

They're ba-ack. Names left for dead for generations have come back to life and are prowling – or at least crawling – America's playgrounds.

These are no mere antique revivals. Antiques like Amelia and Oliver are enjoying renewed popularity today, but they never really went away. Neither name has ever fallen off the top 500 names list. The zombie names were dead and buried, in fashion terms. They fell out of the top 1000, and stayed out for half a century or more. And now they're back.

The revived include gentleladies like Aurelia and Cordelia, biblical heirlooms like Hezekiah and Ephraim, and buttoned-down surnames like Miller and Hayes. Some of the names, like Magnolia and Emmaline, carry the flavor of bygone times with them. Others, like Mina and Oakley, seem reborn in new skins. (If you met a little Mina today, I doubt you'd think the name was short for Wilhelmina.)

Like all zombies, these names can sneak up and surprise people. Ephraim was gone for 99 years, so few adults have ever met anyone by that name. To some, a baby Ephraim will sound downright shocking. But in an age when zombie tales are the toast of Hollywood, zombie names make perfect fashion sense.

GIRLS

Name Departed Reanimated Current Rank Years Gone Charlie 1951 2005 #229 54 Adelaide 1948 2005 #316 57 Mina 1944 2002 #687 58 Clementine 1953 2014 #943 61 Aurelia 1950 2012 #832 62 Cordelia 1950 2014 #993 64 Adelina 1945 2010 #531 65 Annabel 1932 2000 #448 68 Evie 1941 2014 #501 73 Magnolia 1940 2013 #831 73 Nova 1938 2011 #287 73 Lilian 1922 1997 #506 75 Amalia 1934 2011 #884 77 Luna 1921 2003 #143 82 Emelia 1921 2008 #625 87 America 1909 1998 #846 89 Emmaline 1915 2012 #880 97

BOYS