Adjective Names

Solo is a singular word name with special meaning for Star Wars fans. Equally appropriate for girls and boys, it works especially well in the middle.

Inspirational, aspirational word name that would work especially well as a middle name; it was used by Forest Whitaker for his daughter, and more recently by Khloe Kardashian.

Not for the faint of the baby-naming heart. We also like Brave as a middle name.

The name Wilder is still used more than 90 percent of the time for boys, but it's being used quietly for girls too. Along with the rest of the Wild and Wiley family, it's one of the hottest baby names starting with W. Certainly giving your child of either gender such a, ahem, wilder name is setting them up for a certain kind of character and future.

Though as a formal name Rusty is a little, well, rusty, it spent half a century among the Top 1000, departing only in 1995. Only 45 baby boys received the name in the US in one recent year and it's difficult to imagine it as the winning choice of many modern parents. Whether you want an informal name or a spin on a traditional name or even a word name or a name that means red, there are simply too many better options.

Many parents seeking a return to more basic values and a simpler lifestyle are turning to such virtuous girls' names as Grace, Faith, and Hope, but there are a handful that work just as well on boys, including True.

This bold choice soared in popularity from 2008 to 2013, and now seems to have plateaued. But watch out—the character Major Major Major Major in the classic absurdist novel Catch-22 had a terrible time.

A name with some sterling qualities, most associated with the British currency and silver markets. Sterling is more commonly a male name or surname, but is occasionally used for girls as well.

Sovereign is a new addition to the baby name lexicon, recently used by such celebrity parents as Cam Newton and Usher for their daughters. But don't mistake it for an exclusively feminine name — part of Sovereign's appeal is its gender-neutral status, as it's given to roughly equal numbers of girls and boys each yera.

Dusty first became popular as a girl's name thanks to singer Dusty Springfield - born Mary. She used her childhood nickname professionally, and many parents embraced Dusty as a name for their daughters, especially in the 1970s. Singer Adam Levine and model Behati Prinsloo chose this distinctive name for their daughter in 2016, which might prompt a new generation of parents to consider the name.

Y-ending color adjectives like Tawny and Rusty are nowhere near as stylish as the more sophisticated Lilacs and Violets.

A pretty and almost unique word name to add to the galaxy of astral appellations. More distinctive than the better-known Celeste, it was given to only 20 girls last year. Celestial is also the title of several band albums, and is heard in the video game and comics worlds.

Though rarely heard now, Coy has been around for a century and was not an uncommon name a hundred years ago. There have been a couple of NFL players named Coy, Coy Bowles is in the Zac Brown band, and of course there was Coy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard. Due to the flirty connotations of the word "coy", McCoy is a more popular and recommended choice today.

Heavenly, the word that's become a name, has been flirting with the bottom of the Top 1000 for a handful of years now. Heaven and cousins like Nevaeh have been well-used so adding the popular -ly suffix, ala Everly, seems like a natural progression.

This cosmological name is given to a handful of boys and girls each year in the USA. Likely to get confused with Stella or Stellan.

Hardy is a spirited and durable un-Germanic German surname that is starting to be used in this country.

Divine seems more proper a name with the rise of Heaven and its turned-around twin Nevaeh. Though superlative names like Divine -- Unique, say, or Precious -- sometimes seems as if they're trying to hard and protesting too much.

Actor Mark Ruffalo honed this surname down to its basics when he chose it for his son. A more usable expansion might be the Irish surname Keenan/Keenen.

She'd better be. Merry is one of the classic names for Christmas babies.

Innocent, the name of thirteen popes, is rarely heard in a secular setting, where its loaded meaning could open the door to ridicule.