Squad Names

Mateo vaulted into the boys' Top 10 in 2023, ranking all the way up at Number 6. It is a Latinate names that, like Mia and Luca, is becoming popular far beyond its native Spanish community.

Still one of the most appealing short forms, which goes a long way toward explaining the sustained popularity of Matthew. Matt is perennially the popular guy in high school, friendly, attractive, and comfortable with a baseball. Matty or Mattie are cute for a younger boy.

Megan originally evolved from Meg, which itself derived as a nickname for Margaret. Margaret ultimately comes from the Greek word margarites, meaning "pearl." Megan is no longer a common nickname for Margaret—it is most often used as a full name. Other spellings include Meghan, Meagan, Megyn, and Meaghan.

Melissa derives from the Greek word mélissa, meaning "bee," which was taken from the word for honey, meli. In Greek mythology, Melissa was a nymph who nursed the infant god Zeus with honey. Melissa was used as a given name by the early Greeks, as well as for fairies by Italian Renaissance poets.

Michael was the Number 1 American boys' name for almost half a century. While Michael has moved out of the Top 10 baby boy names, it's still widely used.

Unlike Jake or Sam, few parents put Mike on the birth certificate.

Hey, Mikey! Old school short form with a certain vintage charm, but it's one nickname you don't want to stick past, say, fifth grade.

This saintly name--she was the mother of St. Augustine--plummeted after the double whammy of Lewinsky and the demise of Friends.

Evocative of tranquil island escapes. One of several Hawaiian (and pseudo-Hawaiian) names ending in "-ani" that's soaring in popularity, Nalani made its debut on the US Top 1000 in 2016.

Natalie—a Franco-Russian name—became Americanized years ago and is one of those surprising names that's always ranked among the girls' Top 1000 names in the US.

The classic strong-yet-friendly nickname name, much used for charming movie characters.

Nicky is a forever-cute short form of Nicholas once used as a full name but now relegated to nickname (no pun intended) status.

Nico is one of the great nickname names, full of charm, energy and effortless cool -- a neo Nick.

Nicole was derived from Nicholas, the English variation of the Greek Nikolaos, composed of the compounds nike, meaning "victory," and laos, "people." The variation Nicole arose in the Middle Ages in France to honor St. Nicholas. Names related to Nicole include Colette, Nicolette, Nika, Nicola, and Nicolina.

Olivia, a lovely Shakespearean name with an admirable balance of strength and femininity, is the Number 1 name for baby girls in the US and one of the top girls' names around the world.