Gracie is a more informal version of the word name Grace, a name that’s just fallen out of the top 20–and James has been popping up more and more for girls as a clever (and slightly less expected) middle name, in lieu Jane or Ann.

Emerson used to be a boys’ only name—but recently, it’s become even more popular for girls, where it’s currently in the top 250. It’s another way to get that popular Emma/Emily/Em sound in your daughter’s name. Jay comes from the bluejay bird (or is short for Jason). Traditionally, this was also boys’ only, but now it’s a girls name, too.

What do you think of these two celebrity “tomboy” names? Are these names you’d want to give your daughter—or would you prefer them for your sons?

And don’t forget to vote for your favorite names with our cool Name Game feature!

Photo: Ron Livingstone and Rosemarie DeWitt by Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com

Buffy If a kick-ass vamp slayer like Ms. Summers can’t resurrect Buffy from the dead, nothing will. And though she saved the world (a lot), she wasn’t able to save her name from remaining at the bottom of the heap. Buffy is among the goofiest nicknames for Elizabeth.

Angel Buffy’s true love—a vampire with a soul—gets the deep name of Angel. The name was on an upswing before the show even aired, but it’s been a consistent top 100 choice ever since.

Willow The nature name Joss chose for Buffy’s geek-chic best friend (and future most-powerful-witch-in-the-universe) was barely in the top 1000 when the show started, and now is continuing its rise, currently ranking as the 171st most popular name for girls in the U.S. (You can also thank Will and Jada Smith, who picked it for their daughter during this same timeframe.)

Xander This short form of Alexander clearly got a boost from its pop culture association—it didn’t even register on the charts when the show first aired, and it’s now nearing the top 200 names. You can bet, too, that more than a few of the babies named Alexander (it’s currently #9 on the charts) actually go by Xander instead.

Cordelia Buffy’s high-school mean-girl frenemy scored a name that wasn’t exactly apropos (it’s Latin for “heart”). Despite its sweet meaning, its illustrious past (it’s one of King Lear’s daughters in Shakespeare’s masterpiece), and this pop-culture reference, it still hasn’t cracked the top 1000 names in decades.

Anya This Russian variant on Ann was picked for a former vengeance demon and reluctant member of Buffy’s “Scooby Gang,” and perhaps one of my favorite characters on the show. The name zoomed up the charts after the character was introduced in the show, and it’s currently in the top 400 names.

Rupert Sadly, neither Buffy’s guiding force, Watcher Rupert Giles, nor Rupert Grint, the actor who played Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter series, was able to bring this name into prominence in the U.S. (It is still pretty popular in the UK, though.) I kind of like the funky “Ripper” nickname the bookish Mr. Giles had from his bad-boy rebellious stage.

Spike If you’re really daring, you might want to name your child after Buffy’s other great love—one of the most vicious vamps around, who Buffy helped tame. But you might be better off giving your child this character’s given name, top-10 classic William, and then just calling him Spike around the house.

Faith There’s a whole convoluted story about how Buffy went from being the only slayer in the world to having a second one to join her fight. And Faith represented the wild side of Slayerdom—and later became a good girl gone bad. Faith was already on the rise into the top 100 when the character appeared—and it’s had continued popularity ever since.

Wesley If your only experience with Wesley Wyndham-Pryce was Buffy, you probably wouldn’t be too keen on the name—Faith’s Watcher Guide was a major-league prig and a bit of a wuss. But his character was developed more extensively on the spinoff series Angel, where he became quite a hero. Unfortunately, he seemed to have little positive effect on the course of the name—it made a small dip during the series run, but is now back up near the top 150 names for boys in the U.S.

There were some other great choices, too—I loved the names Warren and Glory, even if they were major league baddies. Were you a big-league Buffy fan—or a fan of any of these names? What was your favorite episode?

Want to vote on a few fab baby names? Check out our Name Game for more. (Oh, and don’t forget to like In Name Only on Facebook to keep up with the latest in baby names!)

Image: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

We all want our kiddos to feel special—so it’s no surprise that unique baby names and unique spellings have become so popular in the U.S. In fact, the number of babies represented in the top 10 names or even the top 1000 names on the Social Security list dwindles each and every year (it’s down by more than five percent over the past several years)—which means that more and more people are choosing names that only a handful of other kiddos get.

And it also means that once you’ve settled on the perfect name for your future kiddo, you tend to get a wee bit territorial about it. Heck, we’ve written articles about baby name stealing, and how much trouble it can cause. And it even ended up becoming a major plot point in an episode of Sex and the City. Remember Charlotte’s much beloved, “made up” baby name Shayla? (P.S. She didn’t make it up—it’s actually an Irish variation on Cecelia!)

And now, there’s this hilarious sendup of the whole baby name stealing phenomenon, courtesy of Reductress (essentially, the Onion for the ladies).

Have you been the victim (or the perpetrator) of a baby name theft? Did it break up a pair of BFFs, or were you able to get over it and find a new (and maybe even improved) name? Share your story!

(Check out our Name Game to tell us what other names you love—or love to hate!)

Image: Baby names by Alexandra Grablewski

Everett is a relatively popular name that means “brave,” and currently is on a major upswing toward the top 200 names. They paired it with the timeless Joseph, a top 20 Biblical name.

George is a Greek name that means farmer. It’s a name that’s on a very slow and steady decline, after decades in the top 20 names. (I still love it, though, for little boys!) It’s a name with a very long and illustrious past, including British royals, our first President, a slew of writers, and of course, a few modern Presidents, too. Samuel is an Old Testament name, which hasn’t been out of the top 100 for over a century. It’s a name that means “told by God,” and it’s currently in the top 25 in the U.S.

What do you think of Chely and Lauren’s choices? Are you planning on any of those names for your baby boy? (Don’t forget to check out our Name Game to tell us what other names you love—or love to hate!)

Photo: Chely Wright and Lauren Blitzer Wright by s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

Clara’s experienced a resurgence outside of the Doctor’s fans—after a dip through the 198s0 and 1990s, it’s now climbing and currently at #136. It’s a name of Latin descent, and means clear and bright. It also has some lovely historical meaning, thanks to Civil War nurse Clara Barton, silent screen star Clara Bow, and Clara, the lead character in the Christmas classic, Nutcracker. And it’s a nice alternative to the more popular Claire.

It’s a delicate name that works beautifully with some elegant middle names. I love it with Emily, Violet, Josephine, Margaret or even Scarlett. If you like the short-and-sweet middle names, there’s always Jane, Blue or even Bette.

What do you think of Clara? Is it a name you’d consider for your daughter? (Check out our Name Game to tell us what other names you love—or love to hate!)

Photo: Pregnant woman via Ronald Summers/Shutterstock.com

Sophia

But what’s even more interesting are some of the names that made the top 5 in some states, but aren’t even in the top 10 in the U.S. Washington DC had some unique girls’ names, Charlotte and Genesis. Harper was also #4 in Montana, Nebraska, Iowa and North Dakota, and #2 in South Dakota—I’m already predicting that it hits the top 10 next year. Some unique names in the number 5 spot include Aaliyah (New Mexico), Avery (Minnesota), Lily (Utah) and Ella (Vermont).

The boys’ names were even more varied. Henry’s making major inroads—it may be only #43 overall, but it hit the top 5 in Washington DC, Minnesota and Oregon. Logan was in the top five in Hawaii, Idaho, Vermont and Wyoming, while Wyatt continued to be red-hot in the West—it was #3 in Montana and #5 in Wyoming. Some other unique names included Gabriel (#4 in Alaska), Ryan (#3 in Massachusetts), Carter (#3 in Iowa and #5 in Michigan), and Bentley and Hunter, both in the top 5 in West Virginia.

Of course, if you take into account the variety of ways baby names can be spelled—like Sophia/Sofia, Aiden/Aidan/Ayden and other creative spellings, the top names may look pretty different across the board. (Take a look at this top baby girls’ names, compiled by listing all the variant spellings—and you’ll see a different picture of the top baby names.)

What baby names are you hearing a lot where you live? (Check out our Name Game to tell us what other names you love—or love to hate!)

Image: Baby names by Amir Ridhwan/Shutterstock.com

MY HITS

Atticus This red-hot Romanesque name (most famous for the upstanding lawyer/dad in To Kill a Mockingbird) is still on the rise, climbing nearly 50 places in 2012—where it’s about to break into the top 400.

Brantley This surname-name jumped around 175 places, and is now angling for the top 100 names in the country. (Looks like -ley names are falling out of favor for girls, but gaining favor for boys!)

Briella A mashup of Brian and Ella leaped 125 spots on the latest list. I expect it and sister name Brielle to make big strides this year, thanks to the fierce warrior Brielle on Game of Thrones. 

Camden I think I went a little too early on this one—it only rose four spots last year. But the celeb push this name received came all in the latter part of the year, with a pair of fall babies. Expect the name to make a bigger leap this year.

Carter was another modest mover—only up four slots. But it’s still squarely in the top 50 names in the country. I’ll be intrigued to see where it lands in some parts of the Midwest/Mountain areas, where the name was making big headway last year (it was tops in Iowa).

Declan moved up another 30 spots, after moving nearly 100 places between 2011 and 2012. I think as the -den names start to lose favor, this will move in to take the spot.

Olive got a big boost up about 50 spots on the charts, likely thanks to the influence of Drew Barrymore—and the fact that it’s a less-popular variation on the uberpopular Olivia.

Penelope moved nearly 50 points itself—I still credit Tina Fey’s baby naming prowess for this classic’s resurgence!

MY MISSES

Angelique looked like it was poised for a continued rise, but it actually dipped nine points over the course of 2012.

Merida I guess it isn’t a Brave new world for baby names—the feisty princess’s moniker didn’t crack the top 1000, as I had predicted. There’s always next year, though, right?

What names are you predicting to rise this year?

This garden flower has been steadily in the top 200 names since the 1990s, a fresh choice like Violet, Lily and Rose. Daisy is considered a nickname for Margaret, which makes it a nice choice in homage to a relative who bears the name. Daisy has a few other pop culture associations, beyond the Gatsby heroine. There’s Daisy Duke (of Dukes of Hazzard fame), Daisy Duck (Donald’s girlfriend), and Daisy Miller, from Henry James’ novel.

The name’s been relatively popular with celebrities—actors Jon Cryer, Lucy Lawless and Anthony Stewart Head all picked it for their daughters. Often, it’s paired with wordy middle names: Meg Ryan’s daughter is Daisy True, and chef Jamie Oliver named his daughter Daisy Boo. I like it with Bell, Claire, Kate and June.

And it’s a perfect choice for a baby born this time of year, when gardens begin to bloom. What do you think of Daisy? Is it a name you’d want to use for your daughter?

Check back later this week for more analysis of the top baby names of the year!

Photo: Pregnant woman via Ronald Summers/Shutterstock.com

For girls, the name Dulce means “sweet,” but apparently, American parents aren’t that sweet on it anymore—it was the biggest loser, dropping 160 places on the chart. (I’m thinking it might make a pretty middle name, though!)

Estrella, a Spanish name that means star and has that hot -ella ending, and Danna, a mashup of Donna and Dana, both fell more than 120 places as well. Mikaela, a feminization of Michael, fell 140 spots, and Mikayla, its creative spelling cousin, also fell 45 points. The more traditional spelling, Michaela, fared much better. Maybe the creative spellings are starting a slow decline?

Adding fuel to that theory—Jakob was among the big decliners for the year, while Jacob continued to reign supreme. For boys overall, some of the -den names started to head . Leading the charge to the bottom was Braeden, which fell 105 points—and alternative spelling Braden also fell 45 points. (Zaiden and Zayden, however, are on the rise—combining that cool “Z” initial with the mega-popular “aden” sound.) Apparently, parents aren’t on Team Cullen anymore (is the Twilight effect finally over?)—the baby name Cullen dropped almost 80 spots.

A few other interesting tidbits: Some sports stars’ names are on a big decline (we’re looking at you, Lance, Jacoby, and Kobe!). For girls, “ey” names didn’t fare so well—Lindsey, Courtney, Tenley and Kiley were among the big droppers.

What do you think of this list? Are some of these names unfairly maligned—and are any of them on your baby name list? And would you rather pick a name that’s rising quickly, or fading fast?

Keep up with the latest posts by liking In Name Only on Facebook! (And check out our Name Game to tell us what other names you love—or love to hate!)

Photo: Cute baby by postolit /Shutterstock.com

Messiah is currently the #4 mover and shaker, having moved up nearly 250 spots in the past year alone. (And it wasn’t even in the top 1000 before 2005!) It’s an interesting choice, which seems to follow a mini trend of choosing “powerful” royal/leader names for boys—also on the rise are names like King, Prince, and Kingston.

Raelynn and the sister spelling Raelyn were both on a major uptick, thanks to Season 2 Voice contestant RaeLynn. It’s been new on the list since 2008.

Here are the top 5 names on the rise for boys and girls:

BOYS

1. Major
2. Gael
3. Jase
4. Messiah
5. Brantley

GIRLS

1. Arya
2. Perla
3. Catalina
4. Elisa
5. Raelynn

Keep watching for even more analysis of the top 1000 baby names in the country—and follow In Name Only to keep up with the latest in baby names! (P.S. If you need some baby name advice, feel free to drop me a line at lamilbrand@gmail.com!) Check out our Name Game to tell us what other names you love—or love to hate!

Image: Baby names by Amir Ridhwan/Shutterstock.com