If I had 25 of each gender...

There are so many names out there, and in this list, I get my freedom!
  1. Alexei
    • Origin:

      Russian, Greek
    • Meaning:

      "defending men"
    • Description:

      Alexei could well join the legion of Alex names popular in the US. There are countless opportunities to liven up Alexander, and Alexei (or Alexey) is one of the most straightforward and appealing.
  2. Alexis
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "defender"
    • Description:

      Alexis, a one-time exclusively-boys’ name, was more popular than its sister Alexandra for quite a while, but in recent years Alexandra has overtaken it once again. Alexis was a Top 20 girls’ name from 1994-2010 but has experienced a decline in popularity in recent years, though now it's one of the top unisex names.
  3. Alfie
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Alfred, English
    • Meaning:

      "wise counselor"
    • Description:

      Alfie is a Top 20 name throughout the British Isles, where retro nickname names are mega-popular, but it hasn't really been picked up in the US yet. Both Alfie and rising star Archie are spunky nickname possibilities with a bit of an English accent.
  4. Alaska
    • Baya
      • Origin:

        Spanish
      • Meaning:

        "berry"
      • Description:

        The Spanish word for "berry" makes a deliciously intriguing word name possibility.
    • Bonnie
      • Origin:

        Scottish
      • Meaning:

        "beautiful, cheerful"
      • Description:

        Bonnie is an adorable nickname name, heading back up the popularity list after a 50-year nap. A Top 100 girls' name throughout the rest of the English-speaking world, Americans are later to jump on the Bonnie bandwagon but now it's trending here too.
    • Brooklyn
      • Origin:

        Place-name from Dutch
      • Meaning:

        "marshland"
      • Description:

        It may be the hippest of hispter neighborhoods, but as a baby name Brooklyn is now on the decline: down from a peak of 120 births for boys in 1999, and over 7000 births for girls in 2011.
    • Chad
      • Origin:

        English
      • Meaning:

        "battle warrior"
      • Description:

        Despite all the "hanging," "dangling," and "pregnant" chad jokes of the 2000 election, this saint's name and remnant of the Brad-Tad era didn't get a boost in popularity. But Chad still holds some surfer-boy appeal for a number of modern parents.
    • Chelsea
      • Origin:

        London and New York place-name
      • Description:

        Chelsea is still being used, but it was much more popular a few decades ago--it peaked at Number 15 in 1992. Chelsea first entered the American consciousness in a major way via the character Jane Fonda played in On Golden Pond in 1981 and later of course was frequently in the headlines when Chelsea Clinton (whose name was inspired by the lyric of a the Joni-Mitchell-Judy Collins song "Chelsea Morning") became First Daughter.
    • Clement
      • Origin:

        Latin
      • Meaning:

        "mild, merciful"
      • Description:

        Clement, the name of fourteen popes and several saints, has a pleasantly, positive, slightly antiquated feel, like the phrase "clement weather."
    • Corbin
      • Origin:

        English and French surname
      • Meaning:

        "crow, raven"
      • Description:

        Corbin, the name of the castle where the Holy Grail was said to be hidden, came to the fore in the 1980s via actor Corbin Bernsen when he was the high profile star of LA Law, but its use is only now escalating as part of the mania for two-syllable names starting with c or k, as well as from the more youthful image of Corbin Bleu, the attractive actor-model-dancer-singer who was one of the stars of the Disney hit High School Musical.
    • Corduroy
      • Dash
        • Origin:

          Diminutive of Dashiell, meaning unknown
        • Description:

          Dash is a nickname that can stand on its own and sounds, well, dashing. Connected these days with Kardashian enterprises.
      • Dexter
        • Origin:

          Latin
        • Meaning:

          "dyer, right-handed"
        • Description:

          The jazzy, ultra-cool Dexter, like most names with an "x," has a lot of energy and dynamism. Over the years, it's been attached to a number of diverse real and fictional personalities—C. K. Dexter Haven, the witty Cary Grant character in The Philadelphia Story; Dexter Green, the protagonist of the F. Scott Fitzgerald story "Winter Dreams"; great jazz tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon; the boy-genius protagonist of cartoon Dexter's Laboratory; and the most recent TV series Dexter based on the books by Jeff Lindsay, whose lead happens to be a genial but sociopathic serial killer.
      • Elliot
        • Origin:

          Anglicization of Elijah or Elias
        • Meaning:

          "Jehovah is God"
        • Description:

          Elliot is another traditional boy name used for girls", a trend led by political commentator George Stephanopoulos and his actress wife Ali Wentworth.
      • Fern
        • Origin:

          English
        • Meaning:

          "plant name"
        • Description:

          Of all the botanicals, Fern has been one of the slowest to move back from the front parlor into the nursery, despite the appealing girl character in the children's classic Charlotte's Web. Fern was most popular from the turn of the last century through the 1940s, reaching a high of #152 in 1916. We can certainly see her rejoining the long list of popular greenery names.
      • Finn
        • Origin:

          Irish
        • Meaning:

          "fair or white"
        • Description:

          Finn is a name with enormous energy and charm, that of the greatest hero of Irish mythology, Finn MacCool (aka Fionn mac Cuumhaill), an intrepid warrior with mystical supernatural powers, noted as well for his wisdom and generosity.
      • Freya
        • Origin:

          Norse
        • Meaning:

          "a noble woman"
        • Description:

          Freya has long been popular in the U.K. but has only taken off in the US in the last decade, along with the entire category of mythological names. Derived from the Old Norse name Freyja, meaning "Lady, noble woman", Freya is the name of the Norse goddess of love, beauty, and fertility.
      • Hermione
        • Origin:

          Greek, feminine version of Hermes, "messenger, earthly"
        • Meaning:

          "messenger, earthly"
        • Description:

          Hermione's costarring role in Harry Potter has made this previously ignored, once stodgy name suddenly viable. Hermione could really take off once today's children start having kids of their own.
      • Holland
        • Origin:

          Dutch place name
        • Meaning:

          "wooded land"
        • Description:

          Holland is one of the coolest geographical names, unadorned and elegant, evocative of fine Rembrandt portraits and fields of pink and yellow tulips. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2014.