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The Social Security Administration’s 2025 rankings landed earlier this year, and the baby name community is still parsing them. What the data confirmed — and what any twenty minutes on Pinterest name boards would already tell you — is that 2026 parents are pulling in two directions at once. On one side: the archive. Names that feel weathered and substantial, names your great-aunt might have carried, names with centuries of history pressed into them like dried flowers. On the other: the genuinely unfamiliar. International names crossing oceans, botanical names that sound lifted from a 19th-century herbarium, short names with minimal syllables and maximum intent.
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Popularity below is calculated from Social Security Administration data through 2024, the most recent year on record.
Here’s what’s in store –
Rising Stars: Names With the Most Momentum Right Now
Old Soul Names: Victorian and Edwardian Names Coming Back
Nature Names: Botanical, Elemental, and Quietly Wild
Soft but Layered: Melodic Names With Genuine Depth
Short and Sharp: One- and Two-Syllable Names Going Everywhere
International Arrivals: Names Crossing Oceans in 2026
Gender-Fluid Names That Work Without Trying
What’s specific to 2026? The gender-neutral category has matured beyond androgynous surnames into something with real range — ancient Welsh names, one-syllable nature finds, literary picks — all functioning comfortably across genders without feeling like a compromise. The international name category is broader than it’s been in any previous year: Irish, Scandinavian, Italian, Breton names are appearing in US birth records with enough frequency to register as a trend rather than an anomaly. And the resurgence of Victorian and Edwardian names — Harriet, Bernard, Celestine, Montgomery — is no longer fringe. It’s happening in numbers.
This list draws from multiple streams: SSA ranking trajectory, Nameberry search traffic, BehindtheName trend data, and Pinterest pin engagement on baby name posts. Not every name here is climbing from zero — some are already established and simply haven’t peaked. The common thread is momentum in 2026 specifically, not just a name that’s been popular for a while.
The list is organized by theme rather than alphabetically, because the theme often tells you something useful: is this name part of a broader cultural shift toward nature, toward the archive, toward minimal syllables? Knowing where a name sits in the larger conversation can help you decide whether it resonates with why you were drawn to it in the first place.
Rising Stars: Names With the Most Momentum Right Now
These are the names that were already on the radar but whose climb has genuinely accelerated heading into the second half of 2026. Some are approaching the top 50; others are still rare enough to feel like a discovery.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: LOO-na · ˈluːnə
- Meaning: moon
- Popularity: #13 and falling (#10 → #13, 2024)
- Origin: uncertain (Latinate variant of Miles, possibly Germanic or Slavic)
- Pronunciation: MY-loh · ˈmaɪloʊ
- Meaning: Soldier; merciful
- Popularity: #120 and rising (#121 → #120, 2024)
Breezy, effortless, and climbing in every US region simultaneously.
- Origin: English (Middle English)
- Pronunciation: REN · ˈrɛn
- Meaning: the small songbird
- Popularity: #213 and falling (#195 → #213, 2024)
Crisp and one-syllable, part of a broader wave of short girl names with no sign of stopping.
- Origin: Latin (from Greek)
- Pronunciation: AT-ih-kus · ˈætɪkəs
- Meaning: person from Attica
- Popularity: #277 and rising (#284 → #277, 2024)
Harper Lee’s moral compass gave it immediate depth; it’s now firmly in the mainstream without feeling mainstream.
- Origin: Irish (Anglicized form of Medb/Meadhbh)
- Pronunciation: MAYV · ˈmeɪv
- Meaning: intoxicating / she who intoxicates
- Popularity: #75 and falling (#73 → #75, 2024)
Irish mythology meets modern style; projections put it in the girls’ top 15 by year-end.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Pronunciation: EZ-rah · ˈɛzrə
- Meaning: help
- Popularity: #13 and rising (#15 → #13, 2024)
- Origin: Scottish (place name)
- Pronunciation: EYE-lah · ˈaɪlə
- Meaning: from the Scottish place name Islay/River Isla; the place name’s own root is unknown
- Popularity: #35 and falling (#33 → #35, 2024)
Long dominant on UK charts and finally achieving the same traction in the US.
- Origin: Greek (pet form of Theodore/Theodora, occasionally short for other Theo- names)
- Pronunciation: THEE-oh · ˈθiːoʊ
- Meaning: gift of God (via Theodore/Theodora); has no fixed meaning of its own since it’s also used as a nickname for other names
- Popularity: #80 and falling (#78 → #80, 2024)
Used as a standalone name more than ever before, stepping firmly out of Theodore’s shadow.
- Origin: Greek (mythological name)
- Pronunciation: eh-LAR-ah · ɛˈlɑːrə
- Meaning: Moon of Jupiter; of uncertain Greek origin
- Popularity: #1,156 and rising (#1,381 → #1,156, 2024)
Trending hard among parents who sit at the intersection of astronomy and baby name research.
- Origin: Aramaic (biblical, Hellenized as Greek Σίλας, Latinized as Sīlās)
- Pronunciation: SY-lus · ˈsaɪləs
- Meaning: Of the forest; of the wood
- Popularity: #81, holding steady (2024)
Earthy and literary, a quiet arrival in the top 100 this year.
- Origin: Irish and English
- Pronunciation: NOR-ah · ˈnɔːrə
- Meaning: Honor
- Popularity: #22 and rising (#24 → #22, 2024)
Simple, Irish-rooted, and climbing with the confidence of a name that knows exactly what it is.
- Origin: English (from Latin ‘Caspius’)
- Pronunciation: KAS-pee-an · ˈkæspiən
- Meaning: of/from the Caspian Sea
- Popularity: #578 and rising (#664 → #578, 2024)
C.S. Lewis’s prince turned name trend, rising fastest among fantasy-adjacent families.
- Origin: Old French (ultimately from Slavic/Old Russian ‘sobol’)
- Pronunciation: SAY-buhl · ˈseɪbəl
- Meaning: black, especially as a heraldic color; from the dark fur of the sable marten
- Popularity: #4,986 and rising (#5,228 → #4,986, 2024)
- Origin: Ancient Greek (etymology uncertain)
- Pronunciation: oh-RY-un · oʊˈraɪən
- Meaning: uncertain; possibly ‘heaven’s light’ (a speculative Akkadian derivation, not firmly established)
- Popularity: #325 and rising (#373 → #325, 2024)
‘Hunter’ isn’t an etymological meaning — it describes the mythological figure, not the word’s origin, which is actually uncertain (a speculative Akkadian ‘heaven’s light’ derivation remains unproven).
- Origin: French (from Latin Delphina, from Greek Delphi)
- Pronunciation: del-FEEN · dɛlˈfiːn
- Meaning: woman from Delphi (site of the ancient Greek oracle)
- Popularity: #3,651 and falling (#3,604 → #3,651, 2024)
A French jewel that American parents are finally pronouncing with confidence.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: FEE-liks · ˈfiːlɪks
- Meaning: happy, fortunate, lucky
- Popularity: #177 and rising (#192 → #177, 2024)
Joyful meaning, easy pronunciation, and genuinely cross-demographic appeal.
- Origin: Ancient Greek
- Pronunciation: per-SEF-uh-nee · pərˈsɛfəni
- Meaning: Bringer of spring
- Popularity: #737 and rising (#749 → #737, 2024)
- Origin: Italian (uncertain origin)
- Pronunciation: AR-loh · ˈɑːrloʊ
- Meaning: Hill; fortified
- Popularity: #146 and rising (#158 → #146, 2024)
The Arlo Parks effect boosted it; the momentum hasn’t peaked.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: NEEV · ˈniːv
- Meaning: bright, radiant
- Popularity: #3,148 and rising (#4,339 → #3,148, 2024)
More American parents are choosing this phonetically tricky gem — and spelling it correctly on purpose.
- Origin: Sanskrit/Pali (Buddhist term)
- Pronunciation: BOH-dee · ˈboʊdi
- Meaning: awakening or enlightenment
- Popularity: #302 and falling (#294 → #302, 2024)
Moved from surfer-culture niche to genuinely mainstream without losing its warmth.
- Origin: Arabic, Sanskrit
- Pronunciation: LY-lah · ˈlaɪlə
- Meaning: night (Arabic, via Layla) or play/charm (Sanskrit līlā), depending on origin
- Popularity: #207 and rising (#213 → #207, 2024)
Simple, cross-cultural, and somehow never overexposed despite decades on the radar.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: ROH-en · ˈroʊən
- Meaning: little red one
- Popularity: #71 and rising (#76 → #71, 2024)
Gender-neutral, tree-adjacent, and ticking nearly every current trend box.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: ZEF-er · ˈzɛfər
- Meaning: the west wind
- Popularity: #1,133 and falling (#1,121 → #1,133, 2024)
Rare and tied to air and freedom, climbing fastest in the boys’ column.
- Origin: Greek (via Italian)
- Pronunciation: kuh-LIS-tuh · kəˈlɪstə
- Meaning: most beautiful
- Popularity: #3,889 and rising (#4,667 → #3,889, 2024)
Long overshadowed by Callie as a nickname, the full form is finally having its moment.
- Origin: English (modern vocabulary-word name)
- Pronunciation: EM-bur · ˈɛmbər
- Meaning: a glowing coal or fragment from a dying fire
- Popularity: #137 and rising (#169 → #137, 2024)
Warm and elemental, sitting squarely at the crossroads of the vintage-meets-nature trend.
Old Soul Names: Victorian and Edwardian Names Coming Back
This is arguably the most interesting trend of 2026 — names that felt stuffy or eccentric as recently as a decade ago now read as substantial, original, and quietly cool. The defining characteristic of this group is that they carry real weight without weighing the bearer down.
- Origin: English (from French Henriette, feminine of Henri/Henry)
- Pronunciation: HAIR-ee-ut · ˈhæriət
- Meaning: home ruler, ruler of the household
- Popularity: #1,157 and falling (#1,130 → #1,157, 2024)
Harriet Tubman’s enduring legacy is driving a steady, meaningful revival with genuine substance behind the sound.
- Origin: English (place name/title, from Clare, Suffolk)
- Pronunciation: KLAIR-uns · ˈklærəns
- Meaning: Bright; clear
- Popularity: #1,558, holding steady (2024)
Stately Victorian name reentering birth records after a long absence; Clary is a natural everyday nickname.
- 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; daughter of the sea
- Popularity: #1,065 and rising (#1,117 → #1,065, 2024)
Shakespeare’s most underrated heroine, a name finally getting the recognition it deserves.
- Origin: Old English
- Pronunciation: ED-mund · ˈɛdmənd
- Meaning: wealthy protector
- Popularity: #1,182 and falling (#1,098 → #1,182, 2024)
Returned with the Narnia generation and stayed; Ed is an easy daily nickname.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: dor-uh-THEE-uh · ˌdɔːrəˈθiːə
- Meaning: gift of God
- Popularity: #2,066 and rising (#2,759 → #2,066, 2024)
Dorothy’s longer, grander form, carried beautifully by Dorothea Lange and beloved again now.
- 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’s literary shadow is long and parents who’ve read his novels are leaning into it.
- 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 as a nickname makes this long name feel both grand and completely wearable.
- Origin: disputed (Ancient Greek / Hebrew / Egyptian)
- Pronunciation: FIN-ee-us · ˈfɪniəs
- Meaning: Oracle
- Popularity: #1,538 and rising (#1,715 → #1,538, 2024)
Unusual history aside, the name is undeniably charming and Finn is built right in as a nickname.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: SEL-es-teen · ˈsɛləstiːn
- Meaning: heavenly, of the sky
- Popularity: #3,968 and rising (#4,896 → #3,968, 2024)
A papal name with surprising warmth; the French form gives it a lightness that Celestia doesn’t quite match.
- Origin: Germanic
- Pronunciation: LEE-uh-pold · ˈliːəpoʊld
- Meaning: bold/brave people
- Popularity: #2,082 and falling (#1,856 → #2,082, 2024)
Regal, rare, and Leo is right there as the everyday option.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: yoo-JEE-nee-ah · juːˈdʒiːniə
- Meaning: well-born, noble
- Popularity: #3,762 and falling (#2,858 → #3,762, 2024)
Gene or Genie as nicknames make this Edwardian given name wear much more lightly today.
- Origin: Germanic (via Old French)
- Pronunciation: bur-NARD · bərˈnɑːrd
- Meaning: bear + brave/strong — ‘brave as a bear’
- Popularity: #1,318 and rising (#1,472 → #1,318, 2024)
Bernie’s retro cool is giving the full Bernard a new kind of appeal.
- 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 numeral naming at its most elegant; Octavia Spencer gave it unmistakable contemporary visibility.
- 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 daily commute; Archibald is what goes on the birth certificate.
- Origin: uncertain (Aramaic or Ancient Greek, disputed)
- Pronunciation: THAD-ee-us · ˈθædiəs
- Meaning: Courageous heart
- Popularity: #850 and rising (#898 → #850, 2024)
- Origin: French (feminine diminutive of Joseph, ultimately Hebrew)
- Pronunciation: JOH-zeh-feen · ˈdʒoʊzəfiːn
- Meaning: may he (God) add — inherited from Joseph
- Popularity: #56 and rising (#64 → #56, 2024)
Timeless, French-feeling, with Jo or Josie doing all the practical work as nicknames.
- Origin: literary name (medieval pseudo-historical chronicle); root uncertain
- Pronunciation: roh-WEE-nuh · roʊˈiːnə
- Meaning: Fame and joy
- Popularity: #3,430 and rising (#4,028 → #3,430, 2024)
Harry Potter’s Ravenclaw founder lent this medieval name genuinely fresh life for a new generation.
- 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 everywhere as a nickname revival; Reginald is how parents are writing it on the certificate.
- 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)
The Henrietta Lacks story gave this name a layer of meaning that parents find quietly compelling.
- Origin: French (diminutive of Claude, ultimately Latin Claudius)
- Pronunciation: klaw-DET · klɔːˈdɛt
- Meaning: traditionally ‘lame’; probably actually of Sabine origin (via Claude)
- Popularity: #10,424 and rising (#13,800 → #10,424, 2024)
Film-noir glamour distilled into two syllables; rare and genuinely chic in 2026.
- Origin: Germanic (Old High German, via French)
- Pronunciation: AD-el-ayd · ˈædəleɪd
- Meaning: of noble character
- Popularity: #271 and rising (#284 → #271, 2024)
Addie as a nickname sits perfectly in the sweet spot of current preferences.
- Origin: Irish (surname, Ó Súilleabháin)
- Pronunciation: SUL-ih-vun · ˈsʌlɪvən
- Meaning: descendant of the ‘dark-eyed one’
- Popularity: #339 and rising (#358 → #339, 2024)
Sully is irresistible as a nickname; Sullivan is the full name that earns it.
- Origin: Latin (Roman gens name)
- Pronunciation: kor-NEEL-yus · kɔːrˈniːljəs
- Meaning: horn
- Popularity: #2,150 and falling (#1,898 → #2,150, 2024)
Rare and substantial, with Corny or Neil as viable everyday options.
- Origin: Greek (literary coinage)
- Pronunciation: ee-VAN-jeh-leen · ɪˈvændʒəliːn
- Meaning: good news
- Popularity: #174 and rising (#212 → #174, 2024)
Long, romantic, carrying the weight of poetry in every syllable; Evie does the daily work.
- 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 is the nickname; Montgomery is the ambition.
Nature Names: Botanical, Elemental, and Quietly Wild
Nature naming didn’t peak in 2022 and coast — it evolved. The current wave is less about the big romantic options like Violet and Lily and more about specificity: a particular tree, an obscure herb, a coastal geography word. These names feel found rather than chosen.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: JOO-nih-per · ˈdʒuːnɪpər
- Meaning: the juniper tree/shrub; occasionally a folk-etymology variant of Jennifer (from Welsh Guinevere)
- Popularity: #111 and rising (#113 → #111, 2024)
Juni or June as nicknames, and the tree association grounds it in something specific and aromatic.
- Origin: English (from Old French/Latin)
- Pronunciation: SAYJ · ˈseɪdʒ
- Meaning: a wise person; also linked to the sage herb plant
- Popularity: #146 and falling (#143 → #146, 2024)
Clean, dual-gendered, beloved by parents who lean toward wellness and botanical aesthetics.
- Origin: English (Middle English)
- Pronunciation: BRY-er · ˈbraɪər
- Meaning: thorny shrub or bramble
- Popularity: #522 and rising (#549 → #522, 2024)
Briar Rose’s fairy-tale layer adds quiet romance; it wears beautifully without forcing the princess reading.
- Origin: English (vocabulary/nature name)
- Pronunciation: ELM · ɛlm
- Meaning: the elm tree (nature name)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
One of the newer tree names registering on the trend radar — monosyllabic and impossibly crisp.
- Origin: Danish (Scandinavian), ultimately Latin
- Pronunciation: SOR-en · ˈsɔːrən
- Meaning: stern, severe
- Popularity: #571 and falling (#542 → #571, 2024)
Kierkegaard’s first name, increasingly found among intellectually-inclined nature-forward parents.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: RIV-er · ˈrɪvər
- Meaning: a naturally flowing body of water
- Popularity: #112 and rising (#116 → #112, 2024)
Steadily climbing for both genders; its literal motion gives it a feeling no invented name can replicate.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: KLOH-ver · ˈkloʊvər
- Meaning: the clover plant (Old English clafre), popularly linked to luck
- Popularity: #618 and rising (#672 → #618, 2024)
Lucky, fresh, and rare enough to feel like a field find among a meadow of Connors.
- Origin: English (nature name)
- Pronunciation: SY-prus · ˈsaɪprəs
- Meaning: The cypress tree
- Popularity: #1,416 and rising (#1,550 → #1,416, 2024)
Tall, dark, architectural — curiously underused given that every other tree name is already spoken for.
- Origin: English (vocabulary word)
- Pronunciation: MED-oh · ˈmɛdoʊ
- Meaning: a field of grass (grassland)
- Popularity: #327 and rising (#351 → #327, 2024)
Soft but specific, and the rare nature name that hasn’t been overworked.
- Origin: English (nature name)
- Pronunciation: FURN · ˈfɜːrn
- Meaning: the fern plant
- Popularity: #1,261 and rising (#1,428 → #1,261, 2024)
Single-syllable, literary (Charlotte’s Web), and quietly perfect.
- Origin: Japanese (kanji-dependent)
- Pronunciation: ruh-NAY · rəˈneɪ
- Meaning: Lotus; love
- Popularity: #1,145 and falling (#1,081 → #1,145, 2024)
Cross-cultural, minimal, and increasingly used as a standalone name.
- Origin: French
- Pronunciation: soh-LAY · soʊˈleɪ
- Meaning: sun
- Popularity: #824 and rising (#975 → #824, 2024)
French sunshine name picking up traction among parents who want something luminous and unusual.
- Origin: English (nature name/surname)
- Pronunciation: BURCH · ˈbɜːrtʃ
- Meaning: the birch tree
- Popularity: #9,873 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
A clean Scandinavian-adjacent feel that matches the white-and-neutral nursery aesthetic perfectly.
- Origin: English (19th-century coinage from the gemstone name, ultimately Sanskrit)
- Pronunciation: OH-pal · ˈoʊpəl
- Meaning: named after the opal gemstone; the gem-word itself traces to a Sanskrit term for ‘jewel’
- Popularity: #450 and rising (#486 → #450, 2024)
Edwardian gem name revived; opalescent beauty packed into two syllables.
- Origin: Scottish/Irish Gaelic, via English surname
- Pronunciation: GLEN · ˈglɛn
- Meaning: valley
- Popularity: #2,315 and rising (#2,398 → #2,315, 2024)
Quietly re-emerging as parents rediscover its woodsy, unassuming dignity.
- Origin: Old French (via the plant name)
- Pronunciation: SOR-uhl · ˈsɔːrəl
- Meaning: the sorrel plant (a tart, sour-leaved herb); also a reddish-brown color
- Popularity: #14,992 and falling (#11,050 → #14,992, 2024)
Unusual, botanical, and utterly charming for a girl.
- Origin: English (place name: Marlow)
- Pronunciation: MAR-loh · ˈmɑːrloʊ
- Meaning: Remnants of a lake; land near the lake remains
- Popularity: #624 and rising (#835 → #624, 2024)
The literary weight plus the nature etymology makes an unusual and appealing combination.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: KOHV · ˈkoʊv
- Meaning: small sheltered bay/inlet
- Popularity: #1,207 and rising (#1,319 → #1,207, 2024)
Very new to the trend charts, gaining fast as an unexpected coastal name.
- Origin: English (from Old English hǣþ)
- Pronunciation: HEETH · ˈhiːθ
- Meaning: heathland; open, shrubby moorland
- Popularity: #848 and rising (#1,053 → #848, 2024)
Heathcliff’s brooding landscape distilled into one strong syllable.
- Origin: Celtic (river name) / English (plant name)
- Pronunciation: YAR-oh · ˈjæɹ.oʊ
- Meaning: rough (Celtic river name); also the yarrow herb
- Popularity: #8,922 and rising (#9,712 → #8,922, 2024)
Herbalists know it as a healing plant; name enthusiasts know it’s one of the most distinctive picks available.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: FLINT · flɪnt
- Meaning: A hard stone historically used for tool-making and striking sparks to start fires; used as a transferred word/surname name.
- Popularity: #1,970 and rising (#2,133 → #1,970, 2024)
Sharp, strong, elemental — and genuinely rare on birth certificates.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: LARK · ˈlɑːrk
- Meaning: the songbird
- Popularity: #3,534 and falling (#3,501 → #3,534, 2024)
Sweet, musical, optimistic — a name that does exactly what it sounds like.
- Origin: English (surname)
- Pronunciation: AWL-der · ˈɔːldər
- Meaning: originally a surname for someone who lived near alder trees
- Popularity: #1,421 and rising (#1,464 → #1,421, 2024)
Like Elm and Birch, this tree name is handsome and still well below the radar.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: VES-per · ˈvɛspər
- Meaning: evening; the evening star (the planet Venus at dusk)
- Popularity: #2,789 and falling (#2,265 → #2,789, 2024)
Celestial and earthly at once; James Bond connection aside, it stands completely on its own.
- Origin: Greek
- Meaning: she who conceals
- Popularity: #3,966 and rising (#4,063 → #3,966, 2024)
Soft but Layered: Melodic Names With Genuine Depth
This group resists easy categorization — they’re not strictly gender-neutral, not purely vintage, not botanical. What they share is a musicality that rewards slow pronunciation and a depth of meaning that sustains curiosity over time.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: KLEE-oh · ˈkliːoʊ
- Meaning: glory, fame
- Popularity: #603 and rising (#610 → #603, 2024)
Short, punchy, ancient — worn confidently as a full name rather than just a nickname.
- Origin: Irish (Ó Rabhartaigh surname)
- Pronunciation: RAF-ur-tee · ˈræfərti
- Meaning: descendant of Rabhartach, a name rooted in the word for flood or spring tide
- Popularity: #5,182 and rising (#5,611 → #5,182, 2024)
Raff as a nickname, and the full name has a poet’s natural rhythm.
- 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.
- Origin: Cornish
- Pronunciation: EL-oh-wen · ˈɛloʊwɛn
- Meaning: elm tree
- Popularity: #898 and rising (#1,060 → #898, 2024)
Cornish botanical name, rare outside the UK and absolutely lovely when it lands.
- Origin: Greek (short form of Sebastian)
- Pronunciation: BASS-tee-uhn · ˈbæstiən
- Meaning: venerable, revered
- Popularity: #1,001 and rising (#1,066 → #1,001, 2024)
Worn confidently as a full name since The Neverending Story, and still feeling fresh.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: SEE-lee-ah · ˈsiːliə
- Meaning: probably ‘heavenly’, from the Roman family name Caelius (linked to Latin caelum)
- Popularity: #734 and rising (#827 → #734, 2024)
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: THAIR-on · ˈθɛrɑːn
- Meaning: hunter
- Popularity: #2,857 and rising (#2,996 → #2,857, 2024)
A strong Greek name genuinely uncommon in English-speaking countries, carrying quiet authority.
- Origin: Unknown
- Pronunciation: air-ah-MIN-tah · ˌɛrəˈmɪntə
- Meaning: Origin uncertain; possibly Latin
- Popularity: #8,975 and rising (#9,678 → #8,975, 2024)
Minty as a nickname is the gateway; the full name is gloriously eccentric in the best possible way.
- Origin: Old Norse/Scandinavian
- Pronunciation: LAYF · ˈleɪf
- Meaning: heir or descendant (literally ‘relic, that which remains’)
- Popularity: #925 and falling (#859 → #925, 2024)
Nordic explorer history and leaf-like nature vibes coexist in one simple package.
- Origin: Danish (from Latin Marina)
- Pronunciation: MAIR-en · ˈmɛrən
- Meaning: form of Marina; ‘of the sea’
- Popularity: #570 and falling (#545 → #570, 2024)
Quietly elegant and Scandinavian, trending among parents who love Maeve but want something less common.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: KAL-um · ˈkæləm
- Meaning: dove (via the name Calum, ultimately Latin columba)
- Popularity: #159 and rising (#222 → #159, 2024)
Standard in Scotland for decades; genuinely fresh in the US right now.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: SEER-shah · ˈsɪərʃə
- Meaning: freedom
- Popularity: #1,036 and falling (#959 → #1,036, 2024)
Saoirse Ronan put it on the map and American parents are finally confident spelling it.
- Origin: Irish Gaelic (related to Caolán)
- Pronunciation: KAY-luhn · ˈkeɪlən
- Meaning: slender, from the Irish root caol
- Popularity: #3,330 and falling (#2,292 → #3,330, 2024)
An Irish name with a soft sound that doesn’t feel like it’s working too hard.
- Origin: Ancient Greek (via Latin)
- Pronunciation: LY-rah · ˈlaɪrə
- Meaning: a lyre, the stringed musical instrument
- Popularity: #482, holding steady (2024)
Pullman’s His Dark Materials plus the astronomy connection makes this irresistible for a certain kind of parent.
- Origin: Latin (from corvus, raven)
- Pronunciation: KOR-vin · ˈkɔːrvɪn
- Meaning: raven, crow
- Popularity: #5,689 and rising (#5,703 → #5,689, 2024)
Dark, distinctive, and rarely heard — surprisingly easy to say once you’ve seen it written.
- Origin: Greek (place name)
- Pronunciation: THESS-uh-lee · ˈθɛsəli
- Meaning: From the Greek region of Thessaly
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Neil Gaiman’s Sandman gave this geographic name a literary life of its own.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: IN-ish · ˈɪnɪʃ
- Meaning: island
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Miniature and rare, this Irish island name is just beginning to appear in US birth records.
- Origin: French
- Pronunciation: REM-ee · ˈrɛmi
- Meaning: oarsman, from Latin Remigius
- Popularity: #400 and falling (#390 → #400, 2024)
Gender-neutral, French, and steady — the Ratatouille goodwill never fully faded.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: KRIS-pin · ˈkrɪspɪn
- Meaning: curly-haired
- Popularity: #6,893 and rising (#7,371 → #6,893, 2024)
St. Crispin’s Day speech gave it Shakespearean weight; parents are reclaiming it without the battlefield associations.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: THAY-lee-ah · ˈθeɪliə
- Meaning: to bloom, flourish
- Popularity: #658 and falling (#573 → #658, 2024)
One of the Nine Muses, and a name that genuinely opens up when spoken aloud.
- 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 name for parents who want Shakespeare without Hamlet’s tragedy.
- Origin: Scottish (variant of Elizabeth, ultimately Hebrew)
- Pronunciation: EL-speth · ˈɛlspəθ
- Meaning: God is my oath (via Elizabeth, from Hebrew Elisheva)
- Popularity: #6,215 and rising (#8,614 → #6,215, 2024)
Scottish form of Elizabeth with its own complete, unborrowable identity.
- Origin: Latin (variant of Gaius)
- Pronunciation: KY-us · ˈkaɪəs
- Meaning: traditionally glossed ‘to rejoice,’ though the Roman name’s real root is unknown
- Popularity: #1,061 and rising (#1,347 → #1,061, 2024)
Ancient Roman praenomen, minimal and rare in English-speaking contexts, carrying unexpected warmth.
- Origin: Greek (via Latin)
- Pronunciation: AM-brohz · ˈæmbroʊz
- Meaning: immortal, divine (belonging to the immortals)
- Popularity: #741 and rising (#788 → #741, 2024)
- Origin: French (from Greek, via Sébastien/Sebastian)
- Pronunciation: bahs-TYEN · bas.tjɛn
- Meaning: venerable, revered
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Rare French feminization, barely on the radar and gloriously uncommon.
Short and Sharp: One- and Two-Syllable Names Going Everywhere
There’s a theory among name researchers that naming style correlates with general parenting philosophy — and the parents currently choosing one- and two-syllable names tend to like things unfussy, direct, and explanation-free. This group is doing brisk business in 2026.
- Origin: French
- Pronunciation: BOH · ˈboʊ
- Meaning: handsome
- Popularity: #69 and rising (#80 → #69, 2024)
Southern charm, effortlessly handsome, crossing from nickname to full given name with real authority.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: ROO · ruː
- Meaning: the rue plant, ‘herb of grace’; also English ‘rue’, meaning regret
- Popularity: #1,241 and rising (#1,259 → #1,241, 2024)
The Hunger Games planted the seed and it’s been growing quietly since.
- Origin: English (from the word “ace”, ultimately Old French/Latin as, “a single unit”)
- Pronunciation: AYSS · ˈeɪs
- Meaning: one who excels; top-ranked
- Popularity: #165 and falling (#157 → #165, 2024)
Rising fastest among parents who want something confident and don’t overthink it.
- Origin: English (from a common word)
- Pronunciation: BAY · ˈbeɪ
- Meaning: from the ordinary English word ‘bay’ — either a coastal inlet or the bay (laurel) tree
- Popularity: #6,954 and rising (#10,425 → #6,954, 2024)
Nature-minimal, gender-neutral, and genuinely difficult to dislike.
- Origin: Scottish/Old English (surname and place name)
- Pronunciation: NOKS · ˈnɑːks
- Meaning: small hill with a rounded top
- Popularity: #209 and falling (#208 → #209, 2024)
Bold, used publicly by the Jolie-Pitts, and still rare enough to feel like a real choice.
- Origin: Spanish
- Pronunciation: PAHZ · ˈpɑːz
- Meaning: Peace (from Latin pax)
- Popularity: #6,084 and rising (#8,371 → #6,084, 2024)
Short, internationally resonant, and radiating the particular calm of a name that means exactly what it says.
- Origin: Irish or Old Norse
- Pronunciation: FIN · ˈfɪn
- Meaning: fair (Irish) or Sami/Finn (Norse)
- Popularity: #198 and falling (#186 → #198, 2024)
Has been popular for years but not overplayed; still climbing in many US regions.
- Origin: Welsh (surname)
- Pronunciation: WIN · ˈwɪn
- Meaning: fair, white, blessed, from the Welsh surname Wynn, related to Gwyn
- Popularity: #1,927 and falling (#1,867 → #1,927, 2024)
Single-syllable Welsh gem that feels simultaneously ancient and completely modern.
- Origin: Dutch (short form of Hebrew Abraham)
- Pronunciation: BRAM · ˈbræm
- Meaning: father of multitudes (via Abraham)
- Popularity: #2,948 and rising (#3,062 → #2,948, 2024)
Bram Stoker gives it gothic literary credibility; the shortcut sounds nothing like its source.
- Origin: English (surname)
- Pronunciation: ROH · roʊ
- Meaning: dweller by a row (of houses/street), or a variant of the surnames Rolfe, Rough, Ralph, or Rowson
- Popularity: #3,574 and falling (#3,273 → #3,574, 2024)
Surname-as-given at its most restrained; works cleanly for any gender.
- Origin: English/Hebrew (variant of Sarah) or Arabic
- Pronunciation: ZAR-ah · ˈzɑːrə
- Meaning: uncertain — either from Sarah (‘princess’) or Arabic zahra (‘flower’)
- Popularity: #234 and rising (#236 → #234, 2024)
This combines two separate, competing etymologies (Sarah = ‘princess’; Arabic zahra = ‘flower’) as if both applied at once, when sources treat them as alternative explanations, not a compound meaning.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: KOHLT · ˈkoʊlt
- Meaning: young horse
- Popularity: #276 and falling (#264 → #276, 2024)
Western-coded but not aggressively so; crisp, energetic, and genuinely uncommon.
- Origin: Irish (from the surname Ó Sluaghadháin, ‘descendant of Sluaghadhán’)
- Pronunciation: SLOHN · ˈsloʊn
- Meaning: raid or (military) expedition
- Popularity: #153 and falling (#151 → #153, 2024)
Sleek and modern-sounding despite its Irish roots; trending fast for girls.
- Origin: English (nickname, multiple source names); also a Ukrainian-derived name meaning ‘tomcat’
- Pronunciation: KIT · ˈkɪt
- Meaning: depends on the full name: ‘bearer of Christ’ (short for Christopher); popularly ‘pure’ when short for Katherine/Kathleen (though Katherine’s own etymology is actually uncertain)
- Popularity: #1,150 and rising (#1,152 → #1,150, 2024)
Gender-neutral, British-feeling, increasingly worn as a complete name.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: LUKS · ˈlʌks
- Meaning: light
- Popularity: #1,223 and falling (#1,153 → #1,223, 2024)
Minimal and luminous; functioning as both a girl’s name and a gender-neutral pick.
- Origin: Scandinavian (Danish/Swedish, from Old Norse ‘búa, ‘ to dwell/live); the same spelling is also an established Chinese given name (a separate, unrelated origin), and occasionally a variant of Beau
- Pronunciation: BOH · ˈboʊ
- Meaning: to dwell, to live (the Scandinavian sense)
- Popularity: #451 and rising (#479 → #451, 2024)
Tiny and warm, trending for both genders alongside the broader one-syllable movement.
- Origin: Spanish/Portuguese
- Pronunciation: ee-NESS · iˈnɛs
- Meaning: pure, holy (via the Agnes/Hagne lineage)
- Popularity: #1,282 and rising (#1,570 → #1,282, 2024)
Widely beloved across Europe and arriving in the US with confidence.
- Origin: Hebrew (via Greek Ioudas and Latin Judas)
- Pronunciation: JOOD · ˈdʒuːd
- Meaning: praised (ultimately from Hebrew, transmitted through Greek/Latin)
- Popularity: #156 and rising (#161 → #156, 2024)
Paul McCartney made it unforgettable; the name is quieter but rising steadily on its own terms.
- Origin: Latin (short form of Clement or Clementine)
- Pronunciation: KLEM · klɛm
- Meaning: merciful
- Popularity: #8,283 as of 2017 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Short for Clementine, standing alone on birth certificates more often than ever.
- Origin: English (surname)
- Pronunciation: GRAY · ˈɡreɪ
- Meaning: surname either from a Norman place-name (ultimately ‘Greek’) or a nickname for gray hair/beard
- Popularity: #1,343 and falling (#1,174 → #1,343, 2024)
Surname-as-given but gentler than Stone or Wolf; trending particularly for boys.
- Origin: English/Irish (surname)
- Pronunciation: POH · poʊ
- Meaning: A surname originally a nickname meaning ‘peacock’; used as a given name mainly in tribute to the writer Edgar Allan Poe.
- Popularity: #13,694 and falling (#9,526 → #13,694, 2024)
Edgar Allan Poe’s name worn for its moody, one-syllable literary cool.
- Origin: Slavic/Russian; separately Hebrew
- Pronunciation: LEV · ˈlɛv
- Meaning: lion (Slavic, cognate with Latin leo); separately, ‘heart’ in Hebrew and Yiddish
- Popularity: #1,040 and rising (#1,092 → #1,040, 2024)
Simple, cross-cultural, and increasingly common among families who want something non-English but easy to use.
International Arrivals: Names Crossing Oceans in 2026
Every year a handful of international names break through into US mainstream consciousness. In 2026, the arrivals are coming from Ireland, Italy, Scandinavia, France, and beyond — and they’re arriving not as novelties but as genuine commitments that families are making on birth certificates.
- Origin: Italian
- Pronunciation: muh-TAY-o · məˈteɪoʊ
- Meaning: gift of God — the Italian form of Matthew
- Popularity: #138 and rising (#144 → #138, 2024)
Consistently among the top Italian boy names and landing with growing frequency in American nurseries.
- Origin: Welsh / Arabic (dual origin)
- Pronunciation: ID-ris · ˈɪdrɪs
- Meaning: Welsh: traditionally glossed ‘ardent/fiery lord’; Arabic: tied to a root meaning ‘to study’, associated with the prophet Idris (identified with Enoch)
- Popularity: #739 and rising (#790 → #739, 2024)
Welsh mythology and Islamic tradition share this name; Idris Elba sealed its modern cool for a generation.
- Origin: Hindi/Sanskrit (modern given name)
- Pronunciation: AH-ruv · ˈɑːrʌv
- Meaning: Peaceful
- Popularity: #675 and falling (#666 → #675, 2024)
The most popular boy name in India for years, now entering the US Top 200.
- Origin: Finnish (via Swedish Nils)
- Pronunciation: NEE-loh · ˈniːloʊ
- Meaning: victory of the people
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Rare in the US and actively sought out by parents who want Scandinavian roots without the overexposure.
- Origin: Italian (from Greek)
- Pronunciation: fih-LEE-poh · fɪˈlipoʊ
- Meaning: lover of horses
- Popularity: #4,593 and rising (#5,738 → #4,593, 2024)
The Italian form of Philip, worn with an entirely different energy — lighter, sunnier, less formal.
- Origin: Italian (feminine form of Cosimo, from Greek)
- Pronunciation: koh-SEE-mah · koʊˈsiːmə
- Meaning: order, beauty, or the (ordered) universe
- Popularity: #6,975 and rising (#8,585 → #6,975, 2024)
Cosima Wagner gave it classical music gravity; parents are reclaiming it beyond the composer’s wife.
- Origin: German
- Pronunciation: LEE-zel · ˈliːzəl
- Meaning: form of Elisabeth (God is my oath)
- Popularity: #5,700 and falling (#5,196 → #5,700, 2024)
The Book Thief generation is old enough to be naming babies now.
- 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)
Cillian Murphy’s Oscar win sent this Irish name surging in searches — and some of those searches are turning into birth certificates.
- 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)
Isadora Duncan’s artistic legacy lives in every syllable; rarely used but increasingly chosen.
- Origin: English (medieval contraction of Thomasina, feminine form of Thomas)
- Pronunciation: TAM-zin · ˈtæmzɪn
- Meaning: twin (via Thomas, ultimately from Aramaic)
- Popularity: #13,291 and falling (#12,061 → #13,291, 2024)
Cornish form of Thomasina; tiny in the US, significant in Cornwall, and now genuinely arriving here.
- Origin: Irish (anglicized form of Ciarán); also used as an anglicization of Sanskrit Kiran
- Pronunciation: KEER-an · ˈkɪərən
- Meaning: little dark one
- Popularity: #440 and rising (#477 → #440, 2024)
Irish classic that’s been simmering and is finally reaching a proper US boil.
- Origin: Irish (Gaelic, from Proto-Celtic)
- Pronunciation: BRIJ-id · ˈbrɪdʒɪd
- Meaning: high, exalted one
- Popularity: #2,662 and falling (#2,620 → #2,662, 2024)
The goddess and saint’s name, with the original spelling preferred by parents who want the source material over the anglicized Bridget.
- Origin: Irish
- Meaning: little deer, fawn
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Pronounced OH-sheen; rare, mythological, and chosen by parents who genuinely enjoy the pronunciation conversation.
- Origin: Greek (via Russian)
- Pronunciation: al-ek-SAY · ˌæləkˈseɪ
- Meaning: defender, helper
- Popularity: #5,440 and rising (#6,536 → #5,440, 2024)
Russian form of Alexander gaining traction among Slavic diaspora families and beyond.
- Origin: Latin (via medieval Latin/French)
- Pronunciation: FLOR-en-tin · ˈflɔːrəntɪn
- Meaning: flourishing, blooming
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Almost unheard of in the US; one of the ultimate hidden gems on this list.
- Origin: Polish (Slavic)
- Pronunciation: KAZ-uh-meer · ˈkæzəmɪr
- Meaning: proclaims/announces peace
- Popularity: #2,393 and falling (#2,363 → #2,393, 2024)
The name sounds warm and European; the nickname Cas is already everywhere.
- Origin: Old Irish
- Pronunciation: EE-fuh · ˈiːfə
- Meaning: beauty, radiance
- Popularity: #2,230 and falling (#2,124 → #2,230, 2024)
Pronounced EE-fa; popular in Ireland for decades and slowly, confidently crossing the Atlantic.
- Origin: French (surname, etymology undocumented)
- Pronunciation: DASH-ul · ˈdæʃəl
- Meaning: Of uncertain French origin
- Popularity: #2,057 and rising (#2,418 → #2,057, 2024)
Hard-Boiled novelist Dashiell Hammett’s first name, now a standalone choice for literary-minded families.
- Origin: Spanish (from Latin)
- Pronunciation: puh-LOH-mah · pəˈloʊmə
- Meaning: dove
- Popularity: #971 and rising (#974 → #971, 2024)
Pablo Picasso named his daughter this; it’s elegant, peace-forward, and genuinely rare in the US.
- Origin: Latin (via Spanish/Italian)
- Pronunciation: eh-MEEL-yo · ɛˈmiːljoʊ
- Meaning: rival
- Popularity: #152 and rising (#181 → #152, 2024)
Latin warmth, easy flow, and strong multicultural roots that wear well across communities.
- Origin: Scandinavian (medieval Latinized form)
- Pronunciation: VIG-oh · ˈvɪgoʊ
- Meaning: battle (from a Germanic element meaning war/battle)
- Popularity: #1,980 and falling (#1,830 → #1,980, 2024)
Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn gave it heroic dimension; the name is Scandinavian and serious without being heavy.
- Origin: Welsh (traditionally linked to Latin Gaius)
- Pronunciation: KY · ˈkaɪ
- Meaning: traditionally said to mean ‘rejoice’ (as a Welsh form of Gaius), though the ultimate origin of Gaius itself is uncertain
- Popularity: #1,902 and falling (#1,849 → #1,902, 2024)
Welsh form of Kay and Caius; monosyllabic, rare, and effortlessly worn.
- Origin: Breton
- Pronunciation: NOHL-wen · ˈnoʊlwɛn
- Meaning: Holy woman from Noyal
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Breton saint’s name and one of the most beautiful genuine rarities on this entire list.
- Origin: French (feminine form of Fabien)
- Pronunciation: fah-bee-EN · faˈbjɛn
- Meaning: possibly “bean” (via the Roman clan name Fabius, traditionally linked to Latin faba)
- Popularity: #13,939 as of 2010 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
Chic, wearable, and genuinely uncommon in English-speaking countries.
Gender-Fluid Names That Work Without Trying
The best gender-neutral names of 2026 don’t feel like a compromise — they feel like a first choice. This group includes ancient Irish names, Old English surnames, and minimal English words that happen to fit anyone.
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic (surname)
- Pronunciation: FIN-lee · ˈfɪnli
- Meaning: fair warrior
- Popularity: #290 and falling (#285 → #290, 2024)
Works beautifully across all genders and is climbing on both boys’ and girls’ charts simultaneously.
- Origin: Irish (surname)
- Pronunciation: KWIN · ˈkwɪn
- Meaning: descendant of Conn, an early Irish personal name of disputed meaning
- Popularity: #96 and falling (#86 → #96, 2024)
Strong, short, and one of the most successfully gender-neutral names of the past decade.
- 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)
Surname-name with literary credentials (Ralph Waldo); increasingly trending for girls.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: FEE-niks · ˈfiːnɪks
- Meaning: the mythical firebird symbolizing rebirth and renewal
- Popularity: #275 and falling (#269 → #275, 2024)
Mythological, elemental, and genuinely balanced across genders in the data.
- Origin: English (variant of Elliott)
- Pronunciation: EL-ee-ut · ˈɛliət
- Meaning: form of Elliott; ultimately from Elijah/Elias, ‘my God is Yahweh’
- Popularity: #150 and rising (#178 → #150, 2024)
Climbing fast for girls while remaining popular for boys; no cannibalization visible yet.
- Origin: Hebrew (name of a biblical city)
- Pronunciation: SHY-loh · ˈʃaɪloʊ
- Meaning: Peaceful; tranquil
- Popularity: #260 and rising (#286 → #260, 2024)
Used publicly by the Jolie-Pitts in 2006 and still in motion almost twenty years later.
- Origin: Welsh (Old Welsh)
- Pronunciation: MOR-gan · ˈmɔːrɡən
- Meaning: chief (a compound of uncertain ‘sea’ or ‘great’ plus a root meaning ‘circle, ‘ together read as ‘chief’)
- Popularity: #276 and falling (#247 → #276, 2024)
Ancient Welsh name that swings comfortably across all genders without fuss.
- Origin: Greek (via the color/dye name)
- Pronunciation: IN-dih-goh · ˈɪndɪˌɡoʊ
- Meaning: named after the deep-blue indigo dye/color
- Popularity: #923 and rising (#961 → #923, 2024)
Deeply pigmented and specific — an art-world favorite for any gender.
- Origin: Old English
- Pronunciation: TROO · ˈtruː
- Meaning: faithful, genuine, and loyal
- Popularity: #986 and falling (#982 → #986, 2024)
- Origin: English (word name, ultimately from Latin ‘historia’)
- Pronunciation: STOR-ee · ˈstɔːri
- Meaning: a narrative or tale
- Popularity: #1,590 and rising (#2,087 → #1,590, 2024)
Conceptual name that parents choose when they want something genuinely original and meaning-driven.
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: JER-nee · ˈdʒɜːrni
- Meaning: a trip or passage from one place to another
- Popularity: #322 and rising (#333 → #322, 2024)
Travel-coded, optimistic, and functioning across genders without feeling shallow.
- Origin: English (surname, origin disputed)
- Pronunciation: LAR-kin · ˈlɑːr.kɪn
- Meaning: Rough; fierce
- Popularity: #2,973 and falling (#2,781 → #2,973, 2024)
Philip Larkin’s surname worn as a given name — literary and light at the same time.
- Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
- Pronunciation: BEKS-lee · ˈbɛksli
- Meaning: a clearing or wood of box trees
- Popularity: #1,125 and falling (#1,059 → #1,125, 2024)
The place-name trend at its freshest, less used than Bailey or Paisley.
- Origin: English (modern word name)
- Pronunciation: HAY-ven · ˈheɪvən
- Meaning: a safe harbor or place of refuge, taken directly from the vocabulary word
- Popularity: #201 and rising (#218 → #201, 2024)
Meaning-first name with genuine resonance; rising fastest for girls specifically.
- Origin: Irish
- Pronunciation: ROHN · roʊn
- Meaning: reddish-brown (as in a horse’s coat); also linked to Irish Ruadhán, ‘little red one’
- Popularity: #1,350 and rising (#1,514 → #1,350, 2024)
Red-coloring origin with Irish roots; unusual and beautiful without being precious.
- Origin: Norwegian (possibly a variant of Avon, ultimately Celtic)
- Pronunciation: AY-ven · ˈeɪvən
- Meaning: River
- Popularity: #1,154 and falling (#1,149 → #1,154, 2024)
Very rare, newly surfacing, a name for parents who comb baby name databases as a serious hobby.
- Origin: Welsh and English (dual-origin surname)
- Pronunciation: EL-is · ˈɛlɪs
- Meaning: benevolent, kind (Welsh); alt. English form of Elias/Elijah
- Popularity: #273 and rising (#274 → #273, 2024)
Works seamlessly across all genders and carries quiet Welsh dignity.
- Origin: Old French / Norman
- Pronunciation: BEL-uh-mee · ˈbɛləmi
- Meaning: fair friend
- Popularity: #690 and rising (#749 → #690, 2024)
Sounds melodic and approachable; trending particularly among parents who love literary associations.
- Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
- Pronunciation: HAY-din · ˈheɪdən
- Meaning: hay valley — a secondary theory instead derives it from a Middle Dutch word for ‘heathen’
- Popularity: #154 and rising (#162 → #154, 2024)
Well-established for both genders and still climbing; achieved simultaneous masculine and feminine visibility and kept both.
- Origin: Scottish (place name / surname)
- Pronunciation: LEN-uks · ˈlɛnəks
- Meaning: person from the Lennox district (the Loch Lomond/River Leven region of Scotland)
- Popularity: #263 and rising (#265 → #263, 2024)
Strong, Scottish, and working across genders without sounding forced.
- Origin: English (occupational surname)
- Pronunciation: REEV · ˈriːv
- Meaning: a medieval bailiff or local steward
- Popularity: #3,432 and falling (#3,100 → #3,432, 2024)
Occupational surname worn as a given name with unusual calm authority.
- Origin: Old English + Old Norse (place name/surname)
- Pronunciation: ASH-bee · ˈæʃbi
- Meaning: ash-tree farm/settlement
- Popularity: #5,664 and rising (#6,917 → #5,664, 2024)
The quiet achiever of the place-name surname trend, rare enough to still feel like a find.
Classic Names That Haven’t Stopped Climbing
Some names aren’t trends — they’re institutions. But even institutions have moments of acceleration, and the names here are in one of those moments right now. These are the perennials whose rise in 2026 feels like confirmation rather than surprise.
- Origin: French
- Pronunciation: SHAR-lut · ˈʃɑːrlət
- Meaning: feminine diminutive of Charles, sharing its root meaning ‘free man’ (popularly softened to ‘free woman’)
- Popularity: #4 and falling (#3 → #4, 2024)
Firmly in the top 3 for girls nationally and showing no signs of deceleration.
- Origin: Old French, probably ultimately Germanic (disputed)
- Pronunciation: AH-lih-vur · ˈɑːlɪvər
- Meaning: uncertain: possibly ‘ancestor’s relic’ (Old Norse Óleifr) or ‘all-true’ (Germanic); ‘olive tree’ is folk etymology
- Popularity: #3, holding steady (2024)
Perennial chart-topper that parents love precisely because it never feels like a trend.
- Origin: Germanic (via Old French Henri, from Frankish *Haimrik)
- Pronunciation: HEN-ree · ˈhɛnri
- Meaning: home ruler
- Popularity: #6 and rising (#8 → #6, 2024)
The name of choice for parents who want gravitas without complexity.
- Origin: Old French/Provençal (from Alienor)
- Pronunciation: EL-uh-nor · ˈɛlənɔːr
- Meaning: uncertain; traditionally ‘the other Aenor’ (a compound with her mother’s name)
- Popularity: #14, holding steady (2024)
Full form increasingly preferred over Ellie or Ella; stately and warm at once.
- Origin: Greek (via Latin)
- Pronunciation: sih-BAS-chun · səˈbæstʃən
- Meaning: venerable or revered one, from the place name Sebaste
- Popularity: #14 and falling (#13 → #14, 2024)
Long, baroque, and beloved — and rarely shortened against the bearer’s will.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: KLAIR-uh · ˈklɛərə
- Meaning: bright, clear, famous
- Popularity: #78 and rising (#98 → #78, 2024)
Quieter than Claire, warmer than Carla — the most elegant classic on the current chart.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: AW-gust · ˈɔːɡəst
- Meaning: venerable, majestic
- Popularity: #88 and rising (#104 → #88, 2024)
The month worn as a given name; trending for boys and girls with equal momentum.
- Origin: Latin (via Old French, variant of Vivian)
- Pronunciation: VIV-ee-en · ˈvɪviɛn
- Meaning: living, full of life
- Popularity: #184 and rising (#235 → #184, 2024)
The longer form of Vivian, increasingly preferred since the Jolie-Pitt choice in 2008.
- Origin: Celtic (Welsh), disputed — possibly a Latinized Romano-British name
- Pronunciation: AR-thur · ˈɑːrθər
- Meaning: possibly ‘bear’ (etymology disputed)
- Popularity: #105 and rising (#130 → #105, 2024)
Consistently top 10 in the UK, still rising in the US, holding cultural weight from multiple directions at once.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: FRAN-ses · ˈfrænsəs
- Meaning: French, or more literally “a Frank” (member of the Frankish people); from Old French Franceise, ultimately Latin Franciscus.
- Popularity: #379 and rising (#405 → #379, 2024)
Frank’s feminine counterpart, quieter and more literary, returning steadily to favor.
- Origin: Old French (from Germanic Adalheidis)
- Pronunciation: AL-iss · ˈælɪs
- Meaning: noble kind
- Popularity: #62 and rising (#66 → #62, 2024)
Alice in Wonderland keeps it perpetually fresh; there is genuinely no bad cultural association attached to this name.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: JORJ · ˈdʒɔːrdʒ
- Meaning: farmer, earth-worker
- Popularity: #124 and rising (#136 → #124, 2024)
Royal baby names drive trends; George remains impeccably classic and globally beloved.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: MAR-grit · ˈmɑːrɡrɪt
- Meaning: pearl (via Latin/Old French margarita), popularized by the 3rd-century Saint Margaret the Virgin
- Popularity: #119 and rising (#132 → #119, 2024)
- Origin: Aramaic
- Pronunciation: TOM-us · ˈtɑːməs
- Meaning: twin
- Popularity: #39 and rising (#41 → #39, 2024)
- Origin: Greek (original meaning debated)
- Pronunciation: KATH-rin · ˈkæθrɪn
- Meaning: original meaning uncertain/debated (possibly ‘each of the two’, or tied to the goddess Hecate); popularly but inaccurately glossed as ‘pure’
- Popularity: #320 and rising (#330 → #320, 2024)
The C-spelling chosen by parents who want the classic without the Katherine/Katharine spelling debate.
- Origin: Germanic (Frankish, via Old French after the Norman Conquest)
- Pronunciation: WIL-yum · ˈwɪljəm
- Meaning: will joined with helmet, i.e. resolute protector
- Popularity: #10, holding steady (2024)
The most enduring English name in history, holding steady with no visible ceiling.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: BEE-uh-tris · ˈbiːətrɪs
- Meaning: one who brings happiness (also glossed “blessed one”)
- Popularity: #579 and rising (#588 → #579, 2024)
Before Dante’s Divine Comedy, before Shakespeare’s Much Ado — Beatrice is simply, durably joyful.
- Origin: Hebrew
- Pronunciation: JAYMZ · ˈdʒeɪmz
- Meaning: heel-grabber, traditionally rendered ‘supplanter’ (same root as Jacob)
- Popularity: #5 and falling (#4 → #5, 2024)
Consistently in the top 5 for boys; James doesn’t trend, it persists.
- Origin: Latin (flower name); also linked to a Germanic name
- Pronunciation: ROHZ · ˈroʊz
- Meaning: the rose flower; Wiktionary also traces the given name specifically to an older Germanic name built from elements meaning roughly ‘fame’ and ‘kind’
- Popularity: #115 and rising (#124 → #115, 2024)
So often a middle name that it’s returned to prominence as a confident first choice.
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: GRAYS · ˈgreɪs
- Meaning: virtue name from Latin ‘grace/favor’, evoking both divine favor and physical elegance
- Popularity: #40 and falling (#39 → #40, 2024)
- Origin: French (from Old German Helewidis, via medieval Latin/French forms, doublet of Héloïse)
- Pronunciation: EL-oh-eez · ˈɛloʊiːz
- Meaning: healthy and wide/broad (from Germanic Helewidis)
- Popularity: #64 and rising (#81 → #64, 2024)
Eloise at the Plaza gave it a whimsical lift; it’s been in gentle consistent ascent since.
More Rising Names Climbing the Charts
These come from our 209-name rising baby names climbing the charts collection, now folded in here so everything lives on one page.
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: EYE-ris · ˈaɪrɪs
- Meaning: rainbow; also the name of the Greek goddess/messenger of the rainbow, and the flower named after her
- Popularity: #71 and rising (#78 → #71, 2024)
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: uh-ROR-uh · əˈrɔːrə
- Meaning: dawn (name of the Roman goddess of the dawn)
- Popularity: #16 and rising (#22 → #16, 2024)
- Origin: Old Persian
- Pronunciation: JAS-per · ˈdʒæspər
- Meaning: treasurer
- Popularity: #133 and falling (#122 → #133, 2024)
- Origin: Slavic
- Pronunciation: MEE-lah · ˈmiːlə
- Meaning: gracious, dear one
- Popularity: #33 and falling (#28 → #33, 2024)
- Origin: Hebrew
- Pronunciation: EE-ly · ˈiːlaɪ
- Meaning: ascended, one who rises high
- Popularity: #92 and falling (#79 → #92, 2024)
- Origin: Old English
- Pronunciation: HAY-zel · ˈheɪzəl
- Meaning: the hazel tree, and by extension its light-brown color
- Popularity: #19 and falling (#18 → #19, 2024)
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: LEE-oh · ˈliːoʊ
- Meaning: lion
- Popularity: #24 and falling (#18 → #24, 2024)
- Origin: English
- Pronunciation: EYE-vee · ˈaɪvi
- Meaning: the climbing ivy plant, a traditional symbol of fidelity
- Popularity: #36 and rising (#38 → #36, 2024)
- Origin: Italian (from Latin/Greek)
- Pronunciation: LOO-kah · ˈluːkə
- Meaning: a pet form of Lucius, or of Loukanos (‘man from Lucania’)
- Popularity: #23 and rising (#24 → #23, 2024)
- Origin: English (occupational surname)
- Pronunciation: PY-pur · ˈpaɪpər
- Meaning: one who plays the pipes — an occupational surname transferred to given-name use
- Popularity: #160 and falling (#135 → #160, 2024)
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: KOR-ah · ˈkɔːrə
- Meaning: maiden
- Popularity: #102 and falling (#93 → #102, 2024)
- Origin: Hebrew
- Pronunciation: ASH-er · ˈæʃər
- Meaning: happy, blessed
- Popularity: #20 and rising (#23 → #20, 2024)
- Origin: English (modern word/nature name)
- Pronunciation: KAN-yuhn · ˈkænjən
- Meaning: Large gorge formed by erosion
- Popularity: #1,433 and falling (#1,390 → #1,433, 2024)
- Origin: English (surname)
- Pronunciation: BEK-it · ˈbɛkɪt
- Meaning: beehive; bee cottage
- Popularity: #166 and rising (#196 → #166, 2024)
- Origin: English (from Latin ‘laurus, ‘ via the plant name)
- Pronunciation: LAWR-ul · ˈlɔːrəl
- Meaning: laurel tree; symbolically, honor or victory
- Popularity: #728 and falling (#715 → #728, 2024)
- Origin: Cherokee (named for Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee syllabary, later applied to the giant sequoia tree)
- Pronunciation: sih-KWOY-ah · sɪˈkwɔɪə
- Meaning: The giant redwood tree
- Popularity: #2,450 and falling (#2,306 → #2,450, 2024)
- Origin: Latin (botanical name, root disputed)
- Pronunciation: KAL-ah · ˈkælə
- Meaning: uncertain (disputed ancient reading, possibly ‘cup’ or ‘husk’)
- Popularity: #1,514 and rising (#1,604 → #1,514, 2024)
- Origin: English (nature word)
- Pronunciation: MAWSS · ˈmɔːs
- Meaning: the moss plant
- Popularity: #6,065 and falling (#5,000 → #6,065, 2024)
- 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)
- Origin: English (word name, masculine use parallels Old Norse Hrafn)
- Pronunciation: RAY-vuhn · ˈreɪvən
- Meaning: the black-feathered bird
- Popularity: #388 and falling (#361 → #388, 2024)
- Origin: Scottish (Cumbric river name)
- Pronunciation: KAWL-der · ˈkɔːldər
- Meaning: rough or hard-flowing water
- Popularity: #1,991 and falling (#1,549 → #1,991, 2024)
- Origin: English (surname)
- Pronunciation: BROOKS · ˈbrʊks
- Meaning: one who lived near a brook
- Popularity: #67 and rising (#73 → #67, 2024)
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of Alexander)
- Pronunciation: AL-ih-stair · ˈælɪstɛr
- Meaning: protector of men
- Popularity: #905 and rising (#919 → #905, 2024)
- Origin: French (from Latin Clemens)
- Pronunciation: KLEM-en-teen · ˈklɛmənˌtiːn
- Meaning: merciful, mild
- Popularity: #477 and rising (#542 → #477, 2024)
- 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)
- 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)
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: AG-nes · ˈæɡnəs
- Meaning: pure or chaste
- Popularity: #1,063 and rising (#1,079 → #1,063, 2024)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: sil-VES-ter · sɪlˈvɛstər
- Meaning: of the woods or forest
- Popularity: #2,108 and rising (#2,172 → #2,108, 2024)
- 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)
- Origin: Greek (via Latin Leontina)
- Pronunciation: LEE-on-teen · ˈliːɑːntiːn
- Meaning: lion-like / of the lion
- Popularity: #15,609 as of 2015 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Germanic (diminutive of Ottilie, ultimately from Otto)
- Pronunciation: OT-oh-leen · ˈɒtəliːn
- Meaning: a diminutive of Ottilie, ultimately linked to Otto (traditionally associated with ‘wealth’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Latin (adjective ‘of Florence’)
- Pronunciation: FLOR-en-teen · ˈflɒrəntiːn
- Meaning: flourishing (shares Florence’s root, via the adjective ‘of Florence’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: English (Old English place name/surname)
- Pronunciation: HUKS-lee · ˈhʌksli
- Meaning: Hucc’s woodland clearing
- Popularity: #743 and falling (#618 → #743, 2024)
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: mar-SEL-us · mɑːrˈsɛləs
- Meaning: diminutive of Marcus; ‘little warrior’
- Popularity: #948 and falling (#870 → #948, 2024)
- Origin: Spanish (from Hebrew Mattityahu, via Greek/Latin Matthaeus)
- Pronunciation: mah-TAY-oh · mɑːˈteɪoʊ
- Meaning: gift of God — the Spanish form of Matthew
- Popularity: #7 and falling (#6 → #7, 2024)
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Pronunciation: lay-LAH-nee · leɪˈlɑːni
- Meaning: heavenly garland of flowers, with a royal connotation
- Popularity: #66 and falling (#61 → #66, 2024)
- Origin: Latin (Roman family name)
- Pronunciation: KASH-us · ˈkæʃəs
- Meaning: Hollow, vain
- Popularity: #567 and rising (#576 → #567, 2024)
- Origin: modern coinage (popularized by fantasy fiction)
- Pronunciation: ah-MAR-ah · əˈmɑːrə
- Meaning: Grace, eternal
- Popularity: #121 and rising (#123 → #121, 2024)
- Origin: Danish (via Latin)
- Pronunciation: SUR-en · ˈsɜːrən
- Meaning: severe, strict, serious
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Portuguese (variant of Tiago/Santiago)
- Pronunciation: tee-AH-goh · tiˈɑːɡoʊ
- Meaning: form of James/Jacob, traditionally glossed ‘supplanter’ (though the underlying name’s true root is debated)
- Popularity: #55 and rising (#72 → #55, 2024)
- Origin: Old Norse
- Pronunciation: ING-grid · ˈɪŋɡrɪd
- Meaning: compound of the Norse god-element ‘Ing’ and a word for ‘beautiful, beloved’
- Popularity: #1,092 and rising (#1,148 → #1,092, 2024)
- Origin: Russian (East Slavic)
- Pronunciation: NIK-oh-ly · ˈnɪkəlaɪ
- Meaning: victory of the people
- Popularity: #589 and rising (#605 → #589, 2024)
- Origin: Igbo (short form of Chukwuemeka)
- Pronunciation: eh-MEH-kah · ɛˈmɛkɑː
- Meaning: God has done well (short form of Chukwuemeka: Chukwu ‘God’ + emeka ‘has done well’)
- Popularity: #8,494 and falling (#6,633 → #8,494, 2024)
- Origin: Breton
- Pronunciation: so-LEN · sɒˈlɛn
- Meaning: Solemn, dignified
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Hebrew
- Pronunciation: lee-RAHZ · liˈrɑːz
- Meaning: my secret (li ‘to/for me’ + raz ‘secret’)
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Sanskrit
- Pronunciation: AR-joon · ˈɑːrdʒuːn
- Meaning: white, bright, shining
- Popularity: #581 and rising (#602 → #581, 2024)
- Origin: Igbo
- Pronunciation: NEK-ah · ˈnɛkɑː
- Meaning: mother is supreme
- Popularity: #14,648 as of 2020 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: uncertain (claimed as Sanskrit or Zuni, though disputed)
- Pronunciation: ah-NAH-yah · əˈnɑːjə
- Meaning: God answered
- Popularity: #405 and falling (#388 → #405, 2024)
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Pronunciation: kah-LAH-nee · kəˈlɑːni
- Meaning: the heavens, the sky
- Popularity: #339 and rising (#380 → #339, 2024)
- Origin: Igbo
- Pronunciation: CHEE-sawm · ˈtʃiːsɔːm
- Meaning: God is with me
- Popularity: #9,115 and rising (#9,927 → #9,115, 2024)
- Origin: Spanish (also used as a Mexican surname, conventionally linked to Emilio/Emil)
- Pronunciation: eh-mee-lee-AH-no · ɛmiliˈɑːnoʊ
- Meaning: Rival, striving
- Popularity: #113 and rising (#133 → #113, 2024)
- Origin: Old English (surname)
- Pronunciation: BLYTHE · ˈblaɪð
- Meaning: cheerful, merry, carefree — from Old English blīþe, ultimately Proto-Germanic *blīþiz (‘gentle, kind’)
- Popularity: #1,862 and falling (#1,855 → #1,862, 2024)
- Origin: Hungarian (from Latin, via Ursula)
- Pronunciation: OR-shol-yoh · ˈorʃojɒ
- Meaning: little bear
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Arabic
- Pronunciation: ZAYD · ˈzeɪd
- Meaning: increase, growth
- Popularity: #662 and rising (#725 → #662, 2024)
- Origin: Hawaiian
- Pronunciation: ee-KY-kah · iˈkaɪkə
- Meaning: strong, powerful
- Popularity: #4,461 and rising (#4,512 → #4,461, 2024)
- Origin: Welsh
- Pronunciation: SEH-ren · ˈsɛrɛn
- Meaning: star
- Popularity: #4,631 and rising (#4,638 → #4,631, 2024)
- Origin: Germanic
- Pronunciation: ah-MEEL-yah · əˈmiːljə
- Meaning: vigorous, active (traditionally also glossed as ‘work’)
- Popularity: #3 and rising (#4 → #3, 2024)
- Origin: Late Latin (name of early Christian martyrs), from biblical Hebrew seraphim
- Pronunciation: sair-ah-FEE-nah · ˌsɛrəˈfiːnə
- Meaning: of the seraphim, a class of biblical angels
- Popularity: #778 and rising (#971 → #778, 2024)
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: kuh-LY-uh-pee · kəˈlaɪəpi
- Meaning: beautiful voice
- Popularity: #499 and falling (#491 → #499, 2024)
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: eye-AN-thee · aɪˈænθi
- Meaning: violet flower
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Latin
- Pronunciation: aw-REEL-yuh · ɔːˈriːljə
- Meaning: golden one
- Popularity: #334 and rising (#370 → #334, 2024)
- Origin: French (loanword into English)
- Pronunciation: REV-er-ee · ˈrɛvəri
- Meaning: a daydream; being pleasantly lost in thought
- Popularity: #2,291 and rising (#2,875 → #2,291, 2024)
- 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)
- Origin: Italian (‘island’); also linked to Isolde/Iseult or English ‘isolated’
- Pronunciation: EE-zoh-lah · ˈiːzoʊlə
- Meaning: island, though sometimes used instead as a variant tied to Isolde/Iseult or the word ‘isolated’
- Popularity: #14,168 as of 2021 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Welsh (variant of Carys)
- Pronunciation: KEH-riss · ˈkɛrɪs
- Meaning: love
- Popularity: #11,379 as of 2023 — not currently in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: Hebrew
- Pronunciation: el-ee-OR-ah · ɛliˈɔːrə
- Meaning: God is my light
- Popularity: #1,307 and rising (#1,807 → #1,307, 2024)
- Origin: Italian (from Latin hilarius)
- Pronunciation: ih-LAH-ree-ah · ɪˈlɑːriə
- Meaning: cheerful
- Popularity: #3,986 and falling (#3,150 → #3,986, 2024)
- Origin: French (from Latin coralium)
- Pronunciation: KOR-ah-lee · ˈkɔːrəli
- Meaning: coral
- Popularity: #3,396 and rising (#3,997 → #3,396, 2024)
- Origin: Latin (Roman)
- Pronunciation: LIV-ee-ah · ˈlɪviə
- Meaning: uncertain (feminine of Roman name Livius)
- Popularity: #836 and falling (#826 → #836, 2024)
- Origin: Spanish
- Pronunciation: mah-ree-SOL · mɑːriˈsoʊl
- Meaning: popularly ‘sea and sun’; possibly from Maria de la Soledad
- Popularity: #739 and rising (#784 → #739, 2024)
- Origin: Greek
- Pronunciation: yoo-LAY-lee-ah · juːˈleɪliə
- Meaning: sweetly speaking
- Popularity: #2,693 and rising (#3,109 → #2,693, 2024)
- Origin: Latin (adopted via Scandinavian/Scottish royal usage)
- Pronunciation: MAG-nus · ˈmæɡnəs
- Meaning: great (Latin ‘magnus’), adopted as a name via Charlemagne’s title
- Popularity: #749 and rising (#764 → #749, 2024)
- Origin: Hebrew
- Pronunciation: OR-en · ˈɔːrən
- Meaning: pine tree
- Popularity: #1,380 and falling (#1,297 → #1,380, 2024)
- 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)
- Origin: Swedish (etymology not firmly established)
- Pronunciation: STEL-an · ˈstɛlən
- Meaning: Calm
- Popularity: #1,441 and rising (#1,485 → #1,441, 2024)
- Origin: Hebrew (via German/Scandinavian spelling of Raphael)
- Pronunciation: rah-fah-EL · ˌrɑːfɑːˈɛl
- Meaning: God has healed
- Popularity: #6,710 and rising (#8,111 → #6,710, 2024)
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic (form of Alexander)
- Pronunciation: AL-uh-ster · ˈæləstər
- Meaning: defender of men/mankind (via Alexander)
- Popularity: #2,364 and falling (#2,312 → #2,364, 2024)
- Origin: Germanic (variant of Emmerich)
- Pronunciation: EM-er-ik · ˈɛm.ər.ɪk
- Meaning: Work-power
- Popularity: #2,313 and rising (#3,489 → #2,313, 2024)
- Origin: Aramaic
- Pronunciation: BAR-nuh-bus · ˈbɑːrnəbəs
- Meaning: son of the prophet
- Popularity: #4,571 and rising (#5,090 → #4,571, 2024)
- Origin: modern coinage (echoes the Germanic ‘-ric’ [ruler] pattern, e.g. Alaric, Frederic)
- Pronunciation: lee-OR-ik · liˈɔːrɪk
- Meaning: Lion ruler
- Popularity: Not in the U.S. Social Security rankings
- Origin: modern coinage (English)
- Pronunciation: DRAY-vin · ˈdreɪvɪn
- Meaning: Invented or hunter
- Popularity: #1,120 and rising (#1,192 → #1,120, 2024)
- Origin: Latin (Roman family name)
- Pronunciation: KAS-ee-an · ˈkæsiən
- Meaning: Empty, hollow
- Popularity: #616 and falling (#531 → #616, 2024)
- Origin: English (surname, multiple possible roots)
- Pronunciation: KAYD · ˈkeɪd
- Meaning: from an English surname with several possible roots: a personal-name element meaning ‘lump/swelling,’ an occupational term for a barrel-maker, or a word for a hand-reared farm animal
- Popularity: #272 and rising (#280 → #272, 2024)
- Origin: English (surname, further origin unattested)
- Pronunciation: RY-ker · ˈraɪkər
- Meaning: Rich, powerful
- Popularity: #183 and rising (#184 → #183, 2024)
- Origin: Welsh (anglicized form of Gruffudd)
- Pronunciation: GRIF-ith · ˈɡrɪfɪθ
- Meaning: strong lord, powerful chief (per Gruffudd)
- Popularity: #5,106 and rising (#5,746 → #5,106, 2024)
- Origin: Germanic (ald ‘old’ + ric ‘ruler, power’)
- Pronunciation: AL-drik · ˈældrɪk
- Meaning: old ruler
- Popularity: #3,781 and rising (#5,252 → #3,781, 2024)
- Origin: Scottish/English (surname, from Older Scots ‘reid’)
- Pronunciation: REED · ˈriːd
- Meaning: red-haired or ruddy-complexioned
- Popularity: #300 and rising (#315 → #300, 2024)
- Origin: Scottish/Celtic (variant of Brice)
- Pronunciation: BRYSS · ˈbraɪs
- Meaning: speckled
- Popularity: #297 and falling (#258 → #297, 2024)
- Origin: Middle English (variant of Fay)
- Pronunciation: FAY · ˈfeɪ
- Meaning: fairy (variant of Fay, possibly also linked to an Old French word for loyalty/faith)
- Popularity: #538 and falling (#500 → #538, 2024)
- Origin: Surname (origin uncertain)
- Pronunciation: BLAYN · ˈbleɪn
- Meaning: Yellow, pale
- Popularity: #1,115 and falling (#1,046 → #1,115, 2024)
- Origin: Irish (Anglicized from the surname Ó Séaghdha)
- Pronunciation: SHAY · ˈʃeɪ
- Meaning: Admirable
- Popularity: #1,187 and falling (#1,027 → #1,187, 2024)
- Origin: Welsh (via the place name Crewe, Cheshire)
- Pronunciation: KROO · ˈkruː
- Meaning: weir — a river dam or fish-trap
- Popularity: #250 and rising (#260 → #250, 2024)
- Origin: English or Irish (surname)
- Pronunciation: HAYZ · ˈheɪz
- Meaning: enclosure or brushwood (English); alternatively ‘descendant of Aodh’ via the Irish surname Ó hAodha
- Popularity: #160 and rising (#209 → #160, 2024)
- Origin: English (surname, variant of Case); also Americanized German (Kirch/Kirsch)
- Pronunciation: KASH · ˈkæʃ
- Meaning: surname origin, not from the word for money; a variant of Case, or an Americanized German immigrant surname (Kirch ‘church’ or Kirsch ‘cherry’)
- Popularity: #316 and falling (#289 → #316, 2024)
- Origin: Old English/Germanic; also Old Norse
- Pronunciation: TAYT · ˈteɪt
- Meaning: cheerful, glad, radiant (Old English/Germanic root); a separate Old Norse personal-name strand is of unknown meaning
- Popularity: #210 and falling (#197 → #210, 2024)
- Origin: English (surname, from Old English “stan”)
- Pronunciation: STOHN · ˈstoʊn
- Meaning: from the English word for stone/rock; originally a surname for someone who lived near a notable stone or worked with stone
- Popularity: #1,048 and falling (#995 → #1,048, 2024)
- Origin: English (modern phonetic respelling of ‘Crew’)
- Pronunciation: KROO · ˈkruː
- Meaning: a close group of companions
- Popularity: #629 and rising (#726 → #629, 2024)
- Origin: Scottish (surname)
- Pronunciation: GREER · ˈgrɪr
- Meaning: reduced Scottish form of Gregor/Gregory; inherits Gregory’s Greek root meaning ‘watchful, alert’
- Popularity: #1,980 and rising (#2,383 → #1,980, 2024)
- Origin: English (surname)
- Pronunciation: VANS · ˈvæns
- Meaning: from the marshland
- Popularity: #996 and falling (#955 → #996, 2024)
- Origin: English (variant name)
- Pronunciation: BEKS · bɛks
- Meaning: Stranger
- Popularity: #5,249 and rising (#6,267 → #5,249, 2024)
- Origin: English (short form/nickname)
- Pronunciation: SY · saɪ
- Meaning: hypocorism (nickname) of Cyril, Cyrus, or Seymour — no independent meaning of its own
- Popularity: #2,339 and falling (#2,013 → #2,339, 2024)
- Origin: English (word for a strong windstorm)
- Pronunciation: GAYL · ˈgeɪl
- Meaning: a strong windstorm
- Popularity: #6,562 and falling (#6,026 → #6,562, 2024)
- Origin: Norman French (place name Quincy/Quincey, ultimately from Latin Quintus)
- Pronunciation: KWIN-see · ˈkwɪnzi
- Meaning: fifth (via a French place name, roughly ‘estate of Quintus/the fifth-born’)
- Popularity: #689 and falling (#672 → #689, 2024)
- Origin: Old English (via Anglo-Norman surname)
- Pronunciation: AY-vur-ee · ˈeɪvəri
- Meaning: elf counsel, from Old English ælf (‘elf’) + ræd (‘counsel’)
- Popularity: #31 and falling (#29 → #31, 2024)
- Origin: Irish (surname)
- Pronunciation: LEN-un · ˈlɛnən
- Meaning: descendant of a ‘sweetheart’ — or, in an alternate surname line, descendant of a ‘little blackbird’
- Popularity: #237 and rising (#243 → #237, 2024)
- Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
- Pronunciation: HAR-loh · ˈhɑːrloʊ
- Meaning: a hill fortified or used by an army — though the first element is disputed and may instead mean ‘rock’
- Popularity: #293 and falling (#237 → #293, 2024)
- Origin: Scottish Gaelic
- Pronunciation: BLAIR · ˈblɛr
- Meaning: field or plain (topographic surname, from Gaelic blàr)
- Popularity: #218 and rising (#242 → #218, 2024)
- Origin: Frankish/Old French (Germanic compound)
- Pronunciation: LAN-dree · ˈlændri
- Meaning: ruler of the land
- Popularity: #1,186 and falling (#1,149 → #1,186, 2024)
- Origin: Old English (place name/surname)
- Pronunciation: HEN-lee · ˈhɛnli
- Meaning: high clearing
- Popularity: #956 and falling (#792 → #956, 2024)
- Origin: Italian (surname)
- Pronunciation: ar-MAH-nee · ɑːrˈmɑːni
- Meaning: likely from the Italian personal name Ermanno/Arman (a form of Herman, ‘army man’), though as a modern given name it mainly reflects the Armani fashion brand
- Popularity: #424 and falling (#386 → #424, 2024)
- Origin: Welsh (anglicized form of Rhys, some US uses from an unrelated surname ‘de Reese’)
- Pronunciation: REESE · ˈriːs
- Meaning: from Rhys; usually glossed ‘ardor, enthusiasm’ (root disputed)
- Popularity: #190 and falling (#174 → #190, 2024)
- Origin: English (word name)
- Pronunciation: SKOWT · ˈskaʊt
- Meaning: one who explores or reconnoiters; from the English word for a person sent ahead to gather information
- Popularity: #927 and falling (#822 → #927, 2024)
- Origin: English (place name/surname)
- Pronunciation: OHK-lee · ˈoʊkli
- Meaning: oak clearing (a clearing or meadow in an oak forest)
- Popularity: #157 and falling (#153 → #157, 2024)
- Origin: Old English (surname/place name)
- Pronunciation: RID-lee · ˈrɪdli
- Meaning: reed clearing, or cleared-land clearing (a topographic place name with no meaning beyond the landscape description)
- Popularity: #1,930 and falling (#1,874 → #1,930, 2024)
- Origin: Irish (diminutive of Breccán)
- Pronunciation: BREK-un · ˈbrɛkən
- Meaning: little freckled one
- Popularity: #1,128 and falling (#1,047 → #1,128, 2024)
- Origin: English (place name: Derby)
- Pronunciation: DAR-bee · ˈdɑːrbi
- Meaning: deer settlement / deer village (Old Norse djúr ‘deer’ + bý ‘settlement’)
- Popularity: #3,174 and falling (#2,423 → #3,174, 2024)
How These Names Are Trending
167 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 112 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
167 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 112 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
167 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 112 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
167 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 112 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
167 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 112 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How These Names Are Trending
167 of these names rose in the U.S. Social Security rankings last year, and 112 are falling, per Social Security data through 2024.
How to Choose a Name From This List
Start with sound, not spelling. Say the name out loud — in the kitchen, not in your head. Say the first name with your last name attached. Say it the way you’d call across a playground. If it sounds right in all three contexts, that’s a good sign. If it only sounds good when you’re reading it on a screen, that tells you something too.
Pay attention to what category drew you in first. If you found yourself lingering in the Old Soul section, you probably want a name with substance and history — and that means you might also want to think about nickname culture, because long Victorian names often come with very short, casual nicknames that create a kind of double identity. If the nature names resonated, ask yourself if you want the one everyone already knows (Sage, River) or the one that requires a moment of recognition (Yarrow, Cove). There’s no wrong answer, but knowing which you prefer will cut the list down quickly.
Think about what the name needs to do at different life stages. A two-year-old named Persephone will introduce herself as Percy. A forty-year-old named Persephone might use the full name every single day. Both are fine — but it’s worth running the name through both scenarios before you commit.
Don’t talk yourself out of a name that genuinely moves you because it’s trending. Trends in baby naming move slowly — a name that’s in the top 50 will still be unusual in most classrooms, and a name in the top 10 is still a minority experience compared to any given school’s full roster. Luna being popular doesn’t mean your Luna will be one of four in her grade. It probably means she’ll be the only one.
Finally: give it two weeks before you decide. Names have a way of either growing on you or quietly falling away when you’re not in the initial excitement of discovery. The one that’s still sitting there at the end of two weeks, that you keep coming back to — that’s usually the one.
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. A perfect gift for baby showers or to hang above the crib.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most popular baby names of 2026?
Based on early 2026 trend data, Luna continues to hold the top spot for girls, with Maeve, Isla, Nora, and Charlotte close behind. For boys, Oliver, Henry, Theodore, Milo, and Sebastian are consistently at the top. These rankings shift slightly by region — Oliver and Henry tend to lead in the Northeast, while Felix and Atticus are climbing faster in the Pacific Northwest.
What baby girl names are trending specifically in 2026?
Girl names with the most momentum in 2026 include Maeve, Elara, Delphine, Callista, and Persephone from the rising star category, alongside Victorian revivals like Harriet, Dorothea, and Celestine. Nature names like Juniper, Sorrel, and Elowen are also climbing fast for girls. The short-name trend is particularly strong for girls — Wren, Nora, Lila, Cleo, and Rue are all gaining.
What baby boy names are trending in 2026?
For boys, 2026 is seeing significant movement in the nature and vintage categories. Silas, Atticus, Bodhi, Arlo, and Caspian are among the fastest-climbing boy names this year. On the vintage side, Edmund, Cormac, Phineas, Leopold, and Archibald are gaining. International arrivals like Cillian, Matteo, Viggo, Casimir, and Oisín are also landing more frequently in US birth records.
Are gender-neutral baby names still a trend in 2026?
Yes, and the category has matured considerably. Rather than gravitating toward androgynous surnames the way the trend did five or six years ago, parents in 2026 are choosing gender-neutral names from a wider range: ancient Welsh and Irish names like Morgan, Ellis, and Quinn; nature words like Bay, Sage, and River; and conceptual names like Story, True, and Haven. The defining quality of the best ones in 2026 is that they feel like a first choice rather than a compromise.
What vintage or old-fashioned baby names are making a comeback?
The Victorian and Edwardian revival is the most discussed trend in baby naming for 2026. Names like Harriet, Cornelius, Millicent, Dorothea, Montgomery, Josephine, and Eugenia are all appearing in birth records with measurably higher frequency than five years ago. The pattern is typically: long, substantial name on the certificate, short or quirky nickname for daily use (Harriet/Hattie, Montgomery/Monty, Millicent/Millie).
How do I find a baby name that’s unique but not too strange?
The sweet spot is usually a name with legitimate historical or cultural roots that simply hasn’t been popular in English-speaking countries recently. International names are a rich source of these — Cillian, Aoife, Matteo, Viggo, and Niilo are all real names with deep cultural histories that will be genuinely uncommon in most US classrooms. Cornish, Breton, and Welsh names offer a similar depth of history with even more rarity. The key is real roots — a name that looks invented tends to feel invented, while a name with a documented history carries its own authority.
Are nature baby names still popular in 2026?
Yes, and the nature name category has actually expanded in 2026 rather than contracting. The early wave (Violet, Lily, River, Sage) has been followed by more specific botanical names: Juniper, Yarrow, Sorrel, Elowen, Alder, Birch, and Clover are all climbing. Tree names are particularly strong right now — Elm, Birch, Alder, Cypress, and Juniper are all active on trend trackers. The overall shift is toward specificity: parents who might have chosen Rose a decade ago are now choosing a particular tree or herb that resonates with them personally.
📊 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
Whether you end up with Persephone or Paz, Harriet or Hayden, the name you choose will grow into your child in ways you can’t entirely predict. The best names tend to have one thing in common: they felt right before they felt inevitable. Trust that instinct. This list is a starting point, not a prescription — and the name that keeps coming back to you, the one you find yourself writing in the margins of things, is usually the one worth saying out loud.
Read next;
🌷 85 Cute Unisex Baby Names Going *Viral* in 2026
👦 300+ *TOP* Baby Boy Names for 2026 (Trending & Classic)
🌷 115+ Baby Names That Mean Gift From God
📱 The Baby Names app is here
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