The Art of Naming

The baby name Dagny is our featured name, taken from our list of names ending with the letters "-ny". Dagny is an Old Norse name for females. It comes from Dagný, which was derived from the elements dagr meaning "day" and ný meaning "new". If you ask me, "new day" is an adorable meaning, and it would be especially sentimental on a rainbow baby. It is often used in Scandinavian countries, including Iceland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.  Another form includes the Latvian Dagnija. This name first appeared on record in the US in 1893. It has never had significant popularity and it has never been commonly used. If you're looking for a truly rare name, Dagny is a safe bet.  The most births in a single year that were earned by Dagny is 80 in 2013, which is its highest popularity peak on record. There were only 37 girls named Dagny in 2016. This name has never ranked within the Top 1000 in the US. It did rank in Iceland in 2007 at #75. It ...

This series explores different names ending with -y. We've already seen quite a few. Today we'll look at the many interesting and unusual names that end with the letters "-ny". Girls: Adrianny Albany Aleny Anny Aubuiny Audny Bethany Betony Bonny Borgny Briony Britany Britny Brittany Brittny Bryony Bunny Christany Dagny Delany Destiny Devany Devony Ebony Elleny Epiphany Estefany Evany Evony Fanny Franny Genny Ginny Giverny Harmony Henny Idony Janny Jenny Jessany Jinny Khyany Kiffany Kilmeny Linny Mahogany Marigny Marny Melany Melony Oddny Penny Peony Rainy Romany Sidony Signy Steffany Stephany Sunny Symphony Tawny Tiffany Tiffiny Tinny Tiny Tiphany Yolany Boys: Anthony Antony Benny Berthony Danny Denny Donny Giovanny Johnny Jonny Jovanny Jovany Kenny Lanny Lemony Lenny Lonny Manny Ronny Sonny Sunny Tony Vinny Are there any names on this list that you would consider usin...

Creating a great first and middle name combination takes some practice. Some people have a very hard time with it and others are rather skilled at it! If you’d like to improve your naming skills, I thought I’d provide a few examples to show my step-by-step thought process for pairing two names together. Here is a list of names that work well together. You could either use these as inspiration or actually take and use them for your child. This list of names is based on two specific styles that I like. The first names are all “ancient” names and the middles are more on the traditional, vintage side. I picked out five of my favorites to show you: Amabel Grace Sabrina Ruby Sibyl Josephine Viviana Pearl Francesca Ivy 1. Amabel is a medieval name that has never caught on in modern times. Short form Mabel was popular in the 1880s and early 1900s but it is now considered a vintage name that is beginning to be revived again. Amabel is an obscure choice but it soun...

Creating a great first and middle name combination should take some serious thought and a little bit of research. The more effort that goes into it, the better the name will be, usually. I thought I’d provide a few examples to show my step-by-step thought process for pairing two names together. Here are five boy names that flow well together. The first names are of the “ancient” style and the middle names are classic, traditional choices. Atticus William Dante Oliver Apollo James Cyrus Alexander Dominic Theodore 1. Atticus comes from a Roman name that means "from Attica" in Latin, which is a location in Greece. It has a solid background in that area of the world and in history because of a couple philosophers who had the name. Atticus has only been used in the US in the past thirty years or so, breaking into the Top 1000 in 2004. William, on the other hand, also has a very strong history in the form of kings and poets and authors. It has been used i...

I occasionally play video games with my husband. We enjoy what's called "massively multiplayer online role-playing games" or MMORPGs. These games connect us with thousands of other players across the country (and sometimes around the world). If you aren't familiar with these kinds of games, that's fine, it isn't super important for the point of this post. Basically, you create a character, design them from their hair and eyes to what sort of armor they wear. You choose what kind of class or profession you want them to have, even what race or species you prefer. Then the best part comes next: choosing an interesting name for them. Some games will even offer guidelines that follow the lore behind the characters to help you decide on an appropriate name for them based on their story. Not everyone follows this, but I always do. Some people don't put any thought into it and come up with random words or phrases (like "Thats Odd") rather than an ...

If you are searching for a less-than-common name for a boy, this list has plenty of interesting and wearable options. We previously explored similar names from A-M.  The list below continues with the letters N-Z. If you're willing, choose 5 names from this list and pair them with a middle name of your choice to create an interesting sibling set! Post the results in the comment section below. Nash Nemo Nero Nico Niles Noam Noble Nova Nye Oberon Odin Olivander Orion Oslo Otto Ozias Pace Pasqual Pavel Pearce Penn Peregrine Philo Pippin Ptolemy Quade Quarry Quest Quill Quimby Quixley Rafael Ragnar Rasmus Remi Revere Rocco Rockwell Rolf Rune Sanders Sayer Severin Skandar Slater Soren Stark Stellan Sutton Tate Tavish Teague Thanos Thayer Theoden Thorsten Tobias Tomas Tyrion Ulrich Ulysses Upton Urban Usher Uziah Valentin Valor Vance Viggo Vulcan Ward Weston Whittier Wilder Wim Wolfe Wray Xanthus Xerxes ...

If you're looking for a name for a boy but you want something more unusual than most, try these for inspiration. Here you'll find 90 interesting names that are a bit outside the typical set of popular choices you hear everywhere today. Adler Alvar Andre Aramis Arlo Armin Arno Auden Augustin Axel Basil Bastian Benedict Benno Bram Brom Bruno Calix Casper Caspian Cato Conrad Constantine Corin Cosimo Cyan Cyril Dante Dashiell Diederick Dominic Dorian Eamon Edwin Elian Emery Emmerich Evander Fabian Felix Fergus Fletcher Fox Fritz Gael Gregor Gunnar Guthrie Havel Hawthorn Henning Hugo Indigo Isidor Ivo Iwan Jarlath Jasper Jaziel Jem Jericho Johan Jupiter Justice Kai Kasimir Keane Kennon Kit Knute Kylo Laird Larkin Leif Lemuel Leopold Levin Loic Luca Ludwig Lysander Marco Marius Matteo Maxim Mccoy Merrill Milan Murray Which of these names catch your eye? Choose five and give them interesting ...