When searching for the perfect baby name, many parents look to the future, trying to predict which name will stay unique next and 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. 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!

Historic Baby Names For Girls

1. Alexandria (AOC)
2. Alice (Paul)
3. Amelia (Earhart)
4. Angela (Davis)
5. Anne (Frank)
6. (Captain) Anneliese (Satz)
7. Aretha (Franklin)
8. Audrey (Hepburn)
9. (Jane) Austen
10. Bessie (Smith)
11. Betsy (R0ss)
12. Betty (Friedan)
13. Billie (Holiday)
14. Carson (McCullers)
15. Catherine (Middleton)
16. Christa (McAuliffe)
17. Coretta (Scott King)
18. Diana (Princess of Wales)
19. Diane (Arbus)
20. Dorothea (Lange)
21. Dorothy (Irene Height)
22. Eleanor (Roosevelt)
23. Emily (Dickinson)
24. (Queen) Elizabeth
25. Ella (Fitzgerald)
26. Florence (Nightingale)
27. Frida (Kahlo)
28. Georgia (O’Keeffe)
29. (Alex) Haley
30. Harriet (Tubman)
31. Helen (Keller)
32. Ida (B. Wells)
33. Jacqueline (Kennedy Onassis)
34. Jane (Goodall)
35. Joan (of Arc)
36. (James) Joyce
37. Junko (Tabei)
38. (John F.) Kennedy
39. Julia (Morgan)
40. Kamala (Harris)
41. Lashana (Lynch)
42. Lola (Hendricks)
43. Louise (Bourgeois)
44. Lucretia (Mott)
45. Madeleine (Albright)
46. Malala (Yousafzai)
47. Marie (Curie)
48. Marsha (P. Johnson)
49. Maya (Angelou)
50. Michelle (Obama)
51. Nellie (Bly)
52. Nikola (Tesla)
53. Rosa (Parks)
54. Ruby (Bridges)
55. Sandra (Day O’Connor)
56. (Julia) Scarlett (Elizabeth Louis-Dreyfus Hall)
57. Serena (Williams)
58. Simone (De Beauvoir)
59. Sonia (Sotomayor)
60. Sojourner (Truth)
61. Susan (B. Anthony)
62. Sylvia (Plath)
63. (Mother) Teresa
64. Virginia (Woolf)
65. Venus (Williams)
66. Vivian (Maier)
67. Willa (Cather)

Historical Baby Names For Boys

1. Albert (Einstein)
2. (Muhammad) Ali
3. Ansel (Adams)
4. Booker (T. Washington)
5. Cesar (Chavez)
6. Charles (Darwin)
7. Claude (Monet)
8. (Cassius) Clay
9. (Daniel) Craig
10. Cormac (McCarthy)
11. (Miles) Davis
12. Desmond (Tutu)
13. Diego (Rivera)
14. (Thomas) Edison
15. Edgar (Allen Poe)
16. Elie (Wiesel)
17. Ernest (Hemingway)
18. (F. Scott) Fitzgerald
19. Francis (Bacon)
20. Frederick (Douglass)
21. Fyodor (Dostoevsky)
22. George (Washington Carver)
23. Geronimo
24. Harry (Belafonte)
25. Harvey (Milk)
26. Henri (Matisse)
27. Homer
28. Isaac (Newton)
29. Jacob (Lawrence)
30. James (Joyce)
31. J.D. (Salinger)
32. Jesse (Jackson)
33. Johann (Sebastian Bach)
34. (John) Lewis
35. Johnny (Cash)
36. Langston (Hughes)
37. (John) Lennon
38. Leonardo (Da Vinci)
39. Leo (Tolstoy)
40. Louis (Armstrong)
41. Malcolm (X)
42. Mark (Twain)
43. Marlon (Brando)
44. (Thurgood) Marshall
45. Martin Luther King
46. Merle (Haggard)
47. (Arthur) Miller
48. Myles (Horton)
49. Neil (Armstrong)
50. Nelson (Mandela)
51. (Nicolaus) Copernicus
52. Oscar (Wilde)
53. Pablo (Picasso)
54. Paul (McCartney)
55. Ralph (Waldo Emerson)
56. Rafael (Nadal)
57. Robert (Frost)
58. Samuel (Beckett)
59. Sean (Connery)
60. Stephen (Hawking)
61. (Henry David) Thoreau
62. Theodore (Roosevelt)
63. Walt (Whitman)
64. Winston (Churchill)

Historic Baby Names That Are Gender-Neutral

1. Alexander (Graham Bell)
2. Babe (Ruth)
3. (Lady) Bird (Johnson)
4. (John) Brown
5. (David) Bowie
6. (Bob) Dylan
7. Charlie (Parker)
8. (James) Dean
9. Elon (Musk)
10. (Ralph Waldo) Emerson
11. Frances (Willard)
12. Frank (Kameny)
13. Franklin (Roosevelt)
14. Franz (Kafka)
15. Harper (Lee)
16. Henri (Cartier-Bresson)
17. (Whitney) Houston
18. Jackie (Robinson)
19. James (Baldwin)
20. Jean-Michel (Basquiat)
21. Julian (Bond)
22. Lenny (Bruce)
23. (Jean-) Michel (Basquiat)
24. Nellie (Stone Johnson)
25. Ru (RuPaul)
26. (Ruth) Bader (Ginsburg)
27. Shel (Silverstein)
28. Teddy (Roosevelt)
29. Toni (Morrison)
30. Whitney (Moore Young)

This article was originally published on Feb. 26, 2021