"Modern Classics"

Some names are pretty easy to categorize. Elizabeth is a classic. Harper is modern. Most names are somewhere in between, though--"vintage comeback", "mom/dad name", "trending traditional", etc. For this post, I decided to try and find what I define as "modern classic"--names that didn't really exist in the American naming pool pre-1960ish, but which don't instantly date you to a specific decade (either because they shot up suddenly but remained stable, or because they enjoyed a steady increase over decades).
Modern, but not trendy.

Boys:

• Beau (BOH)--from French "beautiful" [not used as a name in French]
• Brice / Bryce (BRICE)
• Carter (KAR-ter)
• Chase (CHAYS)
• Connor / Conor (KAHN-er)
• Corbin (KOR-bin)--from French "raven"
• Damian (DAY-mee-an)--from Ancient Greek "tame"
• Dorian (DOR-ee-an)
• Drake (DRAYK)--from Old English "male duck" or "dragon"
• Dylan (DIL-an)
• Ezekiel (ee-ZEEK-ee-el)--from Biblical Hebrew "God strengthens"
• Holden (HOHL-den)
• Ian (EE-an)--Scottish form of John
• Jonah (JOH-nah)--from Biblical Hebrew "dove"
• Kendrick (KEN-drik)
• Lucas (LOO-kas)
• Maximilian / Maximillian (maks-eh-MIL-yan)
• Maxwell (MAKS-wel)
• Micah (MYE-kah)
• Pierce (PEERS)--surname form of Peter
• Quinn (KWIN)--from the Irish surname "son of the chief" [yes, more common for girls in the US, but undoubtedly trendy as a girls' name!]
• Tristan (TRIS-tan)--prob. from Pictish "little riot"
• Xavier (ZAYV-yer, ex-AYV-yer)

Girls:

• Alana (ah-LAH-nah, ah-LAN-ah)--feminine of Alan
• Alexa (ah-LEKS-ah)--short form of Alexandra or feminine of Alexis
• Alexia (ah-LEKS-ee-ah)--feminine of Alexis, "defender"
• Anastasia (an-ah-STAYZH-yah)--from Greek "resurrection"
• Ariana / Arianna (ahr-ee-AH-nah, ehr-ee-AN-nah, ah-ree-AN-nah)--from the Italian form of Greek Ariadne, "most holy"
• Brynn (BRIN)--from Welsh "hill" [masculine in Welsh, and more commonly spelled Bryn]
• Delaney (deh-LAY-nee)
• Fiona (fee-OH-nah)
• Jade (JAYD)
• Janessa (jan-ES-sah)--form of Janice/Jane
• Kira (KEER-ah)--from Irish Ciara, "dark", or the Russian feminine of Cyrus, "lord"
• Kyla (KYE-lah)
• Liana (lee-AH-nah)
• Liliana (lil-ee-AH-nah)
• Maya / Maia (MYE-ah, MAH-yah)
• Melina (mel-EE-nah)--prob. from Greek "honey"
• Noelle (no-EL)
• Savannah (sah-VAN-nah)
• Summer (SUM-er)
• Tessa (TES-ah)

Unisex:

• Cameron (KAM-er-on) [leans more "classic" for boys and "modern" for girls]
• Eden (EE-den)
• Justice (JUS-tis)
• Kendall (KEN-dal) [also leans more "classic" for boys and "modern" for girls]