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Some names are music to our ears. Here are the 50 best sounding ones according to science.

Parents filled with baby name anxiety should learn about the Bouba-Kiki effect.

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The science why some names, like Sophia, just sounds better than others.

Choosing a baby name is both fulfilling and precarious. Many parents rack their brains trying to come up with the perfect moniker—one that honors their lineage, where they were born, the personality they’ll hopefully have, or all of the above. Obviously, no easy feat.

To make things more complicated, more and more parents are experimenting with trendy or unique-sounding names, which at best can make their kid stand out, and at worse, leave them a bit isolated.

But maybe relying on science could be a more reliable strategy. As author Bill Sullivan, Ph.D., explained in an article for Psychology Today, parents can incorporate a phenomenon known as the Bouba/Kiki effect to help ensure that a name remains appealing throughout a child’s entire life, simply because it will always be pleasant sounding.

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The term “Bouba/Kiki effect” emerged from a set of experiments in which people were presented with both a round and spikey shape, and asked to link the shapes to either the word “bouba,” or “kiki.” The discovery that people consistently agree that rounded shape = “bouba” and the spiky shape = kiki showed that people inherently make image associations for certain words. Collective synesthesia, if you will.

baby names, Bouba-Kiki effect, best sounding names, best girl names, best boy names, unique baby names, classic baby names, Kiki denotes sharpness, where bouba denotes softness. www.labvanced.com

This concept applies to names as well. Sullivan cited a 2015 study which noted that "bouba," or round, smooth sounding names, like “Bob or Molly,” tend to get associated with "easy-going" personalities. Whereas kiki names, like “Kirk and Kate,” tend to sound more abrupt and could be more likely to be seen as “rude.”

In 2022, Bodo Winter, an associate professor in cognitive linguistics at the University of Birmingham, and his team somewhat cemented this theory, after asking hundreds of participants to listen to a list of the 100 most popular names in the UK and the US, and then analyzing those emotional reactions.

There was a clear winner: "Sophia," originating in Greece and meaning "wisdom." While one could argue that the list, which mainly used only names popular in the UK and the US, was somewhat limiting, the name spans many times and cultures, becoming "Sophie" in France and Germany and even "Safiya" in the Muslim communities.

baby names, Bouba-Kiki effect, best sounding names, best girl names, best boy names, unique baby names, classic baby names, Sophias of the world, rejoice. Photo credit: Canva

History and symbolism aside, what really makes Sophia pop comes down to the “soft start of ‘s,’ a roundness offered by the ‘o,’ and a smooth ending with the ‘ia,’” Winter stated. This combination results in universal pleasantness.

If you’re curious as to whether or not your name is audibly pleasing, below are the 50 top ranking names for both boys and girls in the US, courtesy of My1stYears:

1. Matthew, Sophia

2. Julian, Zoe

3. William, Everly

4. Isiah, Sophia

5. Leo, Riley

6. Levi, Ivy

7. Joseph, Paisley

8. Theo, Willow

9. Isaac, Ellie

10. Samuel, Emily

11. Miles, Evelyn

12. James, Eva

13. Elijah, Elena

14. Luke, Chloe,

15. Noah, Nova

16. Santiago, Penelope

17. Owen, Lucy

18. Logan, Lily

19. Liam, Olivia

20. Roman, Naomi

21. Ryan, Emma

22. Cooper, Natalie

23. Jack, Sofia

24. Maverick, Eleanor

25. Anthony, Violet

26. Ezekiel, Bella

27. Carter, Luna

28. Benjamin, Ella

29. Lucas, Victoria

30. Henry, Isabella

31. Jacob, Maya

32. Lincoln, Natalia

33. Mason, Amelia

34. Nathan, Savannah

35. Asher, Charlotte

36. Jackson, Stela

37. Andrew, Hazel

38. Cameron, Athena

39. Alexander, Maria

40. Theodore, Autumn

41. Adam, Kennedy

42. Gabriel, Aurora

43. Kingston, Alice

44. Daniel, Aria

45. David, Harper

46. Hunter, Serenity

47. Dylan, Nora

48. Muhammed, Grace

49. Sebastian, Elizabeth

50. Adrian, Hannah

It probably goes without saying that our own personal preferences, among many other factors, might still influence what sounds appeal to us more (I for one prefer spiky names with a little gusto) but using the simple rules of linguistics could be an interesting, and perhaps less daunting, way for parents to choose a name that’s truly timeless.

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Kids

The most popular middle names for Millennial and Gen Z babies are absolutely wild

"Middle names are an opportunity for parents to be creative."

Photo by Colin Maynard on Unsplash
selective focus photography of baby holding wooden cube

As a Gen X-er, the most exciting middle name I ever heard was "Danger." The whole gist of it was so that this person could introduce themselves and say, "Danger is my middle name," and have it be a true statement.

For a long while, it was all about first names. But interesting middle names are making a comeback, especially for babies born to Millennial and Gen Z parents.

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In Sophie Kihm's piece "Middle Name Trends 2025" for nameberry.com, she writes, "Middle names were once an afterthought—meaningless and bland connectors between first and last names." However, she relays, "Today, middle names have become an opportunity for parents to be creative. Unlike first names, which many parents hold to high standards of practicality and wearability, middle names offer freedom, flexibility, and fun."

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Some of the newest middle name trends are wild. Literally. "Wild" is one of the more popular middle names for babies, according to Kihm's article. After looking at over one thousand baby name announcements from last year, Nameberry predicted that the top names remained the classics. For girls, Rose, Grace, and Elizabeth topped the list. For boys, it was James, Alexander, and Michael.

That said, James also became popular as a second name for girls in the last decade, thanks in part to Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively choosing it for their daughter in 2014, after Ryan's late father. People Magazine reports, "When asked about the 'unusual' name choice for a girl on Good Morning Britain, Reynolds joked, 'In the spectrum of weird celebrity baby names, I don't really feel like we're breaking new ground here. I didn't call her Summer Squash Meadowlark.'" And now, it has even inspired more "grandpa" middle names than ever before for girls. On trend are Lou, Charles, Gene, and Claude.


Ryan Reynolds GIF by E!Giphy

And don't forget the colors. Kihm tells us, "Metallic hues Gold and Silver are beginning to climb the charts." Others on the list for babies born this year include Lavender, Teal, and Sage.

Perhaps most exciting on the list are middle names that conjure up strong feelings and virtues. Names like Love, True, Charm, and Reign. Think names that, if one were to become a pop star, they wouldn't need any other identifier. Also, new for boys are dreamy but robust names like Bear, Ocean, and Wolf. For girls, Bloom, Jupiter, and Valentine are coming into style.

brown wolf standing boulder during daytime Photo by Darren Welsh on Unsplash

Reddit has some thoughts. In the subreddit r/namenerds, someone posed the question, "What are your favorite unique middle names?" There were over 200 comments with suggestions, including Darling, Night, Day, Lark, Ember, and Rock.

A few people point out that some of these choices depend on culture. "In Arab/Muslim culture, the middle name of the child will be 'daughter/son of [father's name].'" Another person adds, "My country usually ends names in -ov for men and -ova for women. So if my granddad is Ivan, my middle name would be Ivanova."

A Redditor contributes this fascinating selection: "My middle name is First. My first name is August." When someone joked, "Thought you were going to say April for a moment there," they replied, "I did once work with an April. I just called her 'Four Months Before Me.'"

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How much does your name affect your life? More than you might think.

A few things for parents to ponder when deciding what to name a child.

Photo credit: Canva

What we're named makes a difference.

"What's in a name?" Juliet famously asked Romeo, telling him a rose would smell just as sweet even if it were called something else. Is it really true, though? For Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers, names were a barrier, so of course they didn't want them to matter. But just as Romeo and Juliet's last names directly affected their love story, the names we are given and go by have an impact in our lives in ways we may scarcely be aware of.

Research from around the world shows that what people call us can influence what others think of us, and what personality traits we develop, and even what big life decisions we make for ourselves. That's not to say you can direct someone's life entirely by giving them a certain name, but there are some things prospective parents who are weighing baby name options might want to consider.

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Certain names come with certain stereotypes

Our names influence how people see us, for better or for worse.

I have no hard evidence, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that very few babies born in the 2020s will be named Karen, solely because of the get-me-the-manager stereotype that's been attached to the name. The name Chad may have met a similar fate for this generation of baby boys, but there will undoubtedly be other names that get taken down by popular culture.

Fair or not, certain names conjure up certain stereotypes. Psychologist Michael Varnum, PhD, shared some results from a 2018 study of 400 Americans that examined how certain names are perceived based on traits like warmth and competence. For example:

Elizabeth = seen as high in both warmth and competence

Misty = seen as low in both warmth and competence

Riley = seen as high in warmth, low in competence

Ruth = seen as low in warmth, high in competence

Names even come with physical stereotypes, and a 2017 study from Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that people can guess what a person's name is based solely on how they look with much more accuracy than mere chance.

how our names impact usNames affect how people perceive us.Photo credit: Canva

Our names might influence decisions we make

If your name is Dennis, are you more likely to be dentist than someone named Josh? If your name is Kelly, would you be more likely to donate Hurricane Katrina victims than someone named Molly?

Oddly enough, research basically says yes. In the aggregate, people tend to make decisions about their lives that align with the first letter of their name. Study results indicate that to move to states that resemble their names, choose careers that begin with the first letter of their name, choose brand names that share phonetic qualities with their own names, choose romantic partners that have similar last names, contribute to politicians with names that start with the same letter as their own name, etc.

Yes, one study even found that people whose names shared an initial with a hurricane name were more likely to donate to that hurricane's disaster relief efforts than others.

Again, these study findings are in aggregate, so we can't draw any individual conclusions based on any individual's name, but those findings indicate that names do make a difference.

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Our names can reveal our cultural identities

If you see the names Jerry, Juan, Jakob, Jayvon, and Jahan, you likely picture a different ethnicity or race or cultural identity for each one. Names are cultural, there's no question about it, and that reality can mean different things in different contexts.

There's the famous research showing that resumes with "white-sounding" names were more likely to be called for interviews over resumes with non-white names, despite have the exact same qualifications. So our names being associated with cultural or racial identities can result in discrimination when people's prejudices, whether conscious or unconscious, get in the way.

But race and ethnicity aren't the only cultural elements our names can reveal. Whether you have a traditional name or a unique name can reveal information about your family culture, such as whether or not your family or your community are more or less individualistic. Research shows that more unique names are more common among regions of the U.S. that were more recently part of the frontier, and that countries that are more individualistic tend to have more uncommon names. So even if your name is something your parents conjured out of thin air, it may not be as hard as you might think to narrow down some cultural information about you based just on your unique name.

man holding up a name tagDoes it really matter what your name is?Photo credit: Canva

It matters whether you like your name or not

One of the most interesting, though perhaps not surprising, findings in studies on names is that people who don't like their names tend to be less psychologically well-adjusted than those who like their names. Since our names are attached to our identities in a direct way, dissatisfaction with one's name would logically correlate with negative feelings about oneself and vice versa.

But it doesn't take an official study to know that going through life with a name you don't like would just stink. Thankfully, our names aren't written in stone. I've known several people who have changed their name in adulthood, deciding they were done being called a name that didn't suit them for whatever reason.

There's no way to predict what the next "Karen" will be or to know whether a child will actually like the name they're given or not, so parents must strike a balance between being thoughtful about naming a child and being overly anxious about getting it wrong. In the end, if a name turns out to be a poor choice, it can always be changed. Life's too short to fret over a name, and it's also too short to keep one you hate.

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Teenage boy has perfect response when arrogant teacher refuses to believe his real name

He tried to explain his name and she gave him detention.

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A teenager has a real problem with his teacher.

As Dale Carnegie once wrote in “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” “A person’s name is to that person, the sweetest, most important sound in any language.” Understandably, people grow very attached to their names to the point that some studies suggest that names play a significant role in our destinies. In fact, people born with the last name Carpenter are more likely to become carpenters when they grow up.

So, it's no wonder people are sensitive about how others pronounce their names. When someone says your name wrong, it can feel very invalidating and make it look like they don't care. That’s probably why many people enjoyed a teenager's tale of getting sweet revenge on an arrogant teacher who refused to say his name correctly.

“My parents named me a shortened version of a posh-sounding name. For the sake of the story, let's say they called me Alex, which is short for Alexander. When this woman called my name, she would always use Alexander. I brought up to her that it was not my name multiple times and asked her to please call me Alex, as that's what my parents called me,” a Redditor shared on the Petty Revenge forum.

“She would always get angry and tell me, ‘Don’t be stupid, no one is named Alex. Your name is Alexander. Alex is just what you want to be called.’ No matter how much I insisted, she refused. At one point, she gave me a detention for asking her to call me my correct name,” he continued.

names, teacher, studentA teacher being stern with her student.via Canva/Photos

The name dispute got so heated that “Alex” was eventually sent to detention for arguing with his teacher. “When I told my parents I was supposed to have a detention for asking my teacher to call me the right name, they were unhappy. So they gave me a trump card to use against her: my birth certificate,” “Alex” wrote.

The next day, the teacher called him Alexander during roll call, but this time, he had the perfect ammunition to fight back: a legal document. “The next day, when she called my name, I once again told her that it wasn't my name. She threatened me with another detention, so I pulled out the birth certificate, put it down on her desk, and said, ‘My birth certificate says my name is Alex, so that's what you will call me. Thanks,’" "Alex" recalled. “The look on her face was priceless, and she started calling me my actual name for the rest of the time I was in her class.”


A person in the comments shared a similar story; this time, it was with the name Joey. “I know someone who on their birth certificate is Joey. The exact same thing happened to him. The teacher kept calling him Joseph, but he refused to answer. After a week, she called his mom and said something along the lines of: tell your son when someone calls him by his proper name, he needs to respond and not be disrespectful to his teacher. The mom questioned what name she was calling him, and she told her. Well, that mother went up one side of her and down the other. Why would I call him Joseph if we would call him Joey? We named him Joey, and that’s what is on his birth certificate. This was back in the ‘80s.”

It’s strange that the teacher went out of her way to call the kid the name she preferred over his wishes. Even if his real name was Alexander, what’s wrong with referring to someone by their chosen name? Brandishing his birth certificate as “Alex” may have felt like sweet revenge for the teenager, but it also shows the teacher and the class an important lesson on why it's important to listen to others.

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