Wonderful Word Names for Babies

Spaniards use Pax and Paz, Hebrew speakers Shalom, for Greeks it's Irene, so why can't we make the English word Peace a name? Peace Adzo Medie is the author of the novel His Only Wife.

With its ties to tranquil Walden Pond, and harmonious meaning, this could be a modern virtue name.

Ode could be part of the extended Otto/Otis family, or it might be a literary term, referring to an elaborate lyric poem.

We call Savvy a Modern Virtue Name, a contemporary version of the Puritan's Hope and Charity, extolling the virtue of shrewdness. And who doesn't want their daughter to grow up to be Savvy in the ways of the world? So far, this name has been used only for girls, perhaps because some parents remember the women's magazine called Savvy.

A shimmering day name, with a bit of hippie residue.

Nobility names like Duke and Count seem to be forming a minitrend: actor Danny Bonaduce named his son Count Dante Jean-Michel Valentino. Beat that. Or wait: don't.

You can call your baby "babe," but don't name her that.

Snow is increasing in usage mostly as a girls' name, but hero Jon Snow of Game of Thrones just might nudge it into the boys' column. Currently, there are 12 times as many girls named Snow as boys, but its usage is much higher in middle place.

To most Australians and New Zealanders, using the name Anzac might feel sacrilegious now, as the ANZAC story has become interwoven with national identity. But Anzac was used as a name for both boys and girls on both sides of the Tasman Sea in the aftermath of the First World War. It was often used in combination with other names associated with battles or military leaders - for example Dardanella Anzac and Verdun Anzac (both girls) and Winston Anzac and Anzac Kitchener (boys).

Tornado first meant thunderstorm and only later came to mean whirlwind, the common modern meaning. More recently, Tornado is the first name of a tennis-playing teen whose sister is called the equally attention-getting Hurricane. Both names work for either gender, if you think you can withstand the storm jokes.

We've had Apples, Plums, Peaches, Cherries, and Berries added to the fruit basket: you could be the first to pick a Tangerine.

Gage we get. Cade we get. But Cage? Not really, and yet, it was given to about two dozen baby boys in one recent year.

Chrysalis is a girls' baby name derived from the state of a butterfly or moth between larva and adult. A chrysalis is a hard-shelled pupa in which the transition of the butterfly or moth takes place. As a baby name, Chrysalis came to the fore as the rumored name of the baby girl of Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott, who reportedly love butterflies. Chrysalis does certainly have potential as a new word name or nature name for babies, with the simple familiar nickname Chrys.

Names that have not historically been names are not intrinsically gendered, so though we originally pinned Arrow as a boys' name, both starbaby Arrows that have been born recently have been girls. And with Arrow given to 60 girls in the US in 2015 and 94 boys, we call that a pretty decidedly gender neutral name. With its forward-moving, true-landing imagery, Arrow is one of the new inspirational names.

Extremely attractive color name chosen by some African-American families for its reference to the West African Ivory Coast; more commonly used for girls.

Isla is newly popular, so why not Isle?

New, fast, cool, and chosen by director Robert Rodriguez, whose other sons are Rebel, Rocket, and Rogue, all somewhat risky options.

Fortitude is the kind of virtue name the Puritans favored, but would not be easy for a modern boy to carry. Stick with something a little simpler than Fortitude, like Justice or True.

No low self-esteem for this kid, or so his parents hope.

Name that enjoyed some popularity early in the 20th century but now is locked in another, ahem, era.