What's Hot

A+ NAMES

Today's baby namers not only want their kids to get As later on in school, they want to give them an A to start off with—as the initial letter of their names. There's been a remarkable upsurge of hot A names—we did, after all, call this book Beyond Ava & Aiden—especially if you consider that in 1975 only seven of the top fifty names began with any vowel, while in 2007 there were seventeen beginning just with the letter A. Vowel names in general are on the rise—lots of interesting E, I, and O names as well—but A as in Alpha is definitely the leader of the pack.

And there are even some scientific grounds for choosing an A name. A study by Leif Nelson of the University of California, San Diego, and Joseph Simmons of Yale in the journal Psychological Science stated that students whose names began with A or B earned higher averages than students whose names began with letters farther down the alphabet, and that there were also more students in top-ranking law schools with names starting with A or B—so making an A-pick now might just help point your child toward the A-list.

You'll find lots more A names plus other vowel-beginning names on the other hot and cool lists. But here are some of the hottest A names:

Girls ANGEL

AALIYAH ANGELICA

ABIGAIL ANGELINA

ADA ANIKA/ANNIKA

ADDIE/ADDY ANNA

ADDISON ANNABEL(LA)

ADELAIDE ANOUK

ADELINE ANYA

ADRIANA APHRA

AERIN APPLE

AINSLEY ARABELLA

AISLINN (ASH-LIN) ARAMINTA

ALABAMA ARDEN

ALEXA ARIA

ALEXIA ARIAN(N)A

ALEXIS ARMANI

ALI ARTEMIS

ALICE ASHA

ALLEGRA ASHBY

ALMA ASHLYN

AMABEL ASIA

AMELIA ASPEN

AMELIE AUBREY

AMERICA AUDEN

AMITY AUDREY

ANAÏS AUGUSTA

ANASTASIA AUTUMN

ANDROMEDA AVA

AVALON ANGEL

AVALYN/AVELINE ANGUS

AVERY APOLLO

AVIS ARCHER

ARI

Boys ARMANI

AARON ARROW

ABBOTT ARTHUR

ACE ASA

ACHILLES ASH

ADAIR ASHER

ADRIAN ASHTON

AIDAN/AIDEN ATTICUS

ALESSANDRO AUDEN

ALEX AUGUST

ALFIE AUGUSTEN/AUGUSTIN

AMORY AXEL

ANDERSON AZARIAH

MILLENNIAL NAMES

There is an entire generation of names moving rapidly up the popularity list that distinguish themselves by being newly minted. Even if they existed as surnames or place names or occupations, they've rarely been used before as first names. Many of them are morphed versions of names that were used in another form earlier, while others have been spun from thin air. The underlying feeling seems to be a desire for a new beginning along with the new millennium. Anything we did and said, felt and experienced in the last century is over now. We've entered an era of change, and these names are evidence of that belief.

Girls(mostly) BRADY

ADDISON BRAXTON

AINSLEY BRYSON

ARIA CADE

AVERY CALE

BROOKLYN CAMDEN

CADENCE CANNON

CALI CHACE

CHEYENNE CHANCE

ELLE COLBY

HARLOW COLT

LEXI COLTON

MACY DARWIN

MARLEY DAWSON

MYA EASTON

REESE FISHER

SAGE FLINT

SAILOR GABLE

SCOUT GAGE

SIENNA GRAYSON

SIERRA HUDSON

SKYLA HUNTER

SKYLAR JADEN

TAYLA JAX

TRISTA JAXON

JET

Boys(mostly) JETSON

ASH KANE

ASHTON KIAN

BECKETT KYLAN

BRADEN KYLER

LANDON FINLAY

LENNON HARLEY

LENNOX JALEN

LOGAN JAMESON

MAVERICK JUSTICE

ORION KAI

ROCKET KEATON

RYDER KENNEDY

STEEL LONDON

STONE PAYTON/PEYTON

TRENTON REEVE

ZANDER RILEY

ROMY

Either ROWAN

AUDEN SAWYER

BLAZE TAJ

DEVON TRACE

New-Age Names

Related to the Millennial group are the New-Age Names—children of the new era but with a distinctly spiritual twist. These names reflect positivity, peace, an enduring strength and the thirst for a higher power. They include:

ANGEL DESTINY

ANSWER DEVA

BLISS DHARMA

BODHI EDEN

CHARITY ESSENCE

DEACON EVER

FAITH PATIENCE

GENESIS PAX

HARMONY PAXTON

HAVEN PEACE

HEAVEN PRAISE

HONOR SERENITY

INFINITY TRINITY

JUSTICE TRUE

MERCY TRUTH

MESSIAH VERITY

MIRACLE ZEN

NEVAEH ZION

STAR POWER

The names of stars and their children are flashed before the public all day, every day, and not just in the gossip magazines and TV shows and online blogs, but on the national nightly news and in mainstream media like the New York Times, Time, and Newsweek. Those famous names have become an increasingly powerful influence on baby-naming trends in general and on what we name our individual children. A star can single-handedly make a boy's name like Drew or Cameron seem feminine and sexy, catapult a shy old favorite like Violet or Matilda to superstardom, even raise an old-school glamorous name like Ava or Harlow from the dead. Celebrities have made us more accepting of quirky ethnic names such as Viggo and Suri, have encouraged us to look for names that honor significant places (Kingston) or heroes (Nouvel), and have inspired us to invent unique names—from Beyoncé to January to Story—of our very own.

Starbabies

When your great-aunt Agnes can reel off all twelve first and middle names of the Jolie-Pitt sextet, you know you're living in a culture that celebrates celebrity babies. We scrutinize their high-profile moms' bumps, pore over their nurseries and layettes, and when the name is finally announced, everyone weighs in: Is it too far out? Is it too trendy? Will it work in my neighborhood as well as it works in Malibu?

Many of the names below have either already become hot or are beginning to heat up thanks to a starbaby's influence. A star can pluck a name out of limbo and give it new life and potential, as in the cases of Julia Roberts's Hazel (not a popular choice at first), Tina Fey's Alice, Jessica Alba's Honor, and several celebrities' picks of Tallulah. The same holds true for boys, with such instant hits as Kingston (Rossdale), Maddox (Jolie-Pitt), and several Becketts. Even older children thrust in the spotlight—most notably, Malia and Sasha Obama—can inspire real-life namesakes.

The following is a selective list of starbaby choices that might influence your pick for the newest star in your own family:

Girls

AGNES Elisabeth Shue & Davis Guggenheim

ALABAMA Drea de Matteo & Shooter Jennings

ALICE Tina Fey, Tom Cavanaugh

ANGEL Melanie (Spice Girl) Brown

APPLE Gwyneth Paltrow & Chris Martin

ARIZONA Art (Everclear) Alexakis

ASHBY Nancy O'Dell

AUDREY Greg Kinnear

AVA Kevin Dillon, Mia Hamm & Nomar Garciaparra,

Jason Priestley, Caroline Rhea—to name the

most recent

AVALON Rena Sofer

AVIS Daniel Baldwin

BAILEY Scott Baio, Stella McCartney, Teri Polo

(who spelled it Bayley)

BIRDIE Busy Philipps

BLUEBELL Geri (Spice Girl) Halliwell

BRIGHTON Jon Favreau

CHARLESTON Joey Lawrence

CHARLIE Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O'Connell

CLEMENTINE Ethan Hawke

COCO Courteney Cox & David Arquette

DOLLY Rebecca Romijn & Jerry O'Connell

DOMINO India Hicks

EASTON Elisabeth Röhm

EDEN Marcia Cross

EDIE Samantha Morton

EMERY Angie Harmon & Jason Sehorn

EVER Milla Jovovich & Paul Anderson

FINLEY Lisa Marie Presley

GIA Matt Damon

GRIER Brooke Shields

HARLOW Nicole Richie & Joel Madden

HARPER Martie (Dixie Chick) Maguire, Lisa Marie Presley

HEAVEN Brooke Burke

HONOR Jessica Alba & Cash Warren

INDIGO Lou Diamond Phillips

JAGGER Soleil Moon Frye

JOHNNIE Melissa Etheridge

JUNO Will (Coldplay) Champion

LOTUS Rain Pryor

LUNA Constance Marie

MAEVE Chris O'Donnell

MARLO Rob Corddry

MARS Erykah Badu & Jay Electronica

MERCY Andy Richter

MILEY Rev Run

NAHLA Halle Berry

NAVY Nivea & Terius Nash

NELL Helena Bonham Carter & Tim Burton

ODETTE Mark Ruffalo

OLIVE Isla Fisher & Sacha Baron Cohen

PALOMA David Caruso

PETAH Ani DiFranco

PIPER Samantha Bee

RHIANNON Robert Rodriguez

ROMY Sofia Coppola

RUBY Tobey Maguire, Charlotte Church

SADIE Adam Sandler, Finola Hughes

SAGE Toni Collette

SAM Tiger Woods

SAWYER Sara Gilbert

SCARLETT Karen Elson & Jack (White Stripes) White

SERAPHINA Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck

SHILOH Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt

SIENNA Campbell Brown

STELLA Tori Spelling

SUNDAY Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban

SURI Katie Holmes & Tom Cruise

TALLULAH Philip Seymour Hoffman, Damon Dash

TRUE Joely Fisher

VALENTINA Selma Hayek

VIOLET Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck, Dave (Foo Fighters)

Grohl

VIVIENNE Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt

WILLA Philip Seymour Hoffman

ZAHARA Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt



Excerpted from Beyond Ava & Aiden by Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran.
Copyright 2009 by Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran.
Published in July 2009 by St. Martin's Press.
All rights reserved. This work is protected under copyright laws and reproduction is strictly prohibited. Permission to reproduce the material in any manner or medium must be secured from the Publisher.