The Art of Naming

The letter N kicks off the 2nd half of the alphabet and the names are noticeably a bit more difficult to choose and narrow down. The tail end of the alphabet tends to contain more difficult letters. However, I did happen to find some of the very best options available that start with N!

There seems to be a few solid names that start with this letter and many unusual options that don't rank very high on the popularity charts. Compiling this list was tricky, but I've put together the 25 best girl names that start with the letter N, and 25 names for boys too!

Is N one of your favorite letters for names or do you have a hard time with it like I do? Take a look at the names I've picked and let me know if there are any great ones that I missed.

Nadia                Nadine Naima Nancy Naomi Natalia Natalie Natasha Nellie Neve Nia Niamh Nicole Nicolette Nikita Nila Nina Noa Noe Noelle Noemi Nola Nora Nova Nyx

Nash Nathan Nathaniel Naveen Neal Ned Nehemiah Neil Nevin Newman Niall Nicholas Nico Nigel Nikolai Niles Nixon Noah Noam Noble Noel Nolan Norman Norris Nyle

What are your favorite names that start with this letter? Perhaps you have more favorites than I do. Share your thoughts in the comments below!  And be sure to use the following links to browse more names!

When something is "whimsical" it is defined as "playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way."

When applied to names, I would consider these to be names that are a bit out of the ordinary. Something that you don't quite hear everyday but when you do hear it, you can't help but feel drawn to it.

Our featured boy name is Milo. It comes to us from our previous article that featured The Very Best M Names for Boys and Girls.


The origin of the name Milo is not fully known. Milo has been listed as being both Latin and Old Germanic. Sometimes it is said that it is a form of Miles, but it seems more likely that Milo came first.

According to Behind the Name, it's possible that Milo came from the Medieval Slavic name Milu from which names like Milan, Milena, Ludmila, and Miloslav come. It makes sense that Milo would be related to these names but apparently it isn't certain.

What we do know is that the name Miles came from the Germanic name Milo which was introduced to England by the Normans. The confusing part is that Milo is listed as the "Old Germanic form of Miles as well as the Latinized form." So according to Behind the Name, Milo gave rise to Miles which gave rise to Milo.

Either way, this name dates back to the Middle Ages where it was found being used in official documents. If it does indeed come from the Slavic name Milu, then it would mean "gracious". If it is associated with the Latin word "miles" then Milo would mean "soldier".

These days, Milo is a favorite among celebrities and the Nameberry community. It ranked as the 11th most popular name according to Nameberry's list they generate based on their pageviews.

In the US, though, Milo isn't quite that popular yet. Milo has been in consistent usage since records were first kept in 1880. It had a popularity boost from roughly 1913 thru the mid-1930s before it declined a bit.

Only recently has it started rocketing up the charts, joining the Top 1000 names in 2001. Now by 2014, Milo ranks at #311 with 1,109 male births. There were even 10 females births.

If you're interested in using this name, here are some sibling name ideas and middle name ideas for you:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Adele, Emily, Lily, Matilda, Rosalie, Sadie, Zoey
Brothers: August, Ezra, Henry, Julian, Lucas, Oliver, Zane

Middle Name Ideas:
Milo Alexander
Milo Carter
Milo James
Milo Nathaniel
Milo Sebastian
Milo Vaughn

As a Middle Name:
Barnaby Milo
Dominic Milo
Jasper Milo
Robert Milo
Thaddeus Milo
Vincent Milo

What are your favorite name pairings with Milo?

The letter M seems to be regarded as one of the more favored letters when it comes to baby names.

After browsing the list below, you'll understand why people like it!

There are so many great options available in this letter that it was difficult to narrow down the choices to just 25 names for girls and 25 names for boys!

Have you ever met someone whose name is also a word? I knew a man named Grant who didn't seem to flinch when someone used the word grant in a sentence. It's interesting that there can be such a difference in our minds between hearing the word and hearing the name.

Do you know anyone who has one of the following word names? Can you think of more that weren't listed below?

Angel              Archer Arrow Atlas Bishop Blue Brave Chance Christian Clay Cobalt Drew Ever Free Gene Grant Harbor Hunter Justice King Lance Mark Maverick Max

Miles Noble Oak Ocean Pace Page Parker Patriot Prince Ranger Ray River Roman Seven Sterling True Vale Valor Van Victor Viridian West Wilder Woody

Which is your favorite word name? Have you used any of these for your child? Do you plan to?

The letter L is a very important letter. It can not only be found within many of today's most popular names, but it also has plenty of great options as a starting letter.

Are you a fan of L? If so, you may just love this list! I have compiled 25 of the very best L names for girls and the 25 for boys!

However, just like all the other articles like this, the names are listed alphabetically. I did not rank them from best to worst or favorite to least favorite.

These are simply 50 of the best L names that I could find that I think would suit a modern American child.  While there are plenty of other L names out there, these are the ones that I liked the most.

What are your favorite names on the list below?

Lacey                        Lana Lara Lauren Lavinia Layla Leah Leigh Leila Leonora Leticia Lilah Liliana Lily Lindsay Linnea Liv Lola London Lorelei Louise Lucy Luna Lydia Lyric

Lachlan Lance Landon Lawrence Leander Lee Leif Leland Lennon Leo Leonardo Leonidas Leopold Leroy Levi Lewis Liam Liev Lincoln Linus Logan Lorcan Lorenzo Louis Lucas

Did I choose your favorites or did I miss a few that you think should be included?  Share your Top 50 in the comments if you'd like! Or feel free to browse the links below to view the best names starting with other letters.

<-- The Very Best K Names for Boys and Girls ||| The Very Best M Names for Boys and Girls -->

As you may know, here in the US the Social Security Administration tallies up the names of all the babies born within a year and reveals which names were most popular. While there are clearly thousands of parents who are happy using popular names, there are also parents who would rather avoid them.

For those parents who may secretly like the sound of the top names but hate their popularity, I've created a list of alternative options to the Top 10 names for boys. The names may be similar in sound, syllables, initial letter, meaning, origin or a combination of those. None of the alternate names below rank on the SSA's Top 1000 most popular names chart in 2014.

Today's featured name comes from the list of The Very Best K Names for Boys and Girls. This one actually happens to be unisex these days but it will be mainly presented for males in this article, (hence the blue below).


The Kai that I'm most familiar with is the Hawaiian name that means "sea". This is the one being featured here.  Other possible meanings for this name include "forgiveness" in Japanese, "food" in Maori and "willow tree" in Navajo.

Kai is also considered a diminutive for names like Gerhard, Nicolaas, Cornelis and Gaius/Caius. It is also a feminine variant of Kaja which comes from Katarina.

Internationally, Kai ranks well! It is actually doing better in other countries for boys than it is in the US. However, we're the only country that has a ranking for this name as a feminine one.

This is how Kai ranked in the US:
Boy: 2,387 births (#177)
Girl: 262 births (#1000)

This means the name's unisex ratio is 90% boy / 10% girl based on the births for 2014.

In England/Wales, Kai recently ranked at #64 for boys. Canada (BC) ranked it at #36; it was #69 in Australia, #85 in Ireland, #65 in Northern Ireland, #55 in Scotland, and #121 in the Netherlands. These are the most recent rankings I found so they may vary a bit today.

The name Kaia is a feminine form of Kai that's also ranking well at #551 in the US.

What do you think of the name Kai? It is short and sweet and definitely carries that Hawaiian vibe which gives the name warmth and an exotic feel. It is handsome and cool, bold but not unusual. Are you considering it?  If so, here are a few ideas for sibling names and middle names for Kai:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Aria, Kamilah, Leilani, Milana, Noa, Sienna, Zoey
Brothers: Arlo, Finnian, Jude, Milo, Orion, River, Silas

Middle Name Ideas:
Kai Elliott
Kai Hawthorn
Kai Julian
Kai Sebastian
Kai Thackeray
Kai Valentine

As a Middle Name:
Evander Kai
Lachlan Kai
Nathaniel Kai
Remington Kai
Samuel Kai
William Kai

Kacy                                     Kaia Kalista Kalliope Kara Karen Karissa Kassandra Kassidy Katarina Kate Katelyn Katherine Kathleen Katrina Kayla Kayley Keira Kelly Kendra Keturah Khloe Kiersten Kimberly Kristina

Kade Kai Kaleb Karl Kato Kayden Keagan Keanu Keaton Keenan Keith Kellan Kelvin Kendall Kenneth Kevin Kiefer Kieran Killian Kingston Knox Kolton Kory Kristopher Kyle

Did I miss any of your favorites? Or perhaps K isn't your letter after all. If not, don't worry, there are 25 more letters to explore and we've already covered quite a few! Use the links below to browse the other letters!

Last month we discovered which names were most favored by America in 2014. As you know, Emma and Noah were ranked at #1.  Have you ever wondered which unisex names are the most popular?

The SSA doesn't make a separate list for unisex names. It's up to us to determine which names are used for both boys and girls.

If you saw my previous article regarding the boy-to-girl ratios of every unisex name within the Top 1000, you'll see that some names are used more often for one gender than the other, yet some names are very evenly used.

So how can we determine which unisex names are the most popular based on this information?

Since there are two genders, it's a bit complicated to determine the exact popularity, especially since I was taking into account the boy-to-girl ratios of the names, the number of births for each gender, and the rank assigned to the names by the Social Security Administration..

While determining which unisex names are the most popular across the genders, my dilemma was whether or not to include the barely-unisex names like Logan (94% male) or Harper (97% female). In the end, I did include those.

I ranked the Top 10 Unisex Names of 2014 based on the list of names and their data from my previous article. All data ultimately came straight from the SSA's list.

There was much debate and number crunching, but I chose to simplify things by averaging the sum of boy/girl ranks with the "most popular" names having the smallest numbers. Here's the top 10 that I came up with:

1. Avery
In every data crunching method that I toyed with, Avery was without a doubt the most-used unisex name by both genders. At #13 for girls and #186 for boys, Avery is definitely popular. It comes from a surname that may have been derived from either Alberich or Alfred, both names having a meaning related to elves. Because of that, Avery is generally said to mean "Elf Ruler".

2. Riley
Our second most popular unisex name is Riley which also comes from a surname. It actually has two origins. As an Irish surname, it's a variant of Reilly whose meaning is unknown; and as an English surname, it comes from a place name that refers to a "rye clearing". In 2014, Riley ranked at #47 for girls and #173 for boys.

3. Peyton
Between Peyton and Payton, this name is getting a lot of usage for girls. However, the boys still like it too. Peyton in particular is 71% girl but when you average both ranks, it becomes our #3 unisex name.  It came in at #56 for girls and #210 for boys which are respectable ranks! Peyton comes from an English surname which came from a place name meaning "Paega's town".

4. Jordan
Both Jordan and Jordyn have usage as unisex names within the Top 1000. While Jordyn is 91% girl, Jordan is 84% boy. Since we are only considering Jordan here as our #4 unisex name, it's interesting to note that it ranked at #55 for boys and #247 for girls. This name is generally based on the Jordan River near Israel.

5. Parker
This one surprised me a bit. It feels very masculine but it is being given to girls with increased frequency now. 20% of all Parkers born in 2014 were female, which is up from 17% in 2013. It ranked at #73 for boys and #235 for girls last year!  Parker is an English occupational surname that refers to a "keeper of the park".

6. Hayden
From an English surname, Hayden is derived from place names meaning "hay valley" or "hay hill". This name has a decent split of 63% boy and 37% girl. It ranks at #142 for boys and #199 for girls which makes them both reasonably popular. That's why this name is our #6 unisex name for 2014!

7. Angel
Following closely behind Hayden in terms of the rank averages, Angel is well used for both genders primarily in the Hispanic community.  It's more popular for a boy with 84% of all Angels being male. It ranks at #67 for boys and #275 for girls in 2014. The name is based on the heavenly creatures and means "messenger" in Greek.

8. Alexis
From a Greek name meaning "defender", Alexis is our 8th most popular unisex name in 2014. It ranks higher for girls at #64 but the boys hold their own at #302. The boys actually gained 2% from 2013 in the boy-to-girl ratio of usage.

9. Logan
This name is predominantly used by boys and ranked at #13 in 2014 with over 13 thousand births. However, it also ranked at #391 for girls which is actually quite high despite there being only 828 female births. Logan is unisex even though it has a 94/6 boy-to-girl ratio.  It is a surname meaning "little hollow" which relates to a place in Scotland.

10. Dylan
Similar to Logan, this name has a 93/7 boy-to-girl ratio. Dylan came in at #29 for boys in 2014 while it ranked #394 for girls. In the end, there were over 10 thousand male Dylans and just over 800 females.  This Welsh name meaning "great tide" ranks at #10 on this list!

What do you think of my top 10 list? Would you have crunched the numbers differently? If so, share your methods in the comments below! 

Welcome to our annual list of unisex names. This is where we analyze the gender ratios of each name. Some of these may not truly classify as a true "unisex name" because they will swing very heavily to one side or the other.

I chose to include some names like that because it is worth mentioning, especially if it ranked at 3% last year and now ranks at 5%. That means the name is beginning to gain more popularity for the minority gender.

Over time, it could continue to change and become more of a 20/80 thing and perhaps later a 40/60 thing. Wouldn't you like to be able to guess these things in advance if its a name you're pondering for a future child?

There have been many cases where a name was traditionally male and it was then slowly taken over by the girls. Some of those formerly male names are now considered completely female. Names evolve. If we can catch them in the act, well, I think it would be exciting.

I'm only mentioning all of this because last year I got comments regarding my monitoring of names like Ryan that were only given to 3% of girls. Yes, that does not mean that Ryan is a unisex name through and through. BUT it means that Ryan could potentially gain more usage for females over time and end up becoming a true unisex name.

Take a look at the current trend in Hollywood.  It seems like every other week we're hearing about a new celebrity baby girl being given a masculine name. While it may or may not catch on with mainstream parents right now, it could happen eventually. Things seem to be moving that way already and you never know what the future of naming might bring!

Here are some more examples of celebrity baby girls who were given traditionally masculine names:

Wyatt (Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher)
Lincoln (Kristin Bell & Dax Shepherd)
James (Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds)
Ryan (Haylie Duff)
Maxwell (Jessica Simpson)
Hunter (Kevin Rahm)
Casper (Jason Lee)
Mason & Spencer (Kelsey Grammer)

There are likely many more examples of these. Now we are going to take a look at all of the potentially unisex names in the Top 1000.

Mostly Female Usage:

First, the following are the names that swing more toward the female side, meaning they have 60% or more usage for girls with 40% or less for boys.

Harper: 3% boy / 97% girl                   Boy: 327 births (#728) Girl: 9,564 births (#11) Avery: 19% boy / 81% girl Boy: 2,269 births (#186) Girl: 9,517 births (#13) Riley: 34% boy / 66% girl Boy: 2,429 births (#173) Girl: 4,761 births (#47) Skylar: 8% boy / 92% girl Boy: 409 births (#637) Girl: 4,732  births (#48) Peyton: 29% boy / 71% girl Boy: 1,828 births (#210) Girl: 4,426 births (#56) Alexis: 22% boy / 78% girl Boy: 1,172 births (#302) Girl: 4,188 births (#64) Taylor: 15% boy / 85% girl Boy: 691 births (#435) Girl: 3,782 births (#77) London: 12% boy / 88% girl Boy: 433 births (#611) Girl: 3,264 births (#93) Morgan: 12% boy / 88% girl Boy: 402 births (#650) Girl: 2,984 births (#101) Reagan: 7% boy / 93% girl Boy: 205 births (#999) Girl: 2,882 births (#106) Rylee: 8% boy / 92% girl Boy: 247 births (#877) Girl: 2,753 births (#113) Quinn: 25% boy / 75% girl Boy: 868 births (#363) Girl: 2,539 births (#126) Jordyn: 9% boy / 91% girl Boy: 239 births (#895) Girl: 2,533 births (#127) Kendall: 11% boy / 89% girl Boy: 310 births (#754) Girl: 2,432 births (#131) Ariel: 12% boy / 88% girl Boy: 319 births (#738) Girl: 2,419 births (#133) Payton: 14% boy / 86% girl Boy: 406 births (#644) Girl: 2,397 births (#134)

Eden: 17% boy / 83% girl Boy: 447 births (#601) Girl: 2,117 births (#151) Emery: 15% boy / 85% girl Boy: 361 births (#687) Girl: 2,026 births (#161) Reese: 17% boy / 83% girl Boy: 403 births (#648) Girl: 1,960 births (#165) Emerson: 39% boy / 61% girl Boy: 1,048 births (#324) Girl: 1,670 births (#196) Marley: 14% boy / 86% girl Boy: 273 births (#821) Girl: 1,643 births (#202) Finley: 36% boy / 64% girl Boy: 829 births (#374) Girl: 1,498 births (#223) Teagan: 14% boy / 86% girl Boy: 212 births (#979) Girl: 1,272 births (#253) Lyric: 17% boy / 83% girl Boy: 255 births (#860) Girl: 1,210 births (#271) Harley: 30% boy / 70% girl Boy: 407 births (#641) Girl: 940 births (#349) Kamryn: 20% boy / 80% girl Boy: 216 births (#967) Girl: 850 births (#380) Sage: 32% boy / 68% girl Boy: 399 births (#654) Girl: 834 births (#388) Tatum: 36% boy / 64% girl Boy: 462 births (#592) Girl: 828 births (#392) Jamie: 32% boy / 68% girl Boy: 292 births (#786) Girl: 633 births (#489) Leighton: 30% boy / 70% girl Boy: 240 births (#893) Girl: 568 births (#540) Jessie: 36% boy / 64% girl Boy: 280 births (#809) Girl: 504 births (#587) Emory: 40% boy / 60% girl Boy: 252 births (#868) Girl: 373 births (#743)

The most popular unisex name, meaning the name with the most usage across both genders, is Avery with over 9 thousand births for girls and 2 thousand for boys. This means they both rank well at #13 and #186 respectively.  Both Skylar and Skyler are gaining for the girls whereas Tatum, Finley, Alexis  Kendall, and Morgan have shifted toward the boys' side.

While everyone will have differing opinions about which are The Very Best J Names for Boys and Girls, I'm sure many can agree that Juno is an interesting and unique choice!


The feminine name Juno is very mythological. The ancient Roman goddess was a daughter of Saturn, the wife (and sister!) of the Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. She was the goddess of marriage and childbirth and often looked after the women of Rome. Juno was also the Queen of the Gods, known as "Regina" which means Queen. Her Greek equivalent is the goddess Hera.

The meaning of the name Juno is generally thought to be unknown but some speculate that it is related to an Indo-European root word that means "youth".  Juno is a variation of the Roman name Iuno. Other related names are Iunius, Junius, Iunia, and Junia.

As a name, Juno isn't very used in the US. It randomly charted way back in 1919 with 6 births and it wasn't heard from again until 1996.

This name really wasn't on anyone's radar until the popular Indie film Juno came out in 2007. There were only 7 girls with this name in 2006, but because of the film, 11 girls were given the name Juno in 2007 and 33 in 2008.

It has continued to slowly inch up the charts after that with a peak of 61 births in 2011. As of 2014, though, the name Juno has declined a bit to only 49 births for the year.

Interestingly, this name is also being used for boys despite the strong association with the goddess. It actually had more births in 2007 for a boy than for a girl but it didn't get a usage boost after that. It wasn't given to boys at all in 2010 but the year 2014 had 15 boys named Juno.

While I've seen this name get thrown around the baby naming community quite a bit, it has yet to catch on with mainstream America. However, that's probably a good thing because Juno can continue to remain a rare gem for the time being. If you are interested in using this unranked and unusual name, your child will be one of a kind in their school.

Here are some ideas for sibling names and middle names for Juno:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Aurora, Diana, Iris, Maren, Portia, Viola
Brothers: Antony, Damon, Fabian, Lucian, Marcus, Theon

Middle Name Ideas:
Juno Cecily
Juno Cordelia
Juno Eleanor
Juno Harper
Juno Violet

As a Middle Name:
Amelia Juno
Evelyn Juno
Liliana Juno
Michaela Juno
Victoria Juno

What do you think of Juno as a name? Would you use it for a boy? What middle name would you pair with it? Share your thoughts in the comments! 

Photo credit: "Juno sospita pushkin" by shakko - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

There seems to be such a plethora of choices for the letter J that it was difficult to narrow them down. Do you agree? Perhaps this was just a tough letter for me.

Throughout this alphabetical name series, have you come across a letter that gave you a hard time narrowing down the names to just 25 for girls and 25 for boys?

The opposite can be true, too, if a letter doesn't have nearly enough lovely choices to fill up the list. What are your problem letters?

I hope you'll enjoy this compilation of the very best names that start with the letter J. Do you agree with the ones that I chose? If not, which would you remove and what would you replace them with?

Jacqueline                 Jade Jane Jasmine Jayla Jeanne Jemima Jenna Jennifer Jessica Jillian Joan Jocelyn Joelle Johanna Jolie Jordan Josephine Joy Judith Juliana Juliet June Juniper Juno

Jack Jacob James Jared Jason Jasper Jayden Jeffrey Jeremiah Jesse Joaquin Joel Johannes John Jonah Jonathan Jordan Joseph Joshua Josiah Jovan Judah Jude Julian Justin

How do you like these J names? Share all of your thoughts in the comments below! And don't forget to click the links at the bottom for more alphabetical names!

<-- The Very Best I Names for Boys and Girls ||| The Very Best K Names for Boys and Girls -->

The list of The Very Best I Names for Boys and Girls offered plenty of interesting choices.  This week is the boys turn for a featured name and the options were hard to choose from. In the end, Ignatius was the victor.


The name Ignatius comes from the Roman family name Egnatius. Originally, Egnatius had an unknown meaning from the ancient Etruscan origin. As time went on, the spelling was altered so it would be similar to the Latin word ignis which means "fire". Because of this, the Etruscan Egnatius became the Latin Ignatius and inherited itself a meaning.

There were several saints named Ignatius. The most well-known St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) was the founder of the Jesuits. Interestingly, his birth name was Íñigo which is sometimes regarded as a form of Ignatius, but it is probably just because of its association with this saint.  (Inigo was also one of our featured I names that I nearly chose. It is Spanish but comes from the name Eneko which is derived from Basque elements. It doesn't seem to actually relate to Ignatius.) Inigo is a great alternative, though, if you like Ignatius but think it is a bit too big of a name for your tastes.

Now that Ignatius means fire, it is certainly a red-hot choice for bold namers. It has several variants in other languages including the Spanish Ignacio, the Italian Ignazio, the German Ignatz, the Portuguese Inácio, the Dutch Ignaas, the Russian Ignatiy and more.  Iggy, Nate or Natius (nay-shus) seem to be popular nicknames for Ignatius while the Spanish Ignacios can sometimes be called Nacio or Nacho for short.  There's also Ignacia for a girl who could potentially go by Nancy.

How does this international name rank in the US? Ignatius has been steadily in use since 1885.  It had the most usage in terms of births per year in 1920 when the name was given to 97 boys. It declined in usage after that, not even ranking in 1980 at all.

However, Ignatius is slowly climbing back up the charts, possibly receiving a tiny revival along with other more popular Latin -us names like Atticus or Maximus. Ignatius was given to 40 boys in 2014 for a ranking of #2896. So it isn't in the Top 1000 names but it is being used. It would be a unique choice for a modern boy!

What do you think of this name? Do you like Ignatius or one of the variants better?  If you're considering this name, here are some ideas for siblings and middle names:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Aurelia, Clementina, Juliana, Olympia, Serena, Sybil, Valentina
Brothers: Augustus, Casimir, Dominic, Florian, Octavian, Roman, Virgil

Middle Name Ideas:
Ignatius Benedict
Ignatius Joseph
Ignatius Matthew
Ignatius Vincent

As a Middle Name:
Arlo Ignatius
Henry Ignatius
Jonathan Ignatius
Robert Ignatius

This name is a bit difficult to pair up but it seems to work best as a middle name with a 2 syllable more-traditional first name. Henry Ignatius and Robert Ignatius are my favorites. However I couldn't resist going with Ignatius Benedict despite how very saint/pope it is. What would you pair Ignatius with?  Share your thoughts below!

The letter I  is an interesting letter. Since it is a vowel, it feels like there should be plenty of popular options like the letters A and E seem to have, but it is actually home to a number of unusual and under-the-radar choices.

The brand new Social Security Administration list of the most popular baby names in 2014 is here! For the first time since 2008, Emma has reclaimed the throne, surpassing both Sophia and Olivia! On the boy's side, Noah has held onto his popularity another year even though many were speculating that #2 Liam would take it.

Here are the new Top 10 for each gender!


I thought Sophia would have continued her streak at #1 again this year, only possibly being unseated by Olivia. I was right about Olivia surpassing Sophia, but I didn't see Emma coming to claim the throne again after only being #1 once in 2008.  Charlotte made her way into the Top 10 by knocking Elizabeth out of the ring. With the birth of the new princess, Charlotte will probably continue to rise, potentially being #1 within the next 5 years! Any thoughts?


My guess was that Liam would take #1 but Noah holds on to the throne another year! Mason surpasses Jacob, and James takes Jayden's place! The names this year are all rather classic and traditional. These are solid names. I've seen some people complaining that they're all a bit boring. For example, Elijah was #11 again, so close to cracking the Top 10 for the first time and mixing things up. Maybe next year!

Imagine for a moment that you've got a situation like the Duggar Family but your favorite letter is H.

It can be difficult to find one name that you like, but to find many names that all start with one letter? That would be quite the challenge!

You may not end up with 19 kids like the Duggars, but if you were to opt for using all H names, this list happens to contain the 50 best H-Names around!

With 25 girl names and 25 boy names, this list should offer more than enough options for your family of Hs.

In the comments below, be sure to share which names you like most that start with the letter H.

Did your favorites make the list?

Hadassah                             Hadley Hailey Halle Hannah Harlow Harmony Harper Harriet Hattie Havana Hayden Heather Heidi Helen Helena Heloise Hermione Hilary Hollis Holly Honor Honora Hope Hyacinth

Hadrian Hamish Hans Harley Harper Harris Harrison Harry Harvey Haven Hayes Heath Hendrix Henley Henry Holden Horatio Howard Huckleberry Hudson Hugh Hugo Humphrey Hunter Huxley

Are there any that you would remove? If so, what would you replace it with?

Today's featured name comes straight from our list of The Very Best G Names for Boys and Girls. It is a handsome choice that feels somewhat under-the-radar but is certainly climbing up the charts.



Graham is a Scottish surname which was derived from the English place name Grantham. This name is likely to  mean "gravelly homestead" in Old English.  There is a bit of a debate surrounding the pronunciation of this name but this mostly differs based on accents. Americans tend to say "gram" whereas those in the UK and elsewhere might say "gray-um". Both are correct, it just depends on where you live and what you prefer. How do you say it?

Graham first appeared as a surname in Scotland in the 12th century. It was worn by Baron William de Graham of Norway. Another famous Graham was Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922) who is credited with inventing the telephone.

While the name Graham has been in use since name statistics were first recorded in the US, it has really caught on with modern parents. Graham's first uphill climb on the popularity charts occurred around 1980. 2008 saw another boost in usage. Now in 2013, there were 1,876 boys named Graham for a ranking of #203. It may just break into the #100s in 2014.

Since this name has different possible pronunciations, it would also have different numbers of syllables. This would then have an affect on which middle names you might pair with it.  Gram or Gray-um? One syllable or two? What would flow best with each? Here are some ideas:

Gram:
Middle Name Ideas:
Graham Douglas
Graham Everett
Graham Riley
Graham Thomas
Graham Wesley

As a Middle Name:
Austin Graham
Jonathan Graham
Lincoln Graham
Oliver Graham
Vincent Graham

Gray-um:
Middle Name Ideas:
Graham Alexander
Graham Bennett
Graham Jasper
Graham Ross
Graham Theodore

As a Middle Name:
Eli Graham
Henry Graham
Noah Graham
Simon Graham
Robert Graham

Sibling Name Ideas for Either:
Sisters: Aria, Camilla, Elsie, Fiona, Lucy, Nora, Olivia, Vivian
Brothers: Asher, Duncan, Kenneth, Lachlan, Patrick, Reid, Trevor, Vaughn

What do you think of the name Graham? Is it on your list?

If you're determined to find the perfect name that begins with the letter G, you've come to the right place. There's no need to browse through every G name in existence when the best of the best are listed right here for you! Below are 25 great G names for girls and 25 for boys, too!

If you were to name all of your children with a G name, which names would you choose? Are there any G names that you like more than these that you wish made the cut? Which would you remove from the list? Share all of your thoughts in the comments below!

Gabrielle                 Gaia Gemma Genesis Geneva Genevieve Georgia Georgina Gertrude Ghislaine Giada Gianna Gillian Ginger Giovanna Giselle Giulia Gloria Grace Greer Gretchen Guinevere Gwen Gwendolyn Gwyneth

Gabriel Gage Gaius Gareth Garrett Garth Gary Gavin Gentry Geoffrey George Gerald Gerard Gianni Gideon Giovanni Gordon Graham Grant Gregory Greyson Griffin Grover Gulliver Gus

If G isn't your letter, perhaps you'd enjoy one of our previous articles. Be sure to click the back arrow below to view A-F. Or you can wait until the next article comes out and features the best H names!

<-- The Very Best F Names for Boys and Girls |||  The Very Best H Names for Boys and Girls -->

There are many names out there that contain double-letters within them. This is a collection of the very best of these names per letter of the alphabet for boys. Some letters have limited options and others don't have any because it just doesn't work in accordance with the alphabet and the English language.

Compiled below are the most attractive names per double-letter. The catch is that each letter has been limited to ten names. There may be more options out there but for the sake of space, they aren't all included on this list.

The following names are some of the better options available. If you're in search of a double-lettered name, this list is for you!:

A:
Aaden, Aaron, Canaan, Isaac

B:
Abbott, Bobby, Cobb, Gibb, Gibby, Robb, Robby, Webb

C:
Breccan, Lucca, McCoy, Morocco, Niccolo, Rocco, Zacchaeus

D:
Addison, Eddie, Freddie, Judd, Madden, Maddox, Teddy, Thaddeus, Todd, Vadden

E:
Creed, Keegan, Keenan, Lee, Leeland, Reed, Reese, Reeve, Seeley, Tennessee

F:
Christoffer, Geoffrey, Griffin, Heathcliff, Jefferson, Jeffrey, Kristoff, Raffaello, Rafferty, Steffan

G:
Briggs, Diggory, Gregg, Iggy, Jagger, Reggie, Taggart, Viggo, Ziggy

K:
Mikkel, Mikko, Nikko