Take a Look at southern baby names
Baby names and baby name meanings from origins around the world. Below are free lists of baby boy names, baby girl names, and popular / unique baby names along with their baby name origin and meanings.
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The South has long been a leader in unusual or uncommon names, and known for using name forms that are entirely unique to this part of the country. Virtue names have always been popular here. Also a favorite are flowery, feminine names for girls, thanks to the early settlers of Louisiana, who brought with them the French name forms of the harder-edged English names commonly used in the Northeast. You'll find more Annabelles, Claudettes, Paulettes, and Claires here than anywhere else. Beaus and Fredericks also abound. You'll also find lots of Bible names in use down here, both common and unusual. (It isn't called the Bible Belt for nothing!)
Many southern names are derived from Civil War heroes or from places where strategic battles took place. Gone With the Wind, Margaret Mitchell's classic southern novel, is a treasure trove of these names, as well as other traditional southern names. Such southern authors as Pat Conroy, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, and Flannery O'Connor use southern names extensively in their work. You'll hear some great southern names in plays like Steel Magnolias (which was also made into a film and is sure to be available at your local video store), which was set in Louisiana. Truvy, Oisa, Shelby, Arnelle, and Jackson are just some of the quintessentially southern names that were used in this movie.
Other examples of southern names can be found in movies such as:
Gone With the Wind. While Scarlett was probably the only name to gain much fame (and then, only briefly) from this popular novel turned movie, it remains a treasure trove of southern-sounding names to this day, including Suellen and Careen (Scarlett's sisters); India and Ashley Wilkes; Beau (Ashley's son by Melanie Hamilton Wilkes); and Maybelle.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The 1958 film version of Tennessee Williams' play included characters named Maggie, Brick, Mae, Sonny, Dixie, and Trixie.
The Big Easy. Set in New Orleans, Louisiana, this 1987 flick starred Dennis Quaid as the Cajun cop Remy McSwain. Remy means “from Rheims,” a town in central France, and reflects the strong influence that the French settlers of Louisiana had on the names given to children here.
Driving Miss Daisy. Based on Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, this 1989 movie contained some classic southern given and pet names, including Daisy, Hoke, Boolie, Florine, Idella, and Beulah.
You can check out more in this baby name guide.
