Names That Mean Honor

Gloria is beginning to move beyond its de-glamorized Grandma image, most recently thanks to glamorous young Hollywood parents Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, who chose it for their second daughter. Gyllenhaal was quoted as saying they had been inspired by Patti Smith's rendition of the Van Morrison song "Gloria" at a concert and thought " 'We'll name our daughter that one day'."

Pretty Hebrew name that would create a strong but feminine impression, as well as a variant of the Germanic name Odilia or Ottilie.

Honor is a somewhat more straight-laced virtue name than Hope or Grace, placing a high standard on any girl carrying it, but it's a goal worth setting. By choosing Honor for her daughter, Jessica Alba brought it very much into the modern world.

Verena is pleasant but old-fashioned. Whether that's the outdated kind of old-fashioned or the so-out-it's-in-again kind is your call.

You'll probably be hearing more of this name thanks to the newest Pixar film, featuring Princess Merida, the first Pixar princess--a feisty, athletic, independent medieval Scottish girl with wild red hair. Her name, however, is not Scottish, but a Spanish place name found in both Spain and Mexico's Yucatan peninsula.

Annora is a noble name, a distinctive twist on its most essential form: Honor. Other variations to explore include Honora and Nora.

Variant of Ayra

The one-named singer clarified the confusing pronunciation on this one (in her case, it's shah-DAY), but a number of parents have looked for more phonetic spellings. The Finnish version means "rain."

One of the many names with a strong "er" sound, like Bertram and Ernest, that was huge in the 1920s and is languishing in style limbo now. One famous bearer is the physicist Erwin Schrödinger, as in Schrödinger's cat.

Spelled this way, Briana was coined by Edmund Spenser for his great literary work, The Faerie Queene, which gives the now-overexposed name a far classier pedigree than it's usually credited with.

Popular in its own right in Germany and definitely makes a more intriguing and grownup short form of the classic Timothy than Timmy or even Tim.

Commonly heard in Greece as well as the Slavic cultures, Milos has been associated in this country with Czech film director Milos Forman. Pronounced MEE-losh, it's a more original spin on the popular Miles and Milo.

Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin is a master namer, and this unusual choice from India is beginning to be heard in nurseries as well as on television. Sansa was perhaps slower to catch on than other names such as Arya and Khaleesi as Sansa Stark was in the first seasons of the show a weak and compromised character. But she's developed a good measure of backbone and integrity, which makes her lovely name a more attractive possibility. In 2015, 20 baby girls in the US were named Sansa, a number we expect to rise.

Ever since the enormous German cannon was dubbed by Allied soldiers "Big Bertha" in World War I, this name hasn't worked for a sweet little baby girl. But this was not always so. Hard as it might be to imagine now, Bertha was a Top 100 name until the 1930s, and in the 1880s was the seventh most popular name in the land--the equal of Joseph.

The popularity of the charismatic rapper-producer Kanye West has propelled his name into the Top 900. In addition to its African derivation, it is a Hawaiian name meaning 'free'.

Emir can be a title of honor in Arabic-speaking nations. In Turkey and the Balkan countries, Emir is one of the fairly popular Arabic names for boys.

Timaeus is an ancient name that appears in both Plato's Dialogues and in the New Testament. Might make a so-old-it's-new-again version of Timothy. The feminine variation is Timea.

Ukrainian figure-skating champion Oksana Baiul made it known here.

Parents have been creating their own names from existing appellations since the beginning of time. So have authors, from Shakespeare to George R. R. Martin. As far as modern attempts go, Esmarie, which combines Esme and Marie, has a nice natural flow and a sound that is very pleasant.

Keilani is among the fastest rising girls' names in some US states, a once-unusual name perhaps popularized by its similarity to both Leilani and Kayla. Its rhythmic appeal cannot be denied.