Names I love

Though ancient, Marcus now sounds more current than Mark, in tune with today's trend towards us-ending Latinate names.

The ubiquitous French version of Mary came into the English-speaking world in the nineteenth century. In the United States, Marie was a huge hit at the turn of the last century and for the ensuing fifty years, becoming the seventh most popular name in the country for three years, from 1901 to 1904.

Matthias is the ancient Biblical form of Matthew, widely used along with brother Mathias in the US for the past 20 years.

If you're looking for a Euro-chic alternative to Max, Mats is a strong possibility. It's a fading classic in Norway, but is popular in the Netherlands and Belgium, where short names are the height of style.

Maude, also spelled Maud, is a lacy, mauve-tinted name that was wildly popular a hundred years ago, but has been rarely heard in the past fifty. Some stylish parents are starting to choose it again, especially as a middle.

Max was derived from Maximilian, a Latin name that originated from the Roman family name Maximus. The character name Max in the children's classic Where the Wild Things Are had an impact on baby namers. Max is a widely used name internationally.

Merel is a soundalike of Meryl and may be thought of as a variation of that name, but it's also the Dutch word for blackbird and so you can make it more stylish as one of the flock of cool new bird names, joining Wren, Lark, and Sparrow.

A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany. In the US, it is a unisex name, while in Germany and the Netherlands, it is predominantly feminine.

This is a Scandinavian variant of Margaret, and is pronounced MEH-teh or MET, rhyming with jet.

Russian forms, like Russian supermodels, are hot these days. This is a strong, worldly way to make Nicholas new; it was chosen for his son by Barry Bonds, Jr. Nikolai also comes with several attractive nickname options, including approachable Nik, spunky Niko, or even hip Kai. A traditional nickname for Nikolai in Russia is Kolya.

Like Lars, Sven, Niels, and Nels, an unjustly neglected straightforward Scandinavian name. Surname Nilsson or the anglicized Nelson derives from Nils.

There's Rhys and there's Reese (now more popular for girls) and there's Reece, and we particularly like the traditional Welsh spelling, which entered the list in 2004, possibly influenced by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, of The Tudors, and Welsh-born actor Rhys Ifans.

The energetic Russian nickname name Sasha is being used increasingly on its own, though since the prominence of the First Daughter, more than 90% of the American babies named Sasha are girls. Sacha Baron Cohen bears one of the alternate spellings.