Raven

Raven flies in on black wings, half myth and half Monday morning. From the Old English hræfn, it names the bird of Odin's shoulder, Poe's midnight visitor, and the trickster of Pacific Northwest story. As a given name it gained quiet traction in the 1970s, then broader recognition through Raven-Symoné's long television run. Ranked 388 in the U.S., it sits comfortably in the gothic-literary corner of the name map, alongside Wren and Phoenix. Two syllables, one long and dreamy, one clipped, like a wingbeat. It suits a child with thoughtful eyes, equally at home in a forest or a library.