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

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

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Maximilian Maximilian is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "greatest."
Boy Latin 497 in 2025
Gregory Gregory is a boy's name from the Greek for watchful or alert.
Boy Greek 493 in 2025
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.
Girl Latin 488 in 2025
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.
Girl Spanish 486 in 2025
Roland Roland is a boy's name meaning famous land, and its bearer is the hero of France's national epic — a knight who dies at Roncevaux because he is too proud to blow his horn for help.
Boy Germanic 466 in 2025
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
Boy Germanic 461 in 2025
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.
Girl French 474 in 2025
Anne Anne is a girl's name from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning favor or grace.
Girl Hebrew 472 in 2025
Dominick Dominick means of the Lord, and it was given to children born on a Sunday — dies dominica is the Lord's day, and the name records the day of birth rather than a hope for the child.
Boy Latin 448 in 2025
Gustavo Gustavo has no settled meaning, and the two accounts disagree on the language — a Norse staff of the Geats, or a Slavic name reshaped by Swedish, and neither has carried the field.
Boy Italian 447 in 2025
Arturo Arturo means bear, probably — but Arthur is one of the genuinely unsolved names, with a Celtic word for bear and a Roman family name both proposed and neither established.
Boy Italian 446 in 2025
Nathanael Nathanael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has given," and it is the same name as Nathaniel with the spelling closer to the Greek.
Boy Hebrew 442 in 2025
Gabrielle Gabrielle is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my strength," the French feminine of Gabriel.
Girl French 471 in 2025
Raul Raul means wolf counsel, and it is the same name as Ralph and Rudolph — one Norse compound that entered Spanish, English and German separately and ended up looking like three different names.
Boy Spanish 440 in 2025
Shane Shane is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," and it exists because English speakers wrote down how Ulster pronounced Seán.
Boy Irish 439 in 2025
Leonard Leonard is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "lion-strong," and its saint is the patron of prisoners and of women in labor.
Boy Germanic 438 in 2025
Julio Julio means downy-bearded, and France ranks it 517th — above the United States at 641st, which is not where a Spanish form of a Roman family name would be expected to lead.
Boy Spanish 436 in 2025
Katie Katie is a girl's name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Katherine whose meaning has never been settled.
Girl English 447 in 2025
Sam Sam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has heard," a short form of Samuel.
Boy Hebrew 452 in 2025
Irene Irene is a girl's name from the Greek word for peace, and the name of the goddess who personified it.
Girl Greek 442 in 2025
Phillip Phillip is a boy's name meaning lover of horses, the doubled-l spelling of Philip.
Boy Greek 425 in 2025
Rosa Rosa is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "rose."
Girl Latin 441 in 2025
Lionel Lionel means little lion, and it entered English through Arthurian romance — Sir Lionel is a knight of the Round Table, and the name was rare before the stories carried it.
Boy French 419 in 2025
Valentin Valentin is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "strong" or "healthy," the French form of Valentine.
Boy French 418 in 2025
Jessica Jessica is a girl's name invented by Shakespeare for The Merchant of Venice in 1596.
Girl Hebrew 424 in 2025
Ahmad Ahmad is a boy's name of Arabic origin meaning "most praiseworthy".
Boy Arabic 407 in 2025
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.
Girl English 420 in 2025
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
Boy Scottish Gaelic 395 in 2025
Tomas Tomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," a form of Thomas used across Ireland, Scandinavia and the Hispanic world.
Boy Irish 394 in 2025
Louisa Louisa is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior," a Latinate form of Louise.
Girl Germanic 407 in 2025
Marvin Marvin is a boy's name from the Welsh Merfyn, and the sea friend reading usually given for it is not supported — the Welsh elements point to marrow and eminent instead.
Boy Welsh 385 in 2025
Dennis Dennis is a boy's name that traces back to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstatic release — one of the few widely used Christian names derived from a pagan deity.
Boy Greek 381 in 2025
Julien Julien is a boy's name, the French form of Julian, from a Roman family name whose meaning was never established.
Boy French 390 in 2025
Martha Martha is a girl's name of Aramaic origin meaning "lady" or "mistress of the house."
Girl Aramaic 393 in 2025
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.
Girl Irish 385 in 2025
Marcel Marcel is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "little warrior," a diminutive of Marcus and so ultimately from Mars.
Boy French 364 in 2025
Hugh Hugh is a boy's name from a Germanic word for mind or spirit, brought to Britain by the Normans.
Boy Germanic 360 in 2025
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.
Girl Latin 371 in 2025
Bruno Bruno is a boy's name from the Germanic word for brown, and it founded the Carthusians — the strictest order in the Western church, whose monks still live largely in silence.
Boy Germanic 351 in 2025
Penny Penny is a girl's name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Penelope, whose own name is bound up with a duck.
Girl English 368 in 2025
Adèle Adèle is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," from the element adal.
Girl French 362 in 2025
Salvador Salvador means savior, and it names a country and an ocean crossing — El Salvador is the only nation named directly for Christ, and San Salvador was the first island Columbus reached.
Boy Spanish 341 in 2025
Magnus Magnus is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "great," which became a Scandinavian royal name through a misunderstanding about Charlemagne's Latin title.
Boy Latin 337 in 2025
Elina Elina is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "torch" or "bright," a Finnish, Baltic and Italian form of Helen.
Girl French 355 in 2025
Christina Christina is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, and the fullest of the family that includes Christine and Kristina.
Girl Latin 352 in 2025
Celia Celia is a girl's name of Latin origin from the Roman family name Caelius, whose meaning is disputed between "heaven" and a much older Etruscan word.
Girl Latin 351 in 2025
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
Boy English 329 in 2025
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
Boy Latin 325 in 2025

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A style is our reading of a name. A decade is the register — the names children were actually given, in order, with the counts.

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