Arctic Baby Names

A saint's name with a noteworthy literary background, including uses by Shakespeare in Two Gentlemen of Verona and Much Ado About Nothing, by Ben Johnson, Walter Scott, Longfellow, D. H. Lawrence and Neil Gaiman. In real life, her two most well known representatives are writer Ursula Le Guin and actress Ursula Andress. In literature, there is also Ursula Iguaran, a key, long-lived character in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's major work, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

One of the fierce new animal names new to name lists, helped by its strong x-ending.

Ivory was last popular a hundred years ago. In 2013, it finally began to regain some momentum in the female rankings, reentering the Top 1000.

This shimmery Age of Aquarius unisex flower child name is making a comeback, along with metal and gem names like Steel, Jade, and Ruby.

State name Alaska stems from an Aleutian word for the land mass itself. The number of baby girls named Alaska has doubled in the past five years, and is sure to continue increasing as more place names are annexed as baby names. Wilder but as habitable as Dakota or Cheyenne, Alaska is a girls' name choice for the future.

Really offbeat, upbeat multi-cultural name with light sound and meaning. Valo might make a more unique spin on Milo.

A lot of attention was drawn to this name when Kim Kardashian and Kanye West announced it as the name of their baby daughter, making it instantly unisex.

With the recent arrival of fruit names like Apple and Plum, this more traditional example, symbolic of fertility, might rise in popularity. Photographer Berry Berenson was born Berinthia.

The girls have dibs on Spring, Summer, and Autumn, leaving this name evocative of snowy landscapes as the one possible seasonal choice for boys. And naturally, it's one of the most obvious names for winter babies.

Stella Maris ("star of the sea") is an historic title for the Virgin Mary, in use since at least the early medieval period. Although it actually arose from a scribal error in the etymology of the name Mary, it came to be seen as symbolic of Mary's role as "guiding star" on the way to Christ. Under this name, the Virgin Mary is believed to intercede as a guide and protector of seafarers in particular, and many coastal churches are named Stella Maris or Star of the Sea.

Ursa might be a good choice if you're looking for a bear name for your daughter but want to avoid the She Witch curse placed on Ursula by Disney's The Little Mermaid. Too bad, because Ursula is a classic and lovely name, but Ursa has less baggage.

Worthy sibling for Oak, Elm, Juniper, and Spruce.

Taiga has two origins. As a word name derived from Turkic languages via Russian, it refers to the snow forest of the Arctic regions, making it an evocative nature name.

Alta, one of the newer names bookended by the letter A, has a meaning that might raise a child's self-esteem. It was the middle name of First Lady Lady Bird Johnson.

Obsolete Swanhild gives way to oh-so-modern Swan, joining the flock of newly fashionable bird names such as Wren and Lark. In France, the Swann spelling is fashionable for both sexes. But Swan carries an image of grace, though perhaps also a bit of languor. It's a lovely and original name, right for our times.

Common Roman name mentioned in the Bible that has a crisply attractive sound.

Among the first wave of word names used in the hippie era, it actually is a legitimate girl's name with a lot of luster.

A handsome, spruced-up post-Bruce tree name.

Alaska's Denali National Park is the home of the highest mountain in the US, officially renamed Denali in 2014, endowing the name with a lofty feel. There were 20 boys and 55 girls given the name in 2014.