UK Baby Names

More popular in its Layton spelling, Leighton is rising in popularity in the US for both sexes simultaneously, although this spelling remains more popular for girls for now – no doubt helped by actress Leighton Meester. Lleyton – as in Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt – is another, even more complicated, variant spelling.

Webster is one of several W-starting surname names back on the drawing board, now that it has recovered from its childlike eighties sitcom identity.

Ever since singer Michelle Branch gave it to her daughter in 2005, Owen has started to be used for a small number of girls each year as well. Just 39 baby girls received the name in 2021, compared with over 8700 boys.

Spelling variant of Arianwen. Note that in Welsh, the -wyn suffix is usually masculine.

Overwhelmingly feminine in the US, where parent name Mackenzie is wildly popular, but masculine in the UK, where Kenzie ranks among the Top 1000 names for baby boys.

Hyde, of course, is most familiar as a surname -- as in Mr. Hyde, evil alter ego of Dr. Jeckyll. Unless Hyde is a family name or you have some other excellent reason for using it, we think you could do better.

Iago, the villain of Shakespeare's Othello, was so treacherously evil that his name has hardly ever been heard offstage. Try the much-more-benign Inigo.

This mild-mannered short form was Queen of the Prom in the fifties and sixties, but today is mostly heard on TV's The Office (and of course as one of the founders of Nameberry).

Newly popular boys' name could cross over in much the way the related Cameron has.

This ancient royal Scottish name had a brief vogue in midcentury America, but it would be far from a fresh choice for a baby boy now.

Corliss, eccentric yet well-established, has an independent and artistic air.

Popular in Wales, but likely to be mispronounced as Ryan here.

Bird name possibility, rarer than Lark and Wren but with the same short, punchy feel.

Whether you pronounce it Mac-cleen or Mac-clayn, this is one of the crispest and most appealing of the Mac names. The Scottish clan Maclean is one of the oldest of the Highland Scottish clans. Trivia tidbit: Sir Fitzroy Maclean is said to have been an inspiration for the Ian Fleming James Bond character.

Terry hit the Top 30 in the fifties when it was seeen as a cool, sleek gender neutral name, but it's long since lost that edge. Today's Terry would probably be Tess or Tessa.

One of the many El- names for boys that boomed in the 1910s and 1920s, but has long been out of fashion. This surname/place name has an aristocratic flavor, and a creative namesake in the artist Ellsworth Kelly. Polar explorer Lincoln Ellsworth also gives it an adventurous connection.

This artistic and aristocratic surname is a bold and daring choice, but with nature inspired names like Wren on the rise, and surnames-as-first-names being in vogue, Wyndham was a fast riser in 2023.

Better for a dog.

Edina is an infectious-sounding Minnesota place-name, featured in the British cult hit TV show "Absolutely Fabulous." Edina is also a poetic name for Edinburgh and is a common name in contemporary Hungary. Though some sources list its origins as Hungarian, more peg it as a variation of Edwina, the feminine form of Edwin, an English name.

The combined inspiration of reggae master Bob and the dog-loving romp "Marley and Me" catapulted this name up the chart in recent years. But what goes up....