Classic Names

Names that have never really left. They rise and fall within a band rather than disappearing, which makes them the safest choice on the site and the hardest to say anything surprising about.

Rankings for

222 names, most popular first in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Matilda Matilda is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "mighty in battle."
Germanic #364 in US
Adriana Adriana means from Hadria, a small town in northern Italy that also named the Adriatic Sea — so both the name and the sea are called after a settlement most people have never heard of.
Italian #366 in US
Anya Anya is a girl's name of Russian origin, a diminutive of Anna.
Russian #375 in US
Astrid Astrid is a girl's name of Old Norse origin meaning "divinely beautiful".
Old Norse #376 in US
Laura Laura is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," the tree whose leaves crowned Roman victors and poets.
Latin #379 in US
Carmen Carmen has two unrelated sources — the Latin word for a song, and a Spanish Marian title from Mount Carmel in Israel.
Spanish #390 in US
Florence Florence is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "blossoming" or "flourishing."
Latin #391 in US
Melany Melany is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "black" or "dark".
Greek #398 in US
Lauren Lauren is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," which became a women's name because a film studio invented one.
English #401 in US
Annalise Annalise is a girl's name of German origin, a compound of Anna and Liese.
German #409 in US
Melissa Melissa is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "bee," and it was the title of the priestesses who served Demeter.
Greek #420 in US
Dorothy Dorothy is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God."
Greek #421 in US
Veronica Veronica is a girl's name from a Latin phrase meaning true image, and the saint behind it was invented to explain a relic — the cloth came first, and the woman was named after it.
Latin #427 in US
Madeleine Madeleine is a girl's name meaning "of Magdala," a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, and it is a place name rather than a description.
French #454 in US
Elisa Elisa means my God is an oath, shortened from Elizabeth, and France ranks it 202nd — its strongest market, ahead of England and Wales at 377th, Ireland at 382nd and the United States at 458th.
Italian #458 in US
Alicia Alicia is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," a Latinate form of Alice.
Germanic #460 in US
Helen Helen is a girl's name from Greek whose meaning is not settled, though torch and shining are the usual readings.
Greek #461 in US
Meredith Meredith is a Welsh man's name that turned female in America — 95 percent of the births in our records are female, and the Welsh Maredudd it comes from was borne by princes of Deheubarth.
Welsh #469 in US
Felicity Felicity is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "happiness" or "good fortune."
Latin #473 in US
Alison Alison means little Alice, and Alice means noble — but the Norman name behind it is a heavy compression of the Germanic Adalheidis, so the noble is all that survived of a longer compound.
French #477 in US
Amirah Amirah is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "princess" or "commander".
Arabic #490 in US
Maxine Maxine is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "greatest," a feminine form of Maximus.
French #496 in US
Edith Edith is a girl's name of Old English origin meaning "prosperous in war."
English #499 in US
Bianca Bianca means white, and France ranks it 242nd — ahead of Ireland at 373rd, the United States at 501st, England and Wales at 548th and Scotland at 742nd.
Italian #501 in US
Hanna Hanna is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "favor" or "grace," and it is the source of Anne, Anna, Nancy and Hannah alike.
Hebrew #513 in US
Louise Louise is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior," the French feminine form of Louis.
French #515 in US
Eve Eve is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "living one," the name given to the first woman in Genesis.
Hebrew #519 in US
Amber Amber is a girl's name of Arabic origin meaning "ambergris."
Arabic #521 in US
Kate Kate is a girl's name of Greek origin, a short form of Katherine whose meaning has never actually been established.
English #522 in US
Cecelia Cecelia means blind, and the saint who carries it became the patron of music through what looks like a misreading — a line in her acta about music playing at her wedding was later taken to mean she made it.
Latin #530 in US
Priscilla Priscilla means ancient or venerable, and it is a diminutive — so the name literally reads as little old one, which was a mark of respect rather than an insult.
Latin #544 in US
Nadia Nadia means hope, from the Russian word, and it charts in all seven markets we track — Ireland 293rd, Scotland 312th, Northern Ireland 329th, England and Wales 501st, the United States 565th and France 754th.
Russian #565 in US
Amalia Amalia is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "work" or "industrious," from the same root as Amelia and quite separate from the Latin for love.
Germanic #568 in US
Estelle Estelle means star, and France and the United States rank it within 55 places of each other — 518th and 573rd — which is unusually close for a French name in an English-speaking market.
French #573 in US
Marina Marina means of the sea, and it charts in five markets inside 276 places — Scotland 572nd, England and Wales 581st, the United States 602nd, Ireland 647th and France 848th, which is an unusually even international spread.
Latin #602 in US
Alejandra Alejandra means defender of men, and the Spanish form lost a consonant Greek never had trouble with — Alexandros became Alejandro because Spanish shifted the sh sound to the throaty j it uses today.
Spanish #605 in US
Marie Marie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Mary, and the largest name in our entire dataset with more than 2.8 million births on record.
French #618 in US
Anne Anne is a girl's name from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning favor or grace.
Hebrew #619 in US
Gabrielle Gabrielle is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength," the French feminine of Gabriel.
French #634 in US
Katie Katie is a girl's name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Katherine whose meaning has never been settled.
English #646 in US
Irene Irene is a girl's name from the Greek word for peace, and the name of the goddess who personified it.
Greek #651 in US
Rosa Rosa is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "rose."
Latin #652 in US
Jessica Jessica is a girl's name invented by Shakespeare for The Merchant of Venice in 1596.
Hebrew #665 in US
Lillie Lillie is a girl's name from the flower, which has stood for purity in Christian art for so long that the association predates the name.
English #676 in US
Louisa Louisa is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior," a Latinate form of Louise.
Germanic #694 in US
Martha Martha is a girl's name of Aramaic origin meaning "lady" or "mistress of the house."
Aramaic #712 in US
Bridget Bridget means exalted one, and it belonged to a goddess before a saint — Brigid was the Irish deity of poetry, smithcraft and healing, and the saint absorbed her feast, her fire and her attributes.
Irish #724 in US
Monica Monica is a girl's name whose meaning is genuinely unknown, and whose saint — the mother of Augustine — came from Roman North Africa, so the name may be Berber rather than Latin or Greek at all.
Latin #737 in US

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