Color Associated Names

November is one of a growing list of month names that can work for a baby boy, and is also one of the ideal names for November babies.

Unlike Pearl and Ruby and more like Jasper, this gem name works well as a boys name. With its strong final X, it feels similar to Alex, Phoenix, Jax, and Rex, while the shiny black quality of the stone feels reminiscent of Orion. Chosen by musician Iggy Azalea for her son in 2020, it has accelerated up the charts and now sits just outside the Top 300.

Pearl, like Ruby, has begun to be polished up for a new generation of fashionable children after a century of jewelry box storage. The birthstone for the month of June, Pearl could also make a fresher middle name alternative to the overused Rose. Cool couple Maya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson named their daughter Pearl Minnie, followed by Jack Osbourne, and several celebs have put it in the middle spot, as in Busy Philipps's Cricket Pearl, Jake Owen's Olive Pearl and Caleb Followill's Dixie Pearl .

Literary heritage: the "Loony Tunes" girlfriend of Porky Pig. But with the increasing popularity of all kinds of unusual botanical names, Petunia may be a name we start to hear more of. Perhaps-more-pleasing Petunia alternatives: Petal, Posy, Poppy.

Worthy sibling for Oak, Elm, Juniper, and Spruce.

British-born novelist Plum Sykes has taken this rich, fruity name out of the produce section and put it into the baby name basket. It's more appealing than Apple, more presentable than Peaches. The French equivalent, Prune, is very fashionable there but would not fly with English speakers.

Poppy, unlike most floral names which are sweet and feminine, has a lot of spunk. Long popular throughout the rest of the English-speaking world, Poppy is finally starting to rise toward the top in the US, where it entered the Top 1000 for the first time in 2016.

Rose is derived from the Latin rosa, which referred to the flower. There is also evidence to suggest it was a Norman variation of the Germanic name Hrodohaidis, meaning "famous type," and also Hros, "horse". In Old English it was translated as Roese and Rohese.

Even less subtle than Duke or Earl, this name shot up the popularity charts in 2013, the same year young Prince George was born and the craze for all things royal (and Royal) began. Today, it's a leading boys' name on Nameberry's own popularity charts.

Fits many criteria sought by modern parents: it's short and strong, with intimations of wisdom as well as fragrant herbal properties. At this point, Sage is given about a third of the time to boys.

The Scarlet spelling makes it less a name, less Gone With The Wind and Scarlett Johansson, and more the bright red color that inspired it in the first place.

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.

A common surname in Ireland that projects a complex image for a short-one-syllable name, combining spirit and substance.

This shimmery Age of Aquarius unisex flower child name is making a comeback, along with metal and gem names like Steel, Jade, and Ruby.

There's definitely a cold front of names for winter babies moving in, with Summer, Spring and Autumn giving way to Winter--plus North, January, Frost--and Snow. This name feels brisk, fresh, pure, evocative -- and magical. A haunting middle name choice.

Sunshine was seen as a quintessential hippie name of the 70s, reaching as high as Number 536 in 1975. Now such names are making a bit of a retro comeback, seen, for example, as a character on Glee.

Tansy is a flower name rarer than Rose, livelier than Lily and a lot less teasable than Pansy.

As likely to be tied to the detergent as to the rhythms of the ocean.

An interesting and attractive bicultural choice--the Hebrew version is used for babies born in spring, when turtledoves arrive--especially as a middle.