by Pamela Redmond Satran

　　You have only to look at the popularity lists to know which names are used most widely now.  There’s Sophia, Isabella, Emma, and Olivia for girls; Jacob, Mason, and Ethan for boys.  Which reminds us: Have you seen our new, searchable U.S. Top 1000 list?  It’s awesome; have a peek.

　　Beyond the most popular names are the names we might think of as most stylish today.  These are represented on the Nameberry Top 1000 list, which gauges the names that are viewed most often on our site, updated monthly.  While the U.S. Top 1000 list tallies names used most frequently for babies born in 2012, the Nameberry Top 1000 surveys names capturing the most interest from prospective parents in 2014 — so it’s more theoretical, and up-to-date.

　　Based on the Nameberry list, we’d place the following baby names atop the current style wave.  What many of them lack in popularity, they make up for in stylishness.

　　[column1]

　　girls

　　Adelaide

　　Beatrice

　　Cora

　　Hazel

　　Imogen

　　Isla

　　Ivy

　　Maeve

　　Maisie

　　Violet

　　[/column1]

　　[column2]

　　boys

　　Asher

　　Atticus

　　Beckett

　　Declan

　　Ezra

　　Felix

　　Finn

　　Jasper

　　Milo

　　Silas

　　[/column2]

　　These are all wonderful names, certainly, and well ahead of their style crest.  All of them have a fashionable sound and feel, and a good ways to go before they’re overused.

　　And yet there’s a new style wave on the horizon, one that parents in search of more avant garde names will want to have their eyes on.  This next wave takes current styles and trends to more extreme levels.  Names we’d place in the next style wave include:

　　[column1]

　　girls

　　Columbia

　　Consuelo

　　Cordis

　　Delphi

　　Doon

　　Enid

　　Eulalie

　　Feodora

　　Freesia

　　Glory

　　Hebe

　　Hero

　　Ida

　　Ines

　　Kassiani

　　Leontine

　　Lettice

　　Malou

　　Minerva

　　Nile

　　Oceana

　　Persephone

　　Rhiannon

　　Rowena

　　Season

　　Sheba

　　Sybella

　　Thisbe

　　Turia

　　Ursuline

　　Viveca

　　[/column1]

　　[column2]

　　boys

　　Acacius

　　Anton

　　Apollo

　　Basie

　　Beach

　　Cassian

　　Cosmo

　　Cyprian

　　Enoch

　　Everest

　　Falconer

　　Florin

　　Freeman

　　Gower

　　Guthrie

　　Lazarus

　　Lowell

　　Lucius

　　Marlon

　　Nero

　　Oberon

　　Otis

　　Otto

　　Paladin

　　Percy

　　Ripley

　　Rocco

　　Romulus

　　Santiago

　　Smith

　　Willis

　　[/column2]

　　Do  you agree with these choices?  Have any nominations for the next style wave of baby names of your own?