Briar

Briar comes hedged in thorns and wild roses, a word older than English, from the Old English brer, the tangled shrub that grew along fencerows and forest edges. In Sleeping Beauty, the heroine becomes Briar Rose when the fairies rename her to hide her identity. That literary dusting, plus the trend toward nature names with a little bite, has pushed Briar onto both boys' and girls' rosters. Ranked 522, it feels woodland and contemporary at once, a name that suits a kid with scraped knees and a pocket full of acorns. One syllable, two burrs, and a whiff of woodsmoke.