Ares

Ares arrives straight from Mount Olympus, still smelling of bronze. The Greek god of war—violent, tempestuous, mostly feared by his own family—has lent his name to a very different generation of small humans, and it suits them. Two syllables, AIR-eez, that open and close with a flourish. American parents rediscovered the name around 2013 as mythological names surged; it has since climbed steeply into the Top 300, now holding near 295. The brevity keeps it from sounding costume-bound, the history keeps it serious. Bold, sculptural, faintly dangerous on the page—Ares is a name that expects to be reckoned with.