Have Space Suit--Will Travel

No longer tied to the hapless Ace Ventura, this jaunty, high-flying nickname name is starting to take flight among celebrity and other parents, with its countless positive references to doing well in tests and poker games, on the tennis court and golf course, and in the air.

Clifford is beginning to overcome a slightly stodgy intellectual image and showing signs of possible revival. Kids might or might not like the association with the big red dog. In England, the Clifford family was a powerful family in the Middle Ages. In this country, it was well used for most of the twentieth century, peaking at Number 57 in 1909, but a Top 100 name through 1950. Most prominent American bearers: playwright Clifford Odets and jazz trumpet great Clifford Brown.

Short and to the point, muscular and strong.

Classic French name that becomes pretentious when used for an American baby.

For a minute or two this sounded more modern than Janet, now equally outmoded.

Kip Thorne, nobel laureate and long-time colleague of Stephen Hawking, is just one of several Kips who don't have a longer name.

Oscar is one of the most stylish Old Man Names of our era. While it's softened slightly in popularity over the past 20 years, that may be considered a very good thing.

Patricia still sounds patrician, though its scores of nicknames definitely don't. Wildly popular from the forties (alternately Number 3 and 4 throughout the decade) to the sixties, Patricia has been fading ever since. But a comeback in its full form is definitely conceivable—just look at Penelope.

Samuel has been so popular for so long that it's hard to believe it's still climbing, at its highest point since the 1890s.

Tim is a boyish short form very rarely given on its own.