UK Baby Names

Most parents attracted to this name will be devotees of the author William and would be better off using it in the middle.

Has a certain fiery charm.

An original way to honor an ancestral Robert. Hobson is outside the Top 1000 but is among the fastest-rising names for boys.

This English surname offers an interesting mix of images: it sounds upper-crusty yet macho, and also conjures up the coziness of a wintery ski lodge. As a surname it is associated with the Massachusetts Republican Senate Minority Leader in the Woodrow Wilson era, Henry Cabot Lodge, who was the father of poet George Cabot Lodge and grandfather of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., who was ambassador to the UN and Richard Nixon's 1960 presidential running mate.

Cheever has a nice, cheery sound, literary ties to novelist and short writer John Cheever and also, sideways, to the Edward Arlington Robinson narrative poem "Miniver Cheevy," as well as a subliminal association with the desirable word achiever: all strong pluses.

Tamlane is a variation of Tam Lin, a (male) character in an old Scottish legend and ballad. Tam Lin was imprisoned by the Queen of the Fairies, called Titania or Mab.

Packard feels as hefty and weighty as the old car.

Though they sound exactly alike, this spelling makes it much more elegant than Bernie.

Mythic lumberjack Paul may inspire some namesakes despite relation to similarly pronounced foot problem.

Soft and creative update of Marsha.

Harleth is a name which probably stems from combining the oh-so-trendy Harlow with the evergreen Elizabeth. However, literary parents may also remember the beautiful but difficult character Gwendolen Harleth from George Eliot's Daniel Deronda. Harleth has a fashionable edge to it, being associated with rising supermodel Harleth Kuusik.

Does not improve on the pretty but overused favorite.

One surname name unlikely to cross over to first.