Believable High Schooler Names?

For a story set this year, what are some believable yet interesting names for teenage characters? I really struggle with finding boy names in that good middle ground between boring and too out there, and I have three boys I need to name (and one girl!)

Any suggestions appreciated :slight_smile:

For the boys…
Henry
Jack
Tristan
Peter
Otis
Otto
Wesley
Julian
William
Ethan
Rocky
Theo
George
Austin

For the girl…
Elizabeth
Katherine
Jane
Phoebe
Penelope
Maggie
Clara
Alice
Grace
Willa
Violet
Eloise

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Some high school friends of my younger siblings include:

[name_f]Daphne[/name_f]
[name_u]Skylar[/name_u] (boy and girl)
[name_m]Sebastian[/name_m]
[name_u]John[/name_u] [name_u]David[/name_u]
[name_f]Bella[/name_f]
[name_f]Layla[/name_f]
[name_f]Avigail[/name_f] nn Avvy
[name_u]Landon[/name_u]
[name_f]Leah[/name_f]
[name_f]Tessa[/name_f]
[name_f]Emilie[/name_f] / [name_f]Emily[/name_f]
[name_f]Emma[/name_f] x a whole lot
[name_f]Rachel[/name_f] / Raechel / [name_f]Rachael[/name_f]
[name_f]Sabrina[/name_f]
Savanna/ [name_f]Savanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Jaelyn[/name_f] (girl and boy)
[name_m]Jaxon[/name_m]
[name_u]Cody[/name_u]
[name_u]Clayton[/name_u]
[name_u]Wyatt[/name_u] (girl and boy)
[name_m]Jeremiah[/name_m]
[name_u]Lyric[/name_u]
[name_u]Story[/name_u]
[name_m]Talon[/name_m] (girl and boy)
AJ
[name_u]Noah[/name_u] (girl and boy)
[name_f]Trinity[/name_f]
[name_f]Lillie[/name_f] / [name_f]Lily[/name_f]
[name_u]Morgan[/name_u]
[name_f]Leanda[/name_f]
[name_u]Madison[/name_u] / [name_f]Maddie[/name_f]
[name_f]Hannah[/name_f] / [name_f]Hanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f] / [name_f]Aliyah[/name_f]
[name_u]Allie[/name_u]
[name_f]Bree[/name_f] / [name_f]Breanna[/name_f]
[name_f]Felicia[/name_f]
[name_f]Emmy[/name_f]
[name_u]Mallory[/name_u]
[name_m]Grant[/name_m]
John-Luke
[name_u]Austin[/name_u] / Austan (girl and boy)
[name_u]Dawson[/name_u]
[name_u]River[/name_u]
[name_f]Sophia[/name_f] / [name_f]Sofia[/name_f] / [name_f]Sophie[/name_f]
[name_u]Gabby[/name_u]

(These are just names of kids they’re friends with (so between the ages of 14 and 18), some of the more uncommon spellings I’m sure on but I just put the generic on the ones I wasn’t positive about)

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Thank you both!!

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You could go to the social security website & look up the top names in the approx birth year for your characters. Could be a good way to get names that are believable for the right age.

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seconding using ssa!

these are all names of people i know in high school & college:
(16-18 year olds)

  • dan
  • olivia
  • trinity
  • jade
  • mackenzie
  • matthew
  • brandon
  • autumn
  • eva
  • elizabeth
  • miranda
  • lee (b)
  • adrienne
  • james
  • reily / rylee / rilee
  • angel (b)
  • tanner
  • ethan
  • shawn
  • anika
  • avery
  • emily
  • devin
  • fin
  • gabriella
  • gweneviere
  • allison (g)
  • miah
  • brithany
  • tyler
  • nathaniel
  • bo (b)
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Personally, I would take names from the top 200 for the 2000’s decade. If you’re interested, here’s a link: Top names of the 2000s

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[name_f]Ellie[/name_f]
[name_u]Delaney[/name_u]
[name_f]Adrianna[/name_f]
[name_f]Abigail[/name_f] “Abby”
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f] “Lilly”
[name_f]Alana[/name_f]
[name_u]Chelsea[/name_u]
[name_f]Kiara[/name_f]
[name_f]Alondra[/name_f]
[name_u]Reagan[/name_u]
[name_f]Katherine[/name_f] “Kate”
[name_u]Jordyn[/name_u]
[name_u]Kelly[/name_u]
[name_u]Skylar[/name_u]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
[name_f]Caitlin[/name_f] / [name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] / etc.
[name_u]Payton[/name_u]
[name_f]Naomi[/name_f]
[name_f]Margaret[/name_f] “Maggie”

[name_m]Marco[/name_m]
[name_u]Elias[/name_u]
[name_m]Gregory[/name_m] “Greg”
[name_m]Malachi[/name_m] “Kai”
[name_m]Trenton[/name_m]
[name_u]Oliver[/name_u]
[name_m]Eric[/name_m]
[name_u]Jonah[/name_u]
[name_u]Shawn[/name_u]
[name_u]Conner[/name_u] / [name_m]Conor[/name_m] / etc.
[name_u]Shane[/name_u]
[name_u]Nolan[/name_u]
[name_m]Brody[/name_m]
[name_u]Micah[/name_u]
[name_u]Max[/name_u]
[name_m]Gage[/name_m]
[name_m]Collin[/name_m]
[name_u]Eli[/name_u]
[name_u]Dakota[/name_u]
[name_m]Grant[/name_m]

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[name_u]Blake[/name_u]
[name_m]Oscar[/name_m]
[name_u]Levi[/name_u]
[name_u]Spencer[/name_u]
[name_m]Roman[/name_m]
[name_u]Miles[/name_u]
[name_u]Colby[/name_u]
[name_m]Troy[/name_m]
[name_u]Griffin[/name_u]
[name_m]Drake[/name_m]
[name_u]Cade[/name_u]
[name_u]Hudson[/name_u]
[name_u]Asher[/name_u]
[name_u]Ryder[/name_u]

[name_u]Brooklyn[/name_u]
[name_f]Elena[/name_f]
[name_f]Elise[/name_f]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]
[name_u]Piper[/name_u]
[name_u]Camille[/name_u]
[name_f]Sienna[/name_f]

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[name_u]Jack[/name_u]

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here are a few i know in school

• bree
• daniel
• lydia
• isobel
• eli
• alexander
• abigail
• rhys
• teagan
• jack
• sasha
• owen
• grace
• isaac
• lillian
• rachel
• connor
• brynn
• elise
• ava
• samuel
• leo
• madeline
• claire

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I’ll just list people from the school I went to:

  • [name_u]Taylor[/name_u]
  • [name_f]Bianca[/name_f]
  • [name_f]Caroline[/name_f]
  • [name_m]Ben[/name_m]
  • [name_u]Jack[/name_u]
  • [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
  • [name_m]Gage[/name_m]
  • [name_f]Lila[/name_f]
  • [name_u]Skye[/name_u]
  • [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
  • [name_f]Sophia[/name_f]
  • [name_f]Kyra[/name_f]
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Thanks for your help, everyone! I ended up naming them with a lot of your suggestions. They’re [name_m]Daxton[/name_m], [name_f]Roxy[/name_f], [name_u]Spencer[/name_u], [name_m]Gage[/name_m], and [name_f]Brielle[/name_f].

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