Fads in names may come and go, but trends are destined to stick around for a while. Here are some of the trends that are influencing the names that parents are bestowing on their babies.

The Last Shall Be First

Here’s one for the guys: Almost one-quarter of today’s 100 most popular boy baby names are common last names. That’s about twice the rate seen in 1980s. Many of these last-names-first are longtime favorites like Thomas, Alexander, and Charles. But the trend is bringing many less traditional names to the front of the line, including Connor, Tyler, Logan, Dylan, and Jackson.

Top Tip: Looking for something different, yet familiar? Check out the last names listed in the white pages of your phone book.

What’s Old is New

Give credit to Jane Austen for the upsurge in popularity of Emma, the second most-dubbed name for girls in 2006. But there are plenty of other names with the patina of age. The trend is especially common for girls, and includes names like Abigail, Victoria, Olivia, Hannah, Alexandra, Claire, and Grace.

Top Tip: Scout out popular fiction from the Revolution onward to find names with a place in history.

Welcome to Hollywoodland

Celebrities have always been a popular source of baby names, and not just stars: The name Truman peaked in 1945 at No. 249 in the hit parade. But with today’s Hollywood-gossip drenched society, its no surprise that Tinsel Town has produced a bumper crop of baby names. Among the top 100: Angelina, Jennifer, Sofia, Faith, Nicole, Mariah, Jada, Ethan, and Aiden.

Top Tip: Avoid names that are too closely associated with a single celebrity. Think of those little girls who will grow up hoping they were named after Paris, France.

From Foreign Shores

Names with a distinctive ethnic or cultural lilt are emigrating into the lists of popular names for both boys and girls. Caitlin — in all its glorious incarnations — is probably the most popular name for girls. Among the most common ethnic and foreign names are Isabella, Ethan, Chloe, Hailey, Gabriel, Mackenzie, and Alexandra.

Top Tip: Rent a few foreign films from places that intrigue you and mine them for baby name possibilities.

Places and Things

At one time, you needed a name dictionary to decipher the meaning of a name. For many of today’s top monikers, no translation is needed. Baby Madison might be named after the city or our fourth President, but either way there’s no danger that her name means “lover of wheat” or a similar obscure origin. Among these places and things names are: Grace, Savannah, Angel, Trinity, Faith, and Brooklyn.

Top Tip: Anyone for a game of State Capitals? Hmmm…Pierre, Montgomery, Phoenix, Dover, Denver, Helena….

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