Six Cool Baby-Naming Styles

Time to pick a name for your baby! It’s exciting—but it’s also a daunting task. And those ginormous, dictionary-like baby-name books don’t make the process any easier. When you have no idea where to begin, the last thing you want to do is slog through thousands of alphabetized names with no direction in sight.

You need inspiration! So we’ve selected six hot baby-naming styles and chosen hip names that define each category. Use these styles to get you going—focus on the one or two genres that fit your sensibility, and take it from there. Chances are good that you’ll find your winner here!

 
Classic Cool
 
 

  • Girls: Allison, Anna, Caroline, Claire, Diana, Elizabeth, Emily, Eva, Eve, Helen, Isabel, Jane, Joanna, Julia, Kate, Lucy, Margaret, Nora, Rachel, Sarah
  • Boys: Alex, Christian, Daniel, George, Hank, Jack, James, Joe, Leo, Luke, Marc, Max, Nathan, Neil, Nick, Paul, Peter, Scott, Thomas, Will.
Vintage-y

  • Girls: Ada, Adeline, Alice, Audrey, Camila, Dorothea, Eliza, Gertrude, Jewel, Mabel, Mae, Maeve, Maisie, Mattie, Maude, Rhea, Rose, Ruby, Sadie, Sylvie
  • Boys: Asa, Atticus, Ben, Blake, Eli, Felix, Frank, Fred, Gregory, Harry, Henry, Jonas, Lyle, Malcolm, Noah, Noel, Theo, Tucker, Tyler, Wade

Sweet Girl

  • Ava, Bella, Camille, Clara, Ella, Emma, Eve, Fiona, Gabriella, Gina, Hannah, Hayley, Isabel, Lynn, Mae, Mia, Meredith, Ruthie, Theresa, Trudy
Bookish Appeal

  • Girls: Charlotte, Emily, Isak, Jamaica, Maxine
  • Boys: Aldous, Cormac, Graham, Irving, Thornton

Rockers

  • Girls: Aimee, Alicia, Avril, Britney, Chrissie, Feist, Fiona, Gwen, India, Janis, Joni, Joss, Lauryn, Lucinda, Missy, Neko, Nico, Nina, Shakira, Tori
  • Boys: Angus, Bruce, Cash, Devendra, Elliott, Elton, Gavin, Kanye, Keith, Kurt, Lou, Marvin, Mick, Neil, Prince, Ringo, Thom, Trent, Van, Willie

Avant-Garde (Unisex)

  • Abilene, Auburn, Aza, Brooklyn, Chakara, Destry, Gervaise, Hale, Heaven, Jazz, Jupiter, Kiel, Legend, Lynx, Quenby, Romy, Shiloh, Steel, Vrai, Zephyr

Find the meanings of your favorite names.

4 readers liked this story.
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05.27.2009
Malphaer
Most of these were taken from names of famous people. However, I'm very happy you didnt mention John/Jon/Johnny/Johnathan/Jonathan/etc. Too many people are named some variant of John and the name and its variants are becoming generic.
Wow - what a list. Baby naming has become a lot more complicated hasn't it! In our family we keep it simple. Maybe simple will be the next new trend ...
It feels good to write.

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