Modern But Not (boys)

I've dedicated quite a few posts to names that stand out. But what if you want a name that's modern, but not too weird or derivative--that is, blends in?
Modern American names tend to follow certain phonetic trends--the biggest trend for boys is the Aidens (I'll be bypassing this one; pretty much any iteration is probably already in use!). In general, modern boys' names tend to start with 'Br', J, K, T, Z; contain A, J, K, Q, X, Z; and end in 'en', 'on', or 'er'.

• Aeson (EE-son, Greek)
• Ariston (AH-ris-ton, Greek)--"the best"
• Andon (AHN-don, Bulgarian)--form of Anthony
• Anson (AN-son, English)
• Azhar (AZ-har, Arabic)--"shining"
• Berker (BEHR-kehr, Turkish)
• Bhaskar (BHAS-kahr, Hindi)--"shining"
• Brynjar (BRIN-yar, Scandinavian)--"armoured warrior"
• Brynmor (BRIN-mohr, Welsh)
• Cebrian (seb-ree-AHN, Spanish)
• Dathan (DAY-tahn, DAH-than, English)--from Hebrew, "fountain"
• Davorin (DAH-vor-in, Croatian)
• Dražen (DRAH-zen, Croatian)--"precious"
• Demir (deh-MEER, Turkish)--"iron"
• Eifion (AYV-yon, EYE-vyon, Welsh)
• Elystan (eh-LIS-tan, Welsh)
• Evren (ev-REHN, Turkish)--"the universe"
• Fintan (FIN-tan, Irish)--"white fire"
• Imran (im-RAHN, Arabic)
• Karsten (KAR-sten, German)--form of Christian
• Kayetan (KYE-eh-tahn, German)
• Kenyon (KEN-yon, English)
• Kynaston (KIN-ah-ston, English)
• Macsen (MAK-sen, Welsh)--form of Maximus
• Nayden (NYE-den, Bulgarian)
• Nevan (NEV-an, Irish)--anglicized from Naomhán, "little saint"
• Rayner (RAY-ner, English)
• Saxon ( SAKS-on, English)
• Torsten (TOR-sten, German, Scandinavian)
• Tychon (TYE-kon, Greek)
• Zaman (zah-MAN, Arabic)--"time, era"
• Zorion (soh-ree-ohn, Basque)--"happiness"

U-La-La!

Well, I've done I-names and O-names, so now it time for me to continue the trend of underused letters, this time with U.
Only 4 names starting with U appear in the US top 1000--Urijah, Uriel, Uriah, & Ulises.
Ursula charted in the past, and Unique more recently, but currently there are zero U-names in the girls' Top 1000!


Boys:

• Ualan (ooAH-lan, WAH-lan, Scottish)--form of Valentine
• Uberto (oo-BEHR-toh, Italian)--form of Hubert
• Ùisdean (OOSH-jun, Scottish)
• Ulderico (ool-deh-REE-koh, Italian)
• Ulfilas (ool-FEE-las, Gothic/Germanic)--"little wolf"
• Uljas (OOL-yahs, Finnish)--"noble, valiant"
• Ulric (OOL-rik, English)--from Germanic, "rich heritage"
• Ultan (UL-tan, Irish)
• Ulvi (ool-VEE, Turkish)--"exalted"
• Umar (OO-mar, Arabic)
• Ümit (EU-meet, Turkish)--"hope"
• Unathi (oo-NAH-tee, Xhosa)--"God is with us"
• Untamo (oon-TAH-moh, Finnish)
• Uolevi (OO-oh-leh-vee, Finnish)--form of Olaf/Oliver
• Urard (UR-ard, Irish)--"tall"
• Urban (OOR-bahn, German, Scandinavian, Slovene)--from Latin, "city dweller"
• Usko (OOS-koh, Finnish)--"faith"
• Usman (OOS-mahn, Arabic)
• Uspaig (OOS-pek, Scottish)--from Old Norse, "wild"
• Uxío (oo-SHEE-ah, Galician)--form of Eugene
• Uzziel (oo-zee-EL, UZ-ee-el, English)--from Hebrew, "God is my power"

Girls:

• Uaine (oo-AHN-yeh, WAHN-yeh, Irish)--"greenish"
• Udane (oo-dah-neh, Basque)--"summer"
• Uliana (ool-YAH-nah, Russian)--form of Juliana
• Ülkü (eul-KEU, Turkish)--"ideal"
• Ulrika (ool-REE-kah, Scandinavian, German)--feminine of Ulric
• Ulviye (ool-VEE-yeh, Turkish)--feminine of Ulvi
• Umeko (oo-meh-koh, Japanese)
• Una (OON-ah, Irish)
• Undine (oon-DEE-neh, UN-deen, English & German)--from Latin, "wave"
• Unelma (OON-el-mah, Finnish)--"dream"
• Ursa (UR-sah, OOR-sah, Latin)--"bear"
• Usha (OO-shah, Hindi)--"dawn"
• Usoa (oo-soh-ah, Basque)--"dove". Another form is Uxue (oo-shoo-eh). 
• Ustinya (oos-TEEN-yah, Russian)--form of Justine
• Uxía (oo-SHEE-ah, Galician)--form of Eugenia

Saint Who?

Thanks to Emily L. for the suggestion, even if it did take me forever to actually take you up on it. :)

Okay, so I went and actually looked at how many saints there are in the Catholic church, and holy crap. Over 2000! Most of us, regardless of religion, could probably name at least a few--Peter, Francis, Theresa. Actually, many names with long history of use in the Western world belong to at least one saint (and in the case of "classics", probably several)!
So, I went perusing for unusual/unexpected names. To make it easier on myself, I limited it to patron saints (which is still hundreds, so I guess it's not that much of a narrow-down).

• Afra (AH-frah, AF-rah)--patroness of penitent women, martyrs, & converts. Feast Day: Aug. 5.
• Arthelais (ar-tel-AH-ees)--patroness of the ill, exiles, and the kidnapped. Also known as Artellaide.  Feast Day: March 3.
• Bibiana (bee-BYAH-nah)--patroness of epileptics and the mentally ill. Also known as Viviana/Vivian. Feast Day: Dec. 2.
• Brieuc (bree-OO)--patron of purse-makers. Also known as Brioc. Feast Day: May 1.
• Cadoc (KAH-dok)--patron of the deaf and famine victims. Feast Day: Sept. 25.
• Cajetan (KAJ-eh-tan)--patron of job-seekers and the unemployed. Also known as Gaetano or Cayetano. Feast Day: Aug. 7.
• Cassian (KAS-see-an; KASH-an)--patron of schoolteachers and clerks. Feast Day: Aug. 13.
• Cloud (CLOWD)--patron of nail-makers. Also known as Clodoald. Feast Day: Sept. 7.
• Colman (COHL-man)--several saints.
• Devota (deh-VOH-tah)--patroness of mariners. Feast Day: Jan 27.
• Dwynwen (DWIN-wen)--patroness of lovers. Also known as Donwen or Donwenna. Feast Day: Jan. 25.
• Dymphna (DIMF-na)--patroness against mental & neurological disorders. Feast Day: May 15.
• Eulalia (yoo-LAHL-yah)--two saints: one patroness of sailors, Feast Day: Feb 12; the other patroness of runaways, Feast Day: Dec. 10. 
• Fabiola (fah-bee-OH-lah)--patroness of divorcees and abuse victims. Feast Day: Dec. 27.
• Foillan (FOYL-lan)--patron of surgeons, pediatric nurses, and dentists. Also known as Faolan or Faelan. Feast Day: Oct. 31; Nov. 5.
• Gemma (JEM-mah)--patroness of students and pharmacists. Feast Day: April 7.
• Gereon (GEHR-ee-on)--patron against headaches/migraines. Feast Day: Oct. 10.
• Hervé (ehr-VAY)--patron of the blind. Also known as Harvey. Feast Day: June 17.
• Ivo (EE-voh)--patron of lawyers and abandoned children. Also known as Yves. Feast Day: May 19.
• Kateri (KAH-teh-ree)--patroness of ecologists. Feast Day: July 14.
• Kentigern (KEN-tih-gehrn)--patron of bullying victims. Also known as Mungo. Feast Day: Jan. 13.
• Kilian (KIL-ee-an)--patron against rheumatism. Also known as Cillian. Feast Day: July 8.
• Lydwina (lid-WEE-nah)--patroness of the chronically ill. Also known as Lidwina or Liduina. Feast day: April 14.
• Macrina (mah-KREE-nah)--patron of widows and the poor. Feast Day: Jan. 14.
• Marciana (mar-CHAH-nah)--patroness of the injured. Feast Day: Jan. 9.
• Osmund (OZ-mund)--patron of the paralyzed and mentally ill. Feast Day: Dec. 4.
• Paraskevi (pah-rah-skeh-VEE)--three different saints, sometimes called Parascheva or Petka.
• Peregrine (PEHR-eh-grin)--patron of cancer victims. Feast Day: May 1. 
• Petronilla (pet-ro-NIL-lah)--patroness of mountain travellers
• Pirmin (PEER-min)--patron against poisoning & snake bites. Feast Day: Nov. 3.
• Solange (soh-LAWNZH)--patroness of rape victims and shepherds. Feast Day: May 10.
• Walstan (WAL-stan)--patron of farms & farmers. Feast Day: May 30.
• Zita (ZEE-tah)--patroness of servants. Also known as Citha or Sitha. Feast Day: April 27.

Quite a few have intriguing surname possibilities as well. Look for a part 2 at some point!