Music names

Great middle name choice for music lovers or those with Scottish roots, also spelled Fyfe.

Toni Morrison, a master of character naming, coined this one for the best friend of hero Milkman Dead in Song of Solomon. Definitely a cool choice, with a twang.

If Melody and Lyric are on your style sheet, the peaceful Harmony, popularized by Buffy the Vampire Slayer, should be too. Girls names starting with the "Har" sound like Harper, Harley, and Harlow have been trending in recent years. This musical choice fits right in, and it is no wonder that Harmony has been in the Top 200 since 2014.

Feels as if it's missing a syllable.

Jazz as a full name is used slightly more often for boys than girls and has a distinctive, well, jazzy feel. Jazz is also occasionally used as a nickname for Jasper, much more often for Jasmine or Jazlyn. Could work as a middle name.

Associated with poetry, pop music, and the Greek lyre, Lyric has a light and zippy sound to it and joins the likes of Melody, Harmony, Cadence, and Aria as musical names that have become baby names. A unisex name, it is currently three times more popular for girls in the US where it sits in the Top 600. It has declined in use since its 2014 peak, but was still given to around 560 girls in a recent year.

Madrigal might be a pretty and highly distinctive choice for a child of a musical family--or for the parent looking for a less conventional path to the nickname Maddie than Madeline or Madison . Definitely more striking than Cadence or even the increasingly popular Aria.

Mandolin may seem like an outlandish choice for a name, but since BANJO has been used as a baby name, all the instruments in the band seem to be auditioning for a place on birth certificates. This one comes with a real name nickname, MANDY.

Can you hear the beat?

A melodious choice big in the sixties, Melody is now starting to pick up tempo again. It cracked the Top 150 for the first time ever in 2015. Melody is also the name of Ariel's equally curious and more tom-boyish daughter in The Little Mermaid sequel. Read more about Melody and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.

Minuet is delicate, dancey, and lacy, with a Masterpiece Theatre feel. Is Minuet a real name? Not really, though similar-sounding French names such as Minette and Manette are.

A musical name without much rhythm or harmony.

Octave shortens Octavius to a more manageable length, keeping the "eighth" meaning. In English speaking countries, however, people could easily confuse this with the musical term octave.

A very distinctive musical choice, but be aware that many people will think you've named your child Oprah.

If Banjo can be a name, why not Piano? Could be inspired by prize-winning architect Renzo Piano.

A slim, elegant, silvery surname, Reed could be a banker or a sculptor, and therein lies the appeal of this simple yet distinctive name. The versatile Reed can be seen as a grass-like nature name and a musical name.