American Names

Names that were made in America rather than brought there: surnames turned into first names, place names, respellings, and coinages built to sound like something older. They are the group most often given an invented etymology elsewhere, because a name with no history attracts one.

Languages behind these names Hebrew Latin Greek

Rankings for

14 names, uncommon — 100 to 499 a year, in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Jaiden Jaiden belongs to the -aiden rhyming family invented in America in the 1990s, and the Hebrew meanings offered for it are attached to a coinage — thankful one and God will judge cannot both be right.
Unisex American 472 in 2025
Jazmin Jazmin respells a Persian word that traveled the length of Eurasia — yasmin passed through Arabic into Europe with the plant itself, which is why the word is near-identical in a dozen unrelated languages.
Girl American 395 in 2025
Mikayla Mikayla respells Michaela, and the Hebrew behind both is a question — who is like God — whose expected answer is nobody.
Girl American 364 in 2025
Janelle Janelle is an American elaboration rather than an inherited name — Jane with a French-looking ending attached, built in the twentieth century by the same habit that produced Danielle, Rochelle and Michelle.
Girl American 340 in 2025
Kendra Kendra has no settled origin — a feminine of Kenneth, a Welsh compound meaning greatest champion, and an invention from Ken plus a fashionable ending are all proposed, and none is established.
Girl American 320 in 2025
Kylee Kylee has no agreed source, and it is not a feminine of Kyle — the -lee ending was attached to a Ky- opening in twentieth-century America, and any Gaelic meaning offered for it arrived afterward.
Girl American 306 in 2025
Ashlyn Ashlyn has two possible sources and they disagree completely — the Irish aisling means a dream or vision, while the English reading is simply an ash-tree clearing.
Girl American 262 in 2025
Jazmine Jazmine is the fourth spelling of one Persian word on this site, alongside Jasmine, Jasmin and Jazmin — yasmin traveled with the plant itself, which is why it is near-identical across a dozen languages.
Girl American 255 in 2025
Trenton Trenton means Trent's town, and the Trent is a man rather than the English river — William Trent bought the land in 1714, and the New Jersey city was named for him, not for the water.
Boy American 213 in 2025
Darren Darren has no established origin — it appears in twentieth-century America with no traceable parent, and the Irish and Gaelic derivations offered for it were attached after the fact.
Boy American 187 in 2025
Jada Jada appears once in the Hebrew Bible as a man's name, in a genealogy in Chronicles — the modern American name is effectively a separate creation that happens to match it.
Girl American 195 in 2025
Terrance Terrance respells Terrence, and the name descends from a Roman playwright born enslaved in North Africa — Terence was freed by his owner and his Latin became a school text for centuries.
Boy American 109 in 2025
Dixie Dixie names the American South and nobody knows why — the leading account is a French ten-dollar note printed dix in Louisiana, and the rival is the Mason-Dixon line.
Girl American 130 in 2025
Arlene Arlene has no established origin at all — it appears in the nineteenth century with no traceable parent name, and the Irish pledge reading usually given for it belongs to a different name entirely.
Girl American 127 in 2025

Search Names

American Names

Related Origins