Isaac

Although the meaning of the name Isaac is not certain, it is most often said to mean "he laughs." In the Old Testament Isaac was the son of Abraham, the husband of Rebecca, and the father of Esau and Jacob. Isaac was popular among the Jews of the Middle Ages and beyond, and the Puritans of the 17th century. Today the name is used by both Jews and Christians, and is currently enjoying a popularity spike throughout the English-speaking world. Isaac has been a top 100 name for boys in the U.S. since 1995. Famous Isaacs include Sir Isaac Newton, and Isaac Asimov.

Grace

Grace is a virtue name, which comes from the Latin gratia. Virtue names were very popular with the Puritans of the 17th century, and they seem to have been the first to use Grace as a given name. Grace has long been popular in Scotland and in Northern England. In the U.S., Grace has also been popular almost always, although it did go through a popularity lull in the middle decades of the 20th century. Grace has currently regained all its former popularity and is a top 20 name in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. I find it very interesting that the name Grace went through a popularity slump in the U.S. with the worst decades for it being the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's. Often, an extremely well-known celebrity will cause a name to spike in popularity, and Grace Kelly, who became Princess Grace of Monaco, was more than "well-known." The expectation would have been for the popularity of the name to have gone up, rather than down, with her celebrity. It could be that in this case the name was simply due for a slump, due to overuse--it certainly was not a case of her bringing the name to the public consciousness; Grace had been a top 50 name until the 1930's anyway. Still though, I would have predicted that it would have remained more popular than it did, simply through new mothers naming their daughters for a real live Princess. It just goes to show that you can never tell what people will name their kids.

Samuel

Samuel is a Biblical name, which comes from the Hebrew Shemuel, and means "God has heard." Samuel was a judge and a prophet of the Old Testament, and he anointed both Saul and David king. Samuel was popular with the Puritans of the 17th century, and with the Prostestant Noncomformists in the 18th and 19th centuries. Samuel remained popular throughout the 20th century, rarely falling out of the top 50 names for baby boys in the United States. Samuel remains just as popular today, not just in the U.S. and England, but through nearly all of the English speaking world, as well as in France, Spain, and Sweden. Samuel brings with it the nicknames Sam and Sammy. Famous Samuels include Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) and Samuel Morse. The Samuel most in-the-news lately has been Samuel Alito, whose confirmation hearings may have caused many people to feel a strong need for a Sam Adams.

Priscilla

Priscilla is a Biblical name; it appears in Acts in the New Testament. Priscilla is a Latin name which comes from the Roman family name Priscus, which means "ancient." Because Priscilla appeared in the New Testament, the 17th century Puritans liked it. Priscilla was popular again in the 19th century, probably largely because of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's classic poem, The Courtship of Miles Standish. Throughout the 20th century, Priscilla was quietly in use, though not really popular, remaining in the top 200 or 300 names for girls, with no apparent effect from the fame of Priscilla Presley. In the years since the turn of the century, Priscilla has begun to slide a bit farther down in popularity, into the top 400.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah means "appointed by God," or "God has uplifted." Jeremiah is a Biblical name; he was a prophet and the author of the Book of Jeremiah, and probably the author of the Book of Lamentations. Jeremiah was a popular name with the Puritans of the 1600's, and in general with Christian fundamentalists. In 1971 the band Three Dog Night had a huge hit with the song Joy to the World, which many people identify by its attention-grabbing first line, "Jeremiah was a bullfrog." Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, Jeremiah began to gain popularity, moving from #629 in the U.S. in 1969 to #68 in 1977. The name began to lose popularity again in the 80's and 90's, but remained in the top 200 name for U.S baby boys, and has begun to climb in popularity once again since the year 2000, as parents once again looked to classic and Biblical (or musical, perhaps) names for their children.

Seth

The name Seth is an Old Testament name; Seth was the third son of Adam and Eve. It comes from a Hebrew word that means "placed" or "appointed." Seth was a popular name among Puritans, especially if the baby had had an older sibling who had died (in such a case, Seth was a reference to the fact that the Seth of the Old Testament who was born after Abel died at the hands of Cain.) After the Puritan days the name slipped in popularity quite a bit, but never fell completely out of use. Seth is currently enjoying a major popularity revival, having spent a large part of the last two decades in the top 100 names for baby boys in the U.S. If you are expecting a baby boy I definitely recommend this name. It's common and known enough to not be considered "odd," but not overused enough that your child would be in a classroom with several other Seths (well, probably not, anyway.) Besides, I really like it, and that ought to be reason enough.

Asa

Asa means "doctor" or "healer" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament Asa was a king of Judah. Asa was a Puritan name (17th century) and has been popular with Jewish families. In the United States in the last century Asa has usually appeared in the top 1000 names for boys, but in the bottom 500 of that list. Personally I really like this name. Its only real drawback is that it is already such a short name that there are no real nicknames or short forms of it, so a child named Asa wouldn't have a lot of choice about what to be called later. Paired with a versatile name like William or Robert though, Asa could work out wonderfully. Asa is also a wonderful name for a dog. I don't know why it is, but it is. Trust me. An interesting (or sort of interesting) but totally irrelevant aside here: a search on Google for "Asa" shows that it's also apparently a very popular acronym. The entire first page of results is nothing but associations and societies with ASA as their initials. (See? Irrelevant. I told you.)

Tabitha

Tabitha is of Aramaic origin, and means "roe," or "doe," or "gazelle." The name Tabitha appears in the New Testament--she was restored to life by St. Peter. Consequently, this was a very popular name with the Puritans from the 17th to the 19th centuries. After the age of the Puritans, Tabitha became a very rarely-used name, until the 1960's, when it came back into use, inspired mostly, if not 100%, by the birth of the character Tabitha on television's Bewitched in 1966. Currently the use of the name is slowly declining once again, but it remains in the top 500. All the sources I check make a point of saying that the Greek version of this name is Dorcas, so I guess I'll mention it too, even though I can't think of how this information might be useful. It would be difficult to find a more versatile name than Tabitha in terms of what it can be used for. It's a good choice for a baby girl--actually a better choice than it was at the height of its popularity, since Bewitched isn't so popular as it was. But it also works well for a wide range of fictional characters, from authentically-named Puritan to fantasy rpg characters. In addition, it's a fine name for a cat, particularly since the obvious nickname is Tabby.

Ruth

Ruth comes from Hebrew and means "friend" or "companion." We know Ruth from the Old Testament, but some of us also think of Babe Ruth when we hear the name (or Baby Ruth, if we happen to be hungry at the time.) Ruth was a popular name with the 17th century Puritans, and was extremely popular from about 1890 through the 1920's in the U.S. It started to lose popularity, slipping out of the top 100 in the 1960's. I was fairly surprised to find that it is still ranks in the top 400 in the U.S. It may owe much of its continued level of use to the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. The meaning of Ruth makes it an ideal name for a dog, cat, or other pet.