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.

Caroline

Caroline is a feminine version of Carolus, which is the Latin form of Charles. Charles means "man" or "free man." Caroline is currently quite popular, having been in the top 100 names for girls since the mid 1990's. Caroline was also quite popular in 1880, which is the earliest year of records from the SSA's Popular Baby Names database, and it has never been an unpopular name in the years in between. Caroline's most often used nickname is Carrie.

Eva

Eva has (at least) three sources. One is as a form of the name Eve. Another other is as an English form of the Gaelic name Aoife, and another is an English form of the Irish name Éabha. Despite being a derived form of another name (in either case,) Eva has become quite popular as a name in its own right, and was particularly popular in the U.S. in the first 3 decades of the 1900's. Unlike many other names that were popular during that era, however, Eva has not become "old-fashioned" and is still in regular use. Eva is sometimes pronounced EE-vah, and sometimes pronounced AY-vah. Very occasionally Eva is pronounced EH-vah, but this is rare in English-speaking countries.

James

James is the English version of the name Iacomus, which is a Latin version of the Greek Iakobus. (The name Jacob ultimately comes from the same source, via the Hebrew name version of Iakobus, which is Yaakov.) James is a saint name; in the New Testament, two of Christ's disciples were named James. Several Kings of Scotland were named James. James is a perennial favorite in all English-speaking countries. It is normally a masculine name, but has on occasion been given to girls, as well. (Naming a girl James just isn't recommended. It's not like names for girls are rare.) Because James comes from the same source as Jacob, it also means "supplanter" or "holder of the heel." One reason for James' continued popularity is its versatility. Nicknames for James include Jim, Jimmy, and Jamie. The name is considered by many to be overused, and it probably is, but that overuse is not likely to stop--and there is a big difference between an overused "trendy" name that comes out of nowhere and is overused for a few years, and classic names like James, John, Anne, Mary, etc. James is likely to remain popular, and will also remain a good name choice for boys.

Robert

Robert is considered to be one of the names brought to England with the Norman Conquest. The English were, however, already using the name Hreodbeorht, and I have also seen one source report that the name the Normans brought was not Robert, but another similar name, in which case perhaps Robert represents a melding of the two names. In any case, whether the name comes from the Old English Hreodbeorht or the Germanic hrod 'fame' + berht 'bright,' the meaning is the same and comes down to "famous." And regardless of where they got it, the English of the Middle Ages loved the name Robert, and gave it to their children often, leading to the necessity for plenty of nicknames to differentiate between all those Roberts: Rob, Robbie, Bob, Bobby, Robin, and even nicknames such as Nob, Dob, Hob, and Dobbin. Of course, most of those nicknames have fallen out of use today, and few people would automatically associate "Dobbin" with "Robert," but the use of those nicknames gave us surnames such as Hopkins, Hobbs, and Dobson. Robert remains now as popular as it was in the Middle Ages, and has never really been out of use in the years in between. Famous Roberts are simply too many to name, but include three kings of Scotland, Scottish poet Robert Burns, U.S. Civil War General Robert E. Lee, one of my favorite actors of all time-- Robert Mitchum, and Robert F. Kennedy. Robert is one of the true classic names of all time, and is always an excellent choice for a baby boy.

John

From John the Baptist to King John to John Lennon to John Kerry, if I need to tell you how popular this name has been through the ages, you just haven't been paying attention. Everyone from saints to kings to popes to pop singers have been named John. Actually, the Hebrew name was more like "Johanan," but since John is the version used in the Authorized Version of the New Testament, and is the English form, that is the name we know best. Due to its extreme popularity over so many centuries, "john" has picked up at least two seperate meanings as a word rather than just being a name. "John" is a recognized synonym for a toilet, and, probably because of the habit of calling anonymous men "John Doe," prostitutes commonly refer to their customers as johns. Despite these bad associations, the name is still a reasonably good choice for a boy's name. One common nickname for John is Johnny, or its alternate spelling Johnnie, both of which are also used as names in their own right.

Stephen

Stephen comes from the Greek Stephanos, which means "crown," or "garland." Stephen is a saint's name (Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr; the story is told in Acts in the New Testament.) Stephen was a very popular name with the early Christians, and has been reasonbly popular in English speaking countries since at least the 12th century. In the United States, Stephen has remained steadily in use at least the top 150 names for baby boys, sometimes rising into the top 50. The name would probably be more popular if not for its sound-alike variant spelling, Steven; the two have to share their popularity, and the short form for both of them, Steve, is often given as a name in its own right. Stephen is a classic old name that is always a good solid choice for a baby boy.

William

William is one of the most popular names of all time, in English speaking countries. The name is Old French, and is derived from the Germanic Wilhelm. The meaning translates to "will" or "desire" (from "wil") plus "helmet" or "protection," (from "helm".) From this combination one could come up with "I'd like a strong helmet, please," as a meaning for the name, but the intended meaning is probably more meant to indicate someone whose will, or desire, was so strong that it was a form of protection itself. William the Conqueror himself brought this name to England, and was the most common name given to boys in England up until the Middle Ages. It remained extremely popular throughout the Middle Ages. In the 20th century it became only slightly less popular, no longer automatically appearing as the first or second most popular name for boys, but has never once dropped out of the top 20 names in the U.S. It still retains huge popularity all over the world, and there is no reason for that to change in the foreseeable future. William is a wonderful name for a baby boy in part because of its versatility. Someone named William may choose whether to be William, Will, Willie or Willy, Bill, or Billy. Famous Williams throughout history are too numerous to count, but include William Shakespeare, William Faulkner, William Shatner, William J. Clinton--known to most of us as Bill Clinton, William Penn, and Prince William of England.

Benjamin

Benjamin is of Hebrew origin. In the Old Testament Benjamin was Jacob's youngest son. There is no definite meaning for the name Benjamin, but rather several possible meanings. It may mean "son of the right hand." Or, it may mean "son of the south," referring to the fact that Benjamin was the only one of Jacob's sons born in Canaan rather than Mesopotamia, which is farther north. Another possible meaning is "son of my old age," referring to Benjamin having been Jacob's last son. Benjamin's original name was Benoni, given to him by his mother Rachel, who died shortly after, but Jacob renamed him the more pleasant Benjamin. Because of this, the name Benjamin in the Middle Ages was sometimes given to boys whose mothers had died in childbirth. The most famous Benjamin in more modern times was Benjamin Franklin. Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd president of the United States. Today the name is still quite popular, not just in the United States, but around the world. Benjamin is a true classic name, and is always a good choice for a baby boy. The cute Benjy for a little boy, and Ben once he's old enough to protest being called Benjy, are nicknames that add to the appeal of this name, though it must be noted that the most famous recent use of the "Benjy" was for a very smart and resourceful dog in the movie of the same name, and its sequels.

Charles

Charles comes from Germanic and means "man," or "free man." Charlemagne, ("Charles the Great,") was the earliest famous Charles, and the name spread with his fame. The name has since been borne by kings, holy roman emperors, and other famous or notable persons such as Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens, and unfortunately for the name, Charles Manson. On a nicer note, Charles Schultz is another famous Charles, who created another more famous Charles, Charlie Brown. Charles is one of those classic names that is always popular, and although it doesn't currently have the top 10 status that it had in the early 1900's, it is still comfortably in the top 50. One reason for its continued popularity is its versatility: a child name Charles can be Charles, Chaz, Chuck, or Charlie. Incidentally, I once knew a great dane named Charles and the name fit him perfectly.

Thomas

I really like the name Thomas a lot. My mother had a cat named Thomas--we called him "Sir Thomas" most of the time. My boyfriend's first name is Thomas, so that's another reason to like the name a lot. Thomas is a wonderful name to give a baby boy--in my opinion, because it has that versatility thing going for it. The child you name Thomas can grow up to be a casual Tommy or Tom, or he can use the more formal Thomas. I love names that allow a person to choose who they'd like to be. According to Behind the Name, Thomas is derived from "Te'oma," meaning "twin." I find this pretty darn interesting because I've started to really like the search engine Teoma, and now I'm going to have to remember to look up how they got that name. Some sources say that Thomas is from Hebrew. Behind the Name says it's a Greek form of an Aramaic name. Aramaic was a language that was very similar to Hebrew, and was likely the language spoken by Jesus Christ, so that's reasonable. Thomas was one of the apostles, and gave us the phrase "doubting Thomas." Thomas is a saint name. This name is one of those classic names that might never go out of style. In the U.S. it's currently at a sort of "low point" in popularity--meaning, it fell out of the top 20. Not much of a "low" there. The name is popular in pretty much all countries with a high Catholic population, so that is part of the reason for its popularity. Again, a name I would definitely recommend.