When searching for the perfect baby name, many parents look to the future, trying to predict which name will become cool and trendy next or which will still sound good when their baby is all grown up. It’s always worthwhile to look to the past when planning for the future: Historic baby names encapsulate that forward-looking awareness. In short, history can tell us a lot — including which names will sound good for years to come. And historic baby names aren’t just timeless — they’re rich with meaning.
The historic baby names on this list are all inspired by people who’ve lived extraordinary lives. They’ve dedicated themselves to advancing civil rights, made scientific breakthroughs that changed the course of history, and created art that’s touched people across centuries. These historic figures became famous for their kindness, showed courage during some of history’s darkest times, and broke barriers today’s children benefit from to this day. There’s no better way to infuse your kid’s name with meaning!
History-Inspired Names for Girls
- Alexandria (AOC)
- Alice (Paul)
- Amelia (Earhart)
- Angela (Davis)
- Anne (Frank)
- (Captain) Anneliese (Satz)
- Aretha (Franklin)
- Audrey (Hepburn)
- (Jane) Austen
- Bessie (Smith)
- Betsy (R0ss)
- Betty (Friedan)
- Billie (Holiday)
- Carson (McCullers)
- Catherine (Middleton)
- Christa (McAuliffe)
- Coretta (Scott King)
- Diana (Princess of Wales)
- Diane (Arbus)
- Dorothea (Lange)
- Dorothy (Irene Height)
- Eleanor (Roosevelt)
- Emily (Dickinson)
- (Queen) Elizabeth
- Ella (Fitzgerald)
- Florence (Nightingale)
- Frida (Kahlo)
- Georgia (O’Keeffe)
- (Alex) Haley
- Harriet (Tubman)
- Helen (Keller)
- Ida (B. Wells)
- Jacqueline (Kennedy Onassis)
- Jane (Goodall)
- Joan (of Arc)
- (James) Joyce
- Junko (Tabei)
- (John F.) Kennedy
- Julia (Morgan)
- Kamala (Harris)
- Lashana (Lynch)
- Lola (Hendricks)
- Louise (Bourgeois)
- Lucretia (Mott)
- Madeleine (Albright)
- Malala (Yousafzai)
- Marie (Curie)
- Marsha (P. Johnson)
- Maya (Angelou)
- Michelle (Obama)
- Nellie (Bly)
- Nikola (Tesla)
- Rosa (Parks)
- Ruby (Bridges)
- Sandra (Day O’Connor)
- (Julia) Scarlett (Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus Hall)
- Serena (Williams)
- Simone (De Beauvoir)
- Sonia (Sotomayor)
- Sojourner (Truth)
- Susan (B. Anthony)
- Sylvia (Plath)
- (Mother) Teresa
- Virginia (Woolf)
- Venus (Williams)
- Vivian (Maier)
- Willa (Cather)
History-Inspired Names for Boys
- Albert (Einstein)
- (Muhammad) Ali
- Ansel (Adams)
- Booker (T. Washington)
- Cesar (Chavez)
- Charles (Darwin)
- Claude (Monet)
- (Cassius) Clay
- (Daniel) Craig
- Cormac (McCarthy)
- (Miles) Davis
- Desmond (Tutu)
- Diego (Rivera)
- (Thomas) Edison
- Edgar (Allen Poe)
- Elie (Wiesel)
- Ernest (Hemingway)
- (F. Scott) Fitzgerald
- Francis (Bacon)
- Frederick (Douglass)
- Fyodor (Dostoevsky)
- George (Washington Carver)
- Geronimo
- Harry (Belafonte)
- Harvey (Milk)
- Henri (Matisse)
- Homer
- Isaac (Newton)
- Jacob (Lawrence)
- James (Joyce)
- J.D. (Salinger)
- Jesse (Jackson)
- Johann (Sebastian Bach)
- (John) Lewis
- Johnny (Cash)
- Langston (Hughes)
- (John) Lennon
- Leonardo (Da Vinci)
- Leo (Tolstoy)
- Louis (Armstrong)
- Malcolm (X)
- Mark (Twain)
- Marlon (Brando)
- (Thurgood) Marshall
- Martin Luther King
- Merle (Haggard)
- (Arthur) Miller
- Myles (Horton)
- Neil (Armstrong)
- Nelson (Mandela)
- (Nicolaus) Copernicus
- Oscar (Wilde)
- Pablo (Picasso)
- Paul (McCartney)
- Ralph (Waldo Emerson)
- Rafael (Nadal)
- Robert (Frost)
- Samuel (Beckett)
- Sean (Connery)
- Stephen (Hawking)
- (Henry David) Thoreau
- Theodore (Roosevelt)
- Walt (Whitman)
- Winston (Churchill)
Best Historic Gender-Neutral Names
- Alexander (Graham Bell)
- Babe (Ruth)
- (Lady) Bird (Johnson)
- (John) Brown
- (David) Bowie
- (Bob) Dylan
- Charlie (Parker)
- (James) Dean
- Elon (Musk)
- (Ralph Waldo) Emerson
- Frances (Willard)
- Frank (Kameny)
- Franklin (Roosevelt)
- Franz (Kafka)
- Harper (Lee)
- Henri (Cartier-Bresson)
- (Whitney) Houston
- Jackie (Robinson)
- James (Baldwin)
- Jean-Michel (Basquiat)
- Julian (Bond)
- Lenny (Bruce)
- (Jean-) Michel (Basquiat)
- Nellie (Stone Johnson)
- Ru (RuPaul)
- (Ruth) Bader (Ginsburg)
- Shel (Silverstein)
- Teddy (Roosevelt)
- Toni (Morrison)
- Whitney (Moore Young)