Name Spotlight

Name: Malcolm Meaning: “devotee of St. Colomba” Origin: Scottish Current Popularity: #394 For the past century, Malcolm has been all over (but consistently within) the top 600 baby names in the US. Malcolm was at peak popularity in 1928, when it was ranked the 205th most popular male name in the US. From the data, […]

Name: Ava Meaning: bird or “living one” Origin: Latin (also Persian) Current Popularity: #3 Ava was a “sweet spot” name for many years, lingering between 400 and 600 on the popularity charts for most of the past 100 years. That all changed in the early 2000s when Ava began its meteoric rise into the top […]

Name: Paloma Meaning: dove, pigeon Origin: Spanish Current Popularity: #912 Paloma made its way into the top 1000 baby names in the US in 1993. It peaked in popularity in 2010, but since it’s never been a popular name in the US, it doesn’t feel behind-the-curve in the least. Nickname Potential: Loma, Lo, Pali, Polly […]

Name: Ford Meaning: “dweller at the ford,” or “river crossing” Origin: English Current Popularity: #635 Ford was at peak popularity in 1900, when it was #473. It stayed in the top 1000 names in the US until 1952. And then something interesting happened. It fell out of the rankings completely for decades. In 2014 it […]

Name: Daphne Meaning: Laurel or bay tree Origin: Greek Current Popularity: #383 Daphne peaked in popularity in 2014 but has been holding fairly still since then. Its overall trend has been slow and steady, making it one of those “sweet spot” names that is well known but not too popular. Familiar but fresh is a […]