Where they come from

Modern English coinages and surname-firsts that became given names. The pattern that produced Carter, Harper, and Mason.

Ace · Ainsley · Alicia · Alyssa · +212 more

From the Old Testament and the long arc of Jewish tradition. The deepest theophoric well in the corpus.

Aaliyah · Aaron · Abel · Abigail · +190 more

From ancient Rome and the Romance languages that grew from it. The roots most English-speaking parents recognize without knowing they do.

Ace · Adelina · Adrian · Adriana · +177 more

From Greek myth, the New Testament, and twenty-five centuries of philosophy. Names that come with a built-in story.

Adonis · Alani · Alayna · Alejandro · +120 more

From Iberian saints and the wider Spanish-speaking world. Many cross into broader US use as the country shifts.

Adan · Aitana · Alejandro · Alicia · +71 more

Anglo-Saxon roots that pre-date the Norman conquest. The earthy English layer underneath the Latinate one.

Addison · Arlo · Ashley · Ashton · +60 more

From Old Irish and the Gaelic tradition. Soft on the tongue, often with meanings rooted in the natural world.

Aidan · Aiden · Alana · Alanna · +58 more

From the Germanic tribes that shaped early medieval Europe. Strong consonants, often warrior-rooted meanings.

Ada · Adaline · Adalyn · Adalynn · +52 more

From modern French, often arriving through royal or literary channels. Elegant and a little chic.

Alaina · Andre · Arielle · Arlette · +49 more

From Italian saints, Renaissance scholars, and the Romance-language families that still favor them today.

Alessandra · Alessandro · Alessia · Andrea · +48 more

From the Quran, classical poetry, and the wider Muslim world. Flowing sounds and meanings of light, nobility, and devotion.

Aaliyah · Adhara · Aisha · Alaia · +44 more

From the Welsh language and its long literary tradition. Cousins to the Irish names but with their own sound.

Ariana · Arthur · Bowen · Brynlee · +21 more

From the Highlands and the clans, by way of Gaelic and old surnames. Rugged, mossy, and increasingly first-name material.

Ainsley · Alison · Anderson · Blaire · +20 more

From the islands, where lani means sky and kai means sea. Vowel-rich names that carry the ocean in them.

Ailani · Ailany · Alani · Aylani · +12 more

From the German-speaking heart of Europe. The same old Germanic roots, kept crisp and modern.

Adelyn · Adelynn · Alina · Alonzo · +11 more

Medieval French, often entering English with the Normans and then evolving alongside their Anglo-Saxon equivalents.

Adaline · Adeline · Alice · Allison · +8 more

From Persia and its poets and kings. Regal, lyrical names that have traveled the Silk Road for millennia.

Arya · Dariel · Esther · Jasmine · +7 more

From the ancient language of India and its epics. Luminous meanings, often tied to gods, light, and the cosmos.

Anaya · Arjun · Arya · Bodhi · +7 more

The Gaelic tongue of Scotland, behind clan names and Highland places. Where Cameron, Isla, and Finley come from.

Blair · Cameron · Colin · Finley · +7 more

From the Slavic languages of Eastern Europe. Bright, melodic names built on roots like mil, 'dear,' and mir, 'peace.'

Alina · Ivan · Lana · Luka · +6 more

Coined or popularized in the United States. Place names, inventions, and word names with a New World openness.

Alora · Brynlee · Dallas · Maverick · +5 more

From the old Celtic peoples of Britain and Ireland, before the languages split. The shared root beneath Irish, Welsh, and Scottish.

Alaina · Alan · Alana · Arthur · +4 more

From the Norse settlers, their sagas, and the languages that shaped English from the Danelaw onward.

Astrid · Eric · Freya · Oliver · +3 more

Brought to England in 1066 with William the Conqueror and rooted in English ever since.

Avery · Evelyn · Harvey · Mallory · +2 more

From Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Clean, sturdy names with a cool Nordic minimalism.

Axel · Bo · Gunner · Jensen · +2 more

From the Basque country in the western Pyrenees, a language older than any of its neighbors. Home of Xavier and Amaya.

Alaia · Amaya · Iker · Javier · +1 more

From the Netherlands, often surnames turned given names. The source of trendy picks like Skylar and Ryker.

Brooklyn · Hendrix · Kyler · Ryker · +1 more

From Japan, where a name's meaning lives in its characters. Nature, virtue, and myth in a few clean syllables.

Amaya · Kaizen · Kobe · Raiden · +1 more

From Portugal and Brazil. Romance-language warmth with its own soft, rolling music.

Amora · Jose · Pedro · Rio · +1 more

From the ancient Semitic language of the Near East, spoken in Jesus' time. The root behind Thomas and Silas.

Maryam · Silas · Tadeo · Thomas

Drawn from across the African continent and its many languages. Names tied to rivers, places, and heritage.

Kyaire · Zaire · Zyaire

From Russia and its literary giants. Soft diminutives and saints' names with an Eastern Orthodox lineage.

Anya · Kira · Nina

From East Africa's lingua franca, spoken across the coast and inland. Names like Zuri, 'beautiful,' and Kamari.

Kamari · Kobe · Zuri

From Denmark, crisp and Scandinavian. The home of Soren and Maren.

Maren · Soren

From the Indigenous peoples of North America. Place and nature names that carry the land's own words.

Dakota · Koda

From the Normans, the Norse-descended settlers of northern France who reshaped England after 1066.

Alison · Evelynn

From Norse myth and the old North. The gods, the sagas, and a fresh wave of Viking-inspired picks.

Erick · Odin

From Turkey and the Turkic world. Names like Ayla, 'moonlight,' bridging Europe and Asia.

Ayla · Aylin

From the oldest known Semitic language, written in cuneiform in ancient Mesopotamia. The root behind Lilith.

Lilith

Coined or popularized in Australia, often bright and easygoing.

Kylie

From Brittany in northwest France, a Celtic language carried across the Channel from Britain.

Harvey

From Chinese, where a name is chosen character by character. Often nature, virtue, or light.

Lian

From Cornwall, the Celtic tongue of England's far southwest, kin to Welsh and Breton.

Elowyn

The Germanic tongue of the Franks, who gave their name to France. Behind names like Louis.

Louis

From the Gaelic languages of Ireland and Scotland, behind soft, nature-rooted names.

Kylie

From the Guarani people of South America, a language still widely spoken in Paraguay and beyond.

Anahi

From the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. Names rich with blessing and meaning.

Amara

From the Maya civilizations of Mesoamerica and their living descendant languages.

Itzel

Invented names with no older root, born from sound and trend rather than history.

Ailany

From the langue d'oc of southern France, the language of the medieval troubadours.

Eleanor

The ancient tongue of the first Persian empire, behind royal names like Cyrus and Darius.

Cyrus

From Sweden, where the old Norse roots turned soft and modern.

Dahlia

From the Taino, the Indigenous people of the Caribbean, whose words crossed into English by way of Spanish.

Savannah

From the Tupi peoples of Brazil, whose words live on in names like Yara, the water spirit.

Yara

From the Zapotec people of Oaxaca in southern Mexico, one of Mesoamerica's oldest cultures.

Nayeli