Bryce

Bryce has the clean snap of cold mountain air. A Scottish surname derived from the sixth-century Saint Bricius of Tours, it took off in the American Top 1000 in the 1970s and peaked in the 1990s, when the preppy one-syllable aesthetic was at its height. It has since eased to a more selective 297, which is where the name wears best. One brisk syllable, a soft consonant cluster, a quick ce finish like a climber's ice axe. Bryce Canyon in Utah lends the name its geological grandeur. Athletic, crisp, faintly cinematic—this is a name carved rather than written.