Modern Hero Names

For football fans who have decided Peyton has become too feminine. Or they could look to brother Eli for inspiration.

Evocative of the great Nobel Prize winning poet Pablo Neruda, real last name Basoalito, who took on the surname Neruda to honor a Czech poet of that name. One of the most poetic boy names starting with N, or with any letter, for that matter.

Actor Cuba Gooding Jr. brought this spirited geographic name to the fore.

Palin has suddenly become a hot new surname-name given usually to girls. The inspiration can only be former Alaska governor Sarah, though the name Palin is her husband's -- her original surname is Heath. Palin herself is no stranger to the adventurous baby name, as the mother of daughters Bristol, Piper, and Willow, and sons Track and Trig. If you're a Sarah Palin fan and don't mind shouting it from the rooftops with a name your child will carry forever, then by all means choose Palin, which has a pretty sound. We are not, but then again we wouldn't name our child Obama, Reagan, or Kennedy either, as the association feels too weighty. If you like the sound of Palin but not the association, why not consider the ancient, attractive, and underused Pallas?

There will probably be lots of little namesakes after the fastest man in the world, Jamaican Olympic runner Usain Bolt--middle name St. Leo.

This surname is on trend with its S ending, and could honor people such as athlete Jesse Owens. But it has strong potential for confusion with Owen singular.

Teigen is rising in popularity now that model and TV personality Chrissy Teigen has made it more visible.

If you love the venerable Southwestern painter but feel Georgia's gotten too overheated, you might want to go all the way to this Irish surname in the fashionable O' family.