If you’re looking for an elaborate, old-fashioned American name, you’ve come to the right place. I’ve created a master list of all of them.

How can I be so confident? I started by collecting every name of 8+ letters that appeared in US name stats for at least half of the first 50 statistical years (1880-1929). I eliminated data errors and spelling variants, then honed my two criteria: long and antique.

Long. Length is a quality of sound as well as appearance. For instance, the names Sylvanus and Franklin boast the same number of letters, but Sylvanus sounds longer. I required a minimum of three syllables and screened out compounds made of shorter names, like MaryEllen.

Antique. Antique style is as much about when a name wasn’t used as when it was. That ruled out names that have been popular in more recent generations, like Stephanie and Christopher. Since this list is based on American style, I also screened out names like Ingeborg and Salvatore that are associated more with another language or culture than any US time period.

That left a master list of 157 names. You’ll find the formidably formal (Theophilus), the down-home (Idabelle), the historical (Wellington), and the simply unexpected (how about Birdella, Tennessee or Narcissus for a girl?)

Some of the names could be attractive choices for a modern baby. Even more of them could be evocative choices for a character in period fiction. And all together they can guarantee that you’ve left no stone unturned in your search for a long antique name.

The Long, Antique Name Master List