Messiah

Messiah arrives with weight. Drawn from the Hebrew mashiach, meaning "anointed one," it carries the gravity of prophecy and the cadence of sermons. Once considered untouchable for naming, it broke through in the 2000s and now ranks among the top 250 American boys' names, favored especially in communities where faith names mingle freely with aspirational ones. There's music in the three syllables, a rising line that ends on the open "ah" like a hymn unresolved. Bold, reverent, and unafraid of expectation, Messiah names a child who will be asked, gently and often, about the name itself.