Fillion

Nathan Fillion as Captain Mal Reynolds in "Firefly"

With surnames on the upswing, I'm surprised that Fillion has gone under the radar. It hasn't even been getting mentions on forums as a flight-of-fancy "why not?" name.

The inspiration for this name comes from the charismatic actor Nathan Fillion. Nathan is best known these days as the lead character Rick Castle in the ABC show "Castle". But he has quite a slew of roles on his resume, including mainstream shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and the Whedon cult classics "Buffy" and "Firefly".

So what else does Fillion have going for it? Well, other than being a surname, it is sounds very similar to Finn, another name that is very hot right now. It could also be a fresher alternative to the well loved classic Filip/Phillip. And the nickname of Fil helps to make this name sound less strange and foreign, and more like a little-known but familiar-feeling classic.

It could also be an option for parent looking for names with French roots. The word Fillion derives from the Old French word 'fils' meaning 'son', and was used for the youngest son in a family.

Because Fillion means son, and is so evocative of boys names Finn and Phillip, first instincts are to use this as a boys name. But I think it could work well for a girl too. After all, a Filly is a young female horse. This could be a subtle choice for a longer, modern sounding girls name with a cute nickname (Filly) for horse-loving parents.

So because it seems that no one else has said it yet, I say "why not?" to Fillion. It would be a truly unique choice.