There is a particular kind of naming frustration that does not come from having too few options. It comes from having too many - and feeling nothing about any of them.
You can scroll through hundreds of names and reach the end of the list no closer to a decision, because the list was never really the problem. The problem is that you are not just looking for a name that sounds nice. You are looking for a name that means something. And that is a very different search.
The Celebrant Directory, which works closely with families at some of the most significant moments of their lives, has identified 'meaning over fashion' as the defining baby naming trend of 2026. More parents than ever are choosing names for what they represent - strength, peace, light, protection - rather than for how they rank. That shift makes a great deal of sense, even if it makes the search harder.
What it means to name with intention
Meaning-first naming does not necessarily mean choosing something unusual or deliberately off-trend. Some of the names most associated with this approach are ones you will recognise.
Asher, from the Hebrew meaning happiness and blessing, has been quietly cherished for generations. It carries warmth without weight. Aurora, meaning dawn, brings with it the image of something new beginning - a light arriving in darkness. Maeve, rooted in Celtic tradition, is associated with strength, courage, and the kind of quiet power that does not need to announce itself. Eloise carries echoes of both health and wisdom, a name that has moved through centuries without losing its elegance.
None of these names are chosen because they are currently sitting at a particular chart position. They are chosen because they mean something to the families who pick them.
Nameberry's newsletter has also been tracking what they call virtue and value names - a micro-trend of parents choosing words that embody what they want for their child. Balance was given to a baby born on the first day of 2026. Harmony and Justice have both appeared as genuine given names this year. These are more striking choices, but they speak to the same underlying desire: to give a name that says something true.
Why lists cannot do this work for you
A ranked list surfaces names by popularity. The most popular names rise to the top not because they have the most meaning, but because the most people chose them. Popularity and meaning are not the same thing, and they can pull in opposite directions.
When you search 'baby names with meaning', you often land on articles that offer a meaning for every name listed - as though the etymological definition is all you need. But meaning, in the way most parents feel it, is not just what a name meant in medieval Gaelic. It is what the name means to you. Whether it connects to your family's story, your values, your sense of who you hope this person might grow to be.
That is not something a list can surface. A list does not know that you care about nature, or that strength has a particular resonance for you after a hard pregnancy, or that your partner's grandmother had a name that sounds like the one you keep coming back to. A list cannot ask.
The question behind the name
This is why the approach that findaname.app takes starts with questions rather than suggestions. Before any names are generated, the quiz works through what matters to you - the feel you are drawn to, the heritage that is part of your family, the sounds that resonate, the qualities you want a name to carry. The names that come out the other end are built on your answers, not on a ranking.
For parents who are looking for something with meaning, that process is not just a convenience. It is the point. A name surfaced by resonance - by what you actually care about - is a fundamentally different kind of name than one surfaced by rank.
Eloise might come out of that process for you. Or Asher. Or something you had not considered before but which, once you see it, feels unmistakably right. That is what meaning-first naming actually looks like in practice: not a name you found on a list, but a name that found you.
Where to start if meaning matters to you
If you know you want a name with symbolic weight but you are not sure where to begin, start with the feeling rather than the sound. What do you want this name to say? Strength and resilience? Light and hope? Roots and belonging? Calm and peace?
Once you know what you are reaching for, the names tend to follow. And if you want a structured way into that conversation - one that goes deeper than a filter on a database - the quiz takes about three minutes and starts exactly where you are.