McKaley

McKaley Miller as Rose in 'Hart of Dixie'

I spotted this gem in the credits of 'Hart of Dixie'. McKaley Miller is the young actress who plays Rose Hattenburger on CW's 'Hart of Dixie'. Although only 16, she is already building an impressive body of work, having done 5 movies (with another one coming out next year) and playing recurring characters in 3 TV shows - 'Wizards of Waverly Place', 'The Gates' and of course 'Hart of Dixie'.

I'm almost surprised that more people haven't caught onto this name. It shares elements with several other names that are very hot right now, such as:

• McK-anything. McKenna/MacKenna and McKenzie/MacKenzie are pretty hot in the US right now. In 2011 they charted at #239 and #135/#68.
• Kaylee. This original spelling was #36 in America in 2011, but with plenty of alternate spellings out there such as Kayley, Kaylie, Kayleigh and Kailee the popularity of this name is potentially much higher than that.
• Michaela. OK, at #409 in the US in 2011, it may not be everyone's idea of a hot name. But it is in the top 1000, and this feminine variation of Michael has spawned Mackayla (#56) and Mckayla (#734), so it is a sound liked my many people.

It stands to reasoning then that McKaley could be poised to take off for people who love any of the above options (or even all of them) but are looking for the next fresh alternative. It's perky, cool sounding; and is different but not too different in today's naming landscape.

As an invented name, there isn't really an accepted meaning for McKaley. Kaley comes from Kaylee, which comes from Kayla. Kayla is an Arabic/Hebrew name meaning 'laurel/crown', while Michaela means 'who is like God', so either could be considered as a possible meaning for McKaley. But then again maybe you fall in love with a name for the sound, not it's meaning. If you fall into that camp, McKaley has a lot going for it. It certainly caught my attention.