200+ Classic Old Money Names (That Are Surprisingly Cool)

Old money names were never really a trend to begin with — they were inherited, recorded in church registries and family Bibles generations before anyone thought to rank them. The 200+ names on this list share a certain lineage: many trace back to Latin, Gaelic, or Old English roots, carried by saints, monarchs, and ordinary landed families alike. They sound formal without trying, which is exactly why they’re resurfacing now that maximalist, invented-spelling names are losing steam. Here’s the full rundown, sorted by what still actually holds up.

Popularity below is calculated from Social Security Administration data through 2024, the most recent year on record.

Here’s what’s in store – 

What actually qualifies as an old money name? The criteria aren’t arbitrary. These names tend to be multisyllabic, built for formal occasions while carrying a good nickname for everyday life. They hold a cultural reference point — a saint, a Roman empress, a Scottish chieftain, a French queen — that grounds them in something real. Most importantly, they’ve been out of the top 100 for at least two generations, which means they feel genuinely fresh without being invented. Nobody’s naming their kid Archibald to be trendy. That’s exactly why it works.

This list covers more than 200 names across eight categories: the Anglo-Norman backbone of classic English boys’ names; the grande dame tradition of English girls’ names; French and Continental names that carry that transatlantic refinement; Scottish and Irish names with Gaelic roots; the New England prep tradition of surname-as-first-name; classical Latin and Roman names from the forum and the temple; names that signal literary and cultural capital; and a final section of genuinely forgotten names that deserve a full-scale revival.

A note for the Irish and Scottish sections specifically: several names come with spellings that don’t match their sounds. We’ve noted pronunciations throughout. If you love the name but not the explaining-it-at-Starbucks problem, anglicized forms exist for many, and we’ve given them where relevant. Either version is valid.

The Anglo-Norman Backbone: Boys With Centuries Behind Them

These are the names that arrived in England with the Norman Conquest and never really left — they just went quiet for a few decades. Anglo-Norman boys’ names tend to be elaborate in their full form and perfectly usable in their nickname form, which is the essence of old money naming logic: you have a proper name for formal contexts and a friendly name for actual life.

Frederick

• Origin: German
• Pronunciation: FRED-rik · ˈfrɛdrɪk
• Meaning: peaceful ruler
• Popularity: #423 and rising (#506 → #423, 2024)

Freddie is the modern nickname that makes this instantly wearable; Frederick stays in reserve for the birth certificate.

Edmund

• Origin: Old English
• Pronunciation: ED-mund · ˈɛdmənd
• Meaning: wealthy protector
• Popularity: #1,182 and falling (#1,098 → #1,182, 2024)

Three English kings bore this name, and it still carries their quiet authority without the pomp.

Archibald

• Origin: Germanic (via Anglo-Norman/Old French)
• Pronunciation: AHR-chuh-bawld · ˈɑːrtʃɪbɔːld
• Meaning: genuine and bold
• Popularity: #1,174 and rising (#1,291 → #1,174, 2024)

Archie handles the modern world just fine; Archibald waits on the engraved stationery.

Cornelius

• Origin: Latin (Roman gens name)
• Pronunciation: kor-NEEL-yus · kɔːrˈniːljəs
• Meaning: horn
• Popularity: #2,150 and falling (#1,898 → #2,150, 2024)

Old Philadelphia money energy; Cory or Neil are the practical exits if the full name feels too formal.

Mortimer

• Origin: Anglo-Norman/Old French (place name)
• Pronunciation: MOR-tih-mer · ˈmɔːrtɪmər
• Meaning: dead pond / still water
• Popularity: #13,519 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Monty makes it entirely wearable for anyone who blinks at the full form.

Montgomery

• Origin: Norman French (place name, from a personal name)
• Pronunciation: munt-GUM-er-ee · mɒntˈɡʌməri
• Meaning: Gomeric’s hill
• Popularity: #1,090 and falling (#1,042 → #1,090, 2024)

Monty for daily use; the full name for gravestone inscriptions and formal introductions.

Bartholomew

• Origin: Aramaic (via Greek Bartholomaios, Latin Bartholomaeus)
• Pronunciation: bar-THOL-uh-myoo · bɑːrˈθɑːləmjuː
• Meaning: son of Talmai (Talmai being a personal name, possibly the biblical king of Geshur or a rendering of ‘Ptolemy’)
• Popularity: #3,323 and rising (#3,477 → #3,323, 2024)

Bart or Barry handle the everyday; the long form is for moments that call for it.

Reginald

• Origin: Germanic (via Latin)
• Pronunciation: REJ-i-nuhld · ˈrɛdʒɪnəld
• Meaning: counsel combined with rule or power, from Germanic elements
• Popularity: #1,178 and falling (#1,107 → #1,178, 2024)

Reggie is a perfect everyday nickname; Reginald reads like a barrister’s nameplate.

Leopold

• Origin: Germanic
• Pronunciation: LEE-uh-pold · ˈliːəpoʊld
• Meaning: bold/brave people
• Popularity: #2,082 and falling (#1,856 → #2,082, 2024)

Leo is the nickname you’ll use every day, but Leopold carries a richer history behind it.

Horatio

• Origin: Latin (via Italian, from the Roman gens name Horatius)
• Pronunciation: huh-RAY-shee-oh · həˈreɪʃioʊ
• Meaning: uncertain; possibly connected to ‘hour’ (a proposed ‘timekeeper’ sense)
• Popularity: #9,296 and rising (#9,304 → #9,296, 2024)

Admiral Lord Nelson’s first name, and still one of the most distinguished on this list.

Rupert

• Origin: German/Germanic (English form of Ruprecht, related to Robert)
• Pronunciation: ROO-pert · ˈruːpərt
• Meaning: shining renown
• Popularity: #3,863 and rising (#4,192 → #3,863, 2024)

Quintessentially British upper-class and not yet overrun on the American side of the Atlantic.

Ambrose

• Origin: Greek (via Latin)
• Pronunciation: AM-brohz · ˈæmbroʊz
• Meaning: immortal, divine (belonging to the immortals)
• Popularity: #741 and rising (#788 → #741, 2024)

Early church father and patron of Milan; quietly elegant and criminally underused.

Jasper

• Origin: Old Persian
• Pronunciation: JAS-per · ˈdʒæspər
• Meaning: treasurer
• Popularity: #133 and falling (#122 → #133, 2024)

Art-world old money — the kind of name you’d find on a frame at Christie’s.

Phineas

• Origin: disputed (Ancient Greek / Hebrew / Egyptian)
• Pronunciation: FIN-ee-us · ˈfɪniəs
• Meaning: origin debated, possibly Egyptian via Hebrew
• Popularity: #1,538 and rising (#1,715 → #1,538, 2024)

Phin or Finn gives it a lighter daily landing.

Barnaby

• Origin: Aramaic (medieval English vernacular form of Barnabas)
• Pronunciation: BAR-nuh-bee · ˈbɑːrnəbi
• Meaning: son of the prophet
• Popularity: #9,996 and rising (#12,463 → #9,996, 2024)

Barnaby Rudge, Barnaby Jones — literature and television both approve.

Roland

• Origin: Germanic (Frankish, via Old French)
• Pronunciation: ROH-lund · ˈroʊlənd
• Meaning: famous land
• Popularity: #663 and falling (#661 → #663, 2024)

The great medieval French hero of the Song of Roland; straightforward and very strong.

Alistair

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of Alexander)
• Pronunciation: AL-ih-stair · ˈælɪstɛr
• Meaning: protector of men
• Popularity: #905 and rising (#919 → #905, 2024)

The Scottish spelling adds a polished edge over the standard Alastair.

Percival

• Origin: Old French (Arthurian, probably from Welsh/Celtic)
• Pronunciation: PUR-si-vul · ˈpɜːrsɪvəl
• Meaning: probably from the Welsh Arthurian name Peredur, reshaped in Old French to resemble ‘pierce’ + ‘valley’
• Popularity: #1,768 and rising (#2,265 → #1,768, 2024)

Arthurian legend’s purest knight; Percy handles everyday use with ease.

Thaddeus

• Origin: uncertain (Aramaic or Ancient Greek, disputed)
• Pronunciation: THAD-ee-us · ˈθædiəs
• Meaning: “courageous heart”
• Popularity: #850 and rising (#898 → #850, 2024)

Thad brings it cleanly into the present without losing any gravitas.

Crispin

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: KRIS-pin · ˈkrɪspɪn
• Meaning: curly-haired
• Popularity: #6,893 and rising (#7,371 → #6,893, 2024)

St. Crispin’s Day is October 25th; Shakespeare’s Henry V made the date — and the name — forever resonant.

Algernon

• Origin: Old French (nickname/surname)
• Pronunciation: AL-jer-nun · ˈældʒərnən
• Meaning: having a mustache
• Popularity: #12,275 as of 2016 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest gives it literary cover; Algie is the charm.

Balthazar

• Origin: Akkadian (via Hebrew, Greek, and Latin biblical tradition)
• Pronunciation: BAL-thuh-zar · ˈbælθəzɑːr
• Meaning: Bel protects the king (Bel being a title of the Babylonian god Marduk)
• Popularity: #7,796 and falling (#7,338 → #7,796, 2024)

One of the three Magi, and a name you will absolutely not see on a personalized keychain.

Dashiell

• Origin: French (surname, etymology undocumented)
• Pronunciation: DASH-ul · ˈdæʃəl
• Meaning: origin uncertain, possibly French surname Déchiel
• Popularity: #2,057 and rising (#2,418 → #2,057, 2024)

Hammett’s family name became the name of hard-boiled literary cool.

Lysander

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: ly-SAN-der · laɪˈsændər
• Meaning: liberator of men
• Popularity: #2,198 and rising (#3,760 → #2,198, 2024)

A Midsummer Night’s Dream — Shakespeare keeps appearing on this list for a reason.

Leander

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: lee-AN-der · liˈændər
• Meaning: man of the people (Greek ‘people’ + ‘man’)
• Popularity: #1,752 and falling (#1,512 → #1,752, 2024)

He swam the Hellespont nightly for Hero; the name of the great doomed romantic.

Evander

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: ih-VAN-der · ɪˈvændər
• Meaning: good man
• Popularity: #771 and rising (#779 → #771, 2024)

Ptolemy

• Origin: Ancient Greek
• Pronunciation: TOL-uh-mee · ˈtɒləmi
• Meaning: often linked to Greek ‘polemos’ (war), giving a sense of ‘warlike’
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Ancient Egyptian dynasty cachet; Tolly as a nickname is charming and nobody will have heard of it.

Theron

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: THAIR-on · ˈθɛrɑːn
• Meaning: hunter
• Popularity: #2,857 and rising (#2,996 → #2,857, 2024)

Sleek, short, classical, and currently nearly invisible in nurseries everywhere.

Demetrius

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: dih-MEE-tree-us · dɪˈmiːtriəs
• Meaning: belonging to Demeter, the earth goddess
• Popularity: #1,038 and falling (#890 → #1,038, 2024)

Shakespeare used it; so did the ancient world, across multiple centuries.

Auberon

• Origin: Old French/Germanic
• Pronunciation: OH-ber-on · ˈoʊbərɒn
• Meaning: elf ruler
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The medieval form of Oberon, King of the Fairies — literary without being precious, and enormously rare.

The Grande Dames: Classic English Girls of Pedigree

Classic English old money girls’ names share a quality that’s hard to name exactly: they feel like they belong to a woman with an opinion and a library card, not a woman who waits around. These names come from Shakespeare, from medieval queenship, from early Christianity and ancient Britain — and most of them have excellent nicknames tucked inside.

Cordelia

• Origin: uncertain (Shakespeare’s spelling of a historical British name, Cordeilla, possibly linked to the obscure saint’s name Cordula)
• Pronunciation: kor-DEEL-yah · kɔːrˈdiːljə
• Meaning: “heart” or “daughter of the sea”
• Popularity: #1,065 and rising (#1,117 → #1,065, 2024)

King Lear’s most decent daughter; Cora or Delia as nicknames.

Eugenia

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: yoo-JEE-nee-ah · juːˈdʒiːniə
• Meaning: well-born, noble
• Popularity: #3,762 and falling (#2,858 → #3,762, 2024)

The name literally encodes aristocracy; Genie makes it human and approachable.

Millicent

• Origin: Germanic (via Old French Melisende)
• Pronunciation: MIL-ih-sent · ˈmɪlɪsənt
• Meaning: strong worker
• Popularity: #1,639 and rising (#1,789 → #1,639, 2024)

Millie is everywhere right now; Millicent is not, and that’s the advantage.

Beatrice

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: BEE-uh-tris · ˈbiːətrɪs
• Meaning: one who brings happiness (also glossed “blessed one”)
• Popularity: #579 and rising (#588 → #579, 2024)

Dante’s muse and Shakespeare’s sharpest wit — two very good reasons.

Arabella

• Origin: Latin (disputed, possibly a variant of Annabel)
• Pronunciation: air-ah-BEL-ah · ɛrəˈbɛlə
• Meaning: yielding to prayer (one of two competing theories)
• Popularity: #206 and rising (#227 → #206, 2024)

Matilda

• Origin: Germanic (Old High German)
• Pronunciation: muh-TIL-dah · məˈtɪldə
• Meaning: mighty in battle (might/strength + battle)
• Popularity: #410 and rising (#438 → #410, 2024)

Tillie, Mattie, or Tilly — pick any nickname from inside; all three work.

Rosalind

• Origin: Germanic
• Pronunciation: RAH-zuh-lind · ˈrɑːzəlɪnd
• Meaning: from elements meaning roughly ‘horse’ and ‘soft/tender’ — something like ‘gentle horse’
• Popularity: #1,475 and falling (#1,440 → #1,475, 2024)

As You Like It’s most self-possessed heroine; Ros or Roz for daily life.

Adelaide

• Origin: Germanic (Old High German, via French)
• Pronunciation: AD-el-ayd · ˈædəleɪd
• Meaning: of noble character
• Popularity: #271 and rising (#284 → #271, 2024)

South Australia’s founding city and a name that grows more distinguished with every passing decade.

Philippa

• Origin: Greek (via Latin)
• Pronunciation: FIL-ih-puh · ˈfɪlɪpə
• Meaning: feminine form of Philip; lover of horses
• Popularity: #2,641 and falling (#2,637 → #2,641, 2024)

Pip is a viable nickname right now; the full form is quietly distinguished.

Dorothea

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: dor-uh-THEE-uh · ˌdɔːrəˈθiːə
• Meaning: gift of God
• Popularity: #2,066 and rising (#2,759 → #2,066, 2024)

Middlemarch’s idealistic heroine; Thea or Dottie as exits depending on the day.

Constance

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: KAHN-stanss · ˈkɑːnstəns
• Meaning: steadfast, constant
• Popularity: #1,645 and rising (#1,656 → #1,645, 2024)

Old, stately, and criminally underused for at least two generations.

Winifred

• Origin: Old English / Welsh (conflated names)
• Pronunciation: WIN-ih-fred · ˈwɪnɪfrɪd
• Meaning: joy and peace (Old English), merged with the separate Welsh name Gwenfrewi
• Popularity: #1,031 and falling (#963 → #1,031, 2024)

Winnie is having a cultural moment; Winifred is the reason the nickname works so well.

Clementine

• Origin: French (from Latin Clemens)
• Pronunciation: KLEM-en-teen · ˈklɛmənˌtiːn
• Meaning: merciful, mild
• Popularity: #477 and rising (#542 → #477, 2024)

Churchill’s wife Clementine carried it with gracious strength; so can any daughter.

Georgiana

• Origin: Greek (Ancient Greek)
• Pronunciation: jor-jee-AN-ah · ˌdʒɔːrdʒiˈænə
• Meaning: farmer, earth-worker (via George)
• Popularity: #1,631 and rising (#1,741 → #1,631, 2024)

Darcy’s sister in Pride and Prejudice; Georgie handles the everyday with ease.

Henrietta

• Origin: English (Latinate form of French Henriette, from Henry)
• Pronunciation: hen-ree-ET-ah · hɛnriˈɛtə
• Meaning: home ruler
• Popularity: #2,135 and rising (#2,988 → #2,135, 2024)

Hattie or Etta — two excellent nicknames living inside one grand, formal name.

Lavinia

• Origin: Latin (place name Lavinium, Latium)
• Pronunciation: luh-VIN-ee-ah · ləˈvɪniə
• Meaning: “woman of Latium”
• Popularity: #2,139 and rising (#2,346 → #2,139, 2024)

The Aeneid’s heroine; the name has aged into elegant dignity over two millennia.

Octavia

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: ahk-TAY-vee-uh · ɑːkˈteɪviə
• Meaning: eighth (feminine form of the Roman family name Octāvius)
• Popularity: #295 and falling (#279 → #295, 2024)

Roman imperial roots, surprisingly modern-feeling; Tavi is an excellent current nickname.

Prudence

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: PROO-duhns · ˈpruːdəns
• Meaning: having sound judgment and caution in one’s actions
• Popularity: #2,588 and falling (#2,328 → #2,588, 2024)

The Beatles wrote a whole song; that’s more cultural capital than most names can claim.

Verity

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: VER-ih-tee · ˈvɛrəti
• Meaning: truth (a Puritan virtue name)
• Popularity: #1,875 and falling (#1,706 → #1,875, 2024)

Very British virtue name — clean, strong, and almost entirely absent from American nurseries.

Imogen

• Origin: Celtic (Scottish Gaelic), via a Shakespearean misprint
• Pronunciation: IM-uh-jen · ˈɪmədʒən
• Meaning: maiden, girl (from Scottish Gaelic ‘inghean’)
• Popularity: #1,126 and rising (#1,213 → #1,126, 2024)

Shakespeare’s Cymbeline heroine; Immy as a nickname.

Viola

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: vy-OH-lah · vaɪˈoʊlə
• Meaning: violet (the flower)
• Popularity: #1,190 and falling (#1,072 → #1,190, 2024)

Twelfth Night’s shipwrecked heroine; also one of the most beautiful orchestral instruments.

Portia

• Origin: Latin (Roman gens name)
• Pronunciation: POR-shuh · ˈpɔːrʃə
• Meaning: from the Roman family name Porcius, ultimately ‘pig’
• Popularity: #6,087 and rising (#7,554 → #6,087, 2024)

Merchant of Venice’s sharpest legal mind, centuries before law schools admitted women.

Gwendolen

• Origin: Welsh
• Pronunciation: GWEN-duh-lin · ˈɡwɛndəlɪn
• Meaning: white/fair ring (or loop, bow)
• Popularity: #8,599 and falling (#6,753 → #8,599, 2024)

The Importance of Being Earnest’s most formidable character; Gwen for short.

Cecily

• Origin: Latin (English medieval form of Cecilia)
• Pronunciation: SES-il-ee · ˈsɛsɪli
• Meaning: possibly ‘blind’ (inherited from Cecilia)
• Popularity: #1,595 and rising (#1,816 → #1,595, 2024)

Wilde’s other Earnest heroine; Cece is the easy and appealing nickname.

Leonora

• Origin: Italian (short form of Eleonora, cognate with Eleanor)
• Pronunciation: lee-uh-NOR-ah · liːəˈnɔːrə
• Meaning: variant/short form of Eleonora; Eleanor’s own root meaning is disputed
• Popularity: #2,087 and falling (#1,899 → #2,087, 2024)

Eleanor’s more operatic cousin; Italian noble houses loved this name for centuries.

Temperance

• Origin: English (Puritan virtue name, from Latin temperantia)
• Pronunciation: TEM-pruhns · ˈtɛmpərəns
• Meaning: moderation, self-restraint
• Popularity: #2,127 and falling (#1,979 → #2,127, 2024)

Tempe as a nickname; surprising gravitas for a virtue name that once filled Puritan registers.

Priscilla

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: prih-SIL-uh · prɪˈsɪlə
• Meaning: ancient, venerable
• Popularity: #615 and rising (#652 → #615, 2024)

Early Christian martyr; Cilla or Prissie as softer daily options.

Rowena

• Origin: literary name (medieval pseudo-historical chronicle); root uncertain
• Pronunciation: roh-WEE-nuh · roʊˈiːnə
• Meaning: “fame and joy” or possibly “white spear”
• Popularity: #3,430 and rising (#4,028 → #3,430, 2024)

Ivanhoe’s Saxon princess; timeless and slightly mysterious.

Beatrix

• Origin: Latin (variant of Beatrice)
• Pronunciation: BEE-uh-triks · ˈbiːətrɪks
• Meaning: variant of Beatrice — brings happiness / blessed
• Popularity: #1,379 and rising (#1,401 → #1,379, 2024)

Potter used it for children’s literature; the original Latin spelling is richer than the anglicized Beatrice.

Isadora

• Origin: Greek (variant of Isidora)
• Pronunciation: iz-uh-DOR-uh · ɪzəˈdɔːrə
• Meaning: gift of the goddess Isis
• Popularity: #1,223 and rising (#1,438 → #1,223, 2024)

Through the Channel: French and Continental Names

French old money names have a particular quality — they feel both ancient and impossibly chic, which is exactly the combination you want. These names traveled from Germanic origins through Old French and emerged as the language of European courts, diplomacy, and culture for six centuries. Many have English equivalents, but the French form carries something additional.

Geneviève

• Origin: Frankish/Gaulish (French)
• Pronunciation: JEN-eh-veev · ˈdʒɛnəviːv
• Meaning: possibly ‘woman of the family/tribe’ (uncertain)
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Paris’s patron saint; Ginny or Viv as informal shortcuts in English.

Marguerite

• Origin: French
• Pronunciation: mar-guh-REET · mɑːrɡəˈriːt
• Meaning: pearl (Greek margarites); also French for the daisy flower
• Popularity: #2,415 and falling (#2,302 → #2,415, 2024)

Margot is the chic short form that’s had a fashionable decade in its own right.

Thérèse

• Origin: Greek (via French, disputed)
• Pronunciation: tay-REZ · teˈʁɛz
• Meaning: uncertain; sometimes linked to Greek ‘to harvest’ or the island of Thera/Therasia
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

‘To harvest’ is a popular gloss, not an established fact — it’s one of several competing, unproven theories about the name’s origin.

Céleste

• Origin: French (from Latin caelestis)
• Pronunciation: suh-LEST · səˈlɛst
• Meaning: heavenly, of the sky
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Light, elegant, and used comfortably on both sides of the Atlantic.

Solange

• Origin: French (from Latin sollemnis, ‘solemn’); name of a 9th-century French saint
• Pronunciation: soh-LAHNZH · soʊˈlɑːnʒ
• Meaning: solemn
• Popularity: #7,192 and falling (#5,926 → #7,192, 2024)

A French saint’s name; very Parisian and almost entirely absent in English-speaking countries.

Hortense

• Origin: Latin (via French, from the Roman gens name Hortensius)
• Pronunciation: hor-TENSS · hɔːrˈtɛns
• Meaning: relating to gardens (traditionally tied to a Roman gardener)
• Popularity: #8,509 as of 1976 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Napoleon’s stepdaughter bore this name; it’s more elegant spoken aloud than it reads.

Clotilde

• Origin: Germanic (via French)
• Pronunciation: kloh-TEELD · kloʊtiːld
• Meaning: famous battle
• Popularity: #17,026 as of 2015 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

First Queen of the Franks; vintage French with real historical weight behind it.

Edmée

• Origin: French (feminine diminutive of Edmond/Edmund)
• Pronunciation: ed-MAY · ɛdˈmeɪ
• Meaning: wealthy protector, inherited from Edmund
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The feminine form of Edmund; rare and unexpectedly elegant.

Ninon

• Origin: French (diminutive of Anne)
• Pronunciation: nee-NAWN · niˈnɔ̃
• Meaning: grace, favor (via Anne/Hannah)
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Ninon de l’Enclos was the most celebrated intellectual hostess of 17th-century Paris; the name carries that energy.

Inès

• Origin: French (from Spanish Inés)
• Pronunciation: ee-NESS · iˈnɛs
• Meaning: pure, holy — via Spanish Inés, ultimately from the Greek word for ‘pure’ through Agnes
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

European aristocratic favorite; Ines without the accent works in English without losing much.

Blanche

• Origin: French
• Pronunciation: BLANCH · ˈblæntʃ
• Meaning: white or pale — likely originally a descriptive nickname for someone fair-skinned or fair-haired
• Popularity: #11,242 and falling (#10,439 → #11,242, 2024)

Sylvie

• Origin: French (from Latin)
• Pronunciation: SIL-vee · ˈsɪlvi
• Meaning: of the forest
• Popularity: #360 and rising (#425 → #360, 2024)

Sabine

• Origin: Latin (from Sabina/Sabinus)
• Pronunciation: sah-BEEN · səˈbiːn
• Meaning: of the Sabines, an ancient Italic tribe
• Popularity: #1,871 and rising (#2,202 → #1,871, 2024)

Ancient Roman tribe; the French use it as a given name with great effect and the history is real.

Gustave

• Origin: French (form of Swedish Gustav)
• Pronunciation: goo-STAHV · ɡuːˈstɑːv
• Meaning: staff of the Geats (inherited from Gustav)
• Popularity: #6,258 and rising (#6,597 → #6,258, 2024)

Flaubert wrote Madame Bovary under it; Eiffel built the tower under it.

Lucien

• Origin: French (form of Lucianus/Lucius)
• Pronunciation: LOO-see-en · ˈluːsiən
• Meaning: light
• Popularity: #912 and rising (#923 → #912, 2024)

The French form of Lucian; currently beloved in cultivated French families on both sides of the ocean.

Gaston

• Origin: French (surname, uncertain etymology)
• Pronunciation: gas-TAWN · ɡæˈstɒn
• Meaning: “stranger, guest”
• Popularity: #4,101 and rising (#6,027 → #4,101, 2024)

Yes, Beauty and the Beast — but before that, a genuine Gascon aristocratic name.

Armand

• Origin: French (of Germanic origin)
• Pronunciation: ar-MAHND · ɑːrˈmɑːnd
• Meaning: army man (form of Herman)
• Popularity: #3,599 and falling (#3,007 → #3,599, 2024)

Aristocratic French male name; Camille’s doomed lover in La Dame aux Camélias.

Anatole

• Origin: Greek, via French
• Pronunciation: AN-uh-tohl · ˈænətoʊl
• Meaning: sunrise, dawn (the east)
• Popularity: #10,951 as of 2022 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Anatole France won the Nobel Prize in Literature; the name deserves better than its current obscurity.

Sébastien

• Origin: Greek (via Latin Sebastianus, French)
• Pronunciation: say-bahs-TYEN · seɪbæsˈtjen
• Meaning: venerable, revered one
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Bastien as a nickname; Sebastian in English maintains the same elegance with easier spelling.

Valentin

• Origin: French (from Latin Valentinus)
• Pronunciation: vah-len-TEEN · vɑːlənˈtiːn
• Meaning: strong, healthy
• Popularity: #747 and falling (#709 → #747, 2024)

The French Valentine; cleaner and less commercial-holiday-adjacent in its French form.

Florent

• Origin: French (from Latin Florens/Florentius)
• Pronunciation: floh-RAWN · flɔˈʁɑ̃
• Meaning: flourishing, blooming
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Male name, currently rare in English and entirely viable as a first name.

Félicien

• Origin: French (from Latin Felicianus)
• Pronunciation: fay-lee-SYAN · feɪliːsˈjɑ̃
• Meaning: happy, fortunate
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Saint Félicien; the French masculine form of Felicity, which is having its own revival.

Eugène

• Origin: Greek (French form of Eugene)
• Pronunciation: YOO-jeen · ˈjuːdʒiːn
• Meaning: well-born, noble
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Théodore

• Origin: Greek (via French)
• Pronunciation: THEE-oh-dor · ˈθiːədɔːr
• Meaning: gift of God
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Théo as the nickname; the French accent signals a Continental parent with good taste.

Raphaël

• Origin: Hebrew (French form of Raphael)
• Pronunciation: RAF-ay-el · ˈræfeɪəl
• Meaning: healed by God
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The French spelling adds distinction; one of the three greatest Renaissance painters carried it.

Octave

• Origin: French, from Latin (Octāvius)
• Pronunciation: ahk-TAHV · ɒkˈtɑːv
• Meaning: eighth (French form of the Roman family name Octāvius)
• Popularity: #11,904 and falling (#4,837 → #11,904, 2024)

The French Octavius; a poet’s name and a musician’s fundamental interval.

Clémentine

• Origin: Latin (via French)
• Pronunciation: KLEM-en-teen · ˈklɛmənˌtiːn
• Meaning: merciful
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The French form of Clementine; the accent signals European refinement without being fussy.

Élodie

• Origin: French (from Gothic, via the name Alodia)
• Meaning: variant of Alodia; possibly Gothic, combining elements for ‘other/all’ and ‘wealth/heritage’, roughly ‘foreign wealth’
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Melodic, rare in English, and beloved in France for exactly the reasons it would be beloved anywhere.

The Highlands and the Emerald Isle: Scottish and Irish Names

Scottish and Irish names occupy their own category of old money entirely — these aren’t aristocratic in the English sense, but in the older sense of clan lineage, mythology, and land that goes back further than any English title. Many carry pronunciation guides here because the spelling is genuinely misleading to English speakers, and knowing how to say the name is half the decision.

Callum

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: KAL-um · ˈkæləm
• Meaning: dove (via the name Calum, ultimately Latin columba)
• Popularity: #159 and rising (#222 → #159, 2024)

Clean, strong, unmistakably Scottish; a name for someone who doesn’t need to explain themselves.

Alasdair

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of Alexander)
• Pronunciation: AL-uss-der · ˈæləstər
• Meaning: defender of men (via Alexander)
• Popularity: #3,684 and rising (#3,712 → #3,684, 2024)

Hamish

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of James)
• Pronunciation: HAY-mish · ˈheɪmɪʃ
• Meaning: supplanter (traditional gloss); ultimately from Hebrew Jacob via James
• Popularity: #5,982 and rising (#6,660 → #5,982, 2024)

The Scottish-only version of James; very Highland, very specific.

Lachlan

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: LOK-lun · ˈlɑːklən
• Meaning: land of the lochs (Scandinavia); a Norse settler
• Popularity: #691 and rising (#771 → #691, 2024)

Lachie for short; popular in Australia and rare elsewhere, which is exactly the sweet spot.

Angus

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: ANG-gus · ˈæŋɡəs
• Meaning: one choice, unique choice
• Popularity: #2,149 and falling (#1,986 → #2,149, 2024)

Clan chief energy; Gus as the everyday nickname is perfectly current.

Fergus

• Origin: Scottish/Irish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: FUR-gus · ˈfɜːrɡəs
• Meaning: chosen man
• Popularity: #4,453 and rising (#4,501 → #4,453, 2024)

Comes with natural authority; Fergie if you need a lighter touch.

Rory

• Origin: Irish/Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: ROR-ee · ˈrɔːri
• Meaning: red king
• Popularity: #226 and rising (#242 → #226, 2024)

Crosses the Irish-Scottish border effortlessly; ancient and instantly likeable.

Cillian

• Origin: Irish (contested)
• Pronunciation: KIL-ee-an · ˈkɪliən
• Meaning: of disputed origin: possibly ‘strife/war’ or ‘church’ (Old Irish ceallach/ceall), or separately from Latin Caecilianus
• Popularity: #463 and rising (#594 → #463, 2024)

Pronounced KILL-ee-an; Cillian Murphy made it internationally recognizable.

Niall

• Origin: Irish/Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: NY-ul · ˈnaɪəl
• Meaning: of uncertain original meaning; often glossed as ‘champion’ or ‘cloud’
• Popularity: #1,582 and rising (#1,813 → #1,582, 2024)

This is often presented as definitive, but Wiktionary describes the original meaning as genuinely uncertain, with ‘cloud’ an equally plausible alternative.

Ronan

• Origin: Irish
• Pronunciation: ROH-nun · ˈroʊnən
• Meaning: little seal
• Popularity: #257 and rising (#290 → #257, 2024)

A legendary saint and an ancient story involving a whale; feels both mythic and gentle.

Cormac

• Origin: Irish (Old Irish)
• Pronunciation: KOR-mak · ˈkɔːrmæk
• Meaning: son of the charioteer
• Popularity: #1,254 and falling (#1,238 → #1,254, 2024)

Cormac McCarthy gave it literary weight; ancient Irish kings gave it gravitas first.

Euan

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: YOO-un · ˈjuːən
• Meaning: “born of the yew” or “young warrior”
• Popularity: #5,099 and rising (#7,022 → #5,099, 2024)

The Scottish form of Ewan; simpler and more ancient-feeling.

Sorcha

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic / Irish
• Meaning: bright, radiant
• Popularity: #13,286 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Pronounced SOR-a-kha; the Irish Sarah, but infinitely more interesting and rarer.

Aoife

• Origin: Old Irish
• Pronunciation: EE-fuh · ˈiːfə
• Meaning: beauty, radiance
• Popularity: #2,230 and falling (#2,124 → #2,230, 2024)

Pronounced EE-fa; the most feared woman warrior in Irish mythology carries this name.

Saoirse

• Origin: Irish
• Pronunciation: SEER-shah · ˈsɪərʃə
• Meaning: freedom
• Popularity: #1,036 and falling (#959 → #1,036, 2024)

Pronounced SEER-sha; Saoirse Ronan made it internationally recognizable, which helps with the spelling situation.

Caoimhe

• Origin: Old Irish
• Meaning: gentle, beautiful, precious
• Popularity: #8,519 and rising (#12,384 → #8,519, 2024)

Pronounced KEE-va; nearly impossible to guess from the spelling, utterly lovely in sound.

Grainne

• Origin: Irish (Old/Middle Irish, disputed)
• Pronunciation: GRAWN-yuh · ˈgrɑːnjə
• Meaning: disputed: ‘grain’ (agricultural goddess) or ‘horror/terror’
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Pronounced GRAWN-ya; Ireland’s legendary pirate queen bore this name.

Deirdre

• Origin: Irish (Celtic)
• Pronunciation: DEER-druh · ˈdɪərdrə
• Meaning: “sorrowful” or “broken-hearted”
• Popularity: #9,686 and falling (#6,478 → #9,686, 2024)

W.B. Yeats wrote her story; she is the most tragic heroine in Irish mythology and the name carries that depth.

Niamh

• Origin: Irish
• Pronunciation: NEEV · ˈniːv
• Meaning: bright, radiant
• Popularity: #3,148 and rising (#4,339 → #3,148, 2024)

Pronounced NEEV; the golden-haired goddess of the Land of Youth, and one of the most beautiful names in any language.

Siobhán

• Origin: Irish
• Meaning: God is gracious
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Pronounced shih-VAWN; Ireland’s Joan, but with far more character.

Muireann

• Origin: Old Irish
• Pronunciation: MWIR-in · ˈmwɪrən
• Meaning: fair/white sea
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Pronounced MWIR-an; a mermaid’s name from Irish legend, and gloriously rare.

Eilidh

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of Eleanor)
• Meaning: “sun, radiant”
• Popularity: #9,062 and falling (#6,735 → #9,062, 2024)

Pronounced AY-lee; the Scottish form of Eileen, but more particular and more beautiful.

Morag

• Origin: Scottish Gaelic
• Pronunciation: MOR-ag · ˈmɔːræɡ
• Meaning: great one (diminutive of Mor, ‘great’)
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Brigid

• Origin: Irish (Gaelic, from Proto-Celtic)
• Pronunciation: BRIJ-id · ˈbrɪdʒɪd
• Meaning: high, exalted one
• Popularity: #2,662 and falling (#2,620 → #2,662, 2024)

Saint Brigid, patron of Ireland; the original form of Bridget, with deeper and older roots.

Isolde

• Origin: Germanic or Celtic/Brythonic (disputed)
• Pronunciation: ih-ZOHL-dah · ɪˈzoʊldə
• Meaning: uncertain — literally ‘ice’ + ‘battle’ in the Germanic reading, or ‘she who is gazed upon’ in the Celtic/Brythonic reading
• Popularity: #7,721 and falling (#5,458 → #7,721, 2024)

The Germanic elements are literally ‘ice’ (is) and ‘battle’ (hiltja), not ‘ruler’ — ‘ice ruler’ is a popular mistranslation, and a separate Celtic theory (‘she who is gazed upon’) is equally plausible per current scholarship.

Fionnuala

• Origin: Irish (Old Irish compound)
• Meaning: white shoulder (fionn ‘white/fair’ + guala ‘shoulder’)
• Popularity: #16,027 and falling (#12,563 → #16,027, 2024)

Pronounced fin-NOO-la; the swan-maiden of the Children of Lir, one of the great stories of Irish mythology.

Nuala

• Origin: Irish
• Pronunciation: NOO-lah · ˈnuːlə
• Meaning: fair/white shoulder (if a short form of Fionnuala)
• Popularity: #7,479 and rising (#10,924 → #7,479, 2024)

The short form of Fionnuala; gentle, very wearable, and carries the same mythic reference.

Cliodhna

• Origin: Irish (mythological name)
• Meaning: “shapely one”
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Pronounced KLEE-na; Irish goddess of beauty and love, and a name essentially unknown outside Ireland.

Nantucket to Newport: New England Old Money Names

The American old money tradition is different from the English one — it works through surnames-as-first-names, through the old Boston Brahmin families, through Plymouth Colony records and Harvard rosters. These names feel preppy not because they’re aspirational, but because they’ve been used by a specific social class for so many generations that the association is now indelible. Reclaiming them as first names is an entirely different move.

Cabot

• Origin: French (surname, of disputed origin)
• Pronunciation: KAB-uht · ˈkæb.ət
• Meaning: “sailor, little cabin”
• Popularity: #11,119 and falling (#9,880 → #11,119, 2024)

The Cabots of Boston; a name that doesn’t speak to anyone and doesn’t need to.

Weston

• Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
• Pronunciation: WES-tun · ˈwɛstən
• Meaning: western settlement or town
• Popularity: #70 and rising (#75 → #70, 2024)

Wes for daily use; quietly preppy without any of the clichés.

Sterling

• Origin: English (surname)
• Pronunciation: STUR-ling · ˈstɜːrlɪŋ
• Meaning: originally a surname referring to the starling bird, or a variant of the Scottish surname/place name Stirling
• Popularity: #372 and rising (#403 → #372, 2024)

The silver association is part of the point.

Prescott

• Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
• Pronunciation: PRES-kuht · ˈprɛskət
• Meaning: priest’s cottage
• Popularity: #3,792 and rising (#6,340 → #3,792, 2024)

Very New England; the kind of name on a granite gravestone in a Concord churchyard.

Whitmore

• Origin: Old English (surname)
• Pronunciation: WHIT-mor · ˈwɪtmɔːr
• Meaning: place name meaning ‘white moor’ — a pale or barren stretch of moorland — used as a family name
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

WASP surname-as-first-name; underused and distinguished.

Emerson

• Origin: English (surname: ‘Emery’s son’, possibly Anglo-Saxon ‘Emar’s son’)
• Pronunciation: EM-ur-sun · ˈɛmərsən
• Meaning: son of Emery (or, per an alternate theory, Anglo-Saxon ‘Emar’s son’)
• Popularity: #151 and rising (#161 → #151, 2024)

Ralph Waldo’s surname makes it the name of considered, independent thinking.

Lowell

• Origin: English (surname, from Old French via Middle English)
• Pronunciation: LOH-əl · ˈloʊəl
• Meaning: little wolf
• Popularity: #3,735 and falling (#3,677 → #3,735, 2024)

Alcott

• Origin: Old English (surname)
• Pronunciation: AWL-kut · ˈɔːlkət
• Meaning: old cottage or dwelling
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Louisa May’s surname; almost never used as a first name, which makes it striking.

Standish

• Origin: English (place name/surname)
• Pronunciation: STAN-dish · ˈstændɪʃ
• Meaning: “stony enclosure”
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Myles Standish of Plymouth Colony; very founding-generation, very strong.

Bradford

• Origin: Old English (place name transferred to surname)
• Pronunciation: BRAD-ferd · ˈbrædfərd
• Meaning: broad ford (a wide river crossing)
• Popularity: #2,994 and falling (#2,656 → #2,994, 2024)

Governor Bradford of Plymouth Colony; solid and entirely underused.

Winthrop

• Origin: Old English (place name)
• Pronunciation: WIN-thrup · ˈwɪnθrəp
• Meaning: Wine’s village or settlement, where Wine is an Old English personal name meaning ‘friend’
• Popularity: #12,163 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Governor Winthrop of Massachusetts Bay Colony; a name that carries the weight of the whole experiment.

Camden

• Origin: English (Old English place name)
• Pronunciation: KAM-dun · ˈkæmdən
• Meaning: enclosed valley (Old English camp “enclosure” + denu “valley”)
• Popularity: #193 and falling (#180 → #193, 2024)

Camden actually means ‘enclosed valley,’ from Old English camp (‘enclosure’) and denu (‘valley’) — not ‘winding valley.’

Waverly

• Origin: English (place name/surname)
• Pronunciation: WAY-vur-lee · ˈweɪvərli
• Meaning: meadow of quivering aspen trees
• Popularity: #916 and falling (#882 → #916, 2024)

Sir Walter Scott’s hero; sounds like a private school campus in the best possible way.

Pemberton

• Origin: English/Brittonic (place name)
• Pronunciation: PEM-ber-tun · ˈpɛmbərtən
• Meaning: barley farmstead by the hill (place name)
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Very British-colonial; Pem or Penn as usable nicknames.

Holden

• Origin: Old English (surname)
• Pronunciation: HOHL-din · ˈhoʊldən
• Meaning: hollow valley
• Popularity: #281 and rising (#286 → #281, 2024)

Caulfield gave it a slightly rebellious edge; it’s still fundamentally old money underneath.

Ellsworth

• Origin: English (surname/place name, variant of Elsworth)
• Pronunciation: ELZ-wurth · ˈɛlzwərθ
• Meaning: Elli’s estate (an English place-name surname)
• Popularity: #7,155 as of 2020 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Very WASP, very underused — exactly the combination you want.

Fletcher

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: FLETCH-er · ˈflɛtʃər
• Meaning: arrow maker
• Popularity: #564 and rising (#631 → #564, 2024)

Cleaner than most occupation surnames; feels current without feeling invented.

Spencer

• Origin: Middle English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: SPEN-sir · ˈspɛnsər
• Meaning: steward, one who manages provisions/supplies
• Popularity: #388 and falling (#362 → #388, 2024)

Princess Diana’s maiden name; the old money connection runs in multiple directions.

Mercer

• Origin: English (surname, variant of Mercier)
• Pronunciation: MER-ser · ˈmɜːrsər
• Meaning: merchant
• Popularity: #3,072 and rising (#3,456 → #3,072, 2024)

Occupation surnames are having a moment; Mercer leads the class.

Thatcher

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: THATCH-er · ˈθætʃər
• Meaning: a person who thatches roofs
• Popularity: #1,037 and falling (#1,001 → #1,037, 2024)

The Iron Lady’s surname makes it feel commanding; currently almost unused as a given name.

Hadley

• Origin: English (surname/place name, Old English)
• Pronunciation: HAD-lee · ˈhædli
• Meaning: heather clearing/meadow
• Popularity: #114 and rising (#119 → #114, 2024)

Hemingway’s first wife; works as a first name for either gender with equal elegance.

Whitney

• Origin: Old English (surname)
• Pronunciation: WIT-nee · ˈwɪtni
• Meaning: place name/surname meaning roughly ‘white island’ or ‘landing place of the fair one’
• Popularity: #1,050 and falling (#981 → #1,050, 2024)

Whitney Houston transcended the prep-school origins; the old money roots remain for anyone who looks.

Putnam

• Origin: Old English (surname, reduced form of the place name Puttenham)
• Pronunciation: PUT-nəm · ˈpʌtnəm
• Meaning: homestead by a pit or hollow
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Very Boston; the Putnam family of Salem witch trials and colonial history.

Chandler

• Origin: English (occupational surname, from Old French chandelier, ‘candle maker’)
• Pronunciation: CHAND-lur · ˈtʃændlər
• Meaning: candle maker/seller
• Popularity: #738 and falling (#687 → #738, 2024)

The sitcom helped; the old money surname history was there first.

Brooks

• Origin: English (surname)
• Pronunciation: BROOKS · ˈbrʊks
• Meaning: one who lived near a brook
• Popularity: #67 and rising (#73 → #67, 2024)

J. Press energy; one of the cleanest New England prep names on this list.

Carter

• Origin: English (occupational surname)
• Pronunciation: KAR-ter · ˈkɑːrtər
• Meaning: one who drove/operated a cart (occupational surname)
• Popularity: #45 and rising (#48 → #45, 2024)

President Carter legitimized the first-name use for a new generation.

Lawson

• Origin: English/Scottish (surname)
• Pronunciation: LAW-sun · ˈlɔːsən
• Meaning: patronymic surname meaning ‘son of Lawrence’ (or, in some cases, an Americanized form of Scandinavian Larsen/Larsson)
• Popularity: #415 and falling (#413 → #415, 2024)

Feels like a New England law partner’s brass nameplate.

Eliot

• Origin: English (from Hebrew via Old French)
• Pronunciation: EL-ee-ut · ˈɛl.i.ət
• Meaning: diminutive of Elias/Elijah, ‘my God is the LORD’
• Popularity: #1,369 and falling (#1,360 → #1,369, 2024)

T.S. Eliot and George Eliot both claim it; when literature wins, it wins for a long time.

Forum and Temple: Classical Latin and Roman Names

Roman names have a particular quality that separates them from other classical names — they feel like they were built for marble, for law, for empire. But many of them are also short and clean in a way that works beautifully in a modern nursery. The feminine names especially have a kind of stripped-down elegance that’s very hard to find in other naming traditions.

Cato

• Origin: Latin (Roman cognomen); also a Scandinavian matronymic form of Catherine
• Pronunciation: KAY-toh · ˈkeɪtoʊ
• Meaning: wise, shrewd, clever (Latin ‘catus’)
• Popularity: #3,048 and rising (#4,476 → #3,048, 2024)

The great Roman statesman; austere, short, and completely distinctive in any modern context.

Lucius

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: LOO-shəs · ˈluːʃəs
• Meaning: light
• Popularity: #1,385 and falling (#1,254 → #1,385, 2024)

A classical Roman praenomen that sounds effortlessly luxurious without trying.

Cassius

• Origin: Latin (Roman family name)
• Pronunciation: KASH-us · ˈkæʃəs
• Meaning: “hollow”
• Popularity: #567 and rising (#576 → #567, 2024)

Marcus

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: MAR-kus · ˈmɑːrkəs
• Meaning: dedicated to Mars; ‘warlike’
• Popularity: #256 and falling (#249 → #256, 2024)

The warrior’s name that also belongs to the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius.

Titus

• Origin: Latin (Roman/Sabine praenomen)
• Pronunciation: TY-tus · ˈtaɪtəs
• Meaning: uncertain — ancient sources give either ‘honorable’ or ‘of the giants’ (linked to the Titans)
• Popularity: #383 and falling (#374 → #383, 2024)

Brief, strong, and enduringly Roman across twenty centuries.

Aurelius

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: aw-REE-lee-əs · ɔːˈriːliəs
• Meaning: golden one
• Popularity: #1,118 and rising (#1,216 → #1,118, 2024)

Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher-emperor of Rome; currently in the early stages of a quiet revival.

Hadrian

• Origin: Latin (Roman place name)
• Pronunciation: HAY-dree-un · ˈheɪdriən
• Meaning: from Hadria (an ancient Italian town)
• Popularity: #2,835 and rising (#3,924 → #2,835, 2024)

Hadrian doesn’t mean ‘dark’ — that’s a folk etymology confusing Hadria with the unrelated Latin word ater (‘black’); the name denotes someone ‘from Hadria’.

Maximus

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: MAK-suh-mus · ˈmæksəməs
• Meaning: greatest
• Popularity: #330 and falling (#319 → #330, 2024)

Gladiator made it cinematic; the Roman legacy makes it something older and more permanent.

Quintus

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: KWIN-tus · ˈkwɪntəs
• Meaning: fifth (a Roman praenomen traditionally given to a fifth-born son)
• Popularity: #10,627 and falling (#5,861 → #10,627, 2024)

Roman praenomen; completely unused as a given name today, which is precisely the appeal.

Flavian

• Origin: Latin (Roman)
• Pronunciation: FLAY-vee-uhn · ˈfleɪviən
• Meaning: golden-haired (masculine form of Flavius, from flavus ‘yellow’)
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The Flavian dynasty of Rome; Flavian or Flavius both carry the same dignified weight.

Octavian

• Origin: Latin (Octāvianus, from Octāvius)
• Pronunciation: ok-TAY-vee-un · ɑːkˈteɪviən
• Meaning: eighth
• Popularity: #2,270 and rising (#2,380 → #2,270, 2024)

Livia

• Origin: Latin (Roman)
• Pronunciation: LIV-ee-ah · ˈlɪviə
• Meaning: uncertain (feminine of Roman name Livius)
• Popularity: #836 and falling (#826 → #836, 2024)

Augustus’s brilliant and calculating wife; currently the most wearable Roman woman’s name in any nursery.

Valeria

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: vuh-LAIR-ee-ah · vəˈlɛriə
• Meaning: strong, healthy
• Popularity: #161 and falling (#154 → #161, 2024)

Roman matron name; Valeria Messalina was notorious, but the name long outlasted the scandal.

Cornelia

• Origin: Latin (feminine form of Cornelius)
• Pronunciation: kor-NEEL-yuh · kɔːrˈniːljə
• Meaning: horn
• Popularity: #3,824 and falling (#3,103 → #3,824, 2024)

Mother of the Gracchi; when asked where her jewels were, she pointed to her sons — that’s a name with a legacy.

Claudia

• Origin: Latin (Roman clan name)
• Pronunciation: KLAW-dee-uh · ˈklɔːdiə
• Meaning: lame, limping (as with the Roman gens Claudia/Claudius)
• Popularity: #1,090 and falling (#1,080 → #1,090, 2024)

Ironic origin, beautiful name; widely and gladly used throughout the ancient Roman world.

Lucretia

• Origin: Latin (feminine of the Roman family name Lucretius)
• Pronunciation: loo-KREE-shuh · luːˈkriːʃə
• Meaning: “wealth, profit”
• Popularity: #13,272 as of 2018 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Lucrezia Borgia made it sinister; the Renaissance couldn’t resist it anyway, and neither can we.

Cassia

• Origin: Latin (from Greek ‘kasia’)
• Pronunciation: KAS-ee-uh · ˈkæsiə
• Meaning: cinnamon (the spice/tree)
• Popularity: #2,234 and rising (#2,353 → #2,234, 2024)

Spice route history; fragrant, slightly exotic, and almost entirely unused.

Silvia

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: SIL-vee-ah · ˈsɪlviə
• Meaning: feminine form of Silvius, from Latin silva, ‘forest’
• Popularity: #1,166 and rising (#1,388 → #1,166, 2024)

Rhea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus; simpler than Sylvia and more directly Roman.

Flavia

• Origin: Latin (Roman)
• Pronunciation: FLAH-vee-ah · ˈflɑːviə
• Meaning: golden or yellow, traditionally read as ‘golden-haired’ (from flavus ‘yellow’)
• Popularity: #9,755 and rising (#10,580 → #9,755, 2024)

Feminine of Flavian; elegant and immediately distinctive without being obscure.

Aurelia

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: aw-REEL-yuh · ɔːˈriːljə
• Meaning: golden one
• Popularity: #334 and rising (#370 → #334, 2024)

Julius Caesar’s mother bore this name; the feminine Aurelius is arguably more beautiful than the masculine.

Felicia

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: feh-LEE-shuh · fəˈliːʃə
• Meaning: happy, fortunate (from Latin felix, via the phrase ‘tempora felicia, ‘ happy times)
• Popularity: #4,489 and falling (#3,929 → #4,489, 2024)

Roman feminine name; the formal version of Felicity with less of the contemporary buzz.

Decima

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: DESS-ih-muh · ˈdɛsɪmə
• Meaning: the tenth
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

The feminine form of Decimus; Roman numerals-as-names have an oddly elegant logic.

Sabina

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: sah-BEE-nah · səˈbiːnə
• Meaning: belonging to the Sabine people of ancient Italy
• Popularity: #2,518 and falling (#1,996 → #2,518, 2024)

The Sabine women are one of Rome’s founding stories; the name carries ancient history.

Leontius

• Origin: Greek (via Latin Leontius)
• Pronunciation: lee-ON-tee-əs · liˈɒntiəs
• Meaning: lion-like / of the lion
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Early Christian martyr; more uncommon than Leo or Leon, carrying the same fundamental strength.

The Literary Estate: Names That Signal Cultural Capital

These are names that come wrapped in a specific reference — a poet, a painter, a novel, a play. They signal that the parents read, which is a form of old money that has nothing to do with finance. The names in this section don’t just sound distinguished; they carry an entire world of association that rewards the curious.

Tennyson

• Origin: English (Middle English patronymic surname)
• Pronunciation: TEN-ih-suhn · ˈtɛnɪsən
• Meaning: son of Dennis
• Popularity: #3,872 and rising (#4,868 → #3,872, 2024)

Byron

• Origin: Old English (surname/place name)
• Pronunciation: BY-run · ˈbaɪrən
• Meaning: from a place name meaning ‘at the cattle sheds’ (byres)
• Popularity: #882 and falling (#835 → #882, 2024)

Mad, bad, and dangerous to know — that’s the brand, and it still works.

Orson

• Origin: Old French (from Latin ursus, ‘bear’)
• Pronunciation: OR-sun · ˈɔːrsən
• Meaning: bear cub
• Popularity: #1,500 and falling (#1,399 → #1,500, 2024)

Welles gave it cinema’s single greatest touch; the name carries his particular gravitas.

Marlowe

• Origin: English (place name: Marlow)
• Pronunciation: MAR-loh · ˈmɑːrloʊ
• Meaning: “remnants of a lake”
• Popularity: #624 and rising (#835 → #624, 2024)

Christopher Marlowe was Shakespeare’s only real rival; the name belongs in that company.

Aldous

• Origin: Old English
• Pronunciation: AWL-dus · ˈɔːldəs
• Meaning: old (short form of Old English compound names beginning with eald, ‘old’)
• Popularity: #9,905 and falling (#7,303 → #9,905, 2024)

Huxley’s first name; Brave New World made it the name of uncomfortable prophetic foresight.

Shelley

• Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
• Pronunciation: SHEL-ee · ˈʃɛl.i
• Meaning: a clearing on a bank or slope
• Popularity: #9,430 and rising (#12,026 → #9,430, 2024)

Percy and Mary both; Romantic, slightly wild, and works for either gender.

Cressida

• Origin: Greek (via medieval literary tradition)
• Pronunciation: KRESS-ih-dah · ˈkrɛsɪdə
• Meaning: golden
• Popularity: #12,408 and falling (#10,569 → #12,408, 2024)

Araminta

• Origin: Unknown
• Pronunciation: air-ah-MIN-tah · ˌɛrəˈmɪntə
• Meaning: origin uncertain, possibly literary invention or Hebrew
• Popularity: #8,975 and rising (#9,678 → #8,975, 2024)

Harriet Tubman’s birth name; historically resonant and strikingly unusual in any contemporary context.

Elowen

• Origin: Cornish
• Pronunciation: EL-oh-wen · ˈɛloʊwɛn
• Meaning: elm tree
• Popularity: #898 and rising (#1,060 → #898, 2024)

Carrington

• Origin: English (place name/surname, Old English personal name + -ing + tūn)
• Pronunciation: KAIR-ing-tun · ˈkærɪŋtən
• Meaning: settlement of a named person’s people (place-name/surname transferred to given-name use, no independent lexical meaning)
• Popularity: #5,313 and falling (#4,770 → #5,313, 2024)

Dora Carrington, Bloomsbury’s great painter; the name of artistic commitment.

Evadne

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: ih-VAD-nee · ɪˈvædni
• Meaning: good one / pleasing (full compound uncertain)
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Euripides’ Suppliant Women; rare, fully classical, and carries the weight of Greek tragedy.

Perdita

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: PER-dih-tuh · ˈpɜːrdɪtə
• Meaning: lost
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Calliope

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: kuh-LY-uh-pee · kəˈlaɪəpi
• Meaning: beautiful voice
• Popularity: #499 and falling (#491 → #499, 2024)

The Muse of epic poetry; currently rare but theoretically wearable, and Callie is an excellent nickname.

Endymion

• Origin: Greek (mythological name)
• Pronunciation: en-DIM-ee-un · ɛnˈdɪmiən
• Meaning: “to dive in, to enter”
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Keats’s long poem; the shepherd boy whom the moon goddess loved so well she kept him sleeping forever.

Amarantha

• Origin: uncertain (echoes the Greek-derived flower name ‘amaranth’)
• Pronunciation: am-uh-RAN-thuh · æməˈrænθə
• Meaning: unfading
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

A Cavalier poet’s name for the amaranth flower; deeply literary, deeply unusual, and entirely its own thing.

Rosalba

• Origin: Italian (from Latin rosa + alba)
• Pronunciation: roh-ZAHL-buh · roʊˈzɑːlbə
• Meaning: white rose
• Popularity: #14,882 and falling (#10,991 → #14,882, 2024)

Italian Baroque painter Rosalba Carriera; elegant, unexpected, and almost entirely unused in English.

Sassoon

• Origin: Hebrew (surname, variant of Sasson)
• Pronunciation: sah-SOON · səˈsuːn
• Meaning: joy; rejoicing
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Siegfried Sassoon, the war poet; literary without being obvious about it.

Kipling

• Origin: English (surname/place name)
• Pronunciation: KIP-ling · ˈkɪplɪŋ
• Meaning: “Cybbel’s people”
• Popularity: #11,692 and falling (#11,610 → #11,692, 2024)

Rudyard’s surname; the just-so storyteller’s name is available and entirely striking.

Oriel

• Origin: Old French (origin uncertain)
• Pronunciation: OR-ee-ul · ˈɔːriəl
• Meaning: “golden” or “gilded hall”
• Popularity: #3,745 and falling (#3,529 → #3,745, 2024)

Medieval architectural term and given name; literary, rare, and beautiful.

Thessaly

• Origin: Greek (place name)
• Pronunciation: THESS-uh-lee · ˈθɛsəli
• Meaning: “from Thessaly”
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Ancient Greek region; sounds like a fantasy name, is thoroughly historical, and works beautifully as a given name.

Aramis

• Origin: French (literary, ultimate root uncertain)
• Pronunciation: AIR-uh-mis · ˈærəmɪs
• Meaning: possibly Arabic origin via French
• Popularity: #2,871 and falling (#2,736 → #2,871, 2024)

One of the Three Musketeers; literary, unusual, and with a natural elegance.

The Forgotten Few: Old Money Names Due for a Comeback

These are the names that time forgot. They weren’t ruined by overuse — they simply went quiet, sometimes because they felt too elaborate for a more casual era, sometimes because the dominant culture decided they were too strange. That era is ending. The elaborate name is back. The strange name is interesting again. These are the ones most worth reconsidering.

Ignatius

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: ig-NAY-shus · ɪgˈneɪʃəs
• Meaning: popularly read as ‘fiery, ardent’ by resemblance to Latin ignis; actually a respelling of the older Roman name Egnatius, whose real root is uncertain
• Popularity: #1,734 and rising (#1,804 → #1,734, 2024)

The ‘fiery’ meaning is a well-documented folk etymology, not the name’s actual origin – it’s a reinterpretation of the older name Egnatius, whose true root is uncertain.

Aloysius

• Origin: Germanic (via Occitan Aloys, a form of Louis)
• Pronunciation: al-oh-WISH-us · æloʊˈɪʃəs
• Meaning: famous warrior (inherited from Louis: ‘renowned’ + ‘warrior’)
• Popularity: #4,699 and rising (#5,472 → #4,699, 2024)

Saint Aloysius Gonzaga; rare, elaborate, and oddly charming; Lou or Louie as the exit.

Peregrine

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: PAIR-uh-grin · ˈpɛrəɡrɪn
• Meaning: traveler or pilgrim (from a Latin word originally meaning ‘foreigner’)
• Popularity: #3,365 and rising (#3,855 → #3,365, 2024)

Perry as a nickname; the name of a wandering knight, and also the fastest animal on earth.

Willoughby

• Origin: Old English/Old Norse (place name)
• Pronunciation: WIL-uh-bee · ˈwɪləbi
• Meaning: willow settlement or farm — a place where willow trees grew
• Popularity: #10,194 and rising (#13,378 → #10,194, 2024)

Jane Austen’s charming villain in Sense and Sensibility; the name is more interesting than the character.

Tarquin

• Origin: Etruscan
• Pronunciation: TAR-kwin · ˈtɑːrkwɪn
• Meaning: Etruscan place name origin, meaning unclear
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Last king of Rome; Quin as a nickname makes this surprisingly wearable.

Sylvester

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: sil-VES-ter · sɪlˈvɛstər
• Meaning: of the woods or forest
• Popularity: #2,108 and rising (#2,172 → #2,108, 2024)

Marmaduke

• Origin: Irish
• Pronunciation: MAR-muh-dyook · ˈmɑːrmədjuːk
• Meaning: devotee of (Saint) Maedoc
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Duke as a nickname; it has genuine medieval English roots and nobody is using it.

Sophronia

• Origin: Greek (via Latin Sophronius)
• Pronunciation: soh-FROH-nee-uh · səˈfroʊniə
• Meaning: self-controlled, level-headed
• Popularity: #17,289 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Very Victorian; Sophie as the everyday nickname makes it immediately usable.

Perpetua

• Origin: Latin
• Pronunciation: pur-PET-choo-uh · pərˈpɛtʃuə
• Meaning: eternal, everlasting
• Popularity: #8,805 and falling (#5,897 → #8,805, 2024)

Early Christian martyr of Carthage; Pet or Pippa as nicknames; one of the earliest recorded female narratives in history.

Amaryllis

• Origin: Ancient Greek
• Pronunciation: am-ah-RIL-iss · ˌæməˈrɪlɪs
• Meaning: to sparkle or shine
• Popularity: #2,689 and falling (#2,442 → #2,689, 2024)

Pastoral poetry’s favorite shepherdess name; Amy as a nickname if you need one, which you might not.

Mehitable

• Origin: Hebrew
• Pronunciation: meh-HIT-uh-bel · məˈhɪtəbɛl
• Meaning: “God does good” or “benefited by God”
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Colonial American name at its most extreme; Hetty as the nickname saves it entirely.

Hepsibah

• Origin: Hebrew (variant spelling of Hephzibah)
• Pronunciation: HEP-zih-buh · ˈhɛpzɪbə
• Meaning: my delight is in her
• Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings

Christabel

• Origin: Middle English (Crist ‘Christ’ + -bel ‘beauty’, from Belle)
• Pronunciation: KRIS-tuh-bel · ˈkrɪstəbɛl
• Meaning: beautiful Christian
• Popularity: #8,531 and falling (#7,323 → #8,531, 2024)

Coleridge wrote an unfinished Gothic poem by this name; it remains one of the most atmospheric English names.

Eulalia

• Origin: Greek
• Pronunciation: yoo-LAY-lee-ah · juːˈleɪliə
• Meaning: sweetly speaking
• Popularity: #2,693 and rising (#3,109 → #2,693, 2024)

Elvira

• Origin: Spanish (medieval royal name of probable Gothic origin, debated)
• Pronunciation: el-VEE-rah · ɛlˈvaɪrə
• Meaning: Uncertain/debated — proposed Gothic roots are tentatively glossed as something like ‘joyful sincerity,’ though the exact origin isn’t settled.
• Popularity: #2,280 and rising (#2,340 → #2,280, 2024)

Very Victorian gothic; the opera Elvira and the Spanish queen both made it serious.

Gideon

• Origin: Hebrew
• Pronunciation: GID-ee-un · ˈɡɪdiən
• Meaning: hewer, feller (one who cuts down trees)
• Popularity: #331 and falling (#318 → #331, 2024)

Old Testament judge; sounds Old Testament in origin but wears as cleanly as any modern name.

Absalom

• Origin: Hebrew
• Pronunciation: AB-suh-luhm · ˈæbsələm
• Meaning: father of peace
• Popularity: #7,735 and rising (#9,763 → #7,735, 2024)

Old Testament; Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! made it literary; Ab or Sal as unexpected nicknames.

Zebediah

• Origin: Hebrew
• Pronunciation: zeb-ə-DYE-ə · ˌzɛbəˈdaɪə
• Meaning: Yahweh has given
• Popularity: #5,873 and rising (#5,917 → #5,873, 2024)

Obadiah

• Origin: Hebrew
• Meaning: servant of the Lord/God
• Popularity: #1,412 and rising (#1,554 → #1,412, 2024)

How These Names Are Trending

87 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 72 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How These Names Are Trending

87 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 72 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How These Names Are Trending

87 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 72 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How These Names Are Trending

87 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 72 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How These Names Are Trending

88 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 72 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.

How to Choose a Name From This List

The first question is always about the nickname. Most of the names on this list come with a good one tucked inside — Frederick becomes Freddie, Bartholomew becomes Bart, Cornelius becomes Cory, Winifred becomes Winnie. The long formal name is for the birth certificate and formal occasions; the nickname is what you’ll actually say three hundred times a day. Make sure you love both.

The second question is about family and cultural fit. Scottish and Irish names, in particular, carry a cultural weight that matters. If you’re drawn to Saoirse or Aoife, consider that you’re also choosing to carry a piece of Irish linguistic heritage. That’s worth embracing fully rather than treating as decoration.

Third: think about the reference point. Many of the names in the literary section carry a specific association — a character, a poet, a painter. That association can be a gift (your daughter named Cordelia inherits Shakespeare’s most decent daughter) or it can feel limiting. Know the reference before you commit to it.

Finally, consider the elaborateness-to-nickname ratio. Names like Bartholomew, Aloysius, and Marmaduke are elaborate on paper but fully wearable in daily life through their nicknames. Names like Verity, Cato, and Brooks are short by design and need no nickname at all. Neither approach is wrong. The question is which style fits your family.

Name Art for Your Favorite

Love a name from this list? MinimalistMama offers custom Name Art prints — personalized, minimalist nursery art with the name you choose, designed to match your aesthetic. Whether you’ve landed on Geneviève, Cormac, or something as striking as Araminta, the print works for any name on this list. A perfect gift for baby showers or to hang above the crib.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly makes a name “old money”?

Old money names share a few defining qualities: they’re usually multisyllabic with a strong nickname option, they carry a genuine historical or cultural reference point (a saint, a Roman emperor, a literary character, a clan), and they’ve been out of the mainstream top 100 for at least two generations. The key distinction is that they’re not aspirational or invented — they feel inherited, as though they came attached to a family Bible or an estate.

Are old money names coming back?

Yes, and the data supports it. Names like Matilda, Beatrice, and Edmund have all moved meaningfully up the charts in the past decade. The broader trend is a move away from invented spellings and maximalist names toward names with genuine historical roots. Old money names are the natural beneficiaries of that shift. The ones still waiting for their revival — Ignatius, Peregrine, Cornelia — are likely 5 to 10 years away from mainstream attention.

Are these names too old-fashioned to use today?

The names that feel truly too old-fashioned are the ones without good nicknames and without any current cultural traction. Marmaduke is a stretch; Algernon is a stretch. But most of the names on this list are entirely wearable today — Jasper, Cecily, Cormac, Leonora, Spencer, and Theron don’t read as dated at all. The most important filter is whether the name has a nickname that works in contemporary daily life.

How do I pronounce the Irish names on this list?

The most common ones: Aoife is EE-fa; Saoirse is SEER-sha; Caoimhe is KEE-va; Niamh is NEEV; Siobhán is shih-VAWN; Cillian is KILL-ee-an; Grainne is GRAWN-ya; Muireann is MWIR-an; Cliodhna is KLEE-na; Fionnuala is fin-NOO-la. All of these have the feature of being extremely beautiful when spoken by someone who knows how to say them, and all of them require one explaining conversation at every new school year. Whether that’s worth it is entirely personal.

Is it appropriate to use an Irish or Scottish name if we don’t have that heritage?

This is a genuine question worth sitting with. Names from living languages with specific cultural contexts — particularly those tied to ongoing cultural identity and historical loss — carry more weight than names from, say, classical Rome. The honest answer is that using an Irish or Scottish name as a purely aesthetic choice, without any connection to the culture, is different from using one because your family carries that heritage. It’s not forbidden, but it’s worth being thoughtful about it rather than brushing it off as just a style choice.

What’s the difference between old money names and vintage names?

Vintage names went out of fashion and then came back — think Eleanor, Oliver, Henry, Violet. They were in the top 20 not long ago and are back in the top 20 now. Old money names were used by a specific social class consistently across generations — they never entirely disappeared from that context, even when they vanished from the mainstream. The distinction matters because old money names tend to be less crowded at school pickup: the name Evander isn’t vintage-trending, it’s just genuinely rare.

Which names on this list work for either gender?

Several: Waverly, Hadley, Whitney, Shelley, and Emerson work comfortably for either gender. Camden is increasingly used for girls. Evadne, Thessaly, and Oriel feel feminine but have no grammatical reason they couldn’t work for a boy. In the old money tradition specifically, surname-as-first-name names like Brooks, Fletcher, Mercer, and Carter have always crossed gender lines freely.

📊 Curious how popular a name actually is? Look it up in our Baby Name Popularity Checker — pulls live SSA data to show ranking trends.

Final Thoughts

Old money names carry something that’s genuinely hard to manufacture: the sense that a name was chosen for reasons that go deeper than trend. Whether it’s a family tradition, a literary reference, a saint’s feast day, or a great-grandmother’s name restored from a ledger, these names feel grounded in something. That quality — groundedness, rootedness, the sense of a name that has been somewhere before — is what makes them feel so right for a particular kind of parent right now. Whatever you choose from this list, you’re giving your child a name with a story already in it.

Read next;

🌷 85 Cute Unisex Baby Names Going *Viral* in 2026

🎀 85+ Classic Girl Names That Are Beautifully *Timeless*

👦 65+ *Classic* Danish Boy Names That Are Seriously Scandi

✨ Love these names? Create free printable nursery art for any name →