Jada

Jada is really two names, sort of. The one that isn't used much--if at all-- is the masculine version. It comes from the Old Testament and according Behind the Name it is Hebrew for "He knows." Jada appears amongst all the begats in Chronicles, and is the son of Onam, and the father of Jether and Jonathan. The other version of Jada, (if you do want to consider it two names, rather than one rediscovered name given to the opposite gender,) is a derivative of Jade, which means just what you think it means--the precious stone jade. In this case Jada is almost exclusively a girl's name, while (interestingly) Jade is sometimes (rarely) given to boys. Jada has been gaining in popularity steadily since the early 1990's, and is currently a top 100 name. A major difference between Jade and Jada though is that while Jade can be looked at as a "classic" name--as "gem" names such as Pearl and Ruby--come into and go out of fashion fairly regularly, Jada is probably more of a "fad" name. Jada could possibly become a classic name, but it's more probable that when Jade goes out of fashion, Jada will as well. Jade will almost certainly come back into fashion at some point, while Jada might, but might not. Jada is a good name for a fantasy character--whether fictional or in a role-playing game. It'd also be a good name for a fictional character who is born between the 1990's and now. An alternate spelling, Jayda, is also used.

Kyle

Kyle is yet another of those surnames that is now used as a given name. It comes from a Gaelic word (caol) which means "narrow." That word was used as a geographical term to mean a channel or strait, which led to it being used a surname. I haven't found information yet on exactly when and where the name started to be used as a given name, but it was in use (for boys) at the beginning of the 1900's, made it to the top 100 in the 1970's, and has been there ever since. A few girls have been named Kyle, as well. These show up in the top 1000 in the 1950's, and again at the end of the 1980's. Why? In the 1980's it was probably because there was a fad for giving girls Gaelic or Celtic inspired names, regardless of the usual gender associated with the name. A comment by a reader at Behind the Name suggest that in the 1950's girls were named Kyle because of an Irish Soprano who appeared as a panelist on a game show. I'd assume that in her own case at least, the commenter is correct about the inspiration for her name--and probably for at least some, if not most of, the others. This is irrelevant, but since I'm writing this I'll mention it here anyway--Kyle is my favorite South Park character.

Matthew

Matthew comes ultimately from the Hebrew name Mattathia,which means "gift of God." The apostle Matthew was author of the first gospel of the New Testament. According to Ask Oxford's name dictionary, the name Jonathan comes from the same root, only reversed, so Matthew and Jonathan might be perfect names for a pair of twin boys. The name was used in the Middle Ages, and several surnames, including the obvious "Matthews" are derived from it. Matthew is currently going through a popularity spike; it has been a top 10 name since the 1970's. For this reason it might be a little too popular to be a good choice right now--then again, if you don't mind that your child might be in school with several other Matthews, there's no reason not to use the name anyway. Pair it with a somewhat less common middle name, and you're good to go. Matt is the common nickname for Matthew, but since it's also a short from of Matthias, and also has been given as a name in its own right at times, I'll deal with Matt as a seperate name at some point.

Luna

Luna means "moon," or can mean "moon goddess." In Roman mythology, Luna was the goddess of the moon. Her Greek counterpart was Selene. Luna as a given name for girls has a certain current trendiness. It's not exactly popular, but has been used enough in the past 2 or 3 years to earn itself a place in the U.S. top 1000. Interestingly, the name is also currently very popular, as in top 10, in Belgium--or so says Behind the Name. I was mildly surprised to find that Luna was in use as a given name in the early 1900's, but I haven't yet found information about its history as a name before that--still looking. What was more surprising to me is that it didn't fade back into the top 1000 during the 1960's through the 1980's. I'd have thought that Luna would be a prime candidate for trendy popularity during those years. Go figure. I have mixed feelings about this name. On the one hand, I love the sound of it, and the meaning is good. On the other hand, as cruel as kids are, any little girl named Luna is going to be at serious risk of being called "Looney Luna." The fact that it rhymes with "tuna" probably doesn't help. So I think that even as much as I like the name, I'd have to recommend against it for a new baby. Luna is a great name for a fictional character, and I might use my newfound knowledge that the name was in use in the early 20th century myself one of these days-I love things that seem "wrong" until you find out that they aren't. I also think that Luna is a great name for a dog, but this is probably because I play The Sims and when the Unleashed expansion pack was released, it included as a character a cute little dog named Luna. That dog is now the first thing I think of when I hear or see the name. The second thing I think of is a character from the soap opera One Life To Live who was named Luna. She was cool, but she was definitely quite looney.

Curtis

Curtis is a surname that is also fairly commonly used as a given name for boys. The surname has two origins, and therefore, two meanings. One version comes from the Old French corties, which meant "courteous" or "polite." Its use as a surname came from its occasional use as a nickname for someone with good manners (or sarcastically for someone who most definitely did not have good manners.) By "nickname" in these cases we really mean more of a post-title in most cases, I think. For instance, our imaginary well-mannered William might be referred to as "William the Corties." This sort of nickname was often given simply because half the male population of England was named William or John, so they needed descriptors to differentiate between them. Some of these nicknames migrated to surname use. The other origin of Curtis worked in exactly the same way, only this time the nickname meant someone who was short, or possibly someone who wore short stockings or breeches. This version is simply derived from the Middle English word "curt," which still means "short" today, sort of-- but we use it to describe speech, rather than a physical characteristic. "None of your business," he replied curtly. Curtis was popular enough to be a top 100 name through the middle decades of the 20th century, and is still in the top 500 today. It is occasionally spelled Kurtis, in which case the obvious nickname is Kurt.

Adrian

Adrian comes from the Latin name Hadrianus, meaning "man from Hadria." This is the masculine version of the name. I mention this because a very few parents have given this version of the name to their daughters, which is okay by me, but people should be aware that there are feminine versions of the name--Adrienne, for instance. I have to admit that I was fairly surprised to find that Adrian has been in the top 100 names for boys in the U.S. since 1990. It sounds to me like a somewhat dangerous name to give a boy, but I guess that's because it sounds like the feminine version, and I've known several Adrienne's and Adriannes. The name just sounds like a girl's name to me, and while it's generally okay to give boy's names to girls, the reverse tends to be less true. (Find the lyrics to the Johnny Cash song A Boy Named Sue if you aren't familiar with it, for a good explanation of why girl's names shouldn't be given to boys.) Still though, if that many people are naming their sons Adrian, it should be safe enough to continue using as a name for boys. It sounds a little...fussy...for a boy to me, but obviously many other people don't see it that way at all.