Amber

Amber is simply the name of the gemstone amber used as a given name. Amber began to be used some in the late 19th century, when using gem names as given names was in fashion, but it wasn't as popular as some other gem names, such as Pearl and Ruby. The book Forever Amber, by Kathleen Winsor, and subsequent movie brought the name into the public consciousness, and in the 1970's and 1980's, when new parents were looking for feminine, yet less "girly" names for their daughters, Amber became hugely popular. Although currently not quite as popular as it once was in the U.S., Amber is still a top 100 name for girls, and has also become popular in other English-speaking countries. This late-starting gem name is likely to become a naming standard that will come into fashion again and again.

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.

Sebastian

Sebastian comes from the Latin Sebastianus, which means "man from Sebaste." Sebaste was a town in Asia Minor, and its name came from the Greek sebastos which meant "august" or "venerable," so it is reasonable enough to give Sebastian that meaning as well, if "man from Sebaste" isn't meaningful enough for you. Sebastian was the name of a 3rd century saint. He was an officer in the Imperial Roman Army, and was tied to a tree and shot multiple times with arrows by his own fellow officers after being charged with being a Christian. More about him can be found here. Sebastian is a more popular name than you might think. In the U.S. the name has been steadily in use enough to nearly always appear in the top 1000, and since the year 2000, Sebastian has been consistently in the top 100. It is similarly popular in other English-speaking countries including Australia and Canada, and is even more popular (top 50) in Sweden and Norway. The usual popularity of the name in prior decades can be largely attributed to its status as a saint name, and as a surname but why it is currently enjoying a popularity rise, I haven't got a clue.

Michelle

Michelle is simply a French feminine form of Michael. Michael means "who is like the Lord," so this can also be taken to be the meaning of Michelle. Michelle's popularity in the English-speaking world has been phenomenal. The name first appeared in the U.S. top 1000 in 1938, first appeared in the top 100 in 1954 and has consistently remained in the top 100 ever since. From 1966 through 1980, Michelle was in the top 10. The incredible popularity of Michelle over so many decades means that there are a lot of women and girls out there named Michelle. If you wonder why it is that you don't seem to personally know a ton of Michelles, try asking women and girls with which you are aquainted, "What is your middle name?" You will most likely find that you know a lot more Michelles than you realized. The extreme popularity of Michelle is no doubt partly influenced by the extreme popularity of the Beatles song "Michelle," but it could be that the extreme popularity of that song is influenced by the fact that there were so many Michelles out there who love to be sung about. Nicknames for Michelle include Chelle, Shell, Shelley, and any other variation or respelling of that second syllable you can think of, some of which have become quite popular as names in their own right.. I also have personally known one Michelle who went by the first syllable of her name, which wound up sounding something like "Meesh." Although Michelle is a relatively new entry to the name game in the English-speaking world, it is probably here to stay, and might be considered a new classic which will never go out of style.

Brooke

Brooke comes from the surname (Brooke, Brook, Brooks,) and means exactly what you'd expect it to mean; the surname originally described someone who lived near a brook or a stream. It comes from the Old English word bróc. Brooke is currently an extremely popular name for girls in many English speaking countries, including the U.S., Scotland, and Australia. Part of its popularity is due to the fame of actresses Brooke Shields and Brooke Adams. In the U.S., Brooke has been a top 100 name since the 1980's. This means there are currently a lot of Brookes running around out there. This being the case, new parents might want to look for a name that is somewhat less over-used. New parents should also be aware that although most name dictionaries, etc., list Brooke as being a feminine OR masculine name, it is generally the spelling Brook that is considered more masculine (and occasionally Brooks.) Brooke has been so popular for girls that I'd hesitate to give a boy even the "masculine" versions of the name. His life will be much easier without the perception by his peers that he's got "a girl's name."

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.

Alexa

Alexa can be considered a shorter version of Alexandra, which is itself a feminine version of Alexander, or it can be considered an alternate version of Alexis, which itself comes from the Greek name Alexius. In any case, Alexander and Alexius both mean "to defend." Alexa is currently enjoying a popularity spike, and is a top 100 name in the U.S. for baby girls. Nevertheless, if you are considering this name for your baby girl, I'd recommend going with the full version, Alexandra, simply because it is so much more versatile, and you can still call her Alexa.

Julia

Julia is a feminine form of Julius. A woman named Julia is mentioned in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, and several saints were also named Julia. Shakespeare used the name Julia in The Two Gentlemen Gentlemen of Verona. A fashion for "classical" names occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Julia's popularity benefited greatly from this trend. Julia is still a name popular today, generally appearing in the top 50 for girls in the U.S., as well as being quite popular in Sweden, Spain, and France. Famous Julia's include actress Julia Roberts, and chef Julia Child, who died in 2004 at the age of 91.

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.

Jocelyn

Jocelyn comes from the Old French name Joscelin, which was introduced to Britain by the Normans around the time of the Norman Conquest and was ultimately derived from the name of a Germanic tribe, the Gauts. In the days of the Conquest the name was masculine. The name fell out of use as a given name, but it had by that time spawned the surname Jocelyn, which eventually itself began to be used as a given name. This time around though, the name is nearly always feminine rather than masculine, probably because of the lyn which is equated with the feminine Lynn. In its new feminine capacity, Jocelyn began appearing in the U.S. top 1000 in the 1930's, but didn't begin to really gain popularity until the 1980's. In 2002, Jocelyn cracked the top 100, and continues to rise in popularity.

Makayla

Makayla is a respelling (variant form) of the name Michaela, which is a feminine form of Michael. This version is a fairly recent invention, and first appeared on the U.S. top 1000 list in 1990. It has gained popularity quickly since then, making it into the top 50 in 2004. Why has this name gotten so popular so fast, and is it likely to remain popular? The reason for its popularity has a lot to do with the fact that not only is it a respelling of Michaela, it is also simply "Kayla" with a "Ma" at the beginning. Kayla is an extremely popular name; it has been in the top 20 consistently since 1990, which is also when the "deluxe" version, Makayla, appeared. By now, Kayla is becoming somewhat overused, and should soon begin to drop in popularity, and most likely, Makayla's popularity will fall too. Although many people love the name, obviously, and have given it to their daughters, to many other eyes it appears awkward and misspelled. With so many Makaylas now in the world, that attitude may fade as the name begins to seem more familiar and normal.

Nathan

Nathan is a Hebrew name and means "giver." Because Nathan appears inside two other names, Jonathan and Nathaniel, Nathan is sometimes considered a short form of those names. In the Old Testament, King David had a son named Nathan, and Nathan was also a prophet who served King David, but who also rebuked him after the Bathsheba incident, and intervened when Adonijah attempted to take the throne for himself. Much later, another Nathan, Nathan Hale, was an American Revolution hero who said "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country," before being hanged by the British. Nathan is currently an internationally popular name, holding a position in the top 30 most popular names for boys in not only the U.S., but in nearly all English speaking countries.

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.

Aaron

Aaron is a biblical name; Aaron was the brother of Moses. It has been said that the origin of this name is Hebrew, and that it means "high mountain" or "mountain of strength." In fact, the meaning and origin of the name are uncertain. No one really knows for sure where it came from or what it means. What we do know is that the name has nearly always been in use as a Jewish name, and has been used by Christians as well since the 17th century. Currently Aaron is a popular name in nearly all English speaking countries. In the U.S. Aaron has been a top 100 name since the 1970's, and might be due for a drop in popularity soon as parents start to consider it over-used.

Victor

Victor means exactly what it seems to mean. That's "winner" or "victorious" for the less perceptive amongst you. The word is Latin, the name is Roman. When we hear the name Victor we might think of one of the saints who were named Victor, we might think of record company RCA Victor or we might think of author Victor Hugo. Fans of banjo genius Bela Fleck might even think of Victor Wooten. Classic movie fans will more likely think of actor Victor Mature. Early Christians liked this name quite a bit, and we evidently still like it a lot today. For more than 100 years now, this name has hovered just at the top 100 mark. This makes it a good name, simply because it's common enough not to be thought "odd," but not so common as to be overused. The usual nickname for Victor is Vic--a name that really grows on you once you know someone called Vic. Victor is an especially good name for a German Shepherd. Seriously.

Zachary

By request, we now have Zachary. Zachary means "God has remembered." It started out as the Hebrew name Zechariah, which became Zachariah in the New Testament (the Greek form.) Probably the most famous Zachary was Zachary Taylor, who was the 12th president of the United States. Interestingly, in the case of this name, Ask Oxford seems to be more than a little wrong, because they state that Zachary is "out of fashion" currently, and is simply "familiar" in the U.S. because of Zachary Taylor. In fact, Zachary has been a top 100 name for boys in the U.S. since 1976, and was in the top 20 from 1992 through 2002. It might be out of fashion elsewhere, but in the U.S., at least, it seems to be right in style. Zachary is a fairly versatile name, insofar as it brings with it the short form Zack or Zach, both of which have been used as given names in their own right to some extent. It seems to be dropping just slightly in popularity, which makes it still a good choice as a name for a new baby--it's not terribly over-used and doesn't look like it will become so, if the current trend continues. Zachary's biblical connection, historical connection, versatility, along with the fact that it sounds good, and looks good on paper, should all contribute to keeping this name in use, if not in fashion.

Samantha

No one knows for sure where the name Samantha came from, so we don't know for sure what it means, either. Behind the Name mentions that some people think it means "listener" in Aramaic, but Ask Oxford doesn't mention that, and simply says Samantha is "Of problematic and much debated origin." In nine out of ten cases, this would make Samantha an excellent name for a cat. Samantha Stevens was, of course, the well-known main character on the television show Bewitched, and it was that television show that really brought the name into prominence. (Also see Tabitha.) Samantha has been a top ten name for baby girls in the U.S. since 1990, so at this point it just might be getting a bit over-used. Nevertheless, it's a pretty name, and I like it so much I can't really recommend against it. It also has the added benefit of nicknames--Sammie (or Sammy,) and Sam. A current popular Samantha is Sex and the City's Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall.

Ryan

Ryan is yet another first name that comes from a surname. In this case the surname is Ó Riain, which is Gaelic, and itself means "descendant of Rian." So a first name that came from a surname that came from a first name. Isn't it great how names recycle themselves like that? Ryan is an extremely popular name among new parents in the United States these days. Ryan has been a top twenty baby name for boys every year since 1990. This means there are a lot of young Ryans out there. If you are expecting a baby boy and looking for the perfect name, I'd hesitate before naming him Ryan for that reason. Parents of baby girls apparently haven't wanted to be left out of the Ryan-frenzy entirely--the name has been given to new baby girls since the 1970's, but the popularity of Ryan as a girl's name does not seem to be rising. However, it seems that a given number of parents do name their daughters Riane or Rianne or some other variation of Ryan. This is fine but in a lot of these cases they want to use these as variant spellings and keep the pronunciation of Ryan. If you really want to do this, it's your kid, but consider the fact that not many people are going to see Rianne and automatically assume it's pronounced like Ryan. So your daughter will spend a lot of her life correcting people who mispronounce her name. I do know of one couple who chose Ryane as their feminine version of Ryan and so far that's worked out just fine. Worth consideration.

Madison

Madison is a very popular name for baby girls in the United States at the moment. How'd that happen? We'll start with the beginning, and the beginning was Madeline, and/or Maud. Madeline and Maud have something in common other than starting with the letter M, and that is that they both have Maddie (or Maddy) as a nickname. When surnames were being invented, Madison came from Maddie--it may have originally designated a boy who was Maddie's son. Later, a baby's given name--particularly the middle name--was often the surname of a close relative, such as the mother's maiden name, or sometimes just to honor someone with that surname. In this case, Madison was sometimes given to babies to honor President James Madison. Many such surnames became popular names in particular for baby boys, but at some point in the 1900's, apparently people became bored with the "normal" names for girls, and started giving their daughters surnames as their given names. Madison, which had previously been sporadically given to boys, started becoming more popular as a name for baby girls in the U.S. in the 1980's, and has climbed steadily on the name charts since then, and is currently in the top 10 names for girls. Interestingly, it has also reappeared in the top 1000 names for baby boys, but whether it will make any headway there at this time is doubtful. Madison may be well on its way to being thought of as a "girl's name," at least for the next generation or so. Later, when all the Madisons of this era are gone, it might come back into use for boys, or it might become a classic name for girls, or it might just go back to being a surname. Who knows? In any case, this is one transferred surname for girls that I actually do like a lot--mainly because it still has the nickname Maddie. However, Madison is a bit overused at the moment, so you might take a second look at the original form, Madeline. It might be a better choice.

Jacob

Jacob is the English version of the Hebrew name Yaakov. Jacob was of course a very important person in the Old Testament, and the name Jacob means "holder of the heel," and "supplanter." The story there is that the biblical Jacob was born holding onto his twin brother Esau's heel, and later "supplanted" him--basically by being pretty tricky, when you come right down to it. First he persuaded Esau to trade his inheritance for a bowl of soup (mmm mmm good but surely not that good,) and later Jacob tricked their blind father into giving him instead of Esau. The lesson here might be that resourcefulness is an important asset to survival, because Jacob went on to have twelve sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob is at a peak in popularity right now, having held the number one spot for more than five years. It's never really been an unpopular name, anyway, having always been in favor with Jewish families. If you name your baby Jacob he will most likely go through school with a few other Jacobs, so you might want to look for something a little less popular. If you have your heart set on the name though, go ahead. It's fine. Just pair it with a less common but still "normal" middle name, preferably one with a lot of nickname potential, like Robert or William, and there you go: the perfect baby name. The most usual nickname for Jacob is Jake, but since that name has also been given as a first name in its own right, I'll deal with it seperately at some point in the future.