By Pamela Redmond Satran
Everybody loves the letter A.
A is the most common first initial for baby names today. Many of the most popular baby names start with A, including Ava, Abigail, and Amelia for girls, and Alexander, Andrew, and the Aiden constellation for boys. And then there are all the fast-rising names that begin with A, from the Game of Thrones-inspired Arya to the biblical Asher to the hot celebrity names Anson and Azalea.
Why is A so favored? The fact that it’s first may have something to do with giving it an image of primacy and importance. And then there are the studies that say people whose names begin with A are more likely to earn As in school and may even live longer.
That makes a lot of good reasons to want to choose an A name for your baby. But what are the best A names that are not overused or on their way to becoming too popular?
We combed the nearly 3500 unusual baby names that start with A on Nameberry to find the best choices below the Top 1000. Here, our 100 favorites:
[column1]
girls
Abelia
Acacia
Adair
Adelia
Afra
Ailsa
Alabama
Alberta or Albertine
Aleela
Alitia
Alpha
Amabel
Amalia
Amandine
Amaryllis
Ambrosia
Amethyst
Aminta
Amity
Amoris
Anais
Anara
Anatalya
Aniceta
Anina
Annik
Anouk
Anthea
Antonia
Anwen
Apollonia
Araminta
Aravis
Arcadia
Arden
Ariadne
Arizona
Artemis
Asa
Ashira
Asteria
Astrid
Atalia
Audra
Augusta
Avalon
Aviana
Aviva
Avril
Aya
Aziza
Azure
[/column1]
[column2]
boys
Abbot
Abelard
Abner
Adlai
Ahmet
Ajani
Alaric
Albin
Alcott
Aldous
Aleph
Alessio
Alexi
Alistair
Aloysius
Amadeus
Amadi
Ambrose
Amias or Amyas
Amory
Amos
Anatole
Ansel
Anselm
Anton
Apollo
Ara
Aram
Arc
Arden
Aries
Arlo
Arsenio
Art
Aston
Atlas
Auberon
Aubin
Auden
Augusten or Augustin
Aurelius
Austen
Averill
Axton
Azariah or Azarias
[/column2]
What are your favorite A names, either on this list or off it?