Beckett

The name Beckett is a boy's name of English origin meaning "bee hive, little brook or bee cottage". Beckett is one of the big baby name hits of the decade. A handsome name with an attractively brisk sound, and rich in literary associations via major Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, it is especially hot among celebs. Melissa Etheridge jump-started the trend in 1998, followed by Conan O'Brien, Stella McCartney, Malcolm McDowell, Nicole Sullivan and Natalie Maines. Another worthy namesake is the martyred saint Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, whose story was the basis of the Anouilh play "Becket," which became a film starring Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole. In 2005, the authors of Freakonomics predicted that Beckett would be one of the most popular baby names of 2015. Although they were a little off the mark -- Beckett hasn't even cracked the Top 100 -- we predict that it will continue to climb the US rankings.