Names That Are Variations

Goodwin — which is mostly seen as a last name — comes from the long-forgotten given name Godwine. Godwine was a relatively common name in medieval England. It later traveled to Germanic regions in the form of Godwin.

Jac is one of the new "creative" variations of Jack, a name on the rise in its own right and not just as a short form of John. But why, when Jack is so simple and so familiar, make it Jac and invite people to guess whether it's pronounced like Jake, or maybe like the French Jacques.

Eastern European variation of Felix.

Dashing Latin classic, familiar and functional here.

Why has it taken so long for us to discover Italy? The name, that is.

Still heard today in religious Jewish circles.

More dramatic, worldly, and energetic spin on Gregory.

With the trendiness of both X and Z, this spelling has it all. However, there's no real need for the added letter, unless you're looking for extra Scrabble points.

Zaiden grafts the fashionable first letter z onto the Aiden/Kaiden/Jaiden group of names, to popular effect. Soundalike Zayden is even more popular.

This spelling just barely made it into the Top 1000 for 2013, but nonetheless was an on-the-rise name for the year.

Espn was first recorded as a girl name in 2015, eleven years after it was first used for boys. It's considered a variation of the Scandinavian male name Espen, although its use can be attributed to the cable sports channel ESPN, which stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.

Kaylin and all of its forms have made many appearances in the Top 1000 in recent years. Kailyn is also the Turkish goddess of crossroads, kings and queens.

Kosmo is easy to spell, pronounce, and understand, yet most English speakers would spell this uncommon name Cosmo.

Jakub is an authentic Polish variation of the megapopular Jacob, but in the US it will feel like a kree8tiv spelling. Kuba is the cute Polish short form.

Esvet is a Turkish variant of the Arabic male given name Aswad.

Sevyn broke into the Top 1000 for girls in 2019, the same year that Seven crossed the threshold for boys. Ys are typically employed to make names more feminine, which is why many more girls were given the Sevyn spelling than boys. However, Sevyn still made it on the birth certificates of over 100 boys last year.

The nickname of Mrs. Al Gore (born Mary Elizabeth), bestowed because her favorite childhood lullaby was "Tippy Tippy Tin," should remain her exclusive property.

Variation of Gertrude.

This unusual offshoot of Page is one of the undiscovered unique baby names, with lots of energy and charm. Actress Paget Brewster, star of Criminal Minds, presents another spelling possibility. She comes from a family of unique names--her mother is Hathaway, her father Galen.

Daya, popularized in the US as the name of a character on Orange Is The New Black, the variation Daia has recently been chosen as a name by Dutch rapper Willie Wartaal for his daughter, born in March 2016.