the shortest Old Testament names, belonging to one of King David's thirty 'mighty warriors.' It was widely used in the US from the 1880s to the early 1930s (it was Number 57 on the Social Security list in 1881), but fell off completely in 1993, only to return in 2016. Currently, it is in the latter half of the US Top 1000, given to around 260 boys each year.

One of the most popular Spanish names for boys in the US, Javier is embodied for many Americans in the magnetic persona of Spanish-born Oscar-nominated actor Javier Bardem.

Kai is an internationally flexible name with many possible origins and meanings, growing in popularity in the US and a diverse range of European countries.

This name is one of the hot new spiritual names for both sexes. In Hawaiian it means "chieftain of the sky" or "spirit of the sky,"and is extremely popular for boys.

Kalina, known as a girls' name throughout Eastern Europe, translates literally to viburnum in Polish, making it a botanical name. Viburnum is a flowering shrub. Some sources translate this name as simply "flower." Variations may include Kaline, Kalena, and Kalene.

Kayla is a modern invented name that emerged in the late 1950s. Despite its similarity to the name Michaela, Kayla most likely began as a combination of the then-popular name Kay and -la suffix. Alternatively, it may be a variation of the Yiddish name Kaila, which derived from the Hebrew name Kelila. Kayla can also be considered an Anglicization of the Gaelic surname MacCaollaidhe or MacCathail.

In many minds this one belongs to Barbie, but with such positive meanings and international connections, can Ken make the transition to usability again?

Kiana (or more appropriately, Quiana) is the original polyester name, now falling fast out of favor.