Liberty

Liberty, of course, simply means "freedom." It comes from the Latin libertas, which is derived from liber, meaning "free." Liberty has appeared on the list of top 1000 names for girls in the U.S. since 2001, and is currently in the top 500. The reasons for this are probably obvious, considering the times. Giving a baby a name that reflects the attitudes and values of the parents can be admirable, and granted, Liberty has the potential to be a very nice name. It even comes with built-in possibilities for nicknames; Lib, Libbie, and Bertie. I'd be very careful about using Liberty as a given name for a daughter, however. Be aware that she's going to hear every variation on "give me Liberty or give me death," and "taking liberties," among other phrases, often enough in her life to be sick of them early on. My advice would be to use Liberty as a middle name if you must use it at all, and if you are truly determined to use it as your daughter's first name, at least avoid any temptations to use "Belle" as her middle name.

Pocahontas

Most people have at least a passing familiarity with the legend of Pocahontas, or some version of it. Her given name was actually Matoaka; Pocahontas was a nickname given to her as a child to describe her "playful, frolicsome" ways. You can read more about her here or here if you are so inclined. I can't imagine anyone, other than perhaps a rock star or movie star, naming their daughter Pocahontas today. The meaning of Pocahontas, however, makes it perhaps a perfect name for a playful, mischievous, kitten or puppy. Later, when the critter is older and a bit more sedate, the name can be shortened to Pokey.

Clarence

In the 14th century a son of Edward III was married to the heiress of Clare in Suffolk. The title of Duke of Clarence was created for him, and has been held by various British princes in the years since. Clarence began to be used as a given name in honor of one of these, Prince Albert Victor of Wales, who was the popular eldest son of Edward VII, and became Duke of Clarence in 1890. Clarence was an extremely popular name from the late 19th century into the early decades of the 20th century. It remained in the top 100 in the U.S. until the 1950's, but has declined slowly in popularity since then. Today it is still in the top 1000, and hasn't quite become "rare," but because it was so heavily used in early decades, it's considered a bit outdated. Since Clarence is a relatively new entrant to the name game, it is anyone's guess whether it will ever regain any of its popularity of the early 20th century, or if it will turn out to have been a "trend" of its time.

Colleen

Colleen comes from the Gaelic word cailín, which means "girl" or "wench." Although Colleen is often though of as an Irish name, it is apparently not used as a given name in Ireland. Using it as a name there would be about the same as naming a girl "Gal" in the U.S. What is interesting, however, is the number of girls of Irish descent in the U.S. who were given the name Colleen, because it "sounds Irish" and went well with their Irish surnames. Colleen has enjoyed some popularity as a given name in the U.S., however, peaking in the 1960's. It currently is still used often enough to be a top 1000 name, but is far from common.

Ada

Like many very short names, Ada comes from more than one original source. It is considered to be a short version or nickname for several names, including Adelaide, Adele, and Alexandra--pretty much any name that has an 'A' and a 'D' and more than one syllable. In other cases it is considered to be essentially the same name as the biblical name Adah (which means "adornment" in Hebrew.) Ada was a popular name in the 19th century, and although that popularity continued into the early 20th century, it declined steadily. Ada finally disappeared entirely from the U.S. top 1000 names after the 1970's. The name began to make a comeback in 2004, and it will be interesting to see if it begins to regain its former popularity. Relatively speaking, Ada is not an "old" name--it only began to be widely used as a name in its own right in the late 18th century, but many of us perceive it as being an old name, because of knowing or having known an Ada from an earlier generation. Over the next few decades we will find out if Ada is to be a "new classic" name, or simply an occasionally remembered trend from earlier times.