If you like a baby name but it sounds more like a last name, don’t let that stop you.
“Many surnames are so well established in our first-name culture that we don’t even think of them as surnames at all,” Laura Wattenberg, the creator of Namerology, tells TODAY.com. “You can find examples across the generations.”
Wattenberg points to names like Irving, Milton and Sidney (which were common in the 1910s), Warren, Shirley, Gordon and Wallace (1930s) and Glenn, Curtis, Stewart and Wayne (1950s). In the 1970s, names like Kelly and Bradley popped up; the 1990s saw Kelsey, Taylor and Courtney; Landon and Cooper ruled the 2010s.
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We’re also seeing a new, hip trend.
“Some of the hottest rising surname styles today are surnames ending in ‘S’ like Collins, Brooks, and Hayes,” says Wattenberg. “Also, names ending in unusual letters like ‘W,’ as in Harlow and Winslow, or ‘X’ such as, Lennox and Knox.”
Wattenberg adds, “Rock ‘n’ roll names like Jagger, Hendrix and Lennon are also big.”
Want to reserve a name that will be popular down the line?
“I expect to see parents start to explore names with a more gentlemanly throwback style, like Montgomery, Shepard and Jennings,” says Wattenberg. “Also look for more curt one-syllable names like Locke, Holt and Penn.”
Last names that are well-established as first names
- Ashley
- Bradley
- Brent
- Brody
- Calvin
- Carson
- Clark
- Clayton
- Cooper
- Courtney
- Curtis
- Dwight
- Ellis
- Glenn
- Gordon
- Grant
- Hailey
- Harris
- Irving
- Kelly
- Kelsey
- Kendall
- Landon
- Lindsay
- Lloyd
- Marshall
- Mitchell
- Milton
- Seymour
- Sidney
- Shirley
- Spencer
- Stewart
- Taylor
- Tracy
- Tyler
- Wallace
- Warren
- Wayne
Last names that are transitioning into first names
- Banks
- Beckham
- Boone
- Bowie
- Briggs
- Cash
- Collins
- Davis
- Everly
- Gatlin
- Harlow
- Hayes
- Hendrix
- Henley
- Jagger
- Knox
- Lennon
- Lennox
- Lincoln
- Maddox
- Marlowe
- Nash
- Presley
- Quinn
- Remington
- Wells
- Winslow
Last names we’ll see as first names in the future
