Cool Midcentury Baby Names

Lou, all by itself, is become fashionable for girls, which usually makes a name LESS fashionable for boys. But Lou, like Bill or Jim, is rarely used on its own for boys anyway. (You wouldn't name a boy Frederick Lou the way that girls are named Mary Lou or, in the case of Keri Russell's new baby, Willa Lou.) Long form Louis is getting cool again and, with the Lewis spelling, is the Number 2 name in Scotland.

The original brief, breezy name is somewhat out of favor now even as a middle name. The Leigh spelling has more substance and is more identifiable as female.

Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.

Much less popular as a standalone choice. This nickname-name entered the US Top 1000 in 1928 and received wide use for many years, but has been waning in popularity recently.

A straightforward, down-to-earth nickname many Walters, from Whitman to Disney, have chosen to go by.

One of the old-school nicknames -- think Ray, Vince, Frank -- that's on the brink of coming back into style. Name him Stanislav or Constantine and he'll have a groovier long form to fall back on.

The cool clipped Des may be the part of the name wave of the future, with midcentury names like Des and Vic and Stan riding back into style on the heels of big brothers Max and Sam and Ray.